She picked up her phone and dialed the police.
The call was answered almost immediately. “Hello, Rongcheng Public Security Bureau. How may we help you?”
Clutching her phone, Zhang Yanyan let her voice tremble ever so slightly, adding a hint of panic and grievance. She sounded like a pitiful victim who had been driven to the brink by online harassment. Her speech was a little hurried, but clear and coherent.
“Officer, I’d like to file a report. Someone has been spreading malicious rumors and defaming me online. It’s had a serious impact on both my life and my studies. I hope you can investigate the matter and clear my name.”
The officer immediately tried to reassure her. “Student, don’t panic. Take your time. What’s your name, and which school do you attend? Which platforms were the rumors posted on?”
“My name is Zhang Yanyan. I’m a student in the Finance Department at Tengyuan University.”
Her voice trembled more noticeably, and the grievance in her words was impossible to miss.
“A few days ago, someone anonymously posted lies about me on our university forum and in student groups for several universities across Rongcheng. They fabricated stories claiming that I look down on poor people and toy with other people’s feelings…”
“They even attached fake photos. Now a lot of people are insulting me, and some have added me on social media just to send me abusive messages. I haven’t dared go to class these past two days. My normal studies and daily life have been completely disrupted.”
“We understand the situation. We’ll formally accept the case and investigate it.”
The officer’s voice remained calm and steady, carrying a reassuring note.
“Have you saved screenshots of the defamatory posts and the abusive messages? Anything that can prove you were slandered?”
“Yes, I’ve saved all the screenshots. As for the links to the posts…”
Zhang Yanyan continued along with him, “If you need me to cooperate with the investigation later, I’ll do everything I can.”
“Good. Leave us your contact information. An officer will get in touch with you later, so keep your phone available.”
The officer recorded the key information and then reminded her, “If you encounter further online abuse or personal threats, preserve the evidence immediately and contact us at any time.”
“Of course. Thank you, Officer. I’m sorry to trouble you.”
Zhang Yanyan’s voice still carried a trace of grievance. Once she finished speaking, she hung up.
The moment the call ended, the panic and grievance vanished from her face.
With a slight movement of her fingers, she opened the game again. The game screen had long since been ready.
Hehe, I might as well play a few more rounds. The police can handle everything else.
The police at the Rongcheng Public Security Bureau immediately began investigating. Using the screenshots of the defamatory material provided by Zhang Yanyan, they quickly identified information related to Song Ze and launched a comprehensive investigation and evidence-gathering operation.
After securing irrefutable evidence—including the account registration details, IP records, and screen recordings of the account’s activity—and confirming Song Ze’s illegal conduct, the police followed procedure and immediately contacted the Student Affairs Office at Tengyuan University.
They informed the university of the case and requested its assistance in completing the summons.
The university attached great importance to the matter and promptly arranged for Ms. Wang, a counselor from the Computer Science Department, to accompany the officers throughout the process.
Early the next morning, with Ms. Wang leading the way, officers from the Rongcheng Public Security Bureau drove to Tengyuan University and went straight to the classroom building where Class 2 of the Computer Science major was holding lectures.
At that moment, Song Ze was pretending to listen attentively in class, secretly congratulating himself that although public opinion on the forum had turned against him, he might still be able to get away with it.
The instructor had just been about to ask him a question when Ms. Wang stepped forward and quietly spoke with him. The instructor’s expression immediately turned serious, and he nodded.
The two officers then approached Song Ze’s seat under Ms. Wang’s direction and solemnly presented their credentials.
“Song Ze, we’re with the Rongcheng Public Security Bureau. You are being summoned in accordance with the law. Please come with us to the bureau and assist with the investigation into an online defamation case.”
Song Ze’s face instantly turned as pale as paper. It was as though all the blood in his body had frozen, and he began trembling uncontrollably.
He had never imagined that Zhang Yanyan would report him to the police, much less that the officers would find his class so precisely with the assistance of his counselor.
As the officers led him away, he felt the strange looks from his classmates all around him—some contemptuous, some mocking, and others simply eager for gossip. He wished he could find a crack in the floor and disappear into it.
Ms. Wang followed close behind. Before leaving, she even nodded to the instructor to indicate that she would explain the situation on his behalf.
At the Rongcheng Public Security Bureau, Song Ze initially tried every possible excuse to deny the allegations, attempting to pass everything off by claiming that his account had been hacked.
“Officer, it really wasn’t me. My campus forum account must have been hacked. I didn’t write any of those posts! I’m just an ordinary student. How could I possibly do something illegal like that?”
He wore an “innocent” expression, his eyes darting about as he forced down his unease and pretended to remain calm.
But when the officers laid out, one by one, the evidence they had obtained through their lawful investigation, all his excuses became utterly feeble.
There were screenshots of the account’s real-name registration information, internet access records from his dormitory’s IP address, a backend recording of him making the posts, and even the original files of the secretly taken photographs recovered from his personal computer. Every piece of evidence was conclusive.
Song Ze’s psychological defenses completely collapsed. He lowered his head and braced both hands against the table, his lips trembling. He could no longer utter a single word in his defense.
Only after a long while did he finally admit dejectedly, “It… it was me. Zhang Yanyan rejected me, and I couldn’t accept it. So I made up those things and posted them online to slander her…”
[In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Public Security Administration Punishments, Song Ze was fined 500 yuan by the Rongcheng Public Security Bureau for publicly insulting and defaming another person. He was also ordered to publish a public apology on every platform where he had spread the rumors—including the Tengyuan University campus forum and student groups at universities across Rongcheng—and to pin the apology for thirty days, formally apologizing to Zhang Yanyan.]
Song Ze stared at the punishment decision. His fingers trembled so badly that he could barely hold the pen. The moment he signed his name, his heart filled with remorse and resentment.
He had intended to ruin Zhang Yanyan’s reputation, but instead he had brought disaster upon himself. Not only had he received an administrative penalty, he also had to apologize publicly. He had now become the laughingstock of Tengyuan University.
Under pressure from the police, Song Ze had no choice but to reluctantly compose an apology and post it on every platform.
The statement, however, downplayed the matter and was full of passive-aggressive, victim-playing language. Between the lines, it suggested that he had merely been unable to think clearly for a while.
Even so, from that point onward, wherever he went on campus, he could feel people pointing and whispering about him. He had thoroughly become the school’s “rat everyone wanted to chase away.”
At the same time, just as the university officially notified the Computer Science Department that Song Ze had been punished by the police, Gu Yao finished reading the entire account of the incident on the campus forum.
He immediately posted a clarification using his real-name account. The statement was concise and clear:
“I, Gu Yao, have been close friends with Zhang Yanyan for many years. We happened to run into each other on campus recently and were merely catching up; there was no romantic relationship between us.
The claims circulating online that Zhang Yanyan was trying to attach herself to me and had abandoned her boyfriend were fabricated and defamatory rumors spread by Song Ze. His actions have been verified by the Rongcheng Public Security Bureau, which has dealt with them in accordance with the law.
“Here, I urge everyone not to believe or spread rumors, to respect the facts, and to respect the legitimate rights and interests of others.”
After posting the statement, Gu Yao sent Zhang Yanyan a message on WeChat: “Yanyan, has everything been taken care of? Do you need me to step in again?”
At the time, Zhang Yanyan was roaming the Rift. When she saw the message after the game ended, her fingers tapped out a cheerful reply: “No need. The police handled it very fairly. It’s just a minor matter—there was no need for you, Young Master Gu, to get involved. I’ll treat you to a meal sometime.”
“Then it’s a deal,” Gu Yao replied almost immediately. “If anyone ever dares treat you like that again, tell me directly. You don’t need to trouble yourself.”
Looking at the words on the screen, Zhang Yanyan’s lips curved into a faint smile. She replied with a single “Okay” before setting her phone aside.
