Regarding the trending hashtag #NightlessCityBlackout, here are some of the most popular comments from netizens:
[Isn’t Nightless City supposed to be the most impressive nightlife venue in the entire country? I heard that in the thirty years since it opened, it’s never had a blackout that lasted as long as last night’s twenty minutes without the power coming back on.]
[Exactly. I’ve heard that whenever there’s a power outage in the area around Nightless City, the outage somehow always bypasses Nightless City! And even if there really is an emergency, Nightless City has its own generators. At most, the power should be out for two minutes before everything’s back to normal!]
[Last night’s blackout was definitely the biggest incident Nightless City has seen in thirty years!]
[What caused it? Almighty netizens, does anyone know?]
[Then we have to mention one of Jing City’s most talked-about figures lately—Jiang Youli!]
[This has something to do with her too?]
[According to customers at Nightless City, Jiang Youli was there that night. When she left, a whole swarm of fireflies apparently lit the way for her!]
Another netizen who was at Nightless City last night posted a secretly taken photograph. In the darkness, there was a blurred figure surrounded by fireflies glowing yellow-green!
Although the image was rather blurry, netizens analyzed it from every angle and concluded that the figure was none other than Jiang Youli.
[Holy crap! It really is that bizarre! How did she do it? Of course, I’m not just asking how she managed to shut down Nightless City for twenty minutes. I also want to know how she got fireflies to guide her!]
[As for the fireflies, wasn’t it exposed before that she can control poisonous insects, snakes, and ants? Fireflies are insects too! As for the blackout, I heard the main power switch at Nightless City has three layers of electronic security. Unless you’re a brilliant hacker, there’s no way to open it.]
[So you’re saying Jiang Youli didn’t cause the blackout at Nightless City?]
[That’s not necessarily true. What if Jiang Youli is a hacker too? Don’t forget, back then no one expected her to be the famous author Li Li Yuan Shang, either! She can write songs and arrange music, practice medicine, and control poisonous insects, snakes, and ants. If you told me she could fly without wings, I’d probably believe you!]
[Ah… That really might not be impossible!]
The comments on the trending story about Yu Hongtu’s hit-and-run were clearly very different in tone:
[Is this real? Is Yu Hongtu really such a vile piece of trash? He ran over and killed an entire family of three, including a baby, and then actually had the nerve to say something so utterly inhuman!]
[I’ve heard about this, but it never gained much traction. It probably never made it beyond Jing City. The accident happened at night on a remote stretch of road, so there weren’t many witnesses. You know how it is—there was plenty of room to manipulate things. In the end, the whole matter was buried.]
[If it’s true, then Yu Hongtu really is a monster. He deserves to be cut into a thousand pieces!]
[Exactly. Since both the husband and wife were only children, both sets of parents refused to settle and kept trying to appeal. But their appeals were never accepted. Two of the elderly parents have already died after falling into depression.]
[Oh my god. Once you reach a certain age, you really can’t bear to read news like this.]
[People with children can’t bear it either!]
[Just yesterday, the dark histories of the actors from Starlight Entertainment’s Aspirations of the Azure Sky were exposed. Today, it’s the dirty secrets of the son of Gale Entertainment’s chairman. Looks like two vicious dogs are tearing into each other!]
[I heard Yu Hongtu is just the illegitimate son of Gale Entertainment’s chairman! He and Yu Linglong share the same father but have different mothers!]
[Holy crap! I had no idea there was another scandal!]
[Didn’t you hear? Someone cracked Yu Hongtu’s head open last night!]
[Seriously?]
[I heard Jiang Youli went to find Yu Hongtu last night. And with the blackout at Nightless City happening at the same time, could it be that Jiang Youli was the one who cracked his head open?!]
[If that’s really what happened, then regardless of Jiang Youli’s reason for doing it, seeing that scumbag get his head smashed is still incredibly satisfying!]
[How can you call that satisfying? He took the lives of an entire family of three!]
[The problem is that there’s still no evidence proving Yu Hongtu was responsible for killing that family of three! All we can do is hope that justice comes from the heavens!]
The Yu family villa.
“Damn it, Jiang Youli! I’m going to kill you!” After being taken to the hospital the previous night for emergency treatment to stop the bleeding, Yu Hongtu had thrown a fit and insisted on returning home in the middle of the night.
Yu Hongtu woke up early that morning and, prompted by his mother, saw the trending stories about himself online.
After reading the netizens’ comments, he flew into a rage and smashed the phone in his hand against the floor.
Crack.
Several fractures spread across the phone’s screen.
Tan Mengyun glanced at it without reacting. She simply blew on the nourishing porridge in her hand, scooped up a spoonful, and gently brought it to her son’s lips.
“I had you look at the news so you could understand the situation, not so you could throw a tantrum because you’re powerless.”
Yu Hongtu turned his face away and refused to eat. “Mom, Jiang Youli didn’t just crack my skull open—now the internet has also exposed the fact that I ran someone over and killed them before. If this wasn’t Jiang Youli’s doing, then I’m not a Yu!”
At those words, Tan Mengyun’s eyes darkened. “If you’re not a Yu, then what are you?”
Yu Hongtu froze. He had no idea why his mother had reacted so strongly to that remark. Feeling somewhat aggrieved, he said, “Mom, I’m just furious. My head was beaten into this state, and you’re not even trying to think of a way to deal with Jiang Youli?”
Tan Mengyun set down the bowl in her hand. “I’d like to deal with Jiang Youli for you, but how? She dared to go after you right in front of Long Yuan. Now she’s even managed to damage Nightless City’s reputation. What makes you think we have the ability to deal with her?”
“Then what are you saying, Mom? That I can only swallow this humiliation?” Yu Hongtu asked unwillingly, his voice revealing both anger and helplessness.
Tan Mengyun let out a deep sigh. She looked at her son and slowly said, “Swallow this humiliation? You still don’t seem to understand the situation.”
Yu Hongtu noticed that something was wrong with his mother’s expression. His heart sank, and he hurriedly asked, “What do you mean, Mom?”
Tan Mengyun raised a hand and gently stroked the bandage wrapped around Yu Hongtu’s head. Her movements were soft and slow, as though she were considering how to explain the complicated situation to him.
After a while, she finally spoke, her voice slightly lowered. “Since Jiang Youli exposed the fact that you killed someone two years ago, that means she may have evidence capable of sending you to prison.”
Yu Hongtu’s face instantly went pale. He widened his eyes in disbelief. “How is that possible? Didn’t Dad take care of everything back then? All the surveillance footage and the dashcam recordings from the vehicles that witnessed the accident were bought off. There’s no way she could have evidence!”
Tan Mengyun sighed. “Of course I hope that’s true. But there are no secrets in this world that can be kept perfectly airtight. It only depends on whether someone has the ability to uncover them. And Jiang Youli just happens to have that ability.”
“Mom… Aren’t you giving that damn bitch Jiang Youli too much credit?” Yu Hongtu said angrily, annoyed that his mother kept speaking so highly of her in front of him.
Tan Mengyun looked at her son helplessly. “Haven’t you realized it yet? Jiang Youli is far from simple. I’m afraid even Long Yuan has to reassess her now before deciding what to do next.”
At that, Tan Mengyun let out another deep sigh. “Hongtu, you should go abroad and keep a low profile for a while. As for when you should come back, wait to hear from your father and me.”
