Tao Ruiming paced around the living room twice, opened the windows wide for ventilation, then went to the study to fetch a bottle of perfume and sprayed it all around the corners.
He didn’t like the smell of smoke. When Tao Xianyong used to be at home, he would always go to the balcony to smoke.
Tao Ruiming tiptoed to Tao Siyue’s door, leaned his ear against it and listened for a moment. Not hearing any movement inside, he gently knocked and softly called, “Sis, are you still awake?”
After a few seconds, Tao Siyue responded, “Come in.”
Tao Ruiming pushed the door open a little, revealing half of his body, and stood outside without entering.
Tao Siyue wasn’t resting. She was half-sitting at the head of the bed, arms crossed, lost in thought. Her medium-length hair was loose, falling over her shoulders, with a few strands of hair blown messily across her forehead by the wind, which she didn’t bother to fix. She asked in a flat tone, “Where did you go today?”
Looking at her haggard face, Tao Ruiming felt a lump in his throat and dared not tell the truth. He lied, “I was at school.”
Tao Siyue fixed her eyes on him for a moment, didn’t ask further, and slowly looked away.
Tao Ruiming hesitated, unsure of how to start. After a while, he pushed the door open a bit more, walked in, and gently closed it behind him. “How’s the company?” he asked.
Tao Siyue looked at him again and retorted, “What do you think?”
Tao Ruiming was at a loss for words.
Tao Siyue said, “The lawyer will come on Saturday to discuss the inheritance. I hope you’ll be there, otherwise, I can’t guarantee where Guangyi’s shares will end up.”
“I heard several partners have suspended their cooperation with Guangyi,” Tao Ruiming said nervously, raising his voice a bit. “It’s because of that article slandering Dad, right?”
Tao Siyue remained silent, her gaze growing cold and emotionless, yet somehow reflecting an extremely complex emotion. After a long stare, she lowered her head and suddenly laughed.
Tao Ruiming felt a chilling unease, as if a cold draft were coursing through his limbs and back. He opened his mouth, frowning, and asked, “The leak must have come from He Chuan Zhou. Are you really going to do nothing about it?”
Tao Siyue asked, “Is this what you’ve been hesitant to tell me?”
Tao Ruiming’s heart was filled with confusion and unease, feeling as though he was the only one truly grieving in the entire family. Everyone else was hiding secrets from him, making everything feel unfamiliar.
“Why? He Chuan Zhou won’t let us off that easily! Since Dad died, she’ll definitely become even more aggressive…”
Tao Siyue coldly interrupted him, “So what do you want to do?”
Tao Ruiming was stunned for a moment. He hadn’t thought about what to do, only filled with hatred for He Chuan Zhou.
“We can’t just sit and wait for death!”
Tao Siyue took a deep breath, leaned forward, and looked into his eyes, seriously warning, “Don’t provoke He Chuan Zhou. Don’t cause trouble for yourself at a time like this. Wasn’t the lesson you learned yesterday enough? Do you really think you can fool the police? Guangyi already has enough problems. I don’t want to be waiting for inspections from the relevant departments every other day.”
Despite her lack of physical and emotional strength, her voice was soft even when angry, yet she spoke each word with a heavy emphasis, indicating she was on the edge of her patience.
Tao Ruiming wanted to tell her what Han Songshan had said today, but Tao Siyue shook her head, clearly resistant, and said irritably, “Grow up. Go to school tomorrow. I know you skipped classes today.”
Then she lay down, indicating she wanted to rest.
Tao Ruiming had more to say but held back and left it at that.
Compared to many criminal cases, He Xu’s case was not particularly brutal or sophisticated, and it didn’t attract much interest. The updates from “Autumn Chill” were particularly slow. Nearly a month had passed, and only two chapters had been written.
From the content, it was clear that a thorough investigation had been done and the entire story could have been written in one go. However, it seemed like a deliberate, torturous approach was being taken to draw it out and release it piece by piece.
Tao Ruiming felt the author was very sinister.
He checked the author’s updates daily. To his surprise, the third chapter was updated in less than five days this time.
In this segment, “Autumn Chill” interviewed several of Han Songshan’s former colleagues, inquiring about his work ethic and character.
The feedback was mostly negative, as Han Songshan had anticipated.
An experienced journalist who had been in the field for over thirty years and initially guided Han Songshan reminisced, “I used to think it was a pity. When Han Songshan first joined our company, to be honest, he was diligent, earnest, and hardworking, a reporter with a stubborn pursuit of truth and resilience. None of us could have imagined he’d turn out like that. Maybe he couldn’t resist the lure of money.”
“There was a fierce rumor back then about train station staff colluding with pickpockets. To investigate, he camped out in the waiting hall of City A during the Spring Festival travel rush for over a week, helping catch several thieves and almost getting beaten up by a gang of out-of-town pickpockets in a bathroom. He put in a lot of effort and heart, but no one read the news he wrote, and no one wanted to believe it... I can understand it, really.”
“I remember his family was quite poor. His parents worked hard to put him through college. He worked with us for three or four years, and initially, he was someone with strong beliefs. But his articles didn’t get much traffic, and he didn’t make much money. In contrast, many of his classmates switched to self-media, had easier jobs, and earned more. His professional ethics didn’t bring him wealth or fame, and over time, he became disillusioned and changed.”
“He published several fake news stories to drive traffic to his private account. Initially, these were small things, like families in need with disabled parents and children who couldn’t afford school, aimed at garnering public sympathy. Later, he became bolder, using the evidence he gathered to blackmail companies for hush money or to report biased news for competitors.
“He was very clever, handling his methods discreetly, choosing relatively safe content to subtly mislead. We didn’t notice at first.
“Eventually, he angered enough people that someone took the trouble to verify his stories and reported him to us. We investigated and immediately fired him.”
Tao Ruiming felt conflicted, unable to determine whether Han Songshan was a good person.
At the end of the article, “Autumn Chill” asked the journalist, “Do you know how he was connected to the He case?”
“I don’t know much about it. He had already been fired by then and had set up his own online account and company. But he did actively seek out colleagues, urging us to publish more related reports. Some local newspapers agreed.”
“Autumn Chill”: “Did you follow up on it?”
“We investigated, but it’s hard to say specifically. We had significant internal disagreements.”
“Autumn Chill”: “On what aspects? Do you still have the evidence?”
“There was a serious incident later. I think the investigation went off track. Unfortunately, we couldn’t continue.”
The article ended there again.
A sudden wave of panic gripped Tao Ruiming, his heart pounding violently, blood rushing through his veins, and only after two deep breaths did he calm down.
He knew that the next update would likely involve his sister and father, and he stared intensely at the last few lines as if trying to see through them and discern the author’s attitude.
Tao Ruiming’s memory started to rewind, searching for various details he might have missed.
Unfortunately, he was still young at the time. After the incident, his parents sent him to the countryside to be cared for by his grandparents. He only remembered that one day, his angry parents suddenly returned home and covered up the matter, acting as if nothing had happened.
From that day on, his mother became silent and never left the countryside again. His sister always seemed burdened with worries, and her relationship with the family became extremely distant. His father’s career, however, began to flourish, and the family quickly became wealthy, moving to the city center.
Halfway through his recollection, a slight vibration in his palm interrupted him, Han Songshan had sent him a web link.
Han Songshan: “I never reported fake news. I only made one mistake because I was short of money at the time. My mom was sick, the county hospital couldn’t diagnose her, and we didn’t have money to take her to the city hospital. I felt useless. I went undercover for over a month and discovered that a food company’s materials had quality issues. I agreed not to report it and took 100,000 yuan from them. Before I could even warm the money in my hands, He Xu came with people to arrest me, and the money was confiscated. By the time the investigation was over, my mom’s condition had worsened, and she died at home a few months later. So yes, I do hate He Xu.”
Han Songshan: “You can believe me or believe him, time will tell. Contact me if you need anything.”
His candid attitude left Tao Ruiming completely bewildered. Before he could make up his mind, on the third day after the article was published, someone in the comments section revealed the real names of the people involved.
The names Tao Xianyong and Han Songshan appeared one after another, accompanied by some unsightly speculations.
“Autumn Chill” seemed to be managing the comments section, promptly deleting all the remarks, but the information still spread.
Local news sections began publishing profiles on Tao Xianyong and Han Songshan, digging up old reports from years ago for comparison.
Even Guangyi’s branch offices started experiencing malicious disturbances. Tao Siyue stopped going out and switched to working from home.
Tao Ruiming found it hard to believe this was a coincidence, the presence of hired trolls was too obvious.
Everything was unfolding just as Han Songshan had said, with things rapidly deteriorating.
In today’s society, public opinion is a razor-sharp weapon, and few can escape its deadly grasp unscathed.
The more Tao Ruiming thought about it, the more terrified he became.
That afternoon, Jiang Zhaolin called him, saying that Tao Siyue was unwell and needed to rest, so she would be staying in the hospital for a week. He advised Tao Ruiming not to discuss the online matters when visiting her.
After some hesitation, Tao Ruiming dialed Han Songshan’s number.