Response

“Zhou Zhou, if they don’t want you, I will. I will be very, very good to you, so don’t be sad,”

Jiang Xizhi said to Zhou Yining, her eyes red.

“Okay, having you is enough. Come on, let’s go home.” Zhou Yining and Jiang Xizhi quickly returned to the villa.

Meanwhile, the incident rapidly escalated online.

Many people were discussing the harm of native families.

At his company, Zhou Yuanfei kept feeling that everyone was looking at him strangely that afternoon.

Zhou Yuanfei sat at his workstation, truly unable to bear it anymore.

He looked up at his colleague behind him.

“Why are you all looking at me?”

The colleague smiled scornfully at him.

“You should check the trending topics yourself. You two are famous online.”

“What’s going on?” Zhou Yuanfei asked.

That colleague, however, didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

Helpless, Zhou Yuanfei could only take out his phone.

He glanced at the trending topics and saw the hashtag “#TopScorerFramedByBiologicalParents” at the top, followed by a ‘blast’ emoji.

Zhou Yuanfei was sweating all over.

He clicked on the hashtag and saw several clarification videos from Zhou Yining, interspersed with various audio recordings.

Cold sweat trickled down Zhou Yuanfei’s back.

He hadn’t expected Zhou Yining to be able to fight back, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

He hadn’t even looked at it for long when a colleague came to call him.

“Zhou Yuanfei, Mr. Zhang wants to see you.”

“Alright,” Zhou Yuanfei responded, wiping the fine beads of sweat from his forehead, then got up and walked towards the manager’s office.

Mr. Zhang sat in his office chair, looking at Zhou Yuanfei.

After a long pause, he finally said,

“You’ve been an old employee of our company.

Go to HR to process your paperwork later. You’re fired.”

“Why?” Zhou Yuanfei immediately became anxious.

Mr. Zhang looked at him coldly.

“No reason. This is the decision of the company’s management. We dare not employ someone who would even frame their own daughter.”

“Someone will come to you later to hand over your work; please cooperate.”

“Considering you’ve worked at the company for so many years, I’ve asked HR to give you an extra month’s salary.”

“Why? I’m not leaving, I’m not leaving! Everything I said was the truth, how is that framing?” Zhou Yuanfei started shouting.

Mr. Zhang frowned at him.

“If you maintain this attitude, I’ll call security.”

“If we discuss this properly, we can part ways amicably, and you get an extra month’s salary.”

“But if you’re forced out by security, it won’t look good for you, will it?”

Zhou Yuanfei’s veins bulged on his forehead in anger.

After a long while, he finally left the manager’s office.

Someone from HR called him over to complete the procedures.

Zhou Yuanfei was furious, but for the sake of appearances, he endured it.

At 4 PM, Zhou Yuanfei returned home, carrying a box.

Zhao Xiuna opened the door.

She had been cleaning the house and hadn’t been checking her phone much.

She was still unaware of what had happened online.

Seeing Zhou Yuanfei return so early, Zhao Xiuna asked curiously, “Why are you back so early? Is it a holiday today?”

Zhou Yuanfei was already seething with anger.

At the company, he was afraid of losing face and didn’t dare to have a hysterical outburst.

But once home, he dropped the act.

He furiously threw the cardboard box he was carrying onto the floor.

“Holiday? It’s a holiday now, I’m never going to work again!” Zhou Yuanfei shouted loudly at Zhao Xiuna.

“Old Zhou, what’s going on? Weren’t you fine when you left this afternoon?” Zhao Xiuna asked, standing there at a loss.

“You still have the nerve to ask? It’s all because of that beast Zhou Yining! She posted all those old recordings online!

Now the whole internet is cursing our family! See for yourself!”

Zhou Yuanfei said, angrily throwing the phone in his hand to Zhao Xiuna.

Zhao Xiuna took the phone and saw the online curses.

[What kind of people are that family? They’re all trash.]

[Yeah, Zhou Yuanfei is probably a super male. So good to his son, but to his daughter, it’s like she owes him everything.]

[And that Zhao Xiuna isn’t any good either. Either she’s playing both sides or she’s dumping all the blame on her daughter.]

[Anyone who sees this has to say Zhou Yining is truly miserable, having such trash parents is truly sad.]

[Oh, and her brother Zhou Jiaming, with his foul mouth, so disgusting. He’ll grow up to be a pervert too.]

[Exactly, which school is her brother from? Suggest expelling him.]

There were many similar comments.

Zhao Xiuna could barely hold her phone steady.

The main point was that there were photos of her and Zhou Yuanfei online.

Because they both showed their faces in that interview, many people online were now cursing at their photos.

“Old Zhou, what, what should we do now?” Zhao Xiuna was almost in tears.

Zhou Yuanfei kicked the box and cursed,

“How should I know? I even lost my job! This is great, now we’ll all starve to death, damn it!

If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have gone for any interview! It’s all your son’s fault, being a know-it-all.”

[What? He was just being kind! Besides, didn’t we earn 10,000 yuan this morning?]

“It’s all because you spoiled him! If I had known I’d lose my job, then that little brat Zhou Jiaming, he’s just no good.

What kind of terrible idea was that? Now look, our whole family is being cursed by the entire internet, I…” Zhou Yuanfei shouted frantically.

Zhao Xiuna dared not speak.

Meanwhile, at school, Zhou Jiaming’s classmates began to act differently towards him.

Some even pointed fingers at him.

He couldn’t take it anymore and stood up to ask, “What are you all doing?”

It was just after class, and a boy snickered, “Nothing, you pervert. Go see what the internet is saying about your family.”

“Damn it, who are you calling a pervert?” Zhou Jiaming was furious.

“I’m calling you! If I had a brother like you, I would have strangled you already. You’re utterly worthless.”

“Exactly, your sister finally became the top scorer in the college entrance exam, and your whole family wants to ruin her.

It’s truly terrifying.”

“Stay away from me. How can someone like you be in our class? It’s truly shameful.”

“No, no, Zhou Yining is lying, she’s a liar, she’s a liar!” Zhou Jiaming’s eyes welled up with tears, and he cried and shouted.

However, no one in the class listened to him.

Everyone kept their distance from him, and even the students who used to be close to him stopped talking to him.

Soon, class started.

The teacher saw Zhou Jiaming standing there and reprimanded him sharply.

“Zhou Jiaming, this isn’t your home. The self-study bell has rung. Why are you still standing there? Sit down.”

As soon as the teacher’s voice fell, a burst of laughter erupted in the class.

Zhou Jiaming was trembling.

He collapsed into his seat.

His deskmate, as if touching something unclean, quickly moved away, even separating their desks.

Zhou Jiaming looked at the sneering eyes of his classmates, buried his head in his arms, and started crying.

The homeroom teacher watched from the front but didn’t go over to comfort him.

Honestly, having such a student in her class was truly shameful.

It would be best if he transferred quickly, lest one bad apple spoil the whole bunch.

He finally endured until school ended.

Zhou Jiaming rushed out of the classroom like a madman.

He dared not stop, fearing that if he did, he would be subjected to gossip.

He finally ran all the way home, breathless, and entered the door, then saw his parents, their faces ashen, in the living room.

Zhou Yuanfei was infuriated at the sight of him.

Seeing him enter, Zhou Yuanfei immediately stood up.

“You beast, do you still have the nerve to come back? Do you know that I lost my job because of your rotten idea?”

Zhou Jiaming was also breaking down.

He cried and shouted,

“It’s all because you’re greedy! If you weren’t greedy, why would you listen to me?

It’s all over now, everything’s over! Everyone in class looks down on me now. I can’t stay here anymore!”

“You still have the nerve to complain? I’ll give you a face!” Zhou Yuanfei said, then slapped Zhou Jiaming.

Zhou Jiaming lost his footing and was slapped directly onto the floor.

“How dare you hit me? Zhou Yuanfei, no wonder you’re useless.

How dare you treat me like this? Do you dare treat Zhou Yining like this?”

Saying this, Zhou Jiaming even tried to push Zhou Yuanfei.

Zhou Yuanfei was also enraged.

“Damn it, see if I don’t beat you to death!”

Zhao Xiuna tried to intervene, but Zhou Yuanfei shoved her away.

“Get lost, you unlucky thing! How did I end up with a wife like you?”

Saying this, Zhou Yuanfei slapped Zhou Jiaming again.

After doing all this, he didn’t want to stay at home and slammed the door as he left.

Zhou Jiaming’s face was swollen on both sides from the slaps.

He squatted on the floor and cried loudly.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yining, after returning home with Jiang Xizhi that afternoon, received another call from the district secretary’s office.

Zhou Yining answered the phone.

“Hello, may I help you?”

“Student Zhou, it’s like this: you’ve resolved today’s matter, so the district has decided to still give you the 50,000 yuan bonus, and the interview will proceed as usual.

Please add my WeChat and tell me your bank card number and opening bank. The money will be transferred to you shortly.

As for the interview, it’s rescheduled for tomorrow morning at 9 AM, at your school.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Zhou Yining added the person’s WeChat and provided her card details to the other party.

Not long after, she received the transfer confirmation.

She clicked on the trending topics and saw that the internet was now overwhelmingly on her side.

The Zhou family trio were all being cursed on the trending searches.

However, Zhou Yining wasn’t particularly happy.

The internet was like this; if she hadn’t had that evidence, she would be the one being cyberbullied right now.

Jiang Xizhi, leaning against her, was also scrolling through the trending topics.

Seeing everyone cursing the Zhou family trio, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s good that you handled it in time, otherwise, those crazy people online would definitely curse you.”

“Mm, thankfully it’s resolved.”

Zhou Yining hugged Jiang Xizhi tightly and leaned over to softly sniff her neck.

Jiang Xizhi, of course, felt it.

Her ear tips turned red, and her voice softened a few shades.

“What are you doing?”

Zhou Yining’s eyes curved.

“Nothing, I just think my girlfriend smells delicious, and it’s making me a little hungry.”

Jiang Xizhi directly buried her face in her arms.

“Zhou Zhou, you’ve gone bad.”

“How so? Let me calculate, my little fox is about to become an adult.” Zhou Yining’s eyes curved into a smile, but she didn’t continue the rest of her sentence, yet Jiang Xizhi seemed to understand instantly.

Zhou Yining saw the person in her arms blush all the way to her neck.

Such a shy girlfriend, she looked even more adorable.

“I’ll go by myself tomorrow morning. I have some things to handle at the magazine office anyway, so you don’t have to come with me,” Zhou Yining said, patting her lower back.

“Mm.” Jiang Xizhi nodded, obediently agreeing.

The next morning, Zhou Yining went to school.

Actually, there wasn’t much to do at the magazine office; Zhou Yining mainly wanted to pick out a gift for Jiang Xizhi.

After arriving at school, she still attended the meeting first.

First, there was the leader’s speech, then she went on stage to receive the 50,000 yuan bonus, followed by the reporter Q&A session.

Zhou Yining sat on the stage as usual, waiting for the reporters’ questions.

Soon, someone started asking questions.

“Student Zhou Yining, you must be aware of yesterday’s incident. Now the internet is overwhelmingly supporting you. What do you have to say about this?”

“I believe the internet is a double-edged sword. It can help people solve problems, but it can also harm others.

To be honest, I’m not happy just because everyone is speaking up for me, because if I hadn’t had evidence to vindicate myself yesterday, I would be the one being cyberbullied right now.”

Another reporter continued to ask, “How do you adjust your mindset while living in such a native family, or rather, how did you maintain good grades in such an environment?”

“Precisely because I was stuck in a quagmire, I knew the true value of learning.

Because I could only change my fate through studying.

When a person is pushed to this extent, it’s impossible not to strive and work hard,” Zhou Yining continued to answer.

“Then what do you want to say to those who are also persecuted by their native families?”

“I hope everyone strives to live well, become independent as soon as possible, and stay away from such families.

Life is meant to be lived for oneself. If your relatives don’t care about you, then you must care about yourself,”

Zhou Yining continued to answer.