Chapter 228: Chapter 228 Scared Paralyzed
This was a call from a deputy mayor in charge of education.
Jiang Guowei couldn’t help but stand up, putting on a smile even over the phone. After answering, he said, "Mayor Chen, you..."
Before he could finish his greeting, he heard a torrent of curses come through, "Jiang Guowei, have you lost your damn mind? If you don’t want to work anymore, just say it, I can replace you at any time. Don’t drag us down with you when you’re courting death."
Upon hearing such a tirade of abuse, Jiang Guowei was stunned.
All being officials, they usually paid great attention to tone and cultivation when speaking. For the other party to use such language showed just how furious he had been made.
Jiang Guowei’s heart raced as he cautiously said, "Mayor Chen, what... what happened? I..."
"What happened? I’m asking you, did something big happen in your school today?"
"Yes."
"For an incident this serious, affecting the entire Binhai City Bureau’s reputation, and you make such a foolish decision - do you have any sense at all?"
Jiang Guowei was alarmed, thinking to himself that he had kept everything under wraps and covered up. How could so many people know about it? He hurriedly explained, mentioning the friendship relations with Li Family’s Financial Group and a massive ten billion yuan investment support, reasoning that he had no choice but to make such a decision.
Mayor Chen cursed vociferously, saying that if the incident had not come to light it might have been beneficial, but once exposed, it became a heinous crime with extremely negative implications.
In short, he lashed out at Jiang Guowei, criticized his incompetence, and warned him to mentally prepare for dismissal at any moment.
Listening to the dial tone on the phone, Jiang Guowei felt a chill in his heart.
Just a moment ago he was dreaming of promotions, wealth, and winning over a beautiful woman, yet now why had this nightmare suddenly descended upon him?
He realized something was amiss but couldn’t pinpoint the problem.
What he didn’t know was that right after he made the decision to punish Yang Wen, the entire campus forum exploded. At the same time, a video was uploaded to several of the most popular video sites, instantly going viral with the sites promoting it as a trending topic.
This was of course Zhu Wenjie’s doing.
After gathering evidence, he had secretly asked internet experts to prepare various provocative videos and articles designed to draw attention, the kind that could go viral once promoted with money.
He had been holding back all along, waiting for the school’s final decision on the punishment.
As soon as the school’s decision about Yang Wen was made public, Zhu Wenjie took action.
He used the Zhu Family’s connections to reach out to the executives at those video sites. Initially, the support he received was not strong, but after he called his grandfather, the attitude of the website executives changed completely.
Even without paying for promoted trends, the videos became an instant hit across all major video platforms.
"For a ten billion sponsorship, Binhai University forces female student to please Koreans."
"After slumbering for a century, Divine Continent people have awakened, but there are still many spineless ones, who bow down to foreigners, accustomed to kneeling!"
"Foreigner harasses Divine Continent female student, gets slapped in return, yet the female student is reprimanded and given severe punishment by the university. Where is justice, and where are the dignity and confidence of our nation’s people?"
"Disgrace, a profound humiliation! The leaders of this university should be eating peanuts!"
With controversial rhetoric fueling the videos, along with the push from superpower and authority, the speed at which they caught fire was beyond anyone’s imagination.
In one video, a girl with her face pixelated was harassed by a Korean gentleman, who then tried to make a move but was slapped back, all unedited and uncut.
Other videos were footage from bystanders and statements from witnesses describing the incident.
There were also screenshots and evidence of Binhai University students complaining about the university’s injustice on the campus forum, demanding the Political Work Office to release people, but being reprimanded both openly and covertly by their tutors, instructors, and university leaders.
In short, the incident exploded across the internet. Binhai University became notorious.
The related leaders were torn to shreds online.
Before long, Jiang Guowei was doxxed, and soon after, a swarm of allegations about his illegal and disciplinary offenses surfaced.
It must be said, the power of the internet is terrifying.
Especially when you have a dirty trail, once the internet starts to deeply dig, you’re finished.
"How... How could this happen?"
Jiang Guowei’s complexion turned as white as a sheet, his whole body drenched in sweat.
He knew he was finished.
Even if there were no other issues, given the current heat of the matter, and the fact that he did indeed just issue a disciplinary order against Yang Wen, the matter was effectively settled.
But how could it have come to this?
The girl was just a kid from a remote little village, with no background or power. By doing what he did, and by personally calling and threatening her, she should have had no choice but to obediently listen and compromise. How could she possibly have had a chance to turn things around?
Was someone trying to use this opportunity to deal with him?
Thinking this, Jiang Guowei felt sure he had guessed correctly.
It must be so.
This was the way things worked within the system, a cutthroat world where rivals never missed an opportunity to stomp on their enemies.
He needed to find a way to remedy the situation!
Right, he would go to Li Xiaoji. As long as Li continued to cooperate with him and increase investment, bringing substantial financial support to the education sector of Binhai, many would side with him in front of the allure of real money.
Having figured all this out, Jiang Guowei calmed down, took out his phone, and prepared to contact Li Xiaoji.
Just then, the phone rang again.
Seeing the name displayed, he felt a stir in his heart, and his eyes lit up as he immediately answered, "Miss Tong, hello."
"Jiang Guowei, what you need to do now is to immediately revoke the punishment against Yang Wen and issue a public apology. After that, go and apologize to Yang Wen in person. Your attitude must be proper, or no one will be able to save you," Tong Yunshu’s tone was very firm.
Jiang Guowei was stunned for a moment and said, "Miss Tong, what do you mean by this? I..."
"Yang Wen’s older brother is called Yang Fei. He is someone you cannot afford to provoke," Tong Yunshu said coldly.
If Jiang Guowei hadn’t helped her quite a bit in the past, being relatively close to the Tong Family, she wouldn’t have even bothered to make this call. Now, making this call as a warning was to fulfill her moral obligations.
As for what to do next, it was up to him.
Jiang Guowei frowned. He had thoroughly investigated Yang Wen’s family background. Indeed, she came from a remote mountain area. How capable could her older brother be that even he couldn’t afford to provoke him?
Just as he was puzzled, Tong Yunshu added another piece of information, "Her sister-in-law is called Qin Yanyang. She is a teacher at your school, right?"
"Yes, I’m aware of that, but Qin Yanyang has to listen to me at the school," Jiang Guowei said.
Tong Yunshu snorted coldly, "She comes from the Imperial City Qin Family. Her grandfather is Qin Huai’an." After that, she hung up the phone.
A buzz went off in Jiang Guowei’s mind as if thunder kept exploding inside his head.
His hand shook, and the phone dropped to the ground, while he slumped weakly in the chair.
The Imperial City Qin... The Qin Family?
Oh my god!
How... How could she be from the Imperial City Qin Family?
No, how could the esteemed Miss of the Imperial City Qin Family marry a poor boy from a remote village?
At that moment, Jiang Guowei thought back to what Tong Yunshu had said: Her older brother is someone you cannot afford to provoke.
Having worked his way up to this level, Jiang Guowei was no fool. He realized he had underestimated Yang Wen’s background; otherwise, so many people wouldn’t have called him with such attitudes.
With this in mind, Jiang Guowei immediately called his subordinates and hastened to say, "Quick... Quickly revoke the punishment against Yang Wen and issue a public apology statement..."
It took him several minutes to finish explaining the situation, by which time Jiang Guowei was soaking wet with sweat.
He hurried out the door and drove towards Binjiang Garden.
He needed to apologize as soon as possible and hope to obtain the forgiveness of student Yang Wen.