Chapter 14

Before meeting the media, I made a phone call to Shi Chuan.

The call was answered almost instantly.

Shi Chuan called my name cautiously on the other end: “Zhaozhao?”

“Is that you? Are you alright? I’ve been looking for you all this time, and now online…”

“Let’s meet.”

He sounded thrilled for a moment, but immediately forced it down: “Now? Where are you? I’ll come find you.”

I glanced at my watch: “Seven o’clock tonight, at home.”

“Are you alright? Zhaozhao. You must have had a tough time these days. When you come back, I’ll help you…”

I pressed the hang-up button, straightened my clothes in the mirror, and reapplied my lipstick.

Tough time?

Not at all.

Staying at Ji Yan’s place, I actually felt more comfortable than before.

The interview was live.

At first, a friend offered to write a script for me, to have better control over the situation.

I refused.

I told her to just start reading the most popular comments from Weibo.

As soon as the livestream started, tens of thousands of viewers poured into the room.

The comments flying across the screen were dazzling:

“Why don’t you just die!”

“How dare you still wear a skirt? Down to your knees? Were you asking for it?”

“How much for a night, hahahahaha, slut!”

“Stay strong, sister! We support you!”

“Don’t be afraid, sis!”

“Heart aches for you, you’re so strong.”

“Those who insult, can you just get out.”

…

I was amused by the last comment.

My friend sat beside me, and after a few words of greeting, she got to the point:

“Miss Ming, you said you wanted to respond to netizens’ questions. We selected some comments with the highest likes from Weibo. I’ll read them to you now.”

I nodded.

“Uh… Miss Ming, did you seduce the professor on purpose and then turn around to accuse him?”

“No.”

The host fell silent for a moment, as if waiting for me to go on.

I looked back at her.

And also saw the comments on the screen:

[Yes! Sis, don’t fall into the trap of self-justification.]

[Feeling guilty, huh? So you have nothing to say?]

[You say she’s guilty, then prove she seduced him intentionally?]

“…Alright, next. Your diploma is fake, right? All the awards you’ve won were stolen from others, right?”

“No.”

“…? Nothing you want to add?”

Facing the camera, I smiled: “Let me add a few words. Whether it’s my degree or my awards, there are dedicated channels for reporting. If there’s solid evidence, please report it to the school or the competition committee.”

The comments continued:

[So arrogant, someone go report her.]

[How do you report with no evidence? It’s been trending for nearly two weeks, right? Has anyone dug up evidence besides ranting online?]

[Why not report? Is it because you don’t want to?]

[Slut, what are you so arrogant about (Detected unfriendly comment, account has been muted).]

“You got your job by, uh, selling your body, right?”

I chuckled:

“No. If you’d done a simple online search before typing that, maybe you wouldn’t have made such a ridiculous comment.”

Comments:

[With a few clicks, you’d find her boss is a married woman.]

[Sis is so calm, so emotionally stable.]

“Why do you still dare to wear skirts, aren’t you afraid…”

“Why shouldn’t I dare to wear skirts? Was I chosen because I wore a skirt? Then why not blame those who let their minds wander because of skirts, instead of blaming those who wear them?”

“Don’t you feel ashamed? The fact you’ve moved on so quickly, does that mean you did it on purpose? That you don’t actually care about your chastity?”

“Why should I feel ashamed? Because I’m the victim? Then the one who should feel ashamed is the perpetrator convicted by national law. Or is it because I lost my chastity? Is chastity such an important thing? Is it more important than my life, my artistic value, or my ability to live happily and healthily?”

“Because I’m not miserable enough, because I didn’t cry or make a scene, because I don’t treat chastity as more important than life, because I didn’t live in pain day after day like those so-called typical victims, because I walked out of it, because I’m living well, even better than before.”

“Or is it that in your subconscious, you think chastity is the most important thing for a woman?”

“So I must always be in pain, I must hold onto my trauma, I must cover every inch of exposed skin-”

“To mourn my lost chastity, and protect the purity I still have?”

I laughed out loud.

“No, I refuse to let the perpetrator ruin my whole life.”

“I will continue to do the work I love, wear the clothes I like, dress up beautifully, and live my days well.”

“I’m still living well. In fact, I will live even better.”

“I want him to know: it’s his life that was ruined by his crime, not mine.”

“I’m not here because of rumors. Baseless slander cannot hurt me. I’m here only for those who have gone through the same thing as me.”

“I want to tell you, please stay strong.”

“The most important thing in this world is yourself.”

“Please, over and over again, tirelessly, give it your all.”

“Thousands of times, without hesitation, save yourself from the fire and water of this world.”