Chapter Eight: Vindication

With the news reports spreading, Jiang Tianxiang’s Jiang Group suffered a severe blow; not only did the stock price plummet, but even within the company, unrest broke out as some lower and mid-level employees started clamoring to resign.

Moreover, a large crowd had gathered outside the Jiang Group headquarters. Anyone familiar with the industry could tell that these so-called protestors had been deliberately hired as online trolls.

“Justice for the old lady!”

“Severely punish Jiang Group, punish unscrupulous enterprises!”

“Make them face legal consequences!”

The shouts outside the building grew louder and fiercer, and although the police had already intervened, they could do nothing to quell this “riot.”

The power of the media is formidable. After several rounds of dissemination, the incident’s impact grew wider and wider, until virtually everyone knew about it.

“This is outrageous! Hit-and-run, illegal parking too! Captain Lin, hurry up and arrest them,” sneered the four young men as they looked at Qin Tian and his companions.

“Yes, it's truly unforgivable,” Lin Jian nodded “in agreement.”

Hearing Lin Jian’s support, the four youths grinned wider, feeling elated—once this was done, hundreds of thousands would be theirs! Earning money lying down—it couldn’t get any easier.

“Captain Lin, if there’s nothing else, we’ll be leaving. As for compensation, we can handle it through insurance or settle privately,” the four young men said.

“Leave? Who said you could leave?” Lin Jian’s eyes turned icy as he stared at them.

“Captain Lin? What do you mean?” The four were puzzled, and felt a chill from Lin Jian’s gaze.

“Framing and false accusation, huh? You’re quite skilled at it. Tell me, who’s the mastermind?” Lin Jian asked coolly.

“Captain Lin, we don’t know what you’re talking about!” they denied flatly, but unease was already growing inside them.

Bang! A loud noise echoed.

“Still trying to resist?” Lin Jian slammed the files in his hand onto the table, making the four jump.

They glanced at the documents on the table, and with just one look, their faces turned ashen—it was a photo of Qin Tian yielding to the old lady who had run the red light.

If they hadn’t found this evidence in time, these young men would have truly succeeded in framing an innocent person!

Lin Jian scowled, furious—he always despised framing others, for it chilled the hearts of the good and let the wicked go free.

“Captain Lin, we…” The four tried to argue, but Lin Jian cut them off.

“Enough! How can you argue in the face of ironclad evidence?” He snorted, inserted a tape, and began playing the dashcam footage.

On the screen was the scene of Qin Tian yielding to the old woman who ran the red light, and even captured the moment she got up and fled when no one was looking.

She ran faster than a rabbit—hardly the image of someone with a broken leg!

“Speak—how much were you paid, and who’s behind this? Did you really think dirty money was so easy to take?” Lin Jian sneered.

“We… we…” The four young men were speechless. With such solid evidence, what excuse could they possibly give?

“If you confess now, your punishment will be lighter. But if you persist…” Lin Jian warned coldly.

“It was Tang Yiliu’s secretary from Tiantang Corporation who told us to do this!” Unable to withstand the pressure, the four finally gave in.

“Damn it! So it was that bastard Tang Yiliu! He was the instigator for the gambling too! So eager to bring me down?” Jiang Tianxiang cursed, his eyes cold as ice.

“Tell us everything you know, from start to finish!” Lin Jian called in officers to take the four young men’s statements.

“Also, send someone to the TV station and bring back that old woman,” Lin Jian ordered.

“This tape—send it to the media, and warn those who took bribes! They have half a day to clarify the truth to the public!” Lin Jian added angrily.

Almost simultaneously, several media outlets that had taken bribes received a package from the police, containing a videotape and a letter of warning.

“Director! Something’s wrong—the police sent us this!” In one media office, a subordinate rushed anxiously into the director’s office.

“What’s the rush? Calm yourself,” the director replied casually.

Normally, he would have scolded the subordinate, but today he was in a good mood—after all, he had just received a two-hundred-thousand-yuan red envelope.

“Director, you need to see this.” The subordinate played the tape.

“What!” After watching, the director’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Hadn’t they been told there was no evidence? Wasn’t it safe to slander at will? But this—this was incontrovertible proof!

“The police are giving us half a day to clarify, or we’ll face the consequences,” the subordinate said.

“Hurry! Write a report to clear things up!” The director no longer cared about appearances, and rushed straight into the conference room to convene an emergency meeting—this needed to be resolved as quickly as possible.

As for Tiantang Corporation—who cared about their fate now? No matter how powerful they were, they couldn’t fight the authorities!

Soon after, all the media that had reported Jiang Tianxiang’s daughter, Jiang Yingying, for hit-and-run began to clear her name.

These media outlets felt as if they had slapped themselves in the face, but there was nothing they could do—they would have to swallow this bitter pill.

In the president’s office on the thirty-sixth floor of Tiantang Corporation, Tang Yiliu crushed his cigar in his hand as he watched the wave of “clarification” reports on TV, his face dark as thunder.

Most critically, these media outlets had exposed him as the mastermind behind the scenes!

This instantly turned public outrage toward him—a classic case of trying to steal a chicken and losing the rice instead.

“President Tang, the stock price is starting to fall,” his secretary, Duan Hongjun, reported grimly, tablet in hand.

“Hmph! So they managed to survive, damn it! But it doesn’t matter—the gambling to come will be enough to ruin him!”

“When we win those bets, our losses will be repaid a hundredfold!” Tang Yiliu sneered.

At the police station, Lin Jian finished recording the statements of the four young men. The old woman was also brought in and found to have used a dead person’s identity; her face had been surgically altered for hundreds of thousands—money provided by Tang Yiliu.

While others spend that much to look younger, she had her face changed from one old woman’s to another.

“Sorry for the trouble—you’re free to go,” Lin Jian said after handling the matter, sending Jiang Tianxiang, Liu Chu, and their companions out of the station.

“Cooperating with the investigation was our duty,” Qin Tian replied.

“Good young man—it’s no wonder President Jiang values you,” Lin Jian said with a smile.

“Captain Lin, what do you plan to do with Tang Yiliu?” Qin Tian asked.

“He’ll be prosecuted according to the law!” Lin Jian replied firmly.