Chapter 86

When netizens began to attack Guo Lin en masse, Li Mu and Zhao Kang calmly observed from the sidelines. It wasn't until Zhao Kang received feedback from his subordinates that someone had started deleting posts.

Zhao Kang verified this and indeed found that some posts had been deleted and could no longer be found. Some of these were major threads with hundreds or even thousands of replies, and their deletion made Zhao Kang furious.

Li Mu then gave him a suggestion.

In the future, Baidu Tieba would frequently experience "bar explosions," where the speed at which netizens post far exceeds the speed at which administrators can delete posts, leading to the entire forum being flooded. Even administrators would be powerless in such situations.

Since the method of operation is the same, why not emulate this and flood the forum that is deleting posts?

At the same time, in real-time chat rooms, netizens could be informed about the deletion of posts and urged to join in the flooding of the forum.

Zhao Kang became increasingly excited as he listened, and finally, he slapped his thigh and said excitedly, "I get it, just wait and see, I'll take them down!"

At 7 PM, the local Haizhou forum "Enjoy Haizhou" was flooded by tens of thousands of accounts.

Among these were some accounts controlled by Zhao Kang, as well as a significant number of enthusiastic netizens rallied by the water army in various chat rooms.

The use of money to disrupt rules has always been one of the easiest ways to incite public anger.

The founder of "Enjoy Haizhou," Xie Fei, had learned some programming as a hobby, bought a set of codes, and created this local forum. After operating it for half a year, it became one of the largest forums in Haizhou. Occasionally, some restaurants and shops would collaborate with him for small advertisements, providing a relatively stable income from ads. He would also frequently organize offline activities for netizens, earning some organizational fees.

Because the offline activities were well-organized, many local netizens liked this forum. Xie Fei earned about 3,000 yuan per month from it, which was very good in Haizhou.

However, today, Xie Fei made a decision that he would regret for a long time. When a stranger approached him with 5,000 yuan to delete some posts exposing Guo Lin, the money was a significant temptation, and he agreed.

This decision then incited public anger.

When countless netizens flooded every section of the forum, Xie Fei's hands were sweating profusely. In every post, the crimes of Guo Lin were being copied and pasted, along with insults directed at Xie Fei for accepting money to delete posts.

Unable to keep up with the deletions, Xie Fei blocked a few IPs, which only further enraged the netizens. Some netizens whose IPs were blocked at home went to internet cafes to continue their attacks. Finally, with no other choice, Xie Fei had to temporarily close the forum.

Although closing the forum brought some peace, Xie Fei knew he had offended the netizens. When the wave of netizens subsided and the forum reopened, he wasn't sure how much of its popularity would remain.

The fable of "killing the hen to get the eggs" actually described himself.

The mass flooding of "Enjoy Haizhou" and its forced closure brought a sense of victory to the netizens who had actively participated. Other forums, seeing this, dared not delete posts anymore, as they didn't want to destroy their own platforms for a little money. With "Enjoy Haizhou" closed, it was a good opportunity to attract users.

Thus, a forum called "Haizhou Home" began to highlight and pin posts exposing Guo Lin, taking a completely different stance from Xie Fei. This immediately attracted a large number of netizens to visit and post comments, praising their approach.

Guo Lin was now in a complete mess.

Li Mu felt much more relaxed and called his father to ask about the training in Wencheng.

His father said the training was very interesting, and he had learned a lot of new things and made many new friends.

Li Mu asked if his father had heard about Guo Lin, and his father said he had heard a little. An old colleague had called him, and he seemed very happy about it.

His father then asked how Li Mu was doing recently, and Li Mu naturally said everything was fine.

After talking to his mother for a while and listening to her instructions and nagging, Li Mu hung up the phone.

In the short term, Guo Lin wouldn't have the energy to plan to harm his father, but Li Mu still lacked a sense of security.

Since his rebirth, his mindset, though not always as cautious as walking on thin ice, had been much more careful than before. Life is long, and the longer the journey, the more careful one must be. Otherwise, a small deviation could lead to irreparable losses, especially concerning one's family and friends.

For example, if it weren't for Zhao Kang getting the information from his father, Li Mu would still be in the dark about his conflict with Guo Yuhang.

There was a possibility that one day, he or his mother might receive a call from the police, informing them that his father had been criminally detained for suspected theft.

Living this life again, Li Mu didn't want his family to bear any risks. He wanted to eliminate all dangers at the earliest stage.

Thinking about the Guo Lin family, Li Mu frowned: This level of effort is still not enough!

...

The three Xue siblings became famous in Haizhou. When the incident was exposed by an employee of the Education Bureau online, netizens were shocked by their arrogant behavior in a government agency, and even the police felt the pressure.

Xue Guilin's brother was not involved in the physical altercation, so after being criticized and warned, he was released that evening. The two sisters who had physically attacked others were directly detained.

The next day, the results of the injury assessment for Zhao Lina were released. She had multiple bruises and swelling, several scalp lacerations, and multiple facial wounds. Most importantly, she had a mild concussion. The final assessment was a minor injury.

The police asked Zhao Lina if she was willing to mediate, but she directly refused.

At this point, her affair with Guo Lin had been exposed, and Zhao Lina knew she couldn't stay in Haizhou. However, it wasn't a big deal, as she wasn't originally from Haizhou. She had only come here to study and met Guo Lin. If her reputation was ruined here, she could simply leave.

However, what she had obtained from Guo Lin so far was only a few hundred thousand yuan in cash and a house. The house wasn't worth much, only about 100,000 yuan. Now that she had been beaten by Guo Lin's wife, and the Education Bureau leaders were under pressure, they would indirectly support her. So, Zhao Lina planned to use this opportunity to extort more money from Guo Lin. If successful, she could leave Haizhou with the money.

Thinking about how Xue Guilin had rushed to the Education Bureau to attack her, Zhao Lina clenched her teeth and thought: Mediation is out of the question. A few thousand yuan in compensation is meaningless. Let Guo Lin make the offer!

Zhao Lina refused to budge, and mediation was impossible. The Education Bureau leaders continued to pressure the police, who decided to detain the Xue sisters for five days. After five days, they could apply for bail, and the rest would be decided in court.

Guo Lin was now in a bind. His son was in the hospital, his wife was detained, and his face was badly scratched. He had to wear a mask whenever he went out. It was truly a disastrous situation. Most importantly, his affair with Zhao Lina had spread throughout the city, and he had no idea how to turn the situation around.

Thinking about the mysterious person who was targeting him, Guo Lin shuddered.

He had hidden Zhao Lina so well for three and a half years, even his suspicious wife hadn't noticed. How did that person find out? Did he know about other things? In the past, people would write letters to higher authorities to report issues, but he had never seen such a widespread exposure on the internet. It was truly sinister.

Worried, he called his old leader, Han Lu, to ask if higher authorities were paying attention and to express his desire to transfer to the group after the incident died down.

Han Lu refused. The Xiling Coal Mine was on the verge of bankruptcy, which meant a significant loss of state assets. Han Lu saw this as his last chance to make a big move before retirement. To achieve this, he had not only Guo Lin but also others working behind the scenes. Once he succeeded, he would be willing to transfer Guo Lin to the group for retirement.

So, he repeatedly instructed Guo Lin to maintain his position as mine manager and to be cautious. As long as the group leaders didn't speak, he could continue to hold his position, even if everyone in Haizhou knew about his affair with a female college student. If the leaders did speak, Han Lu would mediate, and a reprimand for poor conduct would be enough.

Guo Lin, feeling uneasy, said, "Old leader, it's clear someone is targeting me. I'm afraid they have more tricks up their sleeve..."

Han Lu's tone was stern: "I will ensure you keep your position as mine manager. You must be cautious and not give anyone a chance to catch you. You must clean up your own mess!"

Guo Lin sighed, "The chair under my butt is now burning hot!"

Han Lu coldly replied, "Even if it's full of nails, you still have to sit on it!"

Guo Lin, now in a difficult situation, could only obediently follow his old leader's instructions. He knew his old leader wouldn't stand idly by.

...

After Xue Guilin was detained, Zhao Kang quickly gave Li Mu feedback: Guo Lin had abandoned his plan to harm Li Mu's father.

Zhao Kang's father specially invited the head of the survey team, Chen Hailong, for a drink. Chen Hailong said that Guo Lin had called him, instructing him to abandon the plan to frame Li Daoping and not to let anyone know.

Chen Hailong directly asked Guo Lin if he had completely abandoned the plan, and Guo Lin confirmed it.

He indeed had no energy to continue, and his old leader had instructed him not to cause any more trouble. He didn't dare to seek revenge on Li Daoping.

In the secret struggle with Guo Lin, Li Mu achieved a phased victory and felt much more relaxed. However, Li Mu felt that this secret struggle was far from over. Guo Lin had only abandoned his revenge, which was not enough for Li Mu.

Deep down, Li Mu's only thought was to completely bring down Guo Lin!

For an 18-year-old college-bound student, bringing down a state-owned coal mine manager was like an ant trying to shake a tree, but Li Mu didn't see it that way. He believed this goal was not impossible.

Currently, Zhao Lina's actions had hit Guo Lin in the lower body. What Li Mu truly lacked was a bullet that could pierce his heart. Unfortunately, such a fatal bullet was extremely rare.