"What's going on? Who exactly is Huo Rou? There are too many cameras!"
"Please, we want to see the soldiers, the experts and professors from the labs!"
"I'm a biomedical student, my teacher told us to come pay our respects to the great!"
"High five, upstairs! Me too. I heard this virus is really hard to crack, the expert teams in the labs are too fast."
"So, please stop giving this woman camera time! Let her go back to the entertainment industry!!"
"+ ID number."
An An sat in front of the TV, watching the live broadcast of the commendation ceremony. Huo Rou's face appeared frequently on screen, and he was extremely excited.
"Mom! It's Mom!" An An grabbed Grandma Liu's hand, his little face flushed as he looked at his mother, who was serene and beautiful in the high-definition picture on the TV. He felt an unprecedented sense of pride, wishing the whole world knew that was his mother!
Grandma Liu looked at An An with affection and nodded repeatedly, "Yes! It's An An's mom! An An's mom is so amazing!"
"Mhmm," An An agreed vigorously.
Old Master Qin was not at home. He was looking at a video sent by the butler on his phone. Seeing An An's excited expression, he looked up with pride on his face. Although he knew Huo Rou's name would be mentioned at the ceremony, seeing her in such a setting was different.
During a break in the awards, he turned to show Huo Rou the video on his phone, "Look, An An is so happy!"
Seeing An An's excited look, Huo Rou couldn't help but smile.
Coming here was the right decision; clear rewards and punishments encourage progress. Seeing her receive an award in such a place would give An An a sense of pride that would accompany him as a source of strength.
Old Master Qin didn't say much more. In such a setting, it was best to maintain a formal demeanor most of the time.
But while he was being serious, his old comrades beside him would not allow it.
"Hey! Old Qin, do you know that little girl in the back?" An old comrade leaned in, his gaze on the stage, but his voice drifted to Old Master Qin's ear.
Old Master Qin puffed out his beard, "Of course!"
"This little girl can sit in such a position. What did she do in this Yizhou virus battle?" the old comrade asked curiously.
Several other old leaders leaned over, their ears practically perked up.
They were old and found it hard to keep up with the times. Even if they knew the names, they couldn't match them!
Someone whispered, "Old Qin, you're smiling so much, does this have anything to do with you?"
Old Master Qin's heart was blooming with joy. He glanced at the people on his left and right and remained silent, looking self-assured.
These old leaders were not like netizens who judged people by their looks and thought Huo Rou was a fraud. How could someone sitting in their rear positions not be extraordinary?
Since Old Master Qin wasn't saying anything, they would wait and see. It wouldn't be long, would it?
While the group of old leaders remained composed, the netizens behind the screen exploded again.
Not for any other reason. When the host introduced the award presenters earlier, the camera swept past and happened to see Old Master Qin turn around with a smile. Huo Rou smiled after looking at his phone screen.
"What the hell! What's going on?"
"The one smiling so radiantly is Old Master Qin of the Tai Chuan Qin family. Everyone in Tai Chuan knows the Qin family. But I don't remember this woman at all."
"So she got to this occasion through the Qin family? Flirting can be done in private!"
The arguments grew louder.
At the Qin family's old residence, Qin Qianjian's face turned black after finishing his phone call.
With the idea that watching TV together as a family was more atmospheric, they hadn't watched the online broadcast or paid attention to online discussions.
After all, in such an occasion, what kind of public opinion could there be besides good news?
"What's wrong, Uncle?" An An noticed Qin Qianjian's expression and couldn't help but ask with concern. This uncle wasn't very smart to begin with, and it wouldn't do for him to get angry and hurt himself.
Qin Qianjian was looking down at his phone, a breath stuck in his chest, neither here nor there. He certainly wouldn't talk about it here. Why would a good atmosphere be ruined by a few foul-mouthed troublemakers?
He logged into his account and sent out a message.
Seeing that he wasn't speaking, An An moved over from the sofa and happened to see the Weibo post he had sent.
"Who is scolding Mom?" An An clenched his little fists, angrily taking out his own phone and checking the trending searches.
The screen was full of slander and doubt.
"Heavens! How can they say that?" Su Nianzhu exclaimed in disbelief.
She had been silent from the beginning, quietly watching the broadcast with everyone. Recalling how she had thought about Huo Rou and caused her trouble, she felt too embarrassed to join the discussion. But now, seeing people make such malicious conjectures, she felt a surge of anger.
"Son, have your people contact these platforms to remove the trending searches and the negative bullet comments!" she nudged Qin Qianjian. "This is my future daughter-in-law and your future sister-in-law. You can't let anyone bully her!"
"Mhmm, I'm already asking people to do it." Qin Qianjian had already given instructions when he received the call earlier, but it took time to communicate and negotiate. He had only posted a message first, asking fans not to follow the trend.
An An, with a grim face, stopped watching the broadcast and went to the study, operating the computer.
"An An, what are you doing?" Grandma Liu followed in with concern.
An An, with a stern face, operated the mouse and keyboard, the clicking sounds crisp and decisive. "Spreading rumors is wrong. An An will report them!"
"We adults will handle this. An An, you're still young..." Su Nianzhu, who had just followed him in, heard An An say this and immediately walked forward to persuade him. But when she saw the interfaces on the computer screen that she couldn't quite understand, her words got stuck.
An An didn't care if he was an adult or a child. He wanted to protect his mother! His mother was a hero who attended the commendation ceremony, and he couldn't let anyone speak of his hero mother like that!
While he was still investigating the addresses of those who had spoken irresponsibly, all the black trending searches online had already been removed. Qin Corporation issued a lawyer's letter, and all netizens who slandered Huo Rou and spread malicious rumors were on record.
Just as netizens were still confused, the rumor-mongers themselves received phone calls from the court.
"Old Qin, this Battle Flag Alliance is indeed powerful. Before we even negotiated with Weibo, they had already sent us the information of those people," Zhao Hengyu said on the phone to Qin Ningyi, his words full of surprise. "And they didn't even charge us! What philanthropists!"
Zou Xiaoxiao's voice came from beside him, "That's an organization founded by my idol Chi You! Of course, they're powerful!!"
Zhao Hengyu felt envious, "Tch, maybe he's an ugly man! And bald!"
Zou Xiaoxiao started arguing with him, and Qin Ningyi calmly said "No" before hanging up.
He looked up at Huo Rou, who was sitting in the distance. Her hair was as dark as ink, and her skin was fairer than snow. She was incredibly beautiful. Huo Rou seemed to feel his gaze, her eyes reflecting starlight as she looked back.
A shared smile, more eloquent than a thousand words.