Xiang Zi couldn’t believe he had received a court summons.

The summons was delivered to his family home, and his mother called him in a panic, saying something terrible had happened.

Only then did he learn that he had received an EMS mail from the “Yongchuan Court.” His mother, thinking it was some advertisement, had casually opened it, then trembled with fear on the spot.

For an ordinary working-class family who had lived honestly their whole lives and never even entered a police station, let alone received a court summons, it was unthinkable. His mother thought he must have gotten into serious trouble and cried uncontrollably as if the sky was falling.

Xiang Zi held his phone, having just stayed up all night helping his advisor with work, his head splitting with pain. Although he was also very nervous, internet scams were common these days. So at first, he firmly believed this was such an incident, or at worst, someone’s prank.

After all, he had never done anything wrong, so he had nothing to fear.

But when he hung up the phone and saw the photo of the “court summons” his mother had sent, he knew it was real.

The court summons appeared to be just a thin sheet of A4 paper, lightweight, seemingly without any sense of reality.

The first line was the case number. The second line was the cause of action, which read “reputation rights infringement dispute,” and his name appeared in the third line under “summoned person.”

The delivery address was the one on his ID card, which was why his mother had received the summons.

According to the summons, he needed to appear at the Yongchuan City Heping District People’s Court at 13:30, one week later.

The court’s official seal at the end was particularly glaring.

Xiang Zi couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He put down his phone, went to the bathroom to wash his face, and then returned to his seat.

His phone screen had gone dark, and a classmate came to ask him about a data problem. The more Xiang Zi listened, the more irritated he felt.

“Give me the original data,” the female student said distrustfully.

“Who do you think you are?” For some reason, a surge of anger rose within him, and Xiang Zi blurted out.

—

Heping District, Yongchuan City, Changming Law Firm.

The law firm was carefully selected by Xiang Zi.

First, this firm was close to the Heping District Court; second, it had good online reviews; and most importantly, it was said to charge reasonable fees, even often reducing litigation costs, making its online reputation excellent.

Xiang Zi was already a doctoral student, and although he had a salary, his advisor was an honest academic focused on research. The advantage was not being exploited, but the problem was there was no extra money to be made.

Earlier, to calm his mother’s emotions, he had told her he had called the court and confirmed it was a scam, telling her not to worry. His mother was an ordinary assembly line worker, easily alarmed but not highly educated, so she easily believed his reassurance.

After all, her son was a PhD student, and how could a PhD student get into legal trouble? That’s what his mother thought.

And Xiang Zi thought he was indeed a PhD student.

After the initial panic, he searched online for all relevant information. It was just a reputation rights infringement case; he was confident in his ability to resolve this matter.

So now, the second thing he needed to do was to hear the opinion of a legal professional.

—

Changming Law Firm.

Lawyer Shen Zhou finished reviewing the case materials and looked at the young man across the desk.

“Do you know what this case is about, why the other party is suing you?” Shen Zhou asked after a moment of contemplation.

“I’ve checked the case number. She’s suing me for sending group emails defaming her, infringing on her reputation rights.” Having passed the initial period of anger, Xiang Zi was now calm. In fact, from the moment he received the summons, he vaguely knew what it was about. After confirming it was Lin Wanxing’s doing, his previous doubts about the truth of Professor Shu Yong’s suicide also completely disappeared.

If it were false, why didn’t she sue him earlier? That woman must have found someone to back her up, so she dared to cause trouble again—that’s what Xiang Zi thought. So when he heard the lawyer’s inquiry, Xiang Zi was prepared to tell the other party everything Lin Wanxing had done. He didn’t believe he couldn’t win this lawsuit.

But just then, he heard the lawyer ask him: “Did you send the emails?”

Xiang Zi was stunned, not understanding why the other party asked this. Was this the key point?

“Who sent them isn’t important. What’s important is that woman drove an innocent old professor to his death!” Xiang Zi tried to awaken the lawyer’s conscience.

“So the defamatory and slanderous emails mentioned in the indictment, were they sent by you?” the lawyer simply emphasized calmly again. “Of course, I’m only consulting with you now, not your case lawyer, so you can choose to keep it confidential from me.”

“Is that important?” Xiang Zi didn’t understand.

“If the emails were sent by you, then as a lawyer, my advice is for you to try to actively communicate with the other party, attempting pre-trial settlement or mediation.”

“That’s impossible!”

“If you believe the other party’s lawsuit has no factual or legal basis, then collect more evidence that is favorable to you and actively defend yourself.”

“What kind of evidence?”

“Evidence proving that you didn’t send those emails,” Shen Zhou said.

—

Xiang Zi left Changming Law Firm, believing that online reviews were indeed fake.

He spent 300 yuan for a one-hour consultation but received only a few pieces of advice.

The lawyer didn’t care at all about what the woman suing him had done. The key to the case focused on whether he had sent those emails.

If true, then the content of his emails and his actions constituted a definite infringement and caused serious consequences. He would have to stop the infringement, apologize, eliminate the impact, and even compensate for damages.

So the lawyer’s advice was pre-trial settlement.

But if he hadn’t done this, he needn’t worry; he only needed to actively prove his case, and the court would give him “justice.”

“Is there any other way?” Xiang Zi remembered asking at the time.

The lawyer seemed to have completely guessed his thoughts.

“Since they were anonymous emails, the plaintiff may not have sufficient evidence to prove who sent them. Although the court has accepted the case, proving that the plaintiff provided some vague evidence when filing the lawsuit, the key evidence comes from the email service provider. Whether the judge has issued an investigation order, and whether the email service provider can provide user data, are both unknowns.”

After the lawyer finished speaking, the minute hand had just reached 12—time was up.

Xiang Zi knew that for the content that followed, he would need to pay more money to have the other party help him with the lawsuit.

And the quote for this case was 50,000 yuan, five times higher than normal.

Xiang Zi sat on the street, and opened his bottled water, with the air full of the fishy smell of sweet osmanthus.

He looked up information online for a long time before finally understanding that the lawyer gave him this quote because he simply didn’t want to take his case.

Unless paid enough.

Xiang Zi tightly squeezed the water bottle in his hand, the sun beating down making his whole body burning hot. Sanitation workers were swinging their big brooms, and the dust and fallen leaves in the air made it hard to breathe.

He had thought this was a world where justice would eventually prevail, but in reality, it was corrupt and broken, and he did not hold a pass to this world.

—

Lin Wanxing saw Xiang Zi again in the coffee shop at her alma mater.

After leaving school, Lin Wanxing never returned to Yongchuan University.

In her memory, that winter seemed covered with a gray filter, even more dim and lightless than simple black and white. Many people knew about her situation; she couldn’t handle those things, so she didn’t continue to pursue a doctoral degree and left after graduation.

Now, the weather at the end of April was already approaching thirty degrees.

She sat by the floor-to-ceiling window, the glass tabletop reflecting the glaring sunlight. She had to squint slightly to see the person sitting across the table. The hard face, fierce eyes—once he had publicly berated her in the classroom. Those memories that made her tremble seemed to still linger at the nerve endings, but the sunlight was too hot, almost melting them away.

“Long time no see, Lin Wanxing,” the person across the table greeted with what he thought was an intimidating tone.

“Long time no see,” Lin Wanxing replied faintly.

“How are your students?” Xiang Zi looked confident. He waved away the beverage menu offered by the server, ordered only a glass of water, and then turned to ask her, “I heard someone was involved in gambling during the last competition. Has that problem been resolved?”

“Are you trying to provoke me with my students? Are you angry because your family received the summons?” Lin Wanxing almost instantly understood Xiang Zi’s intention.

Xiang Zi didn’t want to hear her continue and immediately interrupted: “Tell me, what exactly do you want to do now?”

Hearing the deliberately lowered voice questioning from across the table, it was as if a breeze had blown in.

So Xiang Zi was also afraid of his family knowing what he had done.

Lin Wanxing suddenly realized that many difficulties she thought had solidified would dissolve with time.

And one day, this too would be insignificant.

“What I want is already written in the indictment. You can check it yourself,” she looked directly at Xiang Zi and answered calmly.

“Sue for what? You know in your heart whether you did those things or not,” Xiang Zi said.

“What about you, Xiang Zi? Did you do it?” Lin Wanxing asked in return.

Almost in that instant, Xiang Zi knew this was a trap.

He immediately looked at the table. Lin Wanxing’s phone was dark, and besides that, she hadn’t even brought a bag. She was wearing a dress today, which didn’t seem capable of hiding anything.

“Are you checking if I’m recording, Xiang Zi?” Lin Wanxing slightly raised her eyes, her pupils pitch black, seemingly piercing through his thoughts.

“You don’t think I’m an idiot, do you, Lin Wanxing?” Xiang Zi instead laughed. During this time, he had consulted all materials and asked many people. The key for Lin Wanxing to win the lawsuit was to prove that those emails exposing her inappropriate relationship with her advisor were sent by him.

She had no evidence at all; otherwise, why would she agree to talk when he said he wanted to chat?

Xiang Zi believed he finally understood: “You got a new boyfriend, and to show him, you suddenly thought of suing me to prove your innocence?”

Lin Wanxing still looked at him calmly, her gaze neither mocking nor flustered as if she didn’t take him seriously at all.

“You’re very afraid, aren’t you, Xiang Zi?” Lin Wanxing slowly began. “No matter how fearless and righteous you pretend to be, you’re very afraid. After losing in court, you must apologize to me publicly, and by then, many people will know that you’re a petty person who only dares to secretly spread rumors about your advisor and female classmate.”

Lin Wanxing’s tone was truly like an ice knife cutting to the bone. Going from anonymity to the forefront, Xiang Zi suddenly felt a chill and involuntarily shuddered.

But he quickly stabilized his emotions and instead found it amusing: “Aren’t you afraid? I think the person who sent those emails already gave you enough leeway. He didn’t expose you publicly, only privately telling people the truth on a small scale within the industry. If that person hadn’t given you leeway, if things had truly become known all over the internet, then your name would appear in every corner of the internet in a very short time. Everyone would know the story of a female student named Lin Wanxing. Her advisor fell deeply in love with her and committed suicide for her, causing family destruction. Do you think that’s a good thing for a female student like you?”

Many times, Lin Wanxing thought, many, many times.

She was so afraid of what Xiang Zi described happening.

She feared her name appearing on the internet, feared the dark criticisms, and feared becoming the center of discussion at the forefront of the internet.

She knew very well that in this world, there would be people who wouldn’t believe her, definitely people who would call her a slut, shameless, a despicable person who seduced her advisor.

She knew very well that this world was full of dark, chaotic human nature, which enjoyed gathering and reveling, deeply torturing many people.

She even knew very clearly that those dark, chaotic human natures were the biggest support for Shu Yong to dare to embrace death. He knew very well that even if he died, his kind would continue to torture her who was still alive.

But now, looking at this dark and ugly man in front of her, Lin Wanxing suddenly felt they were nothing much to fear after all.

“Xiang Zi, I’m not afraid,” Lin Wanxing told him very calmly. “I hope you go post about it right now, making it as big as possible. Because every bit of impact you cause will become a specific number in the compensation you owe me. The question is, can you afford those amounts?”

With each word she said, Xiang Zi’s face darkened a shade.

With a “bang,” Xiang Zi slammed his fist onto the glass coffee table.

The lemon water just served by the waiter flowed down, and many eyes from around them turned to look.

Xiang Zi pretended to wipe the table, then questioned her: “What exactly do you want? Money?”

“Having lived so long, don’t you even know what to do after making a mistake?” Lin Wanxing asked in return.

Xiang Zi tightly clenched his fists, his face ashen, saying nothing.

“I want you to admit your mistake, Xiang Zi,” Lin Wanxing said. “Whether you’re sincerely sorry doesn’t matter to me at all. I don’t have the responsibility or obligation to reform you, but I demand that you bow down and say ‘sorry’ to me.

It’s best if you’re willing, even better if you’re not. Because I’d also be happy to see you kneeling before the standards of the law, and though filled with resentment, you must write down those insincere apologies word by word.

I will also apply to the court, requesting that you send clarification emails to every schoolmate who received your anonymous emails, eliminating the adverse impact on my reputation. By then, those industry leaders you care so much about will know what you’ve done. Everything you wanted to inflict on me will ultimately fall on your head.”

Xiang Zi suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with uncontrollable anger, but Lin Wanxing’s next words were like a bucket of ice water on a snowy day, poured directly on his head.

She asked: “My student dared to admit the mistakes he made and bear the consequences he should bear, but you, who claim to be a justice warrior, do you dare?”