My Sister is a Superstar - Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Importance of Public Opinion
Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
It was 6:30 in the evening, and Qin Baobao and Old Master came to the hospital and visited Qin Ze. Old Master was exhausted mentally and physically from running around the entire day. He sat on the couch and read the Weibo comments; his phone did not have the Weibo application so he used Qin Baobao’s phone instead.
“It is impossible for all the public servants to be filled with justice and righteousness in a country. There are bound to be black sheep. The youngsters these days are too extreme.” While Old Master was reading the comments, he shook his head and sighed.
In our era, we could only say ‘good communism’.
Qin Baobao sat at the side of the bed quietly and laughed when she met with her brother’s gaze. She said in a sweet voice, “Dad, there are so many extreme keyboard warriors now. Brother also regularly scolds people on the Internet.”
Qin Ze glared at her harshly. Will you die if you don’t rat me out?
Old Master kept the phone and judged Qin Ze up and down until he was trembling. Then, he said nonchalantly, “You’re pretty scheming.”
Qin Ze laughed dryly. “Didn’t I say? How can that woman guess which ward I’m in and confidently say that I beat her son up? It must be the police who exposed me. I just thought I should record as evidence no matter if it was useful or not, and I was right.”
Old Master sighed. “I’m old. You, the young ones are truly witty.”
Qin Ze laughed in secret. Following the development of the Internet, information spreads too quickly. How important was public opinion? Chairman Mao once said that ‘the publicity department is the King of Hades’. Now, public opinion on the Internet was the weaker version of the publicity department.
Old Master sat for a while and left, leaving his wife and daughter to take care of his son. Mother Qin went out to buy fruits for her daughter to eat, leaving the sister and brother in the ward.
Qin Baobao sat at the side of the bed and pressed on the remote control in boredom. She grumbled, “I really updated my view on life today.”
Qin Ze replied, “If you have nothing to do, go on the Internet. Don’t watch the news so often. You’ll get used to it after your view on life gets impacted often.”
“Heck, I don’t watch the news.”
Qin Ze said, “You spent quite a lot of money, right?”
Instantly, Qin Baobao pulled a long face and looked as if she was going to cry. “I used up all my savings. Wuwuwu, from today onwards, we don’t even have money to buy vegetables. We can’t even afford instant noodles.”
“Heck, we’re screwed now. I don’t want to eat instant noodles with you. I’ll tell Dad and Mom that you didn’t work in your serious job, and you want to become a superstar.”
Qin Baobao turned over palely and made a heart-fluttering posture.
Hurriedly, Qin Ze waved his hands. “Hey, I’m still a patient; don’t do whatever you please.”
Qin Baobao grunted and sighed. “It’s okay, I can still borrow money from my university friend for us to last through a period. After I receive my salary, our livelihood would be secured.”
Her right hand pinched Qin Ze’s arm with strength.
“I told you to save money earlier.” Qin Ze expected better from her. “Once you have money, you’ll buy a car, bags, makeup, masks, and clothes. Let’s see if you’ll still be a spendthrift in the future.”
Qin Baobao yelled, “I want to buy. I just want to buy.”
At this time, Qin Ze felt an urge to pee. He had not gone to the toilet in the afternoon. Going to the toilet was a very awkward thing as there was no movable structure in the ward, and the drip must be hung at the bed. If he wanted to go to the toilet, someone had to help him hold the bottle.
“I want to pee.” Qin Ze used his elbow to hit his sister’s waist.
“Lazy people have more sh*t and urine.” Qin Baobao retaliated in a bad mood.
When both of them reached the toilet, Qin Baobao held the bottle up; but he still did not take off his pants. She said in frustration, “Pee now.”
Qin Ze said sorrowfully. “Before you speak, can you first turn your body over? How do I pee when you look at me?”
Qin Baobao hooted, and her cheeks turned slightly red. Her beautiful phoenix-like eyes glanced below his crotch. “I saw your little worm when you were young. I had even flicked it.”
“Don’t talk about things when we were young.” Qin Ze rolled his eyes. “Can you let me see your big, white rabbit now?”
Qin Baobao widened her eyes. “Do you dare to let me see?”
“If you dare to take off, I dare to see it.”
Qin Baobao took a deep breath in. Just as Qin Ze thought that she was just acting strong and yelling words like ‘if you dare to take off, I dare to see it’, his sister screamed, “Mom, Qin Ze wants to see my…”
Qin Ze was taken aback, and he was frightened until his organs were trembling. He pulled a crying face. “Sister, I was wrong. Don’t yell, don’t yell.”
If his mother heard that, he would at most get scolded; but if Old Master heard it, he would definitely be beaten up brutally.
Qin Baobao whined delightfully and turned her head. “I’m too lazy to see your little worm.”
Qin Ze was also lazy to remind his sister that it was no longer a little worm, but a golden staff.
…
At night, Qin Baobao sent Mother Qin home and caressed her brother’s head. “Rest well. I’ll come tomorrow and bring a new change of underwear for you.”
“Bring my laptop over, too. It’s boring just lying around every day.”
“Okay.”
At 9 at night—after Qin Ze finished his last bottle of drip, he called the nurse in to remove the needles before he went to the toilet and back to sleep.
…
Wang Guomin woke up early in the morning and ate the meat porridge his wife made. He wore his neatly-pressed uniform and leather shoes. His sweet-tempered wife walked over and helped him arrange his tie.
“You’re going out so early?” His wife turned around to pick up his bag on the couch.
“Yesterday, that family couldn’t be stopped. I’m afraid they would cause trouble early in the morning so I need to go down personally to hold the front,” Wang Guomin said.
His wife sighed. “It’s not good if you’re always like that. Can’t you ask your nephew to stop his ways? He’s not your son; you can’t clean up his mess forever. He’s more than twenty-years-old and doesn’t even have a proper job. He only knows how to cause trouble every day.”
Wang Guomin glared at her in frustration. “What are you saying? I only have this one nephew. How can I not care about him? Don’t be naggy. It’s none of your business.”
His wife said unhappily, “You’re not even so caring towards your daughter.”
If it weren’t for you, his uncle, and his mother spoiling him; would he have been a troublemaker?
Wang Guomin did not want to discuss this issue with his wife. He directly took his bag and left for work.
At 8:30 in the morning, the employees at the police station clocked in for work gradually. Before Wang Guomin entered his office, he instructed his receptionist, “Xiao Liu, if someone comes and reports a case later, help me take a look if it’s someone called Qin Jianzhang. If it is, call my office number immediately.
Receptionist Xiao Liu nodded her head repeatedly and looked at Wang Guomin with an especially weird gaze. She opened her mouth but did not say a word.
Wang Guomin turned and entered his office. He was a sergeant so he had his own office.
At 9, all the employees at the police station started whispering on their own. “Sergeant Wang is so calm. Does he not know about this?”
“Most likely. He even told me to inform him immediately if that Qin Jianzhang comes to report a case.”
“Does the superintendent not know? This incident was blown up pretty big on the Internet. I feel like he would get into trouble.”
“That might not be true. After all, it’s only public opinion; and our public relations are pretty strong. They can just post on Weibo to ‘clarify’ the issue. Netizens have a short attention span so this incident will blow away in no time.”
“Honestly, I’m pretty pissed in my heart. That nephew of his gets into trouble so often and comes to the police station regularly. It’s good if this incident is blown up, he can suffer a little.”
Some people were long dissatisfied with Wang Guomin’s conduct; not everyone had a lack of justice.
Coincidentally, Wang Guomin walked out of the office. The rest of them immediately kept quiet and carried on with their work.
“What are you guys talking about?” Wang Guomin swept across the crowd.
“Nothing, nothing…” The crowd pacified him.
The superintendent of Jiangwan Police Station—Li Jianbang—received a call from his superior.
“Leader, what instructions do you have?”
“Wang Guomin is from your police station, right?”
“Yes, what’s the matter?”
“A serious matter…”
After Li Jianbang heard him, his face changed; and he stood up. As he called on the phone, he nodded his head and bent his back. “Don’t worry, I will deal with this issue sternly. I will not let any black sheep ruin our police reputation. Leader, I failed in my duty.”
After he hung up, his face turned green. He called on his phone, “Xiao Liu, tell Wang Guomin to come in and see me.”
A few minutes later, Wang Guomin walked in.
“Superintendent Li, what’s the matter?” Wang Guomin took a cigarette and passed it over. When he saw the superintendent looking at his phone, he laughed, “What are you looking at?”
The superintendent passed him the phone. “Take a look yourself.”
Wang Guomin picked up the phone on the table in confusion. When he looked closely, his face changed instantly. The phone was playing a thirteen-minute video, and the scene inside was the conversation he had that night with that family—including the harsh words he threw when he left.
“This rascal dared to scheme against me.” Wang Guomin’s face turned green.
The superintendent slammed his table in anger. “You’re lawless. Who gave you the guts to wear this uniform and do something that you clearly know is illegal? You don’t let him charge the case, and you even personally kept the surveillance camera footage from the Internet cafe. Wang Guomin, do you have the country and the party in your eyes?”
There was a reason for the superintendent’s anger. The person was from his station, and this issue would definitely have a negative impact on him.
Wang Guomin acted strong and said, “Superintendent, I didn’t have the intention of turning black to white. Give me a few days; I’ll fight to reach a compromise with them.”
“Don’t say this to me; say it to the uniform on your body and your badge.” Li Jianbang sighed. “This issue has been blown up on the Internet, and the superiors are all watching closely.”
Wang Guomin’s face turned white.
“Wait for your punishment.” Li Jianbang waved his hand and was too lazy to look at him. “Get out!”
Wang Guomin had a face filled with desolation and disappointment.
If it were not for this footage, it would take a maximum of three days for him to cause the other party to willingly arrange for a settlement and scale down the big issue before removing it altogether. He had done similar things before; due to the mindset of civilians not fighting with officials and it was all small issues like brawling, many of them would choose to settle.
However, there was no use in saying such things now.
