Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 216 Became a Cyberbully
Late at night, the inspection team, the complaint center.
"What! Zhang Da means he's not going to prosecute Chen Shu?"

Deng Xiaochao felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately stood up from his office chair, clenched his fists, and looked on in disbelief.

After returning from the Zhongshan Police Station, he voluntarily stayed in the office to organize materials in order to handle the case well. However, he received a formal notice from his superiors that the case was being withdrawn.

Lin Qi nodded with a bitter face: "Zhang Da didn't want this either. We're short of quotas lately, and Chen Shu's job was practically handed to us, but..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence, pointed a finger at the ceiling, closed his eyes, and shook his head helplessly.

"Could this be Director Zhang's idea?" Deng Xiaochao slumped into a chair, completely exhausted.

Lin Qi shrugged noncommittally, but leaned over his desk and gently patted Deng Xiaochao's shoulder twice.

"Hey!"

Deng Xiaochao's desk is located in a corner on the northwest side of the complaints center. He particularly likes this secluded spot because sitting here, he's usually the first person in the office to see the leaders enter from outside.

He can react much faster.

For example, when answering the phone, be polite and courteous; when reviewing documents, sit upright with good posture. These are all ways to leave a lasting impression on your superiors.

He thought that the fact that his superiors had agreed to let him go to the Zhongshan Police Station to handle the case of Chen Shu, a big star in the branch office, was an affirmation of his hard work over the years.

He believed that if Chen Shu's abuse of power to beat the criminal suspect was successfully punished and brought to justice, it would be the first step for him to be transferred to a field position.

As a result, he still sits alone in this corner. And tomorrow, he will start answering complaint calls and recording them for future reference.

In fact, this kind of nine-to-five job is what many grassroots police officers dream of. However, Deng Xiaochao's mind wasn't on that.

At this moment, he watched Lin Qi's back as he walked out of the office. Then, recalling the other party's comfort and advice earlier, telling him to focus on his work and not to think about going out to handle cases, he felt a pang of sadness.

His heart was filled with rage.

"Chen Shu! You wait, this isn't over yet!"

That night, consumed by rage, Deng Xiaochao registered several new media accounts and local forums in Dongzhou, edited the video of his complaint, added some inflammatory text, and posted it online.

In the early hours of the morning, all was quiet. Apart from the streetlights along the roads still diligently shining, the entire city of Dongzhou was asleep.

However, this is precisely the time when many night owls are out and about online.

A video news report about "police officers beating people" spread rapidly across forums and online communities throughout Dongzhou. Even several influential figures in the province reposted the link, sparking heated discussions online. The sheer number of likes and comments was alarming.

Chen Shu, a police officer from Zhongshan Police Station, found himself at the center of this public opinion storm concerning the police.

"A disgrace to the police force! A scourge among the officers!"

"Judging from his practiced fighting style, he's definitely a protector. I suggest investigating this thoroughly! He's wearing a tiger's skin but doing horrible things!"

"A black sheep! Take off your clothes and get out of here! These days, all police officers are thugs when they're naked!"

"Why haven't they fired this kind of person? Are they going to keep him around for the holidays?"

"All crows are black! Those who knowingly break the law deserve a double punishment!"

“I know about this; I was there at the time. The person who was beaten is a criminal!”

"Does this mean criminals can be beaten like this? This is a violation of human rights!" "Please release the full video footage; otherwise, I will not comment."

There were also some objective and fair comments. They were short and received very few likes, barely making an appearance in the tide of online comments before being completely submerged.

In order to attract attention and increase click-through rates, some websites and individuals, under the guise of exercising the right to news supervision, fabricated a series of articles such as "Gotham City Appears in Eastern Australia" and "Police Beat People While Drunk," spreading rumors and causing trouble online.

Chen Shu of Dongzhou has become a sensation.

Early morning, Zhengming District Public Security Bureau, Internet Monitoring Brigade, Public Opinion and Stability Maintenance Office.

Police officer Li Shimin had just finished breakfast at the unit's canteen and arrived at the office. Since it was still early and before work hours, he made himself a cup of instant coffee and habitually took out his phone to log in to the "Dongzhou Bar" forum to browse posts.

As the head of the online commentary team under the Internet monitoring brigade, Baidu Tieba, Douyin, local forums, and news apps are his main battlegrounds. He cannot be careless and must always be online.

This is both work and play.

Within the public security system, the only people who can treat work as entertainment and turn entertainment into work are those in the internet monitoring brigade's public opinion office.

Thinking of his colleagues in the next office who were still working overtime to support the investigation and competition, Li Shimin couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He hadn't seen them working overtime in a long time, let alone on duty.

He was swiping his phone screen with his right hand, taking a small sip of his coffee with his left, wondering if he had forgotten to add sugar that morning, when he suddenly noticed that several popular posts had been pushed to very prominent positions in the forum.

"Dongzhou Public Security Bureau, a black sheep!"

"Police officers assaulted people!"

Startled, she spilled the coffee she was holding in her left hand all over the floor.

Ignoring everything else, Li Shimin left the online forum and went to several local forums in Dongzhou. These forums were filled with similar content to the online forum. Because the incident happened locally, the posts there were even more heated than those on the forum, and it seemed that this wave of public opinion was extremely fierce.

After hesitating for a moment, he took out his phone again and opened Douyin (TikTok), only to find a scene of singing and dancing, just like always.

Thank goodness! Hopefully, we'll make it in time!

Li Shimin grabbed his phone and ran to the office of the leader on duty next door.

Zhongshan Police Station, Conference Room
Zeng Hong, Chen Shu, and Wu Haojie sat around the conference table, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Zeng Hong, a veteran who retired from the military and is now a frontline law enforcement officer, frowned and stammered for a long time, unable to come up with a coherent explanation.

Wu Haojie, who is over fifty years old and in charge of the patrol team and community policing at Zhongshan Police Station, was also at a loss: "I've never dealt with this before."

Chen Shu pointed to the printed materials on the table and said with a wry smile, "Have I become an internet celebrity?"

Zeng Hong slammed his fist on the table: "What a mess! I'm going to the bureau to talk to the leaders. You guys keep a close eye on things. Oh, and Lao Wu, make sure all the officers are on patrol today, and you'll personally lead the team."

Wu Haojie nodded: "Okay, I'll make the arrangements now."

Chen Shu watched Wu Haojie leave the conference room and close the door before turning to say, "Instructor Zeng, should I go to the bureau instead?"

Zeng Hong glared at him: "Where are you going? Feeling guilty? Just do what you're supposed to do at the station and wait for my news."

(End of this chapter)