He took the photo, his finger trembled for a moment, but he eventually steadied it and calmly typed.

[Cen Zeng's mother's statement: Informed, authorized.]

Simple, direct, and easy to spread.

He hesitated for a second, wanting to add something more, but in the end, he only added a few sentences at the beginning—

[Regarding the outside world's speculation about the attitude of Cen Zeng's family, the following is his mother's handwritten statement, for which we have obtained authorization.]

Then he pressed send.

He took a deep breath. The taxi driver was listening to a crosstalk show, occasionally letting out a soft chuckle. He looked outside at the dim yellow expanse of car lights before him, which felt like some strange form of mockery.

His phone vibrated. It was Zheng Yi, whom he had just added on WeChat. The message was concise and clear: "Saw it, well done."

She sent another message: "Contact me anytime."

He clutched his phone, only then realizing what he had truly done. But the Weibo post was already out; there was no need to look back.

As he rushed through the door, he bumped right into Zhang Yijie, who was about to knock.

His childhood friend was holding a pile of takeout and asked, "Where did you go?"

He said, "To see Cen Zeng's mother."

He had no time to listen to what Zhang Yijie said next.

Chen Ziheng was keeping watch at the computer. When he saw him, his tone was calm, but Cheng Shuo could hear a hint of relief in it. "The direction of the comment section has been turned around."

He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He clicked on the post he had just sent. The top comments had a very high number of likes.

[Didn't the university say the family was silent? The family has given their authorization. Let's see what the university has to say this time.]

[Informed, authorized. Just two words, so ruthless. It gives the university absolutely no room to blur the focus.]

[This was about the deceased in the first place. The family has agreed to the release of information, so where is this malicious attempt to sway public opinion coming from?]

[For everyone saying we're 'profiting off a tragedy,' please take a look. The family themselves want this exposed.]

The tide of public opinion was turning.

"Cen Zeng's Mother Authorization" was already a trending topic.

"How is it?" he turned his head and asked Chen Ziheng.

"The university is working overtime to delete posts..." Chen Ziheng said from the side, "but the heat is definitely flowing toward us now."

"When do you think the university will respond?" he asked Chen Ziheng.

"Tonight, if they're fast. Tomorrow at noon, if they're slow. If they drag it out any longer, we'll have the initiative and they'll be on the defensive."

"What about the advisor?"

"You think he can sit still?" Chen Ziheng sneered. "One more day at most, and Li Aimin will jump out himself."

Cheng Shuo nodded, feeling a sense of calm settle within him.

"Let's eat," he said. "I'm starving."

Zhang Yijie finally found a chance to shine. He opened everything on the table. "Come on, eat up. You two, get away from the computer for a bit. Eat something, then get back to the fight."

They took a few bites, and then Chen Ziheng glanced at his phone and looked up. "There's a new post."

"From the university?" Cheng Shuo swallowed his food. "What does it say?"

Chen Ziheng held his phone screen up in front of them.

Posted twenty minutes ago, this new exposé was already trending.

The whistleblower was a new account with no followers, a default Weibo profile picture, and the ID "Li Aimin Are You Even Human".

The content of the exposé was extremely detailed, including a large number of chat logs and audio recordings, almost on par with their own.

[Everyone is talking about the advisor's PUA* and s-xual harassment issues. The account authorized by Cen Zeng's family also posted related content recently.

*T/N: Chinese slang for emotional abuse

I'm here to add a more disgusting piece of direct evidence—the advisor privately meeting with students, implying that those "willing to be obedient" could directly enter the PhD program, which led to a fifth-year student jumping off a building.

This happened a few years ago. The family was silenced. You should still be able to find traces of it if you search now. I didn't dare post it back then, but now I feel everyone should know. And please stop hounding the living victims with questions. Here is the most direct evidence.]

[There are quite a few recordings, take your time and listen.]

He clicked on the audio. The man's voice, laced with a nauseating smile, sounded like a cockroach crawling past his ear.

"XXX (bleep) was able to get into the direct PhD program not just because he's capable, but also because he knows how to behave."

"You think the hospital is some pure place? Don't be naive."

"If you want to take this path too, I can help you."

"What are you hiding from? I think you're outstanding, I like you, that's why I'm willing to give you a chance."

Cheng Shuo slammed the pause button.

"Fuck," his voice was hoarse.

Chen Ziheng looked at him without speaking, just silently staring at the locked screen.

It was completely black, reflecting the faces of the three of them.

The smile on Zhang Yijie's lips completely vanished. He placed his chopsticks on the table. "Is he insane?"

Cheng Shuo took a deep breath but didn't reply.

Chen Ziheng unlocked his phone, stared at the black progress bar, and finally pressed play again.

"If you don't want to take this path anymore, then go ahead and report me. Who do you think people will believe, me or you?"

"What are you crying for? A grown man, what's there to cry about? You don't even have this much willpower, and you want to be a doctor? Are you going to cry like this in front of patients in the future?"

"Think about your parents. They've raised you for over a decade. Don't you feel ashamed?"

Chen Ziheng pressed pause and scrolled to the comment section.

It had already exploded.

[This isn't even subtle PUA, he's being blatant about it!]

[How are they going to spin this? Are they going to say the student was willing again?]

[Did the university know about this? How could they not know?]

[The family was silenced too? How dare they! Doesn't the university have a conscience?]

[Did this person become an advisor to do research, or to build a harem??]

[Damn, an old perv who goes after both men and women.]

Further down, people were posting all sorts of links for reporting him.

[If the university doesn't handle this, report it to the national level. Everyone can go to these websites to file a complaint—(link)]

[Everyone, don't just curse him out. What we really need to do is search for all kinds of information on this advisor. Did he embezzle research funds? Report him to the Funding Committee.]

Cheng Shuo didn't say anything. He sent a WeChat message to Zheng Yi: "The new trending post, was that you?"

The reply came back quickly: "Not me. I'm guessing it was a friend of the Senior Brother who was forced into silence back then."

Chen Ziheng looked at the message and nodded slightly. "We stood up, and Cen Zeng's family has shown their stance. More people should be willing to speak out now."

He pulled up his Weibo private messages.

Aside from the earlier messages questioning them, the ones now cursing the professor, and those supporting their fight to the end, the latest one was from someone who said, 'I want to be anonymous. But I have email records, could I trouble you to help me post them?'

Another person said they were a Senior Sister from Cen Zeng's lab, the victim who had been protected by a mosaic blur. 'I have WeChat records. No need to censor them this time, please post them directly.'

"Should we contact them?" he asked Cheng Shuo.

"Let's contact them."

"Will there be a good outcome?" Zhang Yijie asked.

"I don't know," Chen Ziheng replied. "No matter how big the scandal gets, it's not unheard of for the university to just symbolically revoke his position, only for him to move to another university and continue being a professor afterward."

"It doesn't matter," Cheng Shuo said. "None of it matters. What's important is that right now, we need to make a scene. The bigger, the better."

He looked at the private messages, one after another.

He had always been someone who only swept the snow from his own doorstep, but at this moment, for some reason, he could almost imagine how each of those requests for exposure was typed out.

Someone's fingers trembling, typing out "Can you help me post this?" only to delete it again. Someone holding their breath in thought, considering over and over whether to become the next "victim" to step forward and face public opinion. And someone else, resolutely writing, "No need to censor it this time."

He closed his eyes and gripped his phone, his heart pounding wildly.