823 Smokeless Battlefield

Indeed, with Fangzheng's joke, Jing Yan calmed down and explained patiently. "These are very likely bots. However, behind most of them might be paid spammers, bastards who have little conscience and only care about money. They don't care who the one hiring them is or who they hurt. As long as they are paid, they will stand on whoever's side."

Fangzheng frowned. "Are all spammers like that?"

Jing Yan shook her head. "There are just too many spammers. Many of them survive on this, but there are all kinds of fish in the sea. Some will take note of the merits of a mission before doing it, but there are always a batch of people who ignore everything. All they care about is to earn money, and they wouldn't care even if they were hired to curse their own mothers! I call these people vile spammers. As the saying goes, there is honor among thieves, so those who are unscrupulous and without principle are viewed in contempt even by other spammers."

"I see." Fangzheng heaved a sigh of relief. He was truly afraid that people would fall for such fabrications in large numbers. That would truly be a terrifying disaster of morals.

At this moment, Jing Yan's cell phone rang. Jing Yan hurriedly picked it up before smiling. "Success! The city station has decided to help us with the live broadcast. Hurry! Make the preparations. We will begin the live broadcast in ten minutes!"

Wang Dayou instantly became happy when he heard that. He nearly jumped up in joy.

Fangzheng, Xia Jili, Xia Ke, and the other three hostages smiled as well. After all this time, everyone understood Wang Dayou's predicament. All of them had unknowingly biased themselves in his favor, knowing that he wasn't a bad person. The stars had simply aligned poorly for him. None of them wished to see a good man's family crumble. Therefore, all of them felt sincerely happy for Wang Dayou.

Soon, Jing Yan and Old Miao were done with their preparations. Upon receiving confirmation, the live broadcast began.

At the same time, people who were watching television in Black River City suddenly saw a red mark appear at the top of their screens with the following text: Today, an armed assault and hostage situation occurred in Black River City's Yucai Street. Presently, our station's Reporter Jing Yan is risking her life for an exclusive interview with the suspect. This is first-hand news brought to you in a first-hand live broadcast! Take note: The suspect has not been apprehended yet and is highly dangerous!

Upon seeing this line of text, everyone watching was taken aback. With their curiosity piqued, all viewers switched to the seldom-watched local city television station.

Televisions in a few malls also switched to the city television station. However, the live broadcast had yet to begin with only a broadcasting room being shown for now with a host who was recounting the situation that was already known and asking for the audience's patience.

"Mom, what are you watching? Why is it so loud?" A girl popped her head out of the room.

On the sofa was a woman knitting a sweater. She nudged her reading glasses and said, "Some breaking news. There was an assault on Yucai Street, and a store was taken hostage. There will be an exclusive live broadcast soon. Tsk… In this day and age, that's too crazy. Anything can happen."

"Yucai Street? Is it that crazy murderer?" The girl was on Weibo, so the moment she heard that, she immediately made the connection and asked.

"What crazy murderer?" The woman was taken aback.

The girl ran over and sat cross-legged beside the woman. She said smugly, "I told you to register on Weibo and start connecting with the real world, but you refused." Seeing how her mother was looking displeased and about to berate her, she hurriedly said, "Weibo has already blown up over this matter today. A verified account is present at the scene and was able to take photos. This is first-hand news. He said that the crazy murderer killed a pregnant lady on the street with a firearm, killing both mother and child!

"Apparently, the suspect has quite a background, and he's especially evil! Even the police can't do a thing to him! Many of my friends are supporting him on WeChat. Regardless, this world needs a voice of justice. We wish to gather the public's strength to make the government take this matter seriously and bring the culprit to justice."

When the woman heard that, she frowned. "Why does this sound a little too fantastic to me? That's not what they said on television."

"The television's all fake," argued the girl.

"Then your source is real?" The woman curled her lips.

"Of course. I was reading exclusive news," said the girl smugly.

At that moment, the live broadcast began. The woman said, "Enough, cut the chatter. Let's listen to what the television has to say."

The girl curled her lips disapprovingly, but she obediently sat there to watch.

At that moment, a female reporter appeared on television. After she said a few introductory words, she went on to say, "Dear members of the audience, I know that many people have their misunderstandings and puzzlements over this matter. Now, I'll be interviewing the person in question live. Please listen to what he has to say and get to know the real Wang Dayou, and find out that he is nothing like the man you read about in fake news!"

With that said, the camera landed on Wang Dayou, who was dressed in dirty construction clothes. When the girl saw his attire, she was stunned. She exclaimed. "That's… That's Wang Dayou? It's not a double, right?"

"Shut up and watch." the woman berated her daughter.

The little lass fell silent, but her eyes were filled with suspicion.

"Wang Dayou, don't be afraid. Speak, tell us your story," Jing Yan said.

Wang Dayou appeared extremely nervous as he was breaking out in sweat. This was his first time being on television, and it was because of a matter that involved life and death. How could he not be nervous? Despite trying hard, he ultimately couldn't say a word.

At that moment, Fangzheng, who was standing behind the camera, smiled at Wang Dayou. He pressed his palms together and gave Wang Dayou an encouraging look. For some reason, that look made Wang Dayou feel a lot more at ease.

Wang Dayou took a deep breath and finally spoke, "I… My name is Wang Dayou. I really am Wang Dayou. Here's my identification card!"

With that said, Wang Dayou began fumbling for his identification card, but he couldn't find it despite spending a long time searching. The anxiety left him sweating profusely.

Upon seeing this, the girl scoffed. "This acting sure is fake. Didn't he mention an identification card? Why isn't there any?"

The woman glared at her before she shut up.

At that moment, Wang Dayou was indeed reeling with anxiety, and it only got worse because he couldn't find his identification card.

Upon seeing this, Jing Yan hurriedly said, "Why don't you tell us your story first?"

Wang Dayou nodded and wiped away his sweat. "My name is Wang Dayou. I…"

Wang Dayou began recounting his story. He wasn't sure where to begin, so he just began from the beginning. He talked about his family background and how he had been working at the construction site for two years, only to not be paid after the job was over. His child was now severely ill and that was how he had ended up coming to Xia Jili…

Finally, Wang Dayou cried. "I really never wanted to harm anyone. All I wished was to scare him and get back my money. I want to use that money to treat my son! Why is it so hard for that to happen?"

With that said, Wang Dayou broke into tears.