Chapter 7: Spreading Rumors Is Effortless, Refuting Them Is an Uphill Battle

Which hotel?

How could he possibly know which hotel? That hotel didn’t even exist.

“Father-in-law, surely you don’t have no evidence again?”

“Don’t you know at which hotel that woman and I booked a room?”

“What was the room number?”

“You don’t know either, do you?”

“Father-in-law, you just saw me cheating, but how come you don’t know anything else?”

Zhao Qiang’s barrage of soul-searching questions hit Liu Hongliang so hard that his scalp tingled.

He even lost the ability to think clearly, utterly at a loss for words.

“I must have remembered wrong. It wasn’t at a hotel. You two…”

Before he could finish, Zhao Qiang fired off another volley of questions.

“Not at a hotel? Then it must’ve been at that woman’s home.”

“In which neighborhood? What’s the apartment number? What does that woman look like? We’re still live streaming here; let’s go check it out together.”

Faced with Liu Hongliang’s sudden backtracking, Zhao Qiang remained unfazed because the innocent have nothing to fear.

He hadn’t done it—he simply hadn’t.

Since the Liu family loves to fabricate stories, let them hurry up and spin one. Let them satisfy their craving for lies.

“I’m not going…”

Liu Hongliang was drenched in sweat, his mind a complete mess.

“If you won’t go, why won’t you go?”

“Is it because you haven’t had time to come up with a story?”

Zhao Qiang pressed on aggressively, pulling Liu Hongliang toward the live streaming screen.

Liu Hongliang’s gaze wavered, stammering, unable to speak coherently.

Videos, photos, records—none of these existed.

For a moment, the live chat was flooded!

The tide of public opinion reversed instantly, filled with voices of doubt.

No evidence, yet accusing someone of infidelity—it’s as easy as saying a word.

Not only were the Liu family criticized, but the female internet celebrity involved was also dragged into the scolding.

People said she had no business meddling in others’ affairs—wasn’t this just looking for trouble?

Seeing this, Chu Siqi’s heart sank in despair; she felt helpless.

She quickly interjected, “Maybe uncle was too shocked at the time and didn’t think to take photos or remember the room number.”

“If you saw it and didn’t take photos, that’s quite the fatherly heart you’ve got!”

Zhao Qiang snorted coldly. “Failing to preserve such important evidence—what else can your family do besides make up stories?”

“One mouth each, so many mouths means you can turn black into white, right?”

Liu Hongliang’s face flushed bright red as he stammered, “I... my mind was a complete mess then. I couldn’t think about all that!”

At that moment, the live chat comments poured in.

“Is this family even reliable?”

“Feels like they’re framing someone.”

“What’s the streamer even doing? Helping to slander people?”

“Did the streamer get paid? Are they in cahoots?”

Chu Siqi grew anxious. She had been trying to fight for justice as a righteous messenger for this family.

Now, she had become a clown—wasn’t she ruining her own reputation?

She urged Liu Hongliang, “Uncle, please try to recall the details carefully, or we really won’t be able to prove Zhao Qiang’s wrongdoing.”

“I saw it, believe it or not!” Liu Hongliang said simply, refusing to say anything more.

He just needed to insist Zhao Qiang was a scoundrel; the more he spoke, the more mistakes he made.

Zhao Qiang sneered, “Spreading rumors is easy; refuting them is exhausting.”

“If you can’t bring solid evidence today, don’t make a fuss here!”

“Your daughter is still in the delivery room; you should be taking care of her.”

Chu Siqi saw the online comments overwhelmingly criticizing her and urging her to quit streaming.

“Stop streaming, Pure Pure is just out to cause trouble. Go back to farming!”

Public opinion turned decisively against Zhao Qiang, and Chu Siqi was on the verge of tears.

She angrily rebuked the Liu family, “You’re just acting here all along!”

“You slander someone without evidence of cheating—how can you do that?”

“We all believed your family, and this is how you repay us? Shameless!”

“Why is a young lady like you speaking so harshly?”

Li Fengying shoved Chu Siqi away, preventing her from filming further.

She even tried to snatch the phone, as the videos being recorded were damaging to their family.

“This is our family matter. What does it have to do with you?”

“Who told you to interfere? You’d better leave.”

Chu Siqi was stunned by how quickly the old woman had changed her tune.

Just moments ago, she had grabbed Chu Siqi’s hand, asking for help, and now she denied everything.

“Turn off that useless thing of yours! Who gave you permission to film our family?”

“You’re not even a journalist; what right do you have to film us?”

Liu Hongliang pointed at her still-streaming phone and told his son Liu Tianming to snatch it quickly.

If that footage got online, it would be damaging to them.

As the chaos erupted, two police officers approached.

Only then did the Liu family restrain themselves; otherwise, they might have confiscated Chu Siqi’s phone.

“Who called the police?” asked a tall female officer with a high ponytail and a police cap.

Her long, slender legs were wrapped in fitted police pants, exuding professionalism and sharpness.

Her delicate features drew admiring glances—she was a rare beauty in the force.

Her exquisite face was stern as she turned on her body camera and looked at everyone.

“It was me who called. This family is restricting my freedom and won’t let me leave.”

Zhao Qiang acted swiftly. If he let the Liu family speak first, they could twist black into white.

Though he was innocent, he wouldn’t give them any chance to spout nonsense.

“Officer, this is our son-in-law.”

“My daughter just gave birth to twins, and he’s trying to leave without taking responsibility.”

“You must help us!”

Li Fengying, shameless as ever, threw a bucket of dirty water on him.

“That’s not true, officer.”

“Don’t listen to this old woman; their whole family are liars.”

After everything that had happened, even if Chu Siqi wasn’t fully on Zhao Qiang’s side, she wouldn’t be fooled by the Liu family again.

They were utterly shameless, and she even began to sympathize with Zhao Qiang for having such a family.

Moreover, during the scuffle to grab the phone, the livestream had been cut off.

Now it was completely over; she couldn’t explain anything to her viewers.

“Is that you, Zhao Qiang?”

The female officer blinked in surprise, then blurted out.

A spark of delight appeared in her beautiful eyes—she hadn’t expected to meet him here.

“Are you Gao Lan?”

Zhao Qiang recognized the stunning police officer before him—his high school deskmate, Gao Lan.

So many years had passed, and she had become a police officer.

Thinking of Gao Lan, Zhao Qiang felt a tinge of nostalgia.

Since graduating from high school, he hadn’t seen her, but now a dream from a past life seemed fulfilled.

He imagined that in a past life, Gao Lan was also a policewoman, but he never filed a report, so they never met.

“Yes, it’s me. Long time no see.”

Gao Lan nodded. Though old classmates, she was on duty now and promptly began asking for details.

Before Zhao Qiang could speak, he was interrupted.

“Officer, you can’t be biased, or we’ll file a complaint.”

Li Fengying’s face showed panic upon seeing Gao Lan and Zhao Qiang knew each other.

“I’ll be brief. I want a paternity test, but the Liu family refuses.”

“They even want me to leave.”

“A paternity test?”

Both Gao Lan and Chu Siqi voiced their doubts simultaneously, and the mention of a paternity test instantly drew everyone’s attention.

Weren’t they just talking about a heartless scoundrel?

Why suddenly bring up a paternity test?

Normally, no one would mention this lightly.

It could destroy a marriage and cause family strife.

Up until now, it was the Liu family accusing Zhao Qiang. Now it was his turn.

“Yes. My mother says the child doesn’t look like me. I want a paternity test—is that illegal?”

“No… it’s not illegal.”

Gao Lan shook her head, surprised that Zhao Qiang was already married.

She realized this was a domestic dispute.

She felt overwhelmed, unable to handle it properly.

No matter right or wrong, she could only mediate.

He Fen paused, thinking she hadn’t said that.

Zhao Hai glanced at her, and only then did He Fen realize.

“Yes, I thought my grandson didn’t resemble my son, so I wanted a paternity test.”

“Who gave you the right to do a paternity test? We just won’t allow it.”

“Isn’t this a blatant insult to my daughter?”

Li Fengying jumped out in opposition. Zhao Qiang must have lost his mind today.

Clinging to the paternity test issue with no end in sight.

“Fine, let’s do the paternity test. If I’m wrong, I’ll give all my property to Ru Yan and keep not a penny.”

Zhao Qiang smiled faintly, staring at Li Fengying. In front of the police and everyone watching, he returned to the topic.

He wanted to see what nonsense Li Fengying could still come up with.

“No way. You can’t just do a paternity test like that.”

“Doesn’t my daughter care about her reputation?”

Just as Zhao Qiang expected, Li Fengying refused to relent.