Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 146

Chapter 146: A New Internet Celebrity

Qin Luo had officially taken over all of Liu Jia’s work. Since then, she had been as busy as a spinning top. She had gone to bed at four in the morning yesterday and had woken up at seven to take her girlfriend to work. The traffic on the way back had been congested until nine. As soon as she had gotten to the company, it had been a series of meetings.

A production line of groups, an iron-willed Qin Luo. She had worked until past eight in the evening, and the large conference room had not yet adjourned.

“There’s one more thing to announce before we adjourn.”

The directors of the various business departments were all sitting in the conference room, including those from the content department, e-commerce, and scholar incubation, as well as the business department, who had been called back from maternity leave for the meeting. More than thirty people were all looking at Qin Luo, hoping to get off work early.

Qin Luo’s tone was unhurried, but it had a clear sense of finality:

“In the last quarter of this year, we have a project to do.”
“To incubate an internet celebrity at the fastest speed.”
“I hope her story can be known by the entire network.”

There was no PPT on the large screen. The operators were in the dark. The incubation and business departments were very gossipy, whispering to each other and asking which newcomer the company had signed. They were thinking: which lucky little internet celebrity is going to rise to the top again?

You have to know that even though Logos was now infamous, it had never lost in terms of content algorithm. With its precise content and strong algorithm, it was easy for them to win back the initiative in the traffic market. If Qin Luo had requested that “all the company’s resources be tilted” to promote an internet celebrity, then the scale of this project would definitely not be simple. In just half a year, this newcomer could be on the verge of the second tier of the entertainment industry.

Wang Xi also frowned, a faint movement in her heart: at this critical juncture, who was Qin Luo preparing to promote?

Qin Luo opened her computer and put up a picture.

Wang Xi looked at the figure on the screen. It was Director Shen in an examination vest. She couldn’t help but let out a sound.

Was she going to make the boss’s wife famous?

Qin Luo’s indifferent gaze swept over the content department. “I won’t interfere with how the story is packaged, but there is only one goal, which is to have a high degree of exposure for the cold case on her. You all have more experience than I do in how to tilt the resources of your various departments. I just want results. This cold case has to become the most eye-catching topic this winter.”

Qin Luo paused, her gaze on the stubborn profile on the large screen.

“President Liu and I will pay for a million in funds out of our own pockets. The platform distribution department will set up an information channel. As long as we collect information related to the case from back then, we will give a reward.”

“Wang Xi, you will be in charge of this project. The content PM is Cheng An. The incubation department will create a group chat, and I will pull the people in for you tonight. The planning period is one week, and it will be launched in November.”

With that, Qin Luo closed her computer.

The middle management did not say anything and quickly packed up their things and adjourned the meeting. Wang Xi quietly approached Qin Luo. “Does Director Shen know that you’re going to make her a big internet celebrity?”

Qin Luo did not answer and took out her phone to send a message to Shen Yiyi, asking if she had finished her work and if she could pick her up.

Qin Luo did not say, but Wang Xi understood.

Their boss was going to create a buzz for the unfinished case from back then, to increase the attention, so that it would not disappear from the public’s eyes. Wang Xi had already thought of a name for the project for Cheng An.

—The whole network is a lamp.

Under the streetlight, Shen Yiyi was holding her laptop bag. She had been standing at the intersection for a few minutes, waiting for Qin Luo, looking worried.

Honking was not allowed in the city center. The car had driven up to her without her noticing. Qin Luo had to roll down the window and shout, “Get in.”

“I was a little busy tonight.” Qin Luo explained her tardiness. “You haven’t been waiting for too long, have you?”

Originally, they had agreed to go directly to the hospital to see Liu Jia, but during dinner in the evening, Shen Yiyi had called Qin Luo and had asked her to pick her up. Qin Luo would naturally not refuse, so she had quickly ended the meeting on time and had rushed to pick up her girlfriend and go home.

“I just got off work too.”

It was Shen Yiyi’s first day back at work, and fatigue was written on her face. But she was more annoyed in her heart. At noon, the big leader of the case-handling department had found her and had asked her to help him connect with Qin Luo, to ask Qin Luo to come to the bureau to assist in the interrogation of Zhan Luo.

For her to be the bridge, to save a procedure, so that they didn’t have to send a formal letter to invite Qin Luo for tea. But for Qin Luo to cooperate with the police to interrogate Zhan Luo was also very difficult for Shen Yiyi.

Shen Yiyi was afraid that Qin Luo would be hurt a second time.

“What’s wrong with you?” Qin Luo noticed that Shen Yiyi was absent-minded. “Was work very tiring today?”

Shen Yiyi had not yet thought of her words and had used a perfunctory “it’s okay.”

“I didn’t expect you to ask me to pick you up tonight.” Qin Luo was considering this. She thought for a while and said, “I also happen to have a few things to discuss with you.”

This had relieved Shen Yiyi’s pressure. “You can go first.”

“First thing.” Qin Luo held the steering wheel with both hands and cleared her throat, asking solemnly, “Since we’re in a relationship, why don’t we live together?”

With that, Qin Luo peeked at Shen Yiyi’s expression.

Very calm, as if there was no resistance.

This could work.

Qin Luo continued to analyze, “I heard from Little Lu that your lease has expired. Instead of you bearing the rent alone, why don’t you…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Shen Yiyi turned her head to look out the window. “Okay.”

Qin Luo was surprised, her eyes shining. She had not expected Shen Yiyi to agree so quickly, almost without any beating around the bush.

“Actually, it’s not far to drive from Cloud Top. I can make a detour every day. It’s very convenient to pick you up at night.”

“No need for you to pick me up and drop me off. It’s too much trouble.” Shen Yiyi said, “I’ll go and buy a car next week when I’m on vacation.”

“Huh? Buy a car?”

Buying a car and living together were not small matters. In less than a quarter of an hour, Shen Yiyi had lightly made two major decisions.

Qin Luo felt that it was too rash. She did not want Shen Yiyi to be overly burdened because of their relationship.

Qin Luo slowed down the car, and her tone also became gentle. “You don’t have to buy a car. You can just drive mine.”

“I was originally thinking of buying a house near my unit.”
…
Shen Yiyi added, “Since you have a house, it saves me the money of buying a house.”

Qin Luo was finally relieved. “Then we can go and choose one when we have time. An electric car is fine. We don’t have to fight for a license plate.”

Shen Yiyi did not dwell on this topic and instead asked, “What’s the second thing you want to discuss with me?”

The car entered a tunnel. Qin Luo followed the car in front of her steadily. The matter of living together had been settled too quickly, which made the Qin Luo who was still driving at this moment a little hesitant.

It was about talking about the trauma openly. She didn’t know if Shen Yiyi would mind.

Qin Luo could only half-joke, “I want to make you an internet celebrity.”

Shen Yiyi’s brow furrowed tightly. “I’m a public servant.”

“Who said that a public servant can’t have a side job?” Qin Luo retorted, “The few internet celebrity police officers in your bureau were also promoted by an MCN.”

“I don’t agree to this.” Shen Yiyi shook her head in resistance.

“I don’t mean to make you an IP.” Qin Luo explained patiently, “I want to use the resources I have to help you find clues to the case from back then.”

Qin Luo had carefully read the posts about the Shen family online.

She knew that the clues to the killer of the case back then had stopped at a few bloody handprints. The only evidence that was beneficial to the police in their search at that time was the surviving Shen Yiyi. But because she was too young and had been too scared, she had not provided any useful information to the police until now.

Forgetting the criminal suspect was a huge blow to the family, let alone Shen Yiyi, who was both a family member and a victim.

The pressure she had been under all these years was imaginable.

It had been more than twenty years. It would take at least a day and a half for a piece of news to appear in the newspaper from the time of the incident. And the reports were mostly concentrated in the newspapers. The television reports had to be reviewed, and the update speed of the portal websites was also extremely slow. Even if there were really clues, there was no convenient interactive channel. Many truths might have been buried in the cracks.

But now? The algorithm magnifies our emotions, the topic drives the traffic, and the traffic can in turn shape the truth.

From the occurrence of an incident to its trending, it only takes a video, a keyword, and in just a dozen or so minutes, it can detonate the entire network. In this world, even a lost cat can become the top trending topic.

That person.
That real killer.

Perhaps he was still alive in some corner, wearing the skin of a decent person, and mixing in with the crowd.

In these past few years, Shen Yiyi had been working and looking for clues alone. Her energy was limited, and her speed could not keep up with the passage of time.

Fighting alone was really too lonely, like a person salvaging in the deep sea. She knew that there were fragments of a shipwreck underwater, but she did not know which sea area to dive in. At this thought, Qin Luo was full of heartache.

“You believe me.”

Qin Luo now had a lot of resources, a team, and she didn’t even have to worry about the trending topics.

Qin Luo said with confidence, “You have to believe that Logos has this ability.”

If Logos was just a company that created topics, then the ups and downs of the online traffic cycle would have long since put Logos to death. “Creating,” “incubating,” and “breaking out” were just the rhetoric that the operations would use. The core of Logos had always been “salvaging the social truth.”

Logos could make a common person enter the public eye in ten days, could create a public image that was known by the entire network in half a year, and could create a new track for her within a year.

She just needed Shen Yiyi, the person involved, to accept it with peace of mind.

As long as Shen Yiyi agreed, then this precise and powerful arrow of Logos would point directly at the darkness in the depths of time, right at the other’s brow.

Qin Luo would inevitably be worried. She was afraid that Shen Yiyi’s old wounds would be torn open and she would be in pain, afraid that she would not be able to bear this kind of online scrutiny. Becoming famous meant that there would be more public opinion, and she was afraid that she would not be able to resist the criticism.

“We have to let this case resurface, to re-enter the public eye, not by crying and complaining, not by labels, but by your persistent purpose.”

Qin Luo was staring at the slowly moving traffic in front of her, her tone of voice calm. “But to turn an old case into a new one, the first thing to do is to have you, as the person involved, the victim…”

She stammered, “Even as a survivor, to tell the story yourself.”

Qin Luo couldn’t bear it. “But I’m afraid you won’t be able to bear your life being magnified, peeked at, and torn apart for a second time.”

The car came out of the underground tunnel, and the streetlights did not light up the night.

She said with concern, “I’m afraid you’ll be swallowed up by the past again…”

Qin Luo was worried about more than just these things.

She was afraid that even after doing all this, Shen Yiyi’s dreams would still be full of blood, and she would still be empty when she woke up. But she was even more afraid that she would never find that answer in her lifetime.

Finding the killer was Qin Luo’s goal.
But salvaging Shen Yiyi was also her goal.

Qin Luo said firmly, “I said I would accompany you to find him, so I will definitely find him.”

Shen Yiyi was speechless. She held her hands on her lap tightly. A police car passed by not far from the window, and the police lights flashed, reflecting the hatred in her eyes. Her heart loosened.

“Okay.”