Chapter 21 The Terminally Ill Lady Is Awesome
In the Orapolis Police Department's announcement, there were no pictures. But the resourcefulness of netizens is hard for ordinary people to imagine!
After the Orapolis Police Department went viral, knowledgeable people arrived at the scene in three minutes.
user @IWannaBeQuiet: "I know this one! I live on Happiness Road. I went out today and saw police cars parked across the street. [picture.jpg][picture.jpg][picture.jpg]"
user @IcedCoconutLatte: "[picture.jpg] I saw it too. A lot of people were saying the antique shop owner was cheating, and his wife came to smash his shop... I didn't expect it to be this. Rumours are so misleading."
user @LittleWatermelon: "[picture.jpg][picture.jpg] I live right above the criminal! Holy crap, I heard the golden bars were chiseled out of the wall?"
user @BoiledWater: "I'm speechless. I never thought I'd get to hear gossip from my own neighbourhood online.
My grandma told me that when the antique shop owner was young, he was a troublemaker, just loafing around all day and doing some petty theft.
It wasn't until 2003 that he suddenly became rich, left his hometown, and bought a house and a car in Orapolis.
At the time, everyone in the village said he got rich off of ill-gotten gains and that God had no eyes. So this is what happened!"
user @BoiledWater: "Let me add, even his wife didn't know about the sixteen golden bars! Now his wife is making a scene at the police station and refuses to admit she's an accomplice!"
user @Don'tChangeMyNameUnlessIWorkHard: "Honestly, don't you guys feel like the person in the pictures posted by the user above looks like the terminally ill young woman from yesterday? [picture.jpg][picture.jpg][picture.jpg][picture.jpg]"
user @Don'tChangeMyNameUnlessIWorkHard circled Kendall's silhouette in red. He truly had a sharp eye.
Kendall's height was around five feet five inches.
She might be considered tall in the South, but in the North, she was on the shorter side.
Not to mention that all the police officers were over six feet, and even Cyrus was six feet tall.
Among the tall people, Kendall was a small and unique presence.
The users who took the pictures probably took them casually, without a specific angle in mind. So, the pictures were either blurry, or half of Kendall's body was blocked by the tall figures of Mark and the others. Even the video only captured Kendall's side and back.
The user @Don'tChangeMyNameUnlessIWorkHard was able to recognize Kendall as the same person who had helped at the Heavenly Heart Shopping Plaza the day before, which showed how impressive his memory was.
But just because @Don'tChangeMyNameUnlessIWorkHard had such a sharp eye, it didn't mean that other netizens did too.
user @PeaceOfMind replied to @Don'tChangeMyNameUnlessIWorkHard: "Uh... while I also admire the bravery of the terminally ill young lady, there's no need to mistake everyone for her, right?"
user @ForeignStudent replied to @PeaceOfMind: "I took a close look, and I think the user above is right!!! The silhouette, hair colour, and hair length are all especially similar to the terminally ill young lady! [comparison picture.jpg]"
user @SourOrange: "How are they similar?! The one today's skin is clearly darker!"
user @LittleBaby: "Wow, I just looked at the pictures, and I feel like they are too! But it's impossible, right? She appeared at two crime scenes in a row?"
user @HappyFatHouse: "You people who say she looks like the terminally ill young lady, don't be so ridiculous!"
The internet quickly became a battlefield over this matter, and a lot of netizens even called the Orapolis Police Department to get confirmation. The police department's phone wouldn't stop ringing. The operator who was on duty even had the urge to rip out the phone line.
Mark, who had just finally processed Kendall's two different identities, had to call her reluctantly.
"The online chatter about you is getting too big.
A netizen exposed a picture of us arresting Cyrus today, and you were in it.
People are arguing about your identity non-stop, and our phone lines are close to exploding. "
Kendall raised an eyebrow. "My identity?"
"Yeah," Mark said, knowing that Kendall probably hadn't checked the trending page.
He explained, "I don't know if I should say you're lucky or not, but even though the netizens exposed so many pictures from the scene, not one of them is a clear shot of your face.
People are debating your identity, and they can only come to us for an answer. "
Mark sighed. "If they had a clear picture of your face, they would know your identity, and your reputation wouldn't be so bad online. Why don't you consider revealing your identity?"
"No," Kendall said, refusing without a second thought.
"Why?" Mark didn't understand. After he found out how badly Kendall was being talked about online, he specifically searched for information about her on TikTok.
He then understood why Kendall had become a target for netizens. Mia was a popular celebrity with a lot of fans, so a lot of things that weren't even factual were being turned into Kendall's fault.
In Mark's opinion, Kendall's only mistake was not having as many fans as Mia.
That was why no one stood up for her when Mia's fans were insulting her.
If Kendall was willing to reveal her true identity, with all the public support she was getting as the terminally ill young woman, even Mia's fans would have to think twice before they said something.
Kendall chuckled softly. "Let's keep it a secret for now. I don't want the netizens to know about all this negativity. I just want them to keep the initial good feelings they have for me."
Kendall's words made Mark feel a little ashamed. It was true. The netizens who wanted to donate to Kendall and stand up for her were genuinely kind people. He shouldn't try to use their affection for Kendall as a weapon against others.
Mark humbly admitted, "I'm sorry. I was being a little petty."
Kendall was surprised. "How so? You were just looking out for me. I should be thanking you. I'll buy you a bubble tea sometime." Kendall said jokingly, and the serious atmosphere Mark had created was immediately gone.
Mark then explained, "However, our department's phone lines are constantly ringing, and that's not good. It affects the operator's work and could also prevent other people who need help from getting through, that's why I called you."
Kendall thought about it and said, "Why don't you post another announcement? You can admit on TikTok that the person who reported Cyrus was me. But, just like the case from yesterday, you can admit that it's me without revealing my personal information."
Mark immediately agreed. "No problem. That way, the netizens won't call us anymore."
"Thank you for the trouble."
"No, we should be thanking you."
After hanging up, Kendall saw that the Orapolis Police Department had posted another update on their TikTok, confirming that the person in the photos netizens had taken was indeed the terminally ill young lady. Aside from that, no other personal information was leaked.
The internet never lacks dedicated users.
The moment the Orapolis Police Department's post went up, it was pushed to the screens of over a million followers.
In just one minute, people started liking and commenting.
The shock and admiration for the terminally ill young lady were so thick you could feel it through the screen.
user @IcedCola: "Ahhhh, what am I seeing?! The police department posted three times in a row today?!"
user @AppleSeed replied to @IcedCola: "Dude! Is that the main point?! Look at the content! The official account personally confirmed that the person who reported the robbery criminal today was the terminally ill young lady!"
user @DynamoGirl: "Ahhhh, I knew it!!! This young lady is so awesome!"
user @CeilingFan: "Holy crap, two days in a row! She helped the police solve two cases in a row. I'm literally going to cry. I'll buy soup for ten random people from Orapolis."
The comment section exploded, and a tall building of comments was built in seconds.
Kendall lowered her eyelids. Her long lashes hid the thoughts in her eyes. The call from Mark had reminded her of something.
These two times, she was lucky that her face wasn't caught on camera, so her identity as Kendall wasn't revealed. She only had thirteen days left to live, and the system had a lot of missions waiting for her. She would be appearing in front of netizen's cameras more and more.
Kendall didn't want to expose her identity just yet.
She had to think about how she could hide her identity.
As for why she didn't want her real information to be known, aside from the reason she told Mark, Kendall also considered that she would be catching criminals a lot in the future.
There might be more than one criminal sometimes, and they might even have accomplices.
Exposing her identity would put her in danger.
She treasured the life she had worked so hard to get.
Of course, Kendall didn't plan on letting the fans who were being used as a weapon by Mia get away with all the insults. You repay kindness with kindness and hatred with hatred.
Instead of using other people's hands, Kendall preferred to do things herself. She just needed a chance to turn the tables, and she would make sure to slap the faces of all of Mia's fans!
At the Hansen family home, as a popular rising star, Mia always kept an eye on online trends.
Yesterday, because Kendall had violently kicked her into the pool, she was afraid to go online.
Even though she had arranged for her staff to delete all the negative comments, she was still afraid of ugly pictures of her appearing online.
It wasn't until today that she finally couldn't take it anymore. She used a burner account to sneak online and found that her fans were still defending her. She even found out they had gotten Kendall to trend, and she happily curled her lips into a smile.
Mia had nothing to do, so she was just scrolling on her phone.
She, of course, saw the trending topics about the terminally ill young lady.
A hint of jealousy flashed in her perfectly made-up eyes.
All she did was save a person, and she was trending for days.
That was real popularity, and she didn't even have to spend a penny.
'How great would it be if I could have all that popularity? All that traffic is being wasted on an ordinary person!'
Her finger unconsciously swiped, and a video popped up.
.. It was the video of Kendall outsmarting the criminal at the Heavenly Heart Shopping Plaza yesterday.
When Mia saw the thin figure in the patient gown with her back to the camera, her heart skipped a beat.
'That person's silhouette looks so much like Kendall! '
But then, Mia immediately denied her own speculation. 'Impossible! Kendall was just discharged yesterday and had violently kicked her and the Hansen family into the pool. How could she have been at the Heavenly Heart Shopping Plaza saving people?'
As for the patient gown she was wearing, that didn't prove anything. The hospital had a lot of them, and anyone who was a patient would have one.
She didn't know if it was because of the person's popularity or something else, but just seeing her silhouette made Mia feel a bit annoyed. Mia frowned and swiped away the video that was bothering her.
(End of Chapter)