Until the footsteps completely disappeared.

Zhou Chen shrugged, a cold look on his face, and closed the door.

If he forgives Zhou Lao Er and the others, he will be letting down those who have always cared about him silently.

Since you wanted his money and his business in the first place...

Don't blame him for being ruthless.

If you can't afford to pay compensation, you might as well go to jail.

downstairs,

The faces of Zhou Lao Er and his son Zhou Nan were so gloomy they could practically drip water. They had originally planned to bow down to Zhou Chen, withdraw the lawsuit, and return everything to the way it was at the beginning. However, they never expected that Zhou Chen would be even more ruthless than them. Even kneeling down was of no use.

Zhou Lao Er truly regretted provoking Zhou Chen. Had he known it would turn out this way, he would never have made that decision to covet Zhou Chen's money and business.

But it's too late to regret it now; there's no medicine for regret in this world.

"That damned bastard, I'm going to kill him!"

Zhou Nan narrowed his eyes, wanting to kill or cripple Zhou Chen.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lao Er cursed, "What's wrong with you? Because of him, you're ruining the rest of your life. How are your mother and I supposed to live? Get rid of this idea. I won't allow you to do anything reckless."

"Dad, Zhou Chen is going too far! He tricked you into kneeling down and still won't drop the lawsuit. He's deliberately playing us for fools. I can't swallow this!" Zhou Nan said indignantly.

Zhou Lao Er took a deep breath, suppressing his turbulent emotions, and said in a deep voice, "You have to swallow it even if you can't. Who told us to let him have a handle on us? We can't fight him. Let's leave it at that. This matter ends here."

What!

Zhou Nan's eyes widened. He's giving up already?

"This whole thing started because of me, Xiao Nan. From now on, the family will depend on you. You must not provoke him again."

"Dad, what do you mean? Are you going to..."

Zhou Nan's expression changed drastically, and he immediately shook his head: "No, Dad, you can't take this alone. If anyone has to go to jail, it should be me. I'm the one who gave him leverage over me."

"Don't be ridiculous. You're still young and have plenty of youth ahead of you. My life is already set. A year or two in jail is nothing. Don't worry, time will pass quickly. If you're a good kid and make something of yourself before I get out, and you're no less successful than Zhou Chen, I'll be satisfied."

"Dad, you can't do this. At worst, everyone in the Zhou family can share the burden. Why should you be responsible for everything? I don't agree." Zhou Nan firmly objected.

Zhou Lao Er, however, had a change of heart. He shook his head and said, “If we do that, our family will never be able to hold our heads high again. Right now, everyone in the Zhou family is blaming me, causing everyone to be implicated. If I don’t stand up, our family will have a very difficult time in the future. Sacrificing one of me is better than sacrificing everyone. At least, everyone in the Zhou family will remember my kindness, and you and your daughter will have a better life.”

"Dad, I won't allow it!"

"It's settled then. There's no need to try to persuade me anymore. My mind is made up."

Zhou Lao Er, with a serious expression, ended the topic.

That noon, Zhou Chen received a call from Zhengda Law Firm, saying that Zhou Lao Er had taken all the responsibility upon himself and that he would take responsibility for the previous events. The process was already underway.

This was somewhat unexpected for Zhou Chen.

His "second uncle" was such a manly man, taking all the blame himself, making the Zhou family the ones who were used, thus escaping legal punishment.

That's interesting!

I imagine the entire Zhou family is incredibly grateful to Zhou Lao Er.

Zhou Chen quickly saw through the benefits of Zhou Lao Er's actions. Although he would have to bear the legal consequences, his status in the Zhou family would not only not decrease, but would actually increase. Once he regained his freedom, he would still be the person in charge of the Zhou family.

On the contrary, if Zhou Lao Er did not do this, all members of the Zhou family would have to accept legal punishment. Some members of the Zhou family would harbor resentment and blame Zhou Lao Er's family. In the future, when they returned to Zhoujia Village, Zhou Lao Er's family would have no influence and would lose their voice.

But now, Zhou Lao Er has endured humiliation for a while, and apart from losing his freedom, it's not much of a loss.

Since Zhou Lao Er chose to bear it alone,

Zhou Chen didn't mind granting his wish, letting Zhou Lao Er go in to reflect on his actions and receive some education.

If the Zhou family members are still unwilling to give up and continue to make trouble for him, he will just send them in again and let them reunite in the police station.

The news that Zhou Lao Er took the initiative to take responsibility for everything quickly spread across the internet, drawing applause from many netizens who also condemned him for deserving it.

The Zhou family's reputation on the internet is completely ruined; no one will easily believe anything they say in the media from now on.

In contrast, Zhou Chen's fame soared, and netizens who had previously wronged her took the initiative to buy her products to express their apologies.

Like the netizen who was relentlessly criticizing Zhou Chen, who bought a full 500 yuan worth of past exam papers and posted them online.

This behavior inspired many netizens to follow suit.

Sales of past exam papers surged overnight.

Of course, some netizens also went to Zhou Chen's stinky tofu shop to make purchases and posted photos, which boosted the stinky tofu business.

The losses caused by public opinion have been indirectly made up for. Moreover, the names of these two businesses have become well-known across the internet, which can be considered a blessing in disguise for Zhou Chen.

The day after Zhou Lao Er went in,

Gao Dasong, Fang Zhouzi, and others, dissatisfied with the previous trial, called for a second hearing. After a heated debate between their lawyers, the court announced that it would uphold the original verdict.

Gao Dasong and his associates were forced to pay substantial compensation and issue a public apology, while netizens flooded their Weibo accounts with sarcastic and cynical remarks.

This incident alone has ruined the reputations of these public intellectuals and influential figures. Everything they said in the past has been dug up and analyzed, with many finding it consistent with what Zhou Chen said through his lawyer.

Because of this incident, a wave of enthusiasm for identifying and catching the 'dog' has swept the internet.

Many public intellectuals and influential figures have begun to proactively express patriotic sentiments to prove themselves and avoid getting caught in a media storm.

It must be said that Zhou Chen's words did have a certain effect on cleaning up the internet.

At the very least, it has raised awareness among netizens about "spiritual foreigners," prompting them to reflect on the public statements of public figures and to dare to question them.

Seeing this, Zhou Chen made a decision.

And so, on this day,

Zhou Chen quietly opened a Weibo account.

After some netizens accidentally discovered this, they immediately spread the word and promoted Zhou Chen everywhere.

"Zhou Zhuangyuan has opened a Weibo account? No way, I have to follow him."

"I owe Zhou Zhuangyuan an apology, and I owe him my attention."

As more and more netizens learned about it, they flocked to Weibo, searched for Zhou Chen's account, and followed her.

Even though Zhou Chen didn't post a single Weibo message, his number of followers skyrocketed in an instant.

...