Chapter 858 - 877: Press Corps Withdraws from Q3
Chapter 858: Chapter 877: Press Corps Withdraws from Q3
The atmosphere on Q3 thus became incredibly dismal.
The students here had internet access as well. When everyone saw the news regarding Jiang Qiuqiu, they were utterly bewildered—especially the students from Federation University itself, who were even more confused.
What in the world was going on?
Confused and lost, they wanted to speak up and defend her, but some were quietly warned by their professors to stay out of it.
A few managed to make their voices heard online, but like a drop of water entering the ocean, they vanished without a trace. Against a massive, coordinated smear campaign, what could a few ordinary students possibly achieve?
Students who were on good terms with Qiuqiu wanted to clear her name and cheer her on through the "Q3" special feature and the Federation News live broadcasts. They diligently recorded videos for her, yet in the daily updated behind-the-scenes column, their clips were nowhere to be found. Whenever they asked about it, they were simply told the footage was "under review."
Morale wavered. The fallout surrounding one person cast a strange, stifling shadow over the entire fourteen-school joint practical training.
Although the students’ professionalism prevented this personal drama from affecting their medical treatments, the heavy atmosphere still took a significant toll on their state of mind.
Left with no other choice, Dean Zhu held another mobilization meeting on a night when the sky was "painted" with Xingxing.
"I know you are all struggling to understand what a certain student is going through right now.
"But no matter what, the treatments must continue.
"We have thousands upon thousands of patients lined up here. They have traveled all this way; we cannot let them wait in vain."
With those words, everyone finally managed to rally their spirits.
After the meeting, the fourteen deans in the observation room held a joint discussion. Concluding that they had accumulated enough footage and that the practical training would wrap up in about a week, they asked the Federation News reporters to return to the Federation Star. The students and deans would no longer accept interviews.
Sister Xiao Xiao didn’t feel disappointed by the early departure. The entire special segment had become a murky cesspool of drama. Sure, the engagement was through the roof, but getting involved was professional suicide. After receiving approval from headquarters, the seven-person team boarded their return Teleportation Mecha.
On the way, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"We’re finally out of there."
"Whatever happens, do not get involved in this mess," Sister Xiao Xiao said, looking like someone who had just survived a disaster. "What a stroke of bad luck. But thank goodness we weren’t held responsible. We have to be much more careful in the future, understand?
"During our next interview, we absolutely cannot let any mistakes slip out for the netizens to catch and blow out of proportion! It’s a good thing upper management didn’t come after us—"
As her voice trailed off, she thought of the female student who had absorbed all the crossfire. She fell silent for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. "I really feel terrible for Qiuqiu."
But there was nothing they could do.
"Don’t dwell on it," the writer offered comfortingly. "It’s no one’s fault."
Ting Mo remained in quiet stillness as well.
She had been closely following the news surrounding Jiang Qiuqiu. She genuinely believed that Jiang Qiuqiu was a wonderful, wonderful person. She was beautiful, outstanding, and kind. She treated everyone with the utmost respect, and whenever she spoke, her words always held true substance.
When Jiang Qiuqiu first gained the upper hand in the court of public opinion, Ting Mo had been thrilled to death. She thought the fans had truly recognized a hidden gem. She had even spent her nights cheering her on from beneath her bedcovers!
She thought, "You guys might not know it, but Jiang Qiuqiu is truly amazing!
"She is too good! She isn’t fishing for fame at all! She’s genuinely doing real work!
"Even if she does reap some benefits from her hard work, so what? Or conversely, even if she did this just for fame, so what? Isn’t she still actually helping people?"
Even if someone really came to help the Numbered Planets solely for fame, Ting Mo felt it didn’t matter. As long as the work was done and the locals received tangible benefits, what was wrong with that?
Ting Mo had desperately hoped that Qiuqiu would keep her "victory," but tragically, that wasn’t the case.
Two days ago, those invisible smear accounts abandoned their small-scale attacks and brought the battle to the mainstream.