The Bus Seat Scandal: A Father's Fight for Truth

The person filming falsely accused my father of beating up an honest college student on the bus to grab a seat.

Because of this, my father was fired from his job and hid at home, too afraid to go out.

I encouraged him to report it to the police to clear his name.

Even after the police issued a detailed report, the clickbait account wouldn't let him go.

They liked our personal information and spread lies in the comments, saying we had connections.

1.

In the dormitory, I was watching an online course on my computer.

My roommates were scrolling through short videos, angrily shouting:

"This old bastard is bullying people too much!"

"Fight back! Ugh, this makes my blood boil. That kid clearly can't fight. If it were me, I'd beat that old bastard to death!"

Then one of my roommates shoved the phone in my face.

"Alan, look at this! Isn't it infuriating?"

I usually don't care much about the truth or falsehood of online matters,

but I glanced at the video and was shocked. I immediately grabbed my roommate's phone.

The video had a huge red title: "Young man beaten on the bus by an old man, who claims he wants to discipline the youth."

In the video, my father was pressing a frail young man into a seat with one hand, covering his mouth tightly with the other.

The people around them had scattered from their seats, afraid of getting involved, some even smiling, but no one stepped in to help.

The woman filming the video said, "The young man got on the bus first and took an empty seat. The old man came up and forcefully demanded he give up the seat. They started arguing."

"Then the old man began to beat the young man. The young man didn't fight back at all. Even after the young man stood up, the old man continued to hit him!"

"The young man got off the bus later, bleeding!"

I quickly searched for related content and found that the video had gone viral, topping social media trends. Every comment under the video was cursing my father:

"Find this old man, he's infuriating! Shameless old man."

"Doesn't he have children?! Why should we pay welfare for people like him? He should just die!

It's not that old people have become bad; it's that bad people have grown old!"

"He must apologize to the young man! This is heartbreaking!"

"Taking advantage of his age, despicable! That poor kid, clearly can't fight..."

"The passengers around were even laughing. What's wrong with society..."

I searched more thoroughly for the source of these videos and found that the initial spread came from a personal media account. She already had nearly a million followers, and this video alone gained her over 200, 000 new followers in just one day.

Her video content was all about sensationalism, violence, controversy, and stirring up conflict.

Claims like a woman being pregnant with Evan's child and demanding a DNA test,

a woman committing fraud and causing a man to commit suicide by jumping into a river,

exposing a woman flipping the bird at the Olympics,

a national shooting team champion being rejected twice and selected through special channels,

and even insinuating an inappropriate relationship between a newly crowned Olympic champion and her coach.

Her content was basically all fabricated, and she became a social media star with millions of followers by thriving on drama.

Some officials had already debunked her claims, but she would just leave a comment saying it had been debunked and let the videos continue to generate topics and views for her.

This person not only knew how to exploit the internet but was also naturally evil and without morals.

I suddenly noticed that just a few minutes ago,

she had uploaded new content featuring the young man from the video with my dad. The young man, lips pale and fighting back tears, said my dad not only hit him but also tried to force him to crawl under his body. Instantly, that video reached tens of thousands of views,

with comments like: "Hope this kind of old man gets hit by a car when he goes out.

"

Seeing these comments, spreading like snowflakes and full of curses, my face turned pale, and I clenched my fists tightly.

My dad is a very sociable person, occasionally impulsive, but hitting someone over a seat dispute is just too unreasonable.

I quickly grabbed my phone and dashed out of the school, frantically calling my dad all the way, but no one answered.

When I finally reached the front door of our apartment, the elevator wouldn't come down, so I anxiously ran up the stairs.

Before entering the house, I steadied my trembling legs, took a deep breath, and slapped my face to snap out of it.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw my dad standing on the balcony, staring blankly outside, with cigarette butts scattered all over the floor.

He heard the noise, turned to look at me, and forced a smile that was more like a grimace.

"Haohao, did you see the video..."

His head drooped to his chest as if it couldn't bear the weight, and he spoke in a barely audible voice:

"I'm sorry, son..."

"It's all my fault. I lost my temper. Haohao, don't worry. Dad will move to another city to work. I won't let your classmates know about this..."

"Anyway, I've been fired. Moving to another city won't change anything..."

Looking at the man in front of me, with graying temples and a dejected demeanor, I suddenly realized that my father had aged without me noticing.

My mom left us for someone else when I was very young. It was a snowy day, and she left without looking back.

And my father, holding me tightly, only said one thing:

"Haohao, I don't need anything else, as long as I have you."

Since that day, he took on both roles, raising me on his own.

Every night, he would whisper by my bedside, "Why don't you ask where your mom went? Don't hate her..."

All these years, he never looked for anyone else, doing his best to give me everything I needed.

In my eyes, he was always invincible. I thought I would come home to see him cursing and figuring out how to fix everything.

I never expected to see his vulnerable side.

At that moment, I felt like I had become the pillar of the family. I bit my lip hard, trying to hold back my emotions.

"Dad! Don't be so down! Tell me what happened. If it's our fault, we'll admit it!

If not, no one can pin this on us!"

"The Wu family doesn't take crap from anyone!"

I mimicked his usual tone, glaring as I pulled him to the sofa.

My dad looked at my forced bravado, and his eyes slowly filled with tears.

Then he began to tell me what happened.

After he got on the bus, he heard a young man swearing non-stop. At first, my dad didn't want to respond.

But unexpectedly, the young man started cursing directly at my dad:

"Why are old people like you still alive, wasting society's resources? At your age, you still take the bus. Your kids must be just like you, living filthy, stinking lives forever."

My father frowned in anger, "What's your problem, kid? Didn't anyone teach you manners?"

Hearing my dad respond, the boy glanced behind him and became even more aggressive.

"Hah, you old geezer, already one foot in the grave, and you still think you can lecture people. Oh, even if you have kids, they're probably crippled."

My dad, provoked, went up and pinned the boy down. He didn't mean to hit him, just to scare him into shutting up.

But unfortunately, the boy's nose hit the bus seat and started bleeding instantly.

Seeing this, my dad, thinking the boy was about my age, was about to let go.

But the young man, knowing what would provoke him, suddenly whispered in his ear, "Hah, with trash like you, be careful your kid doesn't get hit by a car tomorrow."

That did it. My dad, blood boiling, held the boy's mouth shut, preventing him from saying another word.

Hearing this, my hands trembled with anger.

This video is totally misleading and full of lies!

The woman who filmed it was right there at the scene-how could she lie so blatantly?

I immediately took out my phone and posted the real situation as my dad had explained it. I tagged the relevant topic and used all my savings to promote the post.

Then, I commented under the media account:

"Spreading rumors has legal consequences!"

"You don't know the truth, so why are you insulting others so recklessly?"

"If it were your family, your father, would you spread lies and wish him dead without knowing the truth?"

Because there had been many rumor reversals before, some netizens gradually noticed my profile and my comments, and they upvoted my post.

"Let's wait and see..."

"Could there be more to this story?"

"Is this really the child of the person involved?"

"It does seem strange. Look at the original video; the bystanders were smiling as they walked away from the young man being beaten."

I then privately messaged the media account:

"I'm giving you one last chance. Delete this content and apologize, or I'll take legal action."

To my surprise, she replied:

"Hah, since you're so worked up, let me give you some advice."

"Do you think anyone cares about the truth? People are just looking for some spice in their boring lives. If you have the guts, let the authorities come after me. I'll just issue a retraction, and that'll be the end of it."

"Kid, don't be so naive. Think of this as a free lesson from someone more experienced. You're welcome."

Before I could respond, she blocked me. Then she posted in the comments section:

"Word on the street is that the old man has some connections and even paid to clean up his image. Everyone, make your own judgment."

Not only was she unafraid, but she also provoked further, trying to incite people to dig up dirt on my dad. I felt a shiver down my spine. I knew she was of poor character, but I didn't expect her to be so brazen,

continuing her malicious guidance even after being confronted. The next morning, I took my dad to the police station to report the incident.

The police said it would take some time to verify the truth, but they also warned us to be prepared. Since my dad had struck first, he might face criminal charges if the other party pursued it.

My dad hesitated, worried that a criminal record would ruin my future job prospects.

.. "Dad!

We should take responsibility for what we've done wrong, but we must never compromise on what we haven't done!"

My dad looked regretful, but finally, under my insistence, he nodded.

I then posted a video on the platform showing that we had reported the incident to the police. Many media accounts started deleting the related content one after another.

However, the person who initially mocked me continued to act recklessly, posting several more videos about my dad.

She probably thought that since nothing happened with the previous videos, this one wouldn't matter either.

I borrowed several accounts from friends to message her, asking her to delete the content.

But she thought I was just impotently raging.

"Didn't you go to the police? If you had any real influence, why are you still bothering me? Hah, maybe your dad isn't just a thug but also a pervert or a peeping Tom!"

She then edited and stitched together our private messages, posting them to make it look like I was threatening and harassing her,

claiming I had connections with high-ranking officials and wanted the police to arrest her.

She made herself out to be a hero for justice, exposing the truth, and being threatened by the real culprits.

She even pinned information about my family that netizens had dug up, including my university, major, and class.

Instantly, the declining attention surged back up.

People started throwing trash outside our house daily, and at night, some would knock on our door to curse and harass us.

Strangers spat at us on the street, telling us to drop dead.

My dorm room was vandalized, and they called me the child of a monster, saying I was a little monster myself.

The school even called, telling me to stay away from classes for now. I held back my anger:

"Why?! The police are investigating, and the truth is not what's being said online. Why can't I go to school?"