After resting for a while, the school janitor picked up his trash grabber and went back to work. As he walked away, he smiled at Lin Xia and said, “Thanks.”
Lin Xia stood where he was, beads of moisture forming on his palm from the ice-cold Coke he held. Was he dead?
He looked down at his feet; he still had a shadow. He felt hot; he was sweating. And he was thirsty.
“What’s wrong?” Meng Yun had been standing not far away. Seeing Lin Xia standing motionless, he instinctively scanned the area. Seeing no unusual movement, he stepped forward and, after a moment’s thought, asked, “Low blood sugar?”
Although he didn’t know what “low blood sugar” was, back in Room 502 a moment ago, those two mortals said that low blood sugar causes dizziness, requires you to sit down, and calls for eating something.
By the time Lin Xia came to his senses, he was already sitting on a bench, and a can of Coke had been opened and held to his lips. Still dazed, he subconsciously opened his mouth and took a sip.
The sugar made him feel a little better, and Lin Xia couldn’t help but wonder: Could those numbers really be health points? Was today his last day?
People were coming and going on the observation deck. Two guys walked by, one of them bent down to pick up a set of keys from the grass and said to the other, “Should we drop these off at the lost and found later?”
“Sure,” the other boy replied.
The boy who picked up the keys had a +20 number on his head, and the other one had a +10 number.
A girl carrying a cat carrier passed by not far away, holding half a cat treat that had been eaten. The cat inside the carrier kept meowing.
The girl soothed the cat, “I’ve graduated. Didn’t we agree? You’ll stay with me from now on.”
The numbers above the girl’s head went up by +10, +10, +10, +10…
Then three more girls walked together toward the observation deck. They were wearing pretty dresses and carrying cameras, probably wanting to take photos during their holiday.
The shorter girl in the middle glanced at her phone and stopped walking, “Look at this news! A car thief rescued two abducted children while stealing a car. Professor Luo is definitely going to include this in the exam at the end of the break.”
The girl on the left pondered, “Based on Professor Luo’s approach to setting exam questions, he’ll definitely ask if these two cases are related, whether they’re part of the same criminal act or separate criminal acts.”
The girl on the right said, “Shouldn’t it be considered an independent crime? In the process of committing crime A, he effectively prevented crime B…” She wasn’t sure, though. She’d have to go back and check her textbook.
The three girls started discussing it seriously. The canvas bags slung over their shoulders were official merchandise from Jiangcheng Law School; the corner of the indigo-blue backpack featured an embroidered gavel.
The numbers above each of their heads were slowly increasing: +10, +10, +10, +10, +10, +10.
Lin Xia clicked on the news. The car thief’s face in the video was blurred, but the numbers above his head were clearly visible: -10, -10, -10, -10, -10, +100, +100, +100, +100…
The news reported that the car thief had spotted a vehicle parked in a secluded area on the outskirts of town. He only intended to steal the car, but after succeeding, he found two children, both only four or five years old, in the trunk.
He untied the children, bought them food, and then drove the car into the police station.
The live chat was filled with comments like: [This guy is too honest. Why did he confess to stealing a car? Couldn’t he just say he discovered a human trafficking gang?”]
[Or we could just ban him from QQ1Tencent QQ, commonly known as QQ, is a major Chinese instant messaging and social media platform. for an hour.]
[An hour is too much, ten minutes is fine.]
The camera panned to the parents who had been reunited with their children. One child had been abducted while his Grandma was dancing in the square. The grandma almost jumped off a building after losing the child.
The other child’s parents ran a small shop. The child was playing at the shop entrance when the father went to get an ice pop for a customer, and then the child disappeared.
The reporter’s camera lingered on the hamburger wrapper on the back seat of the car for a second.
So the live comments started flooding in again: [Stealing a human trafficker’s car isn’t a crime! This guy should get a hero’s award! ]
[He even treated the two kids to hamburgers. How could he be a purely evil person?]
Lin Xia watched the stream of numbers. Just as he was pondering, the video ended and automatically skipped to the next one.
It showed a tiny little girl selling popsicles in the park. She asked sweetly, “Grandpa, would you like a popsicle?”
The elderly man replied with a smile, “Whose little angel is this? Grandpa can’t have popsicles.”
Despite his words, he ended up buying one anyway. The old man’s face was blurred out, but a “+100” appeared above his head. The next few customers who bought popsicles after him all got +10.
The one-minute video quickly reached its end, showing the little girl selling popsicles donating all the money to a charity.
Comments in the live stream read: [Grandpa has diabetes but still bought one. What a great guy] and [Those men who ate the kids’ popsicles without paying really have no morals.]
Lin Xia saw this comment and looked up the news.
Several eight- and nine-year-old children were selling popsicles at the night market, carrying a cooler box labeled “Work-Study Program”.
A group of people ate the children’s popsicles for free but refused to pay, “We said we wanted three, but you only gave us two, so we can’t pay you.”
The oldest child argued, “But you’ve already eaten both popsicles!”
“We want three!”
So the children came up with another idea, “Uncle, how about I go to the convenience store and buy you another one? Can you pay for both popsicles in return?”
The man chuckled and shook his head, “No way~.”
They teased and mocked the children, refusing to pay, and even tossed the empty wrappers and sticks at the children’s feet.
The three children did not back down or give up despite being treated unfairly; they persisted, saying, “But you ate two popsicles, so you have to give us the money for those two popsicles.”
Even after the children called the police, the man still refused to pay, continuing to chat and laugh casually with the people at his table.
The comment section scrolled with insults:
[Are you so desperate you’re scamming kids out of their money?]
[Shameless!! If I were there, I’d beat the crap out of these guys.]
[The police are here and you still won’t pay?]
[After bending over for a lifetime, you’ve finally stood up straight—in front of a 10-year-old!]
A crowd gathered around them at the night market, shouting insults. The atmosphere was charged with outrage, and the police even had to hold back several indignant bystanders who were about to rush forward to teach the man a lesson.
The number above the man’s head kept counting down: -100-100-100-100-100-100-100-100-100-100-100……
Finally, the barbecue stall owner couldn’t bear to watch any longer and took out her own money to pay the children: “It’s so late, you should go home now.” +100+100+100
The numbers above the heads of all those who were speaking out against injustice were increasing in small increments: +10, +5, +50, +100, +100, +100.
Lin Xia looked closely and saw that the children’s score kept increasing by 100. They didn’t cry or beg for mercy; they were trying to get justice for themselves.
The guy who was waving his fist and wanting to rush up to “uphold justice” for the children also got +100.
The lady who couldn’t stand it anymore and gave them money got +100.
The bystanders who spoke up in the face of injustice had points ranging from +10 to +5 to +50, while even those standing on the periphery glaring at these people with condemning eyes received +1, +1, and +1 points.
Lin Xia couldn’t bear to see the children, who were working part-time to earn money, being toyed with and bullied by adults like this. Rage surged through him, “What the hell! A bunch of trash!”
The moment the words left his mouth, the numbers above those people’s heads paused for a moment, then plummeted, “-100” practically flashing across the screen.
The light made Lin Xia’s vision blur, and he leaned back slightly. Meng Yun held his back firmly with one hand and held the cola to his lips with the other.
Lin Xia took a sip, and a sudden realization struck him! He knew what those numbers meant!
Committing crimes and doing bad deeds would decrease the number, while doing good deeds and acts of kindness would increase it.
Was he looking at a large dataset of good and evil?
……
After the video finished playing, the phone’s dark screen reflected Lin Xia like a mirror, and it also reflected the zero on Lin Xia’s head.
Lin Xia looked at this person with utter confusion. He had done countless good deeds in his life! He had even performed a heroic act last night!
Good deeds should be rewarded! How can it be zero?
Just as Lin Xia was seething with indignation, the janitor returned carrying a bag. He fumbled in his pocket for something and handed it to Lin Xia, “Student, could you please help me take this to the card center? I found it along with some mosquito repellent.”
A campus ID card.
Lin Xia stared at the card in the old school janitor’s hand. “Where did you find it? Can you point it out to me?” He made an excuse, “So it’ll be easier to explain when I return it.”
Actually, there was no need to ask where it was lost; the campus card had the owner’s name and student ID number, and the Card Center had the phone number the owner had registered. But the old janitor still led Lin Xia to the back of the White Building, where he pointed with his trash pick: “Right there.”
The spot where that girl had been stabbed last night.
Lin Xia had just searched the area thoroughly but found no clues. It turned out the responsible janitor had already picked them up.
Lin Xia held the student ID card in his hand. Its front featured the century-old, eave-topped main gate of Jiangcheng University. When he turned it over, a familiar face came into view.
He had just seen this face.
Meng Yun had been standing behind Lin Xia. When he saw the photo on the student ID card, he recognized it at a glance: “Liang Shanbo?”
On their way around campus, they had passed the university theater. Hanging on the theater’s exterior wall was the poster for this year’s Jiangcheng Midsummer Theater Festival’s main production, ‘Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yuli’, starring Xiao Yu as Liang Shanbo.
Lin Xia certainly knew Xiao Yu; he was a pillar of the Jiangcheng Crescent Moon Drama Club.
Two months ago, Lin Xia even helped his classmates grab front-row tickets. He also delivered takeout to the drama club’s rehearsals, mostly orders placed by fans specifically for Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu was originally only popular on campus, but half a year ago he participated in a variety show where all the guests were handsome guys or academic geniuses from various universities.
Xiao Yu appeared on three episodes. With Jiangcheng’s reputation behind him and his status as a bona fide pillar of the theater troupe—having won Best Actor at the College Drama Festival twice and with plenty of performance videos available online—his fan base and popularity skyrocketed.
Last night, that person wore a hat, mask, and gloves, covering his entire body except for his eyes, but his figure was very similar to Xiao Yu on stage.
But Xiao Yu is so popular; he could easily have a normal relationship, so why did he commit a crime? Could that girl, who’s either dead or alive, be his girlfriend? Or is Xiao Yu actually a psychopath?
Lin Xia immediately opened the campus forum to search for Xiao Yu. A bunch of posts popped up. In addition to information about Xiao Yu’s performances, the resourceful fans also released a lot of gossip about him.
The top three featured posts were all stills and reviews from his plays, so Lin Xia decided to search for “Xiao Yu’s girlfriend” instead. This reduced the number of posts by half, but each post featured a different girl.
There were photos of Xiao Yu having coffee with a girl at the Courtyard Café, sitting next to a girl in the library, and sitting next to a girl in class.
Every girl in the photos was different, so it turns out Xiao Yu is quite the womanizer.
Some posts even revealed the girls’ grades and majors in the photos. The longest thread arranged these photos chronologically, and in the comments, there were die-hard fans passionately shipping him with others, insisting that Xiao Yu wasn’t a good match for anyone else and that he was best suited with his on-stage partner, Qiao Ying.
Xiao Yu and Qiao Ying have the most photos and videos, including in ancient costumes, modern costumes, Western-style costumes, and even where he cross-dresses. In the couple videos, the two are very affectionate, and it really seems like something is going on between them.
The more Lin Xia read this thread, the more his expression became hard to describe. He never expected a college student’s romance to attract so much public attention. Do these people have nothing better to do all day? Don’t they have jobs or CET-42The College English Test Band 4 (CET-4) is a large-scale, national standardized English proficiency test in China. and CET-63College English Test Band 6 (CET-6) is a national, standardized English proficiency exam in China for college undergraduates who have already passed CET-4 exams to prepare for?
He swiped down a couple of times and came across a comment: [None of these in the photos are the real deal. Xiao Yu has a girlfriend he’s been dating since high school, and their relationship is incredibly strong and stable.]
This post only got one like, which is nothing compared to the likes on the photos from the cafes and libraries above, but Lin Xia still managed to spot it.
If Xiao Yu really had a secret girlfriend, then it makes sense that he would secretly meet her in a secluded spot at school while wearing a mask and hat. But why would he kill his girlfriend?
Then who placed that food delivery order?
The person who ordered food delivery was probably looking for someone to stop the murder, right? They couldn’t possibly be looking for a scapegoat, could they?
Lin Xia held the card in deep thought when suddenly a chill ran down the back of his neck. He looked up and saw something inside the white building, which was covered by layers of ivy leaves.
Lin Xia stepped forward, the student ID card in his pocket, and reached out to brush aside the leaves.
Sunlight streamed through the window openings into the building. There was no one there, no sound; only light and dust floated silently in the air.
———- End of Chapter ———–
“Always try to be a little kinder than is necessary.”
— Sir James Matthew Barrie
