Building A, Dorm 206.

Silence handled the police with practiced calm; on his face was the sorrow of someone who knows his roommate is dead, his eyes red as he saw the police off.

At this moment there was only him left in the dorm.

Alone in every sense.

The sorrow on his face vanished instantly; the next second he was whistling a tune in a very good mood. The cheerful song echoed through the dorm, carrying a thread of something bone-chilling.

Nobody would still be happily whistling after learning their roommate had died.

Too bad the police had already gone far.

Silence kept whistling as he pulled out his phone to send a message to his dear “little accomplice,” but before he opened his messages a forum notification popped up on the screen.

Campus Heartthrob from the Finance Department Yang Ruiqing Catfished Multiple Targets; Total Amount Reaches Over a Hundred Thousand — Includes Chat Logs and Transfer Receipts! Full Details

Yang......Ruiqing?

Silence’s gaze paused for a moment before he remembered who this was.

@InfiniteGoodReads, exclusively at Jinjiang Literature City

This was his little accomplice’s crush.

When he had set this person as their next target, he had checked the guy’s details thoroughly and even set his name as a keyword alert.

Catfishing multiple targets?

Had he been exposed?

Pleasure grew on Silence’s face; this person had blown up before dying, so his little accomplice surely wouldn’t like him anymore.

He could magnanimously give him a painless way out.

Silence picked up the water cup on the desk and opened the post, feeling better than he had in a long time.

But a few seconds later the smile on his face faded. He slowly put down the cup and lowered his eyes to stare at the photographs in the chat logs.

He casually opened one of them, enlarged it to full screen.

After finishing one, he clicked the next, repeating the motion, his brow knitting tighter and tighter.

These photos.

He had seen them.

In his little accomplice’s phone.

Was the catfisher really Yang Ruiqing?

Or… was it his little accomplice?

Even without checking, Silence already had the answer in his heart: the catfisher was his little accomplice.

His little accomplice had been stalking and secretly photographing Yang Ruiqing not because he liked him, but to steal his pictures for catfishing.

After stealing and catfishing with the pictures, he’d even posted the real man to the forum to perfect his own removal from suspicion.

What a villain.

A smile crept uncontrollably onto Silence’s lips, a look of extreme delight; the excitement in his eyes was about to spill over.

Hee hee.

A murderer.

A picture-stealing scammer.

They seemed made for each other.

He had always been meant to belong to him.

But the good mood was cut short.

Because another post related to Yang Ruiqing had appeared on the forum.

And this one was a clarification.

Shocking!!! Yang Ruiqing Did Not Catfish — Computer Science Student Wen Ruyu Took Advantage of Club Activities to Add Yang Ruiqing and Long-Termly Steal His Photos for Catfishing! Includes Complete Three-Month Timeline Evidence Screenshots!

Silence read the post and his smile froze. The next second his deep eyes darkened; the temperature around him dropped several degrees.

Come.

He gripped his phone tightly and stared at the poster “Yuyu,” instantly realizing he had been wrong.

The post above was not made by his little accomplice.

This lower post was.

His little accomplice had, to wash the filth from Yang Ruiqing, almost suicidally exposed the truth — all to pull Yang Ruiqing out into the open.

The picture-theft and catfishing were true.

The secret crush on Yang Ruiqing was true too.

If it weren’t true affection, why would he at this moment spill everything?

One must know that once this happened, a future would be almost completely ruined; if Yang Ruiqing pursued it, he might even face prison.

Ha.

What a moving love.

9:55 PM.

Five minutes remained until the time pinned in the comments for that person’s threat.

Wen Ruyu looked at the screen full of curses with no ripple of emotion; he only found it noisy and turned off all notifications.

He closed both the comment section and private messages.

The world suddenly grew quiet.

He waited until the last minute, sat down at his computer, and clicked “Start Live.” He also disabled the chat barrage in the room.

But he did not immediately unmute. He would wait until enough people had arrived, then apologize all at once.

Especially wait for the person who had threatened him to enter.

So that, if the person later claimed they hadn’t heard, he would not have to apologize twice.

Because Wen Ruyu had closed private messages and comments, the viewers had nowhere to vent; the moment they saw the stream go live, tens of thousands flooded in.

The online count climbed at a terrifying speed; the barrage covered the screen so densely there was almost no gap.

Insults rolled in, sweeping everything.

[Oh? Finally coming out? I thought you ran. Did the scammer finally have a conscience and come to apologize?]

[Coming out at the last second — scared, huh. So ugly and poisonous and cowardly. If not for that threat he probably wouldn’t have shown up.]

[So disgusting. Ugly in appearance and disgusting in deeds. Apologize to the victims now. One more second of your stream and I’ll be sick.]

[I always said those who post in the beauty section but won’t turn on their camera must be shady. Who posts photos in the beauty section? I told you and you didn’t believe me. Stealing-picture dog, get out of streaming.]

[Looking at your photos makes me want to vomit. No wonder you don’t turn on the camera. How do you even have the nerve to live like that?]

[How did someone like you even get into university? Copied your way in? A person with such poor character doesn’t deserve to be a university student; you’re ruinous to the school’s reputation.] @InfiniteGoodReads, exclusively at Jinjiang Literature City

[The beauty section for streams has a vetting process. I’m the only one curious how he passed? Paid to get approved?]

[Why won’t he turn on his camera? Apologize without showing your face? After doing this you still act like this?]

Just then, two familiar IDs entered the room with the high-level welcome effect unique to big spenders and instantly took the VIP seats.

—————— Yi Wen Bu Zhi.

———— Shengyan.

The audience didn’t all know Shengyan, but everyone knew Yi Wen Bu Zhi.

Anyone who had read the “May Wealth Bloom” thread knew this was the poor sap who had spent 600,000 on “May Wealth Bloom.”

[Wow!!! Big shot Yi Wen Bu Zhi is here too! Came to see the scammer apologize in person?]

[Scammer, now that the big shot’s here, why aren’t you apologizing? Scared?]

[Poor big shot, scammed out of so much money and made a fool of — must be feeling awful right now.]

[That’s six hundred thousand; ordinary people might never earn that in a lifetime, and he gave it to a scammer. My heart aches for the big shot.]

[Big shot, make him pay back. Theft of photos counts as fraud; even gifts might be recoverable.]

[Six hundred thousand is not a small amount. Support the big shot demanding repayment. This scammer should spit the money back; who’d want to tip someone this ugly?]

[Even if you can’t get back the earlier money, a Level 75 big shot is more than just rich; if he pursues this, May Wealth Bloom won’t be able to avoid repaying.]

As the viewers debated heatedly, the room’s effects suddenly flared — dazzling to the point of pain.

That was… 102 Carnival Gifts?

Sender — Yi Wen Bu Zhi.

Recipient — May Wealth Bloom.

The audience froze; the barrage paused for a few seconds, then exploded.

[Big shot, what are you doing? Haven’t you seen that post? This scammer not only stole pics, he catfished multiple people!]

[Big shot, what are you doing!? Has May Wealth Bloom bewitched you!? Wake up! You’re only one of the people he scammed!]

[Are you crazy? Why are you tipping him? You have money to give to anyone — don’t give it to an ugly picture-stealing scammer!]

[I don’t get it. May Wealth Bloom already blew up — why is Yi Wen Bu Zhi protecting him?]

[Being rich doesn’t mean you’re smart. Maybe the big shot just likes ugly people. Let ugly love exist, I guess.]

[Such a wealthy big shot — why is he blind? A love of ugliness I respect, but this isn’t just about looks. Picture-stealing and fraud are legal crimes.]

Shengyan was Jiang Shengxu.

This was his new name.

At this moment Jiang Shengxu sat on his living room sofa, eyes down on the screen full of curses, his brow tightened.

He had seen that post too.

He felt disgusted while reading it.

He even saw the chat screenshots between Wen Ruyu and others.

While that person was flattering him, he was flattering others too; the affection was not as deep as he had made it seem.

He wasn’t the only one, either.

Even his private note and ranking weren’t high.

Why?

Just because he’d transferred less money than the others?

No, that wasn’t the point now.

The point was that May Wealth Bloom was a scammer.

But he had known that for some time. @InfiniteGoodReads, exclusively at Jinjiang Literature City

He had also long suspected May Wealth Bloom wouldn’t be conventionally attractive.

Jiang Shengxu stared at that two-hundred-jin, face almost swallowed by fat, the handsome face nearly a mess.

This appearance was… sorry, society—this challenges my taste as a person…

He forced the disgust down and closed the page, then opened a previously saved video.

It was May Wealth Bloom singing SpongeBob and speaking on stream.

As soon as the voice played, the nausea from seeing that photo eased and his heart felt a ticklish sensation again.

Suddenly he felt a little cheap.

But even if cheap, he still shouldn’t like someone like that.

Jiang Shengxu clicked his tongue in annoyance. A flash of irritation passed his eyes. He hesitated for a long time over whether to delete the video, when he saw Yi Wen Bu Zhi had gifted 102 Carnival Gifts.

102…?

Was that idiot provoking him!?

He had given 101; Yi Wen Bu Zhi gave 102, deliberately one-upping him.

Anger flared in Jiang Shengxu. He stopped deleting the video and stayed in the room, quickly opening the gift panel and dumping 103 Carnival Gifts in.

Think you can push me out and be the only one?

Dream on.

It was his reply to the previous taunt.

Don’t think he didn’t notice that Yi Wen Bu Zhi wasn’t even on the screenshots, didn’t even have a number there — and still dared to mock him here.

The audience in the stream: "......?"

[Are these two crazy? Don’t they know May Wealth Bloom is a scammer? Why are they still gifting him?]

[Are they secret alt accounts to whitewash him? Starting with 600,000 — that’s bold.]

[A Level 75 full-level alt account? You’re daring to imagine a lot. Yi Wen Bu Zhi is a platform-famous big spender; he’s active all the time — can’t be May Wealth Bloom’s alt.]

[So what’s happening? Rich folks just like ugliness and still support a picture-stealing scammer? Is the world gone mad?]

[This day has more shocking events than my whole year. I’m stunned. The world has become something I can’t imagine.]

[Maybe May Wealth Bloom really casts spells. He’s blown up and is ugly, yet these two big shots still protect him — must be some bewitchment.]

Wei Jiayu, reading that, felt the same.

May Wealth Bloom seemed to have some spell.

Not only had he bewitched so many people, but Wei Jiayu felt off too.

When he read the clarification post his first reaction wasn’t to be glad his buddy was cleared, but a jolt of dread.

He realized he had been worried about May Wealth Bloom’s situation.

Wei Jiayu felt like he’d been enchanted.

He watched the screen full of curses and questions and even thought to step forward and explain that he, as a victim, wasn’t angry.

He did so.

But the live audience was too large; the barrage covered the screen and nobody paid attention to his words.

When the crowd piles on, everyone pushes.

Even if someone saw his post, few would care.

People most love to see a god fall from the altar.

At this moment no one cared what the victims thought.

Even though Yi Wen Bu Zhi and Shengyan had spent so many gifts, the audience didn’t think they were in the right — they just thought they were crazy.

Nothing he said would change that.

Only Yang Ruiqing could.

He was the greatest victim here.

Those of them who had been scammed had already lost their money; beyond being emotionally cheated, they suffered no further loss. The chat logs showed they had been indifferent, perfunctory in reply, or didn’t reply at all.

Calling it “being cheated emotionally” was too generous.

Only Yang Ruiqing was the real victim.

Wei Jiayu’s face held complex emotion as he looked at Yang Ruiqing reading beside him.

Yang Ruiqing didn’t have the habit of browsing forums; he didn’t know what had happened and had no idea he had almost become the public enemy.

Seeing Wei Jiayu look over, he put down his book and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Wei Jiayu ended up saying nothing. First, he couldn’t bring himself to ask Yang Ruiqing to speak up for someone who had stolen his pictures and catfished; second, he didn’t think Yang Ruiqing would help.

Yang Ruiqing had always treated his pursuers coldly, like during class that day.

The atmosphere in the stream grew more intense, almost entirely curses and jeers, demanding May Wealth Bloom come out and apologize.

He would absolutely not help.

Yi Wen Bu Zhi was more mature and steady and didn’t say anything in the stream, but Jiang Shengxu was not someone who could keep quiet.

He sent a barrage message in his usual commanding, impatient tone.

[Shut up. If you want to watch, watch. If you don’t, leave. What is this noise?]

Jiang Shengxu’s account had tipped over six hundred thousand already; his ranked status was high. His message carried a special effect and didn’t blink past like ordinary messages; it stayed boldly on the screen for about five seconds before disappearing.

Almost everyone in the stream saw it.

The instant it appeared it ignited the audience’s fury; the barrage began to attack him as well.

[Oh, so the scammer even has accomplices? How much did you get from May Wealth Bloom? You two were in cahoots.]

[Rich people always cover for scammers? Birds of a feather. You’re no better.]

[Two big suckers — scammed and still helping the thief count money. Hilarious.]

[How did this IQ get money? Maybe also earned by the same theft and scam as May Wealth Bloom.]

Jiang Shengxu read these comments; his anger rose. As he typed back to argue with the room, a special ID entered.

————— Welcome 'HELLOWORLD' to the stream.

'HELLOWORLD' was the ID of the person who had made the threat.

The same person who had posted on the forum.

And a hacker.

He had only taken money to do a job, but while he went to eat someone had posted a clarification. He hadn’t expected that.

By the time he discovered it, it was too late to delete — the clarification had already been spread across social platforms.

The money in his hands had flown away.

He hacked the information and address of that “Yuyu” who had posted, finding that he was exactly the person who had privately messaged him to say he would clarify, and also the owner of an account he’d hacked before.

Hence the threat.

'HELLOWORLD' watched the screen full of insults without a shred of sympathy or softness.

He was not here to hear an apology.

His fingers flew across the keyboard; lines of code flashed past at a speed barely visible.

Threatening him to go live was just the beginning.

Anyone who affected his ability to make money wouldn’t be allowed to have it easy.

This person would pay for his clarification.

He pressed the last line of code, lifted his coffee in one hand, and mindlessly hit Enter.

The stream background instantly changed.

The camera turned on.

For your reckless clarification, pay the price—pay…

Hello, world: "???"

Hello, world: "!!!"

[bookmark inserted]

Chapter 24

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