Chapter 3
Something’s not right.
Xiao Chen had this kind of unusual feeling as soon as he entered the classroom. Almost everyone was huddled in twos and threes, chatting about a mysterious topic. Their voices weren’t loud, like they were whispering. And the instant he stepped inside, a weird silence fell over all of them. What made him more confused was that everyone’s eyes were on him. Xiao Chen was dumbfounded, but he walked into the classroom pretending he didn’t notice anything. But the stares directed at him didn’t lessen at all, continuing to brazenly stick to him.
These kinds of stares were blatant, and even contained a bit of ridicule.
This made Xiao Chen extremely uncomfortable, like there was something that everyone knew about him, but only he himself was hidden in the drum.
Finally, after this eerie atmosphere lasted for a whole two minutes, Xiao Chen patted a boy next to him and asked, “Why are you guys looking at me like that?”
The boy appeared like he had seen a ghost. “You don’t know?”
“Wait, what don’t I know?” Xiao Chen frowned. “What should I have known earlier?”
A girl at the side, who had been watching the drama, moved closer. “Xiao Chen, you didn’t read the school’s Tieba today?” The girl threw an ambiguous smile at Xiao Chen.
“?”
The boy from earlier looked around and shouted to the classmates next to him, “You guys check outside the classroom for the teacher, I’ll show Xiao Chen the school’s Tieba!”
“Okay~” In the surroundings, a chorus of voices came one after another. They weren’t loud and they dragged on, but they all made Xiao Chen sense their bad intentions.
The boy pulled out his phone from his backpack, excitedly entering Tieba and clicking on the homepage of the school’s Tieba. “See for yourself.”
Xiao Chen took the phone apprehensively.
The moment Tieba was opened, there was a post pinned by the owner called ‘Take a peak, that perverted man whose mother is a pros/titute likes Senior Xiao Chen!’.
Xiao Chen’s eyelids leaped, and he inexplicably felt suffocated.
[I assume there is no one in the school who hasn’t heard of Senior Xiao Chen, right? But for Xu Sheng, this perverted man, let me explain!
This topic creator (TC) and that perverted man are classmates, but I won’t tell you guys who I am. But that isn’t important! The important thing is that perverted man.
TC is aware that the relationship between the perverted man and Senior Xiao Chen was formed when the latter kindly lent him a hand a few days ago. After all, such an excellent, gentle, and honest person would even help a small cat or dog on the road, right?
It is this well-known fact that made the perverted man have presumptuous thoughts!
The perverted man has bad grades and doesn’t listen in class, but recently I discovered that he was writing something in his notebook, just like a good student! This move immediately aroused TC’s curiosity, and finding a chance when he was in the bathroom, I secretly opened his notebook!
Holy cow, if I didn’t read it I wouldn’t have known, but I was so frightened I jumped!
There were three whole books that were densely packed! And there were only two words in total, you heard it correctly! I trust you guys have already guessed what they were!
Xiao Chen.
If you guys still don’t believe me, please see my photo! {photo}{photo}
Not only that! He also drew portraits of Xiao Chen! {photo}
Of course! The amazing revelations don’t stop here! This pervert is also an idiot!
He recorded when Senior came to school every day! What he ate every day! Who he talked to every day! Where he lives! What bookstore he will go to after school! Wait for a whole series of details, he’s simply a peeping tom!!
My God, if I was Senior, I would strangle him to death!! He follows Senior every day!! {photo}{photo}]
First comment: After reading, holy cow, is this person sick?
Second comment: My goodness! Senior Xiao Chen is too miserable, being peeped at and followed every day by the pervert, oh my god, this pervert simply doesn’t have any face!
Third comment: Alas! It’s actually homosexuality??
Fourth comment: Previous comment! How has homosexuality offended you? Are we discussing homosexuality right now? Isn’t our goal to fight against the pervert? Homosexuals are not guilty!
......
Thirty-second comment: If I have to say something, Xu Sheng will probably be beaten to death! The entire school likes Xiao Chen, tut-tut! I have heard that a third year sister is already planning to call people to teach him a lesson!
Thirty-third comment: Previous comment, more than that! I have heard that the people in their class are already planning to surround him in the bathroom and teach him a lesson!
......
One hundred and fifty-first comment: {link} Quickly, everyone look! The pervert was taught a lesson in the bathroom! Hahaha!
Xiao Chen speedily turned page after page, his breathing becoming rapid. Almost without exception, all of the comments were fighting against Xu Sheng!
When he saw the one hundred and fifty-first comment, his pupils contracted. He shakingly reached to click on the link, his heart suddenly stopping, and feeling as if he couldn’t breathe.
“Hey.” The girl next to Xiao Chen had been observing his reaction, and once she confirmed the contents of the link, she turned malicious.
“What? What happened?” The people around them noticed the girl behave in this way, so they all craned their necks to have a peek. But when they all saw clearly, they stepped back and carried the same hostility.
“My god, this is simply burning my eyes, frick me!”
“This man is too disgusting.”
The link brought them to a new website with only photos inside. Before the video even played, delicate white skin could be seen. The background was a dimly lit bathroom, and the entire video was blurry, with the main parts under a mosaic. The boy was curled into a corner, close to his messy clothes on the ground. He was clutching his head firmly, only revealing his chin and not his face. But as long as it was someone from this school, they would be able to recognize him.
This person can only be Xu Sheng! It can’t be wrong!
Xiao Chen’s feet were unstable and his head was dizzy. The phone fell from his hand, but luckily the boy next to him was quick off the mark, catching it to prevent it from breaking into two halves.
Xiao Chen staggered and almost fell down, his eyes widening and his breath stuck in his throat.
He turned sharply, scaring the students near him, their faces pale. There was only one thought in his head: ‘Find Xu Sheng!’
One foot had just crossed the entrance of the classroom when, in the terrified sight of everyone, Xiao Chen collapsed.
In his disoriented state, Xiao Chen saw one face after another around him, all of them flustered and horrified. But there were also noises of discussion.
“I beg you guys, save me! Save me! I beg you guys!!” A boy cried, his nose running. He harshly hit the door, each howl holding despair. Tears fell one by one, dripping onto the floor. He was like a lone wolf dying of sickness, letting out painful □□. In the dark hallway, no one responded, and the voice-activated lights flickered mysteriously.
“I know you guys are inside, I beg you guys, save me! I’m going to die! I beg you guys, help me call 120!” The boy grabbed the door handle tightly, smashing the door with all his strength. He thrashed wildly, knocking fiercely on every door in the hallway in desperation.
Xiao Chen stared at the scene in front of him, trying hard to see which boy’s face it was, but it was like a veil of mist covered his eyes. No matter what he did, the boy’s facial features couldn’t be seen, but he could still sense the other’s weak struggle and agonizing shouts. But the boy couldn’t perceive Xiao Chen’s presence. Xiao Chen watched with wide eyes as the boy looked through him, as if he were in another space.
He examined the boy’s back view, his chest stuffy. He wanted to help the other scream, but his voice was stuck in his throat. His mouth twitched, but he couldn’t produce any sound. He blinked anxiously, but he could only roar in his heart. ‘Quickly open the door! Can’t you guys see that he is about to die?’
Xiao Chen’s prayers in his heart might have had an effect, because with a click, the door at the end of the hallway was opened. The boy brightened like a rescued puppy as he rushed there and hugged the person’s leg, hoarsely saying, “Save me!”
The man kicked the boy indifferently, making sure he was far away. “Don’t get close to me, don’t block this father! Little b*tch, you’re just as cheap as your mother!”
The boy acted like he was someone drowning and thrashing bitterly in the water, before finally seizing the last floating board. He wasn’t deterred, and returned to grab onto the man’s leg even as he was repeatedly kicked.
The boy knelt on the ground and kowtowed strongly. “I beg you to help me call 120, I beg you! I beg you!”
Xiao Chen’s heart cramped and he wished to rush up and pick him up.
The man sneered as if he was looking at a joke. He pulled out his phone. “You want me to call?”
The boy’s eyes were filled with hope, and he nodded vigorously, so fast that Xiao Chen was worried his head would be thrown off.
The man’s hand swiped across the screen, and Xiao Chen thought he was going to call the emergency number. But in the next second when he saw the screen clearly, he was chilled to the core.
What the man opened was the phone’s recording function!
He stepped forward and kicked the boy ferociously, his eyes exuding madness and odd satisfaction, as if to vent all his discomfort and resentment on the boy!
The mist shrouding Xiao Chen’s eyes instantly dissipated. At this moment, he could see the appearance of the boy behind it!
Pale face, light gray eyes! Familiar eyebrows!
The cold sweat on Xiao Chen’s forehead tricked down, and he swallowed.
It’s Xu Sheng!
Bam!
Xiao Chen raised his stiff legs to get rid of the restrictions on his body and pull the boy away. But his body was still partially out of his control, so he toppled to the side, immediately falling unconscious.
Xiao Chen barely managed to open his eyes, and his surroundings were all as white as snow. He gasped, his head blank for a moment, and ignorantly looked around. There were two male classmates sitting in front of his bed. It took awhile for him to realize he was in the hospital, though he didn’t know how long he had been lying down for.
He violently sat up, thinking of Xu Sheng, of those pictures and the dream...
Xiao Chen impatiently asked, “Xu Sheng? How is Xu Sheng?”
The expressions of the two boys became a little strange, even frightened. One of them showed disdain, but still a bit of fear. “How else can he be, he did that kind of thing, and someone in the school took those photos. I heard that he committed suicide by taking sleeping pills at home!”
Xiao Chen’s brain couldn’t process it. He bit his lip, his face pale.
The boy continued. “However, I also heard that he regretted it afterwards, but didn’t have any method of communication at home. So he ran out, wanting to call for help from other people in the apartments, but nobody listened to him. So cheap, tut-tut, so tragic.”
Xiao Chen glanced at the gloating boy, a chill running down his spine. He felt that the world was so unfamiliar.
Out of nowhere, he thought of a saying:
Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty.
Each of them is an accomplice who killed Xu Sheng!
T/N: Only one thing below because I’m already a little late with this update. I had an online test today. But besides that, this is where it all begins, precious readers!
More information on the Chinese version of “holy cow”
我去, which literally means “I’ll go”, but I have used “holy cow” as a replacement for flow. It is used to express astonishment. It was one of the hottest words in 2010 because of a Japanese animated comedy, ギャグマンガ日和, which was revoiced by a group of Chinese college students who made about 28 films. 我去 frequently appeared in the films. When characters faced a situation beyond their control, they would say 我去 to express their thoughts.