episode 52

In the cold winter, patches of pale snow covered the entire town, so cold that it made one's heart ache.

The school corridor was long and empty. A thin boy walked slowly along the crack in the floor with his head down.

Tick-tock—tick-tock—

The liquid snow burst through the thin ceiling with a roar, falling to the ground in puddles, the viscous snow water flowing everywhere.

The hazy, indistinct shadow in front of us gradually transformed into a solemn black podium, resembling a funeral hall set up in the classroom.

My father and mother stood behind the podium, wearing white shirts that they only wore to meetings.

Their legs were hidden behind the mourning hall, their upper bodies were clearly visible, and they were holding densely packed lesson plans and textbooks in their arms, but their faces were covered with two wisps of fog, making them look like two headless corpses standing up.

He Xun suddenly opened his eyes wide, feeling as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart, causing him to feel suffocated and excruciating pain.

His chest heaved violently, as he tried to shout, to warn them to run! But somehow, his throat felt like it was blocked by a red-hot iron, and his legs were pinned down by thick steel needles. He couldn't move, couldn't touch, and couldn't make a sound.

He could only stand there, his body ice-cold, watching helplessly as reporters swarmed in, shoving microphones and cameras at his father's weary face.

"Mr. He, you and your wife are both teachers, and you have been a teacher for over ten years. Why would you do something like abusing students?"

Were you present when the student fainted and was carried out? Do you regret what you did? Can you share your feelings?

"How does your wife, who has also been a teacher for over ten years, view this matter?"

The man's usually upright back hunched over, and his deep voice began to tremble: "I have never abused my student! I only made him stand outside for a class period as punishment when he was disrupting other children's lessons. This has nothing to do with my wife either. Please, don't report this in a false way, okay?"

"So you're admitting that you've used harsh corporal punishment on your students?"

"Is it true that you physically punished students?"

"Such a sensational event has occurred, and your wife remains unmoved?"

"I heard you've received an award for outstanding teacher. So what do you think are the standards for a good teacher?"

"......"

That group of people, veiled by the protective mask of media and news, revealed their malicious intent and became executioners who killed at will.

"Pah! A people's teacher, my foot! I bet he'll be a corrupt official from now on!"

"I heard his son is also at that school, and he's doing quite well in his studies. I wonder if he's benefiting from the couple's influence."

"Neither of them is any good! They only care about their own children; don't they think other people's children are children too?"

The noise came like snowflakes falling in droves: the father was fired, the window was smashed with bricks at midnight, and red paint was splashed on the door.

A burning hatred surged into He Xun's heart; his eyes turned bloodshot, and his handsome face contorted in pain.

How kind of people are! What a kind group of people! What a righteous group of people! Just because of some half-baked news, they want to send their whole family to hell!

The mother suddenly jumped off the rooftop.

"Mother!!"

He Xun gripped the icy-cold iron railing and screamed in anguish.

His mangled body lay sprawled on the cold cement floor, his mother's warm blood splattering onto his youthful face.

He Xun blankly wiped the blood from his face, then suddenly opened his eyes and sat up in shock.

"Brother Xun! You're awake? Are you alright? You look terrible. Did you have a nightmare?"

Hearing the noise, Su Yaojia, who was dozing off, suddenly sat up in her chair, rushed to the bedside, and forcefully pressed He Xun back onto the bed, saying, "Your arm isn't healed yet, don't move around!"

He Xun blinked slowly, struggling to look around. All he could see was a blanket of white, and the smell of disinfectant filled his nostrils.

It turned out to be a hospital ward.

Looking down again, I saw that my left arm was indeed wrapped up like a rice dumpling.

The scene before I fainted gradually came to mind.

"Where's Liuguang?" He Xun's voice was hoarse as he struggled to sit up again.

Su Yaojia poured him a glass of water: "Oh, he went downstairs to buy you food."

"Thank you. What's my situation now? When can I get out of bed and walk again?" He Xun irritably rubbed his hair with his right hand. "How's the situation at the manor? Have they arrested anyone?"

"I suffered a broken left arm and a wolf bite, but thankfully my brain wasn't damaged, so my life isn't in danger. I'll just need to rest in the hospital for a while, and the manor is under control now, so don't worry about that." Su Yaojia paused, clearly still shaken. "Besides, Xun-ge, you were too brave. You dared to jump from such a high building. What if you had hit your head? You wouldn't have seen the sun tomorrow! He Lianmeng and that wolf owner were both terrified, you know?"

"The situation was urgent, and there was really no other way," He Xun said with a wry smile. "I couldn't beat so many wolves."

"How are those wolves doing?" he asked again.

"It's amazing, those wolves killed the animal trainer and then ran away. We haven't been able to find them since," Su Yaojia said with a look of surprise. "Everyone guesses they must have run back to the forest. Animals are really amazing."

He Xun smiled with satisfaction: "Wolves are inherently less obedient. If they were truly obedient, they wouldn't be wolves, they would be dogs."

I vaguely remember reading a sentence in a book: Wolves will never appear in a circus.

Su Yaojia wholeheartedly agreed: "Anyway, try not to act alone in the future. It's too dangerous. Do you think you're a lone wolf?"

She sat back down in her chair, crossed her legs, and then said angrily, "These people are really perverted. They even keep wolves as pets. It's no wonder they would do things that harm minors. They're simply antisocial. You really can't judge a book by its cover. As a fan site admin, I've always known that the entertainment industry is dirty, but I never knew it was this dirty! It's terrifying!"

"Brother Xun, you're a true god." She gave He Xun a thumbs up again, "You're handsome and have impeccable morals."

He Xun twitched the corner of his mouth, just about to say that he couldn't be so cruel, when Song Liuguang came in carrying two large bags.

Su Yaojia stood up and rummaged through the bag, then pouted and said unhappily, "Why did you buy rice? Didn't you hear what the nurse said? Xun-ge needs to eat light food now. It would be much better to buy some rice porridge or something. You men just don't know how to take care of people."

"Hey! I think that's a stereotype," Song Liuguang retorted. "Who says men can't take care of people? Rice is great, it's filling and you can even mix it with vegetables!"

"It's so dry!"

"I also bought milk tea and drinks!"

"Brother Xun is injured like this, and you still dare to let him drink all sorts of random things? Those high-sugar drinks shouldn't even be in a hospital, okay?"

He Xun, struggling to reach out his right hand from his hospital bed, intending to sneak a cup of bubble tea: "..."

Su Yaojia's sharp gaze shot over in an instant.

He Xun: "......"

He struggled to pull his hand back and obediently placed it back.

"Ahem, alright, alright, stop bothering my two darlings," He Xun said helplessly. "We'll have rice porridge tomorrow, let's leave it at that for today, okay?"

With the oldest patient present speaking up, the two younger patients naturally stopped arguing and finally sat down to begin serving their meals.

Song Liuguang handed the rice dish with the most abundant ingredients to He Xun.

He Xun said thank you, but instead of eating right away, he first checked the contents of the pinhole camera.

His expression was so serious that Su Yaojia and Song Liuguang naturally didn't dare to urge him. Only after he finished his examination did Song Liuguang dare to speak cautiously: "Brother Xun, do you need to notify your family now that you're in this situation? We don't know your family situation, so we didn't dare to notify your family without our permission in the first place."

Where would he find family now?

He Xun lowered his eyelids, about to speak, when his phone suddenly rang.

Su Yaojia moved swiftly, grabbing his clothes and pulling out his phone from inside. She then tossed it to him, saying, "We snatched your phone before the police could even enter the room. Aren't we thoughtful?"

"That's so thoughtful."

He Xun praised her, then picked up his phone and saw that the caller was Mu Xianglu.

He pressed the answer button, and the other party indeed asked him where he was and why he hadn't returned. He Xun made up a reasonably plausible excuse to brush it off.

His image had always been calm and reliable, so Mu Xianglu believed him and even told him that Mo Shilin was away on business trips abroad and wouldn't be very busy at the villa.

He Xun agreed and hung up the phone. Sure enough, he saw an unread text message in his message bar. It was sent by Mo Shilin yesterday, at the exact time he entered St. Mary's Manor.

"I went to the World Internet Conference today. On my way back, I passed by a newly opened dessert shop. They said their egg tarts were delicious, so I bought a box and put it in the refrigerator on the second floor. Remember to eat it when you get back."

Half an hour later, perhaps realizing that He Xun hadn't replied, Mo Shilin sent another voice message.

He Xun stared at the voice message in silence for a moment, then looked up and glanced at Song Liuguang and Su Yaojia, who were eating rice. He carefully turned down the volume of his phone before putting it to his ear.

A deep, magnetic voice followed: "Baby, why aren't you replying to my messages?"

It sounded like a complaint, but also like a coaxing.

He Xun's fair ears felt a little hot, and his slender fingers bent as he typed, "Busy, didn't see it."

"Okay, I'll eat the egg tarts when I get back."

Mo Shilin replied instantly, "In a boring meeting," followed by a photo of the meeting room. "These people just talk nonsense; they don't have any substance."

The other person, who seemed perfectly at ease when we first met, can now freely send text messages expressing their true feelings.

He Xun found it cute and unconsciously raised the corners of his lips.

At this moment, Su Yaojia stood up to look for a charger. She inadvertently glanced at He Xun's face and immediately said sharply, "Brother Xun, why is your face so red all of a sudden? Do you have a fever?"

"..." He Xun silently put his phone under his pillow. "It might be a little hot."

Song Liuguang, who was scrolling through short videos, suddenly looked up and stared at him as if she had seen a ghost: "But the air conditioner is already set to 19 degrees!"

Su Yaojia crossed her arms and rubbed her arms, shivering, and added, "I'm a little cold."

He Xun: "......"

After dinner, He Xun asked for the computer and immediately wanted to upload the video evidence to the account "Male Servant Gossip Agency".

After handing him the computer, Song Liuguang became a little worried: "Brother Xun, you're just going to transfer it like this? What will the police say if you don't wait?"

"Wait for them?" He Xun's fingers paused, he looked up, and a dark smile appeared on his lips. "Forget it, I'll send it out now, and their efficiency in handling the case will be higher."

“Alright.” Song Liuguang sat back down in his chair, feeling a bit annoyed, and reminded him, “Then Xun-ge, you’d better hurry up, they’ll probably be coming to take your statement soon.”

He Xun raised an eyebrow: "Is there no one on duty outside right now?"

"You woke up at just the right time; they were changing shifts, and the shift hasn't been filled yet."

He Xun wasn't surprised. He smiled and turned on his computer.

Time was of the essence, so he uploaded the video first, and then began editing the text. Sure enough, he had only edited half of the text when the police came in to take his statement.

In just over ten minutes, the video had already caused a huge uproar across the country, and Su Yaojia and Song Liuguang immediately forwarded it using their own accounts.

A well-known fan site administrator and a well-known marketing account—their influence is definitely not small.

Foreign media outlets reacted quickly and even immediately reposted and reported on the incident.

The police officers who came in were indeed very dissatisfied with his behavior, but He Xun calmly and innocently said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you had so many rules. How about I delete it now? Is that alright?"

"......"

The police were speechless.

What's the point of deleting it? The videos and the faces of the guests at the manor have already been spread all over the world!

But they were truly helpless against He Xun. Putting aside the fact that he was now a confirmed hero who had infiltrated a dangerous situation, the extremely serious case of St. Mary's Manor alone was enough to keep them busy for a while. Where did they have the time to argue with a patient? After taking the statement and giving the usual instructions, they left without looking back.

As a result, He Xun's account gained hundreds of thousands of followers, approaching one million.

However, the video was taken down in less than an hour, and at the same time, He Xun received a lot of death threats in his private messages.

The threatening words and bloody photos gave Song Liuguang and Su Yaojia goosebumps.

He Xun, however, was fearless.

Hasn't he experienced enough of this kind of thing?

If you're afraid, you won't do it in the first place.

Since we've already done it, we're not afraid.

They are not afraid of death.

As it turns out, the impact of this news exposure was enormous; the "Santa Maria Estate forced imprisonment and sex trafficking of minors" incident shocked the entire society and even the world.

Although various unknown forces are desperately trying to suppress the news, there are endless righteous people who can't be killed off.

Domestic and international audiences alike proactively cached He Xun's videos, reposting them one by one as they were taken down.

A few conscientious self-media bloggers are also making efforts to speak out and try to let more people know the truth about this matter.

One of the protagonists in the incident, Lin Huanyan, was even braver. After leaving the psychological intervention room, she accepted an interview with a media outlet and took the initiative to reveal the scars that had caused her immense pain.

In the video interview, she was afraid, trembling, yet resolute.

She is fearless.

As a key witness, she represents not only herself, but also hundreds of imprisoned children and their souls who, despite suffering harm, remain fearless in the face of darkness and determined to expose the masks of those who have been wronged!

Fueled by public outrage, dozens of officials were subsequently dismissed, and more than forty entrepreneurs and hundreds of celebrities were investigated.

As for He Xun, although his face photo and personal information were not leaked online—thanks to his transmigration into the book—those people still managed to find out which hospital he was in, which led to him being threatened with death and hunted down by various unknown forces. For a long time, He Xun had to check under his bed and in his closet with a knife before going to sleep to see if anyone was hiding there.

A small number of media outlets and paparazzi, having somehow gotten wind of the situation, wanted to come to the hospital for interviews, but Su Yaojia and Song Liuguang made excuses to avoid them.

For safety reasons, with the help of Su Yaojia and Song Liuguang, He Xun was quickly transferred to a small, remote hospital in another province to recuperate, where it was indeed much quieter.

—After a long period of chaos, He Xun was discharged from the hospital with a cast on his arm.

"There is no risk of infection or metastasis at the moment, so you can be discharged. Go home and rest well, don't overwork yourself, and come back for regular check-ups."

After thanking the doctor, He Xun was helped out of the hospital by Song Liuguang and Su Yaojia.

Sitting in the back seat of Su Yaojia's car, he said with unusual embarrassment, "Thank you both for your help these past few days. Is there anything you'd like to eat? I'll treat you to lunch today."

"Why are you being so polite, Brother Xun!" Song Liuguang said politely, but his hands were already unlocking his phone and his eyes were shining as he started searching for good restaurants.

Su Yaojia saw through it at a glance, gripped the steering wheel, and clicked her tongue twice: "We're doomed, Xun-ge's wallet is going to be in danger today."

Stop spreading rumors!

He Xun listened to their playful banter and couldn't help but smile, his eyes crinkling with laughter. Then, remembering that today was supposed to be the day Mo Shilin returned to China, his heart felt a little heavy.

An hour later, the car drove back to S City.

As they passed a street, Song Liuguang pointed ahead and pleaded, "Little Su, there's an ice cream stand up ahead, can you stop for a moment? I'll go buy ice cream for you and Xun-ge."

"Then I want the chocolate flavor!" Su Yaojia exclaimed, then turned to He Xun and asked, "Brother Xun, what do you want?"

"It will be all right."

Song Liuguang complained to him: "If it's okay, then it's not okay either. This kind of person is the most difficult to deal with."

He Xun didn't want his friend to think he was a difficult person, so he raised his hands in surrender: "Then I'll have vanilla."

"That's more like it!"

The car stopped by the roadside, and Song Liuguang jumped out and ran up to queue up with great joy.

Su Yaojia unbuckled her seatbelt and hummed a little tune as she sent a voice message to her best friend, discussing whether the currently popular male celebrity preferred men or women.

Although it was already the beginning of autumn, the midday sun was still bright and shining, seemingly warmly bathing the entire street.

He Xun propped his chin up and looked out the window, but in that one glance, his breath caught in his throat, the color drained from his face, and he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. Then, as if he had been hit on the head, his whole body went numb.

He saw Jian Ye and Mo Shilin standing very close together on the street across the street.

The boy was a head shorter than the man, his small face filled with tears as he looked at the man. From He Xun's angle, it looked as if the boy had snuggled into Mo Shilin's arms, with the red roses between them swaying in the wind.