Young man, are you really willing to help us repay the money? Why would you be willing to help us? That’s an enormous sum.”
The couple knelt heavily before Bai Lixin. Neither could believe what had just happened. The woman’s cries were loud, and while the man’s expression was relatively more subdued, the pain in his eyes was no less than the woman’s.
They looked at Bai Lixin with eyes that resembled a drowning person grasping desperately at a lifeline. At this moment, the young man before them was not just an individual anymore; he was their savior.
With a choked voice, the man asked the initial question.
Students passed by the school gate one after another.
Bai Lixin: “Follow me. This place is too crowded, it’s not convenient to talk here.”
“Yes, yes.” The couple helped each other up from the ground. Both of them were over fifty years old, yet, they now appeared like two children who had done something wrong, timidly following behind Bai Lixin into the sparsely populated small park nearby.
The Taoist priest followed behind, shaking his head helplessly and muttering quietly, “The heavens are heartless, treating all things as straw dogs,” then he walked over.
Thick branches hung down around them, and the warm morning sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, creating dappled patterns on the ground in a play of light and shadow.
They stopped only when they reached a few benches.
“I can guess what the ‘photos’ those people mentioned are about. Have they shown them to you?” Bai Lixin looked down at the couple, whose spines were bent by life’s burdens, and spoke in a low voice.
The two exchanged a glance, and the woman spoke in a meek tone, “Yes, they showed them to us.”
Those few words seemed to drain all her strength. After speaking, she covered her nose and began to cry.
“This child has always been sensible and never caused us to worry. If we had known he would turn out like this after going to university, we wouldn’t have let him leave. He should have stayed peacefully in the village. Now he could have been married with children. Wuuu…”
“Don’t say that,” the man grabbed the woman’s hand and pulled it, “should we have him stay in the village and lead the same life as us forever? It was not wrong for him to go out. The mistake was in him getting to know the wrong people and ruining himself. It’s our fault. We never had an education and didn’t know how to communicate with our child. Although he was sensible, he never shared his troubles with us. It’s our inability to support him from behind that led him down this path. It’s not anyone else’s fault; he has only himself to blame.”
“Getting to know the wrong people?” Bai Lixin gestured for them to sit down while he took a seat on a bench opposite them. “What kind of people were they? Do you know?”
“You might not believe me if I tell you who this person is,” the man sighed. “He mentioned it once to me, that this person is his goddess, and she’s the goddess of many others too. She’s a high-status individual. I always thought that when he referred to ‘goddess,’ he meant his girlfriend. His girlfriend was already so outstanding, what more could he want? He should take a good look at himself before doing things. Can people like us enter the circle that well-known people like her move in?”
Bai Lixin asked, “A high-status celebrity? Tell me, who is this person? How would you know I won’t believe it? Do you know her name? Do you have her photo?”
The man shook his head with a sigh. “I only know she’s a film star. I’ve seen her on TV often. We ordinary folks might not recall her name immediately.”
“I know!” The woman looked anxiously, “It’s Luo Mei, Luo Mei!”
The Taoist priest stood up abruptly from his chair, “Luo Mei? The actress Luo Mei? You’re saying your son’s goddess is Luo Mei? Is that true?”
“I don’t really watch movies or TV shows, but I know who Luo Mei is. She’s won multiple awards and even been nominated internationally. She’s a famous film star. Why would someone like her want to date your son, who hasn’t even entered society yet? Could it be that your son was fooling you?”
“See? I told you you wouldn’t believe it,” the man carefully concealed his hopeful expression. With the Taoist priest’s shout, both of them shrank their shoulders, appearing very lost. “We didn’t believe it at first either. We thought maybe he was still dreaming or having fantasies.”
“But he showed us the photos. It was a picture of him with that actress, that’s when we believed.”
The Taoist sat down with some embarrassment, but his tone still held some skepticism. “With the advanced technology these days, photos can be doctored. One can even swap faces on videos using AI, let alone photos.”
Unfamiliar terms entered their ears, making the couple even more bewildered.
They felt helpless.
Indeed, no one would believe them.
One was an ordinary university student from the countryside, while the other was a phoenix in the world of entertainment.
How could they possibly have any connection?
The movie queen was surrounded by a sea of young actors and male stars, yet she chose to date a student who didn’t even know the word “society.”
Forget outsiders; even they themselves found it hard to believe.
But the fact remained: a rural student with no presence in the world was dating a celebrity who held the power of discourse. Why wouldn’t anyone believe them?
Was it because one was a public figure with authority while the other was just a common person without influence?
A sense of powerlessness wrapped around them like a silken cocoon, growing tighter and tighter, until it suffocated them.
They wanted to seek help, to prove something, but they were insignificant in the face of immense capital; there was nothing they could do.
Just then, a calm voice slowly entered their ears: “I believe you.”
The voice was soft but sharp like a cold blade, slicing through the intangible cocoon that bound them.
Both looked over in astonishment. They saw the young man sitting across them cross his legs, sitting back casually as he looked at them with calm and trusting eyes.
The man’s voice trembled with excitement. “Do you really believe us? Do you truly believe what we’ve said?! You’re not just comforting us? Even the police didn’t believe us; they thought we were delusional. Do you truly believe what we’ve said?”
“Yes, I do believe,” the young man’s voice seemed to carry a sort of magical power. His tone was calm and steady, devoid of passion or overt emphasis. Yet his words were imbued with an inexplicable sense of empowerment, a light that pierced through the cocoon that had isolated these two souls at the bottom of a well.
He wasn’t pitying them like others, nor was he mocking or scorning them like some. He genuinely believed them.
In that moment, the couple seemed to find an outlet for release. They clung to each other and cried as if they were three-year-old children.
Bai Lixin’s phone suddenly chimed. He opened it to find a message from Shen Mo.
[The driver has already reached the school gate. You can come out now.]
Bai Lixin’s elegant and slender fingers tapped lightly on the screen: [Wait a moment, I have something to attend to here.]
Shen Mo: [There’s no rush, just come out after you’re done.]
After locking his phone, Bai Lixin sat in the coolness of the small park, patiently waiting for the couple to vent their emotions.
Once they had managed to control their tears, he stood up from his seat. “You should go home today. Believe me, from now on, these people won’t trouble you anymore. You don’t need to worry about your son’s debt. You’re only in your fifties now, and with advanced technology, medical care, and living standards, living another seventy or eighty years is not a problem.”
“None of us want to encounter life’s hardships, but we must have the courage to face them. Even if disaster strikes, we won’t be helpless. The most difficult times have already passed, and you’ve managed to bear them. You are the phoenix that has undergone rebirth.”
“Your child is your continuation and hope, but your child is not your entirety. When you invest your emotions and worries in another person, what follows is passivity and excessive anxiety.”
“Perhaps what I’m saying now isn’t easy for you to digest but it’s alright if you don’t understand. In short, your son’s debt ends here. Go back and live the rest of your lives well.”
The couple still found it hard to believe. The man looked at Bai Lixin in disbelief. “Is that all you wanted to ask us?”
Bai Lixin said, “Do you have anything else you want to tell me?”
“No, no..,” the man waved his hand in a panic, speaking meekly. “Um, my son’s photos…”
Bai Lixin: “They will completely disappear from this world. Leave me your phone number. I’ll let you know after everything is settled.”
The couple exchanged glances, and finally, the husband nodded. “Okay, I trust you.”
The young man before them was quite young, but strangely, he exuded an unusual sense of maturity that instinctively inclined them to believe in him.
After giving their phone number, they watched as Bai Lixin prepared to leave and the woman suddenly remembered something and asked, “Young man, we still don’t know your name.”
“I’m called Bai Lixin. Goodbye.”
As they watched the two leave, the couple finally breathed a sigh of relief, sinking heavily into their.
The woman leaned against the man, “We’ve encountered a good person. Do you think he’ll really help Xiao Ping repay the money? He couldn’t be a swindler, deceiving us, could he?”
The man wasn’t too sure either. “I don’t know, but we have nothing left on us now. What could he possibly deceive us about?”
The woman agreed, “yes, yes, you’re right. We probably did meet a good person. He’s called Bai Lixin, right? Oh dear, I forgot to ask for the characters in his name. I should make a longevity tablet for him at home.”
The man said, “I’ll send a message later to ask.”
The woman replied, “Okay.”
———————————–
In the live broadcast room
[—Young man, I still don’t know your name.
—My name is Good Person.]
[Save me, I can feel the imagery.]
[The couple seems quite poor and God Xin doesn’t need this world’s money. Why doesn’t he give them some?]
[??? Are you okay?]
[God Xin has a deep understanding of human nature—goodness and wickedness, vulgarity and mediocrity. What they lack right now isn’t money but a stable life. Moreover, they seem pitiable now, but once a windfall comes, can’t bad thoughts arise? All of this is unknown. Helping them resolve the mess left by Chen Ping not only assists them, but it also doesn’t let them reap without sowing. It’s probably the best solution. Actually, God Xin could’ve chosen to do nothing.]
[Look at you saying that. He gained the connection to Luo Mei without doing anything.]
[That’s why they say that good-hearted people don’t usually have terrible luck. When I was watching the live broadcast, other players came to X University one after another, and these banners have been up for several days. Not a single player helped. Everyone’s busy solving puzzles. Who has the time to deal with these NPC matters? You’re just morally kidnapping us.]
[F***, brother, I’m just stating a fact. Don’t just slap me with labels, okay?]
[Alright, alright, stop arguing. Why are we quarreling amongst ourselves?]
—————————–
Bai Lixin walked out of the school gate and saw the familiar black car parked on the side of the road.
The driver also saw Bai Lixin and quickly rolled down the window to greet him, “Mr. Bai Lixin, you’re here. Come up quickly. Huh, you’re two? Who’s this?”
“My friend,” Bai Lixin walked to the car and looked at the Taoist. “Where are you going, Master Taoist?”
“Where are you headed next?” the Taoist asked.
Bai Lixin provided an address.
The Taoist said, “It’s on the way. Can you give me a ride? I’ll save on the taxi fare.”
The driver said, “Get in, get in, come up quickly.”
Not long after the car started, it stopped in front of a breakfast shop. The driver turned around to explain, “That person said you haven’t had breakfast. He reserved a spot for you here, so you and your friend can have something to eat before you leave. Otherwise, he’d be worried.”
The Taoist joked, “Tsk tsk, Bai Lixin, who would’ve thought? You’re like a little lover someone’s scared will melt away. No wonder you had the money to help Chen Ping’s parents repay that 200,000 yuan debt. You’ve got a big sister taking care of you.”
Bai Lixin’s smile was relaxed. “Well, big sisters really seem to like my style, especially Miss Shen. She’s quite fond of me.”
The driver’s expression turned horrified.
‘Sister… Sister Shen?
Can this be spoken?’
The place they were eating wasn’t far from X University. From the window of the third floor, they could see the water jets at the library rising for the “offering”.
Once the waiter was a distance away, the Taoist lowered his voice and asked, “Where did you go yesterday? I really waited for you all night. Aren’t I a loyal friend?”
Bai Lixin leisurely took a sip of porridge and recounted what he had seen last night. However, he only mentioned the stone statues and the things he found beyond the arch door, not his own conjectures or Shen Mo’s presence.
The Taoist felt like he had experienced the incident, and his face showing a trace of lingering fear. “So how did you manage to leave in the end?”
“I ran up the stairs at the last moment. It seemed those stone statues couldn’t leave the corridor, so they just watched me leave,” Bai Lixin said.
The Taoist absentmindedly took a sip of soup, and the scalding liquid slid down his throat, causing him to instantly jump up from his chair. “Hot, hot, it’s scalding me. It’s so hot.”
He was handed a glass of ice water. As he waited for the Taoist to recover, Bai Lixin opened his phone and began searching for news about Luo Mei.
Luo Mei, 33 years old this year, debuted at 20 as a singer before transitioning to acting two years later. Her first movie skyrocketed her to fame nationwide.
After that, her life seemed supernaturally blessed—awards piled up, and within a few years, she became the number one actress.
The only photos of her that could be found were mostly recent. Bai Lixin had searched for her early career photos for quite a while before finally finding one on a small forum.
When she was a singer, she lacked the current confidence and dominance. Her skin was tan, her eyes evaded gazes, and her face lacked self-assuredness. She wasn’t unattractive, but she was far from stunning.
Yet, with the same face, a few years later, her eyes were brimming with confidence, her face marked with ambition. Though it was the same face, it was difficult to put into words how much more beautiful and captivating she appeared.
S419m commented: [No wonder people often say the entertainment circle is a big dye vat, where fame changes a person. If not for the unchanged details between the two photos, I would’ve thought these were two different people. In just a few short years, the ugly duckling completely transformed into a swan.]
Bai Lixin: […]
He flipped through the information quickly. During the few minutes the Taoist rested, Bai Lixin had gained some understanding of Luo Mei.
Luo Mei’s previous photos were nearly nonexistent online. She was also reluctant to mention her past, always keeping it locked away.
On certain small forums, there were mentions of Luo Mei’s family. She grew up in a single-parent household; her mother died when she was young, leaving her with just her father.
However, Luo Mei had protected her privacy well, so there was only a sparse amount of information available online.
Bai Lixin continued scrolling through forum messages and finally, he faintly saw Luo Mei’s family in a blurry photo.
The photo was unclear and it had been taken with the night setting in, so it was virtually impossible to make out.
S419m: [Huh, this man…]
Bai Lixin: [Can you enhance the photo?]
S419m: [I’ll try, Lord Host. Please wait a moment.]
[Ding! Photo enhancement successful, Lord Host, take a look at this man.]
On the large screen in Bai Lixin’s mind, a clear, huge portrait appeared.
As Bai Lixin examined the man’s face, there wasn’t too much surprise on his own face.
It was rather the Escape System that exclaimed: [Ah, this old man, isn’t he the grandpa from that day at the Golden Sea Luxury Apartments, the family the baby-faced player worked at as a nanny?]
[Is he Luo Mei’s father? But their family has a big baby, too. I remember the old man mentioned that he was his grandson. That mentally handicapped young man can’t possibly be Luo Mei’s son, right?! He looks at least twenty years old, but Luo Mei is only 33. Luo Mei couldn’t have had a child at 13, this doesn’t match.]
S419M: [Luo Mei has a residence in the Golden Sea Luxury Apartments, and Chen Ping also rented a place there. This shouldn’t be a coincidence. Luo Mei is highly likely to be connected to Chen Ping. If Chen Ping’s death is related to Luo Mei, then Luo Mei is likely connected to the main task as well. The disappearance or death of the baby-faced player might not be as simple as it seems.]
Young man, are you really willing to help us repay the money? Why would you be willing to help us? That’s an enormous sum.”
The couple knelt heavily before Bai Lixin. Neither could believe what had just happened. The woman’s cries were loud, and while the man’s expression was relatively more subdued, the pain in his eyes was no less than the woman’s.
They looked at Bai Lixin with eyes that resembled a drowning person grasping desperately at a lifeline. At this moment, the young man before them was not just an individual anymore; he was their savior.
With a choked voice, the man asked the initial question.
Students passed by the school gate one after another.
Bai Lixin: “Follow me. This place is too crowded, it’s not convenient to talk here.”
“Yes, yes.” The couple helped each other up from the ground. Both of them were over fifty years old, yet, they now appeared like two children who had done something wrong, timidly following behind Bai Lixin into the sparsely populated small park nearby.
The Taoist priest followed behind, shaking his head helplessly and muttering quietly, “The heavens are heartless, treating all things as straw dogs,” then he walked over.
Thick branches hung down around them, and the warm morning sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, creating dappled patterns on the ground in a play of light and shadow.
They stopped only when they reached a few benches.
“I can guess what the ‘photos’ those people mentioned are about. Have they shown them to you?” Bai Lixin looked down at the couple, whose spines were bent by life’s burdens, and spoke in a low voice.
The two exchanged a glance, and the woman spoke in a meek tone, “Yes, they showed them to us.”
Those few words seemed to drain all her strength. After speaking, she covered her nose and began to cry.
“This child has always been sensible and never caused us to worry. If we had known he would turn out like this after going to university, we wouldn’t have let him leave. He should have stayed peacefully in the village. Now he could have been married with children. Wuuu…”
“Don’t say that,” the man grabbed the woman’s hand and pulled it, “should we have him stay in the village and lead the same life as us forever? It was not wrong for him to go out. The mistake was in him getting to know the wrong people and ruining himself. It’s our fault. We never had an education and didn’t know how to communicate with our child. Although he was sensible, he never shared his troubles with us. It’s our inability to support him from behind that led him down this path. It’s not anyone else’s fault; he has only himself to blame.”
“Getting to know the wrong people?” Bai Lixin gestured for them to sit down while he took a seat on a bench opposite them. “What kind of people were they? Do you know?”
“You might not believe me if I tell you who this person is,” the man sighed. “He mentioned it once to me, that this person is his goddess, and she’s the goddess of many others too. She’s a high-status individual. I always thought that when he referred to ‘goddess,’ he meant his girlfriend. His girlfriend was already so outstanding, what more could he want? He should take a good look at himself before doing things. Can people like us enter the circle that well-known people like her move in?”
Bai Lixin asked, “A high-status celebrity? Tell me, who is this person? How would you know I won’t believe it? Do you know her name? Do you have her photo?”
The man shook his head with a sigh. “I only know she’s a film star. I’ve seen her on TV often. We ordinary folks might not recall her name immediately.”
“I know!” The woman looked anxiously, “It’s Luo Mei, Luo Mei!”
The Taoist priest stood up abruptly from his chair, “Luo Mei? The actress Luo Mei? You’re saying your son’s goddess is Luo Mei? Is that true?”
“I don’t really watch movies or TV shows, but I know who Luo Mei is. She’s won multiple awards and even been nominated internationally. She’s a famous film star. Why would someone like her want to date your son, who hasn’t even entered society yet? Could it be that your son was fooling you?”
“See? I told you you wouldn’t believe it,” the man carefully concealed his hopeful expression. With the Taoist priest’s shout, both of them shrank their shoulders, appearing very lost. “We didn’t believe it at first either. We thought maybe he was still dreaming or having fantasies.”
“But he showed us the photos. It was a picture of him with that actress, that’s when we believed.”
The Taoist sat down with some embarrassment, but his tone still held some skepticism. “With the advanced technology these days, photos can be doctored. One can even swap faces on videos using AI, let alone photos.”
Unfamiliar terms entered their ears, making the couple even more bewildered.
They felt helpless.
Indeed, no one would believe them.
One was an ordinary university student from the countryside, while the other was a phoenix in the world of entertainment.
How could they possibly have any connection?
The movie queen was surrounded by a sea of young actors and male stars, yet she chose to date a student who didn’t even know the word “society.”
Forget outsiders; even they themselves found it hard to believe.
But the fact remained: a rural student with no presence in the world was dating a celebrity who held the power of discourse. Why wouldn’t anyone believe them?
Was it because one was a public figure with authority while the other was just a common person without influence?
A sense of powerlessness wrapped around them like a silken cocoon, growing tighter and tighter, until it suffocated them.
They wanted to seek help, to prove something, but they were insignificant in the face of immense capital; there was nothing they could do.
Just then, a calm voice slowly entered their ears: “I believe you.”
The voice was soft but sharp like a cold blade, slicing through the intangible cocoon that bound them.
Both looked over in astonishment. They saw the young man sitting across them cross his legs, sitting back casually as he looked at them with calm and trusting eyes.
The man’s voice trembled with excitement. “Do you really believe us? Do you truly believe what we’ve said?! You’re not just comforting us? Even the police didn’t believe us; they thought we were delusional. Do you truly believe what we’ve said?”
“Yes, I do believe,” the young man’s voice seemed to carry a sort of magical power. His tone was calm and steady, devoid of passion or overt emphasis. Yet his words were imbued with an inexplicable sense of empowerment, a light that pierced through the cocoon that had isolated these two souls at the bottom of a well.
He wasn’t pitying them like others, nor was he mocking or scorning them like some. He genuinely believed them.
In that moment, the couple seemed to find an outlet for release. They clung to each other and cried as if they were three-year-old children.
Bai Lixin’s phone suddenly chimed. He opened it to find a message from Shen Mo.
[The driver has already reached the school gate. You can come out now.]
Bai Lixin’s elegant and slender fingers tapped lightly on the screen: [Wait a moment, I have something to attend to here.]
Shen Mo: [There’s no rush, just come out after you’re done.]
After locking his phone, Bai Lixin sat in the coolness of the small park, patiently waiting for the couple to vent their emotions.
Once they had managed to control their tears, he stood up from his seat. “You should go home today. Believe me, from now on, these people won’t trouble you anymore. You don’t need to worry about your son’s debt. You’re only in your fifties now, and with advanced technology, medical care, and living standards, living another seventy or eighty years is not a problem.”
“None of us want to encounter life’s hardships, but we must have the courage to face them. Even if disaster strikes, we won’t be helpless. The most difficult times have already passed, and you’ve managed to bear them. You are the phoenix that has undergone rebirth.”
“Your child is your continuation and hope, but your child is not your entirety. When you invest your emotions and worries in another person, what follows is passivity and excessive anxiety.”
“Perhaps what I’m saying now isn’t easy for you to digest but it’s alright if you don’t understand. In short, your son’s debt ends here. Go back and live the rest of your lives well.”
The couple still found it hard to believe. The man looked at Bai Lixin in disbelief. “Is that all you wanted to ask us?”
Bai Lixin said, “Do you have anything else you want to tell me?”
“No, no..,” the man waved his hand in a panic, speaking meekly. “Um, my son’s photos…”
Bai Lixin: “They will completely disappear from this world. Leave me your phone number. I’ll let you know after everything is settled.”
The couple exchanged glances, and finally, the husband nodded. “Okay, I trust you.”
The young man before them was quite young, but strangely, he exuded an unusual sense of maturity that instinctively inclined them to believe in him.
After giving their phone number, they watched as Bai Lixin prepared to leave and the woman suddenly remembered something and asked, “Young man, we still don’t know your name.”
“I’m called Bai Lixin. Goodbye.”
As they watched the two leave, the couple finally breathed a sigh of relief, sinking heavily into their.
The woman leaned against the man, “We’ve encountered a good person. Do you think he’ll really help Xiao Ping repay the money? He couldn’t be a swindler, deceiving us, could he?”
The man wasn’t too sure either. “I don’t know, but we have nothing left on us now. What could he possibly deceive us about?”
The woman agreed, “yes, yes, you’re right. We probably did meet a good person. He’s called Bai Lixin, right? Oh dear, I forgot to ask for the characters in his name. I should make a longevity tablet for him at home.”
The man said, “I’ll send a message later to ask.”
The woman replied, “Okay.”
———————————–
In the live broadcast room
[—Young man, I still don’t know your name.
—My name is Good Person.]
[Save me, I can feel the imagery.]
[The couple seems quite poor and God Xin doesn’t need this world’s money. Why doesn’t he give them some?]
[??? Are you okay?]
[God Xin has a deep understanding of human nature—goodness and wickedness, vulgarity and mediocrity. What they lack right now isn’t money but a stable life. Moreover, they seem pitiable now, but once a windfall comes, can’t bad thoughts arise? All of this is unknown. Helping them resolve the mess left by Chen Ping not only assists them, but it also doesn’t let them reap without sowing. It’s probably the best solution. Actually, God Xin could’ve chosen to do nothing.]
[Look at you saying that. He gained the connection to Luo Mei without doing anything.]
[That’s why they say that good-hearted people don’t usually have terrible luck. When I was watching the live broadcast, other players came to X University one after another, and these banners have been up for several days. Not a single player helped. Everyone’s busy solving puzzles. Who has the time to deal with these NPC matters? You’re just morally kidnapping us.]
[F***, brother, I’m just stating a fact. Don’t just slap me with labels, okay?]
[Alright, alright, stop arguing. Why are we quarreling amongst ourselves?]
—————————–
Bai Lixin walked out of the school gate and saw the familiar black car parked on the side of the road.
The driver also saw Bai Lixin and quickly rolled down the window to greet him, “Mr. Bai Lixin, you’re here. Come up quickly. Huh, you’re two? Who’s this?”
“My friend,” Bai Lixin walked to the car and looked at the Taoist. “Where are you going, Master Taoist?”
“Where are you headed next?” the Taoist asked.
Bai Lixin provided an address.
The Taoist said, “It’s on the way. Can you give me a ride? I’ll save on the taxi fare.”
The driver said, “Get in, get in, come up quickly.”
Not long after the car started, it stopped in front of a breakfast shop. The driver turned around to explain, “That person said you haven’t had breakfast. He reserved a spot for you here, so you and your friend can have something to eat before you leave. Otherwise, he’d be worried.”
The Taoist joked, “Tsk tsk, Bai Lixin, who would’ve thought? You’re like a little lover someone’s scared will melt away. No wonder you had the money to help Chen Ping’s parents repay that 200,000 yuan debt. You’ve got a big sister taking care of you.”
Bai Lixin’s smile was relaxed. “Well, big sisters really seem to like my style, especially Miss Shen. She’s quite fond of me.”
The driver’s expression turned horrified.
‘Sister… Sister Shen?
Can this be spoken?’
The place they were eating wasn’t far from X University. From the window of the third floor, they could see the water jets at the library rising for the “offering”.
Once the waiter was a distance away, the Taoist lowered his voice and asked, “Where did you go yesterday? I really waited for you all night. Aren’t I a loyal friend?”
Bai Lixin leisurely took a sip of porridge and recounted what he had seen last night. However, he only mentioned the stone statues and the things he found beyond the arch door, not his own conjectures or Shen Mo’s presence.
The Taoist felt like he had experienced the incident, and his face showing a trace of lingering fear. “So how did you manage to leave in the end?”
“I ran up the stairs at the last moment. It seemed those stone statues couldn’t leave the corridor, so they just watched me leave,” Bai Lixin said.
The Taoist absentmindedly took a sip of soup, and the scalding liquid slid down his throat, causing him to instantly jump up from his chair. “Hot, hot, it’s scalding me. It’s so hot.”
He was handed a glass of ice water. As he waited for the Taoist to recover, Bai Lixin opened his phone and began searching for news about Luo Mei.
Luo Mei, 33 years old this year, debuted at 20 as a singer before transitioning to acting two years later. Her first movie skyrocketed her to fame nationwide.
After that, her life seemed supernaturally blessed—awards piled up, and within a few years, she became the number one actress.
The only photos of her that could be found were mostly recent. Bai Lixin had searched for her early career photos for quite a while before finally finding one on a small forum.
When she was a singer, she lacked the current confidence and dominance. Her skin was tan, her eyes evaded gazes, and her face lacked self-assuredness. She wasn’t unattractive, but she was far from stunning.
Yet, with the same face, a few years later, her eyes were brimming with confidence, her face marked with ambition. Though it was the same face, it was difficult to put into words how much more beautiful and captivating she appeared.
S419m commented: [No wonder people often say the entertainment circle is a big dye vat, where fame changes a person. If not for the unchanged details between the two photos, I would’ve thought these were two different people. In just a few short years, the ugly duckling completely transformed into a swan.]
Bai Lixin: […]
He flipped through the information quickly. During the few minutes the Taoist rested, Bai Lixin had gained some understanding of Luo Mei.
Luo Mei’s previous photos were nearly nonexistent online. She was also reluctant to mention her past, always keeping it locked away.
On certain small forums, there were mentions of Luo Mei’s family. She grew up in a single-parent household; her mother died when she was young, leaving her with just her father.
However, Luo Mei had protected her privacy well, so there was only a sparse amount of information available online.
Bai Lixin continued scrolling through forum messages and finally, he faintly saw Luo Mei’s family in a blurry photo.
The photo was unclear and it had been taken with the night setting in, so it was virtually impossible to make out.
S419m: [Huh, this man…]
Bai Lixin: [Can you enhance the photo?]
S419m: [I’ll try, Lord Host. Please wait a moment.]
[Ding! Photo enhancement successful, Lord Host, take a look at this man.]
On the large screen in Bai Lixin’s mind, a clear, huge portrait appeared.
As Bai Lixin examined the man’s face, there wasn’t too much surprise on his own face.
It was rather the Escape System that exclaimed: [Ah, this old man, isn’t he the grandpa from that day at the Golden Sea Luxury Apartments, the family the baby-faced player worked at as a nanny?]
[Is he Luo Mei’s father? But their family has a big baby, too. I remember the old man mentioned that he was his grandson. That mentally handicapped young man can’t possibly be Luo Mei’s son, right?! He looks at least twenty years old, but Luo Mei is only 33. Luo Mei couldn’t have had a child at 13, this doesn’t match.]
S419M: [Luo Mei has a residence in the Golden Sea Luxury Apartments, and Chen Ping also rented a place there. This shouldn’t be a coincidence. Luo Mei is highly likely to be connected to Chen Ping. If Chen Ping’s death is related to Luo Mei, then Luo Mei is likely connected to the main task as well. The disappearance or death of the baby-faced player might not be as simple as it seems.]
