It’s Him – Ch31

Impersonation

Tao Feng was a 19-year-old freshman. His parents were elementary school teachers. He had always been the center of attention, first because both of his parents were teachers in elementary school, and later because he excelled academically in middle and high school.

He was one of only two students from his school to get into Pingcheng University. He thought college life would continue to be smooth sailing.

In reality, it wasn’t. The most popular person in the dorm was the rich second-generation who had a housekeeper come twice a week to clean. Every time there was a group project, everyone fought to be in his group.

The grades he had once been proud of had become just a stepping stone here. Once you were in, to stand out, you needed other things.

Tao Feng stubbornly attributed those “other things” to a wealthy and powerful background.

Every time he saw the 2,000 yuan allowance his parents gave him, along with their constant reminders not to spend frivolously, he felt furious. Other people’s children had more than 2,000 yuan for daily expenses.

The frustration grew even more after attending a birthday party at the home of his rich second-generation roommate.

Such families should have children. Parents like his shouldn’t have brought a child into this world to suffer. Being poor and still having children, piling all the pressure onto him, and expecting him to create high-paying value immediately after graduation—was that fair?

The path for social mobility had long been blocked. Now that he had graduated, he would only be a miserable worker, his future sealed.

He grew to dislike his parents, his birth. Occasionally, he fantasized about how wonderful life would be if he had been born into a wealthy family.

He was one of the first to observe the dream-posting thread.

At that time, others were debating whether reincarnation was real, especially since the corpse’s location was accurate, and everyone was amazed!

How could such a thing exist?

Meanwhile, Tao Feng felt his blood begin to boil. He realized this could be an opportunity to change his fate.

He didn’t think he was doing anything wrong. The child from that family was already gone. If he were accepted as their reincarnated child, he would be filial to them. Moreover, he was sure he would do better than that rich second-generation. He wasn’t like that person who messed around; he was smart, had suffered, and would definitely be able to expand their wealth, cars, and business.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt this would be a win-win situation—no one would lose.

The next step was to convince people he was the reincarnation of the wealthy family’s child.

He checked, and the child mentioned by the girl was not the wealthiest among the victims, which was good. After all, what the girl said was difficult to refute. If she was really the reincarnated child of the Qian family, he would have to find a way to get close to her.

For now, it wasn’t that complicated. The girl’s story had become his support, and the high school girl had proven that reincarnation existed.

He checked again.

He had been born after the incident, which made sense in terms of age. This gave him the basic conditions.

His accumulated learning abilities and his already above-average intelligence played a big role.

Unlike others who would rush in without thinking, he was more calculated.

He took out an online loan of 6,000 yuan and hired someone to contact the family’s housekeeper.

He got some information about the child’s habits and preferences and then started researching the case from back then.

After all, he had to deal with not just the memories and the time spent with his parents, but also the memory of how he had been killed.

This all depended on the high school student who had dreamed.

The girl had an unexplainable physical problem from her past life, and he suspected that if she was real, the things she said would be valuable.

If she was fake, being able to go this far meant she had a powerful team behind her, and her information would still be of great value.

“Do you know how to behave now? I Dare to shout”

“There’s a buzzing sound in the dark…”

“Grabbing the neck, twisting the ear, throwing on the ground…”

Tao Feng combined the analysis from netizens, especially their deep dive into Teacher Zhao. He suspected that Zhao hated his own son. However, if he had abused his son, not only would he have become like his father, but he could also be caught by the police. So, he vented his anger on other children.

—So, he could later say, “He seemed to treat me like his son, constantly slapping my face, trying to tear my mouth.”

This alone wasn’t enough; he also needed to add his own reaction.

This would require using the personality of the child he learned about through the housekeeper.

The housekeeper had said that the child was very brave, and even when seeing dogs fight on the road, he couldn’t help but try to stop them.

In his mind, Tao Feng simulated what would happen if this little boy encountered the murderer.

He vaguely felt that it might be the opposite of the girl.

Such a little boy, after being beaten, might not cry but suppress his tears.

The murderer would definitely get even angrier.

Finally, the body from his past life…

He really wanted to find it, but Teacher Zhao had always lived in a teacher’s dormitory. Tao Feng had secretly stalked and observed it before—it wasn’t a place where a body could be hidden.

He thought about it and decided to say he sensed his body was in the water, but he didn’t know where exactly.

He decided to first secure an opportunity to interact with the Qian family and build a relationship.

He had prepared everything, and only then did he head to the Qian family.

On the way, he received a call from his counselor.

“Tao Feng, where are you? The disciplinary committee reported that you’ve skipped quite a few classes lately.”

Tao Feng found it amusing. This person was just a social climber. The rich second-generation in their dorm skipped more classes than he did, but he had never seen this counselor say anything.

“I have appendicitis. The doctor said I need surgery. I forgot to ask for leave. Is it okay if I make up for the leave after the surgery?”

He said this while searching for a picture of an operating room online and sent it over.

The counselor then said, “We’ll let it slide this time, but next time, make sure to ask for leave in advance.”

Tao Feng hung up the phone and had already arrived at the Qian family’s neighborhood.

He was familiar with the Qian family’s house, which was six acres of land with a building area of over 3,000 square meters. The Qian family had indeed hit the jackpot, accumulating such wealth over two generations, yet they had no heirs…

He didn’t need to act like he was familiar with the place. The child hadn’t lived here before; they had previously lived in a middle-class neighborhood. Back then, they had money but not this much.

The entrance was a garden, and it was about 200 meters from the garden to the independent villa.

Inside the hall, there were several young people sitting. The adjacent dining room was lined with a buffet, offering everything from fruits to various snacks.

Tao Feng didn’t care about them. He was confident that no one there had prepared more than he had.

“Bro, you here to get a free meal too?” one of the guys said, laughing, while showing off a half-duck he was holding.

Tao Feng wasn’t there for the food. He was about to refuse but remembered the child didn’t eat soy sauce, didn’t like cucumbers, and didn’t care for chicken skin.

He got up to get some food, avoiding the soy sauce and cucumbers, and when he saw the whole poached chicken, he deliberately frowned and peeled off the chicken skin, eating only the meat.

The people around him frowned. How were they supposed to eat when he did this?

Tao Feng knew what they were thinking, but he did it deliberately.

After he finished eating, someone quickly came to greet him, asking a couple of questions—his name, age—and then had him fill out a form.

In the end, the form was taken, and they were all dismissed.

He didn’t even meet anyone in charge…

He had been brushed off after just one visit.

It wasn’t just him. Everyone who came with him was also brushed off.

Was this a joke? What was going on?

Perhaps they were just trying to create a spectacle, to promote the company and increase their visibility!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He decided to post online—

“The Qian family has been using their child for publicity for so many years. Aren’t they tired?”

“I know someone who went to see the reincarnated child. When they got there, they didn’t even meet Mr. Qian. They were just asked to fill out a form and then kicked out.”

“Haha, these capitalists have dark hearts. They even use their dead children for publicity, and they don’t even try to hide it.”

“Can we report these people? I’m sick of capitalists treating the public like fools!”

He quickly posted several threads about the Qian family. As expected, many people agreed with him, cursing them alongside him.

As the comments kept increasing, he quickly changed his name and posted again—

“This account is used to expose their disgusting publicity. Follow me, and we’ll form an alliance. The individual’s power is small in front of capital, but the collective voice can definitely intimidate them.”

He decided to prepare for both outcomes. If he couldn’t become the reincarnated child, he would use other ways to recover his investment.

Right now, he didn’t even have any interview opportunities, and naturally, he wasn’t content with that.

His statements had an impact, and many people were paying attention to him.

But soon, a stranger sent him a message.

“Are you the friend they talking about?”

“You want to impersonate someone’s reincarnated child, but you haven’t even met the person.”

He replied, “If you think that way, there’s nothing I can do about it. The truth will always be clear.”

“Seems like you’re really pitiful.”

Soon, the person on the other end replied, “If you want to impersonate, you’ll have to undergo sex reassignment surgery and become a woman.”

Tao Feng felt something was off. He thought for a moment and then sent a message to one of his high school classmates.

“Hey, old classmate! I’ve got something good to share with you. I’ve been brought here by a group of brothers to enjoy a free feast. I remember you were a foodie in high school, don’t miss this free meal.”

He found a photo of a buffet taken by someone else online.

The person on the other end replied, “!!!!!!”

“Free food?”

“Yeah.”

“But I looked, and it seems like they’re looking for the reincarnation of their child.”

Tao Feng responded, “It’s fine, many people go there just for the food and drinks. Once you arrive, someone in charge will ask you, and you just tell the truth. Say you’re there to mooch off the food, they won’t say anything. That’s what I said.”

“Then I’ll go! Thanks so much, old classmate!”

Tao Feng waited.

He set out at 10 a.m. and received a message at 11:30 saying he had arrived at the place, with a photo attached.

Then he didn’t hear back.

Until around 2 p.m., the person replied.

“They are really great people. I told them I heard there was free lunch here, so I came to mooch. They really let me in, and a kind aunt came to chat with me. She even told me that if I ever run out of money, I can come here to eat. When I left, I found out that the aunt is the CEO of Qian’s Automotive…”

At that moment, Tao Feng understood.

He went back to look up the news from that time, but there was nothing… nothing mentioning a son, only a child.

Clearly, reincarnation could result in a change of gender, but it seemed the Qian family didn’t think so, just like everyone had assumed at the beginning.

Tao Feng focused on the person who had sent him the private message.

This person could either be a relative or someone involved in the case.

Or maybe, they were the murderer.

The person sent him another private message.

“Did you realize you’re an idiot?”

He had initially planned to keep attacking the Qian family, even if it meant using insults to attract traffic, and then capitalize on that traffic.

But now it seemed impossible. Once the Qian family explained everything, he would be at a disadvantage.

He focused on the account again.

He took screenshots of everything on the person’s homepage and replied, “You’re the murderer, aren’t you?”

“You should learn to control your urge to show off.”

The person didn’t reply. A few minutes later, Tao Feng saw the account had been deactivated.

He had guessed right.

It seemed the murderer wasn’t as impressive as they portrayed online; they couldn’t even control their need to boast.

——————————————————

Teacher Zhao watched as people online, like headless flies, bumped around, speculating about the events from back then, some right, some wrong.

He knew everything, but he never spoke up.

He enjoyed the feeling of being the only one who knew the inside story.

But one afternoon, he received a message from a stranger.

“You’re the murderer from back then, right?”

“Otherwise, how would you know that the Qian family’s child was a girl?”

Teacher Zhao frowned; these two messages revealed a lot.

He quickly searched online to figure out what was going on.

Sure enough, someone was exposing the truth.

【I found the murderer from back then! Ironclad evidence!】

“It all started when a friend of mine said he suspected he was a reincarnated soul. Don’t laugh at him, everyone has such fantasies. He went to try it out, mainly to see the world. After going there, he realized that the Qian family didn’t treat them sincerely at all. He met with an agent of their family, but no one asked any questions, they just sent him back.”

“My friend told me about it. I felt bad for him, so I posted a couple of words of doubt online, and this account started arguing with me.”

“While arguing, the other person said that if my friend wanted to succeed, he’d probably have to become a woman.”

“I thought something was off at the time, so I told my friend about it. He had one of his female classmates go try it out.”

“This time, his female classmate actually met the Qian family’s people and asked them two questions: How old she was and whether she had dreamed of anything.”

“My friend thought something was wrong, and after thinking about what was said during the argument, it was clear that the Qian family’s child was a girl, not a boy.”

“Everyone had assumed it was a boy, thinking that a reincarnated boy would still be a boy.”

“But how did this person know? I looked at their homepage. There wasn’t much, but I found a picture of an office, and it clearly had the name of Pingcheng High School.”

“I kept searching, and then the account deactivated. Luckily, I took a screenshot in time.”

“If this person is a relative or friend of the Qian family or someone involved in the case, how could they know this information? Why deactivate the account?”

“If not, then how did they know the real gender of that child?”

Teacher Zhao frowned throughout as he read.

He certainly enjoyed watching these little clowns jumping around, randomly picking up bits of information and thinking they knew the truth.

But he didn’t reply to this person, nor did he argue with them. He didn’t have this account, but the things on this account were things he had posted on his WeChat Moments.

Someone was impersonating him.