Chapter 8: Threads

It was only after Qiong Cang saw Xiang Qingxi’s Poverty Subsidy that she felt the situation in the dorm was somewhat strange.

Despite receiving such a high financial subsidy, Xiang Qingxi lived a very simple life. Under normal circumstances, it was hard for a young girl with financial means to resist buying pretty things, unless she possessed a strong sense of crisis or financial discipline.

Qiong Cang was planning to test her by asking to borrow some money, but finding a plausible excuse to borrow money from a subsidized student was difficult. While she was still pondering how to word it, He Jueyun sent over his findings.

He Jueyun: I got it.

He Jueyun: Have you eaten? I suggest you eat first.

Qiong Cang: Not hungry.

He Jueyun: Then I’ll tell you.

He Jueyun: Among the subsidized students recommended for top universities this year, there is one named Xu Manyan. Her past grades have always been good. Xiang Qingxi is slightly behind her and didn’t get a recommendation. However, judging by Xiang Qingxi’s monthly exam results, it wouldn’t be too difficult for her to get into a first-tier university on her own.

He Jueyun: The other party also gave me a list of the subsidized students. It’s quite interesting. 【Image – Screenshot】

He Jueyun: The ratio of male to female subsidized students specially recruited by First High School is highly skewed. For this year’s senior class, the male-to-female ratio is 1:5. In previous years, it hovered between 1:6 and 1:7.

He Jueyun: According to the administration at First High School, they claim that among impoverished students, girls face much harsher circumstances than boys, and girls generally perform better academically during compulsory education. That is why this situation arose.

Qiong Cang: That makes sense.

Qiong Cang did not feel that any of the information above would affect her appetite, which meant the most critical part was yet to come.

He Jueyun: Since the school was involved, I just looked through our precinct’s dispatch records. In August of the year before last, the police station received a call from a First High School graduate. She claimed she had been threatened and sexually assaulted by school administrators, and had been trapped in an inappropriate relationship for years. She also reported that the school’s university recommendation system was rigged, and that the administration was involved in trading favors.

He Jueyun: The caller didn’t leave her name. The police tracked her down through the phone number, but she acted extremely flustered, changed her statement several times, and later went back on her word, asking to withdraw the case. In the end, she claimed she had maliciously framed the school administrators out of spite because she didn’t get a university recommendation.

Qiong Cang: The police didn’t investigate further?

He Jueyun: The police questioned several other subsidized students, and they all denied experiencing anything similar. They also took statements from other teachers and students at the school, who all expressed disbelief at the allegations. Since there was absolutely no evidence, they didn’t pursue it.

Qiong Cang: Oh.

He Jueyun: The funding for First High School’s Poverty Subsidy comes from government allocations, donations from charitable members of the public, and the school’s own subsidies. If someone specifically designated a donation for a particular student, it wouldn’t be surprising for Xiang Qingxi to receive that amount of money.

He Jueyun picked up the cold cup of coffee on his desk and took a large gulp.

As the case shifted from student-on-student school bullying to impoverished students at the bottom of society, and finally to the school administration itself, his sharp intuition and rich experience made him instinctively feel a sense of aversion.

The deeper he thought about it, the more disgusted he felt. It was like uncovering a pool of bubbling, foul-smelling black mud; just stepping into it made him want to retch.

It involved class disparities and a strike from a higher dimension¹. It was the vulnerability of minors pitted against the cunning of adults in society.

He Jueyun did not smoke, but his character’s persona required him to carry a pack of cigarettes at all times. Looking at the red cigarette pack on the corner of his desk, he felt a sudden urge to light one.

He needed to do something to distract himself and keep his composure.

He Jueyun: Let’s make a bold hypothesis. If the report was true, and Tian Yun committed suicide because of it (or perhaps it wasn’t suicide), then this year’s recommended student, Xu Manyan, is highly likely to be connected to the case. Zhou Nansong was very close to Tian Yun. Perhaps she learned something from Tian Yun, and the shock of Tian Yun’s death triggered her depression, leading her to choose the same place to commit suicide. To cover it up, the school deliberately shifted the focus and blame onto Wang Dongyan.

He Jueyun: Xiang Qingxi is very beautiful, and both Zhou Nansong and Tian Yun had contact with her before they died. I suspect she knows the details. I just don’t know where she stands.

Qiong Cang: Logically viable.

He Jueyun: What do you think?

Qiong Cang’s text message came through a moment later.

Qiong Cang: Don’t overthink it. The further ahead you try to project, the higher the likelihood of making a mistake. When the chain of evidence is incomplete, there is no need to force a connection between every cause and effect, and even less need to try and dissect the details.

Seeing Qiong Cang’s words, He Jueyun automatically pictured her calm, unruffled face. It seemed to possess a unique power that slowed his racing heart.

Anger would only cloud his judgment. He needed to remain clear-headed.

No matter how heavy the curtain, the blood of Tian Yun and Zhou Nansong had already burned a hole through it. What they needed to do was peer through the gap to find the truth, drag the absurd performance behind the scenes into the spotlight, and force all the “actors” with blood on their hands to face the judgment of reality.

He Jueyun: Where do you think we should start our analysis?

Qiong Cang: Wang Dongyan’s suicide. The unresolved question raised earlier.

Qiong Cang: Why the students generally believed her prank was what killed Zhou Nansong.

Qiong Cang: The authority of a school can indeed easily guide the thoughts and trends among students. Why was Wang Dongyan pinned as the culprit who caused a death through school bullying? Who was directing public opinion? Only by identifying the mastermind can we make the next move.

He Jueyun: Directing public opinion always leaves a trail. If the school really did it, it shouldn’t be hard to find traces.

For a school, guiding the campus atmosphere was incredibly easy.

After Zhou Nansong committed suicide, the first thing they would have done was question her roommates.

If a roommate you generally got along with suddenly jumped to her death one day, anyone would be deeply shaken.

The victim’s family, the police, the school, countless people stared at them, wanting answers from them. Under that kind of emotional pressure, it was easy for a person’s thoughts to fall into chaos.

Under repeated questioning from the outside world, they spoke about the bad relationship between Wang Dongyan and Zhou Nansong.

Even if they didn’t initially think Wang Dongyan’s pranks were a severe form of school bullying, or perhaps they hadn’t even noticed, their trust in the school and sympathy for the family made them subconsciously seek someone to blame for their own helplessness. Wang Dongyan, who had always been at odds with Zhou Nansong, had subjected her to the silent treatment, and happened to look distracted and guilt-ridden, became the inevitable target.

The influence of the environment was powerful. Under constant hints from various parties, the roommates exaggerated what Wang Dongyan had done and became firmly convinced of it. At the same time, they didn’t know how severe Zhou Nansong’s depression was, subconsciously assuming that Wang Dongyan’s seemingly harmless pranks had had a massive impact on her.

“Look, she’s feeling guilty herself, which proves she did it.” “Look, the leaders and teachers think so too.” “If Wang Dongyan dared to prank her in front of everyone, she must have done even worse things in secret.” “Zhou Nansong had depression and was mentally fragile. She was so pitiful and couldn’t take the stress. Wang Dongyan practically killed her.”…

Things like that.

Qiong Cang opened First High School’s official website on her phone and clicked “more” under the activities section.

Qiong Cang: First, publicize the matter and criticize the student publicly without naming them. Although they aren’t named, everyone in the school will know who the administration is talking about.

Qiong Cang: Add ideological education on related topics and repeatedly mention it on campus as a negative example.

Qiong Cang: When students retaliate against Wang Dongyan, handle it with bias, making the students subconsciously believe that the school administration condones their actions as righteous.

Qiong Cang: Mourn the deceased, hold moments of silence for her, make people remember her, and constantly positive-frame the image of the deceased.

Qiong Cang took a screenshot of the image and sent it over.

Qiong Cang: 【Image · Activity】 Tian Yun died in February this year. The school suppressed the relevant information and handled it quietly. There were only a few activity announcements during that period.

Qiong Cang: But when Zhou Nansong died, according to the activity records on the official website, they organized two memorial events. They also invited psychological experts from the hospital to give lectures at the school. Responding to the Education Bureau’s call to focus on high school students’ mental health, they held a major parent seminar at the school.

Qiong Cang: You can also look up the number of related news reports as reference evidence.

He Jueyun did a targeted search just as she suggested.

The bureau still had recent physical newspapers, but he felt there was no need to look at them.

He Jueyun’s fingertips turned slightly white from pressing the mouse. After reading the search results that popped up on the webpage, he sent a weak reply.

He Jueyun: You’re right.

Qiong Cang: Yeah.

Qiong Cang: Sometimes, it’s actually quite simple to drive someone to their death.

·

“…Fuck! The situation has suddenly taken a disgusting turn.”

“This makes me so mad!”

“Let me take a wild guess. Someone as beautiful as Xiang Qingxi wouldn’t need to sell herself out for one or two thousand yuan a month if she really had a choice. Besides, her grades are good, she can rely on herself, and she didn’t get the final guaranteed admission slot, so her life is relatively independent. But her good friend might not be clean, and she is restricted because of that. She is very nice to Wang Dongyan because she knows Wang Dongyan is just a scapegoat. So, she is the most critical NPC in this Instance, the only breakthrough point.”

“Even though we have the help of a god’s-eye view, with five consecutive deaths, the school must bear unavoidable responsibility. I just didn’t expect their responsibility to be this massive.”

“It’s true… everything the wicked do will inevitably leave a trace.”

·

He Jueyun collected his emotions and sent another text to Qiong Cang.

He Jueyun: As it stands, the real breakthroughs are Xiang Qingxi and Xu Manyan. Xu Manyan has a clear conflict of interest, so she probably won’t talk. Xiang Qingxi’s stance is rather questionable. Why was she able to get such a high Poverty Subsidy?

Qiong Cang: Her Poverty Subsidy was claimed on her behalf by Xu Manyan. It might be a benefit Xu Manyan secured for her. Maybe it was hush money, or maybe they were just genuinely close. It’s hard to say. Xiang Qingxi doesn’t have a very strong personality, so I suspect it’s a bit of both.

Qiong Cang: Also, Xiang Qingxi barely used the money. Her daily life is extremely simple. I didn’t see any non-essential personal items on her desk.

Qiong Cang: Earlier, I guessed she was saving money, but maybe she just didn’t want to use it. I don’t know where she spent the money. Can you trace her financial transactions?

He Jueyun: So you have a positive view of Xiang Qingxi?

Qiong Cang: Unsure. I’m trying to remain neutral.

He Jueyun was momentarily dazed.

What did she mean by trying to remain neutral?

Couldn’t she have a positive view?

…Oh, right. Only by maintaining a healthy skepticism of the world could one be cautious enough.

He Jueyun got up to brew another cup of coffee, then sat back in front of the screen and began watching the surveillance footage he had retrieved from the convenience store today.

An hour later, when he picked up his phone again, he found that Qiong Cang had sent him another baffling text message.

Qiong Cang: The orange hard candies are quite tasty.

“Orange hard candies?” He Jueyun thought about it and muttered, “How can orange-flavored candy taste better than pineapple-flavored ones?”

Translator’s Notes