Chapter 111 [The Judgment]
Pei Hening had originally planned to communicate with her and return the feather of friendship to her.
After a brief encounter, it became clear that it wasn't as simple as it seemed.
If she were to actually suggest returning the feather of friendship, Danqing would most likely feel insulted.
Pei Hening asked her the question that puzzled her the most: "I got the Friendship Feather from a little jumping spider. Can you tell me why the Friendship Feather ended up in the hands of a little jumping spider?"
A fleeting hint of embarrassment crossed Danqing's face as she said, "I don't know either."
She was so arrogant back then that she challenged her sister, and when she lost, she tried to cheat and back out. As a result, her sister threw away her entire box of friendship feathers.
The raw materials for making the Friendship Feathers are precious, and it's highly likely that the little jumping spider picked them up as valuable items, eventually ending up in the hands of this human.
Danqing raised her eyes and offered what she considered a reasonable solution: "I can give you time to improve your strength. I can give you 24 months, but you must understand that while you are increasing your strength, I cannot stand still and wait for you."
Twenty-four months, which is two years?
Pei Hening understood that this was the biggest concession she could make.
"24 months is not short; it's the longest I can give you."
In a peacetime situation, if she were to bully a race with a talent ignition rate of less than one in ten million for the sake of friendship, it would be a disgrace to the Frostfall Clan and would land her on the list of worst people of the year.
Pei Hening: "Okay."
After Danqing left, she breathed a sigh of relief, and even felt a surge of joy.
Fortunately, she didn't give the friendship feather to [get rich, get rich, get rich].
As she walked towards the parking lot, she saw Chu Xuange, who had been waiting for her there.
"What's wrong? You seem preoccupied."
Chu Xuange noticed at a glance that something was wrong with her and asked with concern.
"The owner of the Friendship Feather has come knocking."
Chu Xuange: "Baby, if you can't handle this, I can help you."
He wasn't doing nothing during this time; at least he had already found several people to 'deal with' for him.
"She gave me twenty-four months and said she would contact me again then. Why twenty-four months?"
Chu Xuange bluntly stated: "Talent. Two years is enough time for most people to collect the mysterious fragments and acquire talent."
Pei Hening instantly understood that this Danqing was indeed arrogant.
——
Thirty-five days of survival on the highway.
After breakfast, Pei Hening first watered the seeds and then changed the car battery.
Let 002 drive and complete today's target mileage.
She had only walked about 30 kilometers when she heard a very familiar voice.
"Congratulations to player [DibiDibi] for triggering the'Shuffle' game—'Judgment Time'. Talents, items, skills, weapons, memory lock—"
"Countdown to the start of the game 'Judgment Time': 5-4-3-2-1-"
"Game deployment complete! Players have been randomly assigned!"
Number of players: 100,000
"Game rules: 1. Players will randomly acquire an identity, memories, and the world's judgment on that identity."
2. Death in the game means the player dies.
"Mission: Survive the trial and remain in normal condition. 120-hour countdown begins—"
(Note: This is a message to players: Your life is not dependent on the judgment of others. Don't let the noise of outsiders make you doubt your own feelings.)
Enjoy the game, all players!
"The world being reshuffled is not a victory for any one person, but a victory for all players!"
"I hope that even after you've seen the hand clearly, you still have the courage to place your bets!"
"Beep—Automatically triggers [Damage Transfer][Symbiosis]—"
When Pei Hening opened her eyes again, she was sitting in a swivel chair, with an open live broadcast room in front of her.
"Pei Hening, your photos before plastic surgery have been dug up. Ugly people are always up to no good, that's you for sure."
"Brothers and sisters, please report this and get this disgusting woman banned."
"Give me my money back, did you hear me? Give me my money back! I must have been blind to have spent so much money on you!"
"Pei Hening, pay me back! How can you live with yourself after swindling so much money from me?"
"I have photos of Pei Hening before her plastic surgery. DM me if you want them."
"And yet, I genuinely liked her; it's practically my criminal record."
"Hilarious, you're all brain-dead. This blogger has been thoroughly exposed for tax evasion. Being an internet celebrity is all about making money."
"Go check out the gossip! Someone claiming to be Pei Hening's classmate has come forward to accuse her of school bullying."
"..."
Pei Hening quickly grasped the situation as she looked at the rapidly flashing negative comments.
This was the second day after she was cyberbullied, and she lost more than 200,000 followers.
The reason she was cyberbullied was that the day before yesterday evening, a marketing account suddenly posted a message about her, saying that her fans were all blind and actually liked modified goods.
Immediately afterwards, a series of unfounded accusations were exposed, claiming that she bullied other students in school, continued to bully others after starting work, had plastic surgery, smoked and drank, and evaded taxes...
She went live to clarify these accusations.
But seeing the overwhelming malice emanating from the screen... her rebellious streak kicked in.
"I had plastic surgery? Where's the evidence? When did I have surgery, and which hospital could do it to look as natural and perfect as me? If they have that kind of technology, they should be famous!"
"If there is no evidence to prove that I have had plastic surgery, it is defamation. Go and check our country's laws to see what the consequences of defamation are."
"You think I cheated you out of money? Show me the evidence! When did I cheat you out of money? How much did I cheat you out of? Does it meet the criteria for filing a case? If it does, go to the police and try to recover your losses."
"You used to like me, but you don't anymore? I respect your preferences, but I don't think I'm as bad as you say."
"I'll say it again: those who accuse me of school bullying, workplace bullying, or tax evasion, please provide evidence and file a police report."
"Smoking and drinking are even more ridiculous. Can't you find anything wrong with yourselves?"
With each sentence she uttered, the number of comments in the live stream increased, most of which were insults directed at her.
"The best arrangement for a woman is to stay at home, be a good wife and mother, have two children, a son and a daughter, and receive two thousand yuan a month for living expenses. Isn't that happiness? Why does she have to go out and show her face in public?"
"This woman is really stubborn. Others have already presented the evidence, and she's still making a scene."
"Pei Hening must have made a lot of money as an internet celebrity, right? For the sake of money, I'm willing to marry this woman with a terrible reputation."
"I'm speechless. How can she be so self-righteous? She's done so many bad things and still has the nerve to act like this!"
"Shamelessness knows no bounds, report them now!"
Pei Hening specifically clicked into the profile of the person who said they had two children; it belonged to a man.
She scoffed, "Having two? Please remember, you don't have a uterus, you don't have the ability to carry a child, and the right to have children is not yours. Don't be so possessive of a woman's uterus, okay?"
"You think you can just believe whatever others say? You need to be able to think critically before you follow the crowd. Reading more books is far more valuable than judging me here."
"You're marrying me for money? Should I be grateful and thank you for marrying me? You're crazy!"
"I think you guys are really boring. Your judgments, slanders, and speculations about me don't even amount to one ten-thousandth of who I am, but they expose your narrow-mindedness and limited understanding."
"That's all for today's lesson. Your Internet teacher, Pei Hening, is tired."
Pei Hening turned off the live stream after finishing speaking.
Her personal social media account was also flooded with abusive messages, which she then blocked.
She picked up her phone from the table, tried to turn it on, and found it was out of power. She then found the charger and charged the phone to turn it on.
As soon as I turned it on, one unknown number after another called, and the phone froze.
After her phone recovered, she immediately switched to airplane mode.
She was very hungry; she hadn't eaten for two days.
Pei Hening grabbed a black hoodie and put it on, then found a black mask and glasses to wear.
She stood in front of the mirror, and after confirming that she couldn't recognize herself, she murmured to herself, "When you are surrounded by malice, please do your best to protect yourself and don't take unnecessary risks."
She vaguely remembered someone saying those words to her, but she couldn't recall them when she tried to remember.
She left with the cash and the room key.
She needed to eat something; her stomach was already protesting.
As soon as Pei Hening came downstairs, she saw a woman in a white dress walking numbly toward the driveway. Looking at the endless stream of cars, she cursed her bad luck and quickly pulled the woman back.
The next second, a black sedan sped past where the woman had been standing.
Pei Hening said with lingering fear, "If you're sick, get treatment instead of trying to kill yourself!"
The woman only came to her senses after hearing those words, and tears streamed down her face as she burst into loud sobs.
"I'm not sick, sob sob, I'm just too sad."
Pei Hening rummaged through her pockets for tissues in frustration. Who was as unlucky as her? First, she was inexplicably scolded for two days, and then she ran into a woman downstairs—well, she looked terrible.
"I'm going to eat, don't cry."
She handed over the tissue, feeling a headache coming on.
The other person took her tissue and looked at her expectantly: "I want to go out to eat with you."
Pei Hening thought she was a huge problem, but she was also afraid that after she left, this person would walk into the traffic again, and what if she turned into a ghost...
Pei Hening is afraid of ghosts, very afraid.
She sighed and finally gave in: "Let's go."
The woman in the white dress was very talkative. Pei Hening knew about her personal situation as soon as she walked from the entrance of the building to the dumpling shop.
The woman in the white dress is named Qi Baozhen, she is 20 years old and a student at the music academy.
She couldn't understand why her boyfriend had taken the credit for her song, which she wrote and composed herself, and why she was being judged for it. She said, "I don't actually care who owns the song, but I can't accept that he suddenly broke up with me."
Pei Hening: "...Are you alright?"
Qi Baozhen shook her head, looking dejected: "You don't know, I really like him. He was my first boyfriend."
Qi Baozhen added, "When he broke up with me, I really hated myself for being so weak. I wish I had been pregnant with his child, then he wouldn't have left me."
Pei Hening was angered by her remarks: "Shouldn't the most important thing right now be to protect your own rights and get your song back?"
Qi Baozhen was still thinking about that unknown man: "I don't want that song anymore, I'll just give it to him. When he remembers how good I was to him, he'll come back to me and get back together."
Hearing her outrageous remarks, Pei Hening dragged her into the dumpling shop and quickly ordered two large bowls of handmade dumplings.
Qi Baozhen: "Don't order the large portion, I can't finish it."
Pei Hening glared at her, and after the dumplings were served, she scooped two-thirds of the dumplings out of her bowl and put them into her own bowl, then began to eat them with relish.
After Qi Baozhen finished eating, she sat quietly to the side and waited for Pei Hening.
"Coo coo—"
Pei Hening looked up and saw that Qi Baozhen's face was flushed red; it was her stomach that was rumbling.
"Boss, another large bowl of handmade dumplings, please."
After Pei Hening finished ordering, she looked at her and asked, "Pretending you didn't eat much?"
Qi Baozhen lowered her head and remained silent.
"Because of your ex-boyfriend?"
"Are you pretending to eat little, or are you also pretending to be stupid and weak? Are you trying to package yourself as a perfect, harmless pet? Just for your ex-boyfriend's approval?"
Seeing her head droop lower and lower, Pei Hening knew she had hit the nail on the head. He was speechless with anger: "Do you even consider yourself a human being?"
Qi Baozhen's knuckles turned white as she gripped the chopsticks. She said, "My boyfriend said men don't like strong women. I'm only doing this so I can marry well. Is that wrong?"
Seeing her break down, Pei Hening softened her tone: "So your feelings don't matter? You're starving."
Qi Baozhen was at a loss, as no one had ever asked her this question before.
She knew from a very young age that she would get married and become a bride.
My parents always say, "If you can't do housework, your in-laws will look down on you. If you can't cook, you won't be able to get married."
Not only her parents, but everyone around her in her memory was like that: they got married and had children when they reached a certain age.
Seeing her confusion, Pei Hening said, "If all you're looking for is to find a man to marry and enter into a marital relationship, then I hope you can learn more about the costs of marriage and having children before you get married, instead of blindly entering into a marriage."
Pei Hening finished a dumpling, then comfortably squinted her eyes. "Life is like a blank canvas, and the paintbrush is always in your hand. If you're willing, it's more than just marriage and having children."
She stood up and said, "I have things to take care of. You can eat slowly."
Qi Baozhen said, "Thank you for telling me all this."
After paying and leaving the handmade dumpling shop, Pei Hening walked towards the nearest bus stop; she was going to the police station to file a report.
I was inexplicably scolded for two days. Anyone with poor mental fortitude would probably become depressed!
She paid for the bus, which swayed and rattled as it headed toward the police station. She rolled down the window, and the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms drifted in on the breeze. The warm, comforting sun shone on her, making her feel drowsy.
"Bang—"
Screams and whispers drifted over.
Startled, Pei Hening looked up and saw that someone had jumped off a building!
"What's going on?"
"I don't know, it looks like someone suddenly fell down, that was scary!"
"I don't know what happened. It was a living, breathing life. It's such a pity."
"Kids today are under more pressure than we were back then; five of them died today alone."
How did you know?
"I work at the crematorium and just took leave."
Pei Hening didn't care; in her memory, many people died in this city every day.