Chapter 12: Scum’s Counterattack – 2

Though Gu Jing was a simple, honest person, she was deeply versed in the ways of this society. When launching a public opinion offensive against wealthy people like the Su Tianyu family, it had to be a single, fatal strike.

With the help of the self-media accounts she’d contacted, the matter spread at an exponential rate. By the time Su Tianyu and Mu Zhilan started crisis management, it was already too late.

Simultaneously, she sought help from the Minor Protection Organization. In recent years, this organization had been intermittently helping teenagers resolve psychological issues. Faced with such a huge news story, they happily stepped in and helped elevate it to a social news phenomenon.

School bullying had always been a persistent yet difficult problem in modern society. How to characterize the bullying of minors was always contentious.

But the Minor Protection Organization expressed this view: “We believe school bullying is not as simple as mere horseplay between children.”

“Students who bully are like members of criminal gangs, running amok in schools, bullying ordinary students, and even stripping some students of their dignity and decency. They are unadulterated evil.”

“At a time when government institutions are committed to cracking down on organized crime and evil, it is imperative to pay attention to school bullying and regard it as an evil that must be eradicated.”

This viewpoint resonated with many people.

On top of that, the evidence Gu Xizhou had collected was abundant. Even before the Police could begin their investigation, the masses had already branded “Su Nanfeng” as evil.

“Gangster”, “Powerful and wealthy scum”, “Trash wasting public resources”, “A filthy bug with nothing going for her but a face”.

That night, sitting in her hospital bed, Gu Xizhou scrolled through netizens’ righteous words and their evaluations of Su Nanfeng. She felt a faint sense of satisfaction in her heart.

She understood that Su Nanfeng was a child, just like her. Even seeing the netizens curse Su Nanfeng, Gu Xizhou clearly knew that, in a sense, this was another form of violence.

Su Nanfeng’s crimes should be judged by the law, not tried online, crushing the other party with public opinion.

But with such a huge gap in family background and social standing, she and her mother could only rely on the power of the people to ensure they got fairness.

This was a major flaw in societal institutions and a tragedy of the legal system.

Thinking of this, Gu Xizhou’s eyes dimmed.

Hugging her phone, she suddenly felt a little upset.

Detecting her mood, 0820 fell silent for a moment before speaking: “You have to understand, this societal mechanism determined from the very beginning that the phrase ‘all people are created equal’ is just an empty slogan.”

Hugging her phone, Gu Xizhou felt somewhat gloomy: “But I still want to try for fairness.”

“And I was thinking, if there was another kid bullied like me, but whose grades weren’t that outstanding, whose personality wasn’t that brave, who didn’t perform heroic deeds, bullied for various reasons… would everyone still help them like they helped me?”

“Would they step forward like this?”

The thoughts of young people are always so idealistic and naive, full of yearning for complete freedom and fairness.

They clearly can’t change much, yet they’re always full of passion, wanting to create a new world.

0820 thought for a moment before speaking: “It’s very difficult. The human heart is a brutal thing, easily manipulated, yet often out of control.”

“Rather than relying on the inherent goodness of humanity, it’s better to make changes from the laws and regulations, implementing effective statutes to govern the world.”

“Only by holding power can you help more people.”

Hugging her phone, Gu Xizhou pondered in the darkness for a long while. Finally, she said: “In the future, I’m going to study law and become a powerful grand justice…”

“To help many, many people in need.”

0820 was slightly startled. After a long moment, she said: “Then you’ll have to work very hard.”

“And becoming a grand justice isn’t just about having a good brain. A strong body that can help you avoid all risks is also very important.”

Gu Xizhou paused, then muttered discontentedly: “My mom said she’ll give me more pocket money from now on. Drink more milk, eat more meat, and I’ll grow taller.”

“She’s also going to sign me up for boxing classes to learn free combat and grappling. That way, no one will be able to bully me anymore…”

0820 nodded, responding perfunctorily: “Yeah, yeah, yeah… your mom really treats you best…”

“But it’s 1:30 AM now. If you don’t sleep, forget about growing any taller!”

Hearing this, Gu Xizhou immediately turned off her phone, pulled the blanket over her head, and said obediently: “Going to sleep, going to sleep…”

0820 laughed lightly. Soon after, the sound of the girl’s steady breathing followed.

Silence returned to the hospital room, leaving only the hum of the air conditioner. The summer night’s cicadas chirped from outside the window, droning on and on…

Gu Xizhou entered dreamland. 0820 sensed the fluctuations of her brainwaves and withdrew her consciousness, returning to another world.

————

That other world was also deep into the night. 0820—that is, Gu Xizhou—opened her eyes inside a Hibernation Pod filled with Nutrient Solution.

She looked up, through the pale green Nutrient Fluid, her gaze piercing the transparent glass cover to stare at the ceiling dotted with dark night lights. Her consciousness felt hazy.

Sensing her consciousness return, the researcher in a white lab coat standing guard by the instruments, Lin Ling, immediately activated the sleep pod and removed the brain-connection device. She strode toward Gu Xizhou: “Boss…”

Gu Xizhou placed her hands on the edge of the pod and laboriously stood up. The pale green fluid slid down her jet-black hair, over her pale cheeks, and down her thin, frail body, dripping back into the pod.

Seeing this, Lin Ling quickly grabbed a bath towel and draped it over Gu Xizhou’s thin shoulders, profoundly relieved: “You’re finally awake.”

In the dim lab, Gu Xizhou’s slender, petite frame stood within the nutrient pod, her wet hair draping down, looking like a specter: “How long was I under this time?”

“Eight days… a full eight days… Boss.” Lin Ling wrapped the bathrobe around Gu Xizhou’s thin body, deeply worried, “You look terrible. Let’s discuss the newly acquired data after you’ve recovered.”

Gu Xizhou focused her gaze, her eyes deep as cold pools. She said in a deep voice: “No, I’ll go see her first.”

Lin Ling paused, then finally nodded and answered: “Alright.”

With Lin Ling’s help, Gu Xizhou dried her hair, wrapped herself in the bathrobe, and left the dimly lit research room. She walked through a glass corridor about two meters long and arrived at another laboratory.

In the brightly lit center of the laboratory stood a cylindrical glass Hibernation Pod.

Gu Xizhou walked to the pod and looked at her own ghostly reflection on the green Nutrient Solution. Her eyes strained, peering through the fluid to catch a faintly visible, beautiful face.

It was a woman, stunningly beautiful. Her eyes were closed now, her raven-black hair spread out like seaweed, serene as a sleeping mermaid in the sea.

Gu Xizhou couldn’t help but reach out. Through the glass, she pressed her palm over the woman’s face, her gaze gentle: “Zhiyi…”

My little Mermaid.

Within the Hibernation Pod filled with Nutrient Solution, countless slender tubes emerged from the woman’s pale body, finally converging at the tail end of the pod and connecting outwards in a dense network to a massive floor-standing instrument nearby.

This instrument was the Cross—a mental therapy chamber not yet fully developed four years ago by the Su Group Medical Equipment Company, which Gu Xizhou controlled. It was the most advanced medical device in the world today.

This equipment primarily worked through linking virtuality and reality to awaken the will to live in certain vegetative or mentally ill patients.

Four years ago, Su Zhiyi jumped off a building to her death. By the time she reached the hospital, she was breathing her last. Gu Xizhou went mad, using every means to keep her there, but nothing worked.

Finally, she urgently activated Cross, placing Su Zhiyi inside this Hibernation Pod, preserving the last trace of her brainwaves.

Once this equipment is removed, Su Zhiyi would be declared brain-dead, vanishing completely from this world.

But now… thanks to Cross’s assistance, Gu Xizhou had forcibly kept her in the mortal world. And over these four years, she had been continuously building virtual world models, stimulating Su Zhiyi’s brainwaves, hoping she would open her eyes.

In these four years, Gu Xizhou had failed one thousand and twenty-one times. On the one thousand and twenty-second attempt, she caught a trace of something different.

Gu Xizhou couldn’t help but think of the bright and radiant sixteen-year-old Su Zhiyi she had glimpsed in that constructed virtual world. She lowered her head and smiled slightly.

She reached out, stroking Su Zhiyi’s face through the glass, her expression unhinged: “I feel like I’ve found you.”

“You really… love me so much…”

But Su Zhiyi, how do I bring you back to my world?