The “Ghost” in the Network and a Human Middle Finger

[You are now friends, start chatting!]

Chu Ci stared at the solitary sentence remaining on the screen, his brow furrowing slightly.

He came to a halt about five or six meters away from the school gate. The dismissal bell was a melodious piano piece, and many students passed him by in pairs and trios.

The setting sun dyed half the sky red, its brilliant glow enveloping Chu Ci’s shadow. His finger hovered over the phone, frozen for a long moment.

Accepted that fast?

Chu Ci tilted his head in confusion, then suddenly snapped back to reality—why on earth was he being so obedient by adding Ji Yanli?!

According to his personality, the moment he picked up that little crumpled note Ji Yanli had thrown, he should have tossed it straight into the trash!

Chu Ci took a sharp breath.

It must be the influence of the original owner’s instinctive reactions again. It almost made him look at Ji Yanli through a filter!

Thinking this, he tapped the screen. The view jumped, and he swiped down to find the “Delete Friend” option. Just as he was about to press it—

As luck would have it, a new message popped up at the top of the phone.

L.: Hello there. [Cat Peeking.JPG]

Before Chu Ci could even think of a reply, the phone vibrated several times. Ji Yanli sent another.

L.: I didn’t expect you to actually add me.

Staring at these two sentences, Chu Ci felt like he could practically see the expression on Ji Yanli’s face at that moment. His temple gave a violent throb.

Butt-on-Fire-Don’t-Mess-With-Me: Fine.

Butt-on-Fire-Don’t-Mess-With-Me: …

L.: Your name is quite unique.

Chu Ci glanced at his screen name. He had changed it in a fit of rage on his first day in this book while his heart was practically spitting ghost fire.

To that end, he hadn’t hesitated to use his “Moments” feed to curse out the protagonist of the book, the author, and Xiao Ba.

Fortunately, he had set his profile to “Three Days Visible” in advance, otherwise, Ji Yanli would have seen it all.

Butt-on-Fire-Don’t-Mess-With-Me: Your name is just a letter and a period, paired with a black-and-white anime avatar.

Chu Ci glanced at the other’s chat box. Ji Yanli’s avatar was just black and white; it wasn’t actually a character from any anime. Chu Ci was just looking for a way to attack him.

Butt-on-Fire-Don’t-Mess-With-Me: Are you some kind of “Internet Prince”?

The other side was silent for a few seconds.

Then a reply came: What is an “Internet Prince”?

Chu Ci rolled his eyes, his fingers clicking loudly against the screen: Nothing.

L.: I see.

L.: I still have things to do. Let’s find a place to meet this weekend.

Butt-on-Fire-Don’t-Mess-With-Me: Who said I was meeting—

L.: Never mind, I’ll come find you instead.

L.: Bye.

Ji Yanli went offline immediately after sending those messages, selectively ignoring the sentence Chu Ci hadn’t even finished typing.

Chu Ci looked at his phone, grinding his teeth in exasperation. Just as he was plotting to delete Ji Yanli once and for all, he felt someone tap his shoulder twice from behind.

“Classmate?” A voice that was strange yet vaguely familiar sounded. Chu Ci reflexively turned around to find Lin Yu standing behind him.

Lin Yu was slightly taller than Chu Ci. His eyes naturally drooped at the corners, making him look harmless. His fair fingers tugged quietly at the hem of Chu Ci’s jacket, his brow slightly furrowed in an expression that was truly pitiful.

If Chu Ci didn’t already know Lin Yu’s true nature, he probably would have been fooled by this face.

“Um…” Lin Yu spoke softly. “Could you help me with a favor?”

After speaking, he pursed his lips and pointed toward a group of people not far away. Chu Ci looked over and noticed that one of them was the red-haired guy he had encountered in the restroom earlier.

“That group… they were my middle school classmates. I didn’t expect them to end up at the same high school. They’re used to bullying me and harass me every day to make fun of me.”

As Lin Yu explained, he loosely grasped Chu Ci’s fingers: “I really have no other way. Could you please help me? Just walk me to my front door.”

His tone was laced with sorrow. Chu Ci looked at Lin Yu, then up at the group in the distance.

The original novel did indeed describe it this way: before his “blackening,” Lin Yu’s personality was somewhat cowardly. Even with his obsessive side, the face he showed everyone was that of someone easy to bully. This was also why Ji Yanli was so tolerant of his various actions in the early stages of the plot.

Chu Ci remembered the leader of the bullies was named Zhang Zhuo. His father was a notorious local thug. Zhang Zhuo had been used to throwing his weight around since childhood; once he met Lin Yu, he bullied him relentlessly. Because Lin Yu was good-looking, he even harbored filthy thoughts toward him.

However, Zhang Zhuo’s end was much more tragic—he died mysteriously at his own coming-of-age ceremony, and the killer was never revealed even by the book’s end.

“Classmate?” Lin Yu’s voice broke Chu Ci’s thoughts. His furrowed brow deepened, as if afraid Chu Ci would refuse. He gripped Chu Ci’s wrist tightly: “Please! Just help me this once, okay?”

As if afraid Chu Ci wouldn’t believe him, he pulled back his long sleeves to reveal scars on his arm—a shocking collection of old and new marks against his skin.

To be honest, Chu Ci really wanted to refuse.

He didn’t want even half a cent’s worth of a relationship with Lin Yu.

But the current situation was complex; he didn’t dare imagine what other plot shifts might occur if he refused to help Lin Yu.

Chu Ci sighed helplessly in his heart.

Fine, consider it bad luck.

He silently pushed away the hand Lin Yu was holding. Seeing this, a flash of disappointment crossed the youth’s eyes. In the next second, Chu Ci simply dropped a cold sentence: “Walk ahead. I’ll be behind you.”

Lin Yu looked up sharply, his dull eyes brightening. He gripped his backpack straps and, after a few seconds of hesitation, nodded heavily.

Chu Ci watched him turn and walk slowly toward Zhang Zhuo’s group. As the distance closed, Chu Ci could see Lin Yu begin to tremble visibly.

It seemed he really was terrified.

Chu Ci glanced at the conspicuous red-head in front. That guy’s arrogant, swaggering manner really annoyed Chu Ci. Lin Yu hunched his shoulders, his head almost buried in his collar. When he reached Zhang Zhuo, Zhang Zhuo let out a cold snort and blew a discordant whistle at Lin Yu.

Zhang Zhuo swaggered over. His face still bore the injuries from when Ji Yanli had hit him—the faint purple bruises looked quite pathetic, yet his expression remained “cool.” He walked up to Lin Yu and threw a heavy arm over his shoulder.

Lin Yu shivered even harder as a reflex. He swallowed and cast a pleading glance toward Chu Ci.

“Where are you going?” Zhang Zhuo curled one side of his lip, asking intentionally.

Seeing no reaction from Chu Ci, Lin Yu frowned in confusion, but not daring to ignore Zhang Zhuo, he stuttered: “Go… going home.”

Zhang Zhuo’s expression was incredibly animated: “Don’t be in such a rush. Why don’t you hang out with us for a bit?”

Lin Yu’s eyes turned red: “I can’t. My mom is s-sick. I have to go back and take care of her—ah!!”

Before he could finish, Zhang Zhuo reached out and pinched Lin Yu’s cheek hard. The youth’s skin was delicate and sensitive; two clear red marks immediately surfaced.

“Doesn’t your mom love ‘playing around’ too?” Zhang Zhuo seemed satisfied with Lin Yu’s reaction. “I heard she just crawled into some CEO’s bed a few days ago.”

“That’s not true! Stop talking nonsense!” At this, Lin Yu’s emotions suddenly spiked. He flailed his hands, trying to break free from Zhang Zhuo’s grip.

Zhang Zhuo laughed: “How is it nonsense? We all saw it.”

“Since you’re your mother’s son, you must love playing around too, right?”

As the words fell, Zhang Zhuo’s finger accidentally brushed against the corner of Lin Yu’s eye. Feeling a cold tear, he raised his voice in mock surprise: “Crying?!”

Lin Yu’s lips trembled, and he wiped the tear away fiercely.

Chu Ci stood behind them, watching it all without a word.

In the original plot, while under Ji Yanli’s protection, Zhang Zhuo and his gang never dared to target Lin Yu. This scene never happened in the book.

Could it be that because of his interference, the plot was changing?

Thinking of this made Chu Ci feel even more uncomfortable.

The laughter from Zhang Zhuo’s group was ear-piercing. Lin Yu was pushed and shoved like a puppet, his school uniform becoming wrinkled, and his backpack kicked to the side, spilling books everywhere.

Chu Ci rubbed his hair impatiently. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward, grabbed the staggering Lin Yu, and pulled him out of the crowd.

The annoying laughter stopped abruptly.

The last remnant of the sunset faded, and the sky darkened. The streetlights flickered on, casting long, distorted shadows on the ground.

Zhang Zhuo turned his head to look at the uninvited guest. He tilted his head with interest, scanning Chu Ci up and down. “Who are you? What class?”

The blue-haired boy standing next to him seemed to recognize Chu Ci. He leaned into Zhang Zhuo’s ear and whispered, “Boss, I think this is that guy we ran into the other day.”

Zhang Zhuo still looked blank.

Chu Ci looked at his expression and almost wanted to laugh.

Of course he didn’t remember—by the time Chu Ci had appeared, Zhang Zhuo had already been beaten into the dirt by Ji Yanli.

The blue-haired boy briefly recapped the scene. When he got to the part about how Zhang Zhuo was pummeled, Zhang Zhuo’s face immediately darkened: “Enough, enough! Who gave you permission to talk about that!”

The blue-haired boy shut his mouth instantly and cowered behind him.

Zhang Zhuo’s gaze returned to Chu Ci, then shifted back to Lin Yu: “You’re something else, Lin Yu. First you cling to Ji Yanli, and now you’ve found yourself a ‘Passerby NPC’.”

“Did you really think you found a protector?”

As he spoke, his little lackeys laughed in coordination.

Hearing this, Chu Ci was displeased. He let go of Lin Yu’s hand. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘clinging to a Passerby NPC’? Are we close enough for you to launch personal attacks? And which eye of yours sees a relationship between me and him?”

“There’s only one way home for me, and you’re blocking the middle of the road. Are you determined to be bad dogs?”

The confident, aggressive tone left both Lin Yu and Zhang Zhuo stunned.

As a local thug-prince, it was the first time Zhang Zhuo had been talked back to like this. His temper flared instantly. “Hey, you—”

“Shut up, don’t talk.” Chu Ci shot him a sharp look. “I’m telling you, if you mess with me, you won’t have a good ending.”

Zhang Zhuo laughed out of sheer anger: “Who do you think you are, daring to—”

Chu Ci let out a cold snort.

“Because as far as I’m concerned, standing here, I’m just a middle finger aimed right at you.”