Leaving aside Qiao Hua’s suffering for the moment, Zhou Dahong, for his part, felt nothing but bliss.
Even though he was performing all the tasks by himself, merely seeing Qin Zixin’s face or hearing her voice filled Zhou Dahong with an inexhaustible wellspring of strength.
“Qin, do you know Huang Dahai from Class One next door?”
To liven up the atmosphere, Zhou Dahong shared a piece of gossip, recounting the story Ma Lisheng had told in the dorms about Huang Dahai from Senior One Class One next door, a tale Qin Zixin found utterly engrossing.
“How utterly incredible,” Qin Zixin said, a sarcastic edge to her voice. “A whole family of loyal patriots, indeed. It’s quite rare for a dog traitor to still have descendants.”
Qin Zixin said with a giggle, while Li Jinjin merely listened, offering no reply.
“Ah, well, Ma Lisheng told me all this,” Zhou Dahong clarified. “Whether it’s actually true, I can’t say.”
“Is Ma really such a gossip?”
Li Jinjin covered her mouth, her laughter sounding somewhat affected, her voice pinched. Zhou Dahong, recalling the rumors surrounding Li Jinjin, offered an awkward smile in acknowledgment before continuing.
“That’s just how Old Ma is. He always likes to talk about all sorts of random nonsense. Just yesterday, he told us about some ‘rat utopia’.”
“Zhou, what’s that? An anime?”
Li Jinjin gently covered her mouth and smiled, feigning great interest.
“Not an anime, I don’t think. I recall it being some kind of experiment.”
“Oh, right! Qin, you’ve heard of it?”
“I’ve seen a post about it. I remember it being quite bizarre.”
Hearing that Qin Zixin actually knew about it, Zhou Dahong grew visibly excited and quickly spoke up.
“I’ve only heard about it from others, so I can’t vouch for its veracity,” Zhou Dahong began. “Apparently, in the last century, an American scientist designed a city specifically for rats. He constructed this rat utopia within a farm warehouse—a rectangular space several meters in length, width, and height. From its center, it was evenly divided into over a dozen residential zones. Each zone featured independent living spaces, as well as separate provisions for water and food. The entire warehouse maintained a constant temperature, free from both scorching heat and biting cold. Based on his preliminary calculations, this ‘rat city’ was designed to comfortably house several thousand rodents.”
“Ugh, just hearing about that makes me feel dirty,” Li Jinjin interjected.
Upon hearing “several thousand rats,” Li Jinjin reacted as if triggered, hugging her arms across her chest as if in fear. Yet, she deliberately pushed her breasts together, ensuring her cleavage appeared as deep as possible, all while subtly glancing at Qin Zixin.
“They’re just rats, that’s all,” Qin Zixin said dismissively. “It’s the city rats that scavenge garbage who are dirty; field rats aren’t.”
Qin Zixin, with a nonchalant wave of her hand, exuded a certain carefree boldness. Yet, when combined with her delicate, charming face and her exquisitely curvaceous figure, this seemingly casual gesture unexpectedly lent her an indescribable, alluring charm.
Zhou Dahong merely spared a glance for Li Jinjin before his gaze settled back on Qin Zixin.
“Given the abundant food and absence of natural predators in this rat city, the population should have quickly reached its maximum capacity. The results, however, proved entirely unexpected. The rat population never came close to reaching the designed limit, and despite the absence of disease and a lack of food, all the rats in this utopia perished within just a few years. Initially, with the normal reproduction of the first generation of rats, the population growth rate was as expected, roughly doubling every few months. However, a hierarchical social order, strikingly similar to human society, soon emerged within the rat colony.
The higher a group’s social rank, the more abundant the resources they received, and the faster they reproduced. This dynamic, however, did not persist for long. Dominant rats quickly occupied all the advantageous nests. Once the dozen or so designated living areas were filled, these powerful rats relentlessly drove the weaker ones out of their territories. Most of these weaker rats were part of the new generation, and their expulsion was primarily due to the existing territories already being at full capacity.
These new-generation rats struggled to find their social niche; no place would take them in. They seemed to lose themselves within this utopia, as if they didn’t belong. As time wore on, their behavior grew increasingly bizarre. They began to attack their own kind, and shockingly, the attacked rats wouldn’t even resist.
Female rats ceased to rely on males, becoming independent, while male rats stopped reproducing altogether. They would seek out places far from the ground to live, leading to the once-territorial males becoming increasingly lax in their duties of protecting the colony. Conversely, the females grew extremely aggressive, frequently changing their living places and ceasing to breed. Ultimately, all reproductive behavior within this rat utopia came to a complete halt.”
Having already read the original post herself, Qin Zixin remained utterly unfazed by the story.
“That’s just a conspiracy theory from Reddit.”
“Qin, what’s Reddit?”
“It’s an overseas forum, full of bizarre, idiotic white guys,” Qin Zixin explained dismissively. “The trending posts are always about their wives running off with Mexicans or Black men. Honestly, they might as well just rename it ‘Greendit’.”
“So, do you think that story is true or false?”
Qin Zixin rolled her eyes at Zhou Dahong, a hint of flirtatious charm subtly radiating from her.
“Of course it’s fake,” she scoffed. “Rats don’t possess that kind of intelligence. It’s clearly an allegory for human society at the time.”
“I think so too,” Li Jinjin chimed in.
Although Li Jinjin didn’t seem particularly interested in the topic, she nonetheless edged closer, forcing her way into the discussion. She sidled up next to Zhou Dahong, pressing her chest against his back, which caused his face to flush crimson with embarrassment. Qin Zixin spared a glance, feeling as though this girl was trying to challenge her. This inexplicable act of female rivalry struck Qin Zixin as utterly amusing, and she couldn’t be bothered to pay Li Jinjin any mind.
“I recall the original post stating that the experiment’s aim was for the American government to study how human life would change with increased population density by observing animal behavior,” Qin Zixin continued, ignoring Li Jinjin. “But why wouldn’t they use a chicken farm then? Aren’t chicken farms naturally more densely populated? A pig farm would also work; pigs are far smarter than rats, and even pig herds exhibit social division of labor.”
“Xinxin, are pigs really smart?”
“Pigs are smarter than dogs, okay?” Qin Zixin retorted.
Qin Zixin was beginning to grow annoyed with Li Jinjin, sensing that the girl harbored some inexplicable hostility towards her.
“Different societies, at similar stages of development, often exhibit similar reproductive structures. The earliest demographic collapses in birth rates, for example, were seen in relatively affluent Old Europe and America. That Reddit post describes how male rats, having failed in competition, were forced to gather in the center of the enclosure, ceasing to compete for territory and mates, instead engaging in mutual harm, barely resisting when attacked. They displayed passive behavior, lacked social interaction, indulged in anger and lust, and saw an increase in same-s*x ‘fake couples.’ Isn’t that direct enough? Isn’t it just an allegory for those old white men themselves? I also recall it mentioning that male rats in the nests could no longer protect their territories, some female rats replaced males, and reproduction decreased. More violent female rats would then madly attack or even harm their young. This, too, is a typical allegory, overly chauvinistic, suggesting that men believe their jobs were taken by women. As for female rats attacking their young, just look at Korea; their feminism is like a cult over there, killing male infants and giving male toddlers chemical castration drugs.”
Qin Zixin spoke with utter nonchalance, yet the content of her words sent a shiver of terror down Zhou Dahong’s spine.
“Is Korea really that unhinged?”
“They’re asking for it,” Qin Zixin declared. “Constantly whining, making false accusations everywhere, and stirring up trouble in other countries. If you ask me, it’s high time for some strong action! Drag them to the 38th parallel to clear landmines with their bare hands.”
“Oh, right,” Zhou Dahong recalled, adding, “I saw a news report recently about a Korean nurse in Australia who molested a little boy and then posted about it online, and Korean women treated her like a hero. I couldn’t understand it at the time.”
“Hmph, those types are just bullies who prey on the weak; they only dare to target children,” Qin Zixin said, her beautiful face etched with disgust.
“Oh, you’re right! When Old Ma told me about this last night, I felt something was off. Qin, you said it’s a conspiracy theory, and I agree. This story is just like that Soviet sleep deprivation experiment—hearsay and exaggeration. The experiment might have existed, and the rats might have all died, but I’d bet it was due to bacteria or viruses or something. Just like the recent bird flu; back home, chickens in poultry farms were dying in droves. The owners lost so much money they were numb. Even the healthy adult chickens couldn’t be sold for two yuan each.”
Qin Zixin’s expression became somewhat playful.
“While sick chickens are supposed to be buried, I wouldn’t say no one would buy them. I have a strange feeling there’s been an abundance of chicken dishes in the cafeteria lately.”
****
The trio chatted as they walked, arriving below the Senior Three building. Their seniors were currently in class, so the three instinctively lowered their voices, careful not to disturb their elders’ studies.
For the time being, the Senior Three students’ academic pressure wasn’t overwhelming; their focus was entirely on review and revision.
Students simply kept solving problems, while teachers were solely responsible for explaining them. It was a long-standing tradition at Nan Shi High that Senior Two students would complete all high school courses before the end of summer vacation. Then, during the first half of the first semester of Senior Three, they would rapidly review all previous knowledge points, after which they would enter a cycle of endless exams, problem-solving, and explanations.
Still in the stairwell, Qin Zixin heard a teacher roaring.
Following the sound of the angry shouts, Qin Zixin found herself outside Senior Three Class Eleven. She stealthily crept to the window, dry rag in hand, pretending to wipe the window frame and glass. In reality, she was purely curious, hoping to witness a teacher scolding students. As long as it wasn’t her being scolded, she could watch such a comedy all day long.
Peering through the window, she saw a sight: out of more than fifty students, over a dozen were standing, while all the students, both standing and seated, had their heads bowed. From the blackboard, it appeared to be a math class.
The one roaring was a female teacher, who looked quite young. She stood at the podium, frantically waving a test paper, and bellowed:
“Why did seventeen of you get the first thirteen questions wrong?! Where are your damn brains?! You few, you’re absolutely the rotten apples of the bunch! Question fourteen, only question fourteen am I allowing you to make mistakes on. So why are so many of you still getting these mandatory questions wrong? Do you think your scores are too high? One question, one damn question is five points! You get one question wrong, and your university admission drops by one tier!”
Having heard the gist of it, Qin Zixin was also startled. In Jiangsu Province, math exams are divided into fill-in-the-blanks and long-answer questions, with fourteen fill-in-the-blanks and six long-answer questions. Typically, the thirteenth and fourteenth questions are already considered difficult.
She had only gotten half of the fill-in-the-blanks correct on her entrance exam; if held to this teacher’s standards, she would probably have to commit seppuku.
But what shocked her even more was that only a dozen or so students were standing. Didn’t that imply that the majority of students had gotten the first thirteen questions correct?