Chapter 34: Have Some Dignity—What Could Possibly Be Worth Watching?

In the same suite, Chen Nian was browsing the news on Hua Shi'er’s laptop. The story of Hu Xiaodie’s suicide had surged to the top of the trending lists. The personal information of the trio—Wei Lai and her cohorts—had been doxxed by netizens, and the internet was flooded with condemnation and calls for justice. Journalists and internet users were staking out the girls' homes, and news of confrontations between the families and netizens surfaced frequently.

Chen Nian sighed, "I’m afraid they won't be able to step outside until this blows over. My classmates say they’re in a terrible state. Even their own relatives and friends don't understand them, and their parents have been affected in their respective workplaces to varying degrees!"

"Wei Lai has it the worst. Her father is an official, and I heard he was right in the middle of a promotion. Because of this, that opportunity is completely gone!"

"Luo Ting is also having a rough time. Her father always beat her, and once this was exposed, he beat her so severely that she ruptured her eardrum and had to be hospitalized."

She sighed, then looked at Hua Shi'er, who was scrolling through his phone as if nothing had happened. She nudged him under the table with her foot. "Hey, why aren't you saying anything?"

"What is there to say?"

Hua Shi'er was busy researching investment projects. Kuaishou had just launched, but giants like Douyin and Didi were nowhere to be seen, and the two major food delivery services hadn't yet grown into powerhouses. He wondered if his strategy of buying stocks and Bitcoin was too conservative. With his foresight, he could certainly ride the wave of the internet economy about to take flight. They say even a pig can fly if it stands in the eye of a storm; he wouldn't mind being... ahem, the one riding the pig.

Seeing Hua Shi'er was distracted, Chen Nian nudged him again. "That thing you mentioned... what was it called? 'Social'... something. Isn't that going a bit too far?"

Hua Shi'er sighed, put down his phone, and looked at her. "Social death. It means everyone knows about their shameful deeds, leaving them with no face to show in public. I don't think it's too far. If you want to know if it's too much, they should go ask Hu Xiaodie!"

He lit a cigarette and added, "Have you ever thought that if I hadn't exposed them first, the one in trouble next might have been you?"

Chen Nian thought for a moment and nodded. "They definitely deserve it, but their families are innocent. Look, their parents are being cyberbullied too!"

Hua Shi'er disagreed. "I don't think they're innocent. Wei Lai and the others are adults; if they can commit such childish and malicious acts, it’s clear they weren't raised properly. If you raise a child to be like that, can you really call the parents 'innocent'? Did the people they harmed agree that they were 'innocent'?"

He vividly remembered the original scenario where Wei Lai’s mother spoke to Zheng Yi about the bullying and suicide. She had said, "Things aren't that simple. For example, what is the status of the other party's parents? Why is their child so psychologically fragile? What responsibility should the cram school bear? And everything requires solid evidence. If we really dig into this, no one will look good."

Wei Lai had been sitting right next to her mother then, and the look of smugness on her face as she watched Zheng Yi was impossible to hide. Her mother was absolutely to blame for Wei Lai becoming the person she was. And her father, who hadn't spoken to his daughter for a year because of her mistakes—that was hardly the behavior of a responsible parent. Wei Lai was hateful, and her parents were no better. If they were implicated now, it was only justice.

A ringtone broke the silence. It was Chen Nian’s phone; the screen read "Mom." She answered and walked to the other side of the room. "Mom, yeah, I haven't been home for the past two days; I'm staying at a classmate's place. There are debt collectors at our door, and I wouldn't be able to study in fear. Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry. I have enough money..."

After hanging up, Hua Shi'er asked casually, "Still haven't settled your mom’s situation? I have some money..."

Chen Nian put her phone down and said coldly, "My mother's business is none of your concern."

Hua Shi'er didn't reply; he just watched her. Perhaps feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, or regretting her tone, she lowered her head and murmured, "I don't want to owe you too much. It makes me feel inferior in front of you..."

Hua Shi'er laughed. "You're not that old, but you think too much. Fine, if you say it's not needed, then it's not needed."

Chen Nian looked up and asked earnestly, "Do you look down on me because of my mother?"

Hua Shi'er curled his lip. "No. But it was definitely wrong of you not to wash your feet before sleeping yesterday, and then squeezing into my bed after you'd been drinking..."

Chen Nian went ballistic, lunging at him with claws bared. Hua Shi'er jumped up and ran, shouting back, "And you didn't wash them the day before either!"

"Ah! I’m going to kill you!"

Perhaps his words had an effect; that evening, Chen Nian finally set aside her shyness and spent over an hour enjoying the massage tub in the presidential suite before emerging, satisfied.

She looked at Hua Shi'er, who was watching an NBA game on TV, and asked guardedly, "You didn't peek, did you?"

Hua Shi'er was speechless. "Have some self-respect. What exactly is there to see? Even the players on the TV have bigger pectoral muscles than you!"

That one sentence nearly caused a tragedy. Had Chen Nian been fast enough to catch him, she would have surely taken a few swipes at him.

The following days were uneventful. Chen Nian continued her daily routine of school and preparing for the college entrance exam, while Hua Shi'er spent his time trading stocks and planning his business empire. Money made things easy; he quickly hired a lawyer and a business team. He also bought an SUV to pick up and drop off Chen Nian, despite being half a year too young for a license. But in this world, was there any problem money couldn't solve? Even if there were, getting a driver's license six months early certainly wasn't one of them.

For Chen Nian, the matter of the trio was essentially resolved. She was no longer in danger, yet neither of them proposed ending their arrangement, and they continued to live in the suite.

Half a month flew by. As the exam approached, Chen Nian remained calm, reviewing methodically. Hua Shi'er wasn't worried about her chances at a top university; she had achieved high scores even while being bullied in the original timeline—now that the obstacles were gone, there was no reason she wouldn't excel.

It is worth noting that during this time, the cases against the three groups of people Hua Shi'er had sent to the police were progressing. The police had completed their investigations, and they were awaiting trial. The three boys who had beaten Liu Beishan confessed to robbing Chen Nian of fifty yuan. Unfortunately for them, all three were over eighteen, so there was no hope of a reduced sentence.

As for Ma Qi and Boss Wang, despite their initial denials, the evidence provided by Hua Shi'er was irrefutable. Furthermore, other victims came forward to testify. Ma Qi, a long-time criminal with blood on his hands, was ratted out by his own subordinates looking for leniency. He wasn't just looking at a few years in jail; he was looking at the death penalty. Boss Wang, while not a murderer, had hired people for violent debt collection, causing permanent injury to others, and would also face severe consequences.

On a weekend, the criminal investigator, Old Yang, treated them to hotpot and shared the news, telling them the matter was resolved and they shouldn't carry any more mental burdens. As he ate, Old Yang told Chen Nian to do well on her exams, saying she had a bright future. Then, turning to Hua Shi'er, he instructed him to "turn over a new leaf" and "be a good person."

Hua Shi'er was so annoyed he lost his appetite. Why was it that she had a bright future, while he was the one who needed to turn over a new leaf? He hadn't even planned on being reincarnated in the first place!