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墨書 Inktalez
Lin Xiaofan suddenly grabbed a cup of cola from the table and splashed it onto Zhang Hao's face. "Tell Zhao Tianming he's dead meat!"
Taking advantage of the chaos as they frantically wiped their faces, he turned and dashed out of the internet café, the rain and his fury blending into a blurred red before his eyes.
【System Emergency Alert!】
【Reputation value below critical point】
【If not restored within 48 hours, forced disconnection will occur】
【Countdown begins: 47:59:59...】
The blood-red numbers on his phone screen stung his eyes. Lin Xiaofan stood in the rain, letting the cold droplets wash over his face. He needed an ally, someone who could help him turn public opinion around—Su Yuqing.
The taxi screeched to a halt outside Su Yuqing's apartment building. Lin Xiaofan had forgotten his umbrella and ran into the hallway, drenched like a drowned rat. The elevator took too long to arrive, so he bolted for the stairwell, taking two steps at a time up to the sixth floor.
"Su Yuqing! Open up!" He pounded on the door of room 602, the motion-sensor light flickering above him.
He heard rustling inside, followed by the metallic sound of the chain lock being undone. The door opened a crack, revealing Su Yuqing's wary face—she was in her pajamas, hair disheveled, her eyes bloodshot.
"What do you want?"
"I need your help!" Lin Xiaofan's voice was hoarse. "Zhao Tianming is after me; those dirty rumors..."
"And so?" Su Yuqing interrupted coldly. "I told you, once the audit is over we would..."
Her words caught in her throat as Lin Xiaofan pushed the door open and stepped inside. On the living room's laptop screen was the registration page for "Xiao Fan Love Fund," beside it was an open document titled "About Reporting Lin Xiaofan's Suspected Charity Fraud Situation Explanation."
The air seemed to freeze. Lin Xiaofan stood on the dripping carpet, watching as Su Yuqing quickly closed the laptop, a heavy weight pressing down on his chest.
"You... want to report me?"
Su Yuqing pressed her lips together, her gaze falling on his soaked pant legs and the puddle forming beneath his shoes. "I'm just gathering evidence." She lifted her head, her eyes glinting with a complex light. "If you can explain where that money went..."
"I told you it was for winter clothes! Old Zhou can vouch for me!"
"Old Zhou is lying." Su Yuqing suddenly raised her voice. "I checked those 'street ledgers'; the ink is all fresh! The dates and signatures are forged!"
A sharp pain twisted in Lin Xiaofan's stomach. The system's warning had been right—"a sincere lie."
"Listen," he said with difficulty, "things are much more complicated than you think..."
"Then explain!" Su Yuqing grabbed the laptop and slammed it onto the sofa. "Explain why you always seem to have money when it's most needed! Explain why you know Zhao Tianming so well! Explain what you and Old Zhou are hiding!"
The sound of rain outside suddenly intensified, and a flash of lightning illuminated the tense air between them. Lin Xiaofan's phone vibrated again; it was a photo from his mother—reporters crowded at their doorstep, her terrified face exposed in front of the camera.
"I don't have much time left..." he murmured, the system's countdown vibrating rhythmically in his pocket like a ticking time bomb ready to explode.
Su Yuqing followed his movements and caught a glimpse of the phone screen, her expression shifting slightly. "Those reporters..."
"They were sent by Zhao Tianming." Lin Xiaofan looked up, "Su Yuqing, I need your help one last time. Not for me, but for the children in the mountains waiting for their meals, for Old Zhou and his homeless students..." His voice choked momentarily, "for my mom."
The blue light from the computer screen illuminated Su Yuqing's face, her anger gradually giving way to hesitation, which ultimately transformed into deep exhaustion.
"Show me," she suddenly said.
"What?"
"The so-called 'system'." Su Yuqing locked eyes with him. "If it really exists, show it to me now."
Lin Xiaofan's fingers hovered above the phone. Revealing the system would mean exposing all his vulnerabilities—those greedy calculations, those utilitarian good deeds, and the dark sides he was ashamed to admit even to himself.
Another flash of lightning struck, casting an eerie blue glow throughout the room. In that light, Lin Xiaofan noticed the documents on Su Yuqing's desk—besides the reporting materials, there was a thick stack of investigation reports about the Xishan Mine Disaster and... a photo of his father?
"You investigated my father?"
Su Yuqing did not deny it. "I found connections while looking into Zhao Tianming. Lin Jianguo, a survivor of the Xishan Mine Disaster twenty years ago, died in a car accident three months later..." Her voice lowered, "Police records show he reported multiple times that the truth about the mine disaster was being covered up."
Lin Xiaofan felt as if his blood had frozen. His father had never mentioned anything about reporting; all he remembered was his father's tight grip on his hand before he passed away, saying, "Xiaofan... you must live with integrity..."
"Ding—"
The system suddenly popped up a full-screen alert:
【Emergency!】
【Key clue detected】
【Mining Truth Mission activated】
【Note: Choosing to disclose will lead to irreversible consequences】
Su Yuqing's pupils dilated slightly—she had seen the content on the screen.
"So... it's real?" Her voice was as light as a feather. "You really have a... system?"
The rain outside had stopped, and the room was so quiet that they could hear each other's breathing. Lin Xiaofan nodded slowly and firmly, turning the phone screen toward Su Yuqing...
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