Meanwhile.
In an internet cafe not far from the university.
The student from before sat angrily in front of a computer, its screen dark.
Next to him sat a man in a suit, the computer in front of him equally dark.
They hadn’t come here to use the computers. The place was secluded and dim, and the constant noise made it suitable for a secret conversation.
"You can’t blame me for this! That Lin Feng is just too smart."
"Besides, you’re the one who taught me what to say! I repeated it word for word!"
The student was frantic. He could tell the man before him was not someone to be trifled with.
Besides, anyone who would hire him for a job like this couldn’t be a good person.
He was young and naive, his mind poisoned by countless movies and TV shows. He naturally saw this man as a shadowy villain who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals and could take a life without a second thought.
Therefore, since he had failed his mission and now knew the man’s secret, he was sure to be silenced.
The student shivered at the thought.
’No, I’m still young! I can’t die!’
"You... you can’t blame me!"
He stressed again,
"I’m innocent! You paid me to do it, that’s the only reason I agreed."
"And you’re going after Lin Feng. You should know he’s no ordinary person. What was I supposed to do?"
He wanted nothing more than to get up and run, but his legs had gone weak. He was trembling so much he could barely speak, let alone run.
After the student had rambled on for a while, the man beside him finally scoffed. He lazily turned his head, looking at the boy as if he were a complete joke.
"Don’t be scared. Someone like you isn’t even worthy of me doing anything to you."
’I’m screwed!’
The man’s words only made the student more terrified.
’Does that mean... he’s really killed people to silence them before?’
His breathing grew ragged, and he was on the verge of tears.
Seeing his state, the man’s patience reached its absolute limit.
’So gutless, yet the moment he heard there was money involved, he jumped at the chance like his life depended on it.’
He clicked his tongue with a TSK, pulled a bank card from his pocket, and casually tossed it in front of the student, rolling his eyes.
"I said I won’t do anything to you. Take this money. The PIN is six zeros."
"As for what happened today, I hope you take it to your grave. Or better yet, forget it completely."
"If I hear about this from anywhere, I’ll assume it was you. And at that point, I think you know what I’ll do."
He wouldn’t mind going to the trouble of actually taking this coward’s life.
For him, killing this coward would be as easy as lifting a finger.
The student’s eyes widened as he stared at the bank card. He could only nod repeatedly to show he understood. He would do anything to live.
The man glanced at the student, then turned and left without pausing.
The student breathed a sigh of relief. He cautiously reached out, picked up the bank card, and was about to stuff it in his pocket and leave when he heard mocking voices from behind him.
"Seriously, where did that psycho pop up from?"
"Gutsy, I’ll give him that! If I were him, I’d drop out of school and leave the city overnight. I could never live down that kind of embarrassment."
"Unbelievable. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen Lin Feng shut someone down so savagely. If you ask me, the guy totally deserved it! What century are we in? Who even says things like that anymore?"
"Wow, that kid’s ’ideological awareness’ is on another level! With such lofty thinking, it’s a total waste of his talent to be stuck studying at a small university like this."
"What does he mean, ’influencer’ is an insult? My idol is an influencer, and they have a much cleaner reputation than a lot of those movie stars. How is that an insult?"
The student, who had started to stand up, froze. ’For people in an internet cafe to be talking like this, could it be...?’
He turned on the computer as fast as he could, opened the school’s online forum, and sure enough, he found a video. It was seven or eight minutes long.
In the video, he looked like a complete fool, challenging Lin Feng right from the start. He hadn’t even noticed that everyone else in the auditorium was already looking at him like he was a lunatic.
The student clutched the bank card in his hand, his world completely falling apart.
He never imagined that just for taking some money to say a few words, he would end up being cursed out like this.
This time, he was utterly and completely humiliated.
The student choked back silent sobs, finding it hard to breathe.
"If you had the guts to do it, why be afraid of the consequences?"
A familiar voice came from above. The student jerked his head up and saw Lin Feng, who had appeared beside him at some unknown point, watching him with a blank expression.
In the dim light of the internet cafe, the student stared up at Lin Feng, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"You... what are you doing here?"
The student was stunned. This was the last person he expected to see here right now.
’Shouldn’t he still be at the university?’
The student took a deep breath, and in the next moment, it all clicked.
’Lin Feng must have figured out my motive back in the auditorium. He must have guessed someone put me up to it, so he had me followed the moment I left campus.’
’And... Lin Feng must have seen me talking privately with that man just now. He saw...’
He subconsciously glanced down at the bank card clutched in his palm and guiltily hid his hand behind his back. He forgot that Lin Feng had already seen it; his action was a dead giveaway.
’It’s over. It’s all over for me now.’
’Lin Feng found out what I did. I offended a rich man like him. My future is ruined.’
He swallowed hard, his eyes vacant.
Lin Feng glanced nonchalantly at the student, then pulled out a nearby chair and sat down languidly.
"What’s in your hand?"
He tilted his head, pretending to crane his neck to see the bank card behind the student’s back.
"N-nothing."
The student jumped in fright at the question, shaking his head frantically. His attempt to hide the truth was painfully obvious.
But he also knew Lin Feng wouldn’t believe him.
"Don’t be afraid."
Lin Feng let out a soft chuckle. He hadn’t expected the student to be this timid. If that was the case, it was surprising he’d had the guts to publicly cause trouble in the auditorium.
"I’m a pretty reasonable person. I won’t make things difficult for you."
"I believe in going after the source of the problem. If I’m going to deal with anyone, it’ll be the person pulling your strings, not you. Wouldn’t you agree?"
Looking at Lin Feng’s "gentle" smile, the student couldn’t help but shiver.
The student gritted his teeth, wrestling with his thoughts for a long moment.
With a great deal of reluctance, he took a deep breath and placed the object from behind his back onto the desk in front of him.
Hoping to avoid getting implicated, the student, under Lin Feng’s unblinking gaze, told him everything he knew without holding anything back.
He recounted the entire story in full detail, from the moment he first made contact with the man to the moment the man had left just a short while ago.
...
「An hour later.」
Lin Feng left the internet cafe.
’Just as I thought. It was Bao An behind this.’
’As for his motive, that was obvious too.’
’For an entertainment company like Douhu, the fastest way to bring it down is to create or find a scandal.’
’And as the true owner of Douhu Entertainment, a scandal involving me personally would be a far bigger blow to the company than one involving any of its influencers.’
’That’s why he came up with such a bizarre plan and hired a university student he had no real control over.’
’And the most ridiculous part is that Bao An actually thought that just by giving him money, the student wouldn’t rat him out for fear of being punished by the university.’
’Which explains why, this time, Bao An actually came in person.’
Lin Feng sneered. ’At this point, I can’t tell if Bao An is overly cautious or just plain stupid.’

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