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“My mother died when I was young. My father held up the whole family. Back then, his dance was not appreciated by the mainstream media. Plus, he was quite stubborn. He always only got the small part. Later, due to some conflicts, he was forced to leave the dance crew. He had to work odd jobs to keep us fed.

“Back then, we were really poor. However, father taught us to have pride. Only people like that will live with light. My father was a really good person. After the new neighbor moved there, he went to help a lot because he knew the couple was blind. He even told us kids to play with the neighbor boy.

“That was when I knew him. His name was Gao Xing.” When Li Feng’s father said this name, his face paled.

“Gao Xing’s father lost both of his eyes and one ear in a car accident when he was young. After he grew up, he married a girl who was born blind. Their lives were hard and surrounded by darkness until they had Gao Xing. They named him after happiness. Gao Xing’s arrival was a light into their dark cage. The couple treated the child as a present from heaven.

“Gao Xing was raised by blind parents. He had his parent’s good qualities like kindness and gentleness. He was very understanding for his age. He knew that his parents were different from him, so he would use methods other than sight to communicate with them. He would sit beside his parents and describe to them the appearance of his new friends. He would make clay dolls and place them in his father’s hands. He would bring flowers home to fill the small space with fragrance.

“Back then, blind people rarely left the house. Goa Xing’s parents were the same. They depended on weaving stuff to survive. They would leave the house once every weekend. They would bring their woven stuff to the merchants and then go to the market to buy some groceries. Whenever they were outside, Gao Xing was their eyes. He led his parents down the street and accepted the strange looks of others. The blind parent couldn’t see the different mocking expressions, but Gao Xing could. When he was very young, he learned the true evil nature of human beings.

“It was also back then that Gao Xing understood something. He had to work harder than other children to have a normal life.

“Then Gao Xing started school. When Gao Xing met peers his age, he started to change. Other than teaching him kindness, Gao Xing’s parents also instilled fear of the outside world into him. When the other kids talked about the toys they had, Gao Xing realized he had nothing; When the other kids had their parents come to pick them up, Gao Xing had to go home alone; When the other kids were bullied at school, their parents would come to school to fetch them, Gao Xing had to suffer this silently. He didn’t want to give his parents trouble. He also didn’t want the other children to know his parents were different.”

At this point, Li Feng’s father sighed. “That school was very desolate. One teacher had to look after so many children. I have no idea whether Gao Xing was bullied or not, but I am sure that was the only school his parents could afford to send him to.”

“The child had a horrible life. That’s not what I expected.” Han Fei was looking for the mastermind of the three crime organizations.

“Then, the intelligent city project started. There were many relocations, robotic advancements, and so on. Robots took over many manual laborers. The blind couple couldn’t get work as weavers anymore.

“My father had a kind heart. After finding out about this, he lied that he knew a few big bosses and would buy the couple’s stock every month. During that period, the underside of my bed was filled with that stuff.

“This continued for a long time. The intelligent city slowly came into being, and the two tech giants rose. Our zone slowly became abandoned. More people moved away.

“When I was in high school, one night, my father knocked on my door. He told me in a serious tone, something that I still remember to this day.

“He warned me to stay away from Gao Xing’s family, and we would move away soon.

“I had no idea what he saw or heard. I just thought he was weird. At school the day after, I saw Gao Xing. He was thinner, and he had wounds under his long sleeves. He greeted me with a smile like usual. His expression was sunny. His eyes were filled with kindness and joy.

“I wanted to go to him, but I remembered my father’s warning, so I ignored him and left. I could still remember the surprise and disappointment on his face. I was probably his only friend at school.

“Everything changed three months later. When I was preparing for the college entrance exam, Goa Xing’s parents were killed. The murderer was a thief. He was discovered by Gao Xing’s parents, and he killed them in a struggle.

“After I heard this news, I went to comfort Gao Xing. His parent’s funeral was the last time I saw him. He told me that he would one day live in the city’s tallest and most luxurious building. Since people wouldn’t respect him, he would make everyone fear him. I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I couldn’t understand how a kind boy turned out to be like this.

“At the time, I pitied Gao Xing, but my father hated him. He didn’t even attend the couple’s funeral.

“After we moved away, my family’s luck became better. Father’s dance was recognized and he earned so much money. We didn’t need to worry anymore. We moved to the intelligent city…”Li Feng’s father held his wife’s hand. “When I almost forgot about Gao Xing, my father came to look for me one night. He told me something scary.

“When the thief entered the house, Gao Xing was the culprit who caused his parent’s death. He helped the thief to kill his parents.”

Li Feng heard this for the first time too.

“Not long after my father told me that, he went missing. On the third day of his disappearance, we received a pair of eyes and a note. The note said, Do you understand me now?

“That was when my family’s situation started to worsen. It was like our luck was used up. Everything I did, I failed at. The situation finally stabilized after Li Feng was born.”

Li Feng’s parents didn’t want to talk about this, but they were surprised that Han Fei would know the elder’s dance.

“Were you threatened by Gao Xing? I remember the police offered to help with the disappearance, but you refused.”

“Sorry. That’s all I can tell you.” Li Feng’s father looked at Han Fei. “Stay away from him. Those who get too close, both with good and bad intentions, are all dead.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“You don’t get it!” Li Feng’s father was anxious. “He’s different from the other criminals! He…” Suddenly there was a strange sound. It sounded like a vase falling to the ground.

“In any case, don’t find him. Throw away that thought.” Li Feng’s father said firmly. “If you haven’t saved my daughter, I wouldn’t tell you these things.” The call ended, and silence returned.

“This is the first time I’ve heard about that person. My parents never told me these things.” Li Feng held her phone.

“They have already told me a lot.” Han Fei called Li Xue. He wanted her help looking into Gao Xing. A few minutes later, Li Xue brought Han Fei bad news. There was no Gao Xing in the citizenry database. It was like this person didn’t exist. However, the database did show that the blind couple was killed by a thief. They didn’t have any children. The person Gao Xing appeared to only exist in Li Feng’s father’s mind.

“Something’s not right.” Han Fei frowned. At that moment, his phone vibrated. It was a call from Seaglass cat. “What happened?”

“Vegebun just got attacked! They are not simple players!”

“Is she safe?” Han Fei stood up immediately and asked with concern.

“She was targeted in the game. I’ll have Brother Huang explain it.” Seaglass Cat handed the phone to Huang Yin.

“Han Fei, the enemy this time is not simple. They are the infamous internet hackers!” Huang Yin lowered his voice. “I installed some plug-ins in Seaglass Cat’s gaming hub. They would check for viruses. Those hackers’ goal is not to destroy Seaglass Cat and Vegebun’s accounts, but they want to find Seaglass Cat’s identity in real life!”

“But isn’t Perfect Life protected by the photon computer?”

“The Xin Lu Internet Safety protocol is meant to protect all citizens, but these hackers are not simple hackers. They are very good. This time, they work in groups too. I don’t get it. Why would Sunny Boy be targeted by so many crazy people?” Huang Yin sighed.

“How big of a chance that Seaglass Cat and Vegebun’s info had been leaked?”

“The danger is low this time, but it’ll only get worse.” Huang Yin had an expert assess the situation.

“The online audition is almost over. I’ll back the virtual persona and play back my role.” Han Fei didn’t want anyone to be hurt because of him.”

“Okay. I’ll inform Vegebun.”

…

The thick curtains blocked off all the sunlight. Even though it was noon, this moldy room still had no light.

Inside a countryside building, a young man was counting money on the table. He hadn’t touched cash for a long time already.

“Are you sure the hackers got the right person?” A man with a guinea pig mask sat across from the young man. He studied the document.

“Yes. It should be a female player under the male persona. We’ve found the best behavioral analyst to study all of her videos to conclude her habits and personality.” The young man said without lifting his head.

“Did I get the wrong person? But why would her appearance be so coincidental?” Guinea Pig read the document, “Female, shy, and has a bit of social anxiety around strangers. Will become more relaxed when she’s in a familiar environment..”

Sunny Boy in the report was very different from the Sunny Boy Guinea Pig knew. “This is too strange. I better verify this in person.”