116: Chapter 116 Whale Fall Brings Life to All Things?

When he returned to the dormitory, Gu Zeyan had already turned his phone horizontally while lying on his bed.

Trending topic number three — "Jiang Rumu tax evasion".

The real-time discussion volume curve was still shooting upwards, with thousands more posts appearing every time he refreshed.

He scrolled through two pages of the comments section, exited Weibo, and switched to WeChat.

He sent a message to his agent: "Sister, how many of the brand endorsement contracts on Jiang Rumu's side are about to expire?"

The reply came instantly: "You've finally wised up. I'm already keeping an eye on it; I'll compile a list for you later."

Gu Zeyan placed his phone face down on his chest and leaned back. A fire safety notice was pasted on the underside of the bunk above him; he stared at the words, but wasn't really reading them.

On the bed next to him, Jiang Shiyu came out of the bathroom with a towel draped over his shoulders, clutching his phone in his hand.

The two didn't make eye contact.

But Gu Zeyan knew exactly what Jiang Shiyu was looking at, and vice versa.

Jiang Rumu had three variety shows on her plate — an idol variety show host role, a situational escape room show, and a new unrecorded program from ByteDance. If her reputation collapsed, at least two permanent guest spots would open up.

Jiang Shiyu's management team group chat was flooded with messages, full of various plans and probes.

He opened his notes app and wrote two lines. He deleted them. He wrote them again. He deleted them again. Locking his screen, he shoved the phone under his pillow. It was too early.

One bed over, Ji Shen was curled up under his quilt, his thumb swiping rapidly. He was monitoring the movements of the brands.

A certain sportswear brand that Jiang Rumu endorsed had just signed a three-year contract last year, with an eight-figure penalty for breach of contract. But the promotional image on the brand's official Weibo homepage had already been changed to a product image. The signal was clear.

Ji Shen sent a voice message to his business manager: "Help me ask Brand X; my schedule is open recently."

After sending it, he turned over and stared at the ceiling. Three seconds later, he turned back and deleted the voice message. He re-recorded one: "Forget it, no rush. Let's wait and see." He recorded the eight characters three times before sending it.

Li Li was lying on his iron-frame bed, motionless. But he had heard everything the three of them were doing.

The dormitory was only so big, with less than a meter between the iron-frame beds. The audio wasn't played out loud, but the rhythm of typing, the frequency of locking screens, and the increasingly shallow breathing of Ji Shen as he recorded his voice message three times — it was all very clear.

Whale fall, all things thrive. These words popped into his mind, and even he found it ironic.

The public opinion surrounding Jiang Rumu was still fermenting, while here, in the same dormitory, three people had already started eyeing her resources.

Li Li turned over, facing the wall. He didn't take out his phone — it wasn't that he didn't want to contact Jiang Rumu, but it wasn't the time yet.

She had already called the police, the chain of evidence was complete, and the legal process was underway. The more the internet stirred, the harder the reversal would hit later. She shouldn't be the one rushing.

On the other side. Tao Qianzhi wasn't looking at the trending topics.

He had his Moments feed open on his phone. Zou Xiaoou had posted a status — a nine-grid collage, all photos with his fiancée. The beach, a restaurant, an amusement park.

The caption consisted of four characters: "The rest of my life is you."

Tao Qianzhi flipped the screen face down on the bed, stood up, and walked to the dormitory door. He glanced far down the corridor. The lights on the female guest side were not on.

He had worked on two dramas with Zou Xiaoou and had drunk with him countless times. Once, when they were drunk, Zou Xiaoou put an arm around his shoulder and said: "Brother Qianzhi, there is one person I have failed the most in this life." He asked who. Zou Xiaoou didn't say, just smiled, and finished his drink.

He knew who it was. He didn't point it out. Now that person was in the dormitory at the other end of the corridor. Tao Qianzhi stood for a few seconds, then turned and went back.

Qi Wanyin didn't turn on the lights. The white light of the phone screen reflected on her face; she swiped past Zou Xiaoou's post.

She opened a music app and hit shuffle — the first song was by Zou Xiaoou. Pause. Play. Three seconds later, she turned it off and shoved the phone under her pillow.

He Manzhou turned over on the bed next to her, facing her side. She didn't make a sound. Some things didn't need to be said.

The next day's training fell apart. It wasn't that their physical fitness collapsed — it was that their morale had collapsed, and of course, some were mentally exhausted from not being able to sleep.

During the five-lap morning run, Cheng Songyan stood in the center of the field with a stopwatch, watching the state of this group, his face growing darker and darker.

Gu Zeyan ran as if he were strolling through a market, Jiang Shiyu changed pace every three steps, and Ji Shen almost collided with Su Nianzhi in front of him.

Qi Wanyin ran two laps and stopped at the start of the third lap. "Captain, I'm not in good condition today; I can't run."

Cheng Songyan swallowed the rest of his words. They weren't Firefighters; he couldn't scold them using Firefighter standards. "Then go rest on the sidelines."

As soon as she left, Tao Qianzhi's pace also slowed down. Once the five laps were finished, their times were twenty percent slower than last week. Collectively.

The morning rope climbing was even more absurd. During a break, Su Nianzhi took out her phone three times, each time checking the trending topics before locking the screen.

Cheng Songyan endured it for twenty minutes. "That's enough." The equipment area went quiet.

"This is Fire Station training, not an internet cafe. I know you aren't Firefighters, but you still have to follow the rules here! Put your phones away. Whoever I see doing this a second time will be banned from training for a day! Do it again, and you're out!"

Training continued, but the quality was still terrible. Their bodies were there, but their souls weren't. Except for Li Li.

From morning training to specialized drills, he maintained the same rhythm and the same standard. Han Su followed along all morning; his arm swelled up, and he couldn't even pick up vegetables with his chopsticks at lunch.

"Extra training this afternoon." Han Su slammed his chopsticks on the table and walked away with his tray. Qin Xiaoshan watched his back and silently scraped the remaining braised pork from his plate over to his own. Food shouldn't be wasted.

Eight o'clock in the evening. Jiang Rumu's Weibo updated. It was a police receipt, with a very short caption: [Regarding the recent false information, I have reported it to the police and a case has been filed. I will pursue legal responsibility for the rumor-mongers in accordance with the law. Tax materials have been submitted to the relevant departments for verification. @Lawyer Bai]

The number of reposts exceeded 50,000 in ten minutes. But the tone in the comments section wasn't what she wanted. [If you want to prove your innocence, just bring out the full accounts; what's the use of calling the police?] [It's the same old trick to divert attention.]

Various marketing accounts mobilized collectively, with headlines more explosive than the last. Fan clubs of other female celebrities started to push hard. Reposting, commenting, controlling the comments — the whole routine.

Whale fall, all things thrive. Shen Jue lay on his bed, scrolling through the comments section for ten minutes; he almost crushed his phone. He turned over — Li Li's bed was empty. The quilt was folded neatly.

Shen Jue sprang up from his bed and shuffled away in his slippers. At the end of the corridor, in the blind spot of the security camera, was their usual spot. He crept to the corner and poked half his head out.

Li Li was leaning against the wall, holding his phone up in front of him. On the screen was Jiang Rumu's face. A high ponytail, a loose hoodie, and two band-aids on her collarbone — from where the husky scratched her.

"...Xiao Qian finally learned to sit down today, but Xiao Chai isn't having it; when I tell it to sit, it just pounces on me." "Your teaching method is wrong." "Where is it wrong?" "You have to be fiercer." "I was fierce! I glared at it!" "And then?" "Then it licked my face."

Li Li's lips curled up slightly. Shen Jue, crouching behind the corner, felt all itchy. It was too sweet.

Jiang Rumu suddenly pulled the camera back and moved it to the side. "Listen." A row of windows appeared in the frame, brightly lit inside. It was a classroom.

More than twenty children were sitting at the desks, the youngest seven or eight years old, the oldest sixteen or seventeen. The lower graders were reading Pinyin in milky voices. The older ones were reciting English vocabulary, and a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy was standing at the podium, using chalk to explain math to a few junior high students. It was evening self-study. The evening self-study at the orphanage.

Jiang Rumu was standing in the corridor outside the classroom, pointing the camera at the glass window, lowering her voice. "It's like this every night; the older ones teach the younger ones, and the younger ones follow along. I've been keeping a very close eye on the study plan you drew up, as the acting director's assistant."

Li Li didn't speak. Shen Jue stood behind the corner, watching the scene on the phone screen. Outside, people were attacking her with the most vicious language. She was standing here, acting as a study companion for orphans. Shen Jue's throat tightened.

Jiang Rumu turned the camera back. "Alright, I won't disturb you anymore, get some rest early." "You too. Are you still wearing the fever patch?" "It's fine, it got inflamed after Xiao Chai scratched me, I've been wearing it for two days and it's fine now." "Then—" "Wait a second!"

Jiang Rumu pushed the phone closer and tilted her head: "Is there someone behind you?" Li Li turned his head. Shen Jue was pressed against the wall, his head pulled back, but half his foot was still exposed.

"Come out." Shen Jue slowly shuffled out. Half his head, his shoulder, his whole body. "Hehe... Sister Mu." Jiang Rumu laughed. "Little Juezi."

"Sister Mu, how are you? Those people outside..." "I'm fine." Three words. Neither heavy nor light. Shen Jue scratched his hair. "That tax matter..." "The lawyer is handling it, it's just a matter of time."

As she said this, a youthful, innocent reading voice came from behind her. "— —Before my bed, the moonlight streams, like frost upon the ground— —" Every word was enunciated, serious and earnest. Shen Jue opened his mouth, then swallowed all his remaining words.

Wearing a hoodie, with her hair in a ponytail, she was backed by lights and the sound of reading. "Sister Mu, see you next time." "Okay. Make sure to supervise Brother Li and don't let him stay up late." "He doesn't stay up late, he just secretly calls you every night—" Li Li reached out and pushed his head back. The video call ended.

Shen Jue rubbed his face. "Brother Li." "Hmm." "I was just worrying for nothing earlier."

Li Li put his phone back in his pocket. Shen Jue turned, whistling, and walked toward the dormitory, pushing the door open. Qin Xiaoshan was lying on the bed, clutching half a bag of spicy strips, his eyes half-closed. Shen Jue grabbed his arm. "Get up, extra training."

Qin Xiaoshan glared at him: "Now? In the middle of the night?" Shen Jue had already changed into his sneakers. "Hurry up."

Qin Xiaoshan looked at him; there was an indescribable energy on Shen Jue's face, not like he wanted extra training — but more like he had suddenly figured something out. He shoved the spicy strips under his pillow and rolled out of bed. "Wait for me to put on my shoes."

The two sets of footsteps headed toward the stairwell. As they passed the corner, Shen Jue turned his head to look out the window; the garage lights in the Fire Station courtyard were on, and the on-duty Firefighter was washing the truck. He quickened his pace.

Behind him, Qin Xiaoshan stumbled to keep up: "Brother Jue, what exactly did you figure out?" "Nothing, just bored, happy!" The door closed. The sound of two pairs of sneakers descended in the stairwell, and the bag of spicy strips in Qin Xiaoshan's pocket rustled the whole way.

Less than three minutes after they left, Li Li's phone vibrated again. It wasn't Jiang Rumu. It was the system.

[Ding — —] [Detected that the character associated with the host, "Jiang Rumu," is suffering from a large-scale public opinion attack.] [Triggered hidden side quest — "Counterattack".] [Mission Description: Within 48 hours, reverse the public opinion in any way.] [Reward: ???] [Hint: Someone is directing this play.]

Li Li stared at the last line. Someone is directing this play. Who else could it be? The Company, obviously.

He put his phone away and walked to the window. The playground downstairs was empty, with only the lights in the duty room still on. Forty-eight hours. Two days. He had also promised to write a song for Qi Wanyin in three days yesterday. And he vaguely remembered Little Lu saying that the expiration date of Jiang Rumu's management contract was in two days. What a coincidence.