133: Chapter 133 Xu Qi, you deserve to die!

The comment section exploded.

"Is this for real???"

"Someone is jumping off a building??? Right now???"

"Li Li, hurry and save him!!!"

"Wait, is he talking about the one who jumped last week?"

Song Yaoshan didn't look at his phone.

He looked down at his white sneakers dangling in the air and continued, using the tone of someone reciting a textbook.

"Xu Qi, you really deserve to die."

He let out a faint laugh.

"When you were being humiliated, you should have just kept silent."

The collar of his school uniform was flipped over by the wind.

"Why did you have to clench your fists with red eyes?"

He tilted his head.

"Resisting means you deserve to die, didn't you see how those fists fell even harder?"

The three police officers on the rooftop all frowned.

The Old Police Officer in the front turned his head to look at Li Li.

Li Li didn't respond; he stood frozen in place.

The comment feed slowed down. Some people started typing question marks, while others were repeatedly trying to confirm what they heard.

"Wait, what does he mean by 'deserve to die'?"

Song Yaoshan didn't give anyone time to react.

"When you were mocked for dancing effeminately, you should have just stopped dancing."

His left leg swayed gently, tracing a circle in the void.

"Why did you have to straighten your back and spin at the talent show?"

After swaying, he pulled his leg back.

"Continuing to dance means you deserve to die, didn't you hear the jeers of 'sissy' from the audience?"

Li Li clenched his back teeth.

The Homeroom Teacher, who was crouching on the rooftop, shuddered, her hands clamped tightly over her mouth, fragmented sobs leaking through her fingers.

Song Yaoshan didn't look at her.

"When your homework was torn up, you should have just rewritten it."

He pressed both hands against the low wall, his body leaning slightly forward. The air cushion below looked like a vast expanse of white.

"Why did you have to report it and get others scolded?"

A pause.

"Taking it seriously means you deserve to die, didn't you see the teacher frowning and saying it was just 'kids playing around'?"

The Homeroom Teacher's hands slid down from her face.

Her mouth was open, as if something was stuck in her throat, unable to come up or go down.

Then, tears came crashing down.

It wasn't a silent flow, but a way of crying that was squeezed out from the chest, causing her whole body to convulse.

The words "kids playing around" were what she had said.

After she said that, Xu Qi never sought her out again.

Not even once.

Looking back now, that was him losing all hope in her.

Li Li didn't look at her; his attention was locked 100% on Song Yaoshan—not listening, but calculating.

Calculating the distance, the reaction time, and the direction of the next sway of those white sneakers.

Eight meters; it would take at least one and a half seconds to rush over.

He couldn't move; not even a single step.

"When I was bullied by them."

Song Yaoshan's voice changed; it wasn't the flat, recitation tone anymore, but had gained a gritty texture.

"You should have just pretended not to see it."

He lowered his head.

"Why did you have to rush over to help?"

"Meddling means you deserve to die, didn't you notice when we were all cornered in the restroom?"

He raised his head.

"You were the most obvious target, weren't you?"

The comments went from flooding the screen to just a few sporadic ones, each very short.

"Damn."

"I get it now."

"He's not scolding Xu Qi."

Inside the iron gate, Shen Jue held his phone, watching the livestream, his ten fingers completely stiff.

Jiang Shiyu's toes stopped tapping against the floor.

Su Nianzhi froze where she stood, her fingernails digging into the crevices of the iron door frame.

Song Yaoshan continued.

"They said you might be a 'pervert' who likes boys."

He tilted his head.

"You should have just covered your ears; why did you have to write 'The person I love is like sunshine' in your diary?"

He let out a dry laugh.

"Being honest means you deserve to die, didn't you see that when the diary was posted on the bulletin board, everyone's eyes were like poisonous stings?"

The number of viewers in the livestream jumped past 8.5 million.

No one was sending gifts, no one was posting emojis.

Long paragraphs of text began to appear in the comments; some were sharing their own experiences, some were cursing the school, some were tagging official accounts, and some just typed a single period.

Song Yaoshan's hand slipped slightly on the low wall.

Li Li's center of gravity shifted forward by five centimeters.

The Old Police Officer's legs bent halfway.

Song Yaoshan steadied himself again.

"When you jumped."

His voice was hoarse.

"Why didn't you choose a place where there was no one?"

The wind rushed into the gap of the U-shaped building, making his school uniform snap loudly.

"You just had to splatter your blood in front of the teaching building, making everyone unable to focus in class."

He swallowed.

"Being selfish means you deserve to die, didn't you think about your parents fainting from crying on the playground?"

He paused for three seconds.

A full three seconds.

There wasn't a sound on the rooftop. Even the wind had died down.

"Do they still have to pretend to be 'regretful'?"

The comments were all the same two words.

"Crying."

"Crying."

"Crying."

Inside the iron gate, Shen Jue turned around, facing the wall, his shoulders heaving twice. Ji Shen stood beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder without saying a word.

Song Yaoshan wiped his face with his sleeve.

The school uniform sleeve covered his wrist, and with this wipe, the entire lower half of his face was buried in it.

He lowered it.

"Oh, right, you died, so you're clean."

The comments stopped.

"But they, these 'normal people,' still have to live."

"Living to mock the next 'different' person."

"Living to use 'sissy' and 'pervert' as catchphrases."

"Living to wait for your parents to come to school, then lowering their heads to feign innocence and say, 'We don't know either'."

"Xu Qi."

He called out.

"Look, they are all living just fine."

"Only you."

He cried.

It wasn't the suppressed shattering from before.

It was the way a sixteen-year-old cries, turning their entire chest inside out.

"You really deserve to die."

He lurched forward.

The Old Police Officer took half a step forward.

Li Li's feet had already moved.

"Don't! Come! Over!!"

His voice cracked, the three words laden with tears echoing back and forth across the U-shaped building three times.

Li Li's feet were nailed back to the spot.

The eight-meter distance; he hadn't even finished taking the second step.

Song Yaoshan pressed both hands against the edge of the low wall, his body half-suspended, half-sitting, his center of gravity swaying back and forth in an extremely dangerous position.

Tears fell from his chin, dropping into the air seven stories high.

"Don't come over."

He said it again, his voice much quieter.

Li Li stopped where he was.

Plans spun through his mind: climbing up around the equipment level would take forty seconds—too slow; calling downstairs on the radio to adjust the air cushion would make noise and expose his intentions; waiting for professional negotiators would take an unknown amount of time.

Song Yaoshan's emotional volatility was too high right now.

He couldn't afford to wait.

Two arms supporting a half-suspended body, under the sun, in a state of emotional collapse—five minutes? Ten minutes? Or the next gust of wind?

Li Li crouched down.

The safety rope dragged behind him, drawing an orange line on the ground. His knees touched the rooftop tiles, and he lowered his entire frame.

A person crouching on the ground did not constitute a starting stance for a sprint.

Song Yaoshan didn't say "Don't come over."

Because the other person didn't come over.

Li Li crouched there, head tilted up, and threw out the next sentence.

Without hesitation, without any preamble.

"I can help you."

The three police officers on the rooftop turned their heads simultaneously.

The Old Police Officer's mouth hung open; he had given clear instructions at the iron gate: absolutely do not try to persuade, do not reason, and above all, do not make any promises.

Promises imply expectations, and expectations imply potential for further disappointment; for someone standing on the edge, any unfulfilled promise could become the final push.

The iron rule of crisis intervention.

Li Li violated all of them.

"Help with what?" Song Yaoshan's sobbing missed a beat.

He turned his head, his face covered in tear tracks, staring at the person in the firefighter uniform crouching on the ground eight meters away.

"Help Xu Qi."

Li Li's voice was flat, so flat it was no different from a casual conversation.

"You wanted to livestream, and you're doing it now. You wanted justice, and 8.5 million people are watching. What comes next?"

Song Yaoshan was stunned.

"Have you thought about what will happen after this livestream ends?"

Song Yaoshan didn't answer.

"You're right, Xu Qi didn't deserve to die; the ones who deserve to die are the bullies."

Li Li's head was slightly tilted up.

"But if you jump from here, tomorrow's trending headline will be 'Another Student Falls to Their Death at Cuiyuan Middle School'."

He paused for half a second.

"In three days, no one will remember Xu Qi's name, and no one will remember yours either."

Song Yaoshan's body stopped shaking.

His hands were still pressed against the edge of the low wall, staring at Li Li.

"But if you walk down alive."

Li Li said something that absolutely shouldn't have been said at this moment.

"I promise to let you see the meaning of Xu Qi's life."