Chapter 79 part 1
Luo Shizhen woke up the next day full of energy. Although he was out on a mission, his schedule remained similar to when he was at school. He first trained for an hour, then sparred with his “Big Brother” for another hour. After that, he showered and washed his hair, tidied himself up, ate breakfast, and read for a while until Lin Ke finally woke up.
Lin Ke was woken up by his alarm. As a modern young person, he followed a youthful sleep pattern. Stay up late, sleep in late; even the King of Hell would praise his healthy body. However, lately, even if he stayed up all night on his phone, Lin Ke would set an alarm for 10:00 AM to get up and do Luo Shizhenâs makeup. After all, he was the one who shamelessly asked for this assignment. Even if his eyes couldn’t open, he would force himself to crawl out of bed.
Today, Lin Ke once again drifted over like a wandering soul and proceeded to do Luo Shizhenâs makeup in the same manner. Fortunately, Luo Shizhen had a very good temper and never said anything about his inability to fix his late-night habits. Sometimes, when he really couldn’t wake up, Lin Ke would put on headphones and listen to the morning news to perk himself up.
Lately, the morning news was basically about Anomalies appearing in various places and how local Awakeners struck back, or certain areas being pulled into Grisly Domains, reminding nearby residents not to approach. Of course, there was occasionally good news, as humanity needed positive information for supportâusually about someone awakening due to a certain event or a certain place clearing its Anomalies.
It was worth mentioning that since the country announced the existence of Anomalies, the frequency of reporting foreign news had significantly increased. This was understandable; Xia Country was one of the more stable major nations globallyâat least society was still functioning normally. The situation in many foreign countries was quite grim, especially in those where gun ownership was legal. Allowing most people to have weapons capable of harming others was unsuitable when Anomalies were rampant. Once a place became chaotic due to an Anomaly, humans would fall into internal conflict before the chaos could even be quelled. Thus, those countries became even more chaotic.
Xia Countryâs intention in sharing news from these countries was very clear: humanity needs comparisons. Perhaps for the people of Xia Country, life now wasn’t as good as before. But compared to their foreign friends at the same stageâwho were in dire straits and still engaged in political infighting amidst chaosâthey at least only had to worry about Anomalies rather than looting and home invasions. Their originally restless moods could be somewhat calmed.
Lin Ke was the type whose mood could be calmed through comparison. He followed his routine of listening to foreign news first. Right at the start, he heard the news about [large numbers of Xia Country Awakeners and polluted people returning home].
“Eh? Whatâs going on here?”
Luo Shizhen, who was silently memorizing weapon data with his head down, heard this and turned to look at him.
“What is it? Did the news say something?”
He was more used to watching the 7:00 PM network news; this was naturally a habit learned from his grandmother. But for Luo Shizhen, who trusted news content deeply, the morning news was also important. Sometimes, he would watch the morning news with Lin Ke.
Lin Ke simply switched to speaker. “It says that starting from yesterday, a large number of Awakeners and polluted people who were originally abroad suddenly returned home.”
Luo Shizhen also perked up. “Did it say why they’re returning?”
“Not yet.”
The two of them watched the video together. A reporter interviewed an Awakener, asking for the reason for their return. The Awakener was very candid: “I heard that TCM can now treat pollution in our country, so I came home for treatment.”
Luo Shizhen was immediately energized. He vaguely realized this was about him. To play the role of Doctor Zhen well, Luo Shizhen had read almost all domestic methods for treating pollution. Someone had indeed mentioned TCM before, but they were quickly discovered to be scammers. Currently, he was the only one advertising on TV without being exposed.
Sure enough, the Awakener continued: “I’m not sure if itâs real, but my family told me about it. The doctorâs surname is apparently Zhen.”
Luo Shizhen had been secretly anticipating this. After hearing his fake surname, he excitedly clapped his hands.
“Success!!”
“Weâve successfully made a name for ourselves!! To have people return home because of this news, my current fame should be greater than Zou Tangzhengâs, right?”
It took Lin Ke dozens of seconds to realize who Zou Tangzheng was. Luo Shizhen took everything seriously. To play a scammer, he followed every step of the scammer’s path. Lin Ke posting on the forum was “casting a wide net to catch more fish,” and treating patients was “expanding his fame.” Even the book he read in the morning was “The Art of Conversation.” After curing a patient, when they thanked him, he didn’t need anyone to teach him through his earpiece; he could naturally and smoothly say, “A doctor has a parent’s heart.”
Under this daily influence, Lin Ke almost forgot that they weren’t a legitimate team of scammers but were conducting a sting operation.
“It should… it should be higher than Zou Tangzhengâs fame now. Wait, let me search for it.”
He first checked the forumâit was indeed explosive. Then he went to various major platforms. He didn’t even need to search; as soon as he entered, he saw the trending keyword “Netizens report TCM can treat pollution.”
“Lord, it really hit the trending list.”
Lin Ke checked other platforms as well; it was consistently on the trending lists. Clicking in, most people were heatedly discussing whether it was real or fake. Pollution was currently a pain point for all of humanity; wouldn’t a sudden TCM treatment method explode with attention? Even though Lin Ke was an Awakener and considered a “pioneer of evolution,” he was an ordinary person before awakening. Seeing this “scam” project he participated in receive so much attention, how could he not be excited?
He instinctively felt that Luo Shizhen would be even more excited than him. After all, he had graduated long ago, whereas Luo Shizhen was only nineteen. Looking at the comments that were practically worshiping TCM and Doctor Zhen, Lin Ke was worried Luo Shizhen would get lost in it. He also managed accounts and was technically a beauty blogger, so he knew how terrifying the internet could be. It could put someone on a pedestal or cast them into hell. If Luo Shizhen took it seriously, it wouldn’t be good.
However, when he turned around, he saw Luo Shizhen had already taken out his tablet and was comparing the data based on the number of times Zou Tangzheng had been on the trending lists. His eyes were full of desire to complete the mission and nothing else.
âZou Tangzheng had indeed been on trending lists, but only on small platforms where you could pay to get on. After all, he was a scammer; how would he dare to dance on major platforms? Nowadays, everyone was a Sherlock Holmes; if he dared to show his face on platforms popular with young people, he would likely be exposed in the next second.
Luo Shizhen didn’t care about any of that. He just seriously compared the data. Then he happily put down the tablet. “Weâve completely surpassed him. Next, we just wait for that Anomaly to come to the door.”
“Lin Ke, Iâll have to trouble you next. To ensure nothing goes wrong, Iâll need to wear makeup even at night, just in case.”
Lin Ke: “…”
He shook his phone in a daze. “You’re trending. Don’t you feel anything in your heart?”
Suddenly receiving so much attentionânot just a young person under twenty, even a middle-aged person would have their heart racing and be temporarily blinded by the spotlight, right?
Luo Shizhen looked at him in confusion. “Of course I feel something. I’m very happy that we’re one step closer to completing the mission.”
“No, I mean other feelings. For example, aren’t you excited because so many people are talking about you?”
Luo Shizhen was puzzled. “I don’t know them. Why would I be excited because they’re talking about me?”
Lin Ke: … That’s true, but can someone Luo Shizhenâs age really not be affected by others’ discussions?
Luo Shizhen really could. He had always been this way. If someone close to him said something, it might affect him, but as long as they didn’t say it to his face, he wouldn’t think about it at all. When people called him a “trash spirit” as a child, Luo Shizhen was only confused and lost for a moment. Later, after he washed himself clean and people stopped saying it, he didn’t think about it anymore.
When he was even younger, he and Chu Xiao had just become acquainted. Later, Chu Xiao took a leave of absence to recover at home. During that time, Luo Shizhen almost never thought about Chu Xiao. At that time, his brain was slow to react and his memory was poor; just remembering the daily schoolwork took up all his brain cells. Chu Xiao being away for two months felt like an entire lifetime to the young Luo Shizhen. Later, when Chu Xiao returned to school to find him, his brain briefly short-circuited, and he even slightly forgot how to say Chu Xiaoâs name.
Despite his poor memory, Luo Shizhen still remembered how awful Chu Xiaoâs expression was back then. Chu Xiao was only seven years old at the time, but he looked exceptionally different from his peers. He pursed his lips, his already handsome face tense as he looked at him. Then he asked coldly:
“Luo Shizhen, have you forgotten my name?”
The eight-year-old Luo Shizhen could only guiltily whisper that it wasn’t on purpose; his memory was just too poor and school was busy. At that time, he was in a daze every day, feeling as if his brain hadn’t developed properly. Besides his grandmother, his brain was filled with the studies his grandmother told him to do; there was truly no room for anything else. Although they had been in the same school for a long time, they had only truly become friends for a few days. When Chu Xiao suddenly stopped coming to school, Luo Shizhen thought he had transferred. To Luo Shizhen, transferring meant they would likely never meet again and wouldn’t interact in the future. It was only natural for him not to remember the name.
From then on, besides that one leave of absence, Chu Xiao basically stayed with Luo Shizhen and rarely separated from him. Luo Shizhen felt guilty, so from that point forward, every time he entered a new class, he would first try his best to memorize his classmates’ names. Just remembering those around him and interacting with them took up all the social skills he had learned from his grandmother; how could he have the energy to worry about strangers?
Luo Shizhen only focused on one point: “Is anyone saying Iâm a scammer?”
Lin Ke was a bit dazed. “There are some, but thatâs just the internet; people say everything.”
“Great!”
Luo Shizhen was even happier, leaving Lin Ke completely bewildered.
“Why is that good?”
Recommended Reads
