CH 82

Right now, it was an inappropriate point in time for him to respond, but in life, there were always moments where people would act inexplicably.

It was like a flower with dew or a roasted potato on a winter’s night; for Lin Chen, he spent too much time giving advice and making suggestions to others, so it came as a surprise to hear someone admonish him. While shock came first, he became deeply moved, and, finally, the only emotion he felt left was touched.

The night breeze carried the wetness of the morning dew.

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian’s back and gradually moved towards the light. The white light made the figure shaggy before it disappeared around the corner.

Suddenly, Lin Chen felt a darkness in front of him. Someone had covered his eyes with a hand.

“Tsk, don’t look back. Don’t look at me like that.” Su Fengzi’s playful voice sounded in his ears.

Lin Chen grabbed Su Fengzi’s wrist, turned around, and was flabbergasted. “Is it time to talk about such things now?”

“What kind of thing? The thing where your unshakable heart finally begins to sprout or is it that your clear and restrained eyes are staring at your work partner?” Su Fengzi leaned over slightly. Lin Chen had the feeling that he was going to be seen through by him. Just when he wanted to interrupt, he heard Su Fengzi say, “But no matter what it is, it’s not just about when you get married. You still have to pick an auspicious date, no?”

When it came to verbal fights, Lin Chen felt that Su Fengzi was invincible.

“Your use of metaphors is so bad, it’s no wonder why your books don’t sell.” Lin Chen had no choice but to quip back like so.

Su Fengzi, on the other hand, was not one to tolerate interruptions.

“Then I’ll change my wording. You don’t really like that officer, do you?” Su Fengzi asked bluntly.

Lin Chen had also thought about the kind of scene when his emotions were revealed, but unlike the imagined nervousness or disorientation, when he heard Su Fengzi ask this question, he didn’t have any anxiety or panic but was rather quite calm.

After all, this moment would come eventually, and there was nothing wrong with it coming now. Then, since that was so, there was nothing wrong with telling him the truth.

“That’s right,” he replied.

Hearing this, even Su Fengzi was surprised. “You could at least be reserved.”

“Why?” Lin Chen put his hands in his pocket, not quite understanding what Su Fengzi meant.

“Well, you’re gay now. Shouldn’t you have any sense of entanglement that violates worldly ethics or a sense of fear that your feelings won’t be responded to? In short, shouldn’t you be at least ashamed?”

“I like him. What does that matter to him?” Lin Chen couldn’t help asking.

Too often, the pain of love came from having your feelings unreciprocated, but Lin Chen didn’t have this kind of problem.

“Why?”

Finally, even Su Fengzi’s tone was no longer as teasing as before. He asked this solemnly, with the sincerest concern, for someone who was his friend. It was heavy, unlike the light wind from outside.

Lin Chen didn’t expect him to ask this so seriously, which left him a bit speechless.

In fact, he felt that he couldn’t even answer this question.

How much did he like him? Why did he like him? How could there be so many reasons?

This kind of thing was just a feeling, and it was even more inexplicable to feel such a feeling.

Perhaps it was when he saw him for the first time.

Perhaps it was when he saw him for the second time.

Perhaps it was when he left him, or maybe it was when they were reunited again.

Perhaps it was because the weather was too good in the rest station that day, and he looked so handsome in that windbreaker, or perhaps it was when they were in the command center and his strategizing look made him feel reassured.

Perhaps it was the half-withered look of the bunch of lilies in front of his tomb that was beautiful, or perhaps it was the way he lowered his head, looking too gentle as he planted flowers…

There were so many possibilities, and as they accumulated, it became inevitable.

At least, Lin Chen thought, there were really not many lucky things he had encountered in his life, so things that made him feel lucky had perhaps accumulated to the point where they became inevitable.

“He is like a piece of candy. Very sweet after just one bite that you’re reluctant to spit it out.” Lin Chen thought seriously for a moment and decided to answer using a metaphor.

“You got a bit emotional when you said that.”

“But it’s really sweet.”

After Lin Chen said this, their conversation ended.

This was an appropriate break. Among friends, the most valuable thing wasn’t endless talk, but timely care and just stopping when it was right.

Lin Chen walked back to the brightly lit office. All the arrangements had been completed.

Some of the police officers in the second division were lying on the table and sleeping lightly; some began to shut down while others looked at him with uncertain and helpless eyes.

They seemed to be asking, “Is this really useful? Will they really take the bait tomorrow?”

Lin Chen read a passage from the most famous book on popular psychology research.

Roughly speaking, it said:

As an individual, a person is rational, so good and evil can be used to move his emotions, to regulate his thoughts, and to restrain his behavior with interests…

For example, because rationality can restrain sensibility, he will not provoke Xing Conglian because of his personal feelings. Unfortunately, this kind of rationality isn’t effective in groups.

To use an inappropriate metaphor, if he’s in a fanatical fan club for Xing Conglian and is surrounded by other Xing Conglian’s fans, he won’t be able to control his love rationally.

So, solving a group that’s deeply embedded in the collective unconscious is about as difficult as disenchanting a group of rabid fans.

First, time certainly works. Most people will lose their fanaticism and regain their sanity over time, but in the absence of time, to influence a group, it’s necessary to use all kinds of tricks and dirty tactics.

In fact, the theory was simple.

Groups weren’t restricted by reason and logic, but they had a wealth of imagination and pseudo-reasoning skills. They seemed to be inclined to believe in something impossible, something illogical, something that didn’t exist, but they didn’t believe in daily logic.

For instance, in ancient times, people sincerely believed that shamans could summon heavy rain through sacrifices. For this reason, they were willing to kneel for three days and nights or kill women and children in other tribes and use their lives as an offering for the heavens.

The beginning of these beliefs may have just been an occasional wind that blew when the shaman chanted or a sudden rain that fell in the days after he cast his spell.

In short, the more connections that seemed to exist on the surface, the more group members could make people believe in them.

Therefore, he just shaped the belief that a group of elites guarded the campus. Although an ordinary student would be skeptical about this, they would think, ‘Is that document really a settlement agreement signed by “Three Graves” to help the elderly and punish the bad pharmaceutical company?’  They would suspect Lin Chen, who had appeared at the crime scene, and wonder if he was a member of “Three Graves.” They would even consider that the three semicircles signature was really a logo of a certain campus elite organization, and since that logo had appeared, it could prove that the campus elite organization really existed.

But it was different for the members of the group.

Once they saw the superficial connection and the unreliable evidence, their imaginations would already be vividly running wild. They would imagine the faces of the members of “Three Graves”; imagine a situation where tall and outstanding campus elites gathered together. Not only that, but they would also be convinced of the fact that the members of the “Three Graves” were plotting to get rid of them. They could even clearly visualize the contempt and disgust those campus elites had for them.

People often had paranoia about being victimized based on biological instincts of self-protection, and among them, the members of this group were more susceptible. Just as fans would hate anyone who spoke ill of their idols and regarded those people as enemies that had to be defeated, members of extreme groups would naturally dislike those who challenged them.

While fans would only tap keyboards to fight with the bad guys, these members of that group would really take up arms and smash the heads of those who opposed them.

What was more, Ye Yan vividly portrayed one of the most classic villain images; defiling the holy land in their minds and leaving the most disdainful words on it.

Lin Chen could fully imagine that tomorrow—no—in just a few hours, that anger would accumulate into a kind of violent storm that would come barreling down towards him.