CH 280

“Since I don’t know your name, I can only use ‘you’ to address you.

I represent the provincial governments of Jiangxia, Zhelin, and Cheng’an. As per your request, I am officially responding to your letter in an official capacity.”

The female anchor spoke in a calm and not very loud voice, yet in the old and dim underground space, it swept through like a breeze. The people slowly moving in the subway station seemed to be inspired, as they all simultaneously lifted their heads. In the bright studio, the female anchor also lifted her head. With a solemn demeanor, she steadied her breath before saying, “We agree to some of your demands.”

The people in the station couldn’t believe their ears, and the quicker ones started exchanging surprised looks with others around them.

In fact, those who were protected by the government every day found it difficult to believe deep down that the organization meant to ensure their well-being and prosperity would one day compromise and remove their protection, leaving them exposed to the sinister intentions of the opposition. Naturally, some people began to vent their anger.

“Motherfuckers!”

“They’re spineless!”

However, just as the crowd was about to get excited, the female anchor’s voice sounded just right again.

“But please do not misunderstand. By ‘some’, we mean that since you possess the ability to arbitrarily take innocent lives, we agree to participate in the voting game arranged by you, to decide certain matters by public opinion. However, we cannot agree with the way you’ve constructed the game. Therefore, I have a new proposal.”

After emphasizing the word “I,” the news footage changed accordingly.

It revealed a much brighter landscape than the studio, with green mountains and muddy rivers. You could almost feel the long wind brushing through the mountains. As the wind blew, the camera descended and focused on a majestic and solemn cluster of dark gray buildings.

Surrounded by green mountains and with muddy water in the front, it was the Min River No.1 Prison.

Many viewers couldn’t immediately recall the name of the prison, but they could still recognize it from its distinctive architectural style. The dim subway station erupted in suppressed gasps, resembling the sound of the murky waters of the Min River hitting the rocks.

Fang Aizi also looked up; the young girl had already found a seat to sit cross-legged. At this moment, she had taken out a roll of lemon-flavored hard candy from her pocket and put two pieces in her mouth.

The old-fashioned hanging color TV displayed the pace of a movie as the scene faded out and then faded back in.

The magnificent scenery became tiny, and the smallness originated from the pale-yellow light source in the dim space. It was a pitch-black and narrow room, with walls built from square cement bricks, smooth and well-lit, exuding the cold and ruthless atmosphere typical of a prison’s solitary confinement cell.

In the room, there was a small hanging lamp, and beneath it sat four men.

One was burly, another was dark-skinned, one had tattoos covering his head, and the last one resembled a thin black cat.

All four men were wearing prison uniforms, sitting silently under the lamp, facing the camera with indifferent expressions.

The off-screen voice of the female anchor resounded once again as she continued to read the letter.

“These four individuals were randomly selected from prisoners at Min River No. 1 Prison, and coincidentally, they symbolize four very emblematic criminals: a swindler, a robber, a thief, and a murderer. I have no intention of explaining in detail the reasons for their imprisonment, but if the game proceeds smoothly, all their case files will be made public online, and anyone can freely access them. Therefore, my proposal is as follows: in order to avoid causing greater harm and casualties, I suggest that the three provinces concentrate their voting on these four individuals. Each person with a registered residence and residence permit in the three provinces will have the right to vote with their real names—one person, one vote—to decide the life or death of these four individuals. The voting period will be 24 hours. If, after 24 hours, the voting result indicates that the four individuals should be executed, I will personally carry out their executions, as a substitute for the planned poisoning operation in any city. If the result is the opposite, you may continue your poisoning activities in the manner you desire.”

The female anchor paused after reading the letter while her cold gaze scanned the audience below, giving everyone a moment to think. She struck the right balance, as if she had practiced it a thousand times, suppressing any foul language that might have been uttered by the people.

“I believe that the minority replacing the majority scheme is more reasonable for the following reasons: First, as previously mentioned, it can gradually reduce unnecessary casualties. Second, your proposed plan could easily lead us to sacrifice a certain city, guiding the votes towards that city. However, once you accept my proposal, my government and I will not interfere with the citizens’ choices. Second, quality is more important than quantity, and extreme situations can better expose problems and raise awareness of deeper issues.”

The female anchor’s tone remained calm, reciting the reply letter with the ordinary tone of reading an instruction manual. “Of course, I think a fairer approach would be to raise the stakes. I wonder if you would consider changing it to: If the four criminals are voted to be executed, you will provide a complete treatment plan for the neurotoxin and related agents to our side.” At this point, she once again gazed significantly at the camera, though her tone was as calm as the person who wrote the letter. She continued, “These proposals are merely my humble opinion, and all decisions should be made by you. If you agree to some of my proposals, please launch the new voting system on your website at exactly 12:00 GMT. We will synchronously launch the online and offline voting procedures one minute later, and voting will be conducted in a real-name system—one person, one vote. The voting results will be broadcast live to ensure fairness.”

“Please believe in our sincerity, and I hope you will carefully consider and reply.

Sincerely,

Lin Chen.

September 3, 2016.”

Without giving the audience any time to comprehend their emotions, the female anchor calmly turned the letter over and displayed it in front of hundreds of millions of viewers.

Indeed, it was a handwritten letter, with the words “Hongjing Municipal Police Bureau, Jiangxia Province” written in red at the top of the stationery. The entire content of the letter was handwritten with a fountain pen, just the length of a high school student’s essay.

The handwriting was elegant, just like the person himself. The director also happened to focus the final live shot on the two words “Lin Chen” and the personal seal.

If the original letter was like blazing fireworks, then this reply was like a refreshing breeze in the mountains.

The entire letter was well-organized, well-reasoned, and without any provocative tone. Even the text format matched the one used by the sender, making it appear more like a straightforward instruction manual.

However, only a small group of people who knew Lin Chen’s whereabouts were aware that this letter wasn’t an instant reply. Long before Lin Chen entered Hongjing Detention Center, this handwritten letter had been sent urgently from Hongjing and arrived at Yongchuan TV Station before the Meicun Clothing Market incident occurred.

In other words, several hours ago, Lin Chen had already made a corresponding reply to a letter he would never have seen.

Therefore, when the National Yongchuan TV Station ended the BREAKING NEWS broadcast, most viewers’ first reaction was to start counting down. However, the officials in the Hongjing Municipal Bureau were different. Xing Conglian stood in the glass room, and everyone outside looked at him incredulously, as if they wanted to burn holes in his old face.

This made Xing Conglian want to stay in the glass room, but Shen Heming patted his shoulder and said, “Let’s go out together.”

As soon as the glass door was pushed open, all kinds of miscellaneous inquiries squeezed in through the gap.

“Lao Xing… Is Lin Chen…” the public opinion expert probed.

“Still in the detention center?”

“Yes.”

“Then… Did someone else write the reply letter?”

“He wrote it himself.”

Xing Conglian said indifferently, but before he could finish his words, the entire hall erupted into incredulous exclamations again.

“Consultant Lin… knew in advance?”

“This is too incredible.”

“But… Four prisoners… This is too audacious!”

“Minister Shen?”

The police officers whispered to each other, discussing the matter among themselves.

This should have been a moment that made Xing Conglian proud, but as he looked at the officers, who seemed visibly relieved, his brows involuntarily furrowed.

This was the change brought about by Lin Chen’s letter, relieving everyone from the dilemma they were facing temporarily and taking the burden off their hearts because someone had taken responsibility in their place.

However, he knew very well that this was just the beginning—a brief calm before the storm. When everyone woke up to the reality of the situation, they would understand the magnitude of the problem.

At this moment, the usually cold and strategic expert suddenly spoke up. “How does he know that the other side will agree?”

Xing Conglian’s gaze pierced through the crowd and fell on the person’s face. Smart people always grasp things earlier.

The person paused and added, “He also revealed our backup plan. Although this might facilitate the other side’s acceptance of his plan, fundamentally, it still confines us to a passive position, which isn’t right.”

Xing Conglian looked at the cold and confident eyes, not saying anything.

……

While the discussions within the police station were concerned about Xing Conglian’s reputation and Lin Chen’s accurate predictions, on the crowded platform of the underground subway station, no one cared about such matters. It was always terrorists holding hostages to threaten the government, but now the situation seemed to have reversed, with the government holding hostages to threaten the terrorists. This sudden reversal of the plot unexpectedly swept away the oppressive atmosphere, as if the old ventilation system had been reactivated. People picked up their backpacks and resumed their activities and conversations.

“Is that Lin Chen a member of the police?”

“It seems like it.”

“Is he crazy?”

“I don’t know…”

“What level is the police at now? Is that reply letter a joke?”

“Huh?”

“The bad guy wants us to pit all the cities in the three provinces against each other. Focusing on these four criminals, isn’t this a distraction tactic? Do they really think the bad guy will agree?”

“Yes.”

Passersby ignored the short-haired girl sitting cross-legged nearby and didn’t even spare her a glance. This time, the girl didn’t refute anything; she simply crushed the hard candy in her mouth.

The same discussion was taking place in the subway carriage that had already departed the platform.

A girl with a ponytail wearing the Fengjing School uniform gritted her teeth, as if she hadn’t recovered from the humiliation she had just experienced. She had to say something to ease her anger.

“Hmph, the government’s think tank can only come up with such a rotten idea. They really believe that just by changing the plan, the mastermind will agree? I never thought they could be so stupid,” she said coldly. “Besides, this is a morality war, or even a battle for public opinion. If they really go through with this, the law will be nonexistent. Innocent people will be executed, and anyone can be sacrificed. It makes me sick.”

The girl next to her, who had been meekly nodding, also added, “But I think… it’s not a bad idea to have just four criminals. After all, one of them is a murderer. To put it bluntly, if they die, they die.”

The girl with the ponytail raised an eyebrow half-heartedly and said nonchalantly, “Think about it this way, even you think it’s no big deal for four criminals to die, not to mention others. Do you really think the bad guy won’t realize something so simple? How could he agree?”

“Yeah, I also think it won’t work.”

“They’re really dumb. It would have been better to go with that ‘induced voting’ plan. They are just a bunch of clueless pigs, wasting opportunities!” The girl with the ponytail was deeply disappointed and wished she could criticize them for thousands of words.

However, she didn’t realize that, within the time it took to read a letter, the atmosphere on the subway train had returned to normal.

People chatted, read novels, pointed at their phone screens, and whispered to each other, no longer troubled by the difficult choices they were forced to face.

……

The television was still on, but Shen Lian was focused on observing Lin Chen.

She could see it in his serene gaze—the hand that held the water glass, the hand that wrote that letter. Because she was a lunatic, only she could truly comprehend the madness concealed within that seemingly ordinary letter—a madness that even made her shudder.

“You really betrayed your own teammates, Lin Chen. I really underestimated you. I’m sure those fools are now relieved after being deceived by you.”

Lin Chen took a sip of tea, shaking his head helplessly. “Yes.”

“So, you’re really going to play it like this?” She knocked on the table unusually, asking Lin Chen with surprise.

“Yes.”

“And you’re really capable of killing those four prisoners?”

“Of course, the prison is equipped with a lethal injection drug.”

“Why, why can you come up with such a simple and interesting thing? It’s too interesting.”

Shen Lian sighed, the chains on her wrist jingling with her movement.

But what surprised her even more was that Lin Chen actually answered her question seriously.

“Because I’ve considered too many solutions. Whether it’s public opinion control or induced voting, there are many ways to unite people. The power of the state authorities is stronger than I imagined.”

“Then why don’t you use those methods to pass this off easily?”

“Because no matter how I think about it, it feels wrong.” Lin Chen gently stroked the edge of the cup. “The choice should not arise from inducement; it should come from the heart to be sincere. Since our fundamental difference lies in our differing views on human nature, I shouldn’t lose my courage.”

“Seeking courage from a low-probability event, you’re so naive and cute.”

“You mentioned probability, and that’s right.” Lin Chen spoke slowly but sincerely. “After all, psychology is a science, and in a way, the game he designed is a psychological test. Since it’s a test design, I’m more professional in this aspect than him.”

Although Lin Chen said “more professional”, Shen Lian understood very well that he meant a lot more professional.

She sarcastically smirked and patiently listened as Lin Chen continued, “The problem with his test design lies in the insolubility of the results. It’s unsolvable for us, but isn’t it the same for him? Therefore, I changed the test structure to better detect the psychological traits of the group targeted by this test and eliminated the significant interference from the government’s influence. I thought I did a decent job, don’t you think?”

Looking at Lin Chen’s confident and frank expression, Shen Lian smiled. “Indeed, not bad.”

Upon receiving praise, Lin Chen’s face, which had been slightly lowered, suddenly lifted, and his eyes were clear, as if he could see through people’s hearts.

“So, do you think he will agree with my changes?”

In that moment, Shen Lian felt as if she was being pierced by that gaze, and she finally realized that Lin Chen had been looking at her all along, but he wasn’t really looking at her.

She was just a pawn, a chessboard, a springboard, a link… She was the medium through which Lin Chen and that person engaged in their remote confrontation.

He was looking at him through her; as long as she was here, Lin Chen would never leave this small room.

Realizing that she had the privilege of witnessing such a great battle, Shen Lian trembled with excitement.

“Why wouldn’t he? Thank you for coming up with such a despicable game. This is exactly what he wanted!”