CH 282

Just like the second hand of a clock passing by without any care, the voting began in a moment of intense anticipation yet silent tranquility.

At least when the broadcasting journalist switched the screen back to the .org-ending website, the real-time visitor count at the bottom had already surpassed five hundred thousand, rapidly increasing at a rate too fast for the naked eye to discern.

Somewhere along the line, a small button labeled “View Voting Data” appeared on the website.

Many people instinctively moved their cursors over the slightly raised button, but when it came to actually clicking it, their fingers hesitated over the left mouse button, feeling an unexplained palpitation.

I support the execution of the criminals — 88.5% — 905 votes.

I do not support the execution of the criminals — 11.5% — 118 votes.

“These are the real-time voting results five minutes after the official voting started, which isn’t surprising.”

This was what the male anchor in the live broadcast room of Yongchuan TV news said.

……

Min River No. 1 Prison.

Yan Guiqiu was getting restless; he felt like he had been locked up for at least a day and a night.

If it weren’t for the dim light emitted by the extremely simple light bulb on the ceiling, he would have thought he had entered a grave.

At the beginning, he tried to talk to the other three bosses, but no one responded to him. After all, the prison was a place with a strict hierarchy.

Then he attempted to knock on the iron door of the small dark room, but the police officer surnamed Huang who brought him in had only said, “Shut up and wait”, and ignored him after that.

He could only crouch in the corner of the small dark room, maintaining a not-so-obvious distance from Zhao Yi on the lower bunk, Qian Bao on the upper bunk, and Sun Zhen leaning against the corner.

But this did nothing to alleviate his anxious mood. It was said that those who had committed homicides carried a murderous aura with them, something he didn’t have much understanding of before. However, as time passed meaninglessly, he felt the palpable hostility in this small dark room growing more substantial.

The bosses couldn’t bear it much longer…

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but shudder.

Just at that moment, Zhao Yi, who had been sitting like a king all along, stood up.

Before Yan Guiqiu could react, a pair of large hands descended from above, firmly gripping his neck.

Zhao Yi’s movements were too fast, and Yan Guiqiu’s vision went black as he was lifted up like a little chick and thrown against the iron door with a thud.

His head hit the door hard, causing pain to shoot through him. He couldn’t breathe, and his mind went blank. He couldn’t even muster the strength to struggle; he just felt like he was going to die.

Suddenly, the pressure on his back lessened, and the tightly closed iron door finally opened.

Yan Guiqiu fell to the ground, and Zhao Yi let go of him. His vision was still blurry, and he could only cover his neck and gasp for breath heavily.

In a daze, he saw a pair of black leather boots in front of him, their surface polished to a shine, even reflecting his disheveled appearance after the ordeal. Yan Guiqiu raised his head and saw the cold and indifferent police officer standing there.

The officer held four white envelopes and handed one of them to him.

“Open it.”

He heard the officer say to him.

Huang Ze stood in this small dark room permeated with the smell of cement and faint traces of blood, trying his best to remain calm.

He was well aware of how many citizens were watching the live broadcast through the installed cameras. Every action of his represented the highest position of the police, and it would be reviewed over and over again by the media and the public.

Even he himself would be scrutinized just like these four criminals, and he truly loathed this feeling, but he had no choice. Lin Chen had requested him to be here, executing the most crucial part of the plan: preventing these four individuals from dying inexplicably during the voting process and, after the voting results were out, taking them out of the dark room or executing them.

Of course, Huang Ze never believed that the former result would happen. Therefore, this task was destined to be extremely cruel, and it was suitable for him to carry it out.

Huang Ze sneered inwardly but showed no expression on his face. He took two steps in the dim prison cell and then handed out the remaining three envelopes one by one.

He didn’t understand the meaning of Lin Chen playing this kind of trick with these similar-looking envelopes. Before coming here, he had already opened and read all four letters, and they were exactly the same content.

Perhaps, to show respect for the sacrificial offering, Lin Chen didn’t use a photocopier but copied the letters by hand four times.

In the letters, Lin Chen explained to the four individuals why they were chosen and what would happen to them within the next 24 hours. He even briefly explained the voting rules and fairness guarantee in the letters, which Huang Ze felt was merely adding fuel to the fire.

As expected, during the time he waited for the four to read the letters, someone had already started tearing the paper.

Huang Ze glanced up slightly, and the swindler on the upper bunk exposed his fat head with a cold and evil look. He casually tore Lin Chen’s handwritten letter into pieces and threw the white paper shreds onto Huang Ze’s face.

‘Are you looking for death?!’ Huang Ze thought, but he politely warned Qian Bao, “If I were you, I would try to be gentler and more frugal, seeking the audience’s forgiveness in front of the TV. Maybe they’ll give you a chance to survive.”

He dared to say this because he was completely facing away from the camera, and Lin Chen specifically asked for no audio recording in the small dark room.

The chubby swindler burst into loud laughter, but his tone was terrifyingly cold. “If you have the guts, just kill me.” He faced the camera and flipped his middle finger. “If you don’t kill me, I’ll look down on you all.”

Hearing this, Huang Ze shrugged; criminals were indeed unreasonable.

However, just as Qian Bao’s arrogant laughter echoed in the dark room, Huang Ze heard a faint voice at his feet.

“This… Officer, this must be a mistake, right?” The voice was high-pitched and thin, something you wouldn’t expect from a normal man.

But when Huang Ze looked down at the creature that looked like a black rat at his feet, he could understand why this man’s voice sounded that way.

Greed, cowardice, timidity, terror…

These words almost filled the man’s face, making it disgusting. He believed that the viewers in front of their TV screens would have the same opinion.

Yan Guiqiu held the letter while his hands trembled, and his eyes became teary. He tentatively asked him, “Huang… Officer Huang… Why was I chosen?”

“It’s stated in the letter. It was completely random sampling, and your number happened to be drawn.”

“No… It’s not… Why me? How did it end up being me?” Yan Guiqiu seemed to still be immersed in enormous disbelief, not accepting his fate. He looked at the letter upside down several times in a hurry and urgently said, “I… I was going to be released on parole in a few days. How could I have been chosen? This must be a mistake.”

Huang Ze lowered his head to look at him but remained silent.

“I’m just unlucky. I didn’t steal anything valuable, and I even broke my leg. Why am I so unlucky?” Yan Guiqiu was close to crying, as if he had suddenly thought of something. He grabbed Huang Ze’s pants leg, as if holding onto a lifeline, and pleaded, “Can you change it? Mr. Police Officer, draw again. Please draw again, I beg you!”

The skinny man’s voice was pitiful, but the little bit of sympathy that arose in Huang Ze’s heart vanished after hearing this plea. He didn’t know what hope Lin Chen had left, but he genuinely felt that using these four trash individuals to save other innocent people was the most cost-effective deal in the whole world.

……

Huang Ze wasn’t the only one who shared the same sentiment.

At least on the official website ending with .org, the ratio of “life or death” was approaching 2:8 as the number of voters increased.

Although it seemed like there were more people opposed to killing the criminals to obtain the antidote, considering the rapid expansion in the number of participants, this was still an extremely frightening and significant ratio.

Many citizens were even more shocked to discover that the police, or, more precisely, the government, weren’t joking. Around 8:30 in the evening, some citizen squares and public spots that should have quieted down once again lit up with lights and became lively.

At that time, some aunties and uncles hadn’t completely left the square after their square dance. Some small delivery trucks came to the edge of the square, and well-trained staff who didn’t look like ordinary construction workers carried tents off the trucks and set up several large ones in just five minutes.

These tents looked like they were taken from the government’s reserve supplies, brand new and unopened, and the rainproof fabric shone brightly under the lights.

After setting up the tents, the staff unloaded a few tables and chairs from the truck and then orderly left as if hurrying to the next location.

After seeing the staff leave, the children, who were still strolling around, held their parents’ hands and came to the side of the tent.

Some of them extended their chubby little hands to tentatively poke the iron pole, while the bolder ones had already lifted the curtain and were going in and out of the tent, playing with great delight.

Similar scenes were continuously unfolding in the three provinces. The reason the public sometimes needed the government was because they could be truly powerful.

Many activity centers that had already closed their doors also lit up almost simultaneously. Some people were organizing tables and chairs, while others received thick sealed boxes, looking tired and uncertain as they looked inside at the thousands of blank ballots.

In the dark night, the crowds outside each tent grew larger. Some residents even came downstairs in slippers to see the facilities built within five minutes.

The police hadn’t officially announced the specific process for offline voting through Yongchuan TV, but looking at these tents, many residents could connect them with what had happened today.

“Damn, pinch me, am I dreaming? Seriously?” A white-collar worker who had just gotten off work pushed his friend next to him and looked incredulously at the tent under the tree through the gaps in the crowd.

“Are you crazy? Online voting is one thing, but doing on-site voting is like a presidential election. It’s a big deal.” His colleague was swiping on his phone, looked up indifferently, and continued chatting with his girlfriend.

In the WeChat chat window, the girl replied: [These are a few bad guys. The police can’t catch them, which is already pathetic. Who could come up with such an idea? Trading four criminals’ lives for an antidote is just losing face!]

[You’re right, honey.] The man typed quickly. [Anyway, it has nothing to do with us. Let’s talk about where you want to go for vacation this weekend…]

As he pressed the send button, some noise seemed to be coming from the front, but it couldn’t attract him to look up again.

A new reply appeared. [My mom has gone crazy. She asked me when she can go downstairs to vote. These middle-aged women in their fifties love to join in the fun.]

[If she really wants to join the fun, you should teach her to vote online.]

Then, an eye-rolling emoji appeared in the chat window, fully expressing the girl’s displeasure. The man playing on his phone smiled in the dark and opened the government’s official website to access the online voting address they had announced.

Outside the park, a completely different set of government vehicles parked.

This time, government office personnel in suits and leather shoes got out of the cars. They wore the national emblem on their chests, each carrying large cardboard boxes as they walked in groups from a distance.

In the dark night, their young faces appeared exceptionally solemn, as if they were about to carry out some tasks that must be completed with strictness. The man who had just registered for online voting inadvertently looked up and saw this scene.

His phone emitted a soft sound, indicating the arrival of a text message with the real-name authentication verification code: 7086, a simple set of four digits.

After entering these four digits and pressing the confirmation button, he would gain the qualification to vote. However, at that moment, in the darkness outside the crowd, he felt his fingers grow heavy, lacking the courage to input the verification code.

The young people in uniform suits opened the tent flaps, shooed away the children, and carried the cardboard boxes inside.

With their movements, the entire area around the tent fell into silence. Everyone stood still, staring blankly as the lights inside the tent suddenly lit up. Then, they realized that the voting was real, and the government wasn’t joking. And precisely because they weren’t joking, it felt even more like a joke.

However, gradually, no one could find it in themselves to laugh.