Chapter 49#
Death Certificate#
The top trending search was a very simple tag:
#Mo Xuzhi Get Out of the Entertainment Industry#
Immediately following it, the second was #Mo Xuzhi# Mo Xuzhi’s private life exposed, a complete mess!
The third was #Mo Xuzhi# Clinging to #Luo Wenyun# Even if he clings, the other party doesn’t want him.
The fourth was #Mo Xuzhi Get Out of the Entertainment Industry# MXZ is bound to flop! Counting the wicked things he’s done over the years.
…
A whole string of subsequent trending topics all carried tags related to him.
Mo Xuzhi slowly lay on the bed, scrolling through his phone.
The more he looked, the more awake he became. The grogginess originally caused by the side effects of the sleeping pills he took last night dissipated quite a bit.
Fortunately, he hadn’t logged out after using his author account last time. Although it was a bit laggy now, at least it could still barely function.
If he were to log into his own account, it probably wouldn’t be possible for a while.
He glanced through some of the comment sections and found that the direction of public opinion had been guided very successfully. Now, netizens’ views were consistent, all feeling that he was beyond forgiveness and that it would be best for him to drop dead on the spot.
Along the way, they also felt sorry for Shen Le. Now, even “Shen Le” had become a hot keyword.
Looking at the various foul language constantly appearing on the screen and the seemingly gentle advice hoping he would end himself, Mo Xuzhi lowered his eyelashes and smiled.
The program was just a fuse. The things he did in the program were within the range acceptable to normal people in daily life, but the production team’s superb editing could always magnify things, turning the mundane into explosive or mocking points. Once the mocking points appeared, marketing accounts arrived at the scene immediately.
The wind began to change.
Today also happened to be Saturday, a holiday that connected the previous week with the next. Traffic surged, and after public opinion fermented, various “insider news,” both true and false, began to appear.
By now, fake news with photoshopped images that looked more real than reality had begun to appear.
Many victims who had been “poisoned” by him suddenly popped up on the internet, saying he cheated them of money, acted like a big shot, and even spread exaggerated news that he was using drugs.
Netizens “ate melons” without asking if they were true or false. Their emotions had been fully stirred by marketing accounts. As long as they saw news unfavorable to him, regardless of whether it was true or false, they would first mock him in the first instance.
Generally, after mocking, netizens would look at the news again to confirm if there was any suspicion of fabrication, but the continuous flow of leaks from production staff and bystanders was overwhelming.
No one would spend time distinguishing the truth or falsehood of a piece of news unrelated to themselves.
The result was that he had now reached the point where everyone shouted for his downfall.
But this alone was not enough.
More time was needed for deeper and wider public opinion fermentation.
After reading the online comments, Mo Xuzhi clicked back to his messages and flipped through them.
The most messages came from his manager.
It was probably because he hadn’t been answering calls, so the manager tirelessly sent over a dozen text messages.
From the initial questioning and demand for an explanation, to saying he was suspected of breach of contract, and then the company confirming his breach of contract and demanding liquidated damages—it was clear that the company and his manager were planning to peel another layer of skin off him and then abandon him.
Mo Xuzhi also understood.
Everyone understood the principle of maximizing profit.
He opened his email, set the sending time for the pre-drafted email, and added the recipient [Lawyer Sun]. Then, Mo Xuzhi switched back to the message interface.
There were also some text messages from other people. Some from Xue Feng, and some others. He didn’t look at them and directly set them to “all read.”
There was no rush to speak out now. Tonight or tomorrow would be the best time.
While he still had time today, Mo Xuzhi threw on a coat and went to the lab.
His current state was not suitable for any experimental research, but his mind was clear enough to make basic judgments.
He wanted to finalize the engineering candidates today. The other few backup researchers had already been evaluated by a special assessment team; only Ji Baiwen, who was inserted midway, was still waiting for his inspection.
At the Institute of Technology, Mo Xuzhi found Ji Baiwen in the office of Team 3.
He seemed to get along well with the people in Team 3. When Mo Xuzhi stood at the door and looked in, he saw him and the other researchers gathered in a circle around a round table, with no sense of estrangement.
Mo Xuzhi stood at the door and knocked on the glass door.
The people in the office turned their heads and instantly saw Mo Xuzhi standing at the door.
Ji Baiwen also looked over from among the researchers. He was tall, and even in a crowd, he was very conspicuous.
“Sorry to disturb,” Mo Xuzhi smiled and said, “I’m looking for someone.”
“Who?”
“Him.”
Mo Xuzhi nodded slightly towards Ji Baiwen. “Come with me for a moment.”
The others looked at Ji Baiwen, then at Mo Xuzhi.
What did he want with Ji Baiwen?
Ji Baiwen also didn’t expect Mo Xuzhi to come looking for him. He just stood there, motionless, looking a bit dazed.
Someone couldn’t bear to watch and kicked the back of his knee with their calf, saying, “The team leader is calling you, why aren’t you going?”
“Oh, right away!”
Ji Baiwen snapped out of it, nodded quickly, and started running.
He was at a vigorous age. He had looked as calm and steady as the other researchers while standing, but as soon as he started running, his whole being instantly changed, and youthful vitality surged out.
He had long legs and reached Mo Xuzhi in an instant.
“Come with me.”
Ji Baiwen didn’t know what he wanted to do, but he obediently followed behind Mo Xuzhi.
Mo Xuzhi took him to the fifth floor, where people rarely went.
From the second floor to the fifth floor, Ji Baiwen lost count of how many times Mo Xuzhi had swiped his ID card. Then, he led him into a long corridor.
Ji Baiwen followed behind Mo Xuzhi, looking at his straight back. His gaze gradually drifted and blanked out.
Mo Xuzhi stopped in front of a door.
Ji Baiwen immediately came back to his senses.
“Before we go in, I want to ask you a question.”
Mo Xuzhi looked very serious. He still had his usual expression, but his gaze was unusually sharp and cold, as if he could easily see through the somewhat constrained person in front of him.
Ji Baiwen’s heart skipped a beat.
“Go ahead.”
He added, “I’m ready.”
“There’s a task now that might need you,” Mo Xuzhi said, looking directly into Ji Baiwen’s eyes. “This is a very important task. We’ve been preparing for this for many years.”
Ji Baiwen pursed his lips.
“You weren’t originally on the pre-selection list, but after selection and inspection, the assessment team decided to include you in the consideration.”
Mo Xuzhi never blushed when lying. After speaking, he stepped aside, allowing Ji Baiwen to see the small white words labeled on the door behind him.
[A——5 Archive Room]
“After entering, there will be a test. If you pass the test, you can enter the scope of the plan.”
“But before that, I’ll ask you a question,” Mo Xuzhi said. “Can you endure being isolated from the outside world for several years, without friends or relatives, without entertainment, without a phone, doing the same repetitive and dull work day after day? Your youth might very well stay here.”
“When you come out, you’ll find that you are out of touch with society. You used to walk at the forefront of society, familiar with various hot spots and the latest technologies, but when you return to society, you’ll find that you can’t understand the slang used by others, don’t know what changes society has gone through, your friends have gone their separate ways and become strangers, and your relatives don’t know where you went, or perhaps they have already tried to forget the pain your disappearance brought them.”
Except for when he was working, Mo Xuzhi rarely spoke so much. Now that he stopped, he felt something strange in his lungs and throat, and his mouth felt dry.
Ji Baiwen’s expression was a bit dazed. “I…”
“Don’t be in a hurry to answer,” Mo Xuzhi took a pill box out of his coat pocket, swallowed two pills, took a breath, and said, “Tell me after you’ve thought it through.”
The corridor fell into silence.
Ji Baiwen slowly crouched down.
After a long time, he looked up and asked: “Is it that I can’t tell anyone about this?”
“You were originally unrelated to the project, so you could fabricate a reasonable lie. But as you know, a lie can’t hide from people for years.”
Initially, other researchers who first entered the closed project also made up lies. They even designed them quite thoroughly, but in the end, without exception, they were all seen through.
Later, they all just left directly without any announcement or notice.
Ji Baiwen asked: “Is what I’m doing there meaningful?”
“No one can replace you there. Everything you do will be meaningful.”
“Then I want to try.” After saying it, Ji Baiwen immediately corrected himself, “Please let me try.”
Even if it’s just once, he wanted to prove to himself, and to others, that he wasn’t just “the only son of an entrepreneur” or “someone with a decent brain” but someone who had meaning.
Mo Xuzhi opened the door to the archive room.
“Inside are materials from several previous projects. I will randomly select three for you to analyze. You have a ten-minute time limit and are required to find 100% of the causes of error. Failing to find 100% of the causes of error will be considered a failure, and there will be no chance for a second test. There is a recording in progress in the archive room, so please be cautious.”
Ji Baiwen wiped the sweat from his palms and sat in the chair.
Mo Xuzhi casually tapped a few keys and set a ten-minute countdown.
“Start.”
Ten minutes later, Mo Xuzhi took Ji Baiwen back to Team 3.
Ji Baiwen didn’t seem to have changed much; his expression was about the same as when Mo Xuzhi had taken him away.
Except that there was a blue ID card on his chest.
The blue ID card was the special symbol for official researchers at the Institute of Technology. In the entire institute, except for Mo Xuzhi, Wang Zhifeng, and one or two others whose ID cards were red, all the rest were blue.
“Holy shit, is this a promotion to official status?”
The people in Team 3 crowded around, flipping the ID card hanging around Ji Baiwen’s neck over and over. They still found it hard to believe.
Someone tearfully gave Ji Baiwen a nudge and said, “Damn, is this what a talented player looks like?”
Since Ji Baiwen came to Team 3, he had been led by the team leader, and his ability had risen rapidly at a visible rate. They knew Ji Baiwen was very talented, but they didn’t expect him to be talented enough to become an official researcher directly.
Ji Baiwen stood in the middle of the circle rubbing his head. There was still undried cold sweat on his face and neck, but it didn’t stop him from smiling foolishly.
It had been a long time since the Institute of Technology had a newcomer become an official researcher. As soon as Ji Baiwen’s ID card was in hand, the news spread throughout the institute.
“I saw the report you submitted. Your eyes are indeed good.”
Wang Zhifeng handed Mo Xuzhi a cup of warm water and leaned against the corridor where the sunlight could reach for a short break with him.
Receiving praise, Mo Xuzhi wasn’t humble either. He smiled and said, “My eyes have always been good.”
“Then how will he be selected? Will he just leave directly then, or what?”
“Leave directly.”
Mo Xuzhi took a sip of warm water, then looked up and said as naturally as if he were talking about the weather,
“By the way, when you go to Rongcheng, remember to help me get a certificate from the bureau.”
“What certificate?”
“A death certificate.”