Three Videos
Jingnan University might not rank highly by any standard, but it boasts a prime location and strong financial backing.
On the first day of school, the campus was decorated with a long banner stretching from the main gate to the teaching buildings.
A large screen was set up at the gate, originally intended to guide the influx of new students arriving the next day, but now it was showing surveillance footage.
The video quality was poor, but faces could still be made out.
Judging by the surroundings, it was filmed on the school’s sports field.
Three girls in identical school uniforms appeared on screen, two of them ganging up on the third.
The girl under attack was short and chubby, hunched over with her head buried in her chest.
From her posture, it seemed she was frequently targeted, having long ago gotten used to curling herself up like a shrimp.
The two girls aggressively pointed at her nose, shouting insults.
The girl with a balanced figure sneered, “Fat pig, what are you pretending? You had so much to say in front of that handsome guy just now!”
The other, tall and thin, poked the chubby girl’s forehead and said, “You fat pig thinking you can flirt? Go take a piss and look in the mirror.”
This girl held the chubby one down and slapped her hard, then ruffled her hair, trying to make her lift her head.
The chubby girl might have been hurt because she let out a sharp scream, “I’m sorry, it’s my fault, please don’t hit my face, okay? Lulu Jie, I beg you!”
But her plea only seemed to rile up the other girl more.
The tall girl grinned, “Now you know you’re wrong? Get down on your knees and beg me.”
The chubby girl actually did kneel right in front of her. “Lulu Jie, I was wrong, please forgive me. I’ll stay away from him from now on! I didn’t know you liked him. I really didn’t mean it.”
Still unsatisfied, the girl kept hitting and pinching her, even trying to pull out a strand of her hair.
After spinning the chubby girl around, the aggressor turned to face the surveillance camera, letting everyone clearly see her face.
Some recognized her and shouted, “Oh my god, isn’t that He Zilu? She jumped off a building and died just a few days ago. Her mom and dad even came to the school with banners earlier to find someone to blame.”
“I just watched too. Her mom was yelling for a long time, but in the end, she herself was held responsible for causing trouble and was taken away by the police.”
At this moment, all the security guards had been sent to the stadium, leaving only a few teachers at the gate.
They exchanged uneasy looks, unsure what to do.
One teacher asked, “Did the school leadership authorize this, or is it the Student Union causing trouble? Should we turn it off?”
Another frowned, “You’d have to go to the main control room on the second floor to shut it off. Or maybe we should just unplug the screen.”
They looked at each other uncertainly, hesitant to take action.
They had already heard through the work group chat that something had happened at school; the gym was being cleared out.
Could it be that the school deliberately released these videos to draw students from the gym to the main gate?
Even if not, none of them planned to interfere.
After all, such bullying by Zhang Ming, who liked to dominate others, was disgraceful to normal people.
Exposing it and warning unruly students wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
So, by the time Yu Song and Gu Zhi also arrived, the videos were still playing.
This time, the scene had changed and it was no longer surveillance footage.
The shaky camera suggested someone was secretly filming.
The main figure was still He Zilu, the same follower trailing her, but the girl being bullied was different.
This video was clearer.
The bullied girl had an acceptable appearance and figure, though she had a small patch of grayish birthmark on her left cheek.
“Ugly freak, dirty my shoes and just run away, not even bothering to apologize.”
Compared to the previous chubby girl, this birthmark girl was braver.
She stared directly at He Zilu and said, “You were the one who kicked me. I only spilled the soup from my lunchbox on your foot because of that.”
“You dare talk back?” He Zilu raised her hand to slap her face.
The birthmark girl dodged clumsily but was pinned by He Zilu’s follower holding her waist.
With a crisp slap, He Zilu smiled, “Lulu, lick my shoes clean.”
The crowd of students watching circled tighter and tighter.
Even some parents who had come to pick up students gathered around.
More students who had heard the news rushed to the main gate.
Everyone watched in anger and hatred.
“Who is this girl? Why does she keep ordering people to lick her shoes? Does she think she’s the emperor or something?”
“Damn, even emperors wouldn’t be so arrogant. She trips someone and then makes them lick her shoes?”
“The girl’s already dead. Can you guys say less? I used to feel sorry for her—so young and desperate enough to end her life. But now? Hah, there’s always a reason for the pitiful ones to be hated.” @ Infinite Good Reads, only at Jinjiang Literature City
“Where exactly do you see her as pitiful?”
The crowd buzzed with debate.
Yu Song noticed that Zhao Xue and He Feng had also joined, two plain-looking police officers standing behind them.
The couple wore stunned expressions, watching the girl on the big screen as if she were a stranger.
Yu Song guessed they must have heard He Zilu’s voice when their police car was leaving the campus and then rushed back to see what was happening.
Could it be that the dark mentor wanted He Zilu’s parents and the entire school to witness these videos?
Did he know Zhao Xue and He Feng would come to cause trouble and decided to send them a big “gift package”?
Gu Zhi also shared Yu Song’s suspicion, even guessing the mysterious caller was someone from the school, possibly hiding somewhere in the crowd.
Yu Song scanned the crowd too, but there were too many people.
Even if the culprit was really there, she couldn’t find them.
The big screen played a total of three videos, all showing He Zilu bullying others.
They wore high school uniforms.
The third video was filmed inside a classroom, where He Zilu also forced someone to kneel, just because that person hadn’t done their Duty Day.
Yu Song was speechless.
Could it be that He Zilu really dreamed of being an emperor?
Why was she so obsessed with making people lick her shoes?
When the videos looped back to the start, Ji Jiang arrived with a group of people.
He frowned at the big screen.
“Why hasn’t it been turned off yet?”
Principal Zhang followed close behind, looking so shocked at the bullying videos that he said, “Where is the person responsible? Turn it off immediately. Students, stop recording. Those who already have footage, don’t upload it online. Everything must be deleted. He Zilu is deceased. This matter shouldn’t be publicized anymore. It’s harmful to our school and to the deceased.”
Gu Zhi had already memorized the location of the power source.
He went over and cut the electricity.
The screen went black.
The murmurs from the crowd grew louder.
Few people paid attention to the principal’s words, and even those who did weren’t willing to listen.
Such a huge incident and this vile behavior would definitely be posted online.
Yu Song already saw someone editing captions.
Some were so quick they had uploaded videos before finishing recording.
@ Infinite Good Reads, only at Jinjiang Literature City
Frustrated and anxious, Principal Zhang ordered teachers to persuade students to stop and had security use loudspeakers to make announcements.
Gu Zhi spoke to Ji Jiang, “Looks like this, Captain Ji, is the big gift the mysterious person mentioned. I suspect he’s right here at Jingnan University.”
Yu Song nodded in agreement, scanning the crowd. “Exactly. He might be here watching the chaos with us.”
Ji Jiang frowned. “Principal Zhang, who’s responsible for the big screen? Why is nobody managing it after something like this?”
Principal Zhang didn’t really want to deal with such trivial matters.
Jingnan University relied heavily on the Student Union; most campus affairs were assisted by them.
Though he was vice-principal in charge of campus affairs, his duties were mostly just to arrange tasks at Monday meetings.
He had informed the Student Union ahead of the semester and held an online meeting, thinking everything was arranged properly.
He never expected such a big incident.
Feeling a bit guilty, he wiped his sweat and said, “It should be the Student Union’s responsibility. They’re usually quite responsible. Where could they have gone now?”
An older teacher nearby said, “Principal Zhang, this big screen was set up long ago and usually plays Campus Introduction videos. The main control room is on the second floor in the Broadcast Room. There should be Student Union members on Duty Day there. But I heard they were all sent to help clear the gym, so maybe the person responsible went to assist.”
Yu Song frowned, suddenly realizing how quickly the dark mentor had acted.
From the moment she arrived at school and saw Zhao Xue and He Feng causing trouble, then got the call from the dark mentor, witnessed the gym being cleared, and now this video looping on the big screen at the gate—it all happened within half an hour.
Yu Song glanced at the surveillance by the school gate. “Captain Gu, even if he was at the scene, I doubt he’d be fast enough. He’d still have to run up to the second-floor control room to play the videos. I think he hacked into the school’s network and has been monitoring all the cameras remotely.”
“That sounds right. But we still need to check the second floor,” Gu Zhi agreed.
Then Gu Zhi told Principal Zhang, “Please lead us to the second floor. We need to investigate whether this is Network Intrusion or if someone physically uploaded videos on site.”
Principal Zhang didn’t know what exactly they were investigating but knew the situation had escalated.
When the security guard raised the loudspeaker, the students dispersed automatically, so he decided to let it go for now.
He forced a smile at Gu Zhi. “Alright, I’ll take you up.”
Then he quietly told the older teacher nearby, “Notify the class groups not to spread videos recklessly. The girl is dead; what’s the point?”
Yu Song gave Gu Zhi a meaningful glance.
At the school gate, Zhao Xue and He Feng were about to leave.
Earlier, the police had pulled them aside, but now they looked like they’d rather be dragged by the officers than stay.
“Officer Gu, should we hold them for questioning? See if they know anything about these videos?”
Gu Zhi looked at the small groups of chattering students and frowned. “I’ll have them sent to the Criminal Investigation Team first. We’ll decide later at the station to avoid affecting the school’s opening.”
Yu Song inwardly scoffed.
Didn’t that already affect the school?
The school did have a few minor internet celebrities.
If those videos got streamed, Jingnan University might really end up on Hot Search.
They arrived at the second floor Broadcast Room.
The glass door was locked.
A laptop sat on the desk with several slideshow images of Snow Mountain and Grassland cycling on the screen—a clear screensaver.
At that moment, a male Student Union member rushed over.
The round-faced boy wore glasses and looked honest.
Yu Song felt he was familiar and quickly recognized him as the same guy holding a phone and filming downstairs earlier.
He opened the door and explained, “Principal Zhang, I had diarrhea just now and was stuck in the bathroom. What happened?”
Yu Song laughed softly. “You’re really bad at lying. I saw you standing right in front of the big screen with two spotless female classmates beside you. You were earnestly trying to help carry someone’s suitcase.”
The round-faced boy glanced at her. “You’re mistaken. I was in the bathroom the whole time.”
Gu Zhi knew Yu Song wouldn’t lie, so he teased him, “Liu Dong, so many students were filming with their phones, and there are quite a few cameras at the entrance. Want me to check?”
The boy jumped and waved his hands hurriedly. “No, no need!”
Principal Zhang snapped, “Liu Dong, why lie? What exactly happened?”
Liu Dong said, “Principal, I really had diarrhea. Since everything was arranged here, I thought I didn’t need to keep watch, so I went to the bathroom. When I came out, the gate was a bit chaotic, so I went down to help maintain order. Later, the big screen started playing the videos. I was shocked and stood there watching too.”
Ji Jiang poked him and said, “You’re not telling the truth, are you? I think you just wanted to meet a female classmate at the gate.”
The round-faced boy awkwardly pushed up his glasses. “No, it wasn’t that!”
Principal Zhang felt even more embarrassed. “You abandoned your post. I don’t think you should keep this job.”
Gu Zhi and Ji Jiang weren’t harsh on the Student Union members.
They inspected the Broadcast Room and checked the hallway cameras, confirming no one had operated the laptop.
Ji Jiang said, “Should’ve brought a tech person along. Let’s take the laptop back and check it properly.”
@ Infinite Good Reads, only at Jinjiang Literature City
Then he looked at Yu Song. “Xiao Yu, what’s going on? If the mysterious person wanted to harm you, why broadcast these videos at school and call it a gift? Could it be they knew He Zilu’s parents were coming today to cause a scene, so they ran here to expose He Zilu’s bullying?”
Yu Song recalled the story’s plot and explained, “He might not necessarily want to harm me, but this arrangement certainly isn’t to help. Some people like to play real-life games, enjoying the control over others’ feelings. I suspect the mysterious person is one of those. They want to manipulate me to achieve their own goals.”