Qin Luming bought a tube of crushed ice, checked the production date, peeled off the plastic wrapping, bit down on the top, gripped the body and twisted it open, then put it in his mouth and sucked on the icy juice.
Most crushed ice tubes these days were probably leftovers from last summer. Winter in the south was nothing like winter in the north; even during winter, freshly made popsicles and ice cream were spread out on the streets for sale... Qin Luming had not spent a winter in the north for a long time, so he did not know whether it was still like that.
Just look at the weather in the south. It was already March, yet it still felt as though they had not escaped winter's frozen grip.
A promotional poster for a lecture stood at the school gate, along with advertisements for books and materials related to the lecture. The author of The 5G Era was Xiang Ligang. Qin Luming bought a copy, intending to take a look and learn about the age that was soon to arrive.
Yet his thoughts were elsewhere. In a world where technology formed the foundation of civilization, divine arts still worked... Or perhaps divine arts were some manifestation of technology that humanity on Earth had yet to understand?
The settings Ma Shilong, a webnovel author, had made up so casually could actually be fully manifested in reality. All that could be said was that the laws governing time, space, and matter truly exceeded the limits of humanity's scientific research.
But human imagination was infinite. Or perhaps this was the real-world expression of the saying: "If humanity can imagine it, then it must exist."
Qin Luming accepted the brochure handed to him by a student participating in the event and flipped through it as he walked toward the classroom where he had class today.
There was a notice board in front of the academic building, covered with photographs of students about to take part in some selection process. A sentence was printed on the board: Welcome all faculty and students to supervise. If you have any objections regarding the candidates, you may email the judging committee. The committee will seriously consider and carefully review all feedback.
Qin Luming's gaze landed on a photograph in the center of the first row.
The photo showed a girl with a pure smile, light makeup, a pristine white shirt, pale pink lips, and an upright, elegant air in her brows and eyes... And this was only an ID photo. In person, she was surely even more startlingly beautiful. Beneath the photograph was the girl's name: An Chacha.
It was a very lovely name, one that easily brought to mind spring scenery, tea gardens, emerald green, fragrance, tea-picking girls, and countless poems and essays connected to such things.
The corners of Qin Luming's lips rose slightly of their own accord, revealing a trace of emotion steeped in memory.
He took out his phone and began writing an email:
"Dear members of the judging committee, I am Qin Luming from the Accounting Department, Class of 2017. I am reporting under my real name that An Chacha is not a suitable candidate. Since childhood, An Chacha has had a violent and vile temperament and frequently participated in campus bullying. Even in kindergarten, she called herself the boss of the kindergarten. The teachers and principal had to obey her every command, or she would throw tantrums on the floor and order the other children to cry endlessly with her. The entire kindergarten yielded to her tyranny because of the forces backing her."
"When An Chacha entered elementary school, she did not rein herself in. Instead, she became even worse. She proclaimed herself the world's number one elementary school student, randomly selected one boy every day and required him to wear a skirt to school, made twelve boys and eight girls arrive early at the school gate to welcome her, and formed a group whose criminal objectives were copying homework and playing tricks on school administrators, teachers, and good students. In the end, it was shut down by a school board member with the same background as her... namely, her relative."
"After entering seventh grade, An Chacha began taking pleasure in mocking other people's physical traits, especially targeting overweight people. Any boy or girl who was even slightly overweight would be ridiculed by her... As recently as January this year, she declared on an overseas social media platform that fat people should be locked up like pandas because they lacked self-discipline and were gluttonous. Only by keeping them in zoos and controlling their diets could society avoid wasting excessive resources on them due to their obesity... Relevant screenshots have been sent as attachments."
"I can testify from personal experience. When I was in middle school, I became slightly overweight due to illness and suffered her bullying and mockery for years. I even grew to hate my original name and changed it to my current one, leaving me with an indelible psychological scar... A leopard cannot change its spots. An Chacha is now better at disguising herself, but she still delights in spreading negativity. She is a lawless bastard without the slightest empathy. I ask the judging committee to consider this carefully. I am willing to bear the burden of proof for my statements."
Qin Luming calmly sent the email to the judging committee's official inbox. In the spirit of responsibility toward the faculty and students of the entire school, as well as his belief in fairness, justice, and transparency, he went to the school website and found the email addresses of every committee member, sending it to each one individually. When he noticed that several judges appeared to be distinguished members of the overweight community as well, he felt even more reassured.
The school was quite large, with several campuses scattered across the east, south, west, and north of City A. If not for this schoolwide selection, Qin Luming would never have known that An Chacha attended the same university as him.
This person had been Qin Luming's nightmare during his childhood. Since they were relatives, they had attended schools under their family's own education group. They had not been in the same kindergarten year, but they attended the same elementary school and middle school. Later, Qin Luming injured both hands and needed treatment, so he took three years off from school. He had thought he could finally avoid that bastard, but who knew they would end up at the same university too... Fortunately, Qin Luming was only a second-year student now, while An Chacha was already a fourth-year senior about to graduate. Before long, she would be gone from this school.
Throughout his entire first year and the first semester of his second, he had not run into her even once. He really had been lucky... Qin Luming could not help sighing to himself.
But since she was about to leave school anyway, why had he gone and provoked her? Qin Luming felt a little regretful at the thought, but seeing An Chacha put on such a hypocritical act left him unable to settle his mind without taking a jab at her.
Besides, times had changed. He was no longer the little fat boy An Chacha had bullied when he was young. If An Chacha dared strut around in front of him again, he would not mind giving her another lifelong scar.
Qin Luming and An Chacha were relatives, though the relationship was somewhat distant... When he was little, Qin Luming had even suspected that An Chacha had been picked up from a garbage dump. Otherwise, how could her two older sisters be women as divine as immortals, while their youngest sister was so universally detested?
Qin Luming had successfully disgusted An Chacha, and his mood was cheerful... During the public notice period for a selection like this, being reported under someone's real name would have a considerable impact on her, even if the allegations concerned past misdeeds.
Even if An Chacha eventually found someone to smooth things over and was successfully selected, it would still be enough to make her stomp her feet in private.
Qin Luming was just about to enter the academic building when his phone notified him that his Writer Assistant had received a text message.
It was an app used to publish articles on a website. Qin Luming casually tapped into it and took a look. The website had sent him a message informing him that his novel had met the standards for a contract and telling him to add the editor's contact information.
"After waiting through the clouds, the bright moon appeared." Qin Luming sighed, clenched his fist, and decided that this had to be the reward for his righteous act just now.
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