Social Death

At four in the afternoon, in a residential complex somewhere in Hu City.

Since he only had one delivery this afternoon, Wu Jianwen got home early, took a shower, and sat down in front of his computer to relax.

Ten minutes later, a wad of tissue landed in the trash bag beside him. Wu Jianwen went to the bathroom to wash his hands, then came back and opened Bilibili to browse around.

"Qiuqiu posted a new video?" Wu Jianwen wondered curiously.

"[Face Reveal] My first face-reveal video, please take care of me~ The three most classic Conan soundtracks, don't call the cops!!!"

The moment he saw the title, Wu Jianwen became interested.

He did not really care whether uploaders showed their faces or not, but being able to see Qiuqiu's true appearance was something any fan would be a million times willing to do.

But as soon as the video loaded, Wu Jianwen was dumbfounded.

[A person dressed in a Black-Clad Man cosplay outfit sat before the camera and waved in greeting.]

"This is a face-reveal video?"

"Pfft, hahahahaha!"

"This is too hilarious!"

"I clicked in with a face full of excitement and left with a face full of fear."

Wu Jianwen held back his laughter. He had not expected the face reveal to be such a trick. Though he silently criticized Qiuqiu for clickbaiting, he could not bring himself to dislike her for it.

[The Black-Clad Man began playing the piano. The eerie music that played when a culprit committed a crime rang out, accompanied by clips from the anime of the Black-Clad Man appearing.]

"Scary."

"Scary."

"Scary."

"..."

Honestly, the instant Wu Jianwen heard the music, a fine layer of goosebumps rose on his arms.

Paired with the Black-Clad Man, this eerie, suspenseful soundtrack from Conan was incredibly effective.

[Several dozen seconds later, the music changed into the classic tune that only played after a case had been solved.]

"This one is so classic."

"That figure."

"Crime scene."

"Criminal at large."

After taking a sip of water, Wu Jianwen could not help sending a few bullet comments himself.

[The final soundtrack often played when Conan solved a case, while related clips from the anime flashed past one by one.]

"A bolt of lightning flashed by."

"There is only one truth!"

"Holy shit, everybody stand up!"

"I get it now."

"Cheat-code time."

"Kogoro Mouri: The moment I hear this, my neck starts hurting."

After finishing the video, Wu Jianwen let it replay while he held his mouse and scrolled down to the comments section.

[Wang Zai]: <This woman was clearly beautiful, yet she was absurdly goofy>

[Lei Puton]: So every crime scene had a little black figure hiding in some unknown corner, playing the piano?

[Mou Kaopu Chengnian Feizhai]: This was an anime-original Conan episode titled The Piano Room Murder Case. This scene showed the culprit's method and Conan personally reconstructing the crime scene. It was removed because the atmosphere was too horrifying and suspenseful. I got to see it here today. Thank you, uploader.

[Mo Qiuli]: Those black stockings were way too black.

[Xiang Qing Er Xing]: You can't tell Little Black's gender, but your chest was way too obvious. (doge)

[Tian Sha Gu Xing De Gu]: I clicked in eagerly when I saw "face reveal," but it instantly killed my enthusiasm.

Wu Jianwen grinned at the goofy comments from the netizens. Reaching for his keyboard, he began thinking up a snarky line, intending to join in and try to snag a top comment.

"Stop looking at your phone and study properly." Chen Wen edited for a while longer, then turned his head and saw Jiang Qiuyi browsing Bilibili on the bed.

"Wait a little longer." Jiang Qiuyi tapped her screen a few times, then held up her phone for Chen Wen to see. "Look, look! It's only been a little over an hour, and the views have already passed a hundred thousand~"

"Mm." Chen Wen nodded. "Five more minutes. I'll test you on dictation right away."

Jiang Qiuyi pouted and huffed, tossing her phone onto the bed before picking up her English vocabulary list and continuing to memorize.

Memorizing words was the worst!

"I'm so hungry..." Jiang Qiuyi's eyes darted around. She set down her book, rubbed her stomach, and said, "Didn't we skip lunch?"

"Mm." Chen Wen nodded. "I only had some bread to tide me over."

Earlier, Jiang Qiuyi's stomach had hurt and she had not been able to eat, so Chen Wen had not eaten much either.

It was already past four, so they really were getting hungry.

"We'll eat after the dictation test."

"Nooo~" Jiang Qiuyi crawled to the edge of the bed like a little puppy. "I'm really hungry right now~ I want food~"

Seeing that she looked ready to pounce on him, Chen Wen had no choice but to take his hands off the mouse and keyboard. "What do you want to eat?"

"KFC?"

"You just got your period, and you still dare eat fried food?" Chen Wen frowned. "Pick something else."

"Umm..." Jiang Qiuyi rolled over on the bed, facing upward as she tipped her head back to look at Chen Wen upside down. Her long hair spilled over the edge of the bed like a waterfall. "Braised chicken with rice?"

"Something lighter."

"Ah~" Jiang Qiuyi let out a cute cry. Finally, she rolled over and lay on her stomach, stretching out a hand to poke Chen Wen's pant leg as she said, "Then let's get Aunt Liu's preserved egg and lean pork congee from the entrance of the complex."

"Fine, that works." Chen Wen got up, grabbed his keys and phone, and walked out of the bedroom. Before leaving, he turned back to remind her, "Keep memorizing your words. I'll test you after we eat."

"...Got it."

Taking the elevator down, Chen Wen left the complex and headed to the shop near the entrance where they usually ate breakfast.

"Two servings of preserved egg and lean pork congee."

"Coming right up!" Aunt Liu, who had been resting in her seat, put away her phone and stood up. Taking a closer look, she said, "Oh, Chen Wen! Where's Qiuqiu?"

"She's at home."

"Oh, right. She isn't feeling well, is she?" Aunt Liu looked thoughtful. "Girls are very sensitive at times like this. You need to take good care of her."

"?" Chen Wen was puzzled. Why did Aunt Liu seem to know everything? "Did she tell you?"

Although Jiang Qiuyi was usually polite and well-behaved around Aunt Liu, they were not close enough for her to tell Aunt Liu something like that, were they?

"Of course not." Aunt Liu smiled as she ladled out the congee. "You bought two packs of sanitary pads for your girlfriend at the supermarket this afternoon, didn't you?"

Chen Wen: "?!"

"How did you know?"

"We were talking about it in the complex group chat." Aunt Liu covered her mouth and chuckled, then packed up the two bowls of congee and handed them to Chen Wen. "Looks like you two have a great relationship. Even your WeChat nicknames are so romantic."

"..." Chen Wen stiffly accepted the preserved egg and lean pork congee. He felt as if the entire complex was filled with malice toward him. "Thank you. How much?"

"Twenty yuan."

After paying by scanning the code, Chen Wen hurried away.

It seemed that after his morning runs, he would have to find a different place for breakfast too?

But from what Aunt Liu had said, it seemed everyone in the complex group chat already knew. That was way too embarrassing...

Just how bored was that supermarket auntie to chat about something like that in the group?

Chen Wen got into the elevator and watched the floor numbers steadily climb, his mood inexplicably heavy.

He took out his phone and looked at Jiang Qiuyi's WeChat nickname, wondering whether he should discuss changing it to something more normal with her later.

[Pu Jie Ri Ji]: A big shot gave a Leader reward yesterday, so there'll be an extra chapter today. Two more chapters to go.