If not for Lin Fan, her relationship with her grandmother would have kept deteriorating, and Lin Qiang might even have swindled her grandmother out of everything.
"It was nothing. Don't mention it."
Lin Fan waved a hand. Dealing with a scumbag also counted as changing Ragdoll Cat's destiny.
He looked at the livestream screen and said calmly, "Next, Top Diehard Fan."
He started another video call.
A moment later, the connection went through, and Top Diehard Fan appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Master."
Top Diehard Fan wore glasses and had a distinctly scholarly air. Judging by his appearance, no one would have imagined he was the ringleader of the haters who had trolled countless livestreams.
"Viewer, I'm afraid you don't have long to live."
Lin Fan was startled the moment he saw him.
He used the Qi-Observing Technique. Even through the screen, he could see black mist enveloping Top Diehard Fan.
"I don't have long to live?"
Top Diehard Fan froze, then laughed. "Master, are you joking? I'm perfectly healthy. How could I be dying?"
Chapter 35: The Life of the Number One Hater!
[Chu Conqueror: Master, you're scaring him on purpose, right?]
[Hater Squad: Diehard Fan, it must be because you've been trolling the master like crazy. He's just trying to scare you. Don't worry!]
[Just Here for the Drama: I remember Top Diehard Fan used to be called Number One Hater. He'd use hundreds of alt accounts to troll the master nonstop.]
Most viewers didn't take it seriously.
Some longtime fans recognized Top Diehard Fan as the Number One Hater who showed up in every one of Lin Fan's livestreams.
"Your facial skin is too thin and taut, and the corners of your eyes are stretched straight. These are signs of a short life."
"Your glabella is also reddish, your travel palace-the area around the outer ends of your eyebrows-is dark, and there are spots on your ear cartilage. All these signs indicate that disaster will befall you in the coming days."
Lin Fan wasted no words, pointing out the problems in Top Diehard Fan's facial features.
"Surely you can't take face reading seriously? If facial features determine someone's fortunes, how do you explain people getting plastic surgery?"
A flicker of fear crossed Top Diehard Fan's eyes, but he still forced himself to remain calm and tried to refute Lin Fan.
At that,
Lin Fan smiled faintly. "You're overlooking something. Facial features don't influence destiny. Destiny influences facial features."
"Even if you undergo plastic surgery, your good and bad fortune will still manifest in your features under the influence of destiny."
Many people had always assumed that plastic surgery could change their facial features and thereby change their destiny.
That wasn't the case.
Facial features were an outward manifestation. It was the influence of a person's destiny that gradually changed them.
[Chu Conqueror: So plastic surgery doesn't improve your luck after all!]
[Showbiz Old Wang: I know plenty of female celebrities who get plastic surgery. They all think it'll change their luck. Looks like they're expecting too much.]
Top Diehard Fan said in a trembling voice, "Master, my complexion looks healthy and rosy to me. I don't look like there's anything wrong."
Lin Fan could tell that Top Diehard Fan didn't disbelieve him. He simply didn't want to believe it.
Like any ordinary person, Top Diehard Fan found it impossible to believe that he didn't have long to live.
"Han Lei, you were born into a rural family and suffered endless bullying from childhood."
"When you were ten, your mother passed away, and your father's temperament became erratic. Once, just because you said one sentence too many over dinner, he hung you from a beam all night."
Lin Fan calculated on his fingers and began recounting Top Diehard Fan's experiences.
"That's right."
Han Lei, also known as Top Diehard Fan, recalled how, from the age of ten until adulthood, his father had beaten him regularly.
A trace of hatred crossed his face.
Even though he could understand his father's behavior after growing up, he still couldn't forgive him.
For eight whole years, whenever his father got drunk, he would be beaten.
"If I said the wrong thing or spoke too loudly, he'd beat me."
"After he drank, he'd beat me."
"If I came home late, he'd beat me too."
"Even... even when I did nothing at all, he'd beat me just because he was in a bad mood!"
Han Lei gritted his teeth. It was a past he didn't want to revisit.
Those childhood experiences had made him obsessive as an adult, turning him into the Number One Hater, an unrivaled troll across the internet.
[Chu Conqueror: Who would've thought the internet's keyboard warrior had such a tragic past?]
[Hater Squad: Boss, don't be sad. We'll be there for you and troll every streamer with you!]
[Jinshan Education: Domestic violence is never acceptable. Childhood experiences have an enormous impact on people.]
[Noble Human: Heh, who didn't get hit as a kid? Number One Hater just can't take it.]
[Jiangzhou Prison Guard: The commenter above is wrong. I once spoke with a murderer who'd been beaten and berated by his parents since childhood. People looked down on him, and he was treated unfairly at school. That led him to take revenge on society after he grew up.]
They complained that society was unfair and took revenge on it.
For many of them, childhood experiences had shaped their outlook on life, leaving them unable to see the light and forever trapped in darkness.
"You don't understand at all!"
Han Lei suddenly grew agitated. "Do you know what happened? My classmates bullied me on the street. Even when they pissed on my face, he stood there watching and didn't come to save me!"
"When I got home, he beat me too!"
Han Lei panted heavily. Remembering those dark childhood days, he could no longer suppress the anger and hatred inside him.
He couldn't understand why his father hadn't intervened.
Why hadn't his father helped him when he was being bullied?
"Calm down!"
Lin Fan shouted. His voice seemed to carry the resonance of the Dao, piercing through the screen.
At the sound of his voice,
Han Lei instantly calmed down, as though a force had poured into his mind and washed away his agitation.
"Master, you don't need to say any more."
"I believe you. But I want to know why I don't have long to live."
Han Lei gave a bitter smile. Before this, he had only watched the livestreams and had never felt it so personally.
"Facing Master Lin myself and hearing him recount my own experiences... it feels awful."
He finally understood just how frightening Master Lin was.
There probably isn't anything in this world Master Lin doesn't know, Han Lei thought.
"There's no hurry. I need to continue, because the calamity you're about to face is connected to your life experiences."
"At eighteen, you entered university. You thought life would improve once you were free of your father."
"Unfortunately, the bullying began as soon as you started university."
Lin Fan sighed, almost unable to bring himself to continue. "University was also a turning point in your life."
University life!
Han Lei, who had just calmed down, was forced to recall his university days.
Han Lei's whole body trembled. Remembering everything he had experienced at university, he instinctively clenched his fists, his eyes bloodshot.
[Boss Xiu: What exactly did Number One Hater go through? He looks like he's just come face-to-face with his father's killer.]
[Renowned Doctor Qin Yu: I've treated plenty of patients who were bullied and beaten by groups at university. The look in Han Lei's eyes right now reminds me of them.]
[Drama Watcher: Master Lin, tell us about Number One Hater's university experiences!]
"There's no need for Master Lin to tell you."
Han Lei closed his eyes. After taking a moment to compose himself, he recounted his experiences as though they had happened to someone else.
Being bullied since childhood had left him with an inferiority complex. After entering university, he went out of his way to treat his roommates well, believing that if he was kind to others, they would be just as kind to him.
Who could have expected his roommates to treat him as free labor?
They left every dorm-related chore to Han Lei alone.
Not only that, but his three roommates often filmed prank videos to post online, so Han Lei naturally became the target of their pranks.
"You can't imagine the kinds of pranks my roommates pulled!"
Chapter 36: Someone in the Coffin!
[Boss Xiu: Was it something like pranking you by feeding you mustard-filled buns?]
[Drama Watcher: Isn't it normal for classmates to prank each other? Student pranks aren't usually that extreme. Number One Hater, aren't you being too sensitive?]
[Nothing Good Here: Men are so melodramatic. Number One Hater, you must be the problem.]
As Lin Fan read the comments scrolling past, he couldn't help frowning. Knowing what Han Lei had experienced, he found these comments full of malice.
[Contentment Brings Happiness: Han Lei, I was your classmate in the class of 2016!]
[I never expected to see you here. Do you know how miserable he was at university? His roommates deliberately stripped him naked in freezing, snowy weather and made him run around campus!]
Before you continue