Uncle Ma took the call, utterly baffled. "What???"
But he still did as the young master asked and drove in.
The headlights came on, two beams cutting through the dark street.
The thugs could barely keep their eyes open against the glare, their expressions terrified.
"Fuck! He's serious?"
Redhead looked at Song Yu as though he were insane. Probably genuinely afraid something would happen, he staggered up from the ground. "You just wait!" His lackeys dropped their weapons with a clatter, helped their boss along, and fled like the wind.
Uncle Ma honked a few times, watching speechlessly as the thugs fled in abject terror, then stopped in front of Song Yu.
Song Yu was talking to Xie Sui. "When a bunch of petty thugs like these pick a fight with you, don't take them head-on. Make good use of the police hotline."
He was afraid that, when he wasn't around, Xie Sui would repeat his past mistakes and break his hand again.
A hint of genuine amusement appeared in Xie Sui's dark eyes, and he nodded.
Song Yu added, "Have you bought insurance?"
Xie Sui said, "No."
Song Yu offered him a tip. "Go buy some insurance. Then you can swagger all over Lianyun Street."
Xie Sui smiled. "Okay."
Uncle Ma: "..." Young master, I think there's something a little wrong with your thinking.
Once they were back in the car, Uncle Ma held the steering wheel and asked curiously, "Young master, is that the friend you felt an instant connection with?"
Song Yu said, "Yep. Handsome, isn't he?"
Uncle Ma laughed. "A very handsome young man. Just as handsome as you, young master."
When he got home, Grandma Meng asked about his studies. Song Yu really couldn't bring himself to show her a test paper on which he had gotten less than twenty percent right, so he only said vaguely, "I'm starting to get into it a little."
Grandma Meng was very pleased and made him a special bowl of soup to nourish his liver and improve his eyesight.
He drank the soup, showered, and went to bed.
Song Yu opened QQ and saw that someone with a female ghost avatar had sent him several messages in a row.
[Sadako Never Forgets the Well Digger: Brother Yu, I've gotten to the bottom of what you wanted me to look into.]
[Sadako Never Forgets the Well Digger: I got a few brothers together, cornered that bastard Zhu Zhixing at the school gates, and questioned him.]
[Sadako Never Forgets the Well Digger: Zhu Zhixing said he didn't actually know whether Xie Sui was sick. He'd just heard it from his mom and a few aunties. Everyone in the neighborhood was saying Xie Sui's mom had AIDS, so he believed it. What a fucking moron.]
[Sadako Never Forgets the Well Digger: I looked into it some more. Fuck, what do they mean, Xie Sui's mom has AIDS? I bet those gossiping bitches just couldn't keep their own men in line. When Xie Sui's mom first moved there, their men were falling over themselves to please her every day. They were dying of jealousy and made shit up.]
[Sadako Never Forgets the Well Digger: His mom seems to run a little restaurant. This is so vile. I've decided to take a bunch of brothers there tomorrow to make trouble and tell everyone on the street how awful the food is. Piss her off to death. Let her experience how much rumors hurt.]
Song Yu was amused.
[Your Husband Brother Yu: How does that count as spreading rumors? You'd be better off going around shouting that one of your brothers ate there and got hospitalized, and still hasn't been discharged.]
[Your Husband Brother Yu: Or put up a banner and □□: that bastard landlady poisoned the food, and Blackie, who I'd raised for ten whole days, was gone just like that.]
[Sadako Never Forgets the Well Digger: 666, my Brother Yu really is hardcore.]
[Your Husband Brother Yu: Hardcore my ass. You think you can take on a bunch of shrews?]
[Sadako Never Forgets the Well Digger: [bites fingers][feeling wronged]]
Actually, Song Yu wasn't planning to do anything to that woman. If he really counted them all, everyone on that street had spread the rumors, and even Xie Sui's middle school classmates had indirectly hurt him. It wasn't just those three years of middle school, either. In the ten years before that, Xie Sui had only been treated more cruelly. Shouting in the street wouldn't necessarily help him blow off steam. He might even get mobbed by the shrews of Lianyun Street.
[Sadako Never Forgets the Well Digger: Brother Yu, what do we do, then?]
Song Yu suddenly remembered that this world seemed to have an app called Diner. It had a huge amount of traffic and was also a major reference for ordering takeout.
[Your Husband Brother Yu: Send me the name of his family's restaurant.]
[Sadako Never Forgets the Well Digger: Okay, okay.]
Song Yu entered the restaurant's name and discovered that its rating was quite high. It ranked near the top among similar restaurants and was flooded with positive reviews. Judging by how mechanical those reviews were, they were probably all fake.
Diner was currently running a promotion involving ratings within a set period, with a ten-thousand-yuan prize for the winning restaurant. Each user could only vote once for one restaurant.
Song Yu narrowed his eyes.
He took a screenshot and forwarded it to his older sister.
[Song Yu: This app. Get me five hundred accounts, would you?]
[Song Wanying: ???]
[Song Wanying: What happened to you?! My poor little brother.]
[Song Wanying: Did Mom and Dad cut your allowance? Did Grandma throw you out?]
[Song Wanying: Have you already sunk to making a living off fake orders? tut]
[Song Yu: Yes, big sis.]
[Song Yu: I feel so wronged, but I won't talk about it qaq]
Acting cute-who couldn't do that?
[Song Wanying: ...barf.]
[Song Wanying: What do you need five hundred accounts for?]
[Song Yu: Doing good and earning merit.]
He typed those words with murderous intent.
Fortunately, Song Wanying was reliable. She promptly found him five hundred accounts and sent them over, with all the usernames and passwords neatly arranged.
Song Yu couldn't be bothered to hire paid posters.
When it came to bad reviews, writing them himself was more satisfying.
The next day, he sat in the milk tea shop as usual, this time with a chemistry test paper instead. Xiao Xi sat across from him, biting her straw, utterly puzzled. "Brother Yu, what are you doing? It's been two hours. How come you haven't answered a single multiple-choice question?"
Song Yu leisurely switched accounts. "I'm busy. Don't disturb me."
Xiao Xi leaned over, her eyes shining. "Busy doing what?"
Song Yu said, "Busy leaving bad reviews."
Xiao Xi: "..."
At first, Song Yu had been full of witty remarks. From the service to the speed of the food, from the hygiene to the texture of the meat and the freshness of the vegetables, he dissed everything. He even obnoxiously prefaced them with "I haven't eaten here," determined to become an armchair customer who would infuriate the owner into illness. But after posting for so long, he inevitably ran out of inspiration, and his style gradually changed. His reasons for leaving bad reviews became no different from those of a compulsive nitpicker.
"The husband-and-wife lung slices I ordered didn't even contain a husband and wife?! Suspected fraud. Reported."
"The landlady had a son instead of a daughter. An eyesore. One star."
After that, he became even more unrestrained.
"When it was time to pay, I realized I was still so poor. Depressed. Unhappy."
Bad review.
"I went outside and saw there was only one sun today. Bad mood."
Bad review.
"Why am I still single? Sad."
Bad review.
"I couldn't see any stars during the day. Irritated."
Bad review.
"There's still a war in Syria today. The Syrian people are so pitiful. I'm in a bad mood. Leaving a bad review."
"Pfft, hahahaha-"
Xiao Xi went around behind Song Yu and saw the string of reviews. She laughed so hard she nearly cried.
"Brother Yu, what are you doing? You're going to piss this restaurant owner to death!"
Xie Sui walked over just then.
He and Xiao Xi took turns working shifts. She immediately stuck out her tongue and ran behind the register, laughing. "Brother Xie, hurry up and stop him. Brother Yu's gone crazy."
Song Yu: "..." Excuse me, ma'am, what kind of thing is that to say?