Lu Wanwan didn’t harbor any illusions of luck. The bullet chat that had suddenly appeared was something she had seen with her own eyes, and in that brief moment, she accepted the possibility that she might soon be killed.
Who could be so deranged as to want to kill her?
Was the phrase “Should she keep a man like that for the New Year?” really so unforgivable?
Lu Wanwan reflected on her short life of just over twenty years. The most rebellious thing she had ever done was skipping school twice in middle school, and thanks to her clever tricks of deception, she had never been caught by her teachers or parents.
And now she was going to be killed because of a single sentence like that? Was there no justice in the world?
Wait—maybe there was justice after all. Wasn’t the bullet chat giving her a spoiler in advance?
She had been wrong to blame the heavens.
Lu Wanwan waited for the bullet chat to reveal more details—like who the killer was, where she would be killed tonight, and in what manner she would die.
Only by knowing these things could she come up with a way to respond.
However, she waited for a long time, and not a single bullet chat appeared again.
…
It seemed there was justice in the world, but not much of it.
Lu Wanwan thought about how she could communicate with the people behind the bullet chat and get them to tell her the answers to these questions, but right now a camera was pointed directly at her, and she was still recording the show.
Using the excuse of needing to use the restroom, Lu Wanwan went to the bathroom.
The bathroom was relatively small. After entering, she first checked each stall to make sure no one was there, and after confirming it was empty, she locked the door.
Knowing she was about to be killed, Lu Wanwan felt a bit scared in such an enclosed space. Even though she knew she would be harmed at night, what if that sicko thought this was a good opportunity and struck early?
She couldn’t understand the mind of a pervert!
Shaking off her chaotic thoughts, Lu Wanwan took a deep breath. She raised her head and obediently waved at the ceiling, waving in all directions—north, south, east, west—and whispered an attempt to greet the audience behind the bullet chat, “Hello there! I’m Lu Wanwan.”
…
She waited half a minute. No bullet chat. Lu Wanwan continued, “I heard I’m about to be killed soon. Could you be kind enough to tell me who wants to kill me?”
…
Lu Wanwan didn’t give up. “Please, I’m begging you. Who exactly wants to kill me? What specific time and place will they kill me? How will they kill me?”
…
No response.
By the time she asked for the tenth time, Lu Wanwan gave up. A livestream room with only three viewers was indeed quiet—they could just leave whenever they wanted, after all!
Returning to the second floor of the supermarket, she saw an elderly man and woman looking at clothes. Lu Wanwan composed herself and followed them.
Clearly, the elderly couple was just browsing and had no intention of buying. Lu Wanwan had no interest in pushing a sale either, so she escorted them downstairs.
Once she was idle again, she began to think about how to respond.
She could call the police, but she had no information about the sicko at all, and she couldn’t explain this situation to the police anyway—that was the tricky part.
She could also just not go out at night to avoid being killed this time, but the problem was she was already being watched. She could dodge the first time, but not the fifteenth. If she deviated from the plot, there was no guarantee the bullet chat would warn her next time.
Was she supposed to hire a few personal bodyguards? That was so expensive!
Moreover, this perverted freak has already killed nine people. If left unchecked, there will be even more victims. It’s more fitting for scum like this to be caught and sentenced to death.
Lu Wanwan sighed!
She’d wait a little longer! If the bullet chat appeared again, maybe she could think of another way. If it really didn’t work out, she’d just call the police directly. Even if she couldn’t explain herself clearly, what did it matter anyway?
Because she was distracted, Lu Wanwan only sold one pair of shoes today, priced at 89 yuan, from which she could earn a 5 yuan commission.
Today’s task couldn’t be completed, and she had no idea what kind of punishment she’d face. But Lu Wanwan no longer cared about that.
The bullet chat still hadn’t appeared again. During the afternoon, Lu Wanwan carefully observed everyone who appeared before her, including the cameraman—she didn’t let anyone slip by—but she didn’t spot anyone suspicious.
At five o’clock in the afternoon, Lu Wanwan’s work at the supermarket for the day was done. She took her salary of 55 yuan and walked out of the supermarket doors.
The streets were bustling with people coming and going. Lu Wanwan was pretty, and with a camera following her, she attracted a lot of attention.
Those who loved a bit of excitement asked Lu Wanwan, “Are you filming a TV drama?”
Lu Wanwan replied, “No, we’re filming a variety show. The show is called Making Money Isn’t That Easy. Big brother, you have to watch it!”
As she responded, Lu Wanwan also casually scanned the crowd around her. She suspected the killer might be lurking somewhere, spying on her. After all, this was someone who had killed nine people and still hadn’t been caught—his methods must be extremely meticulous. But there were too many people looking at her right now. She walked slowly, pretending to admire the scenery while observing her surroundings.
From the bullet chat’s hints, it was clear the killer acted alone, so she focused her attention on solitary individuals.
There was a young man in a gray T-shirt leaning against the roadside playing on his phone, a middle-aged man in a black T-shirt with a receding hairline looking at a puppy by the curb, and another young man, also in a black T-shirt but shorter in stature, who was on a phone call.
These three men were the ones Lu Wanwan currently found suspicious. Yes, Lu Wanwan had ruled out the possibility that the killer was a woman. The person she’d offended with her words was a man, so whoever wanted to kill her naturally wouldn’t be a woman.
The reason she suspected these three was that they were all minding their own business and hadn’t glanced her way.
This wasn’t narcissism on Lu Wanwan’s part. In a small town like this, novel things were rare. Her appearance with a cameraman had indeed drawn everyone’s attention. Almost everyone who passed by would steal a few extra glances at her.
But these three hadn’t. Plus, they were all alone, which fit Lu Wanwan’s theory. Maybe some people just didn’t care for spectacles, but she also wondered if this was the killer deliberately trying to blend in.
Lu Wanwan kept walking, never stopping her observations. When she passed a barbecue stall with a few people gathered around it, she took a deep breath and muttered to herself, “So fragrant! I really want to eat some!”
As she spoke, she sized up the few people there, and then her gaze met with a man standing at the left corner of the stall. He quickly lowered his head.
Lu Wanwan discreetly looked him up and down, then turned her head and continued to exclaim, “I really want to eat barbecue!”
This man was of medium height with a common, unremarkable face. He wore a gray T-shirt and blue jeans, both looking dingy as if they hadn’t been washed properly. He had on a cap, and the hair peeking out from under the brim was also grayish and somewhat long, clearly not trimmed in a long time.
It was the height of summer now. Though it was evening, it was still hot outside, and almost no one in town wore a hat. One could argue the man wore the cap to hide greasy hair, but Lu Wanwan’s intuition told her otherwise—there was something unusual about his gaze just now.
Along the way, Lu Wanwan had locked eyes with many people, but most were just watching out of curiosity. Even when their gazes met, it was an ordinary exchange without any complex emotion.
But this man, the moment his eyes met Lu Wanwan’s, quickly lowered his head. It wasn’t the embarrassment of being caught sneaking a peek—it was evasion, the kind of dodging that sought to conceal some emotion.
Though their eye contact was extremely brief, Lu Wanwan still caught his expression. He wasn’t there to watch the excitement, nor was he aimlessly looking at something. He had been planning this for a long time.
They say the eyes are the window to the soul. It was truly amazing—in that instant, Lu Wanwan raised this man’s suspicion index to eighty-five points.
Was this guy the pervert?
After walking for nearly half an hour, Lu Wanwan finally returned to the show’s filming site.
Along the way, she had spotted a few people behaving oddly, but their suspicion indices were far lower than that man’s.
Seeing Lu Wanwan return, several people immediately came up to her. Sang Yueyi hurriedly asked, “Lu Wanwan, did you complete your task?”
The others also looked at her curiously. Lu Wanwan shook her head helplessly. “No, I only earned fifty-five yuan today.”
“Yay! Someone finally earned less than me.” Sang Yueyi cheered, then met Lu Wanwan’s gaze and stuck out her tongue. “Lu Wanwan, don’t be mad. You know the punishment tasks on the show are different for everyone. I’m so scared of the biggest punishment.”
Lu Wanwan nodded in understanding.
After handing over the money she’d earned, they began preparing for dinner.
Dinner was cooked by villagers arranged by the production crew, and all the guests sat together in the courtyard to eat. Because Lu Wanwan had earned the least money, she got the worst meal—just a bowl of plain white rice and a small plate of pickled vegetables.
How pitiful! This might be her last meal, and they were making her eat plain rice and pickles. There was no justice in this world!
Brother She, sitting across from her, suddenly spoke up. “Lu Wanwan, do you know what your punishment task is?”
Brother She was a gaming streamer on the Youzi Streaming Platform, a top-tier streamer among top-tier streamers. His real name was unknown; all anyone knew was that he always called himself the National Server’s Top Archer, and his fans called him Brother She.
Lu Wanwan didn’t like this man. To drive traffic, he often did vulgar things to grab attention. Because he knew how to put on a show, he had indeed become a top streamer, but Lu Wanwan had no good feelings toward him or many of his fans.
Once, during a livestream raid, Brother She entered Lu Wanwan’s broadcast room, bringing along a large number of his followers. He gifted her a rocket worth one hundred yuan and requested that she perform a dance, specifically naming a dance that had recently become very popular on the streaming platform.
This dance was somewhat suggestive. It wasn’t that Lu Wanwan looked down on the female streamers who performed it, but rather that she truly wasn’t a dance streamer. Additionally, given his impure motives and deliberate attempt to put her on the spot, she was unwilling to do it. She refused bluntly, without sparing his feelings.
Perhaps it was because the big streamer felt embarrassed, so he commented, “If you’re going to act all high and mighty, why even be a streamer?”
His followers then launched a month-long barrage of vicious insults at Lu Wanwan. During that period, the bullet chat in her broadcast room was simply unreadable.
Facing the camera, in response to Brother She’s question, Lu Wanwan lowered her head and answered, “Got it!”
Although she didn’t actually know.
“Since you know, then you’re not afraid to go alone to the vegetable patch at nine o’clock tonight to pull out five radishes, right? How about this—if you perform a show, I’ll help you complete the task.”
Was this because the show was flopping, so someone was starting to let loose again?
Hah! Lu Wanwan let out a light laugh. “Does the production team approve of you doing this?”
This was as if Lu Wanwan hadn’t watched the show and didn’t know the rules. The production team had stipulated that all punishment tasks must be completed personally by the individual themselves, and no one could substitute for them.
Seeing that Lu Wanwan hadn’t fallen for it, Brother She laughed heartily to cover up his embarrassment. “I almost forgot. I meant well, but it turns out I can’t help you after all.”
Lu Wanwan said coldly, “Oh!”
…
The bullet chat had already started cursing at Lu Wanwan.
【It’s that bitch Lu Wanwan again. Brother She meant well and she doesn’t appreciate it. No wonder she can only be a nobody streamer.】
【Last time too, Brother She’s raid brought her so much traffic. Was it too much to just ask her to dance? Brother She’s aircraft carrier was ready. If she’d just played along, she’d have gotten that five-thousand-yuan gift and the traffic too.】
Lu Wanwan didn’t know any of this. Her attention was on the punishment—going alone to the vegetable patch at nine o’clock at night to pull out five radishes.
Could it be that she was killed by that damn pervert at this exact time?