Chapter 43 Part 1
“Such unruly behavior! Put your shoes on immediately!” The principal, fully convinced that the students were staging some sort of performance art, strode towards them, fuming.
Imitating the Japanese, of all people! If news of this spread, the school’s reputation would be tarnished.
As the principal inwardly cursed these foolish students, he saw several of them with bloody noses.
Two streams of blood flowed from their nostrils, a drop landing on one of the new sneakers, staining the surface red.
“Ah—I have a nosebleed!”
The students screamed in fear.
These were, without exception, the students who, upon learning about Han Ye’s photo and birth date inside the shoes, had jumped up and down in the cafeteria.
The principal was also startled and quickly told them to wash their faces at the sink outside or go to the infirmary.
He Yunxiao and his friends, watching the commotion from their table, couldn’t help but comment, “They deserve it, don’t they?”
They knew and still dared to step on his photo, becoming accomplices, even if just one in five thousand.
How could they not get sick?
This was human nature.
Wu Heng knew there weren’t many truly kind-hearted people in this world, there were plenty of onlookers, and even more who added fuel to the fire.
As Wu Heng said that those who wore the shoes outside today would get sick, the sound of sneezing echoed among the students who had taken off their shoes.
“Sneezing? What’s wrong with you all?” The principal, helping a student stop his nosebleed, saw them sneezing collectively and had a bad premonition.
Could it be… could it be a flu outbreak right at the start of the school year?
A barefoot girl among them sneezed, almost crying, “Principal, these shoes are cursed! Achoo—”
Principal: “?”
Shoes? What shoes? Not only performance art, but now also nonsense?
At that moment, several students wearing the new shoes sneezed simultaneously, a chill running through their bodies as the initial symptoms of a cold appeared.
Many people were like this, indifferent until their own interests were affected, then they would cry out.
[Seriously?! I just bought a new pair of shoes, and this happens?! I have an important exam this afternoon, how can I take it now?]
[I just sneezed, and I have a low-grade fever, great. You guys messed up and now we innocent consumers are suffering too? I’m scared of these shoes now.]
[I spent eight thousand yuan on shoes, and now I’m sick? Are consumers just cash cows? Do we deserve this misfortune?]
[Return and refund! We demand compensation for emotional distress!]
[I bought these shoes to support a domestic brand, I even paid the high price, is this how you treat us?! Are we just tools? I unknowingly harmed someone?! If that person dies, am I partly responsible?! Yang Shoe Company, you’re worse than animals!]
[……]
Now there was an uproar!
Some of the rich kids didn’t usually watch live streams, only joining after being sent the link by their friends. Now, they were furious.
What was initially a personal conflict between roommates had escalated.
Those who could afford these shoes were at least middle-class, many even richer, and they weren’t accustomed to such grievances.
This was like poking a hornet’s nest, triggering a public outcry, and Yang Shoe Company’s stock price started to fluctuate.
Han Ye, seeing his two roommates, who had tried on the shoes, sneeze repeatedly, turned and punched Yang Zhiyuan hard in the face. “Are you insane?! You’re targeting me, fine, but why drag so many other people down with you?! You’re the son of the shoe tycoon!”
“His father taught him this risk diversification strategy,” Wu Heng chuckled. “After all, even though his father didn’t get into university through proper means, he still managed to attend, and the practitioner he hired, although not entirely knowledgeable about underworld laws, still achieved the desired result, didn’t he?”
Han Ye froze. The students outside were stunned. Even the netizens in the live stream were dumbfounded.
[So much information in that sentence! So it was Yang Xing, the shoe tycoon, who taught his son to do this?! I thought a young master like him wouldn’t have such power to manipulate the production of new shoes, so it was his father’s idea?]
[Wow, just wow, Mr. Yang taught him that?! Risk diversification?! I bought your shoes to support you, and you’re dragging me into this, making me an accomplice to attempted murder?! My blood pressure is rising!]
[Didn’t get into university? Did Doctor Wu make a mistake? His son is a student at Beijing Medical University, and Yang Xing himself graduated from Beijing University of Science and Technology! It’s on his Wikipedia page, how could he not have gone to university?]
[Yang Shoe Company dragged me into this, making me an accomplice, just you wait!]
The rich kids were furious, buying shoes only to be used as weapons, becoming accomplices to attempted murder.
How could they tolerate this? If they didn’t retaliate, they wouldn’t be worthy of their families’ status!
Sneezing, they called their parents, exaggerating the situation.
Wealthy families were often more superstitious. Hearing their children’s complaints about being unjustly implicated, they were enraged.
A socialite immediately gifted Wu Heng ten Carnivals and asked, [Streamer, are we really implicated? I’m a law-abiding citizen, this is unfair!]
Wu Heng reassured her, “Don’t worry.”
“The underworld doesn’t have this ‘risk diversification’ concept, everyone is responsible for their own actions. Even if you unknowingly harmed Han Ye, they will bear the karmic consequences, you’ll just suffer some minor ailment in the human world as punishment.”
“You only received the shoes today and haven’t worn them for long. Just drink some ginger soup, and you’ll be fine, no big deal.”
There were many practitioners of metaphysics in this world, but few truly understood the laws of the underworld, clinging to their delusions, only to wail and cry after being judged.
Did they really think they could distribute their karma? By dragging five thousand innocent people into this, they had only added to their own sins!
Wu Heng patted the little white snake’s head and sighed. “You really need to study more, you’re all half-baked.”
The little white snake: “?”
They were the same! None of them had even finished elementary school.
[I see, if it’s not my karma, then that’s good, I’ll go make some ginger soup.]
[Thank you, Doctor Wu, I’m returning these shoes for a refund.]
The rich kids in the barrage comments were relieved. Yang Zhiyuan, pinned down by Han Ye, started cursing, “What nonsense! A common cold is now an evil ailment? So all sick and disabled people are being punished for their sins in this life or a past life?”
Fan Xuan, who was still live streaming, immediately retorted, “Yang Zhiyuan, don’t generalize!”
Fan Xuan instantly knew that Yang Zhiyuan was being deliberate, trying to drag even more people down.
There were so many patients in this world. Yang Zhiyuan was trying to make Wu Heng offend them all!
No one who suffered a car accident would accept the absurd explanation that it was due to their past sins. If Wu Heng fell for this trap, no one would consult him online anymore, his account would even be banned!
Wu Heng didn’t fall for it and simply smiled faintly. “I won’t comment on other patients, but your father, Yang Xing, being in a wheelchair is definitely karmic retribution.”
[? What does that mean? Did Yang Xing do something wrong?]
[Mr. Yang is an ordinary person. He became disabled in an accident when he was young, but he never gave up, starting from nothing and becoming the shoe tycoon, such an inspirational story!]
[Yang Xing is known for his perseverance, I don’t believe it.]
Wu Heng, looking at the enraged Yang Zhiyuan, said casually, “Tell your father to return the university acceptance letter, the owner has been waiting for it in the river for decades.”
Instantly, the live stream’s barrage comments were flooded with exclamation marks and question marks.
There was more to this.
[Holy crap, so much drama today, I can’t keep up.]
[Meaning… Yang Xing stole someone’s acceptance letter, then used it to go to university, then used his degree to start his business and become successful?]
[Oh my god, Doctor Wu said someone’s waiting for the letter in the river… Did someone jump into the river and die because of this? If this is true, that’s a serious crime!]
[I’ve never really liked Yang’s shoes, but I admired Mr. Yang’s inspirational story, I bought his shoes as merchandise, and now this? My idol has fallen.]
[He stole someone’s life? A university degree from decades ago, from Beijing University of Science and Technology, much more valuable than one today.]
“You’re spouting bullshit! My family will sue you for defamation!” Yang Zhiyuan, enraged, suddenly stood up, pushing the already weak Han Ye aside, then lunged forward, snatched Fan Xuan’s phone, and smashed it on the ground.
The live stream screen went black.
The connection was lost.
Wu Heng shrugged. “See? He panicked.”
Yang Xing floated over, his pale face close to Wu Heng’s, and asked curiously, ‘Did I just hear you mention my name?’
He felt uneasy, recalling Wu Heng’s words in the live stream, seemingly understanding, his eyes turning bloodshot with resentment, but Wu Heng’s voice pulled him back.
Wu Heng didn’t answer, asking instead, “If you could retake the college entrance exam, do you think you could get an acceptance letter?”
Yang Xing couldn’t guarantee anything else, but when it came to his deepest desire, his spirit burned with ambition. ‘Absolutely no problem!’
Wu Heng nodded and sent Shi Xuan a message on WeChat.
[HengHengBaby: Good friend, busy with school? If you have time, could you create a comprehensive college entrance exam paper with a total score of 180?]
[SX: Not busy, I’ll send it to you tonight.]
Shi Xuan replied, then calmly picked up his pen, facing the mountain of test papers on his desk.
Wu Heng went to the clinic’s counter, took out a white candle, and instructed the little gray snake with a smile, “Xi Xi, light this at the flowerbed outside at 8 p.m.”
The little gray snake didn’t understand but nodded obediently. ‘Okay, Godfather.’
Han Ye, having completely broken ties with his roommates, temporarily moved into Fan Xuan’s dorm.
“My height stabilized at 168cm, it’s not shrinking anymore.”
Han Ye breathed a sigh of relief. He had lost 7cm from last night till noon today, but since Wu Heng’s live stream, and after the first batch of buyers saw the news and stopped wearing the shoes, he only lost another centimeter this afternoon before stabilizing.
Yang Shoe Company immediately issued a statement, claiming a minor error in the new shoes due to temporary workers and offering to recall the shoes and compensate customers. They also apologized to Han Ye.
The rich kids, still suffering from colds, weren’t about to let the Yang family off the hook, finding fault with everything, and someone was already investigating Yang Xing’s university admission. Even #BeijingUniversityofScienceandTechnology was trending.
Han Ye, looking at the unchanging number on the tape measure, murmured sadly, “So I’ll be 168cm forever now?”
A perfectly good 180cm young man, reduced to this. Although his parents, who had arrived at the school, told him that his health was more important than height, Han Ye couldn’t accept this.
Fan Xuan comforted him, “Doctor Wu isn’t that kind of person, he’ll definitely cure you in the next two days.”
“I hope so, I’ll get some rest,” Han Ye said, lacking confidence.
As Han Ye drifted off to sleep, he saw a faint light ahead, similar to the light Wang Mei mentioned in her short video. He followed the light and pushed open a door, the bright light inside making him close his eyes.
After adjusting, he slowly opened them, staring blankly at the words written on the blackboard with chalk: “Underworld Comprehensive College Entrance Exam.”
Exam Time: 8:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Han Ye: ‘Huh?’
What the—?
