Chapter 80: Corruption

The charred aroma of charcoal-grilled meat was an aggressively lingering smell.

Even though he had left the restaurant more than half an hour ago, Lin Yu still felt as if his hoodie, his hair, and even every breath he took carried that thick scent of fat and sauce.

He leaned against the cold metal pole of the subway, feeling the steady, rhythmic vibration of the carriage as he aimlessly watched the streaks of city lights racing backward outside the window.

The gathering was over.

And that heavy haze that had pressed on his chest until he nearly couldn’t breathe—
seemed to have truly been blown away, at least temporarily, by that smoky, sizzling barbecue feast.

(…It still feels kind of unreal.)

Once again, a strange, time-dislocated feeling welled up inside Lin Yu.

He lowered his head and looked at the contract wristband on his arm, its display having returned to its normal standby screen.

His Gray Crystal morpher had been confiscated, but the wristband’s basic functions still remained.

He slid the screen open with practiced ease and tapped on the banking app he was most familiar with—and most concerned about.

A string of numbers sat quietly in the center of the screen.

Account Balance:

135,724.03 yuan.

In it was the 100,000-yuan reward from the aquarium incident, his frugally saved salary from before, and after deducting various expenses, every remaining cent felt like a medal earned with his life on the line.

Staring at the numbers, Lin Yu felt his heartbeat—once choked by the frantic grasp of fate—finally calm down, bit by bit.

This string of numbers gave him a sense of grounded security that surpassed any amount of verbal reassurance.

He took a deep breath and opened the green social app.

In the family group chat, his mother had posted a short video of a new square-dance routine she had learned an hour ago.

Lin Yu silently gave it a like, then opened the chat window.

【Mom】: Son, work must be really busy lately, huh? Why haven’t you called home at all?

【Dad】: Don’t rush him. Career is most important for young people.

Looking at the messages from his parents, Lin Yu’s fingertips hovered above the keyboard, unable to land.

Busy?

More than busy—he’d been doing repeated sprints along the gates of hell.

But could he say that?

He typed and deleted several times before finally sending the lie he had practiced countless times.

【Lin Yu】: Mm, been on a new project recently. Signed a confidentiality agreement, lots of overtime, can’t use my phone. Don’t worry, everything’s good. Salary increased too. I’ve got enough money.

After sending it, he immediately switched to his younger sister Lin Xue’s chat.

What met his eyes was a blinding sea of red notification dots and “missed call” alerts.

He roughly counted—during the period he had “disappeared,” his genius little sister had practically gone insane calling him hundreds of times.

Lin Yu’s heart tensed uncontrollably.

He could imagine how anxious, how terrified she must have been on the other end of the line.

【Lin Yu】: Just finished a business trip. Phone was off until now. What’s wrong? Why so many calls—did something happen?

Message sent.

Almost the very next second, Lin Xue’s replies popped up—so fast it made him suspect she had been sitting there staring at the screen.

【Lin Xue】: Nothing.

【Lin Xue】: Just couldn’t reach you. Got worried. As long as you’re okay.

【Lin Yu】: What could happen? Your brother is a top-class professional now. What about you—you didn’t let this interfere with your experiments, did you?

【Lin Xue】: No.

【Lin Xue】: Then… next time, can I come over and visit you again?

Looking at his sister’s cautious wording, the corners of Lin Yu’s lips curved unconsciously into a warmth even he didn’t notice.

(Ai… she’s still just a student.)

(With everything that happened in the district, she must’ve been scared too.)

(I’ll take her out to eat next time. Comfort the little girl a bit.)

【Lin Yu】: Sure, come anytime. Just give me a heads-up beforehand, so I can ask the cleaning lady to tidy up.

“Beehive Station. Transfer passengers please prepare to exit…”

The cold electronic announcement broke his thoughts.

Lin Yu instinctively lifted his head—and saw that familiar station name.

On impulse, he stepped off the train.

The late-autumn night wind carried a faint chill, blowing against his slightly overheated mind and clearing it instantly.

He raised his head.

In the distance, the skyscrapers were still glittering like a crystal forest suspended in the night sky—cold and magnificent.

But the ground beneath his feet was an entirely different world.

The air carried the spicy scent of cheap malatang and the warm, sugary aroma of roasted chestnuts.

Old neon signs flickered tiredly, reflecting fractured light off the damp pavement recently washed by a light drizzle.

A school-uniformed young couple shared a single sausage, laughing as they ran past him.

Not far away, a family of three huddled around a street stall. The young father handed a freshly bought candied hawthorn skewer to the child in the mother’s arms, whose drool was about to spill out.

Scenes of happiness were everywhere—simple, real, and warm.

Lin Yu shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets.

The cold metal collar at his neck seemed to tighten again, just slightly.

Suddenly, he felt… like an outsider.

He walked slowly, eventually stopping before a massive, oppressive building.

Beehive Public Rental Housing, Block B7.

His former home.

Countless windows—lit or dark—clustered together like the compound eyes of a giant beast, silently staring at the sleepless city.

Lin Yu tilted his head back, gazing at the place he used to live.

Room 703 was completely dark.

He stood there for a long time.

Until the couple sharing a sausage disappeared around the corner.

Until the family of three faded into the night.

Only then did he finally lower his head and let out a self-mocking laugh.

(Why… did I come back to look?)

There was no place for him here anymore.

He could no longer become the useless man who bowed his head over a few hundred yuan in rent.
Nor could he truly become the kind of hero who saves the world.

He was stuck in between—
like the punchline of a joke no one laughs at.

The autumn wind grew colder.

Lin Yu pulled his hoodie tighter and was about to turn and leave when two familiar figures made him instinctively stop.

It was his former landlady, Auntie Wang, and the dorm supervisor, Sister Liu.

The two of them—relatives and inseparable gossip partners—were occupying the old, rusty outdoor exercise machine, chatting animatedly as they “worked out.”

Under normal circumstances, given Lin Yu’s severe social anxiety, running into them would have made him retreat instantly like a hamster meeting a natural predator.

But today—
maybe it was everything he had gone through—
that nerve called “caring about other people’s opinions” had dulled.

He did something unthinkable for his past self.

He didn’t avoid them.

“Good evening, Auntie Wang, Sister Liu.”

He walked over and managed a fairly natural smile.

“Aiyo!”

Sister Liu, wobbling on the exercise machine, spotted him first. Her voice was as booming as ever.

“Isn’t this Xiao Lin! It’s been ages since you came back!”

“Xiao Lin!”

Landlady Auntie Wang stopped mid-gossip and looked him over with a kindly smile.

“How’s living outside? Looks like things are going well—your complexion seems great. Work going smoothly?”

“It’s… okay.”

Lin Yu scratched his head, uncomfortable.

“More than okay!”

Sister Liu hopped off the machine, came right up to him, circled around him like examining merchandise, then slapped her thigh in amazement.

“Wang-jie, look! Didn’t I tell you? Once life gets better, people change immediately! Look at Xiao Lin’s skin now—aiyo—better than my daughter’s after she uses her imported facial masks! You used to look all rough, but now you’re so soft… just like those little girls on TV!”

“…Really?”

Baffled, Lin Yu touched his own face.

(Probably just polite small talk… Aunties’ social language is impossible to understand…)

Thinking it was just empty chatter, he exchanged a few more words and waved goodbye.

Carrying a faint sense of nostalgia, he turned into the small greasy alley next to the complex.

At the end of the alley was the street barbecue stall he used to visit the most.

Like muscle memory, he ordered twenty lamb tendon skewers, ten chicken wings, and a bottle of ice-cold cola, then found a seat in the corner.

But just as the skewers arrived, the red-faced Northeastern guy at the neighboring table staggered over with his beer in hand.

“X-Xiaodi—little brother!”

His tongue was already half-twisted from alcohol, but his enthusiasm was undiminished.

“Eating alone? Come! Fate brought us together—drink one with your big brother!”

Lin Yu’s soul immediately screamed. The last thing he wanted was another chaotic incident like last time.

Reluctantly, he picked up his cup.

“Bro… I can’t drink much…”

“Can’t drink? Drink anyway!”

Without giving him a choice, the man clinked their cups, downed his shot in one gulp, then—
with a giant fan-sized hand—very naturally rubbed Lin Yu’s hand.

“Heyy—your hand is real smooth!”

“!!!”

Every hair on Lin Yu’s body stood on end.

He jerked backward like he’d been electrocuted, staring in horror at the drunken man’s oily face.

(What the—!? What is happening?! I’ve eaten here at least eighty times! How come this has NEVER happened before!?)

He wolfed down the skewers, scanned the QR code with shaking hands, grabbed his jacket, and fled the stall like a hunted animal.

The night wind hit him, and all the alcohol evaporated into cold sweat.

(Something’s… wrong. Tonight is way too wrong…)

The more he thought about it, the more chaotic his thoughts became. All he wanted was a cigarette to calm down.

He hurried into a 24-hour Wanjia convenience store.

“Boss, a pack of Yuxi.”

“Okay.”

The cashier girl—wearing headphones—responded without looking up. She grabbed the cigarettes and was about to scan them.

Then she suddenly lifted her head.

With a concerned expression.

“Um… sir?”

The cashier offered kindly:

“You should cut down a bit on smoking.”

“…Huh?”

“Smoking too much is bad for your skin, and it can also… cause irregular periods.”

“……”

Lin Yu froze.

Completely froze.

He stared at her sincere, worried face, brain dead for three full seconds.

Then a wave of nameless fury shot straight up the back of his skull.

“You’re out of your damn mind! I—!”

Before the word “I’m a man!” could come out, he saw the way she flinched like a scared little rabbit.

He forcibly swallowed down the second half of the sentence.

“…Forget it!”

He paid swiftly, grabbed the cigarettes, and bolted from the store like it was contaminated.

Walking through the cold night air, Lin Yu’s head was a complete mess.

The strange events of the night replayed like a terrible looping movie.

First, Sister Liu said his skin was as soft as a little girl’s.

Then, at the skewer stall, a drunken, rough guy mistook him for some delicate pretty boy and touched him.

Now even the convenience store cashier thought he was a woman—and warned him about menstrual irregularities?!

(Coincidence? Once is coincidence.
Three times… is a f*cking horror story!)

His pace quickened. His heart pounded. A fear he had never felt before wrapped around him tightly.

He stuck a cigarette between his lips, hands trembling as he tried to light it—failing several times.

He suddenly stopped in front of a clothing shop already closed for the night.

The floor-to-ceiling window reflected like a dark mirror under the streetlights, clearly showing his silhouette.

Lin Yu slowly raised his head.

And he saw it.

The person in the glass had slightly longer, softer black short hair, the ends faintly curled.

The facial contours were no longer the slightly sharp lines of a young man worn thin by long hours and poor nutrition—
they had become soft.
Almost delicate.

His eyelashes were clearly longer.

His skin…

Just like Sister Liu had said—smooth, poreless, porcelain-white to an unreal degree, faintly glowing under the lights.

He slowly raised a hand to touch his throat.

The Adam’s apple—the secondary male feature he had lived with for thirty-six years—
was almost… gone.

Even his frame looked slimmer.
The hoodie that used to fit normally now hung loosely on him.

Plop.

The newly lit cigarette slipped soundlessly from his lips and fell to the ground, the ember flickering weakly before dying against the wet pavement.

(Is… is this still me?)

(No wonder Sister Liu praised my skin. No wonder that drunk guy thought I was some pretty boy. No wonder the cashier assumed I had a menstrual cycle—)

(And even earlier… no wonder Li Qing and Su Xiaoli acted like that at the dinner…)

(The person in the mirror—this isn’t an adult man. This is… a short-haired tomboy!)

Lin Yu stared at the reflection—familiar yet alien.

His lips moved soundlessly.

“Don’t tell me… I… I really got…”

His pupils shrank violently.

“Corrupted?”

“Hey! You there!”

A loud, authoritative voice suddenly barked from behind him.

“—Eh?”

Lin Yu flinched and spun around.

A burly middle-aged man in a city-management uniform was pointing at the cigarette butt at his feet, face stern.

“What are you staring at? I’m talking to you! Littering cigarette butts, polluting the environment—100-yuan fine!”