Irreversible - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Scumbag’s Counterattack (Part 5)

Gu Xizhou spent the entire day in the lab with Su Zhiyi. After nightfall, with Lin Shi’s assistance, she lay back into the dormant pod, plugged in the cranial connectors, and linked her consciousness back to the virtual world of 1022.

She referred to herself, the primary consciousness, as the “Auxiliary System 0820” tasked with assisting the “Virtual Entity” 1022 Gu Xizhou. By injecting the so-called “future” into the data of 1022, she could hide her identity, “monitor” the world, and observe whether Su Zhiyi’s brainwaves showed any signs of abnormality.

According to Lin Shi, using a “guiding” method rather than overwriting the virtual entity’s information made it easier for Su Zhiyi’s core consciousness to grasp the existence of a “rebirth” world. This, in turn, could stimulate Su Zhiyi’s remaining will to live within this reconstructed world, potentially causing her to wake up.

However, in the previous 1,021 attempts, Gu Xizhou had never found anything unusual in Su Zhiyi’s “original” brainwaves. Only this time did she sense the other party providing help to “herself.”

The primary consciousness of the real Gu Xizhou could occasionally take over the virtual data of 1022, but to fully control 1022, she needed the entity to accept her—what 0820 called a “Contract.” A Contract acted as a backend information link, allowing 0820’s brainwaves to perfectly overlay and merge with all of 1022’s data.

In many previous experiments, Gu Xizhou had encountered virtual entities that refused the contract. But 1022 was the only one that had firmly refused from the moment she linked to this world until now.

Soon, the real Gu Xizhou in the dormant pod fell into a deep sleep. Her consciousness and memories, transmitted through the data link, transformed into quantum information and traversed the boundless ocean of data to descend into the virtual world as 0820.

Night fell, and 0820’s voice appeared in Gu Xizhou’s mind: “Strange, why has an entire day already passed?”

Gu Xizhou, who was busy previewing her lessons at her desk, was startled: “You’re still here?”

Last night, Gu Xizhou had slept in the hospital without a single dream. When she woke up in the morning, she hadn’t heard 0820’s relentless chatter about contracts or anything of the sort. According to 0820’s own words, she was here to help. Gu Xizhou had assumed that after solving the Su Nanfeng situation, 0820 had successfully retired.

0820 saw through the girl’s thoughts and huffed: “I told you, I’m here to help you change your destiny. Until you achieve true happiness, I’m not leaving. Did you really think Su Nanfeng was the only problem in your life?”

Gu Xizhou flipped through her foreign language book and began memorizing vocabulary from the first unit. Hearing 0820’s internal monologue, Little Gu Xizhou bit her lower lip and said after a while, “After getting rid of Su Nanfeng, I don’t think I’ll face any more major difficulties.”

After the events of last night went viral, the police had come to No. 1 High School this morning to investigate. Even though the Su family was wealthy and powerful, under the pressure of a major public opinion crisis and the intervention of social organizations, the authorities did their best to grant Gu Xizhou fairness.

During the various mediation meetings this morning, neither of Su Nanfeng’s mothers showed up. Instead, they sent Su Tianyu’s secretary, Ke Mi, and the Su family’s lawyer, Zhang Tian. The lawyer insisted that this was merely a “campus scuffle” and that Su Nanfeng’s actions did not constitute a crime, hoping for a private settlement.

The meeting ended on a sour note. As they were leaving, Zhang Tian brushed past Gu Jing and threatened her: “If Ms. Gu insists on not settling, then I believe Gu Xizhou will also be sent to a juvenile detention center as a habitual offender.”

As luck would have all, Gu Jing had kept her recording pen on throughout the entire meeting, and it was still running when Zhang Tian said those words. Not long after the groups parted ways, Gu Jing posted the recording online, and the public launched another round of condemnation against the Su family.

When the stock market opened in the afternoon, shares for all companies under the Su Group plummeted. Su Tianyu was held accountable by various board members through calls both direct and indirect. After hanging up, she gave Secretary Ke Mi and Lawyer Zhang Tian a blistering lecture.

In response, Zhang Tian suggested a dirty trick: transfer 200,000 to Gu Jing for a private settlement. If Gu Jing accepted the money, the Su Group would have a chance to turn the tide of public opinion.

When 0820 descended back into this world, the busy and exhausted Gu Jing received a call from Zhang Tian. Zhang Tian’s words were calculated to sound seamless: “They’re just teenagers, and both Alphas—it’s inevitable they’d have some bumps and bruises. Nanfeng was in the wrong, but didn’t your child bite her face too? She might have been a bit heavy-handed, but our employer isn’t a stingy person. 200,000 for a private settlement. You post a follow-up, and neither side needs to mention this again. It was just a fight between kids; there’s no need to blow it out of proportion!”

Gu Jing, who had started recording, nearly exploded upon hearing this: “Just a joke between kids? Su Nanfeng beat our Xizhou into that state, and you think money can solve this? You think being rich makes you special? You think money lets you do whatever you want!”

Gu Jing was so angry she was practically manic: “I’ll go take out a loan for 200,000 at shark-loan rates—you go ask Su Tianyu if she’s willing to let her daughter be beaten by mine for two years!”

Gu Jing was never a refined person; she screamed this so loudly that Gu Xizhou could hear it clearly from her room.

Gu Xizhou and 0820 both fell silent. With a shared sense of curiosity, the girl put down her language book, crept to the door, opened a small crack, and peered out.

In the somewhat cramped living room, Gu Jing’s tall frame stood on the balcony. With her back to the bright lights of the room, she gripped her phone and cursed: “Settlement! Settle your grandmother! Why didn’t you say this during the meeting at school this morning? Now you come talking about compensation? Do you think I’ve been living in this society for years for nothing? I know exactly what kind of tricks you capitalist lackeys use—give me money, then frame me for blowing this up just for the cash, and finally label this as a ‘scuffle’ instead of Su Nanfeng bullying my Xizhou! Keep dreaming! Not a chance! 500,000? You wish! You think I’d sell my daughter for 500,000! Two million! Even if that damn Su Tianyu gave you two million to get beaten for two years, see if you’d take it! If you have the guts, let my boss fire me! Even if I have to go sell fried noodles on the street, I’m going to get justice for my daughter!”

In the cool late-summer night, Gu Jing—wearing black trousers and a white shirt with her hair in a ponytail—stood on the balcony, completely abandoning her image to scream at Su Nanfeng’s lawyer.

Watching that tall, upright figure from her memories, Gu Xizhou felt a strange ache in her chest. Little Gu Xizhou eavesdropped for a while longer. Only after Gu Jing hung up and stood on the balcony sighing in the breeze did the girl quietly close her door and sit back at her desk.

Gu Xizhou reopened her book, but she couldn’t memorize a single word from the long list. After a while, she put the book down, slumped back in her chair, and stared at the ceiling with a sense of melancholy: “Two million…”

As a researcher, Gu Jing’s annual salary was roughly 300,000. Two million was nearly ten years of her income. It could pay off all their debts and buy them a decent house. If they really had two million, it wasn’t that she couldn’t consider it…

0820 shouted loudly in her mind: “Have some backbone! Are you mother and daughter really going to fall for a measly two million? Vision! Think about the big picture! If they’re going to pay, make them pay big! Use the money from Su Tianyu and Mu Zhilan to start an anti-bullying foundation! Let’s see if that brat Su Nanfeng ever dares to bully anyone again!”

The adult Gu Xizhou within 0820 was frustrated, wondering how her younger self could be so “short-sighted” and “unambitious.”

Gu Xizhou was somewhat bewildered: “But that… that seems really hard to do.”

0820 coughed lightly: “It’s not hard. As long as you can rely on the right person.”

“Who?”

0820 replied: “Su Zhiyi.”

Gu Xizhou’s eyes widened: “Why would I look for her?”

0820 said with great conviction: “Didn’t she say to go to her if you had any difficulties? Do as I say and send her a message. She will definitely be happy to help you make this happen.”

A connection as good as Mu Zhilan shouldn’t go to waste. With Mu Zhilan involved, she could suppress Su Tianyu, and Gu Jing wouldn’t have to be so “maternal” that she ended up quitting her job.