Seizing Dreams

Zhou Sheng motioned for him to go back, and to allow him to handle the situation from here. Chen Yekai nodded. Yu Hao sat down on the sofa, Zhou Sheng went to open the door with a glass of wine in hand. The moment the door was opened, Lin Xun’s face was an extremely spectacular sight.

“Yo, Professor Lin.” Zhou Sheng raised his glass at him, “I wish you good health!”

Lin Xun immediately regained his composure and said in a low voice, “It’s you, Zhou Sheng.”

Zhou Sheng let Lin Xun in, then closed and locked the door.

Lin Xun only needed to see the wine glasses and ashtray on the coffee table to guess what had happened. He shouted, “Jinmin!”

No reply. Lin Xun wanted to go in, but Zhou Sheng said, “Don’t be in such a rush to go in, let’s have a chat bei. I haven’t apologised to you yet.”

Yu Hao asked, “Professor Lin, what drink do you want?”

“I won’t trouble you guys.” Lin Xun said coldly, “Looks like Liang Laoshi’s Academic Salon had just ended, and you’ve learnt quite a bit too. Do you want a continuation? I brought water, what do you want to talk about?”

“Let’s talk about how you panicked and dashed like a madman for thirty miles that day.” Zhou Sheng looked slightly drunk as he smiled, “When the next college sports meet is held, Lin Laoshi must sign up for the Teacher’s Team ah, you ran so damn fast!”

“It’s a human’s natural instinct to protect themselves in times of crisis, that’s very normal.” Lin Xun didn’t betray the slightest hint of guilt as he calmly responded.

Yu Hao said, “Is that still the case even after we’re certain that we’ve committed a crime, and are trying to evade the legal consequences of our actions?”

“I admit to breaking the law.” Lin Xun said in earnest, “I couldn’t withstand the temptation of money. Now, Laoshi has repented, After you enter the workforce, you must bear this in mind and not follow my path.”

This wasn’t Yu Hao’s first time having a conversation with Lin Xun face-to-face. Previously, he had been on the verge of choking from his anger at Lin Xun, and it wasn’t any better this time. They were so close to finding the evidence, yet they had missed their opportunity.

“You’re very poor ba, Yu Hao.” Lin Xun said, “I’ve seen your file. It’s already hard on you to be poor, but your sexual orientation isn’t normal either. Isn’t that a very painful thing?”

Yu Hao took a deep breath. He knew that Lin Xun was trying to provoke him, but Zhou Sheng glanced at Yu Hao and said to Lin Xun, “So minorities are abnormal? Then what about me? What’s my evaluation?”

“You’re from a pretty good family.” Lin Xun smiled mockingly, “It’s once said, ‘children of the poor walk about in the streets with their dishevelled hair and dirty faces; children of the rich walk around their homes, barbaric and pampered. After they grow up, they all walk around society deliriously, just like their fathers, or even worse off’. In this regard, Lu Xun described it quite accurately.”

Zhou Sheng sat on the single-person sofa that Liang Jinmin had sat on just now. He lit a cigarette and said, “Do Lin Laoshi’s Academic Salons always discuss that kind of topic?”

“Yes.” Lin Xun said, “I’m a realistic person, different from your Liang Laoshi. She likes Romanticism, tragedy, the classical school of thought, and she likes brainwashing your Chen Laoshi too. He’s so indoctrinated that he doesn’t even remember who he was anymore.”

Zhou Sheng was thinking about how to confront Lin Xun when Yu Hao suddenly said, “You’re not the first, Lin Laoshi.”

“Oh?” Lin Xun said, “First what?”

“The first to say that you’re someone who worships realism.” Yu Hao said, “They have always taught me many great life principles. For example, how our society adheres to the law of the jungle: if you don’t harm others, they will come to harm you; if you don’t take the money in front of you, then you’re an idiot, and you’ll regret it sooner or later; life is meaningless in the first place, since everyone dies anyway......”

“Correct that a bit.” Lin Xun said, “That last point of view is called ‘nihilism’, and it has nothing to do with realism. You need to read more. Once you’ve read enough, you’ll begin to question the world and form your own outlook on life. Do you know, Yu Hao? People study to choose what to believe in. You will come into contact with this marvelous world, which is filled with many theories. Along with your experiences in life, your ideas will be vanquished one by one. You’ll believe in one thing when you’re 20, believe in another when you’re 30, and then another when you’re 40. You’ll keep doubting yourself, denying yourself, and then ‘realizing’ new rules by which to live your life. There is no absolute right or wrong, only choices that will allow you to live more freely. And you’ll only have room for choice if you have power.”

Yu Hao said, “I’m not as knowledgeable as you, who’s very well read. My belief comes from the introspection of my innermost self. I think that perhaps, you have never examined yourself. You have power and wisdom, but you used them to do evil, and perhaps no one can punish you, so you can go unpunished as you go on with your life. But your conscious world has already fallen into ruins. A dense mass of dark clouds cover its sky, the sun will never rise, and no life will ever grow in its wasteland. You’ll never be able to experience all the beautiful things in this world again!”

Zhou Sheng, “......”

Zhou Sheng thought that he would be the one engaging in a fierce confrontation with Lin Xun; he never would’ve expected that Yu Hao would be so much more agitated than him. This was the first time he saw Yu Hao argue with others with such a lengthy speech, and on the contrary, Zhou Sheng was the one who couldn’t even say a word now.

He never thought that Yu Hao would have so much to say in his heart! At this moment, the screen of the phone on the coffee table lit up. Three messages that Chen Yekai sent him from the bedroom popped up.

“I don’t need to introspect.” Lin Xun sneered, “I live a very good life. I’m living a better life than any of you, and I’m much more successful than you guys. This is the life that my belief has brought me. I don’t need a student to lecture me. All of you, even Nicky and Ryuusei included, are just children who’re living in a puddle of mud. You’re not qualified to judge me, no, you can say whatever you want, and it won’t influence me at all. I don’t care, I don’t care!”

“This is the inequality that makes you helpless. When you leave your college and enter society, you’ll realise that there’s a lot of unfairness in this world. That’s the ‘reality’ I’m talking about. In the end, it’ll be just as I predicted today. Understand that this world is realistic and materialistic. In the future, you two will definitely remember what I said tonight. Right now, a winner is sharing his thoughts with the losers, and also some of my experiences as someone who had gone through something similar.”

“You’re like a blind man.” Yu Hao murmured, “Ever since the day you began doing evil, you’ve lost the most precious thing that the Creator had bestowed upon us — that’s the price you have to pay for all of this!”

Lin Xun mocked, “Maybe ba. We can’t convince each other, but the conclusion is obvious. All of you have already lost.”

“Not necessarily?” Zhou Sheng suddenly answered.

At this moment, Zhou Sheng made a move that surprised Yu Hao. He placed his wine glass down, moved over to the long sofa and sat beside Yu Hao, then took out the TV remote control from the coffee table.

Yu Hao’s brows furrowed slightly. He turned his head to look at Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng turned his head sideways and returned Yu Hao’s glance. He raised an eyebrow and revealed his usual, signature smirk that looked downright mischievous.

Soon after, Zhou Sheng pressed a button on the remote control. The TV lit up with a blue screen. At the bottom of the screen, an Apple TV Option popped up, then the screen mirroring option was selected. Videos were scrolled through, one was selected, and then the screen was unlocked, set to horizontal display, and the video started to play.

Chen Yekai was operating his phone in the bedroom!

Yu Hao stared at the TV screen in a daze. Lin Xun immediately began to tremble violently; his eyes were wide open, and his face had turned pale.

It was a video that was seven minutes and twenty-five seconds long: it started from the quarrel Liang Jinmin had with Linxun in the living room. Lin Xun held a suit in one hand and walked past the sofa. Liang Jinmin pulled Lin Xun’s suit, then Lin Xun suddenly turned around and pushed Liang Jinmin onto the floor. Liang Jinmin trembled as she stood up. Lin Xun threw his suit jacket down, loosened his cufflinks, and dragged her over. One slap.

This was the first time Yu Hao had seen a surveillance video of domestic violence, so he couldn’t help but clench his fists. Zhou Sheng held Yu Hao’s hand with his palm covering the back of Yu Hao’s hand.

Liang Jinmin kept trying to dodge. Lin Xun grabbed her hair and dragged her back, then punched her temple. When Liang Jinmin turned sideways, she deliberately fled to the TV. Yu Hao caught a glimpse of her pained and bawling face. She fled to the door, but Lin Xun stopped her, then grabbed her head and slammed it against the wall. When Liang Jinmin swerved around and broke away from his grip, Lin Xun clutched her neck with one hand, then rammed her into the wall two more times.

Liang Jinmin slid down the wall as she fell with dishevelled hair, her head drooping down. Lin Xun grabbed her hair, knelt down on one knee and whispered something into her ear. Then he held her head and ruthlessly slammed it again. Liang Jinmin went limp and fell to the floor, losing consciousness.

The entire scene lasted just three minutes.

Lin Xun kicked Liang Jinmin again before returning to the sofa to sit down. He cast a sideways glance at her, then poured a glass of wine for himself. He bowed down slightly, seeming as if he was thinking about something. He got up and carried Liang Jinmin down the stairs at the corner, heading down to the underground garage. Two minutes later, he returned. He looked around as if he was wondering if there was anything unusual.

At the seventh minute, Lin Xun got up. He had figured out that Liang Jinmin’s action of fleeing towards the TV was somewhat peculiar. He began inspecting all of the decorations on it from left to right, but he was only halfway through his inspection when he discovered the surveillance camera. He reached out and took it off; the surveillance camera tilted to one side and swayed past Liang Jinmin who was lying at the corner. Not long after, the screen went black, and the surveillance video ended.

Lin Xun seemed petrified as he sunk into the sofa and didn’t get up for a very long time. Zhou Sheng turned up the brightness of the floor lamp. Yu Hao saw Lin Xun’s expression — it looked as if it belonged to a dead person.

A noise travelled over from the bedroom. Chen Yekai opened the door.

“Liang Laoshi remembered.” Chen Yekai said to them, “After she went back that day, she installed a camera in the wood carving and uploaded it to an independent cloud account at the same time, it’s just that it didn’t come to mind until now. I’ve already notified Huang Ting, they’ll be here in a minute.”

“Looks like after all the twists and turns we went through, things have finally taken a turn for the better.” Zhou Sheng sighed, “Well......you may really have to go to jail this time, Lin Laoshi? Let’s have a short interview, how are you feeling right now?”

Lin Xun didn’t say anything. Zhou Sheng looked at Lin Xun and said earnestly, “Lin Laoshi, you’re very ‘realistic’, so you think that this world is what you understand it to be. But don’t forget, we live in this world too, and we’re also a part of this ‘reality’.

Yu Hao, “!!!”

Someone outside rang the doorbell. Zhou Sheng got up to open the door, and Huang Ting brought in his colleagues.

“Go back ba.” Zhou Sheng said to Yu Hao. The two of them got up, went to the door, and Zhou Sheng shouted, “Goodbye, Liang Laoshi!”

“Goodbye.” Liang Jinmin’s calm voice travelled over from the bedroom.

Liang Jinmin never came out of the bedroom and didn’t take another look at Lin Xun.

“Good bye, Lin Laoshi.” Yu Hao said to Lin Xun.

—