Chapter 50

Chapter 50: WeChat Payment

Original price: 3899.

After the government subsidy: 3590.

Pay in 12 installments.

First 3 installments are interest-free.

Installment fee rate: 0.7%.

Principal per installment: 3590 divided by 12, about 299.

First 3 are interest-free, so 299 each.

After that, add a service fee: 3590 times 0.7%, about 25.

So the next 9 are 299 plus 25, which is 324.

Digestive System: "."

These are the tiny crystals buried deep in Lin Jianyuan’s mind.

No wonder Lin Jianyuan can’t sleep—this is what’s running through his head all day.

How could anyone make sense of any of this?

But this time, the crystal didn’t seem to be work-related.

"Now that you mention it, I remember," the squish toy suddenly said. "I think I’ve seen this 'government subsidy' thing somewhere before… Oh, right! Wasn’t it when you were mopping the floor for him last time…"

Digestive System: "."

It remembered too.

It had once seen a message like this on Lin Jianyuan’s phone:

Your purchase of [government-subsidized xxx sweeping and mopping robot, all-in-one self-cleaning mop, extended version (3 interest-free installments available)] has shipped!

The Digestive System might be highly anthropomorphized, but it’s not human.

Back then, it only noticed the sweeping robot.

The rest of the message was just meaningless noise, automatically filtered out.

And yet, somehow…

It turned into a crystal?

The Digestive System turned its “head.”

It stared at the sleeping Lin Jianyuan.

Impossible to understand.

Humans.

……

...

Late night. 700 Jiangchuan North Road.

At the mental health center, only the emergency department was still brightly lit.

The outpatient building was as dark as a ghost.

Oh, and the inpatient wing.

The wards were just as dark, but the nurses’ station and doctors’ offices still had their lights on.

And the air was thick with resentment.

Places like this are magnets for Aberrants.

That’s why the Bureau had long since made arrangements.

Even before the “Encounter with Xie Yu” incident, the Bureau had stationed permanent staff at hospitals of every level.

Especially psychiatric hospitals.

“Recently, we’ve observed three Aberrants at 700 Jiangchuan North Road: one B-class, ‘Lethargy’; two C-class, ‘Insomnia’ and ‘Attract.’”

The field agent stationed here long-term was named Wang Fu.

Early forties, easygoing, a bit scruffy—looked like your average unkempt uncle at first glance.

But only Shi Shaoning knew how tough his job really was.

The Bureau classified Aberrants into five levels.

From lowest to highest:

D-class (harmless/minor threat) → C (localized) → B (contagious) → A (psychic pollution) → S (physical destruction).

Take ‘Lethargy,’ for example, a B-class.

Its true form was a giant goldfish swimming through the air.

‘Lethargy’ drifted through crowds. Anyone struck by its tail would feel their body grow heavy, overcome by exhaustion.

People called it “bone-tired,” “dead on their feet,” or “can’t be bothered to do a thing.”

Most humans couldn’t see Aberrants at all, so they had no defense against ‘Lethargy’s’ attacks.

And as everyone knows, yawning is contagious—see someone yawn, and you’ll yawn too.

That’s how ‘Lethargy’ spread among people.

‘Insomnia’ was the opposite.

As the name suggests, it kept people awake.

“Localized” meant it was limited in range—usually haunting a building, a room, even a single mattress.

Like a specific building, a certain room, or a particular mattress.

That’s why ‘Insomnia’ was C-class.

But even at the same level, some Aberrants were worse than others.

Like ‘Attract.’

Its power? Attracting mosquitoes.

It fed on the negative emotions people felt after being bitten over and over again.

Not dangerous, but deeply, deeply annoying.

“Right now, ‘Insomnia’ and ‘Attract’ are contained. Only ‘Lethargy’ is still on the loose, its sigil has already—” Wang Fu continued his report.

He spoke quickly, knowing the captain in front of him had no patience for drawn-out explanations.

Sure enough, Shi Shaoning cut him off before he could finish: “Skip anything below A-class. Any A or S-class?”

Wang Fu shook his head. “No. Things have been pretty quiet lately.”

Shi Shaoning was about to leave at that “no,” but paused mid-step, then turned back.

“Lately?” Shi Shaoning frowned, sharp as ever. “How recent?”

Wang Fu thought for a moment. “These past three… no, four days.”

Shi Shaoning sensed something off and pressed further, quickly finding the thread.

Turns out, all three Aberrants Wang Fu mentioned had been active at 700 Jiangchuan North Road for a while.

The Bureau was always short on staff and resources. They could only contain the Aberrants that actually harmed people.

So the harmless or mildly annoying ones were sometimes left alone.

But the last three days had been different.

Not only had no mid- or high-level Aberrants shown up, even the low-level ones had vanished.

It was as if they’d all migrated overnight.

Or rather—

They’d been eaten.

Shi Shaoning frowned, remembering that stormy night.

That night, their team had run into the S-class Aberrant, Xie Yu. Xie Yu had clearly wanted no part of a fight, fleeing straight toward Jiangchuan North Road.

Was it in a hurry to feed?

Shi Shaoning: "."

Shi Shaoning clenched his fists, feeling insulted.

He worked his ass off—filming all day, then rushing over at night to contain Aberrants, squeezing in some stupid middle-management meeting in between!

And his greatest enemy ever turned out to be… a gluttonous Aberrant obsessed with food?!

Fuck!!!

This is insane!

He’d geared up for battle, ready to die if he had to, and the damn thing hadn’t even glanced his way!

Because it was too busy looking for its next meal!!!

His fists tightened.

Rock hard.

Shi Shaoning took a deep breath, forced his anger down, and said, “If Xie Yu really did eat those Aberrants, then it’s probably claimed 700 Jiangchuan North Road as its territory. It’ll come back.”

Aberrants were territorial, like dogs. Once they marked a place, they didn’t tolerate intruders.

Especially S-class monsters like Xie Yu.

A single sigil from it was enough to send any lesser Aberrant running.

“As for ‘Lethargy’—it’s probably already been eaten by Xie Yu. So your new assignment is—”

Wang Fu pointed at himself, shocked. “You want me to contain Xie Yu? Me?”

Shi Shaoning: "."

He almost rolled his eyes.

Shi Shaoning raised his wrist and tapped at his terminal.

Wang Fu’s terminal chimed with an incoming file.

“This is all the sigil fragments we’ve collected from Xie Yu so far. Tech’s analyzed ninety percent. In theory, one more sample and we’ll have a complete sigil.”

Wang Fu grinned. “Man, I thought you wanted me to contain an S-class. Turns out I just need to collect fragments? That’s easy. I’ll just tail it and pick up the pieces. Don’t worry, Captain—if Xie Yu so much as shows its face at 700 Jiangchuan North Road, I’ll make sure to scrape off a chunk myself.”

Shi Shaoning had been ready to leave, but those words made him grit his teeth and turn back.

“Guarantee my ass!” Shi Shaoning snapped. “An S-class Aberrant isn’t like the trash you usually deal with! S-class can destroy you—literally! Don’t you dare treat this like any other job! Your life is on the line. Take this seriously! The Bureau’s not paying you enough to die for them! Don’t you have a family?!”

Wang Fu: "???"

Was that concern? Or just getting chewed out?

Whatever. Captain Shi’s temper was legendary at the Bureau.

After all, the guy was a celebrity by day and a Bureau grunt by night. No wonder he was cranky.

Part-timers at the Bureau were all like this.

Unlike him—full-time, permanently stationed at 700 Jiangchuan North Road.

To outsiders, it looked like he was stuck in a psych ward, couldn’t go home, and faced constant gossip.

But only he knew how cushy this gig really was.

“Hospitalized” at 700 Jiangchuan North Road, he had almost nothing to do most days.

With detectors set up everywhere, all he had to do was make the rounds like a security guard.

The rest of the time was his own.

Like calligraphy. Or working out.

He’d posted calligraphy videos on Xiaohongshu before, but got barely any likes or comments. It was a little discouraging.

Then one day, he accidentally rolled up his sleeves, showing off his toned forearms.

Boom. Thirty thousand likes, just like that.

He finally saw the world for what it was.

And that’s how his account blew up.

Lately, Wang Fu had been happily busy—after finishing his rounds, he’d shoot calligraphy videos (well, mostly his forearms) for Xiaohongshu every day.

He had no idea why people kept flooding his comments with “daddy” and “alpha.”

That’s the beauty of government work.

Pick the right post, and you could run a side hustle on company time.

Still, the Bureau job was a bit special.

It messed with your head, and sometimes you really could die—like with this S-class situation.

So when Shi Shaoning yelled at him, Wang Fu’s first reaction was surprise, the second… actually kind of touched.

This kid’s not so bad, he thought.

Just a sharp tongue.

All in all, he liked the captain. Shi Shaoning was nothing like the arrogant diva the tabloids made him out to be.

Wang Fu mused on this as he walked Shi Shaoning out.

After all, this was a psych hospital. The inpatient wing was locked down at night; you needed a staff card to get in or out.

As a Bureau plant, Wang Fu had full access.

“Thanks for your hard work, Captain, so—”

Wang Fu swiped open the door, about to politely see Shi Shaoning out—

Beep!

A shrill alarm blared from both their terminals at once!

Wang Fu jumped, but Shi Shaoning was already moving!

He yanked Wang Fu behind him, chambering a round in one fluid motion!

The Bureau’s standard-issue weapons were lethal to Aberrants, harmless to humans.

Wang Fu snapped to, drawing his own weapon and dropping into a fighting stance.

But then—

“…Captain?” Wang Fu noticed Shi Shaoning’s shoulders go oddly stiff.

The alarm only beeped once, then fell silent—almost like a false alarm.

Wang Fu stepped forward, puzzled.

Peering over the captain’s black combat suit, he saw… no, half of something.

Half a giant goldfish.

Wang Fu: "?"

The massive goldfish lay sprawled on the ground.

Only half, because the lower part of its tail was missing.

Bitten clean off.

Clearly gnawed by a huge, gaping mouth.

The bite marks alone were half a meter wide.

The goldfish was still alive, but couldn’t move—just lay there like, well, a dead fish.

Not surprising, with half its tail gone.

Wait, this goldfish?

Wasn’t this the B-class Aberrant, ‘Lethargy’?!

What was it doing here?

And why was half its tail missing?!

This was insane!

Wang Fu blurted out, “Is it ‘Maw of the Abyss’?!”

As far as he knew, only one Aberrant had a mouth that big.

The ‘Maw of the Abyss.’

But Shi Shaoning ground out two words through gritted teeth: “It’s not.”

Wang Fu: “Huh?”

“Not ‘Maw of the Abyss.’ It’s Xie Yu.”

Before Wang Fu could ask why, Shi Shaoning bent down and snatched up a large stone.

That’s when Wang Fu noticed a sheet of paper under the rock.

A4 printer paper.

One line was written on it:

“Don’t stiff me on the 80% kickback.”

“I need the money. Urgent. Send it tonight.”

Below that was a QR code.

Shi Shaoning: "…"

Shi Shaoning fought the urge to roll his eyes. He pulled out his phone and scanned it.

Ding.

It was a WeChat payment code.

Wang Fu: "?"

Shi Shaoning: "………………"

Wang Fu was stunned. He couldn’t believe it.

His worldview shattered as he stared at Shi Shaoning.

“Captain, have you lost your mind?!” Wang Fu cried, heartbroken. “How could you collude with an Aberrant for kickbacks? This is a serious breach of conduct!”

Shi Shaoning: "………………######"

Kickbacks, my ass!!!

Maybe look a little closer before you start accusing people?!

Who the hell is taking kickbacks here?!!

I’m the one getting shaken down here!!!

Shi Shaoning gritted his teeth, holding back his rage.

He forced himself to stay calm and used his Bureau clearance to trace the WeChat payment code.

He quickly found the ID tied to the account.

A 108-year-old man.

Fine. Great.

A centenarian running a blackmail racket, demanding kickbacks out in the open.

—Who the hell would believe that?! Obviously a fake ID!

Crack.

Shi Shaoning crushed his phone in his hand.