As soon as Yu Hao sat down, Zhao Dailin crowded around her with a face showing signs of a hangover. “I heard your husband is back?”

Yu Hao poured herself a glass of water and drank it leisurely, giving a slight “mm” in response.

Zhao Dailin looked her up and down, discovering evidence: she was still wearing yesterday’s clothes. “You didn’t go home last night?”

Yu Hao continued to sip her water slowly. It was a bit hot, so she blew on it in small breaths, her face reddening as she turned away. She had expected Zhao Dailin to bombard her with questions and had prepared herself for an in-depth conversation. However, it was clear that Zhao Dailin had no interest in gossip today. Instead, she turned away, pulled out her phone from her pocket, quickly opened a screen, and tossed it to her. “Take a look at this.”

Yu Hao put down her water glass and picked up the phone with suspicion.

The screen displayed Di Yanni’s Weibo. The top comment was from the fan who had attempted to throw sulfuric acid at her during her recent lecture, now threatening to punish “certain people.”

This hot comment had even received a reply from Di Yanni.

Di Yanni: Please be rational. Reply: Yanni, I love you.

Zhao Dailin crossed her arms and leaned back, lowering her head to glance at Yu Hao who was looking at the phone. “Since he’s back, I don’t think you can hide this from him. Find some time to discuss it with him.”

“He has a lot going on with the military,” Yu Hao replied without looking up.

“Last time, didn’t you have people from De’an following you? If necessary, have him arrange a few more. Don’t give this lunatic any opportunity.”

…

Yu Hao only learned about the De’an situation later. To prevent Hu Jianming from harming her again, Huo Ting had assigned several bodyguards to follow her. By the time she discovered this, they had already been following her for quite a while. Lu Huaizheng had told her not to get involved with Hu Jianming’s affairs, so Yu Hao didn’t actively seek out information.

But Yu Hao really wasn’t comfortable with the feeling of being followed everywhere, so later Huo Ting withdrew the personnel and instead had people directly monitor Hu Jianming. Until last month, when Hu Jianming was arrested.

The investigation and eventual arrest of Hu Jianming were carried out secretly by Huo Ting and Jia Mian.

Hu Jianming’s Weibo account contained numerous nude photos of minors, and he even followed various pornographic websites. Jia Mian directly hacked his Weibo account and discovered that he had close contact with an account called “Ventilator.” Looking through their past conversations, Jia Mian found that the two communicated in code, very concisely.

Ventilator: New diamond arrived. Hu: How many points? Ventilator: Thirty points.

Similar conversations were common in private messages. Jia Mian initially thought it was an ordinary diamond transaction, but such exchanges occurred almost weekly. Jia Mian was very confused and asked Huo Ting, who was nearby, “Is he wealthy?”

Huo Ting, dressed in a suit, nestled in the sofa with his hands folded into a steeple, pondered for a moment before saying, “Apart from the three percent share I gave him, he has no other financial resources. Where would he get money to buy diamonds?”

After that, Huo Ting leaned in to look at the conversation and laughed, “This is code.”

Jia Mian turned to look at him. “What kind of code?”

Huo Ting smiled mysteriously, “What kind of transaction would require code for someone like Hu Jianming? Arms smuggling, drug trafficking—he might have the courage to use drugs, but what else remains?”

Jia Mian suddenly realized: “Prostitution?”

Huo Ting said calmly, “Register an account and try contacting this ‘Ventilator.'”

Jia Mian quickly registered an account, changing the avatar and photo album to nude pictures of women, then followed several porn sites and bloggers. In recent years, internet cleanup efforts have been substantial. Similar blogger accounts typically operate like cunning rabbits with three burrows—register an account, fire one shot, then pack up and run. Strangely, these people always manage to gather through various odd channels.

He made contact with “Ventilator,” who quickly replied, “Want to buy diamonds?”

Jia Mian imitated Hu Jianming’s tone, “What quality?”

Huo Ting couldn’t help but laugh from the side, “Not bad, the child can be taught.”

Jia Mian spat, “Why don’t you do it?”

Huo Ting waved his hand, “Your uncle is old. I have the heart but not the energy anymore.”

“…Are you really not planning to have a child with Auntie?” Jia Mian asked while replying to the message.

“No more. She’s too old to go through that suffering. We have Huaizheng, and that’s enough.”

Jia Mian lowered his head and smiled, genuinely envious: “You treat Huaizheng like your own son. If that guy doesn’t properly repay you in the future, I’ll whip him myself.”

Huo Ting took a sip of water, disbelieving, “Come on, can you beat him?”

Jia Mian: “I can’t beat him physically, but can’t I sanction him from a moral high ground?”

Huo Ting smiled and continued drinking water: “So you’re the legendary keyboard warrior?”

Jia Mian also laughed, his attention returning to the computer. The other person gave him an address. “It’s done. This Saturday.”

“That easy?” Huo Ting was suspicious. “Don’t get tricked.”

“This person is very cautious and said they don’t do business with strangers, so I gave a name.”

“You used Hu Jianming?” Huo Ting frowned.

“I’m not stupid. If I used Hu Jianming’s name and he checks with Hu Jianming, what then? I used a friend’s name. Don’t misunderstand—he’s not in this business, just a nightclub boss. Everyone in the nightclub scene knows him. Surprisingly, my friend’s name worked well. As soon as they heard it, they gave me the address. I’ll go scout it out this weekend.”

When Jia Mian returned from his reconnaissance, he was completely distraught.

The address was in a dilapidated neighborhood with peeling walls that shed dust. Entering the building, a damp smell hit him. When he reached the third floor, he stopped in front of a small wooden door. The person who opened the door was a young girl.

Still in middle school.

At first, Jia Mian thought he had gone to the wrong place, but something in the girl’s eyes told him he hadn’t. The person he was looking for seemed to be her.

“Thirty points, do you know what that means?” Jia Mian gritted his teeth in anger. Huo Ting sat in his executive chair, calmly and quickly signing documents. After collecting the folder, he looked up at Jia Mian. “What does it mean?”

“Ninth grade. Sixty points means twelfth grade. Over sixty indicates they’re adults. Under sixty, they’re all minors. Hu Jianming is a pedophile! He’s looking for thirty-pointers!”

“Where do these middle schoolers come from?”

“They’re mostly students from technical schools, doing it for money, for phones, some just for a meal. I don’t know how to describe what I’m feeling right now.” Jia Mian was a bit frantic; no one could understand what he experienced in there. He had intended to gather information and learn more about the organization, but he never expected to find such a young child.

Huo Ting looked at him suspiciously.

Jia Mian waved his hand. “Fine, don’t look at me like that. I couldn’t go through with it.”

“Aren’t you afraid the girl will go back and tell ‘Ventilator’?”

Jia Mian sighed, running his hands through his hair in frustration, looking at Huo Ting. “So… I brought her back with me…”

“Are you crazy?!”

Jia Mian dug at his ear. “Don’t shout. She’s standing outside right now.”

“Damn.” Huo Ting couldn’t help but curse. “You’ll get her killed!”

Jia Mian became agitated too. “What did you want me to do? Sleep with her and then let her go? Having relations with a minor, regardless of whether they consent or not, is fucking rape! If I had known that ‘thirty points’ meant this, I would never have done something so stupid!”

Both fell silent.

After a while, Jia Mian suggested, “Let’s call the police. We can’t handle this anymore.”

“Not yet. Our goal is to put Hu Jianming in jail, not to save girls in dire straits. Do you understand?”

Jia Mian was about to speak but was stopped by Huo Ting. “I know what you want to say. Hear me out first. Maybe what I’m saying sounds heartless, but I’m a businessman. What does it mean to pull one hair and move the whole body? You might not have experienced it, but Old Master Xiang knows very well that for us in business, the most taboo thing is to step in these gray areas. You understand? Because you have no idea which interest chain you’re disrupting when you destroy an organization like this.”

“Uncle Huo.”

Jia Mian could actually understand Huo Ting because, as he said himself, he was indeed somewhat heartless. It was precisely this ruthlessness that had allowed him to dominate the business world for so many years. Jia Mian understood all this, but hearing Huo Ting say these words still made him sad.

Unexpectedly, Huo Ting added, “Just this once. Don’t let it happen again.”

Huo Ting wasn’t one to fear trouble; he just didn’t want to deal with these matters. Unlike Lu Huaizheng and Jia Mian, who were young and passionate with hearts turned toward the sun, Huo Ting had weathered countless storms in his youth. His heart had long seen through the ways of the world. Unless it involved his family or the people he loved, his attitude was always one of detachment.

Huo Ting had a brother who worked at the Public Security Bureau.

He had originally planned to collect evidence and then hand Hu Jianming directly over to the police, just like Robin Hood in the old TV shows—tying up criminals who had escaped justice, dumping them at the police station’s doorstep, along with evidence and a list of charges.

Simple and straightforward. It wouldn’t affect Yu Hao and Lu Huaizheng either.

But now they needed to dismantle an organization, so he couldn’t use personal methods anymore. After secretly contacting the police, a major arrest operation was quietly launched in early summer.

At that time, Lu Huaizheng was in Tusland. Weibo was flooded with information about the aviation technology exchange conference, where he and Xu Yanshi had become the most eye-catching “fresh meat” of the summer.

Xiang Yuan engaged in fierce battles with keyboard warriors, fighting hundreds of rounds.

Yu Hao was being stalked by Di Yanni’s fanatical fan, who, during her lecture, took out a bottle of sulfuric acid intending to throw it at her. At the crucial moment, she was pinned down by an old veteran who had been regularly attending her lectures.

This veteran had met her earlier that year when she was giving lectures at the Air Force Therapy Center. He was an old squad leader from the 1st Regiment of the 5th Division of the Air Force’s Ground-to-Air Missile Forces. Years ago, during peacekeeping operations, he had lost his leg in a shell explosion and now wore a prosthetic.

Having attended so many psychological lectures, including those on psychological comfort, he particularly enjoyed Yu Hao’s lectures—calm and unpretentious, not seeking to sensationalize, with each section explained in great detail. He greatly admired this kind of unassuming, academically rigorous young woman.

That day at the Air Force Therapy Center, Lu Huaizheng had been lurking outside the door. One look, and the veteran knew these two had something going on.

Yu Hao conducted psychological lectures at various schools or administrative units on two Saturdays every month. That day’s lecture was held at S University, in a multimedia classroom on the third floor. There weren’t many people—scattered throughout, perhaps a hundred or so in total. Yu Hao’s lectures were beneficial for people like the veteran, but for most young people, they lacked appeal. She was too serious academically. Compared to Di Yanni next door, whose relaxed, humorous, and boldly intense teaching style seemed more popular.

Due to his veteran’s instinct, that day he felt something subtly off about the whole atmosphere. When he first entered, he noticed a young man wearing a baseball cap sitting in the front row, which made him pay closer attention for a while.

He discovered that throughout the entire lecture, this young man stared at Yu Hao on stage with hostile eyes.

The old squad leader’s mental alarm bells rang immediately. The young man also seemed nervous. Suddenly, he recalled the content of Yu Hao’s first lecture at the Air Force Therapy Center: when people are nervous or feel their brain needs to relieve pressure, they press on the back of their neck to stimulate blood flow and relax.

The young man fidgeted a lot, showing anxiety—rubbing his neck, tugging at his collar, unable to sit still.

The old squad leader took the opportunity to go to the bathroom, and when he returned, he didn’t sit in his original seat. Instead, he limped over to sit beside the young man. There weren’t many people in that row, and suddenly being disturbed, the young man turned his head alertly to look at the old squad leader.

The old squad leader smiled kindly at him, careful not to startle the prey.

The young man, seeing that the squad leader was elderly and disabled, didn’t think much of it. He turned back to continue staring vigilantly at Yu Hao on stage, his right hand constantly resting on his jacket’s chest pocket.

The old squad leader kept a close eye on his every move. As the lecture was about to end, with the crowd gradually beginning to disperse, the man suddenly stood up and pulled out a chemical bottle from his chest. The old squad leader reacted quickly, directly lunging at him and pinning him to the ground. Before the supposed sulfuric acid bottle could even be opened, the old squad leader kicked it away and firmly held the man down, leaving him almost no chance to resist.

The man apparently hadn’t expected that the elderly person beside him would be so strong. He struggled desperately, finding that the hands behind him were like iron clamps, impossible to break free from. He fluttered on the ground like a moth.

Yu Hao was a bit stunned. When she came to her senses, she rushed down from the podium to ask the old squad leader, “Are you alright?”

The old squad leader removed his belt to tie the man up, then threw him into a corner. Several security guards immediately rushed over with iron rods, surrounding him. Yu Hao turned to look at the man in the corner. Calling him a man was perhaps an overstatement—he was only about twenty years old, very thin, with a pointed chin and sunken cheeks, a typically weak personality type, easily influenced.

He leaned hysterically against the wall in the corner.

Yu Hao sat in her seat, thinking that she hadn’t offended anyone recently, until the man hysterically shouted at her: “You’ll never be as good as Professor Di!! You’ll never have her scientific spirit! You’re a government lapdog! Always singing praises of socialism! Forever just like those so-called leaders, whitewashing peace, afraid to face the dark side of society! You’ll never understand human nature, you don’t deserve to be a psychological researcher!!! Why are you all so resistant to the Stanford Prison Experiment? Because the results of that experiment truly reflect people like you—unconditional obedience to authority!! You only know how to obey authority unconditionally! But you dare not rebel!”

Since then, Yu Hao often pondered a question: perhaps the reason the Stanford Prison Experiment remains controversial is, as the boy said that day, due to people’s unconditional obedience to authority—unable to rebel yet unwilling to face their own cowardice.

That evening, she posted on Weibo about some of her arguments regarding the Stanford Prison Experiment, proposing a new perspective.

“I recall that when the professor conducted this experiment, all participants received a $15 compensation. Could this be understood not as people’s unconditional obedience to authority, but rather that these participants took the $15 payment and felt they should obey, or perhaps perform more diligently?

“Ms. Di Yanni, in your latest paper, you argue that humans should boldly face their dark sides rather than constantly avoiding them. I believe many have heard the story of Lei Feng, which I won’t elaborate on here. Everyone has a dark side, but that’s different from your belief that human nature is inherently evil, so your argument doesn’t stand. Furthermore, regarding experiments, I believe demonstrating that human nature is inherently good has more significance than proving it’s inherently evil.”