Yan and Jue Jue took stock of all the halo individuals they had encountered over the years.
This wasn’t the first time they’d witnessed someone suddenly gaining a "halo" out of nowhere—after all, Xu Jiaojiao and those from the rebirth crematorium scenarios had all "reincarnated" abruptly.
But Zhuo Si’s situation was clearly very different.
He hadn’t "reincarnated." Instead, it seemed as though he had artificially manufactured his own "halo"—or perhaps actively summoned it to descend upon him.
And all of this had happened in just a short span of time!
"Absurd. It’s getting more and more absurd," Yan muttered as she walked down the street.
This was no longer just something that could be described as "miraculous"!
The two arrived at their chosen beef hotpot restaurant. While waiting for their food, Yan rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought.
"Jue Jue, I think Zhuo Si wasn’t just going to the bathroom earlier—he must have been up to something else."
Zhu Jue wiped the table with his own alcohol wipes before replying, "I was thinking the same thing. Maybe some other incantation, or a ritual?"
"But I can’t quite figure it out," Yan wrinkled her nose.
"Logically speaking, given his knowledge of languages, the items in his shop, and the fact that he operates in Bin City’s antique street, he must have come into contact with at least a few extraordinary individuals. Shouldn’t he be more cautious about these things?" She tilted her head.
For Yan and Jue Jue, if they ever stumbled upon rituals or similar things in ancient texts, they would definitely steer clear.
After all—
These things were very real!
"Curiosity killed the cat," Zhu Jue quoted the old saying.
"Everyone thinks differently. Maybe this is exactly what he’s after? Most people spend their whole lives chasing things they can’t obtain."
As he spoke, he wrapped a napkin around the glass of plum juice the server had just brought over before handing it to her.
"That’s true," Yan propped her cheeks up with her fists.
"When we were kids watching dramas, we even tried digging for treasure maps downstairs."
For her and Jue Jue, knowing that the world held many supernatural elements made them extra cautious and reverent.
But for others, ignorance bred fearlessness.
And then there were those who, for the sake of their own truths, would march straight into danger despite knowing the risks.
"Zhuo Si must have at least some skills, right?" Yan speculated.
After all, his shop was filled with items from various Western traditions, and he knew Sanskrit and Latin. His knowledge was eclectic—she just hoped his abilities were equally diverse.
"Maybe he has some kind of sixth sense?" Zhu Jue guessed.
"That door at the convenience store was probably summoned by him, so he must have some power."
Yan nodded in agreement. Though they didn’t know what classical incantation Zhuo Si had recited that morning, the sudden appearance of the wooden door was likely his doing.
The only question was why it had ended up with those two instead of the actual "summoner."
Was it because she and Jue Jue had VIP status?
The beef in the bone broth cooked in seconds, and Zhu Jue’s movements were practiced and swift—Yan couldn’t even keep up with how fast he was serving her.
"Jue Jue, eat some yourself! I have too much here."
Between bites of hotpot, they continued pondering this new halo.
After all, the "Supernatural Intern" halo felt a little strange no matter how they looked at it.
The term "supernatural" could be taken literally—abnormal, bizarre encounters.
"Intern" was self-explanatory, but when the two words were combined, it made them scratch their heads, unsure what hidden dangers this halo might entail.
"Maybe it’s an intern who goes around investigating strange news stories?" Yan thought this was a strong possibility.
But how could a mere job or profession form a halo? There had to be something special about it.
The beef hotpot restaurant was some distance from Bin City’s antique street. After checking a review site and confirming that Zhuo Si’s shop was "temporarily closed," Yan decided to pose as a regular customer and add his store’s WeChat.
Better safe than sorry—having his contact info might come in handy.
Rather than being caught off guard by disasters brought on by sudden halo encounters, it was wiser to gather intel and stay prepared.
After lunch, Yan and Jue Jue decided to head back to campus instead of continuing their stroll.
The custom-made peace lock would take time, and since all the boys in Dorm 414 had taken on the role of "godfathers" to Little An’an, Zhu Jue mentioned that everyone seemed to be going all out with their gifts.
"Originally, they were fighting over who’d be the ‘top godfather,’ but I bowed out. Yuan Ye and Ping An were practically groveling for meals, and Chu Shen conceded to Uncle Xiao for health reasons," Zhu Jue explained.
Yan blinked. "Uncle Xiao wouldn’t compete with you guys over this, right?"
"Right, so they changed the ranking system. Now everyone’s a ‘top godfather,’ just with different titles," he chuckled.
"Chu Shen is the ‘Fried Rice Godfather,’ Uncle Xiao is the ‘Chief Health Consultant,’ Ping An is the ‘Tech Godfather,’ and Yuan Ye handles ‘Fashion Coordination.’"
"Wait!" Yan suddenly raised a finger.
"Does Fan know about Yuan Ye’s situation?"
Zhu Jue coughed lightly. "Seems like everyone knows, but they’ve all silently agreed not to mention it to each other. When Yuan Ye volunteered to handle fashion coordination, we were all stunned."
Just thinking about it made Zhu Jue stifle a laugh. "Especially Chu Shen—he thought Yuan Ye had misspoken and kept trying to cover for him, only to make things worse. Then Ping An got mad."
"Ping An got mad?" Yan was surprised.
"Yeah, because he realized the rest of us already knew about Yuan Ye and thought we’d conspired to exclude him," Zhu Jue said.
"So Yuan Ye had to relive the humiliation and explain what happened over winter break again."
Yan burst out laughing. "Yuan Ye must have given up by now. I haven’t seen Ye Ping’an in a while, though."
This halo individual, who only ever appeared while live-streaming with a face full of floating comments, had practically vanished since the holidays.
Zhu Jue thought for a moment. "He doesn’t stream on campus much anymore, but he left really early this morning—no idea where he went. His major’s pretty demanding, and he takes freelance gigs too. Could be work or another stream."
"Apparently, Yi Zhi referred a client to him," he added.
Yan paused. "Yi Zhi? I know Ping An made the fruit-selling mini-program for Yi Zhi, but I’m not sure about other clients."
Whenever she checked Yi Zhi’s "Relative’s Farm" mini-program, everything was either sold out or not yet available.
They weren’t the dorm’s caretakers—everyone had their own lives and ambitions, so it was natural they didn’t know every detail.
"Supposedly, because that mini-program was so well-made—never crashed, super smooth—some clients reached out to Yi Zhi for referrals. And then some really weird stuff happened."
Zhu Jue wore a strange expression on his face, and Yan poked him. "No keeping secrets."
"Ping An said he thought some people were placing orders, but it turns out some were just fruit buyers offering high prices to get him to hack into the system for them. Others even ordered scalping bots from him!"
Yan burst out laughing. "Oh my god, they’re really solving the problem at the source. These customers come up with the wildest ideas."
"Compared to them, we’re living the dream," she said.
Unlike those customers who had to wait for limited-time fruit drops and fight to place orders, the free fruit supply for their two dorm rooms was enough to make anyone green with envy!
As they chatted, they made their way back to campus. Though they’d witnessed the rise of a "shining star" from nothing, the day had been mostly uneventful, and they’d accomplished what they set out to do.
Yan placed Lu Chen’s VIP gift, the "Ruby," in a transparent box. Since she hadn’t figured out what to do with it yet, she stored it alongside the two bells.
A week passed in the blink of an eye. Life at school was always steady and peaceful, each day seemingly the same yet subtly different.
March 12th, Friday—International Tree Planting Day.
Friday was the happiest day of the week, and the girls of Dorm 320 were no exception.
Yan had just returned to the dorm after class when she heard Chu Bingbing’s excited gossip.
"Yan, Yan! Senior He Xing isn’t back yet. Remember those tickets I got for you guys? The dance drama—was the actress you saw named Fu Yao?"
Why was Bingbing suddenly asking about this?
"We saw Chen Beibei’s performance, not Fu Yao’s. Why?" Yan explained.
"Oh! I just saw some gossip saying Fu Yao was taken away by the police! Apparently, they’d just arrived in Jinling City today." Chu Bingbing emphasized the word "police," and He Xing, who had just walked in, heard every word.
"Taken away? That fast?" Yan blurted out.
Last week, when she, Jue Jue, Officer Zheng Yi, and Senior He Xing went to the show, it was the premiere in Bin City—March 5th. Today was March 12th, exactly one week later.
Officer Zheng Yi’s investigation moved at lightning speed. Truly a woman who represented justice!
"Yeah, it happened that fast! The blogger who posted this said Fu Yao was apparently just visiting Jinling City to watch a performance. But when she got off the high-speed train, the police were waiting outside. Everyone in several carriages saw it." Chu Bingbing rambled on.
Yan instinctively glanced at Senior He Xing, but her expression was unreadable—calm, as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world.
Meanwhile, Chu Bingbing was still buzzing with excitement. "What could she have been arrested for? Maybe she used something she shouldn’t have? Will the show still go on?"
Yan shook her head. "No idea. Someone else will take her role, but I don’t know if the other actors will be affected."
The memory of Fu Yao’s disastrous onstage breakdown last week was still fresh, and now she’d been publicly taken away. If she were part of the troupe, rumors would be flying.
"Yan, you know a lot of people. See if you can dig up any insider info. It’s killing me not knowing!" Chu Bingbing clutched her chest dramatically.
"I really don’t have connections for this. But don’t worry—when something like this happens, people will come forward with all kinds of stories. Just don’t believe everything you hear. It’s Friday—didn’t your favorite show update? Aren’t you gonna watch?"
Yan shot her a look, thinking to herself: The source of this gossip is literally standing right behind you. If an official police statement comes out later, Bingbing will probably look back on her frantic rumor-mongering and think, "I’m the worst!"
"Watching, watching!" Chu Bingbing’s attention was successfully diverted, and she switched to her tablet to stream the variety show.
As for Yan, she quietly started browsing online. Unsurprisingly, the gossip had blown up on Xiaohongshu, with over 50,000 likes already.
"Waiting for updates! Tag me, sisters!"
"Who’s Fu Yao? An actress? She’s kinda pretty, but I’ve never seen her in any dramas."
"Holy crap, holy crap! So the epic meltdown during last week’s Bin City performance—was it because the police were already onto her?"
"Breaking news! Fu Yao’s boyfriend, Shangguan, was also taken away by the police in Ning City!"
"What’s going on? Did I see that right? They put her in handcuffs—this is a criminal case?"
Wow! Yan scanned the latest updates. Officer Zheng Yi had struck again—dual arrests in different cities, moving at record speed.
As someone "in the know," sharing a dorm with Senior He Xing, should she send a message now? Or stay quiet and wait for everything to settle?
She had just forwarded the gossip link to Jue Jue when a new message popped up from He Xing’s black avatar on WeChat.
Yan opened the chat with slight awkwardness, only to freeze at the words on the screen.
[He Xing]: Yan, Officer Zheng Yi said… you might have a way for me to see my parents again?
