While Fan Jialuo signaled the guests to return to their seats, the program staff were also quickly restoring the furnishings in the recording room. Several lighting engineers picked up the scattered light stands and adjusted the angle and distance of the lights, trying to allow the cameras to capture a clear enough picture.
The two brightest lamps were placed next to Fan Jialuo and Shen Tu respectively, illuminating their faces in detail. A few minutes ago, Shen Tu’s posture was lazy, arrogant, and disdainful, but also leisurely, relaxed, and cheerful. He didn’t care what others thought of him, he just wanted to have a good time.
But now, when the bright light shone over him, he stretched out his hands to cover his face, and his facial features were distorted in pain. Especially when he heard Fan Jialuo’s denial, his body trembled violently and he sweated like rain.
“Genius? You never were!”
This sentence also shattered the pride of Father Shen and Mother Shen, causing them to protest sharply, “What nonsense are you talking about! Our TuTu is a genius, and others even say he is a once in a century genius! He will take the Q University or B University exams in the future, and he will become a great scientist like Stephen Hawking! Ordinary people like you know nothing!”
Fan Jialuo didn’t even give Father Shen and Mother Shen a glance from the corner of his eye. Song Wennuan snorted, with an expression dripping with mockery.
“What are you laughing at? What are you laughing at? What’s with your expression!” Mother Shen was a person with a strong sense of self-esteem. She pointed at the tip of Song Wennuan’s nose and asked.
“I’m sorry, I just think your words are quite funny.” Song Wennuan brushed her fingers away and said word by word, “If Teacher Fan is an ordinary person, then what are you? Single celled organisms?”
“You, what is with your attitude!” Mother Shen was speechless from her question, but she still persisted and refused to give up. Her son was her greatest pride and she would not allow anyone to slander him!
But Fan Jialuo’s mouth was obviously beyond her control. He was slowly describing the following, “Before the age of twelve, you were just an extremely ordinary child. You were not smart, powerful, or extraordinary. You were even a bit stupid, and couldn’t walk well even when you were two or three years old. You couldn’t express what was in your heart, and were a bit duller than all the children.” He closed his eyes, searched through the vast sea of memory fragments, rummaging through them to pick out the pictures he needed. “You were always worried about your academic performance. You needed to repeatedly memorize, recite, and copy the knowledge points that others could learn after reading just a few times. You had to work hundreds of times harder, but your results were unsatisfactory. You lived in suffering almost every day. Being born mediocre but unwilling to be mediocre was your greatest pain. You always knew that you were not strong. On the contrary, you were pitifully weak. In a class of 56 students, you were always the most inconspicuous and least popular one. The most common thing your parents, teachers, and classmates said to you was—Why are you so stupid?”
“You’re talking nonsense! I’m a genius, I get full marks on every test!” Shen Tu struggled desperately, stretching his hands out straight and trying to scratch Fan Jialuo, but Song Rui’s strong hands fixed him in place.
Father Shen and Mother Shen showed horrified expressions, as if they were hit dead center by these words.
“That’s right, you did become a genius later on.” Fan Jialuo nodded slightly, but his tone grew even colder as he continued, “Your concentration improved, your comprehension improved, and the knowledge points that you couldn’t understand before were absorbed easily. Your grades instantly rose to the point of crushing everyone else. You started to skip grades. This was not out of consideration for your future, but a way to show off. Your mediocre and humble life suddenly ushered in a new chapter. It took a turn for the better, and you wanted everyone to see you—You were extraordinary, you were above everything, especially ordinary people. The real you is weak and needs the protection of this shell to survive. You are such a contradictory mix of inferiority and pride.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
With just a few words, Fan Jialuo peeled off Shen Tu’s skin, causing the other party to hide from the bright light, cover his face in the shadow of his hands, and let out a sharp scream. He tried to use noise to stop the young man’s narration. He, who once made a bet arrogantly and allowed others to sense his heart, was now so embarrassed that he wanted to disappear where he sat.
Mjc Aljieb gfujgvfv tlr rmgfjw jr j rbecvagjmx, ralii jcjishlcu la ja tlr bkc qjmf. “Gffq vbkc lc sbeg tfjga, sbe jmaejiis ecvfgrabbv atja atlr rwjga wlcv, fzagjbgvlcjgs kliiqbkfg, cbnfi jcv ecldef lcrlutar, jcv fnfc atf alaif bo kbgiv ufcler, tjv cfnfg yfibcufv ab sbe. Ktfs kfgf ybggbkfv ys sbe. Tbe tjnf jikjsr yffc sbe, klatbea mtjculcu. Tbe jgf ralii atf rjwf wfvlbmgf, mbkjgvis, ribk, jcv raeqlv mtliv.”
Having said this, Fan Jialuo took out the oiled paper package in the evidence bag and tapped it gently.
Shen Tu looked at him through the gaps between his fingers, his eyes widening to the limit. While the others still couldn’t figure out what Fan Jialuo was talking about, his deepest hidden secret had been exposed by the young man, and his scream suddenly increased several decibels, piercing everyone’s minds.
This kid was crazy!
“TuTu, TuTu, please stop screaming. Just give me a hug. Just give me a hug,” Mother Shen cried anxiously, while Father Shen slapped the table and roared, “Stop talking, my son doesn’t want to hear it! Can’t you see that he can’t bear it anymore?”
“But isn’t this what you asked for? It is too late to say that you don’t want to hear it now. The bet cannot be voided.” Fan Jialuo chuckled, and the sharp edge hidden under his gentle appearance burst out with a terrifying lethality. He was never someone who could be provoked and manipulated at will. Shen Tu picked the wrong person.
“The bet is void, the bet is void! Stop talking!” Father Shen’s eyes turned red and he shouted over and over again.
However, Fan Jialuo did not listen to him, nor did he look at him, just like the attitude of these people towards others before.
“Extreme inferiority and pride are intertwined in your heart, causing you to fall into extreme panic and anxiety. But these are the most trivial troubles for you. As you said yourself, there was something wrong with you, and it was so serious that you began to hear a strange voice screaming in your ear—Kill, kill, kill, eradicate all heretics!”
Shen Tu, who was struggling, instantly collapsed. His trembling hands lightly covered his face, but he couldn’t hide his heavy breathing at all. Another one of his secrets was revealed, just like a corpse being placed on the autopsy table. The skin was first peeled off, then the flesh was removed, then the internal organs were disassembled, and finally the bones were separated.
He was completely transparent in this person’s eyes, whereas before he had disparaged him, mocked him triumphantly, and provoked him unscrupulously. He was simply looking for death! The man who had firmly restrained him let out a slight laugh above his head, which actually made him tremble as if he had been electrocuted.
Song Wennuan and the others were dumbfounded, and all they could think was “fuck.” The all-powerful Teacher Fan was back, and he knew all! As long as you gave him a little time or an opportunity, he could sense everything!
Fan Jialuo slowly opened the layers of oiled paper and continued, “This voice echoes in your ears every day, telling you how humble and insignificant those stupid people are. There is no need for them to exist. They are not the same species as you, an extremely intelligent being, so why not kill them all. Then you really began to believe it, and your parents became more and more disgusting in your eyes, your classmates were becoming more and more annoying, and all ordinary people were classified by you as redundant existences that must be eliminated. There was simply no way for you to survive in this world full of lowly garbage. You had to create a new world.
“You were brainwashed, and you began talking to that voice and embraced all its ideas. You called it wise and carried it with you all the time, considering it a best friend. But do you really know what it is?”
Shen Tu slumped on the chair and did not move, only letting out one ragged gasp after another.
Father Shen and Mother Shen, who had tried their best to stop Fan Jialuo from narrating his story just now, were dumbfounded. Driven by horror and worry, they asked impatiently, “What is it! What on earth is it! My son has a headache because of it?”
Song Wennuan and others also widened their eyes and looked at Teacher Fan without blinking.
Fan Jialuo didn’t say anything, but slowly removed the last layer of oiled paper and gently pushed the thing as big as a baby’s fist into the light.
“What is this!” Song Wennuan rushed over, gently pulling away the tangled thread with her fingertips and carefully looking at the dark brown sphere hidden under it. Then, she let out a miserable scream, “Ahhhhhh! It’s, it’s a human head!”
Father Shen and Mother Shen, who were very close, immediately leaned back and fell heavily to the ground. The staff at the shooting location were shocked and horrified. They all stretched their necks to look at the table, but did not dare to get close. A brave cameraman took close-ups of the messily wrapped ball. After being broadcast and enlarged on the monitor, everyone discovered that the ball was actually a human head. The stuff wrapping it messily was actually dry hair, and the ball had a nose, eyes, mouth, and ears. It looked like a man with a twisted and ferocious expression.
How could there be a human head that was only the size of a baby’s fist? Could it be that he came from Lilliput? Or maybe it was a demon?
While everyone was thinking wildly, Song Rui, who had been imprisoning Shen Tu, slowly gave the answer, “This is a very ancient and lost secret method called the Head Shrinking Technique. He is not a demon, but a normal person. The head was chopped off and soaked in special herbal water, so the skull shrank while retaining its original appearance.”
Fan Jialuo was no longer interested in Shen Tu at all. He hung his palms above the person’s head and closed his eyes to sense. “He lived a long time ago. He was born to know that he was destined to be extraordinary. No one could understand what he said, and no one could understand his actions. He was a heretic who would not be understood throughout his entire life. Blood flowed at his feet, and palaces rose behind him. He brought the smoke of gunpowder and also brought peace. He was a wise man, a king, and a lonely man.”
Fan Jialuo paused for a long time before saying in a hoarse voice, “The world couldn’t understand him, and he couldn’t understand the world. This was an irreconcilable conflict and contradiction. Many of his practices were too ahead of the times, making ordinary people feel scared. So they pushed him to the gallows and tried to kill him. He knew that he would die a unique death, but what he feared most was not death, but the dissipation of his beliefs, so he cut off his head with his own hands, bestowing it a sliver of his powerful obsession. He regarded mortals who regarded him as a heretic as heretics themselves, and destruction was his mission.”
Fan Jialuo opened his eyes, looked at Shen Tu, and said sharply, “It gave you wisdom, but you must water it with blood. You were led on a path of destruction step by step. Shen Tu, your strength is borrowed, and one day you will have to pay it back double. Being born mediocre is not a mistake, nor is it painful. It is just ordinary. Is it bad to be ordinary?”
He showed a puzzled expression, as he really felt that there was nothing wrong with being “ordinary.” An extraordinary person like him never had the arrogant mentality of “I am superior to others” or “I am superior to all living beings.”
How could one define being ordinary or great? Some people thought being extraordinary was great, while some people thought being ordinary was great. Which of the two states of mind was better or worse? Just look at the two’s embarrassed states, one a decapitated head, and the other quiet and peaceful. The answer is already clear.
The unwillingness to be ordinary was a positive attitude. However, once it exceeded a certain limit, it would evolve into indifference and arrogance that despised all living beings. The final result would be either transcendence and sainthood, or destruction. It was one state to leave this world, but leaving this world just to enter it again, and then treating all life as equal, was another higher state. Looking through the annals of history, how many people could do it?
“An ordinary life is also a kind of happiness!” Song Wennuan gently tapped the table and let out a long sigh.
Only then did Song Rui let go of Shen Tu and walk back to Fan Jialuo. Before he could sit down, the young man had already opened a pack of disinfecting wipes. He pulled one out, flattened it, and folded it into a suitable shape, before chuckling and saying, “Wipe your hands. I will keep wipes with me in the future.”
Song Rui’s tense face softened instantly, and he smiled softly while wiping his hands.
Father Shen and Mother Shen obviously did not have such a leisurely mood. They took their son, who was limp like mud, into their arms, and asked in a trembling voice, “TuTu has a headache because of the influence of this damn ghost, right? Can he get better? He’ll get better in the future, right? He won’t sleepwalk, disappear, bang his head, or suffer from hysteria anymore, right? His IQ won’t drop, and he’ll still be the same little genius, right?”
Song Wennuan felt very helpless towards these two bear parents. She knocked on the table and said, “Isn’t your focus a bit skewed? The point isn’t that his IQ will not drop. The point is those bombs he made! What did he want to do? Destroy the school? Kill his classmates and teachers? He’s already ruined, do you understand that?”
“No, he wouldn’t do that kind of thing!” Father Shen and Mother Shen shook their heads wildly, not daring to face the reality at all.
They regretted it. Not that they didn’t take good care of their child, or for failing to discover his abnormality in time and stop it, but bringing him to participate in this program. Without Fan Jialuo’s channeling, their son would still be the little genius that everyone praised, and his future would be very bright!
They had obviously forgotten about the bombs. Even if they didn’t come to participate in the show and encounter the psychics, their son would not become a spiritual master, but a criminal, a terrorist! All that awaited him was a ruined future and ruined reputation.
“You are all liars! You are making up stories, we will not believe you! TuTu let’s go, let’s go home!” Mother Shen pushed her husband and ordered, “You carry our son!”
Seeing the three of them trying to run away, the staff immediately gathered around to intercept them. At this moment, the door of the recording room was pushed open, and Zhuang Zhen ran in with a group of heavily armed policemen. He looked around quickly, and finally targeted the sweaty teenager. He then took out a pair of handcuffs and said sternly, “Shen Tu, we found a large number of bomb-making supplies in your bedroom. You are under arrest!”
Father Shen and Mother Shen were stunned for a moment, then let out tragic screams.
Ty for the chapter!!! 💕
I love these little hidden meanings in this story. thank so much for translating!
Thanks for the chapter! I don’t envy anyone who has this kind of parents…