Chapter Sixty-Three: A New Path

At this point, Zhang Jiawen seemed to realize that her idea was not particularly honorable, and she gave an awkward laugh. Ning Shuyi and Huo Yan showed no reaction; after all, how could anyone expect lofty morals from someone who had spent years making money in the gray areas of society through illegal activities?

"Later, there was a time she said she was feeling down and wanted me to come to her place for a drink. I thought, if we drank at her house, it’d be free, but if I took her to a bar I knew, maybe she’d agree to order expensive drinks, and I could get a commission.

I persuaded her, and she came along. After drinking a bit at the bar, she started crying, saying her heart felt empty, that the kindness from her family was all an act, and that no one in the world truly loved her—she was so terribly unhappy!

Seeing her speak so openly, I felt that if I didn’t try to take the opportunity further, well... it wouldn’t make sense." Zhang Jiawen still seemed a little guilty when talking about "developing clients," and she went out of her way to explain, "Whether you believe me or not, you can investigate all you want—I swear everything I’ve said is true.

I admit I’ve handled the sale of some ‘soft candies,’ but they’re only things that make people a bit high, feeling light and floating—not those hard drugs that leave people sobbing and sniffling!

I’m timid; I’m scared of that stuff myself. If something goes wrong, it’s a big deal! That’s what they told me back then: soft candies and the like don’t matter much, at worst you get detained, fined, or criticized. If I’d known it could lead to a real sentence, I wouldn’t have touched it!

Also, those hard drugs are too strong and expensive—many people are actually quite cautious. If they sense anything unusual, they get scared and stay far away, never daring to try. So I just deal with ‘milk tea cups,’ ‘soft candies,’ and edible ‘picture cards,’ little things like that. I tell them it’s safe, not addictive, and cheap, so they trust me and come back for more."

"So which kind did you sell to Wang Yuluo? How did it end up so potent that it killed her?" Ning Shuyi asked.

Zhang Jiawen quickly spread her hands, looking aggrieved. "I don’t know! Isn’t it just bizarre?

Wang Yuluo, despite dropping her guard with anyone who treats her kindly, was actually quite careful about some things.

I’d take her to bars, clubs, places I knew well; she’d drink anything, never complained about the price or suggested splitting the bill. But whenever I tried to get her, while she was tipsy, to try the ‘soft candies,’ she refused.

I even tried the ‘milk tea cups.’ Lots of people bought them since they look cute—just like regular e-cigarettes—but Wang Yuluo wouldn’t have any!

It seemed like she never tried anything unfamiliar, no matter how much I urged her. She was stubborn."

"Yet in the end, she still fell for your scheme!" Ning Shuyi laughed.

"No, it wasn’t really a scheme. At that time, I genuinely believed selling those things wasn’t allowed, but it wasn’t a serious crime… I was honestly just treating it as business," Zhang Jiawen said sheepishly.

Ning Shuyi smiled, not bothering to argue semantics, and nodded. "Alright, then tell us: how did you seal this particular ‘deal’?"

Zhang Jiawen nervously tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I noticed that while she acted casual with me, she was quite vigilant in bars and clubs—she wouldn’t accept drinks from strangers, and refused to try anything new or fun. If things kept on like that, it’d be pointless, so I wondered how to fix it.

Eventually, I realized maybe it was her ingrained attitude toward clubs and bars that made her cautious there. So I changed my approach: stopped inviting her out drinking. One day, I told her I’d take her somewhere fun—guaranteed to be more interesting than her scheming social club!

I took her to a place outsiders wouldn’t know."

"Utopia?" Ning Shuyi recalled the two flyers she’d seen in Wang Yuluo’s room and casually picked one to ask Zhang Jiawen.

Zhang Jiawen paused, then quickly shook her head to distance herself. "Utopia? I don’t know what that is! It has nothing to do with me!"

"So was it ‘Truth or Dare: Fall in Love with Adventure’?" Since it wasn’t the first, Ning Shuyi mentioned the other flyer.

She remembered that flyer had only flashy patterns and the phrase ‘Truth or Dare: Fall in Love with Adventure,’ nothing else—no details about the venue, no contact info, not even an address.

Clearly, it didn’t have the basic function a flyer should provide.

Sure enough, as soon as she said it, Zhang Jiawen understood. "Did Wang Yuluo keep the flyer I gave her?"

Her words admitted her involvement, and Ning Shuyi confirmed it with a nod.

Zhang Jiawen seemed annoyed, but realizing her current predicament and the fact that Wang Yuluo was dead, she had no grounds to complain. She sighed heavily and said, "Yes, I took her there. At that place, people play games together—on the surface, it’s just like truth or dare, but in reality… no one cares about hearing anyone’s truths. Everyone encourages you to pick dare.

When I took Wang Yuluo, she didn’t want to choose truth either. Besides me, everyone else there was a stranger to her, so she wouldn’t pick truth.

So when her turn came, she chose dare. At first, the dares were ordinary—just regular game stuff.

For example, facing a wall and pressing your whole body against it for a minute, performing belly dance in front of everyone, or crying within five seconds.

If you failed, you’d get a punishment. At first, the punishments were mild—eating wasabi, biting a chili, things like that. When they felt the timing was right and Wang Yuluo failed again, someone brought out a prepared… item and made her lick it three times as punishment."