At 3:17 in the morning, Lin Xiaoyue jumped from the seventh floor of the female dormitory building of the College of Foreign Languages of Donghai Vocational and Technical University.
There was a note in her pocket: "They say a place from junior college to bachelor's degree is worth 50,000. How much am I worth?"
The school said it was an accidental fall. The counselor said it was an emotional issue. No one pursued that question. No one remembered her asking.
Except for her teacher Chen Mo.
He opened a system called "Eye of the Abyss" and saw the secrets that this school had hidden for twenty-five years: the first transaction in 1998, the price list behind the quota for junior college to undergraduate, and the web of power woven by professors, division directors, and principals. He saw his wife, his colleagues, his students—everyone in chains. The chain was passed from Qin Huaiyuan to Zhou Minglan, from Zhou Minglan to Li Guanzhong, and from Li Guanzhong to Shen Mengyao, Xiao Yang, and Tracy. The chain kept passing, from person to person, from victim to victim.
Now, the chain has been passed to Chen Mo.
287 People competed for 8 spots. Someone jumped from the seventh floor. Someone is standing above the abyss. This is not a fictional story. This is a reality that happens every day.
