Chapter 244 – Cruel Comments
“Xi Chunzhi is dead?”
The next day, just as she opened the office door, Zhou Ming rushed over to her.
“Yes,” Tu Ran responded lightly, placing all the books she was holding onto the desk. She hooked a newly delivered chair with her foot and sat down.
Zhou Ming followed her to her workstation, asking, “How did she die? She was so strong!” Realizing he had just praised Xi Chunzhi, he quickly corrected himself, “I mean, didn’t she always boast about how great she was? How did she die so quickly?”
Behind him, Ye Qingcai signaled Xiao Miao to pull Zhou Ming away.
Although they didn’t know much about Xi Chunzhi, from Zhou Ming’s words, they understood that Xi Chunzhi was quite formidable and a close friend of Tu Ran.
Tu Ran had just lost a friend, and Zhou Ming, oblivious to the mood, came over asking these questions—it was like he was asking for trouble.
Zhou Ming brushed off Xiao Miao’s hand and stood there stubbornly, waiting for an answer from Tu Ran.
Although Tu Ran knew Xi Chunzhi was still alive, the thought of not seeing her for a long time made her feel extremely irritated.
And Zhou Ming had the nerve to keep pressing her.
Leaning back in her chair with arms crossed, Tu Ran raised her eyelids and stared at him. “She wasted away in a hospital bed, beyond any medical help. Satisfied?”
Zhou Ming looked dazed. “Wasted away…”
Qi Tongda couldn’t bear it anymore. He grabbed Zhou Ming by the neck and pulled him back to his workstation. When Zhou Ming tried to stand up again, Qi Tongda pressed his shoulder down to keep him seated.
Leaning close to Zhou Ming’s ear, Qi Tongda whispered, “Are you out of your mind? She’s angry! Do you want her to hit you again and give you another brain hemorrhage?”
Only then did Zhou Ming quiet down.
Tu Ran shot him a cold glance before refocusing on the books on her desk.
These were books she had taken from the original owner’s bookshelf, along with a few notebooks filled with old notes.
She decided to read through all the books left behind by the original owner, to relearn everything rather than just relying on the original owner’s memories.
The workload in the Executive Department was significantly lighter than in the Pioneer Team. Their Group 9, hadn’t received any task orders all morning.
Tu Ran became so absorbed in her reading that she lost track of time.
It wasn’t until the others returned from lunch that Tu Ran finally lifted her head from the pile of books. She rubbed the back of her neck and walked toward Qiu Jian’s workstation.
There were a few things she didn’t quite understand.
Like her, Qiu Jian was also an assault specialist, so he should have some knowledge in that area.
On her way to Qiu Jian’s desk, she had to pass by Zhou Ming’s station. As she was stretching her neck, her eyes accidentally landed on Zhou Ming’s computer screen, where a black-and-white photo of Xi Chunzhi was prominently displayed in the top left corner.
Tu Ran froze mid-motion, her book dropping to the floor as she lunged at Zhou Ming.
“What kind of nonsense are you doing on Xi Chunzhi’s obituary page?”
Zhou Ming jumped in shock at her sudden outburst and hastily tried to exit the page.
Tu Ran quickly stopped him, grabbing his wrist firmly.
Zhou Ming winced in pain as his right wrist trembled. He frantically used his left hand to close the page, but Tu Ran relentlessly caught that hand too, twisting both his arms behind his back.
When Zhou Ming tried to resist, Tu Ran kicked the chair he was sitting on, sending it flying. She immediately followed with a sharp kick to the back of his knee, causing the tall man to collapse to the ground with a thud.
“Tu Ran! What are you doing? I didn’t do anything! Why are you treating me like this?!” he protested, turning his head to the side in frustration.
Tu Ran ignored him.
Her gaze remained fixed on the computer at his desk.
The screen had already returned to the Pioneer official homepage.
Xi Chunzhi’s death notice was still scrolling in the ticker at the top right corner.
At the bottom of the page, it clearly showed: 1,179 comments, 243 condolences.
Tu Ran spotted Xiao Miao hiding in the corner and coldly ordered, “Come here and pull up the page he was just looking at.”
Xiao Miao looked toward Ye Qingcai for help.
Should he really pull it up?
If there was undeniable evidence, would Brother Zhou Ming end up getting beaten to death by Tu Ran?
Ye Qingcai felt a throbbing in his temples. What could he do? Tu Ran had a fiery temper, and Zhou Ming was always causing trouble. Put the two together… He closed his eyes briefly and finally nodded.
Under Tu Ran’s murderous gaze, Xiao Miao braced himself and walked over, half-squatting in front of the computer. He began searching for the page Zhou Ming had just viewed.
Zhou Ming’s face turned beet red as he struggled desperately, but Tu Ran’s grip on his arms was like a machine’s—no matter how hard he fought, it was useless.
“Xiao Miao! If you dare pull that up, we’re done! I’ll never be your brother again!” Zhou Ming shouted.
Xiao Miao’s hands shook violently. He was naturally timid and stammered, “It… it was the boss who told me to do it…”
“Captain!!” Zhou Ming shifted his target, yelling, “You’re siding with an outsider! I’m the one who’s been fighting for you! She’s only been in our team a few days, and you’re already backing her! She’s not even staying long—she’s just temporary! Temporary!”
“Shut up! If you keep yelling, I’ll knock you out!” Tu Ran snarled, tightening her grip even more.
Zhou Ming’s face twisted in pain, leaving him speechless.
“Is it up yet? Just click on the comments section. How long could this take?” Tu Ran urged.
Wiping imaginary sweat from his brow, Xiao Miao finally pulled up the page Zhou Ming had been browsing.
At a glance, it was filled with comments continuously being pushed to the top.
“Just a pretentious show-off! Dead is dead, the Pioneer Team doesn’t need people like her.”
“There are plenty of skilled people in the Pioneer Team, and tons of great snipers. What kind of loss is her death?”
“Who did she think she was?”
“I’ve never gone around calling myself some kind of sharpshooter. Just a note, my longest sniper shot exceeded 4000 meters.”
“The guy above, if you shot over 4000 meters, that’s better than Xi Chunzhi. You’ve broken the Federation record! Why didn’t you report it? You’d be our team’s sharpshooter by now.”
“At the time, I was too busy gathering extra data in the Threshold to bother with stuff like that. I’m not like her—I don’t care about some meaningless fame.”
“See that? This is what a true master looks like. Who does she think she was?”
As the comments continued to flood the screen, Tu Ran’s gaze grew darker and darker.
“Why are these people like this?” Xiao Miao, who had also seen the comments, frowned deeply. “Even if they don’t want to offer condolences, they shouldn’t speak so cruelly about someone who’s passed away.”
“Is this guy, ‘In Harmony with the World,’ for real? He claims to have sniped over 4000 meters?” Young Master Qi, who had come over, crossed his arms skeptically.
Zhou Ming’s longest recorded sniper shot barely exceeded 3000 meters, and he already claimed no one could rival him except Xi Chunzhi. This guy with 4000 meters? That’s impossible to believe.
Zhou Ming wanted to respond, but the pain left him unable to speak.
Xiao Miao quickly scrolled up, and the malicious comments appeared one by one before everyone’s eyes.
They could clearly feel the temperature drop around Tu Ran. She was teetering on the edge of unleashing her fury.
