Chapter 66: The Dining Hall

This young man named Li Zhixian was precisely the friend Hao Zhuang mentioned last time.

“Hao Zhuang, you know that guy?” Yan Yu asked as he continued doing squats.

Hao Zhuang nodded, lowering his voice. “I met him when we played games together at the internet café. As far as I remember, he was always very disciplined about his gaming time. I don’t know why he ended up here, and I heard he left recently—how was he caught and brought back again?”

“What are you two whispering about? Another fifty squats as punishment!” Instructor Yan’s sharp ears caught them at once, and he barked his order.

Yan Yu and the others dared not exchange another word, watching Li Zhixian in silence.

“Mom, Dad, please, I’m really too scared to run away again. Please take me home!” Li Zhixian was brought into the dormitory, immediately dropping to his knees to beg his parents.

His parents shook their heads gently. “Son, we’re only doing this for your own good.”

But upon hearing this, Li Zhixian seemed to break down in an instant. He stood up and shouted in fury, “I don’t have an internet addiction at all! You just don’t want to bother raising me. You aren’t fit to be parents!”

Instructor Yan watched from the side. Seeing Li Zhixian’s sudden outburst, he stepped forward and subdued him. Seven students rushed in from outside and carried Li Zhixian away.

“Send him to Room Thirteen. I’ll treat him personally!” Instructor Yan laughed coldly.

Hearing Li Zhixian’s desperate cries as he struggled, both Fatty and Hao Zhuang felt their hearts tremble with fear. Instructor Yan looked at them and warned, “See that? If you refuse discipline, that’s your fate. You haven’t experienced the horrors of electrotherapy yet—but soon, you’ll get your chance.”

Instructor Yan threatened Yan Yu and his friends openly, while Li Zhixian’s parents even thanked him, saying, “Instructor Yan, please give special attention to our Li Zhixian at the center. He was out for only two months, and already he spoke rudely to us and even ran away from home!”

“Don’t worry. We always give ‘special’ care to those who return for a second time,” Instructor Yan replied, his smile grotesque, like a dead octopus hauled onto shore.

At last, Yan Yu and his friends finished their squats. Yan Yu and Hao Zhuang managed fine, accustomed to exercise, but Fatty fared much worse. After a hundred squats, his lips were pale, sweat poured down his face, and his legs felt heavy as lead, making it hard to walk.

“Fatty, if you want to join our department, you need to have the mindset of its members,” Yan Yu comforted him.

Fatty forced a bitter smile. “Boss, suddenly I really wish I were back in our classroom, studying hard…”

It seemed bringing Fatty and Hao Zhuang to the internet addiction center wasn’t entirely a trap; Fatty already had the drive to study well.

After this thought, Yan Yu’s sense of guilt eased.

In the morning, no one came to tell Yan Yu and the others what to do. It wasn’t until noon that they were summoned to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was filled with large round tables, each with fixed portions of food, eight people to a table.

When Yan Yu and his friends arrived, Li Zhixian came out of Room Thirteen as well. He looked dazed, standing silently before the table.

In the vast cafeteria, all the students stood straight, uttering not a sound.

Yan Yu and his friends copied the others, standing quietly before their table, but Yan Yu secretly observed those around him.

Among the “patients” at the internet addiction center, the youngest seemed barely twelve, while the oldest were over seventy. Here, regardless of gender, everyone was manipulated like puppets.

After a few minutes, Yang Yongsheng, clad in a white coat, entered the cafeteria surrounded by parents. The students greeted him as if welcoming God, applauding fervently.

Yan Yu found it odd that, with Yang Yongsheng’s arrival, he again sensed a strange, chilling aura.

“Everyone, it’s time for pre-meal confession. If you have anything to confess, now is the moment to tell Uncle Yang—he’ll help solve your troubles. Of course, if anyone still refuses to change, as their friends and companions, you may let Uncle Yang know so he can help them,” Yang Yongsheng said with a smile.

Yan Yu felt a chill deep in his heart.

Yang Yongsheng not only controlled the parents, but also the students. He encouraged them to report on each other, deliberately undermining their relationships so they could never unite and resist.

In this way, Yang Yongsheng could forever control the center and the minds of those within.

He was a demon—a true demon.

The cafeteria was dead silent, everyone’s head bowed.

Suddenly, a girl raised her hand and pointed at the girl beside her. “Uncle Yang, I saw Chen Miaofu whispering to Zhang Hongwen today.”

At the internet addiction center, boys and girls were forbidden from walking side by side, much less whispering to each other, as early interactions between them were considered signs of “puppy love.”

Yang Yongsheng treated not only internet addiction, but also early romantic relationships.

“Oh? Is that so?” Yang Yongsheng asked, smiling.

The two named students stood up, trembling with fear. “Uncle Yang, we… we only said a few words. We weren’t… we weren’t in a relationship…”

“Whether you’re in a relationship or not doesn’t matter now. We’ll believe you once you’re in Room Thirteen,” Yang Yongsheng said, his smile stiff as ever. He signaled to Instructor Yan, who sneered and called out, “Yan Yu, Zhu Xiangyang, Hao Zhuang, Li Zhixian… you seven, step forward!”

Yan Yu and the others were confused but obediently stood out. Instructor Yan continued, “You seven—some new to the center, some returning—will escort Chen Miaofu and Zhang Hongwen to Room Thirteen.”

Making newcomers act as executioners, increasing their guilt, and letting them witness Room Thirteen’s horrors—was that the purpose?

Yan Yu felt the terror of the center deepen.

Yang Yongsheng wouldn’t crush you immediately, but would slowly, bit by bit, torment you mentally and physically.

By the time you realized what was happening, you’d be utterly reduced to his puppet, harboring only one thought: obey.

Obey, don’t cause trouble, and leave this hellhole as soon as possible.

“Boss, what should we do?” Fatty whispered.

Yan Yu replied in a low voice, “Escort them to Room Thirteen.”