The informed consent form, essentially a warning letter, detailed the potential issues from multiple angles. From minor infections to major experimental failures, it covered everything. The final clause read: "I confirm that I have read and understood all the above information and accept full responsibility for any adverse outcomes."
This was clearly an overbearing agreement, but the conditions offered by Telus were too generous. While some chose to leave after reading the form, most stayed to continue waiting.
Zhang Chenyan hesitated for a moment but eventually signed his name. He then verbally confirmed his consent on video, ensuring it was done without any coercion, purely by his own will.
Previously, signing such documents was not so cumbersome. But given the danger of this experiment, Telus was extra cautious.
Watching the staff leave, the young man in front of Zhang Chenyan taunted, "You seem well-off, probably well-educated with a stable job. You don't look like someone who seeks thrills. Why risk your life? You're not like us with nothing to lose. Think it over."
Zhang Chenyan hadn't changed his avatar from his usual work look in his rush to get there. The young man's assumption wasn't off the mark.
"I need merit points," Zhang Chenyan said frankly. "For my mother."
Signing that form, Zhang Chenyan had made up his mind. He knew what he was doing and what he was about to face but had no intention of changing his decision. Xie Han was too important to him.
Hearing this, the young man didn't say more.
There were many people here, each with their own reasons. Zhang Chenyan's reason was among the most ordinary and irrefutable.
Zhang Chenyan wasn't one to pry into strangers' lives. He didn't ask the young man why he was signing up, even though the latter signed with such ease, showing no hesitation, almost with a gambler's thrill.
He didn't know what the young man had been through, but everyone had their secrets.
Waiting in line was dull. To avoid being recognized by colleagues or enforcers, Zhang Chenyan switched to a rarely-used cheap avatar. This avatar, though inexpensive, was bought with his first earnings as an intern, reminding him of his father's clothing in old photos. Despite differences, the resemblance made Zhang Chenyan happy, so he bought it without hesitation.
The long queue moved slowly. The young man ahead of him played free games on his old wrist device. His device, like his avatar, looked flashy but was clearly a cheap assembly. The old device frequently froze, frustrating the young man, who could only restart it.
Participating in the trial to earn merit points for a new device? Zhang Chenyan raised an eyebrow.
Among his peers, he was considered mature, or rather, he deliberately lived fast, completing more in the same time. He knew many his age who were game addicts, expressing dissatisfaction with society, taking pride in their nonconformity.
Zhang Chenyan didn't judge right or wrong, believing he had no moral high ground to critique others. People had their own goals; living their lives was enough.
"Hey, can I borrow your wrist device?" The young man asked without any tone of a request.
Wrist devices were personal. While Zhang Chenyan had no sensitive information on his, he didn't immediately agree.
"I just want to play games, nothing else. You're right behind me; you can see everything I do," the young man added impatiently.
"Personal item, not for loan," Zhang Chenyan declined firmly.
The young man sighed, "Alright, I actually wanted to call my family. They don't know I'm here... I'm afraid they'll worry."
Zhang Chenyan knew there was an 80% chance the young man was lying, but he handed over his device anyway. "Go ahead."
"My God! Really? You actually believed that?" The young man laughed loudly, attracting many looks.
Unused to being the center of attention, Zhang Chenyan instinctively tried to withdraw his hand, but the young man grabbed it. "You actually believed that weak excuse and my lousy acting?"
Zhang Chenyan was speechless. The young man admitted the excuse was weak and his acting poor.
"There's always a chance, even if it's one percent," Zhang Chenyan replied.
The young man, caught off guard, showed a rare look of unease. After a moment, he said, somewhat irritated, "Forget it, I won't borrow your stuff. You old-fashioned folks are no fun!"
Being called old-fashioned by a peer felt strange to Zhang Chenyan. He admitted he was mature for his age but found the comment odd.
"We're probably about the same age," Zhang Chenyan said patiently.
"Don't joke. You just look young," the young man retorted.
Zhang Chenyan, tired of arguing, decided to listen to music to relax.
But the young man wasn't done. He started questioning Zhang Chenyan, "Why did you believe me earlier? Were you really willing to lend me your device? Weren't you afraid I'd run off with it? It's not cheap."
Frustrated, Zhang Chenyan replied, "I was foolish, okay?"
Surprisingly, the young man wasn't offended. He smiled and said, "You're the first person to believe me."
"What, were you that unlikable?" Zhang Chenyan asked half-jokingly.
"Yeah, pretty much," the young man said candidly. "Maybe it's because I was unwanted from the start."
Hearing this, Zhang Chenyan was stunned and blurted out, "How could that be? Emo teenagers shouldn't wallow in self-pity."
The young man laughed at this unique consolation, "I'm not being emo. It's true. My parents didn't want me. I was sent to an orphanage as an 'orphan,' but somehow the orphanage found out my parents were alive, so I wasn't an 'orphan' anymore. I was forcibly sent back to my parents... You should've seen their faces. Disgust and rejection."
Zhang Chenyan found it hard to believe. He hoped the young man was making up a sob story for attention, but the boy seemed sincere.
After a long pause, Zhang Chenyan asked, "Why did they abandon you? There must be a reason."
He was ready to stop listening if the reason was too far-fetched. He hated being deceived and having his sympathy manipulated.
"Raising me cost merit points, and I took up a spot. By abandoning me, they freed up a spot they could sell on the black market for a good amount of merit points," the young man said with a mirthless laugh. "My family used to be well-off. We had three spots, but my parents squandered their merit points soon after moving underground. They started scheming and decided to sell my spot."
Listening to the boy, Zhang Chenyan didn't want to believe such parents existed, but he also couldn't believe a kid would make up such a story.
"If... if what you say is true..." Zhang Chenyan began.
"I was aware when they abandoned me. I knew they didn't plan to come back for me," the young man recalled. "They didn't just leave me somewhere random; they took me to the outskirts, likely hoping I'd die there. When they said 'wait here for mom and dad,' I knew they were leaving me for good, but I still nodded. I thought I'd die, but maybe it wasn't my time. I was found and taken to an orphanage. I lied, made up stories, and convinced them I was an orphan. They thought kids couldn't lie, but I wasn't naive. I tricked them into taking me in."
Zhang Chenyan was speechless. He knew from Liu Xixi about the harsh conditions in orphanages. For this boy, staying in one seemed a stroke of luck.
"My parents always thought I ratted them out, wanting to return home or remember something incriminating. But it wasn't me. I didn't want to go back. I knew they'd think I'd die. Going back, they'd do something crazier," the boy said calmly. "You know trading spots is against the rules. If I went back and slipped up, triggering an investigation, they'd blame me, hate me."
Zhang Chenyan didn't want to admit it, but this was human nature. If the boy exposed them, his parents wouldn't reflect on their actions but blame him.
"Fortunately, I was smart, acted obediently, and protected them during the investigation. I said I had few memories but remembered my parents loved me and must have searched for me. During the investigation, they acted well, crying convincingly. I almost thought they were born actors who went astray," the boy sneered.
"You acted so well. Did they change?" Zhang Chenyan asked, already guessing the answer.
Did showing goodwill work?
The boy shook his head, "During the investigation, I enjoyed brief, fake warmth. Once it was over, they didn't bother pretending, hiding to discuss what to do next. They had sold my spot, and with me back, it became a black-market issue. They feared the buyer's retaliation."
"What happened next?" Zhang Chenyan wondered how the situation resolved, realizing there were no clean solutions.
"Maybe there's a psychic link between blood relatives," the boy said, rolling his eyes and suddenly asking, "Do you believe in telepathy?"
Zhang Chenyan nodded. There was a time when he fell down the stairs and got badly hurt. Xie Han had already left the house but suddenly turned back, saying her heart was pounding and she felt something bad had happened to her son. She found Zhang Chenyan unconscious with a head injury.
He believed in telepathy, especially the kind of connection that existed between close relatives.
Although, there was no scientific basis for it.
"I believe in it too," the boy suddenly became excited. "You know what? I sensed they were planning to kill me. And it was going to happen in the next two days! The connection between me and my parents was so accurate that even I couldn't believe it."