I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

In the early hours of the morning, the night in Ontario was dark, like a sea soaked in ink.

The neon lights in the provincial capital dimmed considerably, and the streetlights on the main roads formed a continuous expanse of cold white light.

In the alleys of the old town, the late-night food stalls are bustling with people.

The sound of keyboards clicking filled the internet cafe, and lights shone from rented rooms in the urban village.

In the corridors outside the intensive care unit and inpatient ward of the cancer hospital, the emergency exit indicator lights are flashing green.

Hundreds of kilometers away in the mountains, it seems that only the chirping of insects and the sound of pine trees can be heard.

The suppressed emotions of the day seep in with the darkness of night.

In countless short videos, the people appearing on camera are glamorous, spending millions on a single transaction, eating delicacies, and traveling in luxury cars.

Tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands seem to be just numbers to them.

A stunningly beautiful livestreamer laments her appearance anxiety to the camera; a competitive eater devours food repeatedly; a travel blogger happily shares her latest travel experiences...

Beyond the camera lens, anxiety, envy, resentment, longing, hatred, and confusion...

These emotions, like silt submerged at the bottom of a lake, are being stirred up and churned.

An invisible net is silently descending along the wireless network.

……

……

The smell of disinfectant seems to linger in the ICU corridor on the third floor of Ontario First Hospital.

Zhou Hui sat on the hard plastic chair, her buttocks already numb and devoid of feeling.

My daughter, Xiaoxin, has been in the ICU for eight days with acute leukemia.

The payment slip in her hand was crumpled so much that the edges were frayed.

The number "650,000" was like a red-hot needle, pricking her eyes painfully.

The husband broke his leg at a construction site while trying to earn money for his daughter's surgery and is now lying in a hospital in his hometown county.

The family's savings had long been depleted, and they had even borrowed from relatives three times.

We've sold everything we could, including our old, dilapidated apartment in the county town, and we're still short 170,000 yuan.

This does not include subsequent costs.

The doctor on duty just came out, sounding sympathetic but helpless: if we can't raise the money soon, the hospital will have to stop my daughter's targeted therapy tomorrow.

Zhou Hui sniffed and rubbed her eyes with her sleeve.

In the ward, the corridor was full of patients' family members sleeping on the floor, and everyone's face was covered with a layer of numbness that could not be dispelled.

Zhou Hui took out her old cell phone from her pocket and scrolled through the contacts again and again.

The Waterdrop Crowdfunding page was stuck on the screen. The 47,000 yuan raised was a drop in the ocean compared to the 600,000 yuan surgery fee.

The phone shook slightly, and GG from the live streaming platform immediately jumped out.

In the live stream, a well-dressed celebrity, wearing lipstick, diligently typed "GG":

"...Family members, this Indonesian golden bird's nest is something I eat regularly. It's very nourishing. As women get older, we lose collagen quickly, so we need to eat more bird's nest to replenish it..."

One box is a day's supply; you can enjoy it as a small dessert—it's perfectly fine… Today's price is also very reasonable, only 1399 yuan—you can take home this luxurious set…

I just saw someone ask if over a thousand yuan is too expensive. Let me tell you, sister, no, absolutely not! A thousand yuan is not expensive at all!

"You can't even afford to eat out once, you just buy a few pairs of socks and spend the rest on breakfast..."

Zhou Hui stared blankly at the female celebrity who was the same age as her, and a wave of helplessness welled up in her heart.

She still can't figure out how rich people make so much money.

How come they don't consider a thousand or ten thousand yuan as money?

The night outside the window was very dark, and the streetlights below the hospital building shone with a dim yellow light.

Zhou Hui stared blankly at the box of bird's nest that had been touted as being the best in the world, with effects comparable to the Queen Mother of the West's peaches of immortality.

If only... if only she could conjure hundreds of thousands out of thin air.

The thought had barely crossed my mind when my phone suddenly vibrated, and the next second, the live stream page automatically redirected.

A dark, gloomy live-streaming room appeared before Zhou Hui.

……

……

……

In the office of the abandoned textile factory in the south of the city, there were nearly thirty cigarette butts piled up at Lin Jianguo's feet.

The smell of alcohol mixed with mold was terribly unpleasant in the closed room.

Six months ago, my childhood friend asked Lin Jianguo to act as guarantor, saying he would just help him sign a document and would repay it in three months at most.

Lin Jianguo, mindful of their childhood friendship, signed without much thought.

As a result, the other party ran away with 40 million yuan in payment, leaving him with a mess.

Loan sharks came knocking, and the court sealed off the factory.

His wife and children were forced to return to her parents' home by debt collectors, and she insisted on divorcing him.

Yesterday, the debt collectors even splashed red paint on the factory gate, saying, "Paying back debts is a matter of course."

Even the address of Lin Jianguo's parents in his hometown was exposed, and debt collection text messages kept coming in.

From verbal threats to revealing his daughter's school address, every word he uttered was a death wish for Lin Jianguo.

By this point, how could he not know that this whole thing was a trap set up by his "good brother" and others?

It's obvious they want his factory.

Lin Jianguo picked up the fruit knife on the table, held it up to his wrist, and then put it down dejectedly.

"Dying is easy, but those bastards won't let my wife and kids go—"

He gulped down a mouthful of liquor, thinking bitterly that he wished he could kill that liar.

"Then we can clear the debts... and reopen the factory..."

Lin Jianguo muttered to himself, then suddenly felt the alcohol rising in his throat and vomited all over the floor.

I wish I could do it all over again.

If only he hadn't been so arrogant back then.

If only he had seen through his "brother's" true colors sooner.

If only my "brother" were dead right now.

The thought had barely formed when, a second later, a pop-up notification appeared on my phone, inviting me to view a live stream.

[Wishing Livestream]

……

……

In the internet cafes tucked away in the narrow alleys of the urban village, the smell of instant noodles mingled with the smell of cigarettes and the stench of feet.

Yang Hexuan sat in the creaking computer chair and irritably threw off his headphones.

He received his thirty-seventh rejection letter this week.

We regret to inform you that your experience does not match our job requirements...

We regret to inform you that you do not meet the requirements...

[Sorry, we need recent graduates with at least two years of work experience. Of course, if you can bring in investment, that's a different story...]

Many people are now unemployed upon graduation.

During the college entrance examination, they were full of high spirits and hope for the future.

But no one told them that graduation meant the beginning of unemployment.

Three months after graduating, Yang Hexuan submitted more than 140 resumes and interviewed with 26 companies.

Either your resume disappears without a trace, or you never hear back after the interview.

His rent was due next month, and he only had 187 yuan left in his pocket.

Even when buying instant noodles, he has to carefully plan to buy a five-pack with extra quantity at the same price.

Yang Hexuan hesitated for a long time, wondering whether he should put aside his pitiful pride and find a decent job, such as delivering food or running courier services.

But it's like the long gown that Kong Yiji couldn't take off.

Yang Hexuan was unwilling to accept this.

He was not reconciled.

This resentment burned in his heart, slowly gnawing at his soul.

So even though he's now penniless, he still chooses to numb himself with games and short videos.

Funny jokes, game commentary, food inspiration, videos of beautiful women and handsome men... Yang Hexuan leaned back and his fingers flew across the screen.

But with so many videos, I swiped through them and forgot them; I didn't remember anything.

"If only I could travel through time... There's so much to do in this vast world, it's better than being trapped and dying."

Yang Hexuan sighed, and a passerby playing games nearby gave this strange guy who came to the internet cafe to watch short videos a strange look.

The next second, the live stream redirected, suddenly entering a strange live stream room with a blurry background and pitch black.

"?"

Yang Hexuan sat up straight, a slight ripple appearing in his numb emotions:

"Wishing Livestream, what a strange name. What's it for? Does it grant people's wishes? There are livestreams like this..."

……

……

The single-patient room at the Provincial Cancer Hospital was so quiet that you could hear the dripping of the IV tube.

Ouyang Qiu leaned against the pillow, her gaze vacant.

She has advanced pancreatic cancer, and doctors say she has at most three months to live.

The news devastated the parents, who spent their days in tears. Despite being only in their early fifties, their hair was turning gray in clumps.

In the university class chat group, many classmates mentioned her story with a condescending tone of pity.

"Oh dear, it's so pitiful that someone so young has contracted this disease."

"Her parents were devastated. They raised their daughter until she was over twenty and then she died. Oh my god."

"Hey, everyone really needs to take good care of their health."

"Qiuqiu, I heard you were sick. How are you feeling? Remember to keep a positive attitude and fight against this illness! I'll treat you to a meal when you get better!"

Ouyang Qiu did not want to pay attention to those concerns, whether they were genuine or not.

She wanted to die.

She wanted to die.

I don't care if I get hacked to death, run over, or drown.

In short, she wanted to die a quick and painless death.

Instead of lying in a hospital bed, waiting for doctors and nurses to announce your death, and then growing weaker day by day, dying without any dignity.

"Buzzing—buzzing—"

My phone vibrated and automatically redirected me to a dark live stream room.