The smile on Little Taotie’s face immediately vanished, and his expression turned serious. His little eyebrows furrowed slightly, "Was the author very old?"

Chen Zi shook his head: "Passed away last year, at the age of 25."

Little Taotie froze for a moment, as if in a daze, and the brightness in his big eyes dimmed.

"Was she sick?" Little Taotie asked softly.

"Sort of, but..." Chen Zi exhaled a breath: "It was man-made."

"Man-made?"

"She had leukemia, and until her death, she believed that fate was unfair to her, so the ending she wrote was quite negative, giving a rather uncomfortable feeling. But in reality, it was all a conspiracy, her death was not an accident. If you hadn’t liked this story and wanted the author to change the ending or adapt it into a short video, I wouldn’t have contacted her family, let alone discovered this conspiracy."

"So... If it weren’t for her work, she might have died without anyone knowing why?"

Chen Zi nodded: "That’s exactly it."

Little Taotie was usually informed about unknown matters through vengeful spirits and evil spirits, but this was the first time a hidden conspiracy was uncovered in this way.

"What exactly happened, can you tell me?" Little Taotie’s big eyes were filled with sadness.

Perhaps because of that story, Little Taotie held great expectations for this author but didn’t expect her to be killed, feeling very upset, with his big eyes looking dark and heavy.

"She was born into a family that favored boys over girls. Her younger brother was just a year younger than her, so from an early age, all the family’s attention was focused on her brother, and she was always treated as invisible. This led to her introverted nature and developed a habit of keeping a diary to record her feelings. Later, she got into university and successfully went to study there. At that time, her family agreed to her attending university. But in the second year, her brother didn’t pass the university entrance exam and insisted on studying abroad. Back then, getting a degree overseas was considered something anyone could obtain as long as they had money. So most people who didn’t get into university, if their families were wealthy, would make such a choice."

"Did her family agree? But there wasn’t enough money at home to cover her tuition?" Little Taotie already guessed the rest and felt sad for this big sister, developing a sense of disgust towards the brother who obviously wasn’t cut out for university but still drained the family’s resources to study abroad.

Chen Zi nodded: "Her family indeed couldn’t support her studies anymore, but she didn’t want to drop out and decided not to take a penny from her family, instead working to save up for tuition."

Little Taotie’s eyes lit up: "Big sister is amazing!"

Chen Zi lowered his gaze: "She was indeed amazing. During the summer break, she took on several jobs—washing dishes, running errands, distributing flyers, and setting up a stall at the night market selling fried tofu. She barely had any rest day and night. In two months, she saved up enough for tuition, but when she returned to school to pay, she found the money was gone."

Little Taotie held his breath, speaking softly: "Did her family... take it?"

Chen Zi spoke sadly: "Her brother stole it. She confronted her family, but no one believed her and chose to trust the lying brother. She said she would call the police to investigate, but her parents snatched her phone away. This behavior showed that her parents actually knew her brother stole it. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have snatched the phone; they would just call the police to find out the truth. But they chose to snatch the phone, clearly protecting her brother."

"That’s terrible!" Little Taotie slammed the table in anger.

The table wobbled uncontrollably, on the verge of collapse.