Several thousand citizens gathered around a raised circular pavilion draped in crimson silk in Central Civic Square of Jiangcheng at eight o’clock sharp on Monday morning.
Across eleven other major public plazas—from the northern docklands to the southern factory district—identical pavilions stood ready for activation.
At the center of each pavilion stood an eight-foot-tall kiosk forged from brushed dark jade-steel and frosted crystal. A circular bronze scanner plate rested at chest height, pulsing with a gentle, rhythmic emerald glow.
Master Lu Jian stood beside the terminal, holding a wireless master remote. Above his head, his Goodness Score shone in a solid green: 92/100.
Beside him, Su Wan stepped up to the podium, wearing a sharp charcoal business suit. Above her head glowed her radiant 95/100 score.
Su Wan keyed the central audio system. Her clear, musical voice broadcast simultaneously across all twelve district squares:
“Citizens of Jiangcheng! By order of Chairman Lin Mo and Taichu Benevolence Group, we officially activate the Twelve District Taichu Sanctuary Morality Terminals!”
The crowd leaned in, murmuring in curiosity. Commuters with briefcases, market stall vendors with aprons, and university students on bicycles all looked at the glowing crystal pillar.
Su Wan gestured toward the bronze scanner.
“For generations, society told working people that ruthlessness was the only path to wealth,” Su Wan continued in a ringing voice. “Taichu Group was founded to reverse that lie. Starting today, anyone who places their palm on this scanner and registers a verified Goodness Score of eighty or above receives our Golden Civic Ticket!”
Su Wan pointed to the digital display screen above the kiosk.
“An eighty-plus score grants you immediate access to three life-changing benefits: First, a zero-interest family housing grant in Taichu Sanctuary Garden. Second, free lifelong medical care for your entire household at Taichu Sanctuary Hospital. Third, priority hiring for permanent careers at Taichu Group with salaries five times the municipal industry average!”
The crowd stood in absolute, stunned silence for five long seconds.
Then, wild murmurs broke out across the plaza.
“A machine that measures goodness?”
“Free apartments and five-times salaries just for being a good person?!”
“Is this a commercial publicity stunt? No company on earth gives away houses without asking for money!”
Standing fifty paces away near the steps of the municipal library, Lin Mo watched the crowd with a faint, amused smile.
He wore his clean white linen shirt and dark trousers. Behind him stood Tie Niu, who had his hands tucked into his jacket pockets, looking completely relaxed.
People are so used to being cheated that they think honest generosity must be a scam, Lin Mo thought, amused by the skeptical murmurs. For decades, the Zhao family rewarded cruelty and punished decency. Now it is time to prove that being a good human being is the most profitable career in this city.
Beside Lin Mo, Tie Niu chuckled in a low rumble.
“Chairman Lin,” Tie Niu muttered. “Look at those bankers in the crowd. They are clutching their briefcases as if someone is about to rob them.”
“They don’t understand that kindness has its own balance sheet,” Lin Mo replied with a dry chuckle. “Watch how quickly their calculators break.”
Lin Mo walked forward through the crowd.
The citizens recognized his face from news broadcasts and stepped back respectfully, clearing a path toward the pavilion.
Lin Mo stopped near the front row of onlookers.
Standing near the barrier was an elderly woman named Auntie Liu. She was sixty-five years old, wearing an orange sanitation vest and holding a bamboo broom. Her hands were rough and chapped from forty years of sweeping city streets in the freezing dawn.
Above Auntie Liu’s gray hair, the System displayed a clear, beautiful emerald score: Goodness: 88/100.
For four decades, Auntie Liu had swept the alleys of the old textile district. She had found eleven lost wallets over the years and returned every single one to the police station without taking a dime. When stray cats were injured, she spent her small pension on rice and fish to nurse them back to health.
Lin Mo stopped in front of Auntie Liu and smiled gently.
“Auntie,” Lin Mo said, his voice warm and polite. “Would you like to try our machine?”
Auntie Liu pulled back slightly, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment as she looked down at her worn cotton shoes.
“Oh, Chairman Lin... no, no,” Auntie Liu whispered, shaking her head humbly. “I am just an old street cleaner. My hands are dirty from the dust. I don’t know anything about computers or high technology. I shouldn’t touch such an expensive glass pillar.”
Lin Mo took her broom gently with his left hand, resting it against the railing. With his right hand, he guided her calloused palm toward the bronze scanner.
“Your hands have kept this city clean for forty years, Auntie,” Lin Mo said softly. “There are no cleaner hands in Jiangcheng. Place your palm right here.”
Auntie Liu hesitated, then gently pressed her trembling palm against the cool bronze surface.
HUMMMMM.
A soft, chime-like vibration rippled through the crystal pillar.
A ring of bright emerald light spun around Auntie Liu’s hand.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-DING!
A glorious, ringing chime echoed from the kiosk speakers.
The giant holographic display above the pavilion flashed brilliant, golden-green characters visible across the entire square:
[Scanning Verified: Auntie Liu (Sanitation Laborer)]
[Moral Integrity Index: 88/100 - PURE RIGHTEOUS CITIZEN!]
[Historical Merit: 40 Years of Diligent Civic Labor, 11 Lost Wallets Returned, 0 Selfish Exploitations!]
[Status: GOLDEN SANCTUARY TICKET UNLOCKED!]
Three street vendors near the front barrier dropped their bamboo baskets, staring up at the golden projection in disbelief.
“Eighty-eight points!”
“The street cleaner got eighty-eight points!”
From a narrow slot on the side of the terminal, a heavy, solid-gold identification card slid out into the metal tray. It was stamped with the emblem of a golden lotus and embossed with Auntie Liu’s name.
At the same time, Lin Mo tapped his personal payment console.
“Su Wan,” Lin Mo commanded. “Disburse ten million yuan across our twelve district kiosks immediately. For the first fifty honest citizens who scan above eighty points today, disburse an immediate one-hundred-thousand-yuan cash startup grant, a permanent Taichu Gold Health Card, and an immediate executive sanitation supervisor contract with triple salary.”
Tap.
Su Wan swiped Lin Mo’s Black-Gold Sovereign Benevolence Card across the console.
BEEP.
A magnificent, celestial chime echoed deep in Lin Mo’s consciousness:
[Ding! Detected spending of ¥10,000,000.00 RMB on Civic Morality Infrastructure Inauguration & Honest Worker Grants!]
[Target Beneficiaries: 50 Scanned Righteous Citizens (Goodness: 81–93/100)!]
[Purpose: Direct cash grants (¥100,000 each), permanent Taichu Gold Health Cards, and high-salary employment contracts!]
[Pure Altruistic Intent Verified: Rewarding lifetime civic honesty, empowering underprivileged labor, and establishing urban moral welfare!]
[Triggering 100x Pure Benevolence System Refund!]
[Cash Refund Received: +¥1,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Funds deposited directly into Host Personal Liquid Vault!]
[Personal Liquid Vault: ¥99,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Benevolence Merit Points: +1,000,000 BMP | Total BMP: 191,949,528 BMP!]
[Good People Network Expanded: 9,900 Verified Righteous Allies (+50 newly scanned righteous citizens formally integrated)!]
One billion more in cleared cash, Lin Mo thought, watching his vault balance reach ninety-nine billion yuan. Spending ten million on fifty honest workers, and earning a billion in profit. My vault is only one billion away from crossing one hundred billion.
Ding.
Auntie Liu’s old mobile phone chimed inside her vest pocket.
She pulled out her cracked screen with trembling fingers.
[Jiangcheng Municipal Bank: Your account has received ¥100,000.00 RMB from Taichu Benevolence Foundation.]
Auntie Liu stared at the screen, her knees buckling.
She fell onto the pavilion steps, holding her phone to her chest as tears streamed down her wrinkled face.
“One hundred thousand yuan...” Auntie Liu wept, her shoulders shaking. “In forty years of sweeping streets, I have never seen one hundred thousand yuan in my life! Chairman Lin... why are you so good to an old woman?”
Lin Mo picked up the solid gold health card from the tray and placed it into Auntie Liu’s rough palm.
“Because you were good to this city when nobody was watching,” Lin Mo answered gently. “And in Taichu, goodness is never forgotten.”
The thousands of onlookers in the square erupted into thunderous cheering.
“It’s real! It’s not a scam!”
“Auntie Liu really got one hundred thousand yuan and a gold card!”
“Line up! Everyone line up at the scanner!”
Within minutes, lines stretched three blocks long at all twelve district terminals across the city.
Across the northern terminal, an honest retired middle school physics teacher with a Goodness Score of 91/100 scanned his hand, receiving a gold card and a zero-interest apartment voucher. He wept openly, hugging his granddaughter while calling his neighbors.
At the eastern terminal, a night-shift emergency nurse with a Goodness Score of 89/100 scanned her hand, receiving an immediate promotion and a hundred-thousand-yuan equipment grant for her pediatric ward.
At the southern factory terminal, an honest lathe worker with an 84/100 score received an immediate industrial supervisory contract, laughing with his coworkers in pure joy.
Within two hours, news exploded across municipal social media, local news channels, and family chat groups:
[BREAKING: Taichu Morality Terminals Give Away Cash, Gold Cards, and Free Apartments to 80+ Goodness Citizens!]
[VERIFIED: An 80+ Score on Lin Mo's Scanner is Worth More Than a Lottery Jackpot!]
[CITIZENS FLOCK TO 12 DISTRICT SQUARES IN HISTORIC MORAL RUN!]
Of course, not everyone received a green light.
A notorious loan shark named Scarface Wang from the southern docks pushed his way to the front of the line at the western terminal.
Wearing a thick gold chain and a silk shirt, Scarface Wang shoved his sweaty palm onto the bronze scanner.
“Give me my apartment!” Scarface Wang demanded. “I donate fifty yuan to the temple every New Year!”
BUZZZZZZ!
A harsh, screeching siren blasted from the kiosk speakers.
The crystal pillar flashed violent, angry crimson:
[Moral Audit Failed: Scarface Wang]
[Moral Integrity Index: 28/100 - SEVERE MORAL DEFICIT!]
[Violations: Usury Lending, Extortion, Threatening Widows, Zero Remorse!]
[Status: ACCESS DENIED. CIVIC REPUTATION WARNING ISSUED.]
The crowd pointed and laughed mockingly as Scarface Wang was escorted away by Taichu security guards, his face turning beet-red with shame.
A greedy restaurant owner who had watered down his soup for ten years slapped his hand onto the scanner, only to be rejected with a 41/100 red buzzer.
By midday, the entire city of Jiangcheng had caught a frantic, unprecedented fever.
Every citizen realized a profound truth: in the new Jiangcheng ruled by Taichu, you could not buy honor with bribes. You could not fake reputation with expensive clothes. The only currency that opened the gates of wealth was genuine, verifiable kindness.
Suddenly, a bizarre, hilarious wave of aggressive charity broke out on the streets.
At the busy intersection of Central Avenue and Peace Road, a seventy-year-old grandmother was carrying a heavy cloth basket of fresh cabbages, waiting at the curb for the pedestrian light to turn green.
SWOOSH!
Four heavily tattooed former street brawlers sprinted out of an alleyway like Olympic sprinters, sliding to a halt in front of the startled grandmother.
“Grandma! Let me carry that cabbage basket!” the lead thug with a shaved head yelled eagerly, reaching for the handles.
“Get your dirty paws off, Dog-Leg!” another tattooed brawler shouted, shoving him aside with his elbow. “I saw Grandma at the crosswalk first! It’s my turn to help her cross the street and raise my score to eighty!”
“Both of you get lost!” a third brawler roared, dropping onto one knee before the grandmother with an eager grin. “Grandma, climb onto my back! I will carry you across all four lanes in my arms!”
A fourth brawler pulled two fifty-yuan bills from his pocket, waving them in the air.
“Grandma! Don’t listen to those two fools! If you let me carry your basket across the street, I’ll pay you one hundred yuan in cash right now!”
The grandmother clutched her cabbages tightly against her chest, stepping backward with wide, terrified eyes.
“Help!” the old woman cried out toward the traffic police box. “The street gangsters are fighting each other to steal my cabbages!”