Chapter 26: 26

Chapter 26: The Debut Photo

[Host! Hey, Host! Wake up!] The System’s shrieked, piercing the tranquil morning air. Lin Ning frowned.

He opened his eyes groggily. The numbers on the clock said it was just a little over six in the morning. Lin Ning was never good when it came to managing his sleep schedule, so he often stayed and woke up late. He slapped his pillow over his head and went back to sleep.

[Will you wake up?] the System asked.

[No.]

[Come on, Host! There’s a surprise waiting for you,] the System egged on, brimming with excitement. [Aren’t you curious?]

[Mmm… No.] Lin Ning kicked his blanket aside. The pillow was beginning to get suffocating. [Hey, System, you should thank your gods I don’t get violent morning blues… You would’ve died seventeen times over.]

[Go for it. You wouldn’t be able to do it, anyway.] the System sounded even more cheerful now that Lin Ning was up. [Besides, you’re so kind, there’s no way you’d do a thing to little ol’ me.]

Lin Ning glared at the air, ruffling his hair. […So what’s the surprise?]

[Tadaa~ Somebody kicked Zhang Yiming out of his number one spot!!! You have no idea how much of a wave this caused yesterday night.] The System was having the time of its life watching all the drama unfold around Lin Ning. Working under Lin Ning was the best! The System set off vibrant virtual fireworks in Lin Ning’s brain to celebrate.

The fireworks were nothing but images in his head, but the feeling of them exploding in his head tickled. Lin Ning resisted the urge to whoop the System’s ass as he struggled to take in everythign he’d heard.

[I can’t believe there’re still more psychos — uh, I mean, crazy rich people like these in the galaxy…] Lin Ning spit out a mouthful of frothing toothpaste, then gargled. Gurglurhglrurlgurhgr. [Doesn’t that mean that person spent at least ten million???]

[Ha. You wish.] The System nodded seriously as if it were a little heartbroken. [You haven’t signed a contract with Shine Livestreams, so you’ll only receive fifty percent of the Rewards. What a pity. ]

[Fifty percent’s a lot…] Lin Ning counted his fingers, feeling like he was on the top of the world with the amount of money he’d earned so easily. But he was curious aboutthe person who gave him that many Rewards. After his morning shower, he sat down and launched Shine Livestreams.

On the main Rewards page laid a neat row of usernames, with their number of Rewards given indicated on the right. The list’s order had changed: ZhangYiMing ranked second now, dethroned. Glowing in first place was an unfamiliar account by the username ChengJi. It seemed that the account was created just the night before. Just thinking about the amount of money ChengJi must’ve spent left Lin Ning in a daze… 

[Hold on, I’m going mad.] Lin Ning rubbed his eyes as he pointed at his tablet, confused. [T-this isn’t just a little over ten million. He’s gone over twenty!!!]

The System laughed. [Aw, you’re really amazing, Host. You’re admirable, respectable…]

[Oh, shut it. You’re boosting my ego.] Lin Ning was getting a little antsy now that his income was swelling at breakneck speed. Wasn’t it a little unfair of him to take that much money from this guy? He had to do something to make it up to ChengJi soon. 

Were Interstellar people really this generous? Were there newbie stream viewers out there who actually blew twenty million right off the bat??? 

He sent a private message to ChengJi. Lin Ning asked if he could send some food over to him, then began browsing the internet. The topic of the Film King getting kicked off Lemon Kitchen’s first place had been floating around for some time now.

Everyone active under the Film King’s tag was there for the drama, carried away with their comments. Lin Ning silently swiped through them:

[Hahahaahaha you really can see everything if you stay up late. I replayed the whole stream yesterday night after Lemon Kitchen ended it ofc with the red braised pork’s tasting simulation on until I thought I was gonna faint from happiness. And then I saw the names swap on the rank list!]

[This is kinda going against logic. I don’t believe someone can spend a whole twenty million Stars in such a short span of time… Hey, ChengJi, see me on my knees? Want a lowly peasant who’d do anything to butter you up?]

[That new guy ChengJi only gave out Spacecrafts. One Spacecraft’s worth 1000 Stars, meaning he spent twenty million Stars. But Shine Livestreams only allows up to 100 Rewards per time. So I think our big boss ChengJi had to do at least two hundred swipes, 100 Spacecrafts per round —— Uwaaaaa what sort of bazillionaire is he…? Agh]

[My god! I want tycoon fans like ChengJi and the Film King, too!!! I just told my mom about this, and she looked at me like I was crazy! So I let her try a bite of the red braised pork, and she said she’d sell me to Lemon Kitchen if that means I can send food back home every month…]

[Same world same mom. I shared the good word of Lemon Kitchen to my family, but now whenever they’re hungry they won’t stop going on about how it sucks that Lemon Kitchen isn’t their son-in-law… I’m crying…]

[After everything that happened yesterday, I’m sure the Film King went offline the moment Lemon Kitchen ended his stream, or he would’ve seen our big bro Ji’s overkill Rewarding and wouldn’t be able to stop himself… The Film King always pays attention to the difference between his Rewards and the second place’s… He used to be leagues ahead of them.]

[Lolololol I think so too. I’m afraid of what might happen if the Film King and big boi ChengJi get into a Rewarding competition. Watching them out-spend each other will scareus commonfolk shitless… But the red braised pork was seriously good!]

[I’d love to know what Mr. Film King’s thinking right now. To find out first thing in the morning that your precious throne’s been snatched… Ouch. Bet that sucks…]

Lin Ning was having the time of his life with the comemnts. He ate them up, laughing to the System, [This ChengJi guy must be super rich. Wonder which Interstellar tycoon is he…]

The System shook its butt gleefully. [Who cares? What matters is you got the bag! And your Faith rose, too!]

Lin Ning: [……] This System was a bit of a public nuisance, wasn’t it?

As Lin Ning scrolled down the trending list, he found two more tags that bothered him.

One was about the National Plant Breeding Center’s interstellar-wide search for the mysterious person who sent them the plants. The salary and benefits they offered to the contributing person were blinding.

Lin Ning shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to reveal himself. He shifted his gaze towards the second trending tag — this time about Jiang Feng’s fans. The gossip Scouts pulled Lin Ning, Jiang Feng, and Zhang Yiming into sparked loads of controversy at first, but now, after the release of the security footage, they were receiving backlash. Jiang Feng’s fans accused Zhang Yiming and Lin Ning of sharing a suspicious relationship, but with the video out now, his fans wanted an apology from them. But they didn’t have the balls to let themselves take the heat. It didn’t matter that they started the fight – they were now passing the blame to Scouts Entertainment.

Jiang Feng fans flooded Scouts Entertainment’s official account, demanding an apology for spreading fake news. The piece about Lin Ning being in debt didn’t matter anymore. What mattered now was the company’s unethical work!

The circulating pictures only involved Zhang Yiming and Lin Ning, and those two couldn’t care less about it now that the issue was over. Why write Jiang Feng’s name into this mess to heat up the topic?! If Scouts hadn’t dragged Jiang Feng in, his fans wouldn’t have clashed with the Zhang Yiming’s.

Long story short, the Jiang Feng fans just wanted an apology from Scouts Entertainment. The same applied to Zhang Yiming’s fans, but compared to the Jiang Feng’s, who were capable of making waves larger than tsunamis on the internet, they were way too tame to get the job done.

*

Rong Xinxin couldn’t peel herself away from the pure ecstasy she was going through in the simulation — one huge bite of red braised pork, and then another mouthful of fruit salad. That was the life. The red braised pork was tender and melted in her mouth. She couldn’t stop.

The young man watched as the girl ate, feeling mildly scammed. He shook his head and dove back into his work.

“Hmm~ This strawberry’s way too good!!! It’s so juicy and sweet! And it’s so red! Hell yeah, strawberries! Hey, Mumu, try some!” 

The young man glanced at his watch. After some taptaptap-ing on the keyboard, he pushed up his glasses and pressed a final key. “Miss Rong, I enjoy Lemon Kitchen’s food, too, but I’m afraid I can’t eat during working hours,” he said.

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Rong Xinxin oh-ed, then giggled. “Done yet?”

“Yup.”

Rong Xinxin walked over and peered over his shoulder. Chunks of data laid organised in long rows, all of them breaking down Scouts Entertainment’s statistics. The young man scoured through everything he could to collect all kinds of data and tracks on Scouts, and after some analysis, concluded that more than half of Scouts’s employees worked under Feihao Entertainment, too.

“Anything related to one’s private information can’t be spread. That’s a violation of privacy laws,” the young man lectured, “You know I don’t do things like that.” 

“What’re you talking about? Do I look like someone who’d challenge the law?” Rong Xinxin rolled her eyes, pouting, “So… The people from Feihao are messing with Uncle Yiming.”

The young man nodded. “This case also involves Lin Ning, Feihao’s Jiang Feng, and our Yiming. I’m sure Jiang Feng had a hand in this. You might not remember the incident that happened a few years ago, but I’ve heard about it.”

“What?” Rong Xinxin pressed on, “Go on, Mumu.”

“Lin Ning used to be an idol from the same batch as Jiang Feng under Feihao. Huge deal at the time, that guy. A whole cut above the rest back. We all figured he’d eventually skyrocket.”

“But these nasty rumours about Lin Ning started popping up. I don’t know what happened, but Jiang Feng, who’d never really written any songs until then, somehow began dropping his own releases out of the blue. What I‘m sure of, though, is that ever since Lin Ning fell off the radar, Jiang Feng stopped releasing singles right along with him… Something about their relationship seems fishy.” 

Rong Xinxin raised an eyebrow. She touched her lips lightly, her eyes shining with amusement. “Could it be…”

Knock knock. A knock from the door cut their conversation short.

“Come in,” Rong Xinxin replied in staccato, her heartbeat quickening.

Zhang Yiming shut the door behind him. He folded his arms over his chest, eyeing the whispering duo. “What are you guys talking about in the office?”

Rong Xinxin cracked a toothy smile, slipping out of the office with the tablet pressed to her chest. She stuck her tongue out as she brushed past Zhang Yiming. “You know, just work stuff! See you, uncle, I’ve got work to do—”

Zhang Yiming stalked over to the computer monitor, smiling dryly. On the screen was a beautifully handsome youth singing on stage, clothed head to toe in a pale green stage fit with branching patterns on it. It gave him a sort of charm. He lifted his hand to fall into a choreographed move, his slender waist leaning elegantly like a blade of grass in the breeze. What was even more mesmerizing was that delicate face, which was patted lightly with rouge, was like cherry blossoms blooming on his cheeks. Those peach blossom eyes slanted gently upwards, every frown and smile of his were both masculinely bold and femininely tender — a sort of beauty that could bring kings to their knees.

That was Lin Ning from years ago, a debut photo of him taken back when he was still on the idol trainee program, back whenwon hearts.

*

In the Feihao building, a young man paced back and forth in a room. He switched between glancing at the trending tag comments, taking in a deep breath, and glancing at the door, restlessness brimming.

The comments under his account were beginning to pile up. He couldn’t take it anymore. He bit his lips and dialed.

“Dduu, dduu, dduu…”

No one answered. He tried again. 

Still no answer.

The man wanted to smash his tablet on the ground. He buried his head in his hands. He was an idiot. If he couldn’t find a solution to this problem soon, he would be arrested for defamation. His career would be over by then.

He dialed and dialed over and over again. The receiver finally picked up ten minutes later.

“Yeah?” The voice from the other side was frigid.

“Ah, Jiang, bro! You finally answered!!!” The young man breathed a huge sigh of relief, as if he’d grasped onto a straw at the edge of a cliff. He cried, “Help me, Jiang! I don’t know what to do anymore! I didn’t think things would turn out like this… Zhang Yiming hasn’t said anything about suing me, but you know he never shows mercy to gossipmongers either!”

“You won’t make it anywhere without guts. Stop scaring yourself,” the voice snapped.

The young man’s hand trembled. “Think about Zhang Yiming’s influence! The entire Interstellar entertainment industry stands by his side. How many Film Kings do you think are out there? This isn’t something I can face on my own. I shouldn’t have done this! If this goes public I won’t be able to step foot in the entertainment industry again. Jiang Feng! You’ve got to help me.”

“You just want more money, then? Get to the point.” 

The man glanced at the door, making sure it was locked. He continued nervously, “This isn’t about money, Jiang. I’ve always been by your side ‘cause I want to make it big in the entertainment circle. You were the one who gave me the photo. You were the one who told me to create an account and have it posted. I believed in you. I thought this story was the real deal — that’s why I posted that rumour on the Film King. Now your fans are out here to get me, saying stuff like I’m dragging your name through the mud… But it wasn’t my fault! You were the one who…”

“Are you done yet?!” The low, calm voice exploded. Things weren’t going the way Jiang Feng had planned. “Stop calling me. I’ve given you the resources and money. We’re even now.”

“…” The man’s mouth hung open in disbelief. “You can’t just leave me out here to dry, man. I’ve helped you so much… You can’t do this.”

A few seconds later, the line went dead.

The young man slumped onto the floor. “No! You can’t do this. You can’t!”

Jiang Feng hung up, furious. He looked up at the other person in the room.

Liu Ze snuffed out his cigarette, blowing out a slow cloud of white smoke. His gaze was penetrating as he looked out to the sky beyond the building silently.

“That brat came looking for me. He’s in the building now, so he might come in anytime. Getting cold feet over something this small… He’s so… Fuck!” Jiang Feng spat.

Liu Ze cocked his head, staring motionlessly at Jiang Feng. 

“…I-I…” Jiang Feng took a step back.

“He’s just a brat who fails more than he succeeds. Toss him aside,” Liu Ze took step after step towards Jiang Feng. “But we’ve got to trace the problem to its root. You messed up first. How long has it been since Lin Ning fell off the circle? Why’re you still occupied with him?! You arranged all this without my approval and you dragged a big name like Zhang Yiming into this. Some balls, huh!”

The back of Jiang Feng’s head pressed against the wall, but his heart was raging with fire. He was too scared to show it, though. All he could do was explain, as calmly as he could muster, “It’s been too long since I last released an album. What else could I have done? I didn’t think Lin Ning – that asshole – would threaten me… I had to show him who was the boss…”

“You’re so damn stupid!” Liu Ze was out of patience. He gave Jiang Feng one last piercing glare, then turned away. “You can’t suppress this issue anymore. The internet’s already dug out his real identity. You’re lucky you haven’t come into conact with him in a while. When he comes, convince him to take the fall for this, then cut him off as soon as you can.”

“Got it…” Jiang Feng spat each word out slowly, clenching his fists. The look in his eyes instantly suppressed down to a cold stare, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, waiting for its prey. Its first strike was going to be critical.

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