Chapter 21
Private Room 402.
Behind the door, heads were packed tightly together.
Lin Zhiqiao was nimble and quick. The moment Cheng Xia made the call, he immediately moved at the speed of gossip and seized the best spot for watching the drama unfold.
Right behind him was the cameraman.
To make sure nothing went wrong, the cameraman had not started the livestream, but the treasure of his heart was still being held firmly on his shoulder.
Tang Zhou let out an “ow.” “Who stepped on my foot?!”
Cheng Xia said awkwardly, “Sorry… ah, my stomach…”
Wen Li drew back her elbow. “Sorry, sorry!”
Tiny Jiang Qianqian was wedged among the others, practically lifted off the ground and floating with the crowd.
The cameraman shielded his camera. “Easy, easy, don’t squeeze so hard! Don’t knock the camera down!”
Ji Ran muttered under his breath, “The livestream isn’t even on, so why is the camera still taking up space?”
The cameraman replied righteously, “To record beautiful life, obviously. Do you understand or not?”
Everyone else: “…”
Whose beautiful life was he recording? Cheng Li’s?
Had he ever considered Cheng Li’s feelings?
Lin Zhiqiao was plastered right at the front, and the chaos and bloodbath behind him had absolutely nothing to do with him.
Pei Ning asked, “What about the paparazzi outside? Are they all ready?”
“You can trust Young Master Ji to get things done.” Ji Ran gave a light snort. “Everything’s prepared perfectly. Just wait for the hot search to explode tonight.”
The group shoved and jostled for a long time, until Lin Zhiqiao at the very front said excitedly and expectantly, “They’re here, they’re here, they’re here!”
Only then did everyone stop arguing.
Eight heads and one camera completely blocked the rather large one-way glass.
They saw two uniformed police officers hurrying down the corridor straight toward Room 403, shouting loudly, “Police inspection!”
When the door opened, the room inside was dim and hazy. Cheng Li’s clothes were in disarray, and his face was flushed red.
The moment he saw who had arrived, the expression on his face froze stiff.
The police said bluntly, “We received a report from the public…”
After some back-and-forth, the five people hiding in the bathroom—also with their clothes in disarray—could no longer stay hidden either.
All six of them were caught red-handed and taken away by the police in one neat bundle. Even the cocktails on the coffee table, along with the other suggestive arrangements in the room, were not overlooked.
Eight pairs of eyes and one camera witnessed the entire process of Cheng Li being taken away.
The people in Room 402: “Wuhu!”
Lin Zhiqiao felt deeply satisfied.
[Now this is what I call gossip. So refreshing!]
*
No matter how hard Cheng Li tried, he could not understand why Cheng Xia had not come—while the police had.
A vague voice told him that the police were called by Cheng Xia.
But Cheng Li refused to believe it.
Cheng Xia would not—and did not dare to—disobey him. It had always been like that all these years, and this time absolutely could not be an exception!
[System, check who did this.] Cheng Li said viciously. [I’m definitely going to make them pay!]
No voice answered him.
Cheng Li frowned. [System?]
A moment later, his system finally spoke. [Sorry, Host. The main system is currently evaluating task completion status. I am temporarily unable to serve you.]
A bad feeling rose from the bottom of Cheng Li’s heart. [What do you mean by that?]
But this time, no matter how long he waited, the system gave no further response.
After being taken away, the procedures were tedious and stifling.
Cheng Li denied everything with all his might, insisting that he and the five men had done nothing illegal.
But clearly, the five people Cheng Li had hired had absolutely no tacit understanding with him.
Those five had only taken money to do a job. They had never expected to be hauled in during a police vice crackdown. The moment the police questioned them, they spilled everything in full.
On top of that, the special substances detected in the cocktails made Cheng Li’s intentions obvious without needing to be stated.
No one knew how much time had passed before Cheng Li’s system finally returned.
But it had only come to say goodbye.
[According to the main system’s judgment, your behavior has already strayed far from that of an “idol.” Your current idol points are dropping rapidly, and your chances of completing the mission and becoming a “national idol” are now next to none. This system’s request to terminate its bond with you has already been approved.]
The system’s tone carried no emotion at all, cold and sharp to the ear. [We will never meet again, Cheng Li.]
Cheng Li tried to stop it. [System? System!]
But there was no answer anymore. Before leaving, the system kindly left him one last file—
Tonight’s Weibo hot searches.
#TheStoryBetweenChengLiAndFiveBigMen#
#xxPoliceBulletinOnAttemptedMaliciousHarm#
#ChengLiTakenAwayByPolice#
#ChengLiHasCollapsed#
#JiGroupPresidentSuesChengLi#
…
The major marketing accounts were unwilling to miss such a huge scandal and all reposted videos and photos of Cheng Li being taken away. Each article title was more outrageous than the last.
The comment section was even livelier. There were people gathering to watch the gossip, people angrily cursing him, people disappointedly unfollowing him… even the old fans who had once stood firmly on his side were now declaring that they had turned from fans into haters.
Those words were so glaring that Cheng Li did not even dare look at them directly.
Cheng Li only felt hollow inside, as though a great many things had been ripped out of him.
After the system left, all of the idol buffs he had once possessed also lost their effect.
Without the idol halo, without all the cheats he had exchanged for in the system shop—let alone being a popular idol trainee, he was now not even as good as an ordinary person.
Cheng Li raised his head and saw what he currently looked like in the one-way glass.
His hair was messy, his clothes disordered. That face once called heaven-given beauty by his fans now looked utterly haggard, all its former brilliance gone.
[System, System, stop joking around.] Cheng Li’s voice trembled. [You’re angry with me, aren’t you? I promise I’ll listen to you from now on and complete the tasks properly…]
But no matter how gently and desperately he begged, the system that had already left him would never respond again.
The life belonging to idol Cheng Li ended here.
What awaited him next was the price he would pay for all his reckless actions over the years.
*
To celebrate the perfect success of this gossip operation, on the way back, the group really did carry an entire watermelon back to the dorm.
They also conveniently bought some late-night snacks that were not allowed to appear inside the trainee base.
Ji Ran was the happiest of all.
He used zero-sugar soda in place of alcohol and clinked cups with everyone one by one, then finally slung an arm around Cheng Xia’s shoulders.
“If something like this happens again next time, do you know how to deal with it now?”
Cheng Xia nodded obediently. “Call 110 and take him down!”
“Wrong!” Ji Ran wagged a finger. “The right answer is go home, find Mom and Dad, and then one word: cry!”
Cheng Xia: “…Huh?”
Lin Zhiqiao nodded. “That’s right, that’s right. You’re someone with backing now!”
Cheng Xia hesitated before giving an “oh,” clearly still not quite used to it.
Ji Ran patted Cheng Xia on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. They bullied you like this, so Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Grandpa on Mom’s side, Grandma on Mom’s side… definitely won’t let them off. Our Ji family is super protective of our own!”
Lin Zhiqiao was fiercely envious.
Having backing really was great. You did not even need to slap people in the face personally.
Lin Zhiqiao gnawed on grilled skewers while the sound of money arriving in his little vault rang by his ear, and his whole body seemed to bloom with cheerful pink flowers.
888 suddenly let out a small “Eh?”
Another one million plus had just landed in the little vault, and Lin Zhiqiao’s voice began to float. [What is it?]
[Cheng Li’s system came just now, and then left again.] 888 said. [It seemed like it came to see Cheng Xia.]
Lin Zhiqiao sobered instantly.
A new data packet had appeared on the system interface.
[When it left, I grabbed this from its information database.] 888 said. [It seems to be the original plotline from the novel Cheng Li transmigrated into.]
