Chapter 3
Lin Zhiqiao touched his ear. [How much? I think I just hallucinated. Say that again?]
888 screamed, [380,000! A full 380,000!!!]
Lin Zhiqiao sucked in a sharp breath, so excited he was practically about to faint.
[I’ve struck it rich, I’ve struck it rich, I’ve struck it rich!] He was nearly in tears on the spot. [I’ve been grinding in this industry for so many years, running myself ragged chasing schedules, and I still never managed to save this much!]
[System, I love you! You are my one and only God of Wealth in plain soup!]
888 was trembling too. [I-I-I’ve never seen this much either! So many zeroes, wuwuwu!]
One man and one system clung to each other and cried with joy, while everyone still at the scene was filled with resentment—
So what about President Song?
Where was the gossip? What about that huge piece of gossip?!
Don’t start crying yet!!!
The banquet was still going on.
But compared with the lively atmosphere at the beginning, the mood now carried a strange and indescribable sense of awkwardness.
Song Chuan’s gossip had used up all of the Blind Box Energy, and in the end it was rated A-.
According to 888, the rating standard had a lot to do with both the identity of the person involved and the impact of the gossip itself.
The greater the impact the gossip could cause, and the more special the identity of the person involved, the higher the rating would be.
To put it simply, the juicier the gossip, the higher the rating—and the bigger the reward.
Lin Zhiqiao was still immersed in the joy of earning 380,000 when someone suddenly interrupted him. “Hello.”
It was an unfamiliar voice.
“Hello.” Lin Zhiqiao looked up blankly. “And you are?”
“My name is Fang Xinnan. I’m a director.” The man looked very young. “Would you mind getting to know me?”
It was a name he had never heard before. He seemed to be a rookie director.
The two made a few awkward exchanges before Fang Xinnan got to the point. “I’m preparing a variety show right now, and there’s still one guest slot left. I’ve already sent the detailed information to your manager.”
Where there was work, there was money. Lin Zhiqiao was not picky at all.
He was just a little curious—out of so many people present, how had Fang Xinnan taken notice of him?
Fang Xinnan said, “Do you know that you…”
He kept getting stuck on “you” and could not get a full sentence out.
Lin Zhiqiao asked, “Me what?”
Fang Xinnan abruptly changed course. “Your acting is actually very emotionally infectious.”
Lin Zhiqiao looked shy. “Thank you.”
[What a coincidence. I think so too!]
The two gradually became more familiar with each other.
Among the crowd, quite a few people revealed regretful expressions.
Damn it.
Someone had beaten them to it!
Fang Xinnan calmly withstood the daggers shot at him by the others and lowered his voice. “Let me secretly tell you a secret.”
[A secret? Is there gossip?]
Lin Zhiqiao held his breath. “Don’t worry, my lips are sealed. I definitely won’t tell anyone!”
Fang Xinnan: “…”
Yes, yes, yes.
Your mouth is sealed, but your heart is wide open to the sky.
He said, “The investor for my variety show is Song Fengshi.”
Lin Zhiqiao: “…”
He nodded heavily. “Okay, okay, I believe you.”
But his tone very obviously said he did not believe a word of it.
So Fang Xinnan tilted his head and motioned for Lin Zhiqiao to look over with him.
The moment Lin Zhiqiao lifted his head, he met a pair of dark, deep eyes.
Song Fengshi was very tall. Even though he was surrounded by a crowd, it did not stop Lin Zhiqiao from seeing his movements clearly.
The other man gave him a small nod.
Lin Zhiqiao’s eyes widened instantly.
Whoa! It was actually true!
*
After the banquet ended, Fang Xinnan went to find Song Fengshi.
Song Fengshi lifted his gaze. “How did it go?”
“I tried. No luck.” Fang Xinnan shook his head. “He doesn’t know that his inner thoughts are leaking out, and I can’t tell him either. I couldn’t get a single word out.”
Song Fengshi lightly tapped his wristwatch with a fingertip, his expression unsurprised.
Because of his high position, Song Fengshi had come into contact with far more complicated and unusual matters than most people, including many things science could not explain.
Fang Xinnan raised a brow. “He also asked me to pass along a message.”
Song Fengshi’s fingertip paused. “For me?”
“That’s right.” Fang Xinnan said, “He said… that you should take good care of your health and make sure to get your medical checkups on time.”
For the first time, a trace of surprise appeared on Song Fengshi’s usually indifferent face.
Fang Xinnan sized him up from head to toe and teased, “Song Fengshi, don’t tell me… you’ve got some hidden illness?”
On the other side—
Outside the hotel, many reporters and fans who had gotten wind of the event had gathered and were lying in wait. Some were waiting for Song Fengshi, some for Lin Mubai, and some for others.
But none of that had anything to do with Lin Zhiqiao.
After saying goodbye to Wu Yuan and the others, Lin Zhiqiao quietly slipped out through a side door of the hotel, wrapped in a black overcoat, and stood alone by the roadside waiting for his ride.
Everything about today’s gathering had been great.
He had enjoyed plenty of gossip, earned money, and even landed a new job.
The only thing that confused him a little was that many people at the venue—including his manager Wu Yuan—had looked at him for a long time with extremely complicated expressions, as if they wanted to say something but stopped themselves every time.
Just as he was thinking about it, a car suddenly pulled over by the roadside.
Lin Zhiqiao thought it was the car he had called. He had only just taken two steps forward when a familiar and irritating face appeared behind the rolled-down window.
It was the Lin family’s second young master, Lin Mubai’s second brother, Lin Juezhou.
Also Lin Zhiqiao’s second brother.
Lin Juezhou looked him up and down, disgust flashing across his eyes. “Why are you here?”
Lin Zhiqiao: “…”
[I wanted to ask you the same thing! I hid all the way out here and still ran into you. What bad luck.]
Lin Juezhou: “You—” Who are you calling bad luck?
The rest of his words never came out.
Lin Juezhou frowned, not paying much attention to the sudden moment of speechlessness just now.
“You followed Mubai here?” Lin Juezhou barked harshly. “I knew you were up to no good! After Mubai said so many good things for you, you still—”
“Today is Xinghe’s gathering.” Lin Zhiqiao cut him off. “I’m an artist under Xinghe.”
Lin Juezhou’s voice stopped abruptly, and a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face.
[Forget it. No point arguing with an idiot. Idiocy is contagious.]
Lin Zhiqiao silently took a step back. “My ride is here. I’m leaving first.”
He turned and walked away as soon as he finished speaking, leaving Lin Juezhou only a retreating figure and one final thought:
[How many days has it been since you brushed your teeth? Your mouth smells so bad the moment you open it. Aren’t you afraid of fumigating your precious Mubai?]
Lin Juezhou: “…?”
He wanted to snap back, only to discover that it was as if he had forgotten his lines. For a moment he could not say a word. The anger got stuck in his chest, making him feel like he had swallowed a mute loss, and it nearly suffocated him.
Lin Juezhou frowned.
Since when had his strange third brother—the one who could sit at home all day without squeezing out a single fart—become this sharp-tongued?
And just now, when he heard Lin Zhiqiao’s voice, had Lin Zhiqiao… not actually opened his mouth?
Lin Juezhou did not get the chance to think further before Lin Mubai called him. “Second Brother, are you here yet?”
That gentle, pleasant voice instantly smoothed away Lin Juezhou’s anger.
Forget it.
Having Mubai as a younger brother was enough for him.
As for Lin Zhiqiao… he had not been raised by their side since childhood. In the end, there was not much affection there.
*
A few days later, on the way to the variety show recording site.
Director Fang’s variety show was called Our Life. It was an experiential reality show.
There were six regular cast members in total. Aside from Lin Zhiqiao, who was an actor, the other five all had different professions. The only thing they had in common was that all six of them counted as public figures.
Fang Xinnan had not announced the guest lineup in advance, so no one—not even Lin Zhiqiao—knew who the other guests were.
The format of the show was very simple. Each episode served as a unit, and the six guests would rotate through experiencing each other’s work and daily lives.
Most importantly—
In order to show a more authentic side, the entire show would be livestreamed from start to finish.
That kind of format was extremely bold. If anything unexpected happened during the program and caused a live broadcast accident, there would not even be any room for post-production editing to save it.
But Fang Xinnan had Song Fengshi as his investor, so he was obviously not afraid of offending people.
Lin Zhiqiao was not afraid either. Whether it was live or pre-recorded, it would not affect his gossip-eating—cross that out—money-making.
Lin Zhiqiao stared out the window in boredom.
The Blind Box Energy had already accumulated to about two-thirds full.
According to 888, only the very first time he opened a blind box did the energy bar need to be completely full. After that, he could open one whenever he wanted and eat gossip whenever he wanted; he would not need to wait that long again.
The gossip opened from a blind box was related to the surrounding environment at the time. The more people around, and the more special their identities, the greater the chance of getting a huge scandal.
Lin Zhiqiao had not met many people lately, so even if he opened a blind box, he would not get any good gossip out of it. That was why he had been holding back all these days.
No gossip to eat, no money to earn. His wallet was hungry, and so was his soul.
Lin Zhiqiao felt that his current self urgently needed a huge wave of gossip to nourish him.
The car drove farther and farther into remote areas. Looking at the increasingly desolate scenery outside, Lin Zhiqiao quietly asked the cameraman filming him, “Bro, where are you taking me?”
The cameraman replied, “Middle of nowhere. Gonna sell you off for money.”
Lin Zhiqiao: “…”
By then, the livestream had already begun. The early promotion for Our Life had been done very well, and quite a lot of viewers had already entered Lin Zhiqiao’s livestream room.
At the exact moment Lin Zhiqiao fell silent, his voice suddenly rang out in the ears of the viewers—
[Ahh, I’m so scared!]
The viewers: “…?”
What the hell was that sound?
The cameraman: “…”
The atmosphere inside the car turned a little cold, so the cameraman tried to warm things up. “We have a quick Q&A here to help the audience get to know you faster. Want to give it a try?”
Lin Zhiqiao nodded.
The cameraman asked, “Name?”
“Lin Zhiqiao.”
“Gender?”
“…Male.”
[Why? Do I look like a girl disguised as a man?]
“…Hobbies?”
“Eating, sleeping, reading novels, acting.”
[And making money and eating gossip too!!]
“Can you talk a little about what kind of novels you like?”
“It’s just… just ordinary web novels.”
[It’s not that I don’t want to recommend any, but The Years I Worked as an Erotic Streamer and I Somehow Turned an Infinite Game into R18… they’re great, really, but is that something you can say on air? The livestream would get banned, okay!!!]
The cameraman took a deep breath and wisely swallowed the follow-up question of “Do you have any specific recommendations?”
“Why did you decide to join our variety show?”
“I think this is a very rare opportunity. I can experience a different kind of life and also train myself at the same time. It’s killing two birds with one stone, so it would be such a pity to miss it.”
[Obviously because Director Fang was offering way too much money! And maybe I can even find a chance to eat some gossip too… ehehe ^-^]
…
After a full round of questions, the cameraman hid behind the camera and wiped his face hard.
It’s fine. Totally fine.
The viewers in the livestream probably can’t hear that… right?
Little did he know, the audience in Lin Zhiqiao’s livestream room had already exploded.
