CH 99

three hours later.

The director rested his elbows on his thighs, collapsed and buried his face in his palms, falling into contemplation in despair.

He’s a director who specialized in low-quality web dramas. He has never had much requirements for the quality of the plot and the acting skills of the actors.

But… in the more than ten years of his career, he had never seen such a bad actor!

Won’t stand properly, has no sense of the camera.

The lines were memorized word for word, but his expressions and body movements were stiff, as if it was a robot with an on-off key behind it, so what was the use of memorising the lines so clearly!

The director put down his palm in a daze, and weakly shouted:

“…Ten minutes of rest.”

Filming stopped.

All the actors showed resentment instantly, but Lu Nan, who was the culprit, was relieved to stay out of the way, as if he had finally escaped from a long-lasting torture.

“—Lu Nan, come here.”

Director shouted from a distance.

Ge Xiu put down his sleeves and walked towards the direction of the voice.

The director pulled Ge Xiu aside, with a complicated expression on his face, hesitating on what to say.

Finally, after considering his words for a long time, he slowly said: “Xiaolu*… I know you have encountered a lot of things recently, your state…”

*Xiao Lu means Little Lu, a close way to adress Lu Nan

The director froze for a while, and then continued in an extremely reluctant voice: “…Maybe it’s not very good.”

He took a deep breath and continued: “This…I don’t blame you, I’ll give you three days off, you can think about this role, okay?

The young man nodded with a sincere attitude:

“Okay, thank you director.”

Looking at the innocent-looking young man in front of him, the director felt more and more headache — it’s not that he didn’t want to change people, the main reason was that the cost of the online drama he’s shooting was too low, and there are too few actors willing to take on such a bad drama.

The director was actually quite self-aware of this.

And although this guy has been hacked miserably on the Internet recently, being scolded was also traffic!

After all it was said, negative popularity was also popularity*.

*lit. saying black-red was also red, black-red meaning negative reputation and red meaning popularity.

He was counting on this drama to be scolded when it was filmed, and to earn some clicks to make a good deal.

The director patted Ge Xiu on the shoulder and said weakly:

“…Go ahead.”

Ge Xiu nodded happily, then turned and left without any psychological burden.

He gained a lot of knowledge today!

It was not just standing in front of the camera and reciting lines — en, you can’t look directly at the camera, you can’t directly face the camera, and you can’t just keep reciting lines without giving the other person time to respond.

It seems that the career of an actor was quite interesting.

Ge Xiu finished changing his clothes, and then left the cloudy and gloomy studio in high spirits.

As soon as he walked out of the gate of the film and television city, he was surrounded by a group of entertainment reporters blocking the door.

One by one, the microphones were facing his face, squeezing for space in front of him.

Countless noisy voices came from all directions, the male and female voices overlapped, and bringing overwhelming noise:

“Lu Nan, Lu Nan! What do you think of about the news of you being kept?”

“Did you leave the hotel dishevelled this morning because you were with someone?”

“Are you gay?”

“Is it true that you owe loan sharks debts because of gambling?”

“Have you slandered Zuo Yan, the president of Zuo group, and even went to the Zuo’s hotel to try to seduce him?”

Ge Xiu had a headache.

The identity assigned to him this time, Lu Nan, was simply a black material concentration camp. Although he did not have time to digest all the information transmitted to his mind, based on the news that he already learned had been exposed, it’s was enough to ruin a person’s reputation.

He raised his eyes and glanced at the pushing and fighting reporters in front of him, and there was a bit of coldness in his dark eyes. This was not a look that an ordinary star could have. The already sensitive entertainment reporters feel cold on their backs, making them feel intimidated, and subconsciously quietened their voices.

There was a brief silence in the air.

Ge Xiu cleared his throat and said, “Do you have any questions? Then come one by one.”

The entertainment reporters were stunned. They had never seen a star with such a reaction before. The extremely sharp professional radar sensitive to all traffic and controversial news also rang instantly. They looked at each other, and everyone’s eyes flashed with excitement, like hyenas smelling blood.

Ge Xiu casually pointed at one:

“What did you ask me just now?”

The reporter who was called spoke very quickly: “What do you think of the news of you being kept?”

Ge Xiu didn’t change his face: “No opinion.”

Reporter: “…?”

But before he could come back to his senses, the reporter who asked second question was called out by the young man who had already stopped paying attention:

“Your gambling and debt to loan sharks…”

Ge Xiu calmly said: “It’s fake.”

The reporter was stunned, but quickly took over the words: “But the evidence…”

Ge Xiu said firmly: “It’s fake.”

Reporter: ” “…”

What was talking nonsense with your eyes open, this was called talking nonsense with your eyes open.

But the other party’s natural and upright attitude, as if there was no hiding at all, had a strange magic power, that is, making their throats feel blocked and suddenly forget what they wanted to ask next.

Other entertainment reporters rioted.

They could see what this guy wanted to do, but after all, they were well-trained and were not prepared to let the other party continue to hold the right to speak.

The crowd quickly became agitated, and the vehement questions were thrown at the young man in the eye of the typhoon like a bomb. One question was more explicit and uglier than the other, as if trying to deliberately trying to sting the other party, so that he could show a more intense response.

Homosexuality, fostering, seduction, unspoken rules, owing money, Zuo’s group, Zuo Yan…

Ge Xiu frowned, capturing a word he had never heard of before:

“Who is Zuo Yan?”

The entertainment reporters gasped, suddenly quieted down, staring at the young man in front of them with an astonished look, as if he said something shocking.

Ge Xiu was a little puzzled.

Should he know this person?

However, Ge Xiu knew what it meant to seize the opportunity, so he took the opportunity to escape from reports’ siege, and then quickly hired a passing taxi swiftly getting into the car before they caught up and surrounded him again.

The slow-moving taxi left the group of people in hot pursuit behind, and the tightly closed windows blocked off those questions that seemed like a barrage of cannons.

It felt so good to be finally able to breathe.

Ge Xiu leaned on the back seat, narrowed his eyes slightly, and took out his mobile phone from his pocket.

According to the original body’s memory, he opened the social software and flipped through it casually.

He saw that Lu Nan’s name was still hanging on the hot search*.

*think of Twitter’s “trending” page

And there were several titles.

Ge Xiu casually clicked on one.

One of the most popular was the image of him coming out of the hotel in a dishevelled way this morning. The angle of the photo is very good, and it can make people think about suggestive context almost instantly.

He pulled down to the comment area.

It was basically full of foul language and insults.

……boring.

Ge Xiu yawned perfunctorily and turned off the social software.

He opened the payments software, swiped it at will, and then his eyes froze abruptly.

Balance: 19.8 yuan.

“…”

Ge Xiu raised his head and glanced at the driver’s chronometer, the number on it was about to jump to 19.5.

He suddenly shouted: “Stop!”

The driver was startled and hurriedly stepped on the brakes.

Ge Xiu breathed a sigh of relief and said: “I’ll just get off here.”

The driver looked back at him in confusion: “But it’s still five minutes away from the destination, and it will take a while to walk.”

Ge Xiu replied calmly “I want to go for a walk.”

He paid the money, opened the door and walked out.

This was a somewhat crowded residential area. In fact, it wasn’t far from the place where he currently lived, and it only took ten minutes to walk there.

Ge Xiu turned into an alley according to his memory.

The sun above his head was hot and dazzling, and several large, leafy trees stretched out from the low walls, casting shadows.

“Gululu—”

his stomach growled.

Ge Xiu frowned, reaching out to hold his aching stomach.

He just remembered that he had not even touched water since he woke up in the hotel this morning.

Suddenly, before he could take a few steps, several people who had obviously been waiting there turned around in the cramped alley, and then slowly walked towards him.

Ge Xiu narrowed his eyes.

He turned his cheek slightly — the alley entrance behind him was blocked by three other people.

Those men were tall and robust, with vicious features, and they all held implements such as wooden sticks, iron bars, and sharp-edged knives. At first glance they weren’t good people.

What luck was this today.

No matter where he went, he got blocked.

The hunger in his stomach made Ge Xiu a little irritable.

“Yo, Big Star Lu, you know how to come back.” The leading man said sarcastically, “How about engraving the words on your hand this time? We’ll write down the money you owe us, maybe this time you won’t forget it.”

Several of others around him burst into vulgar laughter.

“Scratch his face!” One person suggested maliciously: “See how he will remain on the screen!”

“Break his hand!”

Cruel suggestions poured out of the mouths of the people around him one by one. They were laughing, enjoying the thrill of standing above others, watching the victim shiver, never having enough.

The man in the lead stepped forward, and poked the other person’s shoulder with the sharpened iron rod in his hand:

“Did you hear it, don’t say that…”

Before the iron rod could touch the other side, it was suddenly grasped swiftly.

The man was stunned for a moment, and he swallowed the rest of the words back into his stomach, taken off guard.

The young man in front of him who should have been trembling with fear and panic raised his head, but there was no emotion on his face. Under his slightly scattered hair on his forehead, his eyes were cold and dark, like a blade shimmering with ice coloured cold light. His gaze seemed to be able to cut into skin, making people shudder.

He said calmly and boredly:

“Are you finished yet?”

The man recovered from his stunned state, instantly became furious, and shouted angrily, “What did you say?!”

The young man smiled charismatically.

His hand holding the iron rod tightened sharply, pulled the other party directly over, then held the other party’s head and smashed it hard on his knee.

The whole process was smooth and practised, and it took less than a few seconds before and after.

By the time everyone reacted, the man had fallen to the ground whimpering, his face distorted, and his nose was bleeding. Judging from the shape of the bridge of his nose, it was most likely broken.

Ge Xiu flipped the stick in his hand, raised his eyes and glanced at the others:

“Who’s next?”

Something dark and deep flashed in his eyes, like a beast lurking in the abyss showing sharp claws, cold flames burning in the barren ruins.

The scorching sun above their heads was dazzling, and the alleys twisted and twisted.

The cracking sound of broken bones, sounds of flesh being beaten, and eye-piercing howls mingled together, abruptly interrupting the silent afternoon with distinct sounds.

After a few minutes, everything was silent again.

Only the painful groans were still faintly heard.

“Clank bang.”

Ge Xiu threw the iron rod that was still dripping blood on the ground, making a loud noise, and then lifted his foot and kicked the man who fell on the ground and groaned: “Not coming?”

The man curled up, struggling to avoid it.

Ge Xiu kicked him again: “That’s it?”

“Nonono, won’t fight! Forgive me!” The man begged for mercy hoarsely, the broken nose bridge on his face was still bleeding, the snot tears and blood all mixed messily on his face.

“Scratch my face?” he asked slowly. “Break my hand?”

“No no no no no! Don’t dare! We were just joking, joking!” The man cried bitterly.    

Ge Xiu got down in disgust, having lost interest, and sneered softly:

“Just here to collect debts? Are you not ashamed?”

He raised his foot to step across the writhing body lay8ng on the ground then walked slowly towards the end of the valley.

But before he could take a few steps, the familiar electronically synthesised sound rang in his ears, without any emotional fluctuations:

“Convict No. 7098, please accept the third task in this world: repayment of debts.”

Ge Xiu stopped and slowly narrowed his eyes.

“This task is a long-term task, and it must be repaid through acting. The duration time is: one year.”

In one year, relying on acting, pay off 80 million?

He didn’t get angry but smiled: “Okay, no problem.”

“Gululu—”

A sound came from Ge Xiu’s stomach again, he recalled the pitiful thirty cents in his wallet, and then turned back without hesitation.

He kicked the man who was still crawling on the ground again:

“Do you have any money on you?”

The man gave a horrified cry after being kicked. He was stunned for a while, and then replied, “Yes, yes.”

Ge Xiu raised his eyes and glanced. A circle of other people: “What about you?

“Have, have, have!” everyone answered in a hurry.

“Very good, take them all out.”

———————————————————————

The author has something to say:

If the collections of the debt fails, they will be robbed instead.

.

Bamboo has something to say:

This is the fate of the debt collectors. There will always be a bigger fish than the shark!