Chapter 4

As soon as Ke Xingzhou entered the room, he attracted the attention of everyone.

It wasn’t just because of his unique style of dress, but more because of his face—

The entertainment industry is always filled with beautiful people, full of handsome men and beautiful women. This show, which started with top-tier financial backing from the Wanli Group as a stepping stone into the entertainment industry, had contestants who had undergone multiple rounds of selection, with at least the appearance of the contestants being top-notch among the newcomers.

However, when it came to Ke Xingzhou, even these contestants seemed to pale in comparison.

The large screen in the waiting room was displaying live-stream bullet comments—

【Wow, is he a contestant too? This face is just too striking!】

【The first time I saw him: Where did this homeless guy come from? The second time I saw him: This is my dear husband! Information team! Get my husband's profile in five minutes!】

【What husband? That body, that small face, obviously my wife! I’m bold, I’ll go first, hey, wife!】

【Wait a minute, don’t you guys think he looks familiar? Isn’t he some beauty streamer who got caught up in some prank?】

【What beauty streamer? Are you guys blind? This is the fake young master who spread rumors to frame the real young master just so he wouldn't leave the Ke family!】

As soon as Ke Xingzhou's true identity was revealed, the previously harmonious bullet comments were immediately filled with "WTF," followed by countless insults and curses—

【It’s actually him? Ah!! My eyes are ruined!】

【Laughing to death, you guys were licking the screen so happily earlier, thought the hired posters were making their move, but turns out you didn’t even recognize him?】

【By the way, does anyone not know about this guy’s past? For his own benefit, he spread yellow rumors to ruin victims. This kind of person, no matter how good-looking, is still a pile of dog shit! Not to mention, how is he even good-looking? His bangs are covering his eyes, totally a gloomy freak! Not even half as good-looking as Yuan Bai! No wonder the Ke family kicked him out once they found out he was a fake young master!】

The contestants also began to discuss after seeing the bullet comments.

When they first saw Ke Xingzhou’s face, they did feel a sense of crisis, but fortunately, Ke Xingzhou had already ruined his own reputation before joining the show.

Fans nowadays aren’t as easily fooled as before, and anyone with a flaw in character definitely wouldn’t be able to become popular.

Not to mention, this variety show was Wanli Group’s first step into the entertainment industry. Even though the Ke family had pushed someone in, Wanli Group definitely wouldn’t give a person with such a poor reputation like Ke Xingzhou much camera time.

Because of Ke Xingzhou's bad reputation, they couldn’t even be bothered to pretend in front of the cameras. They just nodded at him from afar, treating it as a casual greeting.

Some of them even showed obvious signs of not welcoming him, isolating Ke Xingzhou from their little circles.

Ke Xingzhou wasn’t upset by it.

When he had earlier asked Ke Yuanbai's assistant for information, he had mentally prepared for criticism. But he wasn’t really here to compete on the show, so he didn’t care about these trivial matters at all.He took 5.2 million from their parents, and the criticism is what he deserves.

Anyway, he wouldn't lose a piece of flesh.

Ke Xingzhou's gaze lingered for a moment on the bullet comments, then quickly shifted away without any emotion. After looking around and not seeing Ke Yuanbai, he decided to look at the Judge beside him, who was peeking around.

As a nerdy programmer who had never participated in large entertainment events in his life, Lu Li clearly hadn’t seen such a big scene before and was quite curious, turning around a few times in front of the young handsome men.

But soon, he lost interest and returned. “The makeup is too thick; you're still more handsome. By the way, aren’t you going to create a stunning debut for yourself, like crushing the competition and debuting on the spot?”

Ke Xingzhou: "…"

The camera was filming, and Ke Xingzhou couldn’t talk to a ghost in front of the audience, so he bent down to calm the little kitten in his arms, then took out his phone and typed: [Not interested.]

He was only participating in the show because of the Ke family’s request, to settle the cause and effect between them in this way. He didn’t have much affection for the entertainment industry.

Lu Li clicked his tongue. “So you really are going to follow their plan, playing a stupid and evil villain to highlight that so-called real young master’s debut?”

Ke Xingzhou: [It’s not impossible.]

Lu Li: “?!”

[But that’s a different price.]

Lu Li: “…”

He gave Ke Xingzhou two thumbs up, his face full of “as expected of you,” and Ke Xingzhou accepted it happily, with no embarrassment.

He had indeed promised Ke Yuanbai’s parents to help, but the Ke family hadn’t told him they had already set up his persona for him. Moreover, the remaining 4.5 million hadn’t made it into his pocket yet, and the Ke family, afraid that he would back out halfway, had forced them to set the final payment date to the day of the show’s wrap-up.

So, don’t blame him for slacking off.

After a moment of silence, Lu Li asked again, “But do you think this will work? The saying ‘Virtue bears great weight’ applies to people’s beliefs too. Once someone truly worships you, believes in you, they bind your merit points to you. If, at some point, you do something to make them unfollow you or forget you, those merit points will be taken away.”

His fingers flew across the keyboard, looking at the results on the fate ledger, clicking his tongue. “With your current merit balance, if a few points are deducted, you could be in big trouble.”

Not to mention, the allure of Ke Xingzhou’s appearance was beyond doubt. Even if he was a straight guy who loved PHP, sometimes, just looking at Ke Xingzhou’s face made Lu Li lose focus.

Now, with so many face fetishists, who knows, Ke Xingzhou might really attract a few fans who genuinely like him.

Ke Xingzhou’s fingers lightly tapped the screen, not taking it seriously:

[That’s a different price.]

The line for the pre-interview was long, and with no one around to kill time, Ke Xingzhou felt drowsy from waiting. He was about to just slack off and fall asleep when he suddenly sensed several malicious gazes, instantly waking him up.

He squinted and followed the direction of the stares. The first thing he saw wasn’t the three unfriendly faces, but the swirling black mist above their heads.

When his gaze landed on their faces, Ke Xingzhou’s expression changed.

Bad luck!

It’s three of them!The contestants who managed to get into this show had more merit than ordinary people. Maybe after calculating the fortune for these three, the merit points they would return to him would be enough to raise his price!

With this thought, Ke Xingzhou's gaze grew even more intense.

The three people across from him, meeting his suddenly enthusiastic gaze, couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease deep in their hearts, and their steps subconsciously slowed.

By the time they realized, Ke Xingzhou had already pulled out a wrinkled cloth strip from somewhere and swung it open in front of them.

The words "Iron-Clad Prediction" spread across the cloth, and Ke Xingzhou’s face lit up with a business-like smile: “Do you three want your fortune told? Three people come together, one gets a free reading! This special offer is only available today, it’ll be gone tomorrow!”

The three of them: "…"

That strange sense of danger quickly transformed into an inexplicable sense of shame.

These three people hadn’t come with good intentions to begin with, and two of them were immediately enraged: “Are you messing with us?”

Ke Xingzhou blinked, looking at their faces and knowing immediately that these two were impulsive and easy to anger, the type who could easily be provoked by words. It was likely that confronting him wasn’t their own idea.

As expected, his gaze swept forward, and the live stream was still on. The other contestants were all looking this way, their faces showing confusion and concern, but their eyes couldn’t hide the glee.

He instantly understood.

It seemed that his reputation outside was really bad. Even during the live broadcast, these people had started to incite trouble for him.

For the other contestants, Ke Xingzhou was a newcomer who hadn’t been in the public eye before. The arrival of these three was just the right opportunity to test his strength.

If he were useless, these two would be the leading bullies, and if anything happened to him later, others would immediately think of them. But if, as the rumors said, he was ruthless and capable, then afterward, he would only retaliate against these two, and others wouldn’t be implicated.

With this thought, Ke Xingzhou couldn’t help but feel a little pity for the two who were trying to stand out.

The latter had already thought he was messing with them. Seeing this, their anger flared up even more, and they seemed ready to make a move.

Ke Xingzhou had practiced for many years and wasn’t afraid of this, but he felt a little regretful that two customers were already lost.

Another 20 yuan gone.

He had thought a confrontation was inevitable, but to his surprise, the quiet one in the group suddenly stood up.

Whether intentional or not, he positioned himself in front of Ke Xingzhou, blocking the gazes of the other two.

“Hey, guys, the cameras are on. This might not be a good idea,” the curly-haired guy said with a silly grin, adopting a tone as though he were negotiating. “I’m good at communicating, so how about I talk to him first?”

Upon hearing this, the two finally noticed that the camera had somehow shifted to focus on them.

If the curly-haired guy hadn’t stepped in just now, whatever they did to Ke Xingzhou would have been broadcast live.

Anyone participating in this show was aiming for a debut, right? If they were caught on camera bullying Ke Xingzhou, forget about debuting, they’d be lucky if the viewers’ spittle didn’t drown them!

It was only then that the two realized they had been used as pawns, and their expressions soured immediately.

The curly-haired guy pressed on: “I have fewer fans, let me handle this!”

“You?” The two were suspicious.Does this kid not know that when something like this happens, no one benefits?

"Don’t worry, I’ve got it under control!" The curly-haired guy patted his chest with a loud thud, then turned around, raising his chin in a forceful manner, "You, come with me!"

"…" Ke Xingzhou blinked, and only then did he clearly see the curly-haired guy’s face.

He was taller than most people, but the curly-haired guy was even a few centimeters taller. Despite that, he had a baby-faced look, with big round eyes like a cat, and his mouth was naturally slightly upturned at the corners.

It was clearly a sweet and innocent face, yet he was trying hard to look fierce and imposing.

Seeing that Ke Xingzhou didn’t react, the curly-haired guy seemed a bit anxious. He immediately reached out and grabbed Ke Xingzhou’s neck, all while making intense eye contact with him.

Ke Xingzhou honestly didn’t resist and, following his pull, went with him to a corner where the camera couldn’t capture them.

Once they were far enough away from the others, Ke Xingzhou heard the curly-haired guy quickly whisper an "apology" by his ear.

Ke Xingzhou raised an eyebrow, about to speak, but the curly-haired guy was quick to cover his mouth.

Frowning, the curly-haired guy obviously didn’t like this kind of physical contact, his gaze showing a bit of disdain and wariness. But he kept talking: "You’re really bold, doing all those bad things and still daring to come on the show. They’re already insulting you online so badly that they created a special discussion group for it. You didn’t know?"

"…" Ke Xingzhou blinked twice, unable to speak.

The curly-haired guy didn’t seem to realize he was still covering his mouth. Seeing Ke Xingzhou not respond, he looked at him like he was disappointed: "You have hands and feet, if the Ke family doesn’t want you, you can just go work on your own, why do you have to stick with their biological child? Whatever, it’s none of my business... Just be careful, there are a lot of people waiting to see you fail online, and here too, there are plenty of people trying to use this opportunity to bully you and gain favor with the audience. Take care of yourself!"

He paused for a moment, then looked at Ke Xingzhou’s Taoist robe, his baby face scrunching up in displeasure: "And stop with the feudal superstition stuff! People don’t buy that kind of image anymore, you’ll get banned!"

Ke Xingzhou: "…"

He tapped the back of the curly-haired guy’s hand, signaling him to let go.

Only then did the curly-haired guy realize he’d been physically silencing Ke Xingzhou. His fair face flushed red in embarrassment, and he awkwardly withdrew his hand: "Sorry! It’s my first time doing this, I’m not experienced."

Feeling guilty, his previously strong posture immediately weakened.

Ke Xingzhou rubbed his chin, which had been hurt by being covered, and couldn’t help but smile at his deflated demeanor.

Not responding to his previous remarks, Ke Xingzhou asked, "What’s your name?"

The curly-haired guy was stunned for a moment, glancing at Ke Xingzhou’s tattered Taoist robe. He seemed a little reluctant but spoke politely: "Xie An."

Thinking he had made himself clear, the curly-haired guy assumed that Ke Xingzhou would get the message and calm down for his own good, so he wouldn’t get bombarded with rotten eggs on the street.

But to his surprise, Ke Xingzhou just nodded and quickly pulled out his wrinkled fortune-telling banner: "I feel a strong connection with you, but your forehead is slightly darkening, which is an omen of great danger. Would you like me to read your fortune?"

Xie An: "…"

There were no cameras here anymore, so why was he still so fixated on that mystical persona!