Chapter Ninety-One: A Smear Piece from an Unscrupulous Media Outlet [First Update]

“Honestly, it’s nothing. One of the five thousand years of China’s traditional virtues is helping one another when trouble strikes.”

The media had come to interview Ren Qian again.

How could Ren Qian possibly serve as an official spokesman? His mind was spinning in knots, and a phrase he had once heard on the evening news flashed through his head. Without a second thought, he blurted it out and used it.

To his surprise, the interviewer actually applauded him, then stretched Ren Qian’s words into a whole elementary-school essay:

“What a wonderful example of help from every direction when one place is in need! Since ancient times we have celebrated the chivalrous spirit of drawing a blade to help when we see injustice. This traffic accident on East Fourth Ring Road truly reflects the quality and virtue of the citizens of Jiangnan City.

“You must understand, some gentlemen may have been rushing to an important business meeting, others were on their way to sign contracts... yet out of respect for life and out of love for it, they disregarded their own property losses and chose to save people!

“In our interview just now, many of the gentlemen had already stained their clothes, but they did not care in the slightest. From these actions, we have seen the splendid radiance of human nature!

“...

“At the same time, I believe our society needs stars like Ren Qian: helpful, responsible, courageous, and full of a sense of collective honor — a shining source of positive energy.”

Ren Qian: “...”

The young nurse stood off to the side, pressing her lips together in amusement, looking rather pleased with his misfortune. Serves you right for lying with your eyes open every day — at last you’ve run into someone even better at talking nonsense than you are, haven’t you?

By the time an hour had passed in this endless back-and-forth, Ren Qian and Wen Run were finally able to leave.

“Those reporters are so annoying. The moment they open their mouths it’s like machine-gun fire, rat-a-tat-tat non-stop. I never want to be interviewed again!”

Ren Qian stared at the scenery drifting past the window, drowsy with sleep.

He very much wanted to urge the young nurse to drive a little faster. By the time they reached the sales office, the whole development might already have been torn down for redevelopment.

Yet the young nurse was utterly absorbed in her antique car and ignored him.

Another hour passed before the two finally arrived at the place where they had looked at the model home last time.

“I just hope I don’t run into that poor sap I egged on last time, or we’ll have to bolt again.”

Ren Qian suddenly thought of that muscle-bound brute with the brains of a brick from the last visit. He felt rather guilty.

All because of a single mocking remark from him, the man had really gone and bought two apartments just for a raffle...

And from the looks of it, his luck had been appalling.

More than four million. He had thrown in that much without even blinking for a chance at a prize. Either the man was absurdly rich, or there was something seriously wrong with his head.

After all, no ordinary person who had scraped together a few million through every desperate sacrifice imaginable would toss it all into two hazy, uncertain lottery draws. Even if the money had been stolen in a robbery, they still wouldn’t dare flaunt it so brazenly, would they?

Ordinary folk might buy a single lottery ticket at most. A hardier sort might gamble regularly at cards or mahjong. Harder still, and they’d head for illegal underground numbers games.

But someone playing scratch cards at a property sales office? That really was unheard of.

If the brute was simply rich and reckless, then fine. Ren Qian would be safe and sound.

But if the brute had truly been bewitched by Ren Qian’s words after earning his money the hard way, then Ren Qian would have to fend for himself.

“Ho! Ho! Ho! Little brother, I’ve waited and waited, and at last I’ve waited for you to come!”

The deep voice nearly scared the soul out of Ren Qian. The brute’s ferocity needed no explanation; he looked like the kind of man who might actually tear an enemy apart with his bare hands.

When they had looked at the apartment that day, there had been a crowd around them. With one casual shove, the brute had sent more than a dozen people stumbling.

If that man got hold of Ren Qian alone and gave him a beating, just imagining it was enough to make one wince.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!”

The brute moved as fast as lightning and seized Ren Qian in an instant.

“Hahaha, little brother, you are truly my lucky star!

“One good talk from you, and I won the grand prize! A ten-million-yuan mansion, all mine to take home!

“The moment I first laid eyes on you, I knew you were no ordinary man — sharp brows, bright eyes, handsome beyond compare, commanding, and blessed with overflowing fortune.”

Ren Qian: “...”

You’re kidding me. Are you rapping now?

So after Auntie Feifei, the taxi driver, the television director, and that roadblocking fat girl, more strange characters are still showing up?

“Little brother, don’t doubt me. I’ve got the property deed right here! Take a look if you like, go on... here.”

Ren Qian took the deed with a skeptical expression.

It was not that he lacked the most basic trust between people. This whole thing was simply too absurd.

How could it be that he said something casually, the brute drew a random ticket, and then a mansion worth millions just fell into his lap?

Do you believe those ads on the utility poles saying, “Husband is a millionaire, but has no reproductive ability; willing to borrow his seed to fulfill my mother’s dream”?

And yet the property deed was as real as real could be. There in black and white, clear as day, complete with an official seal.

“Your name is Liu Zhuangshi?”

“That’s right, I’m Liu Zhuangshi!”

Ren Qian: “...”

The name really did suit him.

It was clearly the kind of name only clever parents could come up with, much like that fat little Xu; once you heard the name, you knew the man.

“I remember not long ago a master of physiognomy who roamed the world took one look at my face and said I was bound to meet a benefactor in the near future! Then my fortune would flourish, everything would go smoothly, and I’d reach the peak of my life.

“I spat in his face. Who was he fooling? ‘Everything would go smoothly’? Last night I went out for a little entertainment and nearly got hauled off by the cops!

“It wasn’t until I met you that day, little brother, that I truly felt I had found a great benefactor!”

“Stop, stop, stop... don’t say another word. When luck comes for someone, it can’t be stopped. But this really has nothing to do with me. If you won a mansion, then live in it. If you can marry a pretty girl, then sleep beside her. Forget about benefactors and all that — the world isn’t nearly so mystical.”

Ren Qian hurriedly waved for Liu Zhuangshi to stop talking.

As the saying goes, if you have done nothing wrong, you need not fear a ghost knocking at your door.

Now that he saw Liu Zhuangshi had truly won a mansion worth millions, he was no longer afraid of being blamed for it. Instead, he stood in the middle of the road with a genial smile, full of springtime ease, and advised Liu Zhuangshi with serene indifference:

“Young man, this superstitious way of thinking won’t do at all! We must establish the correct scientific outlook on development, unswervingly follow the path of Marxism, and use a more advanced materialist perspective to build socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

“That makes sense! That makes sense! Once fortune comes, it can’t be blocked! After that day, I went to buy a lottery ticket, and I won another five million. If you’re not my benefactor, then who is?”

Ever since meeting Ren Qian, Liu Zhuangshi had embarked on a road to wealth built entirely on luck. He had a mansion, he had won huge prizes, and he was living the good life. If Ren Qian was not his benefactor, then who was?

Ren Qian: “...”

Why was this getting blacker the more he tried to explain it?

...

In the end, after Liu Zhuangshi’s relentless pestering, Ren Qian agreed to hire the man as a bodyguard.

With that huge, broad frame of his, he probably was not much worse than a professional security guard.

But he could not be brought along just yet. After the house was bought, Ren Qian would take Liu Zhuangshi to the hospital for a full examination. He had to make sure there were no dangers like mental illness or violent tendencies.

Ren Qian was very cautious.

He did not want to die a dog’s death so easily. He had not yet plucked those lovely blossoms into his arms — how could he possibly croak now?

...

“Brother Qian, look at this news! I’m furious!”

The young nurse suddenly held her phone up in front of Ren Qian.

He lowered his head to look, and his expression immediately darkened.

Because the headline was blatant: [Famous Singer Smiling for Photos at Traffic Accident Scene, Moral Decay Sparks Public Fury.]

It was a lengthy, righteous piece of slander, accusing Ren Qian of grinning like an idiot at the scene of the accident, branding him utterly depraved and uncultured, and demanding that the media force him to apologize to the victims’ families and all that nonsense.

What made it even more infuriating was that they had also attached a so-called “truth photo from the accident scene” — a group photo of Ren Qian and the kindhearted bystanders after the rescue had ended.

Ren Qian was seething.

At that moment, everyone had completed the rescue. They had learned that no one had died in the crash and that all the injured had been sent to the hospital. Of course everyone had been relieved and smiling.

He had never imagined that even this could be twisted out of context by such shameless media!

Even sadder was the fact that a great many brainless fools cared nothing for the truth at all. The moment they saw the article, they jumped out to spew filth...