Chapter 39 Chapter 39

Bai Ran had just finished chasing Meng Yuansheng and Cheng Xin's offline activities, happily retouched the photos, and fell asleep. She was then woken up by Qiao Ruoyao's incessant calls.

Qiao Ruoyao's voice was urgent: "Sister Ran, Brother Xin is on the hot search!!"

Bai Ran mumbled sleepily: "So what? Their popularity is so high now, being on the hot search is normal. You'll get used to it sooner or later..."

"No! The hot search says Brother Xin is in jail!!!" Qiao Ruoyao shouted.

Bai Ran instantly woke up.

While fumbling to turn on the light, she skillfully went to Weibo's trending searches and saw the top entry, marked with a #Breaking#.

["Top Male Idol Cheng Involved in Incident and Turns Himself In, Another Member of the Collapsing Idol Group?"]

This Weibo post was published by a marketing account called "Melon Eater System 007".

Since the rise of "Melon Eater System 10086", many similar accounts like "Melon Eater System xx" had appeared on Weibo, purely for attention, mostly posting unsubstantiated rumors and treated as jokes by netizens.

Initially, netizens also thought "Melon Eater System 007" was the same, but upon clicking, they found photos besides the text.

There were two photos.

The first showed two men walking towards a police car on the roadside. One was masked and heavily covered, the other shorter, but with recognizable puppy-like eyes and light ash blonde hair; anyone who followed the show "Idol Training Camp" would recognize him as Meng Yuansheng and Cheng Xin's manager, Gu Xing Shi.

The second photo showed a policeman beside them, as they boarded the police car.

The photos showed no signs of being photoshopped, perfectly supporting "Melon Eater System 007"'s claims.

["Is the one wearing a mask Cheng Xin? What did he do?"]

["I don't think it's Brother Xin, Cheng Xin seems taller. During previous events, someone took a photo of Brother Xin and Manager Gu, and Manager Gu was roughly below Brother Xin's earlobe. But in this photo, Manager Gu is only slightly shorter, almost at Brother Xin's eye level. A person's height wouldn't shrink, let alone Brother Xin who works out regularly, I remember him being more muscular."]

["Fans, stop whitewashing, everyone knows Manager Gu only has two artists, who else could it be besides Cheng Xin?"]

["That's Cheng Xin, if I'm wrong, I'll eat shit while standing on my head!"]

["I hated Cheng Xin when I watched the show, he was like a little thug, he's definitely no good!"]

["I'm a group fan, I really hate this bad apple. Our small group finally gained popularity, if he gets banned, I'll really want to kill someone!"]

["Cheng Xin wouldn't have this popularity without Meng Yuansheng, our Shengbao is so wronged to have this teammate!"]

["Don't stir up trouble, black fans! I'm a Sheng fan, I believe Brother Xin isn't this kind of person, our Shengbao and Brother Xin came this far together, at this critical moment, we fans should unite!"]

…

Bai Ran's heart sank, Qiao Ruoyao was still anxious on the other end of the voice call: "Sister Ran, what do we do! The group chat is exploding, could… could it really be Brother Xin?"

"No!" Bai Ran said firmly.

She thought for a moment, seemingly comforting Qiao Ruoyao, and also herself, "10086 hasn't spoken yet! Maybe there's a misunderstanding..."

This big shot who always protects Meng Yuansheng and Cheng Xin knows so many secrets and is so upright. If Cheng Xin really wasn't a good person, they definitely wouldn't help him like this.

Hearing this name, Qiao Ruoyao felt a little relieved.

That's right, there's still 10086!

Every time Meng and Cheng encountered problems, 10086 always countered immediately and accurately, it was reassuring.

It would surely be the same this time.

But they waited for three or four hours without a reply from 10086.

Some wavering fans were completely disheartened.

["Could it be true!!"]

["I think it's 80% true, maybe 10086 found out and angrily unfollowed them to backstab, and this 007 is their new account."]

This guess was surprisingly accepted by many.

Especially after 007's first post, they posted a new one saying they'd release more details once they reached 1 million followers, exactly like 10086 before.

Rumors spread wildly online.

Just as Bai Ran was at her wit's end, she received a notification—"Cheng Xin you follow has started a live stream."

Bai Ran was stunned.

Live stream???

If he really went to jail, could he still live stream?

She quickly clicked on the live stream, almost getting kicked out immediately.

When she finally got in, she saw Cheng Xin looking bewildered: "Who says I'm in jail? I've been playing games at home! I just got a call from the manager saying I'm in trouble and to start a live stream, it's ridiculous."

He turned the camera around, showing his dorm room.

Fans foolishly asked in the comments: ["Really in the dorm? Not a detention center?"]

Cheng Xin was exasperated: "Of course, please, can't you think better of me!"

He walked out of the room and shouted, "I'm live streaming, can someone come out and prove my innocence?"

Soon, several doors opened "simultaneously".

Several teammates peeked out, their eyes gleaming with excitement.

"What innocence!!"

"Whose innocence is gone!"

"I know hahaha, the internet says A-Xin is in jail!!"

Cheng Xin: "..."

He glanced at his gloating teammates, returned to his room, and slammed the door shut.

Fans now knew 007 was making things up, they felt awkward.

Cheng Xin complained dejectedly: "When I asked you about your room decorations, you all comforted me, now it's exposed, you think my aesthetic is detention center style!!"

Fans: ["..."]

Cheng Xin finally checked the Weibo hot search and saw the so-called exposé.

He suddenly realized: "This, this is our Manager Gu's new artist."

"Remember, we found Ashen's real savior? He didn't go to jail, he went as a witness, and he got into a police car because it was dangerous, the police were protecting them."

After hearing him, netizens remembered the recent Tongfu Electronics Factory case.

That's the beautiful and pitiful guy!

["Damn! It was a misunderstanding!"]

["Woohoohoo I knew I didn't like the wrong person!"]

["Where are the people who said it was Brother Xin? Come out and eat shit while standing on your head!"]

["I thought 007 was 10086's little brother! On the road to eating melons, no one can surpass 10086!!!"]

["This is 007's most embarrassing moment!"]

["@Melon Eater System 007, apologize quickly!"]

…

The two paparazzi watched their bank accounts grow and their follower count soar, elated.

Honestly, they didn't want to release the information so soon, hoping to dig deeper for more big news.

But their buyer was impatient and generous, so they agreed.

Now, the effect was much better than they expected.

They earned money and fame, they totally made a killing!!

They clinked their beer bottles and took a big gulp.

Suddenly, they noticed something wrong in the comments.

They clicked and saw a flood of curses.

It turned out the person in the photos wasn't Cheng Xin, he was live streaming!

Both were dumbfounded.

How is that possible!!

They thought it was Cheng Xin's company's PR stunt, and the live stream was probably AI face-swapping!

They decided to check the live stream to expose the trick.

After clicking, they fell silent.

Faces can be swapped, but that mouth that couldn't lie belonged to only one person in the entertainment industry besides Cheng Xin.

They panicked and started blaming each other.

"I said we shouldn't celebrate prematurely!!!"

"It's your fault! If you hadn't insisted it was Cheng Xin, this wouldn't have happened!"

"You're blaming me, didn't you think it was Cheng Xin too!"

As they argued, someone knocked on the car window.

Paparazzo A thought it was a traffic ticket, so he grumbled and rolled down the window, and his face froze upon seeing the other person.

It was police, but not traffic police.

"You are suspected of violating citizen's personal information and spreading false information, please come with us."

-

The next day, "Melon Eater System 10086" finally posted on Weibo.

["#RealFakeMelonEaterSystem# Dear Customers, 10086 reminds you to stay vigilant and beware of online scams."]

It then concisely reposted a blue-and-white police report from Wujin City.

It turned out that the paparazzi bought Meng and Cheng's flight information to take photos, but mistook the person, causing the misunderstanding, and both were now under criminal detention.

["Holy shit! That's the truth!"]

["There are real and fake versions of Melon Eater Systems now! This is hard to evaluate!"]

["Hahahaha, 10086's style is unique, I never doubted it! Fake is fake!"]

["10086 is late but it arrived!!"]

["This is the right taste! Melons must be from 10086!"]

["By the way, didn't anyone suspect 10086's identity? I found it strange before, how 10086 always released the melon just before the police report came out. This time they didn't even hide, directly reposting, I said...is 10086 a police officer?"]

["Holy shit!!! That makes sense!"]

["Speaking of which, 10086, except for the sensational titles, are always concise and clear, it has that official document vibe!"]

["Bro, you know too much!!!"]

…

Gu Xing Shi didn't know he was indirectly involved in law enforcement.

He used information from the system to locate the paparazzi's whereabouts and provided it to Officer Lin.

They quickly apprehended the suspects.

To keep the case confidential, Officer Lin couldn't tell him much, only that they were using the two paparazzi to find the source selling celebrities' information, and it was going smoothly, they had already identified the individuals.

When he and Qin Wen boarded the plane back to Shanyang Film and Television City, Officer Lin had good news, they had caught the group.

He seemed to be resting his eyes, but he was listening to the system's gossip.

["...The quick arrest is thanks to those two paparazzi. They had a conflict and disliked each other, separate interrogations made them confess everything to get a lighter sentence. The police identified the individuals that night, coincidentally, the gang was already being watched by local police, both sides cooperated, evidence was conclusive, they were taken down."]

["The two paparazzi confessed that they were instructed by a buyer, but the police found it was a shell company, and the contact number was empty."]

The system paused skillfully: ["Host, do you want to know who the buyer is?"]

Gu Xing Shi opened his eyes: ["You ask this way, is the buyer someone familiar?"]

System: ["Yes."]

Gu Xing Shi guessed for a long time but couldn't figure it out, finally said: ["Alright, don't beat around the bush, just say it."]

System: ["It's Ning Tianyou."]

It paused and suspiciously asked, ["You wouldn't have forgotten him, would you?"]

Gu Xing Shi was very righteous: ["I'm very busy, not every crooked person can be remembered by me!"]

System: ["...Heh!"]

After mocking the host, the system still reminded: ["The Ning Tianyou you reported twice for soliciting prostitutes, the CEO of Xingmao Media!"]

Gu Xing Shi suddenly realized: ["Ning Wen Zhuo's trash uncle!"]

He was puzzled, ["He has no grudges against us, why do this?"]

System: ["It's a long story..."]

["Since Ning Wen Zhuo took over Xingmao, the dance stage he collaborated with Sweet Orange Video is very popular, it's already very popular in a few episodes, and the momentum is even stronger, suppressing several subsidiaries of Xingmao Media. And, Ning Wen Zhuo has been investigating his parents' death, he found Ning Tianyou based on your guidance."]

["After Ning Tianyou killed his brother and sister-in-law, he's always been guilty, otherwise why would he send his nephew abroad? Now Ning Wen Zhuo is back, plus he holds many shares in Xingmao Media, and Ning Tianyou had a prostitution scandal, his reputation suffered, many people favor Ning Wen Zhuo, Ning Tianyou naturally panicked."]

["He knows Ning Wen Zhuo's success is largely due to his cooperation with Sweet Orange Video, supported by Wen Yue. And the most popular episodes are Meng Yuansheng's limited group, so he wanted to destroy the group to strike at Ning Wen Zhuo and provoke a rift between him and Xingyao Media, without Wen Yue's support, Ning Wen Zhuo is no match for him."]

Gu Xing Shi suddenly understood: ["So that's it."]

System: ["Mm-hmm!"]

Gu Xing Shi said meaningfully: ["System, we're too old for this cuteness."]

System: ["..."]

Gu Xing Shi teased the system, avenging the previous mockery, and quickly became serious: ["So, he chose A-Xin because his company is Le Shi, we're a small company, easy targets, he doesn't fear offending me."]

The system was silent.

It wanted to say the opposite, Ning Tianyou thought you and Wen Yue were together, deliberately targeting your artist to intimidate Wen Yue.

But remembering Gu Xing Shi's mockery, it hid the truth.

After all, as a melon-eating system, occasionally eating the host's melons is fun too, heehee!

Gu Xing Shi didn't suspect the system's deception, unknowingly walking down the wrong path.

Gu Xing Shi pondered: ["Looks like the 'powerful backer' plan needs to continue, otherwise everyone will treat us as soft persimmon, what if everyone bullies us?"]

System: ["Yes, yes, Host is right."]

Gu Xing Shi: ["The previous details were too rough, we need to be more detailed."]

System: ["Yes, yes!"]

Gu Xing Shi narrowed his eyes: ["System, you're acting strange today, is there something you're hiding from me?"]

System: ["!!!"]

Gu Xing Shi's sharpness surprised the system. It knew the host seemed gentle and easy-going, but was actually very vengeful, and very good at manipulating it.

It immediately became obedient, not daring to act up anymore.

Because of its obedience, Gu Xing Shi didn't suspect anything, and focused on how to retaliate against Ning Tianyou.

To begin with, turning the other cheek wasn't Gu Xing Shi's style.

He wanted to create an image of having a powerful backer, being arrogant and domineering was normal.

-

Ning Tianyou had terrible luck recently.

He listened to a paparazzo's lie, trying to spread Cheng Xin's scandals to destroy the limited group and damage Ning Wen Zhuo and Wen Yue's relationship.

It turned out to be a misunderstanding, he lost money, and if not for his caution, he might have been implicated.

His projects had problems, resulting in huge losses, making him frantic.

The board members were already ambiguous with Ning Wen Zhuo, and with his troubles, more people changed sides.

Ning Tianyou was furious and helpless.

He shouted into his phone: "Investigate! Find out who's sabotaging me!"

His office door opened, his assistant entered, looking troubled: "Mr. Ning, Mr. Wen declined your dinner invitation."

"Declined?!" Ning Tianyou was incredulous, "Reason?"

Assistant: "Assistant Tang said Mr. Wen is busy with official duties."

"Excuse! All excuses!!" Ning Tianyou's face flushed red, slamming his hand on the table, "Don't think I don't know, he went to the yacht club with his little lover yesterday!"

Since learning about Gu Xing Shi and Wen Yue's relationship, he had been secretly checking Gu Xing Shi's Moments, and saw a photo of Gu Xing Shi leaning on a sofa.

To others, it was just a casual photo, nothing special.

But Ning Tianyou noticed a small logo on the sofa.

It was the logo of the top yacht club in the country, only top families could join, the Ning family didn't qualify, he only knew because he went there years ago with a big shot.

If Wen Yue didn't take him, Gu Xing Shi wouldn't be there!

Such a yacht trip costs millions, it's pure money burning.

Spending so much to please his lover.

Wen Yue is indeed a love-brained man!

Ning Tianyou was angrier: "He won't see me, maybe he did it!! Who else is capable enough to ruin my projects!"

He was furious but couldn't do anything to Wen Yue.

He had an idea: "Right, what's Gu Xing Shi's background?"

The assistant hesitated: "His identity is mysterious, we're still investigating."

Ning Tianyou: "Useless!"

He paced angrily, his anger uncontrollable.

Finally, he gritted his teeth: "Forget it, stop investigating, there's no Gu family in the top ranks, find someone to kidnap him."

His eyes showed evil desires.

He couldn't deal with Wen Yue, but his lover was different!

He's desperate, might as well die together!

The assistant said: "Mr. Ning, maybe we shouldn't."

Ning Tianyou shouted: "What are you, dare to order me around?!"

The assistant said stubbornly: "The internet says 10086 is a police officer, Gu Xing Shi may have connections with the system, even if he's not from a wealthy family?"

Ning Tianyou: "????"

"Wealthy families are okay, but not the police! You might end up in jail! Why bother!" The assistant pleaded, "Mr. Ning, stop, you can't fight against the government!!!"

Ning Tianyou: "!!!"