Chen Fang leaned back in his seat, sorting through the career information in his memory.
A year ago, in the idol survival show “Idol New Power,” the original owner, relying on his excellent looks and temperament, and with the support of his fans, actually crushed Qi Jun of Guangying Entertainment and many other well-connected individuals to debut in first place.
After his debut, endorsements, variety shows, and concerts followed one after another. Among idols of the same age group, his development momentum was unparalleled. Next month, he was even scheduled to audition for a supporting role in a major IP TV drama; had it not been for the scandal, he would most likely have landed the role of a graceful, ethereal Sword Immortal with a sense of brokenness in that major IP.
But three weeks ago, black material about him being sugar-babied, harassing interns, and two-timing exploded like a collapsing snow mountain.
His team immediately reported it to the police and clarified the situation, but the speed of clarification and evidence collection was far slower than the speed at which the black material exploded.
Moreover, how could the scheme set up by the mastermind behind the scenes be easily exposed?
Due to the passage of time, surveillance footage had already been overwritten, and the police could only announce in the short term that there was no evidence to prove the black material was true, and that further investigation would be conducted.
“Innocent until proven guilty” applies to law, but not to public opinion and people’s hearts.
Those who spread rumors simply did not want to distinguish between truth and falsehood; they merely had an intrinsic need to spread rumors. Wielding the sword of justice clearly satisfied many people’s need for an outlet, and for a time, arrows flew from all directions.
This situation continued for a week.
A week later, presumably to divert media attention from a high-level scandal, Jiakang gave him up.
Chen Fang rubbed his temples.
Jiakang gave up on saving him, but someone else was digging the pit.
Such a ruthless attack definitely indicated a conflict of interest.
From his memories, the biggest suspect was Guangying Entertainment. Qi Jun, who debuted in second place in “Idol New Power” and was on the same track as him, also seemed to have some connections with high-level executives.
Furthermore, he also had a bit of a grudge with Guangying. After the “Idol New Power” variety show ended, Guangying once extended an olive branch to him, but the condition was to act like a loyal dog in public and be flustered like a deer in private. After he politely declined, a rift was formed.
Chen Fang sighed and opened his contacts.
Over the past half-month, he had sought help from many friends, but messages either fell on deaf ears, were met with evasions, or required him to cross his bottom line.
Could he rely on police investigations and civil lawsuit judgments? Even suing a black fan could take half a year at the shortest, or a year at the longest. This incident would surely take two to three years to get a judgment result.
Even ordinary people would be quickly crushed by rumors, let alone an idol who relies on his public image? The idol industry updates extremely quickly, and another survival show will air next month; he cannot even wait one or two months.
But that’s not to say there are no breakthroughs at all.
Police investigations mainly focus on the black material, proving it to be false.
However, his scope for clarification was much broader; he only needed to prove that some popular memes or descriptions of his persona targeting him were false, or even expose the falsehood of the perpetrator’s persona, to destroy the public’s belief in the perpetrator. For example, the saying “he’s so stingy he’ll wear out the door” when they said he was stingy. Or, for instance, under the perpetrator’s insinuation, netizens believed that the perpetrator’s depression was related to him.
But these also required others to help investigate and obtain evidence before he could clarify and sue.
As for his family, the original owner’s parents were university professors, so their family background was decent, but they didn’t have any powerful connections.
Then there was the option of finding lawyers and detectives himself, but without a backer, would they really put in the effort to investigate? Could they even find anything?
Besides these, what else did he have…
After a moment of thought, Chen Fang looked up slightly.
That’s right! There’s still a Destiny Sticker in the system!
Chen Fang opened the system, clicked on his backpack, and selected the blue talisman.
Usage instructions immediately popped up on the screen.
【Destiny Sticker: Stick it on your head, visible only to the host. Within half an hour of sticking, it can increase the host’s luck and bring opportunities.】
Sure enough, starting in hell, there must be a powerful golden finger, right?
As the saying goes, there are three major taboos in life: having much wealth without power, being poor with a beautiful wife, and being weak but precocious.
The original owner committed the first, which directly led him to a dead end.
With the cultural blessings from his previous life, he could easily commit the third. Being weak but precocious means that if you don’t have a strong background and support, showing off your wisdom and talent too early isn’t necessarily a good thing. Being weak but highly talented, and showing your brilliance too early, easily invites suppression.
Without a backer, if he pulled out a bunch of earth-shattering masterpieces, the authorship wouldn’t belong to him.
So, what he lacked most now was influence. To cross classes and gain influence required immense luck.
Come on, luck!
Chen Fang clicked “Retrieve” and slapped the sticker on top of his head, like a thick, cowlick-like tuft of hair.
【Destiny Sticker activated, countdown 30 minutes. 29:59, 29:58… 】
Chen Fang stared at his phone for four minutes, but no message came.
Hmm?
There’s no destiny here.
Oh, wait, no.
Chen Fang looked up.
He wasn't going out, not socializing, not private messaging, was he waiting for a fate like a home invasion?!
This was a high-end residential area. If he went out for a walk with the Destiny Sticker on, maybe some powerful big shot would see his unique skeleton and insist on taking him as a disciple? Or seeing that he resembled their deceased son, would chase after him to adopt him?
Chen Fang quickly got up, changed into a set of clothes in the dressing room, and swiftly headed towards the door.
He put on his shoes and opened the door.
Just as he was about to step out, he almost bumped into a figure.
It was a petite figure. She stood at his doorstep, gazing at him with wide, watery, round eyes, looking lost and helpless, her flowing blonde hair gently swaying in the wind.
Their eyes met, as if time had stopped.
Chen Fang exclaimed in surprise, “Whose dog is that?”
It was a young Golden Retriever.
Immediately after, a fish poked its head out.
Oh, no, it was a human wearing a pink fat-head fish mask, peeking out from the side of the door. A strong smell of alcohol spewed from the fat-head fish’s nostrils, making Chen Fang involuntarily step back half a pace.
The fat-head fish swayed unsteadily, leaning against the doorframe, and spoke in a soft human voice, “Hey, why are you in my house?”
Chen Fang frowned slightly, pondering that this might be an opportunity, and swallowed back the sarcastic remark, “Are you out of your mind?”
What the hell was this Destiny Sticker doing? It said you could stick it on your head and jump off a cliff even if you were being chased. And this is all it does?
Even if this was an opportunity, the fat-head fish was drunk, and he didn’t dare to act rashly.
Chen Fang leaned his hands on the doorframe, blocking the entrance to prevent her from coming in. “Did you go to the wrong place?”
The fat-head fish took a step back, looked up, and pointed at the house number, “This is my house, you know. Number 392.”
Just as Chen Fang was about to speak, the young Golden Retriever, who had been squatting nearby, suddenly stood up, jumped onto his leg, and wagged its tail.
The fat-head fish stared blankly at the actions of the man and the dog. “Hey, why is he so familiar with you? Is it because these are my clothes? Why are you wearing my clothes and seducing my dog?”
Chen Fang was stunned.
Why did that sound familiar? Where did she get the idea that he was wearing her clothes?
Just as he thought of this, he felt his pants being pulled down at his waist. Chen Fang quickly grabbed his waistband. Looking down, the young Golden Retriever was pulling at his pant leg.
Is it because of this bootlicking dog?
Chen Fang bent down and pushed away the clingy Golden Retriever. “You sit down obediently!”
But before the dog could sit down, the fat-head fish, leaning against the doorframe, swayed and sat down on the ground, her head tilted, looking like a dead salted fish that couldn’t rest in peace.
“Oh my god, ma’am, I didn’t tell you to sit down. Where’s your home? Can I take you back?”
“I’m sleepy. I want to sleep.”
Chen Fang felt a bit helpless.
Is this an opportunity?
Could some rich young lady be lost?
Should he take her home? Call the police?
But burdened with labels like “scumbag,” “sexual harassment,” and “being sugar-babied,” how could he dare to bring her into his home? As for calling the police, it would definitely alert nearby paparazzi, so he couldn’t call the police either.
So, just squat here? The Destiny Sticker still had 17 minutes left, and looking at her, she wouldn’t wake up in 17 minutes.
Forget it, he’d go for a walk and hopefully encounter the next opportunity.
Chen Fang nudged her outwards, and just as he was about to close the door, a cold gust of wind blew past.
Chen Fang paused his door-closing motion and looked at the fat-head fish lying on the ground with complex eyes. The fat-head fish was wearing a loose coat, but her curvy figure was still discernible.
If he left her here, wouldn’t she be taken advantage of? Although there were cameras at the entrance, there were many powerful and influential people in the community who could easily suppress the news. More importantly, the trauma would be irreversible…
Chen Fang hesitated for a moment, took out his phone, turned on the surveillance cameras in all rooms of the villa except the bathroom, walked inside, pulled out a pair of gloves from a cabinet in the entryway, put them on, and then, holding her arm, dragged her into the living room.
The dog next to him excitedly watched Chen Fang’s actions, wagging its tail excitedly, and quickly came over to bite its owner’s other sleeve, dragging her further in.
After moving her to the sofa, Chen Fang raised his hands. “Ma’am, I didn’t touch you, okay?”
The fat-head fish rolled over, seemingly feeling stuffy, and grabbed the pouting mouth of the fish head, pulling it up forcefully. A cascade of long, glossy black hair flowed down like a waterfall, resting smoothly on her front and the sofa. Her features were delicate, her skin fair, but there was a cold and alluring aura in her eyes.
Chen Fang tilted his head and observed.
A bit familiar, isn’t she?
After half a minute of looking, Chen Fang’s eyes widened.
Oh my god! Yue Qingzhu?!
The pop diva Yue Qingzhu from the music poster he saw in the lobby today?
How did the Destiny Sticker manage to make her appear here?
Oh right, destiny, this is destiny! Fortunately, he didn’t kick her into the garden just now.
Chen Fang almost wanted to kneel down and cry with his head in his hands: Godfather! Save me!
But looking at the dog squatting on the ground…
His noble morality ultimately did not allow him to do so.