Chu Mingjia looked at the white-dressed woman standing against the wall. “He’s coming. You’ll need to wait a little longer.”
Ever since Han Fengchen had made the phone call, the woman’s eyes had been darting around evasively. She held her daughter tightly and instinctively stepped back, retreating until her back was against the wall.
Han Fengchen looked at her and suddenly said, “No way, was that news about Xu Chen’s domestic abuse actually true?”
As soon as the woman heard this, she instinctively denied it. “No, no, it’s not like that. He… he has had a hard time too.”
Han Fengchen: “…”
Chu Mingjia suddenly stood up and began looking around the cramped room. The moment Chu Mingjia left her seat, Jiang Meng immediately turned and followed behind her.
The moment they moved away, Han Fengchen found himself alone facing the white-dressed woman. A chill seemed to seep into the air. Especially when he met the little girl’s eerie gaze, he jolted and immediately dashed behind Chu Mingjia.
Chu Mingjia, who was flipping through a photo album, glanced back at him. “What’s wrong?”
Han Fengchen lowered his voice. “Um… don’t you think that mother and daughter are a little strange?”
Chu Mingjia looked at him with a hint of pity. “Do you think so?”
Faced with Chu Mingjia’s rhetorical question, Han Fengchen suddenly felt uncertain. After all, Chu Mingjia was so powerful, if she hadn’t noticed anything wrong, then surely there was nothing wrong!
His racing heart steadied. He told himself he was being paranoid. “No, nothing. I’m just overthinking it.”
It was all because of that nightmare on the rooftop. Now he was suspicious of everything. And with the livestream watching, he couldn’t act like this, otherwise, wouldn’t he look like a coward?
But even as he thought this, Han Fengchen pressed himself even closer to Chu Mingjia.
Jiang Meng, following behind Chu Mingjia, had a stern face. His eyes, hidden beneath his baseball cap, glared darkly at Han Fengchen.
Just a minor. A little kid, Jiang Meng thought to himself. No need to worry. The Mountain Lord probably doesn’t like them this young.
But then he reconsidered. When the Mountain Lord had taken him in, he had been just a little squirt himself, probably around Han Fengchen’s age.
At that thought, Jiang Meng’s expression grew even darker.
By now, the livestream audience had completely lost interest in mocking Han Fengchen.
Because the livestream audience was now even more nervous than Han Fengchen.
【Oh my god, based on their conversation, I thought there was only a little girl in this room. But that’s not the case?】
【Han Fengchen just said, “That mother and daughter are a little strange.” Chills jpg.】
【So what they’re saying is that in this room, there’s not only a little girl but also a woman. They’re a mother and daughter. They are Xu Chen’s girlfriend and child. The domestic abuse scandal about Xu Chen was true!】
【And not only did he abuse his girlfriend, he beat her to death?】
【Damn, what a piece of trash!】
【The internet is not a lawless place. Can you people at least show some decency? Saying Xu Chen committed domestic abuse is already outrageous enough, but saying he beat his girlfriend to death? Is that something you can just throw around?】
【The Han family is disgusting. Using their money to cook up a script like this with the production team. Where is Xu Chen’s team? Why aren’t they suing?】
…
As events unfolded in Han Fengchen’s livestream, a flood of Xu Chen’s fans poured into the stream and began viciously attacking the Han family. The livestream was instantly filled with all kinds of censored curse words.
There was no denying it, Xu Chen, as a rising top-tier celebrity, had fans whose fighting power was not to be underestimated.
The production team watched the chaos in the livestream with a mix of excitement and anxiety. They were excited because the show was gaining massive popularity, mainly because they hadn’t anticipated just how popular this makeshift mother-son duo from the Han family would be.
The anxiety came from the same reason. Although Han Fengchen and Chu Mingjia were easygoing, the head of the Han family was not. Moreover, Han Fengchen’s agent had originally opposed his participation in the show. Han Fengchen had signed the contract secretly, behind his agent’s back.
In other words, the Han family had not agreed to him coming. If the show hadn’t gained much traction, it might have been fine, but now the popularity was exploding. From the moment Chu Mingjia and Han Fengchen entered the livestream, they had practically lived on the trending charts.
Director Zhang Song nervously wiped cold sweat from his forehead and quickly ordered his staff to take control of the chat, muting all the viewers spamming profanities.
What if the Han family found out that Chu Mingjia and Han Fengchen were being cursed at like this and, in a fit of anger, shut down the livestream?
Chu Mingjia didn’t pay attention to the livestream, nor did she care about the Han family. What people thought or said didn’t matter to her.
She walked over to a cabinet. Beneath the cabinet was a drawer with a combination lock on it.
She glanced back at the white-dressed woman, who said helplessly, “I… I don’t know the password either.”
Chu Mingjia nodded and turned to ask Han Fengchen, “What’s Xu Chen’s birthday?”
Han Fengchen rolled his eyes. “How would I know his birthday? And it might not even be his birthday. He’s a domestic abuser, so who would—”
He was about to say “who would bother remembering that,” but then he glanced at the white-dressed woman and obediently shut his mouth.
Under the little girl’s eerie gaze, he pulled out his phone, looked up the information, and told Chu Mingjia.
Chu Mingjia entered Xu Chen’s birthday, and with a click, the combination lock opened.
Han Fengchen: “…”
This action once again drew mockery from the livestream: 【LOL, so this is an escape room with Xu Chen as the villain?】
【I can’t take it anymore! Damn the production team, they won’t even spare our brother’s birthday?】
…
Production team: “…”
The production team was already scared out of their wits, okay?
Especially Director Zhang Song. When Xu Chen had proactively asked to join the show, they had been both surprised and excited. They had thought that having two major traffic drivers like Han Fengchen and Xu Chen together would skyrocket the show’s popularity.
But now, on the very first day of the livestream, Han Fengchen’s team had stumbled upon this situation by chance. Truth be told, the production team didn’t know much more than the livestream audience.
The viewers hadn’t seen anything, only a black wall on their screens while Chu Mingjia and Han Fengchen talked to “the wall.” The production team was in the same boat.
If Director Zhang Song didn’t know for a fact that there was no inside information, he would have suspected a script himself.
It was just too terrifying. Not only did the production team not have a screenwriter, but even if they did, what screenwriter would dare write something like this?
Chu Mingjia looked inside the drawer. It contained some odds and ends, notebooks, pens, small plush toys, various bank cards, a transit card, and a photo frame about four or five inches in size.
The white-dressed woman also came over curiously. Her daughter, however, seemed very afraid of Jiang Meng and stood in a corner far away, not daring to come closer.
The white-dressed woman wasn’t afraid of them. She walked over naturally and also looked into the drawer.
Obviously, she herself seemed to have forgotten what was inside the drawer.
When she saw the photo frame in Chu Mingjia’s hand, her expression shifted, and she stepped closer.
The livestream audience watched in horror as Han Fengchen, who had been standing right next to Chu Mingjia, naturally moved aside to make room and said very helpfully, “Here, you stand here.”
As he spoke, he automatically circled around to Chu Mingjia’s other side.
Chu Mingjia handed the photo frame to the woman beside her. “Is this your graduation photo with Xu Chen?”
Jiang Meng’s assistant immediately aimed the livestream camera at the photo frame in Chu Mingjia’s hand.
Now both the livestream audience and the white-dressed woman could see clearly who was in the photo.
Two young people in academic caps and gowns were smiling and leaning against each other. The young woman was holding a bouquet of pink roses.
The young woman was the very same white-dressed woman standing before them, and the man was Xu Chen.
The livestream audience was stunned: 【Holy crap, that really is Xu Chen! And who’s that he’s holding? She looks familiar?】
With so many eyes on Xu Chen and Han Fengchen, as soon as the photo appeared, viewers quickly dug up the woman’s identity.
The funny thing was, she wasn’t the industry girlfriend that gossip news had claimed Xu Chen had abused!
【She’s a civilian, a classmate of Xu Chen’s. So not only did Xu Chen abuse his ex-girlfriend, but before that, he had a classmate girlfriend and had a child with her?】
【Damn, my fists are clenched. What a monumental piece of trash!】
…
So far, there was no concrete evidence that any of this was true. After all, it was just Han Fengchen and Chu Mingjia “acting” out a scene. A combination lock and a photo didn’t prove anything.
Viewers were still more inclined to believe this was a conspiracy by Han Fengchen, that he had fabricated a script targeting Xu Chen and was broadcasting it on the livestream for everyone to see.
But there was no denying that Chu Mingjia and Han Fengchen’s “acting” was incredibly realistic. If this really was a performance, this makeshift mother-son duo from the Han family could go straight to Hollywood and win an Oscar.
The white-dressed woman stared at Xu Chen in the photo, her expression blank. She felt as though she had lost many memories, but she couldn’t recall them.
She remembered Xu Chen. She remembered that this man was her boyfriend, that he was very busy and very popular, and that their relationship had to remain a secret. If anyone found out, it would have a huge impact on him.
But what Xu Chen actually looked like, she couldn’t remember.
Now, looking at the man in the photo, she felt no flutter of sweetness in her heart. Instead, she felt panic.
The moment she clearly saw the man’s face, her heart jolted with fear. Her face turned deathly pale. She stepped back in terror, her eyes darting around, then turned to look for her daughter.
“Baby? Baby, where are you?”
Panicking, she ran to the corner to find her daughter, as if she had lost something precious once before and knew that gut-wrenching pain.
The little girl immediately ran over and threw herself into her mother’s arms, gently comforting the frightened, crying woman. “Mommy, I’m right here. Don’t cry.”
Chu Mingjia watched the mother and daughter. As the woman cried, the malevolent energy around the child grew even stronger.
Chu Mingjia looked at them, then turned the photo face down and said nothing more.
Jiang Meng watched Chu Mingjia cautiously. Although her face showed no expression, he could tell, the Mountain Lord was angry. Extremely angry.
He felt a bit nervous. He didn’t know if the Mountain Lord had noticed him. He silently pulled his baseball cap down a little further and then stood quietly in the corner, keeping an eye on the camera in his assistant’s hand.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. A crew member opened it and stood nervously at the threshold, not even daring to step inside.
“Mr. Xu is here.”
The crew member glanced nervously at Chu Mingjia. Han Fengchen immediately said, “Well, what are you waiting for? Let him in!”
The crew member turned and hurried downstairs without another word, looking as if his pants were on fire.
Livestream audience: 【…】
【If this crew member is also acting, then I can only say that everyone on this production team deserves an Oscar.】
…
Xu Chen had come very reluctantly.
Han Fengchen had been right. If this had been in private, Xu Chen would never have come. But with the livestream watching, even though he didn’t want to, he had to make the trip.
After all, if he didn’t come, wouldn’t that prove he had a guilty conscience?
Xu Chen knew how hard it had been to rise to fame. Even if Han Fengchen wanted to take him down, it wouldn’t be that easy.
Xu Chen had come alone, aside from his cameraman. As his teammate, Master Wuchen was only willing to complete the tasks assigned by the production team, he wasn’t about to follow Xu Chen around beyond that.
Before coming, Xu Chen had also checked Han Fengchen’s livestream on his phone. Seeing that everyone in the chat was cursing Han Fengchen, Xu Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
See? Han Fengchen was so ridiculous that even the viewers couldn’t stand him.
But although he suspected that Han Fengchen was deliberately targeting him, thinking back to a certain past incident still made him feel a bit uneasy.
There’s no way anyone would find out about that.
With this thought in mind, Xu Chen led his cameraman up the old, narrow staircase and arrived at the door of the white-dressed woman’s apartment.
Han Fengchen and Chu Mingjia were standing inside the room. Aside from the two of them and the two cameramen, there was no one else.
Just as it had appeared in the livestream.
Xu Chen looked at the dim lighting, took out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and aimed it at Han Fengchen. His tone was unpleasant. “Fengchen, why did you rush me over here? What’s so urgent?”
As Xu Chen walked into the room, the white-dressed woman seemed startled. She stepped back several times, clutching her daughter until she was almost pressed against the wall.
Han Fengchen pointed at the mother and daughter in the corner and looked at Xu Chen with an expression like he was staring at a piece of garbage. “Now that you’re here, that’s all you want to ask me? Aren’t you going to look at them?”
Xu Chen’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately looked in the direction Han Fengchen was pointing, but all he saw was a dark, blank wall.
Xu Chen: “…”
Xu Chen looked at Han Fengchen speechlessly and sneered, “So you called me all the way here just to look at this wall?”
Han Fengchen: “…”
Han Fengchen was stunned. “What are you talking about? What wall?”
The woman pressed against the wall was also shocked. She looked at Xu Chen with utter confusion, not understanding what was happening. She instinctively wanted to step forward, but her daughter held her back.
Seeing Han Fengchen’s reaction, Xu Chen suddenly had a bad feeling. He looked at the dark wall. Although he couldn’t see anything, he felt as if something was there.
A cold wind suddenly swept through the silent room, sending a chill down Xu Chen’s back.
He couldn’t help but glance at the wall again. He felt as though something over there was staring at him.
Han Fengchen’s hands were trembling by now. Pale-faced, he looked at Xu Chen. Both of them were ashen, staring at each other in shock. Then Han Fengchen silently, silently moved behind Chu Mingjia, leaving only his eyes visible as he looked in terror at the mother and daughter standing by the wall.
His voice trembling, Han Fengchen whispered, “Sister Jia…”
Chu Mingjia: “…”
The kid was so scared he had actually called her “Sister.” He must be truly frightened.
Chu Mingjia comforted him. “It’s okay. They’re not scary at all. Right?”
No sooner had Chu Mingjia finished speaking than the little girl in the white-dressed woman’s arms suddenly turned blood-eyed, her face twisting into a ferocious snarl. With a piercing shriek, she lunged straight at Xu Chen.
Han Fengchen let out a yelp of terror and immediately dove behind Chu Mingjia. But Chu Mingjia showed no intention of intervening.
The little girl couldn’t cause any physical harm to Xu Chen, but being haunted by such a thing would make his fortune worsen and worsen.
As a top-tier celebrity, Xu Chen had always valued his luck above all else. Lately, his luck had been affected, he had been plagued by misfortune. And coincidentally, this had happened just as Han Fengchen had made his strong comeback. So Xu Chen had blamed his bad luck on Han Fengchen, believing that Han Fengchen was deliberately targeting him.