“You reported Brute from the Randy family, and you even uploaded his video?”
Lu Qing held the old-model communication terminal in his hand.
From the other end of the terminal, a hoarse, suppressed interrogation erupted, filled with anger, as if Lu Qing had committed some unforgivable atrocity.
The signal was poor in this remote area.
The old communicator emitted crackling static, distorting even the voice of the interrogator.
The male bug stared at the pebbles on the road, his eyes lowered, remaining silent. The voice on the other end became even angrier, sternly shouting: “The Randy family and our family have been close for generations. Brute is a D-grade male, and his older brother is a B-grade male who had a chance to join the Ministry of National Defense. Because of your video, the internet is now cursing them, and it will be difficult for them to enter politics in the future.”
“Your Uncle Randy is furious. His work has been affected, and his promotion has become difficult because of this!”
“Mm.”
Lu Qing had become taciturn since growing up. Old Locke was accustomed to this and, hearing that “Mm,” assumed Lu Qing had taken it to heart. He rubbed his temples, sighed deeply, his eyelids drooping with fatigue: “I didn’t call to hear you say ‘Mm.’ The situation is very serious and needs to be resolved immediately.”
“There is a solution. First, go online and delete the video completely, find the interrogation department to withdraw your police report, and then write an apology letter online.”
“In the document, you must tell that group of stupid bugs that everything was just a play you and Brute performed as a joke, that it isn’t real, and that Brute himself is a respectful, law-abiding male who cares deeply for females.”
Brute is D-grade, and his brother Neep is B-grade. What he didn’t mention was that the head of the Randy family and his offspring all served under him, which would bring many benefits to the Locke family in the future.
Now, Old Locke only cared about the fact that Lu Qing’s actions had caused a huge impact on the future of a family and several male bugs.
Given Lu Qing’s submissive personality, he would likely immediately apologize guiltily, delete the video, and post the apology letter.
“Oh, right.” Old Locke thought of the video his secretary had sent, his anger flaring up again: “And stop being that streamer.”
“As a male, to be out in public all day currying favor with females, weak and incompetent—you don’t look like a male at all. If others find out you are from the Locke family, wouldn’t that be a disgrace?”
“You have disgraced the family name.”
Old Locke continued to speak to himself: “You’ve played enough outside. Come back after you finish apologizing in the next few days. I’ve seen a female for you; he’s a bit robust, but he won’t mind that you are only an F-grade. He’s a Lieutenant. We’ll pick a time for you to meet and get married. If you don’t like him, you can take in a few more females later—though, it’s best if you don’t go out unnecessarily.”
Having said all that, Old Locke had already made the decision.
He did not consider at all what kind of situation Lu Qing would be in if the male published this rebuttal apology; perhaps it would lead to social death, or perhaps being despised by all bugs.
Cyberbullying is very serious.
It meant that Lu Qing could never be a streamer again and would be thoroughly blacklisted by netizens.
“Father,” Lu Qing paused, “I am not going back.”
“And I will not withdraw the video or the police report.”
Old Locke didn’t hear the whole thing at first. He shook his head and said coldly, “If you want to stay outside for a while longer, I won’t stop you, but the video must be removed, and you must get married.”
“I have already left the family,” Lu Qing said faintly.
“So the family’s reputation will not be disgraced by me.”
“Lu Qing!” Old Locke furrowed his brows deeply. He didn’t expect the usually obedient child to talk back and defy his words. Had he been corrupted during his time away?
“I don’t care what you’ve learned outside. I’m telling you, without the family, you are nothing. An F-grade male is just a piece of trash. You might have been considered precious in the past, but since the change in regime, you are nothing but a decorative vase.”
“Do you think those females are truly good to you?” Old Locke sneered: “They are much filthier than you can imagine. How many news reports are there of males being kidnapped by aircraft, only to be found in bed with four or five females taking turns with them?”
The book could not bear to listen anymore. Its tablet-like face actually displayed a vivid expression of shock: “What? What is he saying? How can he say such things to his own child?”
It pointed indignantly at Lu Qing’s face: “Is it wrong for our Lulu to look good? F…”
…Is being F-grade something he wanted?
The book didn’t continue.
It grew up under the love of its Lord God father, and its older brothers and sisters took good care of it, so being belittled by parents never happened.
Lu Qing’s grandfather and cousin were very good to him.
So, it almost forgot that Lulu was an unappreciated male.
Being fed such thoughts all the time, how repressed must Lulu be…
The book looked at Lu Qing with concern. Almost every bug looked at him with such eyes.
But the young man’s expression was always like a pool of stagnant water, terrifyingly calm, as if all emotions had been stripped away, leaving only the skin of a face.
“Thank you for your concern. I will keep it in mind.”
“I am doing this for your own good. Your mother has passed away, and those who truly love you are your father and brothers.”
Old Locke paused, “Think about it yourself. You are a good boy; I believe you will make the right choice.”
The call had been disconnected for some time.
Lu Qing remained silent for a long time, staring at the dilapidated communicator for a while before putting it back into his pocket.
On his slender wrist hung the new-model communicator.
The male bug chuckled softly. A good boy, huh…
Seems I’m getting tired of hearing that?
Lu Yunian saw the male bug walking gracefully from the door and waved his hand happily: “Good boy, come and eat; the food is getting cold.”
The bugs sitting at the table looked at him with very gentle gazes; after all, he was the youngest cub present.
Lu Qing smiled, a trace of genuine tenderness flowing in the depths of his eyes: “Coming.”
Isn’t it good just like this?
After dinner, Lu Qing received a call from Parson.
He rinsed the foam from his hands and walked to a quiet corner to tap the answer button.
“Bug God, you finally answered.”
Parson’s voice, now that he had finally gotten through, was urgent and shocked: “Quickly look at your live broadcast room; it’s been banned.”
“And the forums too.” Parson had been frantic, barely able to catch his breath. He swallowed, trying to soothe the dryness caused by anxiety, “That poster named ‘O’Brien’ opened an analysis thread, fabricating false evidence, claiming you were acting, and almost making the lie sound like truth. The passersby are all attacking you in the comments.”
Lu Qing understood. He had expected such things to happen.
“Understood.”
He glanced at the time; it was past 4:00 PM. “I will handle it as soon as possible. You don’t need to worry.”
“I will help you handle it. You are a streamer under my management, and I must take part of the responsibility.”
Parson sighed: “Don’t carry everything yourself. I’ve realized now that you are very independent and handle everything quietly on your own.”
“The idea of developing the small mountain village is excellent. Since I agreed to your plan, I have to do something, right?”
“Okay.” Lu Qing did not refuse Parson’s kindness again. As a financial bug, even if Parson didn’t have a high opinion of male bugs, he still did his duty diligently.
“First, let’s determine who is targeting you. I suspect it’s a competitor. Hmm… what do you think?”
Lu Qing pondered for a moment: “The Randy Minister of Finance.”
Parson was shocked: “Minister Randy, just what kind of male did you offend…”
“It should be exposed on the forum by now.” Lu Qing had already found the forum; the title of the post was: [Shock! A famous platform’s DD live streamer fakes a performance for traffic].
The poster was indeed O’Brien.
“Brute is the youngest son of the Randy Deputy Minister of Finance.”
The book had been listening to the conversation between Lu Qing and his father, knowing a little bit of the details, and was puzzled by the current situation: “Lulu, isn’t your father close to this Randy family for generations? Then he should know you. Since your father came to persuade you to delete the video, shouldn’t Randy give your father some face?”
Lu Qing was accustomed to the strange vocabulary the book blurted out, and his comprehension had risen rapidly: “No.”
“The Randy family has served our family for generations. They seem loyal, but they have had rebellious intentions for a long time.”
“A dog that bites doesn’t bark.”
Lu Qing weighed his words: “Anyone who has sat in the position of a deputy for a long time wants to go up and experience the feeling of being the chief.”
“My status in the family is not high. Father rarely manages me, and Randy has only seen me a few times. He knows I am not highly regarded. Compared to maintaining my father’s face, preventing me from affecting his career is the most important thing to him.”
What’s more, didn’t even his so-called father ignore his reputation?
“If it were me… I would probably take this opportunity to suppress the Randy family.”
Once a dog reaches a high position, it will bite its master; the risk is too great.
Confirming Brute’s crimes would only label Randy as having lax discipline. It wouldn’t demote him, but of course, he would never be promoted again in this lifetime.
Lu Qing didn’t say the rest out loud. The affairs of the Locke family had nothing to do with him, and no one would listen to his opinion; explaining too much was meaningless.
The book nodded, half-understanding, and the next second, Parson’s cursing came through the terminal.
“That son of a female dog! No wonder he’s so reckless; it turns out he’s the male child of the Randy Deputy Minister of Finance.”
Parson swiped the virtual screen, his index finger pressing so hard it seemed he wanted to poke through it, “Look at the bug-brained things done in this video; he has surely done this no less.”
Disgusting, too disgusting.
Parson’s current mood was in complete alignment with what Arachi had felt at the time.
He couldn’t help but think of himself, having been abused by his ex-husband with a barbed whip and tortured for days hanging upside down with instruments of torture.
Every word of this male bug made him sick, as if he saw the shadow of his ex-husband.
“We must expose him.” Parson’s expression was full of disgust.
“We can.”
Parson’s expression froze strangely the moment those words fell. He was actually quite curious; Lu Qing’s tone was truly too calm: “How do we expose him? Find evidence one by one?”
Lu Qing didn’t speak. His five fingers tapped continuously on the terminal’s virtual screen. A mass of invisible garbled code gradually took shape on the blue screen, finally forming a string of clear characters.
“Hack into his system.”