"Chu Ge, think of something, Chu Ge!"
The next morning, Chu Ge was still half asleep when Qiu Wuji stopped him as he was getting ready to wash up. "They've all changed their profile pictures; it looks like the same person is talking."
Chu Ge felt helpless. "I've seen another author's profile picture before, Little Ghost, and half the fan community used it too… sigh, the hype died down after a while…"
"That's my own profile picture! Are they all Qiu Wuji?"
"It means you're popular," Chu Ge reassured him. "If you randomly enter a celebrity's fan group, you'll find…" "If 90% of them are that celebrity, then you're a celebrity."
"They don't even know me. That's a character in a book. Does that count as a celebrity?"
"That's called a virtual idol. Look at my profile picture; it's a two-dimensional anime girl, right? Sometimes you'll have the same profile picture as someone else."
"...Speaking of which, I forgot to ask you, who's that picture of you?"
"...A foreign virtual celebrity named Akizuki Airi. You don't need to know her."
"I don't want to be a celebrity!"
"It's okay, it's just virtual, not you." Qiu Wuji felt that what the man said was like listening to nothing at all. But even though she clearly didn't want anyone else to use that avatar, seeing that Chu Ge was using a foreign Ellie, she became unhappy: "You change mine too, no foreigners allowed."
Chu Ge: "...Okay, okay."
Saying this, she went into the bathroom to wash up: "Let's go visit Panda and Ah Jun today."
"Oh." Qiu Wuji completely forgot that he had just blocked them last night: "We should visit them, Panda worked hard on the avatar." The two rode their electric scooter to the hospital, put on the Calabash Brothers masks, and entered the ward. Zhong Yi and Chef Jin and his wife were there.
Seeing Chu Ge and his wife come in to visit, Wan Zijun and Panda were both very moved.
They had no idea of the special feelings Chu Ge had for them. They had thought that as outsiders, they had no connection; after all, the other masked people had never appeared. But these two not only came to visit that day, but also helped Chef Jin and his wife, single-handedly confronting a thug with a dagger, and came to visit again the next day—that was loyalty!
Even their own people might not be this enthusiastic. Both men said, "Sanwa, no doubt about it. If you need anything, just say the word. We'll go through fire and water for you. If you even frown, we'll rip our heads off and use them as a football!" Chu Ge really wanted to say he'd be happy if they just kept chatting in the group, but he could only say, "It's nothing, don't exaggerate."
Panda asked, "Sanwa, we want revenge, what do you think?"
Chu Ge nodded. This was the obvious thought of those involved, easy to understand.
Rong Fu was a migrant worker from out of town; he couldn't have targeted the Black House for no reason. He was clearly hired. This meant the mastermind hadn't gotten away with anything yet. Who wouldn't be happy about that? Lin Wuyang had warned them yesterday, worried they wanted revenge.
Zhong Yi chimed in, "The police spoke to me yesterday, warning me not to do anything reckless. I'm thinking, if we don't do anything illegal or criminal, what other methods of revenge are possible?"
Chu Ge asked, "What methods?"
Chef Jin said, "The Wang family owns a hotel, right? I can make their guests think the food is bad, and then the police will come and arrest me!"
Chu Ge: "..."
Wan Zijun said, "Still not satisfied? We'll think of some other ways to retaliate. Don't worry, we won't do anything outrageous."
"Alright," Chu Ge said, "If there's anything you can't handle and you need help, you can call me... but I really don't want to get too involved in this kind of thing, please understand."
"I understand, I understand. Sanwa has already been very loyal! We shouldn't trouble Sanwa too much." Wan Zijun asked Zhong Yi, "Shouldn't we also ask Mr. Zhang, who hired us, what does he say about this?"
Seeing that they were all back to normal and didn't want to get involved in any further revenge, Chu Ge, who had been about to leave, paused slightly upon hearing this, and walked slower and slower.
Qiu Wuji, who had been standing by like an assistant, asked in a low voice, "You don't suspect that even Rong Fu was hired by Zhang Qiren? To force the Black House to join forces with him, indirectly expanding his hidden influence?"
"That's a possibility," Chu Ge said in a low voice. "You see, if the Wang family was behind it, wouldn't they deliberately prevent Rong Fu from harming anyone?"
"Hard to say..." Qiu Wuji hesitated. "The Wang family just wanted revenge out of anger, so it's normal that they didn't dare to make a big fuss. But if it was Zhang Qiren, it seems more..."
More ruthless, and more like something out of a novel.
Both writers had this thought in mind, and couldn't help but shake their heads and chuckle.
It shouldn't be that bad. Do they really think Zhang Qiren is some big boss? He only recently took over a scapegoat business, and he doesn't have much power. He's being closely watched now, and the underground boxing is shut down. Where would he get the resources to do so many things?
His brother, Zhang Xiaoren, is currently under investigation for tax evasion and is in deep trouble. It's unclear whether this will actually benefit Zhang Qiren's "succession struggle."
"Putting that aside, Qiren's overall maneuvering is quite impressive. He's managed to subtly attack and neutralize the Wang family, making them tear each other apart. The atmosphere of being constantly watched and threatened with arrest has dissipated; everyone's attention is no longer on him, while he's reaping the benefits behind the scenes." Qiu Wuji looked up, thought for a moment, and shook his head. "Since you and I know this, do you think his father knows?"
…In a small apartment on the ground floor, a plump, wealthy woman led a group of people and aggressively kicked open the door.
A middle-aged woman with graying temples stood there in astonishment: "What are you doing?"
"You damned slut, ask your worthless son what he's done!" The fat woman stepped forward and slapped her across the face: "I told you, you sons of bitches, you're just causing trouble in the house!"
"Slap!" The slap missed the woman; she had been pulled back somehow, and Zhang Qiren appeared in her place. Without retaliating, he took the fat woman's slap squarely to the face.
The slap was so hard that Zhang Qiren's head was turned to the side, his glasses askew, but he didn't utter a sound, a cold smile playing on his lips.
At the same time, the same crisp "slap" rang out on the fat woman's face, and her cheek visibly swelled up.
No one hit her…
This was Zhang Qiren being hit, yet the blow was being delivered to her?
The fat woman covered her face, wailing in pain, "You bastard! You bastard! How dare you hit me!" Zhang Qiren adjusted his glasses, turned to support his mother, and smiled slightly, "How could I dare hit Auntie? If Auntie wants to hit me, I can only take it."
His face was also swollen, but he smiled without a care.
His mother hurriedly went to get medicine, "This child… sigh…"
The fat woman roared, "What are you all standing there for! Teach him a lesson!"
The subordinates nearby exchanged glances, looking at Zhang Qiren's smiling face, but none of them dared to move.
It was a family matter; why interfere? What if this man was going to succeed them in the future? Would they have any good luck then? Besides, his abilities… touching him was like hitting themselves; who would be so foolish as to do that?
"Fine, fine, you've all grown up, so you're all disobedient now!" The fat woman was furious, her entire body trembling with fat.
Zhang Qiren interrupted with a smile: "There are some things I might not like to hear, but you know even if I don't say them… I want the family's money, the real estate company's assets, I've coveted them for a long time. So this tax cut is like cutting off my own flesh, and I'm seething with hatred for that Wang guy. Why doesn't Auntie seek revenge against the enemy, but instead hates me? What kind of logic is that?"
"Isn't it because you, you scoundrel, are a traitor! If you can't have it, you'll destroy it!" the fat woman roared hysterically, "Do you think I don't know you lowlifes!"
"Heh…" Zhang Qiren smiled, but his face held no real smile. He said calmly, "You need evidence to speak. I could say that Zhang Xiaoren arbitrarily provoked a competitor, causing losses to the family that a piece of trash like him couldn't afford to pay for in ten lifetimes!"
The fat woman laughed angrily, "Do you think you, a lowly bastard, can compensate for that?"
Zhang Qiren said calmly: "The nation is paying more and more attention to superpowers every day, yet you're still using the old tricks: violence, gang involvement in organized crime, gambling, drugs, prostitution, underground fighting… Besides finding scapegoats and bribing superiors and subordinates, you're incapable of anything else." He paused, then sneered, "If you have superpowers that can make others find food unpalatable, then naturally you have superpowers that will make others want to buy our houses. If you have superpowers that can make people tell the truth, then naturally you have superpowers that will give you an edge at the negotiating table. But you bloated, fat-headed fools have never considered… times have changed, Madam." A man's voice came from outside the door: "You want to clear your name?" Zhang Qiren replied, "I'm just trying to save myself, Father. The Zhang Xiaoren in the interrogation room, completely overwhelmed, is just the ending they prepared for me a month ago. Now let him taste it for me, that's all." *List of Superpowered Individuals*:
Name: Zhang Qiren.
Identity: Illegitimate son of a mistress in the Zhang family of Nanjiang, currently the legal representative of the Miracle Nightclub.
Ability: Backlash—Returning damage received. Development level: Unknown.
Nature: Combat?
Potential: ?
Gu Ruoyan frowned as she wrote this, feeling unable to give an evaluation.