The Past
At the beginning of the year, the CEO of Radiance Entertainment, Xie Linxi, was in a car accident.
A truck T-boned his sports car, sending the car flying several meters away. By the time the paramedics managed to pull a blood-soaked Xie Linxi from the wreckage, he was on the verge of going into hemorrhagic shock.
The ambulance’s siren rang all the way to the hospital. CEO Xie Linxi was sent to the ICU, where emergency treatment began without a moment’s delay. Despite their efforts, Xie Linxi fell into a deep coma. By the time his condition stabilized and he was transferred out of the ICU, half a month had already passed.
Xie Linxi groggily opened his eyes. The first person he saw was his personal secretary, Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen was standing stiffly before him. The moment Xie Linxi woke up, he blurted out, “CEO Xie!”
Xie Linxi, “What happened?”
Zhang Chen, “CEO Xie, your younger brother is missing!”
Xie Linxi paused for a few seconds, “Xie Zhetao?”
His hesitation was understandable. After all, Xie Linxi and Xie Zhetao were practically strangers.
Xie Zhetao, the second son of the Xie Family, was Xie Linxi’s half-brother. He was a good-for-nothing degenerate, incompetent in academics, science, sports, and the arts. But a master of drinking, womanizing, and gambling.
Xie Linxi’s mother had died from complications while giving birth to him. His father remarried with lightning speed and had another son. The two boys were nearly the same age. Xie Zhetao was always doted on by his parents, while Xie Linxi, disliked by his stepmother, was sent to study abroad from a young age and had only recently returned to the country.
After his father developed dementia, Xie Linxi, with the support of his maternal grandfather’s influence, took control of the company. He had no financial dealings with his stepmother’s side of the family, let alone any other connection. Later, buried in company affairs, he grew more distant from Xie Zhetao. Due to that, they barely exchange a few sentences a year.
If one were to speak of brotherly affection, Xie Linxi was closer to the dog he had raised since it was a puppy than he was to Xie Zhetao.
But on paper, Xie Zhetao was still his brother. No matter how little affection he felt, Xie Linxi still had to ask, “Have you called the police?”
Zhang Chen, “We have. The police are investigating, but there are no leads yet.”
Xie Linxi, “Then keep looking.”
Xie Zhetao had a history of disappearing without a word. Once, when Xie Linxi was still studying abroad, he heard from a classmate that Xie Zhetao and a group of his degenerate friends had gone to international waters to drink and gamble. He had even assaulted a foreign female model. Apparently, he was drunk, and the girl, who happened to be on her period, refused to drink with him. Unable to persuade her and feeling he had lost face, Xie Zhetao started hitting her. The others couldn’t even pull him off her. In the end, he knocked out one of her teeth, and her face swelled up to the size of a pear. The incident blew up, and his stepmother ended up spending several million dollars to settle it privately.
After that, having made too many enemies, his stepmother sent Xie Zhetao to Country A to lie low. The two brothers saw each other even less, not even once a year. He was probably just off on another drunken bender somewhere else.
Xie Linxi couldn’t be bothered with this worthless brother. He simply said, “Keep looking.”
He had lost a lot of blood, and his body was still weak. He had barely managed to regain consciousness and exchanged a few words with Zhang Chen before he passed out again.
When he opened his eyes, Zhang Chen was still standing stiffly before him, wearing the same long face.
Xie Linxi, “What is it this time?”
Zhang Chen, “CEO Xie! At this year’s international film festival, none of the films we invested in won any awards. Splendid Corporation, on the other hand, won several. How Huaxin’s stock is soaring, crushing us underneath!”
Radiance Entertainment was an established investment firm in the film and television industry, while Splendid Corporation was a rising star in the past few years.
Xie Linxi thought to himself: Gu Qingyan must be gloating.
Gu Qingyan was the owner of Splendid Corporation. He was the same age as Xie Linxi and was one of Jiang City’s new elites.
The man had started out acting in films and television series. Rumor had it that his origins weren’t exactly clean; he had filmed several risque, soft-core films. He was even blacklisted by the industry for several years before he finally made it big.
Xie Linxi had seen his fair share of beauties, but he had to admit he was quite fond of Gu Qingyan’s face. The outer corner of his eyes drooped slightly, his irises were a pale shade, paired with pale lips. He gave off a cold and detached aura, with a hint of stubbornness against the world. It was a face born for the silver screen.
Xie Linxi had once considered signing Gu Qingyan, even offering him an exceptionally generous contract. But for some unknown reason, Gu Qingyan was extremely resistant to signing with Radiance Entertainment. He ignored their lucrative offer and turned around to sign with another mid-sized company. This left a sour taste in Xie Linxi’s mouth.
With Xie Linxi’s temperament, he certainly wasn’t one ot offer a warm cheek only to be met with a cold shoulder. From then on, any film or TV show Radiance Entertainment invested in would not feature Gu Qingyan. Any program Gu Qingyan collaborated on would not involve Radiance Entertainment either. The two had been at odds ever since.
Later, after winning the Best Actor award, Gu Qingyan retired from acting and became his own boss by founding his own company. His investment instincts were uncannily sharp, and with the “Best Actor” title as his calling card, Splendid Corporation rose rapidly to compete head-to-head with Radiance Entertainment.
Xie Linxi was irked by him, and GU Qingyan harbored a strange, inexplicable hostility towards Xie Linxi. The two couldn’t even be bothered to maintain superficial pleasantries. Their relationship gradually became like fire and water, with the proverb “one mountain can’t house two tigers” describing them perfectly.
Two months ago, at a major conference, Xie Linxi and Gu Qingyan had traded a few passive-aggressive jabs at each other. Xie Linxi said Gu Qingyan was a snake trying to swallow an elephant, his ambition exceeding his grasp. Gu Qingyan retorted that Xie Linxi was insatiably greedy, always wanting more. They parted on bad terms.
If they ran into each other on the street, they would inevitably bicker. That day, after the meeting, they both went to the rooftop to smoke. Gu Qingyan was a heavy smoker, and the ground was littered with at least twenty of his cigarette butts. Xie Linxi snidely remarked that, smoking like that, he shouldn’t be surprised if he got cancer and died young. Gu Qingyan shot back that he would outlive Radiance Entertainment’s bankruptcy. In short, they were like two needles point to point, completely at odds with one another.
So the moment that Huaxin’g stock rose, Xie Linxi’s first reaction was that Gu Qingyan must be gloating.
The thought of Gu Qingyan’s icy cold expression on his face made Xie Linxi uncomfortable. He clicked his tongue, “Issue a congratulatory announcement, then monitor the stock situation and placate the employees. If the stock drops even more, then use our cash flow to buy back shares and stabilize our stock price. We’ll deal with the rest when I’ve recovered.”
Zhang Chen, “Understood.”
Xie Linxi was seriously injured and had undergone dozens of surgeries, big and small. He felt sleepy after a short while of being awake. After laying out his strategy, his strength gave out, and he fainted again.
Two days later, when he opened his eyes, Zhang Chen was, yet again, standing stiffly before him.
Xie Linxi, “Is there another matter?”
Zhang Chen, “CEO Xie! Your brother has been found! He was on a cruise ship in international waters. Someone broke several of his ribs. His injuries are classified as Grade 2 severe injuries, and he is being treated in a hospital in Country A!”
Xie Linxi, “?”
Even after his horrific car accident, his injuries hadn’t been classified as having Grade 2 severe injuries, yet his idiot brother’s had?”
Xie Linxi, “Who hit him? What are the details? Why was he beaten?”
Zhang Chen, “We don’t know yet. It’s still under investigation. The people on the cruise ship were all foreigners; their identities and whereabouts are unknown. The case has been handed over to the police in Country A. Our detectives obtained some internal information. They dismantled the camera system in the cabin, and the camera angle was adjusted. There’s only one blurry video.
Xie Linxi, “Let me see it.”
Zhang Chen placed the video in front of him and hit play.
“It’s here.”
The recording wasn’t from a normal angle; it seemed to have been deliberately adjusted. The perspective was extremely low, only capturing the carpet on the cruise ship floor.
The video started with a blank screen. Two seconds later, a figure was violently thrown into the frame. Xie Linxi narrowed his eyes. His worthless brother was gagged, his face contorted in pain as he hit the ground. His eyes were swollen like walnuts, and his cheeks were puffy, as large as the model’s he had once beaten.
After hitting the floor, he trembled and squirmed, trying to back away. Muffled sounds escaped his mouth as his eyes stared fixedly at a blind spot in the upper right corner of the video. He shook his head incessantly, his pupils dilating in terror, as if he had seen something utterly horrifying.
Then, a pair of feet stepped into the frame.
The man wore deep brownish-gray brogue Oxfords. They were pointed-toe, made of calfskin, with a slightly famboyant colored, dark red sole, paired with solid gray-blue dress socks. Further up, the cuff of a suit trouser could be seen, encasing a well-defined calf as he slowly walked in from off-screen.
He was dressed extremely formally, looking less like he was on a holiday cruise and more like he stepped out of a business negotiation.
Xie Linxi, “Who is this person?”
Zhang Chen wiped away his sweat and replied, “We don’t know. The incident occurred in international waters. The police in Country A are still investigating…”
Before he could finish speaking, the leather shoe stomped down hard on Xie Zhetao’s face.
The tip of the shoe ground into Xie Zhetao’s bruised face, twisting twice and leaving a clear imprint. Then it lifted and kicked him squarely in the abdomen.
Xie Zhetao curled up in pain like a shrimp. He gasped for breath, ragged and desperate. His pained cries were all muffled by the cloth in his mouth. He could only squirm ceaselessly like an insect.
The man bent down slightly, his face conveniently avoiding the camera. The well-tailored satin suit enveloped a tall frame, the button at his waist loosely cinching his silhouette. He reached out, lifted Xie Zhetao’s face, and patted it. He smiled, “Second Young Master Xie, does it hurt?”
The main addressed him respectfully as “Second Young Master Xie,” but his actions were anything but polite. HE squeezed Xie Zhetao’s face, lifting it up, his fingers leaving clear marks on the skin.
Xie Zhetao trembled even more violently. Gagged, he couldn’t speak, only shake his head frantically. The man chuckled again, “Shaking your head? Does that mean it doesn’t hurt?”
Xie Zhetao’s struggles abruptly intensified.
As Xie Zhetao’s terror grew, the main leisurely lifted his leg again and delivered several more vicious kicks. Yet, a laugh escaped his lips.
“Second Younger Master Xie, back when you kicked me like this and broke five of my ribs, did you ever imagine that one day you’d be lying here, wagging your tail and begging me like a dog? Hmm?”
His voice was distorted by a voice changer, making the timbre indistinct, but his enunciation was still clear. The hint of a smile in his final syllable was particularly audible, gentle in a way that, paired with his merciless actions, was utterly chilling.
Zhang Chen, “We have no idea who this person is or how Xie Zhetao managed to provoke him.”
Xie Linxi thought to himself: Serve him right.
Given how outrageous Xie Zhetao was, who knew what kind of person he had offended in Country A.
He didn’t pay much attention to his worthless brother. Instead, his gaze fell upon the other person.
Upon taking a closer look, Xie Linxi froze.
Xie Linxi, “This person…”
He thought: Why does this person’s build look so much like Gu Qingyan’s?
Xie Linxi was in the entertainment investment industry. He saw at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, handsome men and beautiful women every year. Through constant exposure, his fashion sense became highly developed, and he was especially sensitive to body types, to the point where he had a near-photographic memory.
There was a period when the Jiang City’s government organized a large-scale event, and Xie Linxi had to attend meetings with Gu Qingyan every day. Their statuses were comparable, and the organizers, unaware of their poor relationship, had placed their seats right next to each other. During that time, to outshine his nemesis, Xie Linxi changed his suits frequently. But every time he changed, his nemesis would follow suit. The two of them were like they were in an arms race, turning the conference into a de facto runaway show for spring haute couture suits.
Gu Qingyan was quite tall, but slightly shorter than Xie Linxi. Yet his legs were very long, and his stride was on par with male models. But his back was thin, and his waist was narrow, giving him a more refined air than the brawny models favored by the brands. Xie Linxi had never seen anyone in the industry with an identical build.
The meetings lasted for two months, and their covert battles lasted just as long. They were forced to see each other constantly. Xie Linxi saw him from morning till night; he had seen Gu Qingyan in every kind of suit imaginable, to the point where he was sick of the sight. He could recognize him even if he were reduced to ashes.
But he was hesitant regarding the video.
What kind of person was Gu Qingyan? He was someone who gave even Xie Linxi the cold shoulder, who walked around with his eyes perpetually downcast, looking like someone owed him eight million dollars. How could a person like that have any connection to Xie Zhetao?
Zhang Chen, “CEO Xie?”
Xie Linxi, “…it’s nothing. I must have been mistaken.”
He had another surgery coming up, so he waved Zhang Chen away. The nurse wheeled him into the operating room and administered the anesthetic.
The next time he was fully awake was a day later.
The moment Xie Linxi woke up, Zhang Chen was yet again standing stiffly by his bed. He slid to his knees, grabbed the bed rail, and cried out with a mournful expression, “CEO Xie!”
Xie Linxi, “Is there another matter?”
Zhang Chen, “There are many matters!”
Xie Linxi, “Take your time to explain.”
Zhang Chen, “First, Splendid Corporation has suddenly started short-selling our company’s stock on a massive scale, offering extremely favorable terms to poach several of our shareholders. Now, they’re also digging up dirt on our artist from all angles. Second, someone released several videos online of Second Young Master! The videos show him organizing parties, spewing filth, and beating and abusing stars and models for doing as he says. He’s incredibly vicious. Just because someone wouldn’t drink with him, he grabbed their hair and slammed their head against a table. Even with some of it being blurred out, you can clearly see the victim’s tooth fly out and blood streaming down their face. There’s a public outcry online now. Compounded by multiple shareholders selling off their stocks, our shares have plummeted, triggering a panic sell-off. We’ve already fallen below our initial stock price!
Xie Linxi frowned, “What’s going on?”
Zhang Chen, “Gu Qingyan has gone crazy. He’s suddenly targeting us recklessly on a massive scale. Coupled with the scandal from Second Young Master, our stock has crashed!”
“…”
Xie Linxi cursed his idiot brother a thousand times in his mind. He had to push himself into a half-sitting position.
“What scandal videos? Let me see them first.”
Zhang Chen hit play and held it in front of him. Xie Linxi took one look, pressed his fingers to his brow, and nearly fainted from anger.
The video’s perspective wasn’t on Xie Zhetao, but on the victim.
The victim in the video was covered in bruises, blood strickling from the corner of their mouth as they frantically tried to dodge and shake their head. The camera relentlessly followed the victim’s agonized expression, while the sound of Xie Zhetao’s loud jeers and vulgarities could be heard in the background.
This wasn’t a video secretly filmed by someone else or the victim. This was filmed by Xie Zhetao himself.
While committing the violence, he laughed loudly with his friends and shoved the camera in the victim’s face, clearly recording their painful struggles amidst their slurred pleas and whimpers.
In those pixelated videos, Xie Linxi once again saw the body that resembled Gu Qingyan’s.
He was shoved into a corner, his body curled up, the buttons of his shirt popped open from being pulled. His abdomen was covered in bruises that even the blurring feature couldn’t hide.
It must have hurt a lot.
Xie Linxi took a deep breath, feeling a wave of irritation wash over him.
“When are these videos from? What was Xie Zhetao doing?”
Zhang Chen, “They’re from a few years ago… I suppose the Second Young Master, uh, Xie Zhetao, filmed them specifically to… savor… or admire his work later.”
“Savor? Admire?”
The words were indescribably discussed in this context. Xie Linxi laughed in anger, “He’s really something, isn’t he?”
Although Xie Zhetao was the Second Young Master of the Xie Family, Radiance Entertainment was entirely under Xie Linxi’s control and had nothing to do with him. But in the eyes of the outsiders, no matter how bad their relationship was, Xie Zhetao was still Xie Linxi’s brother, the Second Young Master of Radiance Entertainment.
Xie Linxi’s blood pressure was already heading towards 180.
“Try to contact Xie Zhetao’s victims. Compensate them, apologize, and try to get their forgiveness. Then issue a statement cutting ties with Xie Zhetao, clarifying that he is not involved in company decisions. I will also publicly disown him after I’m discharged from the hospital. If any victim wishes to press charges, Radiance Entertainment will provide unconditional legal assistance.
Zhang Chen, “Understood!”
Xie Linxi, “As for Splendid Corporation… why is Gu Qingyan suddenly targeting us?”
A suspicion formed in his mind, but he found it hard to believe. He just rubbed his temple and said, “Use Radiance Entertainment’s cash flow to buy back shares and stabilize the price as much as possible. I’ll hold an online shareholder meeting this afternoon to appease the major shareholders first.”
Zhang Chen hesitated before asking, “Boss, are you able to hold a shareholder meeting with your current physical condition?”
Such meetings usually involved multiple rounds of debate and questioning and were very intense. Xie Linxi had just been in a car accident and had undergone several surgeries. His physical condition was truly poor.
Xie Linxi, “In this situation, I have to do it, whether I physically can or can’t.”
The meeting went on for five hours.
Xie Linxi rubbed his temples, a throbbing pain pulsing at the back of his head. He had another surgery tomorrow, so he had to put company matters aside for now and prepare to rest.
Zhang Chen threw himself at the side of his bed, his eyes welling up with tears.
“Boss, you have to get better! Nothing can happen to you! Radiance Entertainment can’t survive without you!”
Xie Linxi’s expression darkened, “Can you say something more auspicious?”
As it turned out, his bad luck held. Zhang Chen’s words came true.
He heard the sharp alarm of the monitor beside him, followed by the chaotic footsteps of the medical staff. His consciousness gradually faded, and his vision turned black…
And then, his soul floated out of his body as he watched the subsequent developments unfold.
––The death of Radiance Entertainment’s CEO, a massive scandal involving a core family member, and Splendid Corporation’s relentless attacks. With these three factors combined, Radiance Entertainment’s situation took a sharp downturn, teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
Xie Linxi thought: Now Gu Qingyan can really gloat.
But as he wandered aimlessly around the hospital, he found that Gu Qingyan’s situation wasn’t much better.
Gu Qingyan was also in the hospital, in another ward.
Xie Linxi almost didn’t recognize Gu Qingyan.
He had attended many meetings with Gu Qingyan. Gu Qingyan always wore the most perfectly tailored suits and the most appropriate ties. He slicked his hair back, with not even a sideburn out of place. After a two-hour meeting, his posture would still be straight, as if terrified that others–especially Xie Linxi–wouldn’t see him as a successful industry elite. Xie Linxi always felt he had OCD, as if showing even a hint of dishevelment in front of others would be the death of him.
But now, he looked haggard. He had a suit jacket draped over his shirt. The jacket’s material was excellent, crisp, and sharp. But the body beneath the fabric was thin and gaunt, looking as if a gust of wind could blow him over. He looked frail, like he didn’t have long to live.
Xie Linxi overheared the doctors discussing his condition with him. It was late-stage stomach cancer. He only had two months left.
Gu Qingyan didn’t even seem to care much. Instead, he smiled, “Before I die, I’ve gotten all the revenge I needed: Xie Zhetao, and Radiance Entertainment, the company that protected him. I can be content even if I die and become a ghost.”
Floating beside him, Xie Linxi thought to himself: I’m not content as a ghost.
By now, he had pieced together the whole story—in his early years, Xie Zhetao had abused Gu Qingyan using Radiance Entertainment’s name as backing. After Gu Qingyan became successful, he sought revenge by taking down both Xie Zhetao and Radiance Entertainment in one fell swoop.
Xie Linxi, “…”
—So what was his role in this story?
It was as if Gu Qingyan and Xie Zhetao had each been given a revenge script. They acted out their joys and sorrows under one spotlight, while he, Xie Linxi, was merely a backdrop. He was an NPC with no more than two lines and an innocent passerby who was swept into the eye of the storm.
Before his consciousness completely dissipated, Xie Linxi had only one thought.
—If he could do it all over again, he would kick Xie Zhetao eight hundred meters away before the plot even began.
Just then, in the pitch-black haze, a pure white ball of light suddenly floated up and gave him a polite curtsy.
“Detecting a strong wish from character ‘Xie Linxi.’ Binding criteria met. Initiating the binding procedure.
“1%，2%…100%”
“Binding procedure complete.”
“Hello, I am the Scum Dong’s Superior Officer Role-Playing System 008. In the time to come, 008 will be dedicated to serving you~”
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