LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 5: First bucket of gold
As Chi-Chi slept off, the internet was going crazy. The action king, beloved by many and fantasy husband to millions of women in the empire was involved in a scandal. His management and company were running crazy trying to contact the owner of the account that had shared a picture of him and Sasha in an intimate position.
"We should pay them off before calling for a press conference." Wu Lian said. He was pacing back and forth in his villa.
"Not without making sure that they can't use the pictures against us in future. And please for the love of God, next time you want to meet your girlfriend, do it in the privacy of your own home." His manager pleaded. This scandal had made him lose some chunks of hair.
In the morning, the trouble causer Chi-Chi woke up to an insistent alarm that sounded like an unhappy singing cat.
"Shut up!" she covered her head with a pillow.
"I am afraid I can't do that host. It's time to get to work." T4 turned up the alarm volume.
"Fine." Chi-Chi reluctantly left her warm bed.
"The managers of Wu Lian and Sasha have been trying to contact you for a while now."
"Put them through." She said. She turned on her lap top to check the weibo account. To her great joy, she had managed to rake up close to three thousand followers in the night.
Most of the comments were asking her to release more pictures of Wu Lian and Sasha. Some of the comments were from angry fans of the action king who were accusing her of photo shopping his picture for clout. One comment amused her the most.
Fire baby: [I am here for the gossip. Burn them all] A picture of a big fire that was dancing was attached to the comment.
Chi-Chi wondered what kind of individual this was.
"Now to make my first bucket of gold." She said and hummed.
She pulled out her phone and called Wu Lian's manager first. "Change my voice. I should sound like a man. And block my number, they should not identify it."
"As you order," T4 bowed and did as she asked.
"Hello, mighty little peep star; this is Wu Lian's manager. I have been trying to reach you for a while now." He laughed nervously.
"It was night time Mr. Manager. People should rest at night."
"Yes, yes, you are right my friend." He said. He wanted this peep star individual to perceive him as approachable and friendly.
"So what can I do for you? She asked.
"I was wondering if you can sell me any other incriminating pictures of my clients little party in your possession."
"Does that mean I can keep the video?" she asked.
"There is a video!?" The manager sounded very shocked.
"Would you like a sneak peek? I for one enjoyed their kiss scene. I can see why the ladies love him." She laughed.
The manager sighed, "How much do you want?"
"How much is his career worth?"
"We will pay three hundred thousand Yuan."
"Oooh…come on Mr. Manager. Why are you undermining the action king's career like that?"
The manager gritted his teeth and made another offer, "Four hundred thousand."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I think it's about time for your actor to retire and get married. He is over thirty years old after all. Their babies would be so adorable." She laughed.
"One million." Another voice interrupted the negotiations.
T4 identified the voice as actor Wu Lian's. He sounded impatient.
Chi-Chi was finally madly happy with the offer. She did not think they would go that high. She was ready to give in at five hundred thousand.
"We have a deal action king. I am sending an account number. Once I confirm that the money has been wired, I will send you the pictures and videos. Fear not, I the mighty little peep star am a very trustworthy individual so nothing about this particular incident will appear again from me. After all, we may find ourselves doing business again in future."
T4 sent the account number and once payment was approved, she sent the pictures and videos in her possession to him.
T4 was so excited to see the money that he was somersaulting on the screen.
"Why are you so excited?"
"Because your wealth and popularity value have gone up host and this means my energy level has increased a little bit."
"Where can I keep track of that by the way? The wealth and popularity value part?"
T4 tapped an icon that had a cartoon avatar of her.
Health…10%
Wealth…0.1%
Potential…80%
Popularity...0.1%
Mental strength...?
There was a meter index of different colors on the side. Currently, it was red.
"Why is that red T4?"
"It's my energy reserve. It's red because you are still poor in popularity and wealth. The higher points and value grows, the higher my energy grows because I feed off of you."
"And only if I use the technology you provide."
"Yes host, only with my technology."
Chi-Chi sighed. This was going to be a long road. It's a good thing she had her whole life to deal with it.
T4 could read her thoughts and again he reminded her that she had three months to increase her points and level up or her body would fall apart.
She had made one million Yuan already. Things were definitely looking up. She took a bath and went to have breakfast with her family.
"Good morning." She danced her way into the tiny kitchen.
Her mother could not stop asking about why she was dancing and smiling so broadly. Their life was not really dance worthy at the moment.
"No reason." She hummed and grabbed a plate of dumplings from the counter.
"I told you something is going on with her." Her youngest brother whispered.
Chi-Chi glared at him and he looked away so fast that he almost twisted his neck. Her biggest worry in this family was them noticing that she was too different from the old Chi Lian. For now, they were content with attributing her change to the downfall of their family. She hoped it stayed that way.
"What are your plans for today?" she asked her eldest brother.
"I have to continue searching for a job."
"Me too." The second brother said.
"I told you all not to worry about that." She said. I have made plans for the family already.
Her father looked at her and patted her hair. "My good daughter. You are more helpful than our youngest."
Chi Zimo who was eating breakfast and not participating in the conversation was surprised to hear his name being mentioned.
"What did I do?" he asked.
"You kept your brothers up because you were playing games on your phone all night." His father glared at him accusatorily.
"I will make money in E-sports." He grumbled. He was embarrassed because his brothers did look exhausted. They had not slept well.
Chi-Chi moved over and slapped him on the back of the head.
"Why are you becoming more violent?" he cried and rubbed his head.
"It's because it's time for us all to grow up. You should finish university before mentioning E-sports."
"We cannot afford to pay for my university now."
"I will pay for it. And I am expecting good results or you will get a beating." She threatened.
"Where will you find the money?'
Chi-Chi pulled out her phone and showed him her account balance. He gasped and pulled in cold air which prompted the rest of the family to gather closer and see what had shocked him.
"Chi-Chi!" her father shouted. "How do you have such an amount of money in your account?"
Chi-Chi smiled mysteriously, "I am a paparazzo. I took the right picture and the owner bought it back."
Her brothers were all staring at her in shock. They could not reconcile the new Chi Lian with her old self. She was a tall, beautiful girl with long black hair but she always down played her looks. She was humble and not dominant. This Chi Lian was well dressed, dominant and loud.
"We have to fend for our family now. I cannot be the same old polite, humble Chi-Chi. I will be ruthless and determined."
Her eyes were focused and determined as she said this. They all believed her. In their hearts, her brothers vowed to work hard because their little sister was working harder than them. It was a bit embarrassing.
"I think we should move from this place first of all." She said.
"But why? I know you have some money now but it can be used for other things. We can rent a place and open a restaurant." Her mother said.
"Last night, that hooligan tried to assault me again. If I had not fought him and his goons off he would have raped me. This place is no longer safe mother. I am going house hunting right now."
"What?" her eldest brother jumped up. "I warned him to stay away from you. I am going to kill him."
"That wont be necessary. I did more damage than you think possible." She calmed him down. Her second brother had also jumped up, ready to go and pick a fight.
"We should call the police." her father said anxiously. Worry was written all over his face.
"No." Chi-Chi was adamant. "All of you should stay home and pack up. I am going to find a new place and call you. The moving van will be here in less than four hours."
T4 was already house hunting and contacting real estate companies. All that was left was for her to make a choice and pay a deposit.