Chapter 4: This Child Has Gone Mad

As soon as Cheng Cheng finished speaking, a virtual spinning wheel suddenly appeared before him.

The wheel was divided into twenty or thirty sections, each labeled with a different item.

Among them, the energy pill occupied the largest portion, accounting for half of the wheel. The rest included items like instant sleep pills, height pills, hair dye pills, good figure pills, fasting pills, lucky stickers, beauty pills, healing pills, dance experience books, and so on.

In other words, the energy pill was the least valuable item, essentially the consolation prize.

Cheng Cheng glanced over and noticed that the most valuable prizes were the deluxe gift packs for the movie "All In" and the novel "The Three-Body Problem, Volume One."

Then, the wheel began to spin.

Cheng Cheng saw a “Click to skip animation” icon in the lower right corner of the panel, so he quickly clicked it. The wheel vanished, and ten beams of light transformed into ten cards, laid out in two neat rows before him.

He clicked on the first card. It flipped over to reveal a pill with the label “Energy Pill.”

Cheng Cheng’s face darkened; he was unhappy to have drawn the consolation prize on his very first try.

He continued flipping.

The second card was a hair dye pill.

The third card was another energy pill.

The fourth card was a beauty pill.

The fifth card was something good: a dance experience book.

The sixth card was also valuable: a beginner’s taekwondo skill book.

But then things took a turn for the worse.

The seventh card was an energy pill, the eighth another energy pill, and the ninth yet another energy pill!

Cheng Cheng rubbed his hands together and swallowed nervously.

Only one card remained.

He felt like he was playing poker, about to reveal the last card.

Excited! Nervous! Afraid!

Only one left — it had to be something big!

Cheng Cheng prayed silently, “Great System God! Please let it be either the ‘All In’ or ‘The Three-Body Problem, Volume One’ gift pack!”

“Actually, ‘The Three-Body Problem’ would be best!” he added quietly as an afterthought.

As if responding to his hopes, the moment he clicked the last card, a brilliant golden light exploded forth! When the light faded, before his eyes appeared the deluxe gift pack for the movie “All In”!

Awesome!

Though it wasn’t “The Three-Body Problem,” “All In” was still a fantastic prize.

After the draw, Cheng Cheng began sorting through the items, each accompanied by a detailed description.

Energy Pill: As the name suggests, it can be taken when fatigued to instantly boost energy, equivalent to having eaten a full meal and slept for three more hours.

Hair Dye Pill: Instantly changes hair to any desired color, precise down to each strand without any color discrepancy or damage. It won’t fade within a year unless actively removed, after which it changes naturally like regular dye.

Beauty Pill: Increases appearance score by 10%. If the base score is already 85 or above, the effect automatically reduces to a slight improvement.

So, the more handsome you are, the less useful it is?

Cheng Cheng touched his face and sighed, “Even the system is jealous of this kind of looks!”

Dance Experience Book: Upon use, increases general dance skill by five points.

Beginner’s Taekwondo Skill Book: Grants the skill “Beginner’s Taekwondo.” Taekwondo has ten levels, nine ranks, and three grades. Beginner’s Taekwondo corresponds to a red belt, indicating mastery of basic techniques and solid skill. Above it are red-black belts and black belts.

“All In” Deluxe Gift Pack: Using it grants automatic access to the original novel prototype of “All In” (if unavailable, none), the full script, storyboard shots, creative memories, full film and promotional clip memories, and the soundtrack.

Wow!

Cheng Cheng was stunned!

With such a comprehensive package, even a complete novice director could follow the materials to shoot the movie.

No wonder it was called a deluxe gift pack!

Moreover, obtaining so many memories was akin to gaining a portion of directing experience, allowing one to self-learn and master certain directorial skills.

Jackpot!

Cheng Cheng was thrilled! This was exactly what he needed most at this stage; it was his foundation.

Eagerly, he used the “All In” gift pack. Soon, a massive flood of memories poured into his mind—totaling thousands of hours.

His complexion turned pale, his body swayed, and he quickly sat down.

He hurriedly took out an energy pill from the system and swallowed it, his face visibly flushing back to vitality, and his weary posture vanished.

“Turns out acquiring memories consumes energy; I’ll remember that next time,” Cheng Cheng muttered to himself. “But this energy pill really works! Instant effect—I even want to roll over and vent some energy!”

He then used the dance experience book and beginner’s taekwondo skill book before opening his personal panel.

[Host: Cheng Cheng.
Points: 1379
Age: 21
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 69 kg
Appearance: 88 points
Singing: 62 points
Acting: 45 points
Dancing: 77 points
Skills: Beginner’s Taekwondo
Items Held: Beauty Pill ×1, Hair Dye Pill ×1, Energy Pill ×3]

He hadn’t used the beauty pill yet because he planned to terminate his contract with the company first. Otherwise, if he suddenly became more handsome, the company wouldn’t let him go.

Speaking of which, speaking of the devil, here came Cao Cao!

Cheng Cheng picked up his phone and looked at the incoming call from his agent, Tang Fang, and sneered inwardly.

“Brother, see that? You made over a dozen calls that didn’t connect, but I just crossed over a few hours ago, and the other side is already calling me. That’s human nature for you!”

“You messed up in two ways:

First, you bought a house in Chaoyang District.

Second, you got such a lousy agent. Tang Fang—’Tang Fang’ sounds just like ‘collapse,’ doesn’t it?”

“Hello? Fang Jie, what do you want?” Cheng Cheng answered, curious to see what was going on.

“You dare ask what I want? Don’t you know what you’ve done?” Tang Fang said angrily on the other end.

“Open your eyes and look at what you posted on Weibo! Does that make sense? The company has repeatedly told you not to respond, not to respond, not to respond! Everything is waiting for the company to handle; the company will take care of everything for you! And what do you do? If you were just responding normally, fine, but what you posted—do you even know that while you were causing trouble, everyone in the company was working hard to find solutions for you?”

Hearing Tang Fang’s words, Cheng Cheng’s anger flared.

How dare Tang Fang say such things with a straight face?

The biggest reason for his original self’s suicide wasn’t the false accusations from his ex-girlfriend but the company silencing him, forbidding him to speak! Everyone close to him betrayed him! Everyone who knew him didn’t believe him!

Until “Run, Youth!” aired and erased the original self completely, that was the last straw.

“You’re violating company policy! The company has the right to punish you!” Tang Fang went on and on, but Cheng Cheng suddenly shouted:

“Ahhhh—!”

A sudden burst of sound waves hit without warning, catching Tang Fang off guard and leaving her dumbfounded.

When Tang Fang went silent, Cheng Cheng roared:

“What do you mean ‘everything is waiting for the company to handle, the company will take care of everything,’ and ‘while you were causing trouble, everyone in the company was working hard to find solutions’?!”

“Tell me, it’s been twenty days since the incident broke out—what have you been doing? You keep saying wait, wait, wait—how long do you expect me to wait? Until your chairman’s mother is cremated?”

“Seriously, I’m fed up! Even I, an outsider, can’t stand it. Though I dislike fresh faces, I despise you big fools even more!”

“When something happens, instead of fixing it quickly, you only know how to drag your feet. Do you think I don’t know you? I’m not the naive Cheng Cheng. I know what kind of mess your bloated company is—just a bunch of makeshift troupes! No one cares about the company or Cheng Cheng, only their own interests!”

“Your big fat mouth has the nerve to say ‘while you were causing trouble, everyone in the company was working hard to find solutions’? What nonsense! All you think about is lining your own pockets! When Cheng Cheng’s reputation collapses, some people are probably popping champagne to celebrate!”

“And you—you're the dumbest of all. You’re Cheng Cheng’s agent, so logically, you should be the most anxious when something happens to him because it affects your income directly. But you can’t even get your act together and side with the company to shut Cheng Cheng’s mouth. Now look—the situation’s blown up, and your golden goose is gone!”

“Cheng Cheng called you over a dozen times, and you didn’t answer. I just posted one Weibo, and you called immediately, then come here yelling at me, blaming this and that. Do you have a brain?”

“Do you know that you big fools drove Cheng Cheng to death?!”

“If you’re really that stupid, go home and have kids! The workplace isn’t for you! Also, by the way, change your name—I never thought a talent agency would have someone named ‘Collapse.’ How ridiculous!”

On the other side, Tang Fang was stunned.

Not only was she dumbfounded by Cheng Cheng’s torrent of florid language but also terrified by the rich information packed into his words.

“I’m an outsider who can’t stand it,” “I’m not that useless Cheng Cheng,” “Cheng Cheng was driven to death by you big fools.”

And, left and right, he kept calling himself “Cheng Cheng.” Who would refer to themselves like that?

Tang Fang trembled and asked, “Y-you, Cheng Cheng, what’s wrong with you? Aren’t you just Cheng Cheng?”

There was a moment’s pause on the other end, then a shy laugh: “Ah, right, I seem to be Cheng Cheng now. Sorry, I almost forgot.”

Cheng Cheng washed an apple, bit into it, the fragrance filling his mouth, and said, “Since I am (chew chew) Cheng Cheng, then (chew chew) let’s talk about terminating the contract (swallow). I don’t want to work for your company anymore (chew chew). You don’t deserve me.”

“Also, when did I respond? I just posted a joke on Weibo. Is that considered responding? Does the company have the right to restrict my personal freedom?”

With that, he hung up.

Tang Fang kept the phone to her ear, muttering, “Crazy! This kid is really crazy!”

Cheng Cheng looked at his slightly increased points and smiled faintly.