Chapter 27: The Vile Capitalists and Their Snobbish Eyes

[Page 1 of 3]

“Wine and women are ruining my health. Starting tomorrow, I’m quitting alcohol!”

After waking sometime after nine the next morning, Zhou Le secretly resolved that he absolutely could not drink so much anymore.

It was far too disruptive.

Fortunately, the apprenticeship ceremony was not until the afternoon.

After taking a shower, he sent Da Peng a message on WeChat, then headed home.

He picked up the gift for his new godfather and took a taxi to Yu Qian’s house.

…

“What is that? It looks awfully ceremonial.”

When he arrived, Bai Huiming looked curiously at what Zhou Le was carrying.

“Mom, it’s a gift for my godfather,” Zhou Le said with a smile.

“What did you get him? It’s not too expensive, is it?”

“Not at all.” Zhou Le glanced around. “Mom, you mustn’t tell anyone. I didn’t know what I was supposed to prepare, so Brother Yue helped me ask around. Apparently, I was supposed to prepare a hat and a pair of shoes. I learned how to knit a hat online and then made a pair of cloth shoes by hand.”

“Oh my, you made them yourself?”

“Yes. I’m not very good at it, though. I started before filming and only finished a few days ago. They definitely can’t compare with ones bought from a store.”

“Who says that? They’re wonderful. Your father loves things that show thought and effort. He’ll be delighted.”

By noon, quite a few people had arrived at the house, all of them close friends of Yu Qian.

Among them were Guo Degang and his family.

“Teacher Guo, hello! I’m a huge fan of your crosstalk. I listen to you every night before bed. Sometimes I even dream about you.”

Zhou Le had finally met him at close range. The nearest he had previously gotten was in a theater.

“Hahaha, you’re a fine young man. Tall, too, and you look dependable. But if you listen to us while you sleep, I’m afraid you’ll have nightmares,” Guo Degang joked. He then patted Zhou Le on the shoulder. “Take good care of Qian’er from now on. He’s a good man.”

With that, he went off to greet the others.

However, after Guo Degang left, a young man with a round face who had been following him remained where he was.

He extended a hand and walked warmly toward Zhou Le. “Brother, are you really this tall?”

Zhou Le naturally recognized him.

Guo Qilin—the elder son of Guo Degang, and Cao Yunjin’s maternal nephew.

But when he saw the other man bowing to him with great respect, Zhou Le quickly bowed in return.

“No, no, I’m just a big, dim-witted fellow.”

Seeing this, Guo Qilin hurriedly bowed even lower. “Please don’t say that. Uncle Qian is both my master and my father. From now on, we’re family.”

As the young man declared that they were family while bowing even lower than he was, Zhou Le hurriedly bent down farther as well.

“Family, family. We’re about the same age, so there’s no need to be so formal.”

And so the two of them continued being polite to each other, each bowing lower and lower, until finally both of them were sprawled on the floor.

At that moment, laughter rang out.

“Well, what are you two doing? Shooting a foreign movie or playing marbles? There isn’t even a hole in the ground.”

Hearing the voice, Zhou Le looked up.

A man with rugged, sharply defined features stood straight before them.

“Brother Jing.”

The newcomer was none other than Wu Jing.

Zhou Le quickly scrambled to his feet and shook his hand.

“Brother Jing, when did you get back? I thought you were in Africa…”

[Page 2 of 3]

“Yes. But Qian had something important going on, so I came back. Besides, I’m the director. If I want to take leave, I take leave.”

“Hello, Brother Jing.” Guo Qilin also got to his feet and greeted him.

“Good. From now on, you two are real brothers, so keep in touch,” Wu Jing said with a smile.

Zhou Le glanced at Guo Qilin, then made a sudden feint. Guo Qilin was so startled that he immediately reached out to support him.

“Please, no! Let’s settle it this way. I’ll call you Brother Le, and you can call me Linzi.”

He was genuinely frightened.

He had never met anyone who insisted on competing with him over who could be more deferential in a situation like this.

At the same time, though, he felt that Zhou Le seemed like a great deal of fun.

Later, while the elders sat together chatting, one of Yu Qian’s sons played with Zhou Le’s phone while the other sprawled in Zhou Le’s arms.

“By the way, Brother, I keep seeing you on Weibo. You’re always trending, aren’t you?”

“Always?”

“Yes. Didn’t you make the trending list again this morning?”

Zhou Le was puzzled.

Guo Qilin immediately took out his phone and showed him.

“Look. It’s still up there.”

Zhou Le was dumbfounded.

He had not done anything lately. Could someone have posted about him going out drinking the night before?

He glanced at the screen.

**Guli Nazha Gets Cupping Treatment**

Number twenty-two on the trending list.

Zhou Le: “?”

He suddenly felt a little cheated. Technically, he had made the trending list, but it also seemed as though he had not.

This was not the first time!

“Those damn agencies are so shamelessly calculating. They know Nazha draws traffic, so they didn’t even mention me in the headline!”

Zhou Le was speechless.

He tapped into the story. It was the media interview from before.

Nazha had said that the two marks on her back had been left by the cupping treatment Zhou Le had given her.

Then he looked at the comments.

Some of Nazha’s fans seemed to feel as though the sky had collapsed.

**Betram:** “We’re screwed! Zhou Le, you and I are mortal enemies! You were behind it last time too!”

**Why Is Na So Beautiful:** “Sis, what are you doing? Isn’t being beautiful on your own enough? Have you been cursed lately? First ZH, and now ZL?”

Nazha had even replied to that comment.

“Go study. If you can’t even pass your monthly exams, stop idolizing celebrities. Even Zhou Le, as hopeless as he is, scored over six hundred on the national college entrance exam.”

After reading that, Zhou Le felt as though the sky had collapsed on him as well.

Nazha really was straightforward by nature, but now it seemed she might be a little too straightforward.

There were also people below claiming they would report Zhou Le for disrespecting women and making crude jokes, insisting they would bring about his downfall. Yet when challenged in hundreds of replies, they never responded.

[Page 3 of 3]

Curious, Zhou Le clicked into one of the accounts and discovered that the person even followed him.

But the next moment, he noticed that the person had just posted:

“Zhou Le is hilarious and incredibly talented. He’s an absolute treasure of a joke writer.”

When Zhou Le returned to the comments, that earlier post had already been deleted.

There were plenty of people simply enjoying the spectacle, however.

**Amber Glaze:** “As expected of Zhou Le. He effortlessly accomplished what no one else could. Keep it up!”

**Brother Lang:** “Hahaha, you got yelled at again? An idol’s actions shouldn’t be blamed on the fans. This has nothing to do with us. When we saw the trending topic, we wanted to beat him up too.”

**Yes, Ah Yu, Not Ah Fish:** “Brother Le used to be my favorite blogger. This scandal came out of nowhere. I cried all night and still can’t believe it. Are there any youthful college girls over five foot five who want to talk? Especially mature women who like wearing sheer black stockings.”

Zhou Le had never imagined that someone would profit from a war fought over him.

But after reading through everything, he discovered that his account had not really been affected.

On the contrary, he had gained quite a few followers, and every one of his jokes had attracted many more comments.

For instance, a user called Brother Lang had written:

“Are you looking for a boyfriend? I’m a six-foot Chinese college student who wears white socks. I’d like to get to know you.”

Zhou Le was so startled that he immediately replied:

“Knowing Heaven is easy.”

…

Zhou Le had been online since the early days of the internet, so he knew that online frenzies were always temporary. There would always be something even more absurd waiting around the corner.

Sure enough, just as he was about to close Weibo and return the phone to Guo Qilin, he saw a new trending topic suddenly surge to number one.

**The Drug Squad Gains Another Member**

Afterward, Zhou Le had lunch with everyone. In the afternoon, he went to take a look at Yu Qian’s horse ranch, and that evening the ceremony was held.

When Zhou Le brought out the hat and cloth shoes he had made himself, Yu Qian’s eyes flickered. Clearly, he had never imagined that Zhou Le had secretly made so much while filming.

“Qian, you’ve found yourself a fine son,” Guo Degang said from the side, his eyes filled with envy.

After Zhou Le kowtowed and served tea, he had gained another father.

In such an atmosphere, Zhou Le drank quite a lot again. Wu Jing in particular kept pulling him aside for one conversation after another.

At last, after they had finished eating, they walked out into the parking lot.

With one arm around Zhou Le’s shoulders and his speech thick with drink, Wu Jing said:

“Go home and pack your things tonight. The plane tickets have already been booked. We’re flying out first thing tomorrow morning.”

Zhou Le: “?”

“Brother Jing, on a day like today, do you really have to say something like that?”

“Of course. What else can I do? Every time someone on my crew opens their eyes, tens of thousands disappear.”

Zhou Le had never expected that, after only a few good days, he would have to return to his life of drudgery.

“Dad! Look at him!”

Zhou Le immediately turned around to complain to Yu Qian.

Wu Jing laughed. “Don’t bother looking at him. He’s coming with us. Neither of you is getting away.”