Chapter 54

Chapter 54

[Lu Chen: “What exactly happened in between?

Something must have linked you, Tang Xiaolong, Tang Xiaohu, and Officer An Xin together…

If I’m not mistaken, you must have fought with the Tang brothers, right?”

Gao Qiqiang: “Yeah, we fought—on New Year’s Eve, no less.”

“What happened?”

Lu Chen casually pulled out a Huazi cigarette from the coffee table.

“Want one?”

Gao Qiqiang: “I don’t smoke, and you should cut down too. You’re young, what’s the point of smoking?”

“Alright, then I won’t.”].

Lu Chen put the cigarette back.

…

Outside the screen.

Viewers: “…”

【If I weren’t seeing this with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it at all!】

【Are we sure there’s no actual person in front of Lu Chen? I swear, my hairs are standing on end!】

【Writing like a god! I finally understand why this competition is called ‘Divine Penmanship’! This is unreal!】

【Screenwriting is so cool! I never imagined it worked like this—this is insanely cool!】

【An experience beyond words!】

【I’ve watched all four seasons of this competition, even the legendary first season, but I’ve never seen a contestant enter such a state! This young man is terrifyingly talented!】

【Crown him king already, Lu Chen! This work will make him a legend!】

【King of what, you delusional idiots?!】

【Ugh

, a bunch of cringy fools—what king? Pirate King or Clown King?】

【This dude is just a lunatic. I’m dying of secondhand embarrassment!】

Backstage at the production team.

Seeing the flood of comments, Hong Tao frowned.

“What’s going on? Why are there suddenly so many haters?”

“Director, these guys are hired trolls. A lot of them are from the same IP address! Could someone be deliberately targeting Lu Chen?”

The admin team checked the logs and found the pattern.

“Mute them. Anyone using insults—mute them all!”

“Got it!”

“And those with duplicate IPs?”

“Only keep one per IP!”

“Understood!”

…

At a troll farm, a voice came through the walkie-talkie in urgency.

“Tiger, a bunch of our accounts just got banned!”

Tiger remained relaxed, leaning back with his legs crossed, chewing betel nut, completely unfazed.

“So what? No need to panic—this was expected. Activate Plan B.”

“Got it!”

Tiger tossed the walkie-talkie aside, sneering.

“Banning accounts? What a joke. We’re professionals! Professionals, got it?”

He kept playing Honor of Kings, occasionally glancing at Lu Chen’s livestream.

What a psycho!

This guy is just insane.

Muttering nonsense like a lunatic—what, is he summoning spirits or something?

…

Meanwhile, after Hong Tao’s order to block accounts, the viewer count in the livestream suddenly dropped by 200,000!

Many genuine viewers were stunned.

What the hell?

Were all those people just now trolls?

…

Back inside the room, Lu Chen and Gao Qiqiang’s conversation continued.

[Gao Qiqiang: “Because of the stall dispute, I begged the Tang brothers multiple times to spare me. I knew they didn’t have to reorganize the market stalls.

They just wanted to squeeze me for more benefits. I understood that.

I dealt with people every day in business—how could I not see through this? Sure enough, Tang Xiaolong finally spoke. He told me his family needed something.”

Lu Chen: “What was it?”

Gao Qiqiang: “A television. Specifically, a plasma TV. You’re probably too young to even know about those.

Back in the year 2000, plasma TVs were precious. Do you know how much one cost?”

Lu Chen shook his head.

Gao Qiqiang: “Over 20,000 yuan!”

Lu Chen: “That’s ridiculous. Back then, 20,000 was a fortune! A fish sold for just a few yuan.”

Gao Qiqiang: “Exactly. I did the math—I’d have to sell at least 6,000 fish to afford it.

At the time, I was selling 200 fish a day. That meant an entire month’s earnings—just for a TV!”

Lu Chen: “You didn’t give it to them?”

Gao Qiqiang: “Of course, I did. How could I not? If I didn’t, how could I possibly keep my stall? But I couldn’t afford a plasma TV. So I bought a regular one, which still cost thousands.”

Lu Chen: “The Tang brothers must have been displeased.”

Gao Qiqiang nodded.

“Of course!

You think they really cared about the TV?

What they wanted was a statement!

Back then, plasma TVs were a status symbol for the rich. Ordinary folks couldn’t afford them. But you know how it is—people who lack something always crave it the most. That’s just human nature.”

Lu Chen: “Hearing you talk, you don’t sound like someone who only finished middle school.”

Gao Qiqiang: “Don’t let my lack of formal education fool you—I love learning. I know that knowledge is essential. Without it, you can’t run a business. And you definitely can’t run a big business.”

Lu Chen: “I agree. What happened next?”

Gao Qiqiang: “So, I took the TV to their house. Tang Xiaohu took one look and immediately got angry. He tried to kick me out.

The unspoken message was clear—my fish stall was gone. I tried to reason with him. He wouldn’t listen. At that point, I figured—Well, if this is how it is, then I’ll just leave it to fate.

I picked up the TV and was ready to take it home. If I couldn’t give it as a gift, at least my siblings could enjoy it. They had never seen such a nice TV before. New Year, new beginnings—I thought I’d bring home something nice for them.”

Lu Chen: “You really are a good brother.”

Gao Qiqiang: “They’re my only family. If I don’t take care of them, who will?”

Lu Chen: “And how do they treat you?”

Gao Qiqiang: “Very well. They’re obedient, hardworking, top students—I never had to worry about them. That’s the only reason I endured selling fish all those years. Because I had hope.

I dreamed that one day, my siblings would make it. And maybe, just maybe, I’d get to enjoy a little bit of their success.”

Lu Chen: “That’s great. I envy you for having such good siblings. So… how did things escalate into a fight?”

Gao Qiqiang: “Just as I was about to leave, Tang Xiaohu sneak-attacked me from behind. He shoved my brand new TV down the stairs. It shattered into pieces. I lost it. The TV wasn’t even unboxed yet!

Thousands of yuan—gone!

How could I not be furious?

Without thinking, I attacked him!

But they had numbers on their side.

I got beaten up pretty badly—bloody nose, bruised face, everything.”

Lu Chen: “And that’s when An Xin got involved?”

Gao Qiqiang: “No, we were all taken to the police station. That year, I spent New Year’s Eve at the station.”].