Chapter 50: Don't talk nonsense. How could the production team invite President Bo to evade taxes?

Zhang Hongbo bled a small fortune just to pay off his back taxes, wiping out his savings of several years entirely.

Taking advantage of the gap while Xu Qingfeng was targeting someone else, Zhang Hongbo racked his brain trying to recoup some losses. After pulling every string and begging everyone he knew, he finally managed to land a major role.

Yet, no sooner had he finished negotiating than someone ratted him out to the Living Yama.

Being targeted by Xu Qingfeng meant your life was utterly ruined; anyone who fell into his hands would be stripped down to the bone.

"What the fuck? Which bastard did this?"

"Fuck your mother, Xu Qingfeng! Why don't you just fucking die?!"

Zhang Hongbo vented his rage frantically.

Xu Qingfeng pushed up his glasses. "Folks, it's been a while since we last saw our old friend, Boss Bo. I almost thought he was dead. Turns out he's still alive? What a pity."

[<<What a Pity>>]

[Zhang Hongbo: Brother, can you just pretend I'm dead?]

[Zhang Hongbo has never wanted to die as much as he does today.]

"Boss Bo is truly a man of talent. 380 million, and he actually paid it all back. The streamer hasn't even made that much in all these years, truly impressive. He's probably never worked this hard before. Look at him, how motivated he is to make money now. That's why they say people only get motivated to work when they're poor. Boss Bo, shouldn't you thank me for reigniting your fighting spirit?"

[Holy shit, he still has to thank him?]

[Damn it, I actually think he makes sense.]

[What a black-hearted capitalist.]

[He's gaslighting you!]

[Zhang Hongbo: Thank you, streamer.]

Zhang Hongbo: "Fuck your mother!"

380 million had hollowed out his entire foundation, driving him to chase after money like a madman, and he was supposed to fucking thank him?

Xu Qingfeng sighed and pondered aloud, "How on earth is Boss Bo's brain wired? He can't read a single proper sentence, missing eight out of ten characters when reading a script, but the moment tax evasion is mentioned, his intelligence awakens like a deity. Truly miraculous, nature is just so amazing."

"And this film crew, their imagination is just as magical. I spent a full five minutes trying to figure it out—what on earth do they want from him? His low education? His terrible acting? Or his professional lip-syncing skills?"

At this point, Xu Qingfeng wore a baffled expression, scratched his head hard, and began fabricating his own bullet comments: "Why on earth? What, do they want him for tax evasion?"

"Hey, folks, you can't just go around spreading wild rumors like that." Xu Qingfeng shook his head in disbelief. "Impossible, absolutely impossible. Huh? No way? We're all law-abiding citizens; nobody would go and study that kind of stuff, right?"

Xu Qingfeng's expression held three parts confusion, three parts suspicion, three parts shock, and one part disbelief. "No way, they actually hired Boss Bo to commit tax evasion? That's simply too improper. Believe it or not, the streamer refuses to believe any film crew would do such a thing."

"Family, the streamer learned since childhood that humans are inherently good at birth. They are all good people, not the kind of people you're imagining."

"Huh? Boss Bo isn't human, he's a newborn beast? Whoa, buddy, did you smear arsenic on that little mouth of yours? Isn't that a bit too toxic?" Xu Qingfeng almost couldn't hold back his laughter. "Let the streamer say a fair word. Boss Bo's intelligence has only just awakened, and he hasn't quite grasped human nature yet. Everyone, please show some understanding, alright?"

[<<Grasped Human Nature>>]

[Streamer, stop showing off!]

[Boss Bo is about to cry.]

[Zhang Hongbo with Newly Awakened Intelligence, the Heavenly Sovereign of Tax Evasion!]

Xu Qingfeng lamented, "You guys are going too far. Doesn't the film crew just want to find a suitable actor? Two-legged humans are easy to find, but two-legged newborn beasts aren't easy to come by. If you talk like this, how is the crew supposed to use Boss Bo? Are you trying to make everyone suspect they have thoughts of tax evasion?"

"To be a person, one must still be kind-hearted," Xu Qingfeng said earnestly.

Bolomitu looked at him in astonishment, as if seeing a ghost.

You? Kind-hearted? You're clearly trying to drive Zhang Hongbo to his death!

The bullet comments went wild.

[Slicing someone's throat while stabbing them in the heart.]

[The film crew is panicking hard.]

[Boss Bo, if all else fails, just kowtow to the Wind God. It's not humiliating.]

[Zhang Hongbo, oh Zhang Hongbo, of all people to provoke, why did you have to provoke the Yama.]

[Hei and Bai Wuchang: Zhang Hongbo! Zhang Hongbo: Here!]

[The streamer is so damn malicious, I love it.]

[It feels so good to see him cursed. It pisses me off that a piece of trash like Zhang Hongbo was still raking in unearned cash.]

Watching the live stream, Zhang Hongbo's face was drained of all color. A deep sense of terror assaulted him, his heart feeling as though it were being tightly gripped by something vicious.

Lately, he hadn't been able to eat well or sleep well. Every night in his dreams, he saw Xu Qingfeng—looking like a gentle beast behind gold-rimmed glasses—calling out names, calling out names. Zhang Hongbo had been jolted awake from nightmares countless times by the roll call.

In the dead of every night, he wished he could slap himself across the face multiple times. Why on earth had he been possessed by a ghost and tried to take over Xu Qingfeng's resources in the first place?

If he hadn't kicked a man while he was down back then, he wouldn't have ended up in this state today.

He knew all too well what consequences would follow if Xu Qingfeng's words spread. No company or film crew could withstand an investigation; if anti-fans went wild reporting them for tax evasion, he would undoubtedly be the first person abandoned.

Bad acting didn't matter, and being a connected beneficiary wasn't critical either, but tax audits? They truly couldn't withstand those, because they had actually done it.

Zhang Hongbo slumped on the sofa. "What do I do? What do I do?"

A trace of pity flashed in his manager's eyes, and in the end, unable to bear it any longer, he suggested, "Why don't you apologize to Xu Qingfeng?"

"Apologize?"

A glimmer of light flickered in Zhang Hongbo's dim eyes. Like a drowning man grabbing a straw, he seized his manager's arm and asked in a trembling voice, "Will apologizing work?"

The manager hesitated.

He knew Xu Qingfeng's personality all too well. Apologize? If you played dead right in front of him, he probably wouldn't even spare you a glance.

"Will it work?" Zhang Hongbo stared fixedly at the manager like a pitiful little dog.

"Maybe it will?" The manager was completely numb.

As if injected with a surge of energy, Zhang Hongbo leaped to his feet, grabbed his phone, and prepared to call Xu Qingfeng.

"Wait, what are you doing?" The manager yanked him back.

"Calling to apologize, obviously!" Zhang Hongbo said, bewildered.

The manager: "...Hold on a second. He's live-streaming right now. What are you going to do if he blasts you on air again?"

"Ah? Then what do I do?"

The manager sighed. "Try sending him a text message first."

In the live stream, Xu Qingfeng was talking nineteen to the dozen when his phone suddenly rang. He picked it up, took a glance, and was left utterly dumbfounded.

[What is the streamer doing? Not moving at all.]

[Did it freeze?]

[Frozen, frozen.]

Recovering his wits, Xu Qingfeng said incredulously, "Not frozen, not frozen. The streamer just received a message that has shocked me for a whole year."

With an exaggerated expression, Xu Qingfeng announced, "Just now, our Boss Bo said he knows he was wrong, and wants to *hodo ni sumimasen* [apologize profusely in Japanese] to the streamer. Folks, listen to this! Is this the awakening of a nascent intelligence? This clearly means he has fully grasped human nature!"

[Asking without knowing: What bird language is the streamer speaking?]

[Little Japan's language, exclusive to the bowing-and-apologizing culture. It means sorry.]

[Awesome, the streamer even knows Japanese.]

[I don't understand Boss Bo's moves, but I am deeply shocked.]

[Hahaha, he must be scared out of his wits by now.]

Xu Qingfeng consulted the bullet comments, "Boss Bo suddenly grasping human nature is a good thing, but this has nothing to do with the streamer. The streamer was just watching the fun. I suggest Boss Bo apologize to the general public instead—he could bow a bit lower, preferably shedding a few tears, or failing that, use some eye drops. What if everyone gets happy and forgives him, and this whole thing just blows over?"