Chapter 52: Mastermind? Master-torturer!

After strolling around for over half an hour, Xu Qingfeng's "King of Hell's Inspection" came to an end.

During this period, no less than a few hundred female live streamers urgently started broadcasting. Some were late-night streamers who, upon hearing that Xu Qingfeng was on patrol, rushed online instantly.

The streamers who got picked were like people who had won the lottery; each received an average of five rocket gifts, with the sweet-talkers starting from ten, which, combined with the surge in followers, netted them over ten thousand in income within minutes.

Those who weren't picked didn't lose out either. The audience Xu Qingfeng brought along explored and found other streamers on their own, and coupled with the platform's traffic inclination, basically everyone gained a significant number of followers.

The King of Hell inspects, and everyone benefits.

After finishing his stroll, Xu Qingfeng returned to his own streaming room. "Family, I just took a tour around and found out that folk masters are everywhere. Who knows, the final winner might just be among them."

[Stop trying to pull off shady backdoor deals!]
[Why do I feel like you were just judging by looks?]

Xu Qingfeng frowned and scolded, "What do you mean judging by looks? What kind of talk is that? Is the anchor that kind of person? Only vulgar people focus solely on faces; can't you pay more attention to inner qualities?"

[Damn it, who was it whose eyes were glowing just now?]
[What brand of plastic bag are you? So good at acting full of it?]
[I'd love to understand the inner qualities, but they aren't willing!]

Xu Qingfeng coughed and said earnestly, "Family, only beginners focus on faces. Someone like the anchor—cough, cough—pays more attention to legs."

[???]
[Is this all part of your routine?]
[Officer, I've caught a foot fetishist!]

Boluomi looked down at her slender legs, then glanced at Xu Qingfeng, and quietly pulled her legs back under her chair.

Ignoring the screen-flooding bullet comments, Xu Qingfeng picked up his gold-rimmed glasses and put them back on.

The noisy barrage of comments instantly fell silent.

Putting on glasses had already become Xu Qingfeng's trademark gesture. The moment the glasses went on, the entertainment industry instantly fell mute.

[???]
[There's another segment?]
[I'm suddenly wide awake.]
[Anchor, anchor, can you wait a moment? Let me call some people over.]
[We definitely gotta summon the brothers to watch this together.]
[Call the roll, call the roll!]
[The Black and White Impermanence pay respects to the King of Hell!]

Xu Qingfeng waved his hand. "Alright, go ahead and call people over. Today, I'm going to serve up something explosive. The entertainment industry not only has brothers of the same path, but also 108 demons and ghosts. Liangshan had 108 outlaws, and the entertainment industry is by no means inferior!"

Xu Qingfeng's words instantly livened up the atmosphere in the live stream.

Everyone was calling their friends over—wasn't it all just to watch Xu Qingfeng drop some explosive inside information?

Xu Qingfeng slapped the desk. "The 108 outlaws of Liangshan, flying the banner of acting on behalf of Heaven on the outside, were all a bunch of petty thieves and scoundrels behind the scenes. They committed murder, arson, slaughtered villages, wiped out clans, and forced good women into prostitution. The 108 outlaws, to put it bluntly, not a single one was a good person. The entertainment industry has this exact same bunch of demons and ghosts, so listen as the anchor recounts them one by one."

"Let's first talk about the military strategist among the 108 outlaws of Liangshan—Wu Yong the Resourceful Star. The entertainment industry also has such an almighty military strategist, and he is our old friend, Animal Chen. Animal Chen, are you listening?"

[? Grave-robbing already?]
[Hilarious, Animal Chen is listening from inside a police cell.]

[Good, good, good, Animal Chen is involved too?]

Xu Qingfeng clacked away and opened a document. "Animal Chen, the entertainment industry's number one resourceful strategist, who has directed over a dozen films and even served as a film producer. Under his watch, the film and television industry thrived like nobody's business."

Xu Qingfeng vividly narrated, "Wu Yong would be quite displeased upon hearing this. What kind of piece of shit are you, Animal Chen? You dare call yourself a strategist just like me?"

"Of course Wu Yong has something to say. He says, 'As the military strategist of Liangshan, I used my wits to rob the birthday gifts convoy, winning cash equivalent to fifty million RMB for Liangshan, and attacked the Zhu Family Village three times, instantly propelling Liangshan into a major faction. What kind of garbage are you, Animal Chen? What contributions have you made to dare call yourself the Resourceful Star?'"

Xu Qingfeng shifted his chair to face another direction and began playing the role of Animal Chen.

"Hearing this, Animal Chen laughed heartily. 'A mere fifty million and you dare call yourself the Resourceful Star? Untalented as I am, with a single stroke of my Yin-Yang contracts, I effortlessly pocketed a two-hundred-million yuan salary; with a counter-move of tax evasion and tax fraud, I raked in several hundred millions; and with a final financial falsification of 6.58 billion in profits, what kind of trash are you, Resourceful Star?'"

"The Resourceful Star looked up to the sky and sighed, his face drained of color, and muttered to himself, 'Impossible! Who on earth are you to possess so many schemes?'"

"Animal Chen clapped his hands and laughed, 'I am someone who graduated with honors from the entertainment industry's advanced training school! How could you Liangshan rats compare to me?!'"

[Hold on, I knew about the earlier stuff, but when did this 6.58 billion profit inflation happen?]
[Damn, fresh gossip.]
[Reviewing the past to learn the new, the ancestors never lie to us.]
[Resourceful Star? In front of my Animal Chen, you're just a rookie!]
[Is this old bastard really this badass?]

"Huh? You guys didn't know?" Xu Qingfeng asked with a puzzled look.

[Didn't know.]
[Nobody told me either?]

Xu Qingfeng suddenly understood and patted his own head. "Then I guess I forgot to tell everyone. Hey, blame it on me; Animal Chen has done too many bad things, and I accidentally left this one out."

"Here's the deal: Animal Chen is not only a director, but also the boss of Hetian Pictures. Years ago, he was out casting roles while risking his life, constantly making crappy films to feed shit to the audience, resulting in a plummeting market value. To fool the retail investors into continuing to buy stocks, he brazenly fabricated 6.58 billion in profits, cutting the retail investors until they were numb."

Xu Qingfeng took a sip of water. "This intelligence was actually provided by a warm-hearted netizen. The anchor has already reported it to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and I reckon there will be results very soon."

[Anchor, anchor, if there's anything else you're hiding from us, just spill it all at once!]
[Is there really someone submitting dark material tips?]
[Why not go drop the gossip yourself?]
[Damn, wouldn't I make a fortune if I went and leaked the info?]

Xu Qingfeng laughed merrily. "Dude, you want to drop gossip too? Won't you get physically sanctioned?"

"Anchor? The anchor has bodyguards! Not to scare you guys, but the anchor's bodyguard team has already expanded to 18 people. Buddhism has the 18 Arhats, and the anchor has the 18 Underworld Ghost Attendants."

[Holy crap, eighteen bodyguards?]
[The most exaggerated bodyguard team in the entire entertainment industry.]
[If anyone else were this arrogant, I'd curse them out a few times, but with Wind God having eighteen bodyguards, I'm actually worried it might not be enough.]
[I truly do not feel envious of the anchor making money.]
[Enjoy it while you can, who knows when you might drop dead.]

Xu Qingfeng clapped his hands. "Some people might ask, where on earth did Animal Chen learn all these skills, to the point that even Resourceful Star Wu Yong has to gracefully yield?"

"This story goes back to when Animal Chen was a child. Animal Chen was truly a character; he wasn't any good even when he was studying back in the day."

"In his early school days, he was solely focused on learning how to make money."

"The teacher told him, 'I'll teach you narrative and organizational skills, and in the future, if you become a director, you can make it in ten years.'"

"Upon hearing this, Animal Chen thought: Ten years?! He shook his head like a rattle drum. 'Not learning, not learning!'"

Xu Qingfeng turned his chair in another direction and imitated an elderly person's tone: "'Then I'll teach you dialogue design and camera language, and as a screenwriter, you can make it in five years.'"

"'Not learning, not learning.' Animal Chen was still unhappy. 'Five years is too long! Teacher, teacher, is there a faster way?'"

"'Then I'll teach you accounting fraud, tax evasion and avoidance, illegal cash cashing, embezzlement of funds, and auditing loopholes. I guarantee you'll attain great wealth and honor the moment you graduate!'"

"Animal Chen was overjoyed. He kowtowed thump, thump, thump, shouting, 'Yes, yes, yes! This is exactly what I want to learn! How can I repay you once I make a huge fortune?'"

Xu Qingfeng sighed deeply: "'Talk not of the grace of repayment; just don't drag your master into it when you stir up trouble in the future.'"

"You have to hand it to him, Animal Chen is indeed a ruthless character. Having squatted in the detention center for so long, he hasn't uttered a peep, and hasn't betrayed a single person!"

Xu Qingfeng gave a thumbs-up. "Old irons, judge for yourselves—does Animal Chen deserve the title of Resourceful Star or not?"

[Deserves it, completely deserves it.]
[Animal Chen's crimes are seriously heavy-duty.]
[I reckon Animal Chen is already singing 'Tears through the Iron Bars'.]
[Anchor, why do you keep picking on the same guy to fleece?]

Hearing this, Xu Qingfeng wasn't happy. "You little comrade, your heart is very dark! Do you know how hard it has been for Animal Chen, at his advanced age, to live in the detention center? You don't know, but the anchor knows."

"The other day, the anchor originally wanted to go visit Animal Chen, but the police officer wouldn't agree, saying I didn't look like his dad at all and wouldn't let me visit. After much talking, the officer finally described Animal Chen's daily life to me. At his old age, he sleeps with his forehead pressed against the toilet bowl. In the middle of the night, someone has loose bowels, splat, splash! Half the toilet gets eaten, and Animal Chen eats the other half! Can this kind of life be lived?"

[Anchor, cut it out, I'm eating here.]
[Damn it, you owe me my spicy hot pot!]
[Holy crap, completely unwatchable.]
[Yue!]

Xu Qingfeng sighed with emotion. "At his advanced age, three steamed buns and five turds every day—even though Animal Chen eats with great joy, this stuff has no nutrition, and the anchor's heart couldn't bear it. That's why I submitted a few more materials, hoping to help him escape this sea of misery sooner."

[The Living King of Hell, this anchor.]
[??? Listen to yourself! What are you saying?]
[<'Escaping the Sea of Misery'>]
[Σ_(꒪ཀ꒪」∠) Blech!]
[Outrageous! The moment Animal Chen gets out, he will definitely beat you to death.]

Xu Qingfeng fell into deep thought. "That's true, too. What if this old bastard lives long enough and comes out looking to settle scores with me? So, family, should I report a few more people? When the time comes, I'll just say you guys reported them along with me, and we can share the blessings and hardships together."

[???]
[You really want your family to die, huh?]
[The Living King of Hell.]
[Genius! Discharge yourself from the hospital immediately!]
[Sorry, I was speaking a bit too loudly just now.]