Chapter 2547: Chapter 1705: Working Mode (Keep Writing, Keep Reading)

"...And then? What did you do to Miss Fengchuan’s father?"

"That’s really harsh talk."

Duanmu Huai sat on the sofa and smirked at Hei Chuan Chi Yin.

"I just sent him to a construction site, that’s all."

"Construction site?"

"Yeah, high-interest lenders send people who can’t pay off their debts to work at construction sites, then take a portion from their referral fees and wages as repayment. It’s actually the best solution."

"Is... that so?"

"Of course, it’s legal and not dangerous. Plus, the amount he owes isn’t that big. He should be able to pay it off in about half a year."

"Huh? Didn’t he borrow fifty thousand? Why would it take half a year to pay it off?"

"Because of the interest. The daily interest is fifteen thousand. You think this money is easy to pay back? Don’t worry, I’ve already talked to them. Those guys won’t do anything sneaky behind his back. It’s already the best outcome. If it weren’t for my intervention, those guys wouldn’t have given up so easily. In the worst-case scenario, they would have burdened Fengchuan Shoko’s father with massive debt and then had him sign insurance to cause an accident." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"...High-interest loans are terrifying."

"Of course, the lucky thing is Fengchuan Shoko’s father only borrowed the money to drink, not to gamble, so there’s still hope. If it were for gambling, I would have turned and left without a second thought."

Duanmu Huai shook his head as he spoke.

Gambling addicts and drug addicts are beyond help. Once they’re involved, it’s a dead end. If Fengchuan Shoko’s father had borrowed money for Pachinko or pinball, Duanmu Huai wouldn’t have cared even if Fengchuan Shoko knelt and said she was willing to do anything.

"So, Miss Fengchuan now..."

"She’s doing well. She even thanked me. And now isn’t she working hard?"

"..."

Hei Chuan Chi Yin looked at Duanmu Huai with a complicated expression upon hearing this.

"Hmm? What’s up?"

"Well, how do I put this... Xiao Ai, you sold her father, and she has to thank you?"

"Of course, I sold at a good price. By the way, I only gave my opinion and didn’t even take any money, so strictly speaking, I didn’t actually sell him."

Duanmu Huai had only asked the Curse Masters to investigate Fengchuan Shoko’s father’s situation and debts, then negotiated on the phone himself. Although high-interest lending is indeed illegal, and they even said they would be willing to waive the debt if Duanmu Huai asked—compared to a mere fat sheep, getting on good terms with Duanmu Huai is clearly more worthwhile.

But Duanmu Huai thought it over and decided to have them follow the rules. After all, for Shoko’s father, it’s a form of labor correction. Working on a construction site for a few months would make him less pretentious. Of course, Duanmu Huai also told Fengchuan Shoko about this, at least to ensure he could support himself, seeing that her father is quite the good-for-nothing.

Oh, and he happens to be a live-in son-in-law too.

A place like a construction site is just where he needs to be to learn a lesson, maybe move some bricks or something.

Fengchuan Shoko, of course, was worried about her father, but she seemed to understand that, given his current situation, whining wasn’t going to help, so she agreed. Naturally, the high-interest lenders also instructed the construction site to give him hard work, but nothing too dangerous.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and then Fengchuan Shoko entered, holding some documents and looking severe and tense.

"Miss Duanmu, Miss Heichuan, it’s about time for your appearance."

"Oh..."

Hearing Fengchuan Shoko’s report, Duanmu Huai sighed helplessly, then stood up.

"Let’s go..."

"Heh heh heh."

Seeing him like this, Hei Chuan Chi Yin let out a chuckle, following Duanmu Huai out of the dressing room.

As summer vacation approached, the film production neared completion, and the next most crucial step was, of course, the publicity.

This was the part Duanmu Huai dreaded the most.

Because at this time, all sorts of invitations would flood the agency like snowflakes, causing him no end of trouble.

Ultimately, it was a problem of Duanmu Huai’s own making.

As a national film star, Duanmu Huai hardly ever appeared on any show, and because he had the ability to conceal his presence, even those who wanted to stalk or spy on him found it very difficult. Many times, you’d see a comical scene like paparazzi cluelessly looking around with their cameras while Duanmu Huai watched from right behind them.

If Duanmu Huai were a fading star like Arima Kaname, it wouldn’t be an issue, but the problem is he releases one film each year, each consistently good to an outrageous extent. While maybe not every film is a blockbuster, they all perform above average in quality and box office, with occasional hits like the Night Woman brand that end up on a national level similar to Sadako.

Hence, Duanmu Huai’s popularity remained incredibly high, not to mention that his antics on a previous prank show had also been very well received. You could say any program that could invite Duanmu Huai was guaranteeing high viewership—because his fans only got a few chances to see him on television every year.

However, Duanmu Huai’s appearing on the program was only for film publicity purposes, which wasn’t challenging for these shows. In fact, usually, the production company would be desperate to build a good relationship with the show, begging them to help with promotions. Yet, when it came to Duanmu Huai, it became a case of show producers scrambling as if in an auction to win the right to promote the film, just to secure Duanmu Huai’s participation.

Of course, the shows with high ratings and attention won these scenarios.

Thus, Duanmu Huai had no choice but to participate.

If it were similar to the previous prank show, Duanmu Huai would actually be quite interested. But the problem was—this program was an arts and culture show!

This was arguably the least compatible type of show for Duanmu Huai!

Hei Chuan Chi Yin also knew this fact well, and she couldn’t contain her laughter at this point.

This time, the main content of the show was to review the current hot film stars in the country and ask about their future plans.

So Hei Chuan Chi Yin, Arima Kaname, Sakurajima Mai, and Duanmu Huai were all on the invited list, alongside a few other stars.

Of course, most of them were people Duanmu Huai had watched grow up... Hmm, that sounds kind of weird.

Duanmu Huai really disliked this interview-style program, but he had no choice but to go on.

Fortunately, this type of program was relatively more serious, without any senseless pranks like in variety shows, and everything was done one by one. So right after shooting his segment, Duanmu Huai slacked off and sneaked away, leaving the rest to Hei Chuan Chi Yin and Sakurajima Mai to handle.

He couldn’t be bothered with such boring matters.

After leaving the studio, Duanmu Huai stretched and glanced around idly, noticing Fengchuan Shoko, who was handling miscellaneous tasks, chatting with a green-haired girl nearby.

Oh, it’s Mutsu Ruoya.

Remember, her mother, Sen Minami, is also here today... Hmm, I see.

Duanmu Huai remembered that at Xiangzi’s band breakup party earlier, Ruoya Mu showed up as well. Was she a member of the band too?

Well, nothing else to do, might as well go over and chat.

"Yo."

Duanmu Huai walked over and waved at the two of them.

"Ah, Miss Duanmu."

Fukawa Shoko quickly returned the greeting, while Ruoya Mu lowered her head.

"Long time no see."

"It hasn’t been that long, right? I saw you at the school gate before, but we haven’t chatted in a while."

"Eh?"

Seeing Duanmu Huai chatting with Ruoya Mu, Fukawa Shoko was a bit surprised.

"Miss Duanmu, do you know Mutsu?"

"Oh, I’ve acted in plays with her mother a few times, so I got to know her."

"Ah, I see......"

Fukawa Shoko found Duanmu Huai’s answer somewhat unbelievable. But thinking it over, it’s true that with Duanmu Huai’s identity in the entertainment industry, knowing Ruoya Mu’s mother isn’t strange.

"Speaking of which......."

Duanmu Huai has always asked whatever came to mind, and now was no exception.

"I remember seeing her at that party before. Is she a member of your band?"

"Ah, yes......"

Fukawa Shoko hesitated for a moment and decided to tell the truth.

"We grew up together as playmates, so I invited her to join the band."

"I remember you’re the keyboard player? What about her?"

"Guitar."

"She plays guitar?"

Seeing Ruoya Mu, silent and so quiet you could barely get a word out of her, Duanmu Huai found it hard to imagine her playing guitar in a rock band. If she played bass, Duanmu Huai could understand.

"Mutsu’s guitar skills are actually really good."

Perhaps misinterpreting Duanmu Huai’s disbelief as doubting Ruoya Mu’s guitar skills, Fukawa Shoko hurriedly explained.

"I’m not doubting her guitar prowess, I just can’t imagine her playing guitar."

Duanmu Huai frowned, staring at Ruoya Mu.

"Isn’t the guitarist of a band usually the most active one? I can’t imagine her being like that."

"Well..... even in bands, there are exceptions..."

Talking about this made even Fukawa Shoko feel unsure.

Just then, Ruoya Mu raised the tote bag in her hand towards Duanmu Huai.

"What are you doing?"

"Do you want some?"

"Some?"

Duanmu Huai curiously leaned over to look at the contents of Ruoya Mu’s tote bag — cucumbers?

A fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl carrying so many cucumbers around?

How do you plan to use them?

Or rather, what do you need so many for?

Of course, these thoughts were just fleeting in Duanmu Huai’s mind; she couldn’t possibly voice them to Ruoya Mu.

"Alright, I’ll help myself then."

Duanmu Huai casually took a cucumber and started munching on it; it tasted pretty good.

"Hmm, this tastes quite nice; where did you buy it?"

"I grew them."

"You have that skill... not bad, impressive."

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s response, Ruoya Mu seemed to lighten up, showing a slightly more relaxed demeanor even though her expression remained unchanged.

"By the way, about that thing before... how did it end up?"

Duanmu Huai asked as she munched on the cucumber, gazing at Fukawa Shoko.

"Isn’t Takamatsu Akari planning to form a new band?"

"Ah, yes, well, she told me that a kid named Chihaya Aion invited her to form a new band, and Rikki will join, but as for Su Shi......"

Mentioning the last name, Fukawa Shoko’s expression turned a bit complicated, referring to the girl who had kneeled before Xiangzi at the time.

And just then, Ruoya Mu spoke.

"This weekend, they’ll be hosting a LIVE at RING."

Speaking this, Ruoya Mu looked at Fukawa Shoko, then at Duanmu Huai.

"Want to go watch?"