Chapter 109: Chapter 107: Is This a Game of Infinite Nesting Dolls?

"What nonsense are you spouting! I took Director Wen with me to meet the collaborators for that money!"

"Did the collaboration succeed?"

"The collaboration didn’t succeed, but I ran all over the place and put in a lot of effort for it! Director Wen knows!"

"Of course he knows. He knows you even took a beating for him, getting roughed up all over. That’s why he thinks you’re fighting for his career, even disregarding your own life!"

"Heh. Now you see? Our friendship isn’t something you can sow discord in!" Mingzai was clearly furious.

Hearing this, Director Wen felt a pang of regret. ’How could I have doubted my ride-or-die brother?’

’No matter how amazing this Doctor Wen is, I can’t just doubt my own brother!’

"You’re right, I can’t sow discord. After all, having someone beat you up that badly... I could never bring myself to do that! Taking a beating in exchange for a new house? You’re a business genius!"

[I’m so confused. Based on what he’s saying, it sounds like a ride-or-die friendship, right? But from Doctor Wen’s side, it feels like there’s a hidden story.]

[OP, you’re not alone! You have millions of equally confused teammates behind you!]

[Anyway, I just feel like there’s definitely another twist we’re not expecting! Doctor Wen has never disappointed us in this regard!]

"After all, you spent two thousand yuan on this! The guys who beat you up each got five hundred, right? One of them was even your relative. Truly keeping the wealth within the family. This deal was just so, so, so, so worth it!"

"You got a house and a sucker who’s eternally grateful to you. How awesome is that? You’re practically the protagonist of a power-fantasy novel!"

This series of twists left Director Wen reeling, his mind a complete jumble.

"Wait! Doctor Wen, are you saying... that Mingzai being beaten up was something he arranged himself?"

’Looks like he’s not completely stupid after all.’

"He planned for others to beat him up just to make me believe he was really willing to risk his life for me?"

Director Wen’s expression was now a mixture of thirty percent shock, thirty percent confusion, and a final forty percent of pure ’I’m-going-to-lose-my-damn-mind’ madness.

"But later, he..."

"My dear patient, I’m not saying you’re dumb, you’re really not, but how can you be sold off and still help count the money? You were touched because he later helped you borrow 20,000 yuan from a friend for an emergency, right?"

Director Wen nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

That was indeed the case. When he needed money for cash flow, Mingzai didn’t hesitate to help him borrow money from a friend. Even though it was only 20,000 yuan, the gesture was priceless!

"Doctor Wen, the money couldn’t have been fake, could it?"

"Of course the money wasn’t fake!" Wen Ying replied with a smile. "It’s just that the money was yours to begin with! He loaned you your own money, then charged you interest. How could that be fake? That’s real, hard cash!"

At this point, everyone in the live stream chat inexplicably heard a note of exasperated disappointment in Doctor Wen’s voice.

This was a livestream and call-in with... flavor.

"My money?" Director Wen was baffled.

[So this is a story of endless twists?]

[I’m curious, just how rich is this Director Wen? Rich enough to be the sole target of someone’s relentless scams?]

[Director Wen, you still looking for brothers? I’ll only con you out of your money, not your life!]

"Did you ever give your brother fifty thousand yuan?"

Director Wen nodded. "I think that did happen. At the time, he had a great business opportunity, something about a 300% return rate! A friend of his had made over a hundred thousand, so I invested a hundred thousand, planning to use the profits to shoot my variety show. Besides, Mingzai said that if it lost money, he’d cover the loss."

"And did he cover it?"

Director Wen shook his head, looking embarrassed. "Mingzai put so much effort into it, how could I possibly make him cover the loss? He invested and lost money too. As his brother, how could I watch him fall into desperation?"

[Holy crap! This feels like a game of infinite nesting dolls!]

[So Director Wen is the one being infinitely nested?]

[The person above gets it, full marks for comprehension! Here, have a brother like Mingzai for your troubles!]

[No, no, no! I take it back! I make five thousand a month, I’ve got parents to support and kids to feed, I can’t afford a brother! See how tragically I’m crying?]

"Right. Because he got beaten up again, about as badly as last time, which once again made you feel indebted and grateful to him. So not only did you refuse to let him cover the loss, you even paid for his medical and recovery expenses, which came to over a thousand yuan."

[Time for a commercial break! To practice martial arts, come to Shaolin Temple! Become as tough as a bronze wall and iron bastion, you won’t even feel the pain when you get beat up! It’s your top choice for making money!]

"Brother Wen! If you’re going to keep listening to this woman try to drive a wedge between us, then I’m leaving right now! Our brotherhood is over!"

Director Wen was stunned.

"But didn’t we agree before we came? That we’d find a way to convince Doctor Wen to join our variety show? If you leave now, how are we supposed to do that?"

"My dear patient, of course he doesn’t want your variety show to succeed! Or rather, it’s *his* variety show that should succeed, isn’t that right, my patient’s ride-or-die brother?"

"Don’t leave, brother! If you go, how can this show go on? Or perhaps, you’d like to become my patient too?" Wen Ying looked at Mingzai, who was about to leave, and called out urgently.

Mingzai was truly on the verge of exploding, but at this moment, he felt more fear than rage!

’Only his relatives knew about these things. How did this female influencer know?’

’And in such detail!’

’She even seems to know about the variety show. If this continues, the consequences will be unimaginable!’

"Mingzai, you can’t leave," Director Wen finally spoke.

He looked at Mingzai with a serious expression.

"I’m done being your brother. I want to leave. You think you can stop me?"

Clearly, Mingzai no longer intended to keep up the facade.

"Of course my patient can’t stop you, but the law and justice can ya-ya-ya-ya~" Wen Ying even started singing. "Just a friendly reminder, this behavior of yours, wouldn’t you say it counts as fraud, fraud, fraud?"

[HOLY SHIT! I was just thinking this guy was disgustingly evil! I never thought it was an actual crime!]

[Same as the person above, I was just thinking how unlucky Director Wen was to have a brother like that! But now, I see it’s straight-up fraud!]

[So what ends up happening to all the fraudsters who come on Doctor Wen’s stream?]

Hearing this, Mingzai’s face instantly turned deathly pale!

He was still trying to bluff. "Just because you say it’s fraud, that makes it fraud? What if you’re the one planning a scam here to trick him!"

"Wow~ So in your eyes, my patient has always been a foolish sucker who can be scammed anytime, anywhere? Congratulations! Your answer is corre-ect!"

Director Wen: "..."

’I’m the person involved and I’m still right here, you know. Could everyone please spare my dignity a little?’