It looked like he had just been passing by, and had no intention of startling the two; he just sat quietly in his car, watching. He told his driver to drive off only after Chu Rong had got some distance away and Song Yucheng had gone back into his house.
"It looked like it's the Song Yucheng who likes Xu Muzhi." His subordinate quickly found the relevant information.
The normally taciturn young man showed surprising interest and replied, "Like? He's just playing with him!"
From what he saw, a person like Song Yucheng was not someone a youngster like Chu Rong could handle. Even though Chu Rong was shrewd and was certainly clever enough, his age was also his greatest disadvantage. Song Yucheng treated him like a man indulging a child.
Morons like Xu Muzhi had even less of a chance with him. The young man had been of the opinion that Song Yucheng had bad taste in men to have fallen for Xu Muzhi, but what he'd found recently made him feel that Song Yucheng thought nothing of Xu Muzhi.
As for the rumours circulating in the inner circles, about Song Yucheng's deep love for Xu Muzhi… The rumours seem to be all nonsense.
But why had Song Yucheng been willing to stay by Xu Muzhi's side for so long if he did not love him? Song Yucheng became even more interesting to him the more the young man thought about it. He was also quite curious about just what Song Yucheng was after.
"Keep investigating." The young man gave his subordinate an order and told his driver to leave.
Just like that, the rumours about Song Yucheng on the internet settled down very quickly with the forceful actions of Chu Rong. In the days that followed, Song Yucheng's life returned to normal for the time being, but that internet celebrity's life was immeasurably miserable.
His past had been completely revealed, and his public image was in shambles. What had put him at the end of his rope was, of course, the matter of his plastic surgery and his status as a kept pet. There was just no way for him to refute those marks on his honour, and that put an end to his career as an internet celebrity. As for his ambitions of entering the entertainment industry — Ha!
A person such as him, so full of flaws, was not fit to be a public figure.
The biggest spit in his face, however, was that the promise which Xu Muzhi had made him was a total sham. There was no compensation for him other than the few millions deposited into his account. In comparison, Song Yucheng had had his blackened reputation wiped clean by Chu Rong's efforts, and he had also gained quite a few diehard fans.
How infuriating! The internet celebrity scrolled through the news on the internet and got so upset he could burst. The hatred he had for Song Yucheng grew deeper; he wished to tear him apart.
If only there were something which he could use against Song Yucheng… He could think of nothing in his increasing anxiety. Song Yucheng had Chu Rong to protect him too, so there was no way he could put his plan in motion even if he did come up with one.
In the end, his childhood friend from outside of the entertainment circles gave him an idea. "Wasn't there no concrete proof that Song Yucheng's a kept pet? You can just make the concrete proof, and that settles it, right?"
"Not possible. He's underage. If things go get blown up I'll be thrown in prison too."
"He's still got half a month to go to be an adult! Just find some opportunity, man! Just like those encounters in novels."
"There's no good opportunity. Besides, novels are mostly just nonsense." The internet celebrity thought that this was a bad idea. Plus, he had been unable to determine the relationship between Song Yucheng and Xu Muzhi. If Song Yucheng really had feelings for Xu Muzhi, then wouldn't he just be helping Song Yucheng climb his way up to Xu Muzhi's heart?
"Are you stupid, or what? How can you just deliver Song Yucheng to Xu Muzhi's side? You just have to make the thing about him being a kept pet true. Who his master is, is not important!"
"Would that work?" The internet celebrity paused. He thought it over a little more, and soon replied to his childhood friend. "I'm still thinking about it. This idea of yours is a little too ridiculous."
The internet celebrity ended his conversation with his childhood friend after that. He did not agree to his idea, but it stayed in his head.
What he had not expected was that an opportunity had presented itself to him very quickly.
The opportunity came in the form of Li Zhao's Weibo post. The six of them who had participated in the "Swapping Lives" programme were going to meet up for dinner next Tuesday. They were going to meet at a club in the suburbs of Beijing.
This really was a Heaven-sent opportunity. The internet celebrity was excited.
That club was the most familiar place to him in Beijing, and he knew many people there. As for his methods, this internet celebrity had not come up with anything complicated. He was going to do as described in novels — find an opportunity to drug Song Yucheng, then think of a way to deliver him to an agreed-upon room, to the bed of that investment broker.
That investment broker was a notorious player in their circles. He had expressed an interest in Song Yucheng at their last gathering, and he would not refuse a gift which got delivered to his doorstep. He was definitely not going to be a man of honour and show mercy.
And what the internet celebrity had to do was to just take a picture of Song Yucheng the next day when he came out of the room all dishevelled.
He only needed solid proof to have full control over the small thing about fanning the flames of the fire.
What did it matter that the sponsor the rumours had spoken of in the beginning was not this investment broker? Song Yucheng was marketing himself as a bedfellow anyway, so wouldn't having lots of sponsors cement the rumours about him being a kept pet?
When that happened, there would be no way that Chu Rong would be able to protect Song Yucheng. Besides, if that sort of thing actually happened to Song Yucheng, with his temperament, Chu Rong might not even want to look at him anymore and be leery of him being dirty. As for Xu Muzhi, he would surely have the same line of thought as Chu Rong.
If he thought about it that way, then this idea was pretty good. The internet celebrity thought that his plan was quite perfect.
His little scheme, however, reached Xu Muzhi's ears very soon. Xu Muzhi owned that establishment, so his subordinate had all the details of the internet celebrity's plan right after he'd found people to help carry it out.
Interestingly, Xu Muzhi made no move to stop the internet celebrity when he found out about the plan. He'd even quietly opened up a backdoor for him to make things go more smoothly for him.
Xu Muzhi could not be sure of his own feelings on the matter either, but he had to admit that this internet celebrity's plan did excite him. This method was one which he normally found to be of poor taste, but the thought of being able to use this most simple method to destroy Song Yucheng made him very excited.
He was a man of power and influence after all, and Xu Muzhi did what he wanted — he was definitely more invulnerable than the internet celebrity. He also kept it secret on purpose. The deed was going to be carried out on his property, so no one could find out. Chu Rong's cousin was capable but he could not keep an eye on him for all hours of the day.
Time flew, and the week passed quickly. Today was the day of Song Yucheng, Chu Rong and the others' gathering.
Xu Muzhi had hurried to the venue early in the morning and got someone to take that investment broker away in advance. He did want the plan to be carried out and make the internet celebrity's plan a success… But he had to be the one who got to savour Song Yucheng.
He had groomed him for so long after all. He was not going to let others have the pleasure, even if his toy was going to be destroyed.
Xu Muzhi got excited just thinking about the coming pleasures to be had. The internet celebrity was excited too, because Song Yucheng would become as wretched as he was today.
It was practically impossible for the internet celebrity to conceal the jealous hate in his eyes as he watched Song Yucheng get surrounded by people upon his arrival at the venue.
They were both playthings! He, Song Yucheng, was not even worthy!
And Xu Muzhi, watching the surveillance feed upstairs, was surprised. His gaze had fallen upon Song Yucheng and Chu Rong, and in that moment, he was unsure if he cared more about Chu Rong, or Song Yucheng.