Chapter 99: Paparazzi: If You Want the Job, Be My Guest!

"One hundred thousand?"On the other side, Xiao He, sitting in front of his computer, couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.

"Does he really think he's that important? How dare he ask for one hundred thousand? Why doesn't he just go rob someone instead?"

Xiao He didn't consider himself top-tier celebrity material, and the footage being filmed would eventually be visible in the movie anyway. This guy had the audacity to secretly film him and then openly extort money from his fans? What a joke.

If you can actually get away with this, you're something special

If I let you get away with this, I'm this

To Xiao He's surprise, the fan named "Azure Sky Cloud Crane" actually responded with an incredibly generous offer.

To prevent his fan from actually sending money to this scumbag, Xiao He immediately sprang into action.

Meanwhile, Huang Mang's computer screen suddenly went black.

Huang Mang immediately cursed, "What the hell?" as he frantically tapped his keyboard. "What's going on? No, no, no—I was just about to transfer everything!"

Damn it! Why did his computer have to crash at the most critical moment?!

Huang Mang pressed the power button, but the computer remained unresponsive.

Frustrated, he grabbed his hair, pulled out the SD card converter, replaced it with a different adapter, and plugged it into his phone.

But his phone showed no reaction either.

Huang Mang's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

No... it couldn't be...

It couldn't be what he was thinking, right?

Forgetting about responding to Xiao He's fan, Huang Mang hurriedly pulled out his "one hundred thousand yuan" SD card and reinserted it into his camera to check—

When those words appeared on the camera screen, Huang Mang's heart stopped.

"Ahhhhh, damn it damn it damn it—"

Huang Mang furiously raised the camera, wanting to smash it to pieces, but then remembered how expensive it was. Choking back his rage, he carefully set it down, then violently kicked over the hotel chair before unleashing a series of furious punches at the air, his face contorted with anger.

This scene perfectly embodied "impotent rage."

But there was nothing he could do. The thought of one hundred thousand yuan flying out of his grasp made Huang Mang's heart ache with genuine pain.

Yet on his phone, Azure Sky Cloud Crane was still messaging him.

Looking at those messages, Huang Mang felt physical pain, but could only comfort himself: At least, at least I still have a small portion on my phone. The quality isn't great, but still—

Huang Mang hurriedly opened his phone's photo gallery, about to upload and backup the contents, when suddenly his phone screen went black too.

Huang Mang: ???

He panicked and pressed buttons frantically, but nothing responded.

"Damn it, no way? Is someone actually messing with me?"

Huang Mang felt like he was about to explode.

If the first time was a coincidence, the second time was definitely not an accident.

Who the hell did this!!!

Ahhhh! My hard-earned money!!!

Huang Mang wasn't alone in this predicament. Several other paparazzi found themselves in similar situations—their computers froze while transferring video files, and both their computers and SD cards became useless.

Those who still had some content left on their phones or tablets found their devices wiped clean before they could even react.

All their hard-earned footage had vanished in an instant!

It must be the film crew! It must be Xiao He! They hired hackers to invade their computers and electronic devices!

The paparazzi were furious, wanting to report this to the police, but then they remembered their unauthorized filming was illegal in the first place. Going to the police would be like walking right into a trap.

In the end, they could only swallow their losses quietly—there was nothing they could do.

Immediately, several paparazzi completely lost it, cursing both Xiao He and the film crew as they bought tickets to leave Haishi overnight. Only two stubborn warriors, including Huang Mang who refused to believe this was happening, continued with their secret filming.

They refused to believe it—just how powerful could Xiao He be? They'd been careless letting him delete things once, but could he really do it a second time?

Hah, they were going to stand their ground against him!

The next day, looking at the people hiding in the distant bushes, Liu Rulan took a deep breath and signaled Xiao Chen to take the bodyguards and chase them away.

Xiao He also glanced at the people in the distance, raised an eyebrow, and casually reassured her: "It's fine, Sister Liu. Tell them to be careful—if they can't catch them, just let it be."

"How can that be okay? They've already started selling your materials online," Liu Rulan said seriously. "Some of your fans have already reported this to me. We must take this seriously."

If you don't resist paparazzi once, they'll keep pushing their limits until they eventually do something even more extreme. Liu Rulan had learned this well from her time managing Su Shengxi, so she took this matter extremely seriously.

Xiao He shrugged, full of confidence. "Don't worry, they'll leave on their own soon."

These people were ultimately here for money. The best solution was to address the root of the problem.

Liu Rulan looked at Xiao He suspiciously. "What method do you have?"

Xiao He blinked. "What method could I possibly have?"

"Then why are you so certain?"

"I'm just trusting in Sister Liu's capabilities."

Liu Rulan: "...How strange."

She then pulled out her phone and continued directing Xiao Chen and the others to chase away the paparazzi.

While Xiao Chen and his team were dealing with the two annoying paparazzi, someone dressed in what looked like ghillie suit from a shooter game shifted slightly on a tree branch. A dark lens quietly extended from the foliage, aiming directly at where Xiao He was currently positioned.

"Heh heh, really gotta thank those two idiots."

A smug smile spread across Huang Mang's face as his lens closely followed Xiao He, his eyes filled with provocation and fighting spirit. "I came prepared this time! I refuse to believe you can delete my photos from a distance again, hmph—"

But the next moment, the person in his viewfinder looked up, staring directly at Huang Mang in the tree.

Huang Mang's eyelids twitched, and he instinctively wanted to hide. But remembering that moving in his current camouflage would make him more obvious, he forced himself to stay still, suppressing his panic as he kept his lens focused on Xiao He's expressionless face.

The young man in the viewfinder wore a clean, sharp black mandarin collar shirt, paired with black cargo pants and tactical military boots. For plot requirements, he had some faint bloodstains and scratches makeup on his face. When he looked up at the lens, there was a mysterious, solemn, and dangerous aura about him.

Huang Mang held his breath and captured what he believed would be a best-selling, career-defining photo.

A smug smile spread across Huang Mang's face as his lens closely followed Xiao He, his eyes filled with provocation and fighting spirit. "I came prepared this time! I refuse to believe you can delete my photos from a distance again, hmph—"

"Dipshit."

Huang Mang: "..."

The young man in the viewfinder wore a clean, sharp black mandarin collar shirt, paired with black cargo pants and tactical military boots. For plot requirements, he had some faint bloodstains and scratches makeup on his face. When he looked up at the lens, there was a mysterious, solemn, and dangerous aura about him.

This is ridiculous! I'm camouflaged like this!

What confused Huang Mang even more was that after Xiao He mouthed "dipshit" at him, he immediately turned around and continued reading his script as if nothing had happened. He neither notified anyone to chase him away nor made any attempt to stop his secret filming, acting as if he hadn't seen him at all.

This made Huang Mang, who initially thought he'd been exposed, fall into deep self-doubt again.

Huang Mang reviewed the video footage again, now uncertain whether Xiao He's lip movement had actually been calling him a dipshit.

Whatever, who cares—

Huang Mang muttered to himself.

Being insulted didn't matter—making money was the top priority!

And so Huang Mang endured mosquito bites and scorching weather, staying perched in that tree for over six hours.

Only when the film crew packed up and left did he finally slowly climb down. His legs felt weak when his feet touched the ground.

But looking at his impressive results from today and thinking about the payment he would soon receive, Huang Mang felt reinvigorated.

This time, he would definitely protect his hard-won rewards!

Just you wait, Xiao He! Huang Mang doesn't know the meaning of defeat!

A little over an hour later...

A blood-curdling scream once again erupted from a certain hotel room—

But looking at his impressive results from today and thinking about the payment he would soon receive, Huang Mang felt reinvigorated.

"My videos and photos!!!!"

"Xiao He, I'll fuck your grandmother!!!"

"Whoever wants to be a paparazzi can fucking do it themselves!!!"

That day, the three remaining stubborn warriors were completely wiped out without exception.

From then on, Xiao He had fewer paparazzi to worry about, while the world gained a few more heartbroken individuals.