110: Chapter 110 Escalation of Conflict

The tide of public opinion online shifted, instantly shifting the pressure onto Young Master Jie and his group of fans.

But these fans weren't all fools.

While the majority were still mindlessly arguing, some were observing calmly, and others began to unfollow him.

After all, the tricks used on the internet were always the same old things.

Combined with the negative search terms about Lin Xiao that had suddenly surfaced earlier, anyone with a brain could figure out what was going on.

Young Master Jie's PR team was also very anxious, hoping to salvage his image as soon as possible.

But Young Master Jie himself didn't think much of it.

Having been in the entertainment industry for so many years, what kind of storms hadn't he seen?

How could he possibly care about a mere Lin Xiao?

So, instead of reasonably advising his fans to be rational, he posted several passive-aggressive updates, continuing to incite their emotions.

In his view, such high trending heat could help his career reach new heights.

The more heated the argument online, the happier he was.

By the time The Police left, it was already noon.

Director Zhang also received a reply from his superiors, telling him to take advantage of the hype and resume the live stream immediately.

But looking at the public opinion online and remembering what Lin Xiao had said earlier, Director Zhang still felt a lingering sense of unease.

If Young Master Jie really had some issues as Lin Xiao suggested, the show might truly be in danger.

But since things had come to this, he could only follow his superiors' orders and take it one step at a time.

In the afternoon, the official program began.

The activity was simple: the guests would enter the village on their own and find ways to earn money.

Usually, it just involved helping the uncles and aunts in the village with farm work or feeding chickens and ducks.

These kinds of activities were actually quite boring and relied solely on the support of the stars' fans.

Some stars would deliberately do something interesting while working, which would be recorded, edited, posted online, and then promoted for hype.

Lin Xiao really wasn't interested in such activities.

Moreover, he hadn't slept all night because of the fishing yesterday and was now very tired.

But as soon as he suggested staying in his room to sleep in the afternoon, certain people couldn't stand it again.

“It's bad enough that he's bad luck, but he's also so lazy.”

This time, Young Master Jie didn't use He Xiaomei as a shield but spoke up himself in a faint voice.

Lin Xiao turned his head, tilted it, and asked, “Do you have a problem with me?”

Young Master Jie snorted, poked his cheek with his tongue, and said indifferently, “I wouldn't call it a problem. I just think that since filming was already delayed this morning because of your issues, isn't it a bit unreasonable for you to refuse to go now?”

This was the most Young Master Jie had spoken since joining the show.

His tone sounded low and cold, yet carried a hint of sarcasm.

Lin Xiao looked at Young Master Jie and roughly guessed what he was thinking.

Wasn't he just trying to create more controversial topics while the online hype was high?

Whatever.

Since he wanted to continue the hype, he would give him what he wanted.

Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes and sneered, “Oh? I helped The Police solve a major criminal case, which delayed the filming, and you describe it like that? Young Master Jie, you've really shown me what the ‘art of language’ is. You've certainly mastered the secret to internet traffic.”

Young Master Jie wasn't very well-educated and actually didn't catch the sarcasm in Lin Xiao's words.

He still insisted, “Just tell me if I'm right or not. If it weren't for you, the show would have started this morning...”

However, before he could finish, Lin Xiao acted as if he couldn't hear him and waved at Director Zhang. “Flies are buzzing everywhere, making me even sleepier. Director, I'm going to take a nap!”

With that, he walked toward his room.

When had Young Master Jie ever been ignored like this? He immediately shouted angrily, “Director Zhang, look at him! Does he have any respect for us at all? Why the hell did he go to fish out some damn dead body? Can he afford to compensate everyone for the time he wasted?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Director Zhang's pupils constricted.

He never expected that Young Master Jie, who always cared about his public image, would say something so likely to cause a backlash.

Setting aside Lin Xiao's net worth—where compensating not just one person but a hundred wouldn't be an issue—

Just looking at the facts, finding a body and helping The Police solve a case was a good deed. How could he talk about it like that?

The live stream was still ongoing, and Director Zhang's heart gradually grew cold.

It seemed that Young Master Jie really couldn't be allowed to stay on the show any longer.

Seeing Director Zhang remain silent, Young Master Jie became even more furious.

Originally, he had only intended to quietly create some conflict, but after being ignored, his temper truly flared up.

“Director, you're not on his side too, are you? Fine, fine! I see you guys must have known there was a dead person here all along. I'm so damn unlucky to have agreed to be on your crappy show! For fuck's sake, making such a fuss over a dead person, what the hell is going on!”

Young Master Jie's words became increasingly unpleasant.

At this moment, He Xiaomei also walked out of her room.

Hearing her idol's anger, she immediately rushed to the front line.

“What's going on? Who's bullying our Ah Jie again? It's Lin Xiao again, isn't it? Our Ah Jie is right. You delayed him all morning because of a dead person, and now you're bullying him for some dead Charlatan?”

“...”

Hearing He Xiaomei's illogical words, everyone felt a wave of mental exhaustion.

If they hadn't seen what just happened, they would have really thought Young Master Jie had been terribly wronged.

Seeing that no one was speaking, Young Master Jie's anger reached its peak. “I don't want to film the show with Lin Xiao anymore. Either you make him leave, or I leave.”

After saying that, he coolly snatched the hat off his head and threw it on the ground.

He had used this trick before on other shows.

But back then, it was a segment pre-arranged by the Production Crew, and the person he was getting angry at was also being unreasonable.

He wanted to follow the same pattern, but unfortunately, this time he was the one being unreasonable.

The atmosphere on site had reached a freezing point.

Even the usually eloquent Yan Sen didn't know how to smooth things over.

After all, what Young Master Jie had just said was indeed disrespectful to the deceased and even to The Police.

No one dared to impulsively associate themselves with such a serious matter.

At that moment, Lin Xiao came out again.

He strode up to Young Master Jie, picked up the hat from the ground along with a card, and slammed them hard against Young Master Jie's face!

“This is the contact information for The Police officer and the victim's family. If you dare to repeat those words to The Police and the victim's family, I'll respect you as a real man. If not, then get the hell out of here!”

Lin Xiao rarely lost his temper on a normal day.

He was especially reluctant to lose his temper with someone who was about to suffer the consequences of their own actions.

But a murder case was such a serious matter. If it were really used as a tool for hype by Young Master Jie's brainless fans, it would be a huge disservice to the positive trend The Police had just started online.

And if he didn't give this disgusting guy a beating now, he would also be letting down the grieving family of the deceased!