Deterrence

“You’re threatening me?” Li Lan leaned back in her chair, eyes full of contempt. “Who do you think you’re talking to? Have I been too generous to you?”

She let go and tipped her chin toward the door. “You came to me asking for help, and you still dare threaten me. Listen carefully. I’ve seen plenty of people like you—cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong. Get out. All of you. Crawl back wherever you came from!”

Father Zhu hadn’t expected Li Lan to be this sharp. His face flushed bright red as he said furiously, “This is how you talk to your elders? I—I’ll tell everyone right now…”

“Your son—Xiao Shu? His name should be Zhu Shu, right?” Li Lan cut in suddenly.

She crossed her legs. Her long limbs drew a clean, hard line, and her loose, unhurried posture made her look even harder to deal with. Paired with her icy tone, she was downright intimidating.

“From the way you two talk, you’re from Nansi. If you were doing business, Nansi would indeed be a good place to go,” Li Lan said, her gaze sharp as it slowly settled on Mother Zhu’s face. Just in time, she caught the flicker of shock in their eyes. “Looks like I was right.”

Mother Zhu eyed her warily. “What are you trying to say?”

“There aren’t that many international schools in Nansi. If I asked someone to look into it now, do you think I’d be able to find your son quickly? And maybe, while I was at it, ruin his reputation at school?”

At the mention of their darling son, the two of them panicked and shouted, “What do you want to do to my son?”

“If his classmates found out his parents favored boys over girls, abandoned their daughter, and even squeezed their daughter for his tuition, do you think his reputation at school would still hold up? Could he still stay there?” Li Lan’s tone was almost innocent. “Of course, I wouldn’t be so kind as to stick to the facts. I’m very good at seizing on a problem and turning black into white.”

Father Zhu pointed at Li Lan, his finger trembling. “You’re shameless. You’re actually trying to spread rumors!”

“Am I not allowed to?”

Mother Zhu said shakily, “That’s not right.”

“I don’t care whether it’s right or wrong. I don’t care about your son,” Li Lan sneered. “Just like you people don’t care about Zhu Qing at all.”

“Only when the pain falls on your own body do you realize it hurts. Let’s see whose hurts more,” Li Lan said as she stood up, looking at the two of them as if they were garbage. “I can afford to play this game. Worst case, I quit the entertainment industry. I’ve already made enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life. As for you, if you dare hurt Zhu Qing even a little, I’ll pay you back tenfold. Not only will you not get a single cent, your son will also be forced out, and your whole family will never recover for the rest of your lives!”

Father Zhu and Mother Zhu hadn’t expected Li Lan to be this ruthless. She hadn’t even tried to negotiate—she’d simply ripped everything open and gone straight at them.

Their expressions turned ugly in turns; black, then white, then red. Embarrassment, shock, worry, caution, fear—each emotion flashed across their faces one after another.

Li Lan was right. They couldn’t go head-to-head with her; it would come down to who could outlast whom. If Li Lan was willing to throw everything away, then the one who would be ruined beyond recovery had to be them.

Father Zhu couldn’t bring himself to keep talking, and Mother Zhu stared for a long time before backing down. “That’s not what we meant…”

Li Lan let out a laugh thick with mockery.

The three of them fell back into the same stalemate, glaring at one another. She was coldly indifferent; they were furious and uneasy.

After a long while, Li Lan raised a hand. “Calmed down yet?”

The two of them looked at her, not understanding what she meant.

“If you’ve calmed down,” Li Lan said flatly, tapping the armrest with one finger, “then sit down and talk properly.”

Father Zhu and Mother Zhu exchanged a glance and quickly sat back down.

Father Zhu panted, saying nothing as he stared toward the door.

Mother Zhu had no choice but to speak. “Let’s discuss this properly. He’s just short-tempered; that isn’t really what he meant.”

“How much do you want?” Li Lan cut straight to it.

The two of them froze again and looked at each other.

Li Lan said, “I’ll only give you ten seconds to think. After that, you won’t get a single cent.”

Father Zhu grew anxious and exchanged looks with Mother Zhu, but she clearly couldn’t make the call and signaled for Father Zhu to speak.

Li Lan started counting. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…”

Father Zhu steeled himself and named a figure. “We still have debts to pay, and we need to keep the business going. We need at least… two million!”

Li Lan’s voice paused for a beat, then went on unchanged. “Five, four, three, two…”

Seeing that she kept counting, and faster and faster at that, Father Zhu hurriedly said, “If not, then one and a half million! Then… one point three million! If that still won’t do, then the minimum has to be one million!”

Li Lan slowly counted to “one.”

The two of them stared at Li Lan, eyes wide, breathing heavily, completely unable to tell what she meant. They were on edge.

Under their probing, measuring gazes, Li Lan said lazily, “Eight hundred thousand. Not a cent more.”

“Eight hundred thousand is too little,” Father Zhu said, very unwillingly. But when he met Li Lan’s disgusted look and thought of the harsh words she’d just thrown at them, he clenched his teeth and decided to accept it for now to get through the immediate crisis. “Fine, eight hundred thousand. How do we transfer it?”

Li Lan said coolly, “I’ll give you three hundred thousand first, but I have one condition. After you finish it, I’ll transfer the rest.”

Father Zhu said in shame and rage, “For just eight hundred thousand, you still have conditions? And you want to split the transfer?”

Li Lan sneered. “For just eight hundred thousand, you still came running over here to kick up a fuss?”

Mother Zhu tugged at Father Zhu’s sleeve and asked in a low voice, “What request?”

-

The variety show Li Lan was appearing on was a reality program; she had been invited as a guest for the newest episode.

Before leaving, Zhu Qing and Xiao Bao personally saw her off at the station, telling her to be careful and come back early.

It had been a long time since anyone had sent Li Lan off like that. She cherished it so much that she held Zhu Qing in her arms for a long while before letting go, and a lot of photos were secretly taken by fans.

When Zhu Qing got home, she saw that the two of them were back on the trending list. They weren’t at the top, but the heat was still considerable.

After all, this was their first public appearance since the variety show. Some people were asking about Li Lan’s schedule, and some were shipping the couple.

【Li Lan’s schedule is really packed. Is she going to film a variety show?】

【I heard the Green Water and Blue Mountains program team is filming by the seaside. Looking forward to Li Lan’s new episode】

【Li Lan’s expression really does look like she likes her a lot. Real couples are so easy to ship】

【Zhu Qing looks like she didn’t wear makeup and doesn’t look as good as the program team made her out to be. A bit plain】

【…Zhu Qing didn’t wear makeup on the show either. The candid angle definitely isn’t flattering】

【Not necessarily. Li Lan doesn’t really have bad angles. Honestly, they still don’t look matched enough】

Zhu Qing consciously ignored the comments saying she and Li Lan weren’t well matched. Anyway, in Li Lan’s heart, Zhu Qing was the best; she didn’t care how anyone else saw it.

As she kept scrolling, Zhu Qing caught sight of certain sensitive words.

【Green Water and Blue Mountains? Qi Yao is one of the regulars, isn’t he? Does he and Li Lan have a bad relationship?】

【Don’t spread rumors. Our Qi Yao is polite, sensible, and responsible. Work is work; he’ll definitely cooperate properly】

Qi Yao was a regular?

Zhu Qing regretted not paying attention to the entertainment world. This variety show hadn’t been running long, and she had only watched the earlier seasons. In the last two seasons, the regular lineup had changed, and the director had changed too; she hadn’t known Qi Yao was even on it.

After he blew up playing an ancient-costume beauty, Qi Yao later became a regular on a second-tier variety show. So even though some black material had come out, his popularity was still fairly high, and his fans were very combative.

Zhu Qing left Li Lan a message, telling her to watch out for Qi Yao.

Li Lan only saw Zhu Qing’s message after she got off the plane, and told her not to worry. The men and women were grouped separately, so they probably wouldn’t have much interaction.

Actually, Li Lan had been a little reluctant to go on the show in private, but they were offering too much, and Qian Chu strongly recommended that she take part. She didn’t have any real reason to refuse.

It was work; there was no such thing as liking one thing and disliking another. She had to take it all on. More importantly, she could make a lot of money.

But when she arrived at the production team, she found that the filming rules for this episode had changed. Men and women were no longer split into separate teams, and instead a man and a woman would pair up to gather seafood at low tide.

The moment she heard the rule, Li Lan felt that something was off. It wasn’t until she drew the lot pairing her with Qi Yao that the stone in her heart finally dropped.

A model’s expression control had always been excellent. Li Lan’s face didn’t change at all; she accepted the result pleasantly, waited for the program team’s arrangements, and made sure the camera caught no sign of her cracking.

Most of the other groups had divided responsibilities between men and women: one person went into the water to fish things out, while the other stayed on shore and quickly delivered the caught seafood to the designated point for “verification.” The first group to finish won.

Another regular guest, from the same company as Qi Yao, spoke up. “This rule is way too unfair to Qi Yao’s group. Qi Yao can’t swim.”

Li Lan gave no reaction, as if she hadn’t heard him, and continued chatting with the girl beside her.

The other man had no choice but to step aside and say to the director, “Then what’s Qi Yao supposed to do? He can’t swim.”

After a few seconds of silence, the director lifted a megaphone and said, “They can negotiate among themselves, or your group can automatically forfeit and accept the punishment.”

Qi Yao said awkwardly, “Then just punish me alone.”

His good buddy protested on his behalf. “Isn’t that a little much? You’d have to eat two plates of lemons. Who could even do that?”

This back-and-forth drew everyone’s attention. When the people beside Li Lan all looked over at Qi Yao, she had no choice but to look too.

His good buddy said, “Why don’t we ask Li Lan whether she can swim?”

Everyone’s gaze shifted to Li Lan again.

Under their eyes, Li Lan smiled faintly. “Hm?”

“Can you swim?” the good buddy asked directly. “If you can’t, then your group has to take the punishment.”

The way he said it made it sound as though being punished was Li Lan’s fault.

Li Lan’s expression didn’t change. She smiled and said, “Then if I can’t, I should still be able to, right?”

The good buddy frowned. He was rather blunt, and at a little over thirty, he was older than the others and also a regular guest; usually no one would talk back to him.

Although Li Lan had spoken gently, there was a needle hidden in the cotton, and he found it very uncomfortable.

“If you can’t, then you can’t,” said the older man. “The games on the show are voluntary.”

Li Lan also smiled. “Then is Brother Qi Yao volunteering or not?”

Qi Yao turned to look at her, saying in a joking tone, “Aren’t they asking you?”

“Right, they’re asking me. If someone asks a question, shouldn’t they say what they’re thinking first?” Li Lan shot back lightly. “Or are you only asking whether I’m willing to do it?”

The few of them traded barbs back and forth, and when the program team saw that no one would budge, they finally stepped in.

“How about this? We’ll give your group the shallowest stretch of beach. The difficulty of going into the water won’t be high.”

Li Lan smiled sweetly. “So what does Brother Qi Yao think?”

Qi Yao glared at her in irritation, his expression darkening again.

The moment Li Lan saw that look on his face, a trace of relief flashed through her eyes.

This bit was no longer salvageable in the edit.

The older man couldn’t bear to watch anymore. They’d originally wanted to bait Li Lan so she would volunteer to go into the water herself; that way, in the edit, it would have nothing to do with Qi Yao. After all, Qi Yao had already said he could accept the punishment, and even take Li Lan’s share of it too. No matter how it was spun, it shouldn’t have been pinned on him.

But no matter how they prodded her, Li Lan wouldn’t take the bait. In a hurry, the older man said, “Can you go in or not?”

Keeping her pleasant expression, Li Lan simply walked over to the gear area and changed into the clothes for diving into the water.

She didn’t say a word the entire time. The program team couldn’t find any footage of her actively agreeing, so they had no choice but to cut out that whole segment. What the audience ended up hearing was only the line “Qi Yao can’t swim,” followed immediately by footage of Li Lan jumping into the water; the edit even thoughtfully added, “A gift of love from big sister.”

Unfortunately, that still didn’t fool the fans with sharp eyes.

Li Lan’s fans started digging into Qi Yao’s past and found a photo of him wearing a shark costume while standing on a small boat.

【This is a speedboat. It’s very narrow and can only fit two people. Someone who can’t swim could ride on this? You might as well say a high school student can’t write】

【Who said you have to be able to swim just because you can drive a speedboat? There’s clearly another person on the boat. As long as one person can swim, isn’t that enough?】

【Stop arguing. Qi Yao is from Nansi, and years ago a lot of primary and secondary schools in Nansi already had swimming as a required subject, right?】

【Don’t blacken him blindly. When Qi Yao was in school, it hadn’t been widely popularized yet. Even if it had, that still doesn’t prove he can swim. Can you recite everything in your textbooks? Can you recite The Li Sao right now?】

Originally, there hadn’t been many of these arguments, but unfortunately Qi Yao’s performance later was far from ideal. He kept dropping the things Li Lan had picked up halfway through transport, so Li Lan had to go into the water again and again. In the end, she even choked on water and had to be helped up by emergency staff.

As for why the program team didn’t cut the footage of Qi Yao dropping things, it was because every time Li Lan picked up a load, she would keep muttering all the way through about which trip this was, encouraging herself as she went. Unless they cut every single bit of footage, there was no way to avoid it.

After the episode aired, the two groups of fans started a fresh round of cursing at each other. Then Yu Ling suddenly released an old video of Qi Yao, showing footage of him diving while traveling years ago.

Not only did it show his well-executed dive, the sea was clear to the bottom; you could even see him swimming forward after he went in.

Li Lan’s fans exploded.

【To the one who said being taught to swim doesn’t mean you can swim: how about this, does being able to dive not mean you can swim either?】

【…Being able to dive really doesn’t mean you can swim. Foreigners just like to jump everywhere; it doesn’t mean they can all swim】

【We gave you a hole and you jumped right in. Didn’t you see him flailing farther and farther out in the video? You’re blind when called blind, aren’t you, idiot】

【Can Qi Yao stop coming out to disgust people? Li Lan must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to run into trash like this】

【Qi Yao, get back to your hometown. Such a low-class man】

MeiYu Media; President Qi’s office.

President Qi slammed his phone onto the desk. “Didn’t I tell you not to mess with her?”

Qi Yao muttered a protest. “Didn’t you tell the program team to cut my bad shots?”

“Do you think I’m the Emperor of Heaven?” President Qi cursed furiously. “They’re a local TV station. I already stretched connections to get you a regular role there. That’s me making the wind blow whichever way I say. And now you want everyone to team up and bully Li Lan?! What the hell are you? How did I end up with such a stupid idiot like you!”

Qi Yao was scolded for a full half hour; every shred of dignity had been stripped from him. The office door was open, the voice was loud, and countless people passed by during the whole thing and heard him getting torn apart. His face and pride were both left in tatters. When he came out, he even got mocked by a newly signed young man at the company.

After leaving the office, Qi Yao went home, and he could no longer hold it in. He smashed everything in the house in a frenzy. Once he was drained dry, he lay on the sofa and called his assistant.

“Come over and clean up my place,” Qi Yao said darkly, his brows and eyes full of resentful gloom like a vengeful ghost. “And send out the black material on Li Lan that I told you to organize last time. Right now!”

————————!!————————

Sorry I’m late. I got discharged today and spent the whole day frantically packing and traveling home, but I finally made it in time for the update [heart] Have a great weekend everyone～[heart]

TL Note:

“天王老子” (lit. “Heavenly King/old man”) is a very cocky way to say “the biggest authority”