Chapter 52: Lv Ming: Reba, how about we date?!

[Holy shit!]
[Sister Zheng!!!]
[Sister Zheng passed out too!]
[I wouldn't even dare to pull off such a kill streak in video games. Did this washed-up nobody really just secure a Triple Kill?]
[A triple kill? The production crew of "Who is the King of Singers" planned a two-month schedule, and this washed-up nobody speedran the whole thing in ten minutes. I honestly feel like they might as well just hand the championship trophy to him right now, since the entire panel of mentors has been wiped out and there's no one left to stop him anyway, right?]
[What the hell do you mean by a ten-minute speedrun!]
[What kind of decent human being starts a game by going straight to annihilate the final BOSS?!]
[When my sister saw the washed-up nobody say he wanted to go easy on Sister Zheng, she was touched, thinking he was a sentimental, good guy. She was even getting ready to ship them, but then the very next second, he pulled out a tube of wasabi. The look on my sister's face at that moment almost laughed me to death.]
[Hahahahaha!]
[You can tell he genuinely hates Sister Zheng. The moment he seized the opening to squeeze out that wasabi with the strength of his entire life, this bro laughed so hard he almost peed himself!]
[Who gave Sister Zheng the confidence to think this washed-up nobody would show her mercy? My washed-up bro doesn't even care about Dilraba's looks; do you really think he'd spare an ex? You must be out of your mind!]
[Fans of the "Ming and Hot Like Fire" ship hereby declare the misunderstanding resolved.]
[What the heck is "Ming and Hot Like Fire"? When will I ever hear this ship name and not laugh?]
[Suddenly, I feel like the washed-up nobody was actually quite gentle with Dilraba.]
[Kicking her down and smearing mud all over her face completely redefines the word "gentle." I wouldn't even dare beat my own brothers that ruthlessly.]
[One washed-up star eradicates three pests, the skies of the Chinese music industry have finally brightened up!]

At this moment.
Netizens in front of their screens were laughing breathlessly.
Even though the entire broadcasting hall was in complete disarray, looking at the "corpses" scattered all over the floor, the speed at which netizens flooded the live comment section actually caused Tencent's servers to lag noticeably.
The enthusiastic atmosphere lasted for less than a minute before large blocks of garbled code appeared in the live streaming room, and the servers completely crashed under the traffic.
……

Backstage.
The entire room fell into a pin-drop silence.
All the participating contestants stood there as if witnessing something utterly unimaginable, their eyes wide and jaws dropped in speechless astonishment.
"Are... are we still supposed to go on?" a petite girl asked in the crowd, her voice stammering.
"Go on? The mentors have all been wiped out, what the hell is there to continue with?" someone responded, staring with wide eyes.
A young fellow couldn't get over it: "In my wildest dreams, I never thought that one day participating in a musical variety show, I'd get to witness a contestant actually beating up the mentors!"
"Beating up the mentors? That washed-up nobody practically came close to ending the mentors' lives!" someone exclaimed with a palpitating heart.
As the crowd opened up, they began sharing their thoughts with one another.
"This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime sight."
"Why do I inexplicably feel so damn satisfied, though? In the past, mentors always sat down there acting like big shots, picking on contestants and acting all high and mighty. Back then, it was rare enough for a contestant to even talk back to a mentor, but this washed-up nobody not only talked back, he literally threw hands. This is so therapeutic!"
"He did what I've always wanted to do but never had the guts to!"
"Bestie, there are backstage cameras live-streaming this. Aren't you afraid the mentors will find out and make things difficult for you in the future?"
"What's there to be afraid of? My skills wouldn't get me into the top sixteen anyway, so getting eliminated sooner or later makes no difference. Besides, back in the day when my sister participated in *The Voice*, she was scolded to tears by Teacher Yang. After that, she felt she wasn't cut out for singing, gave up on music, lost her dreams, and quit the industry not long after. She was planning to watch me fulfill her dream today, but who could have expected such a massive disaster?"
"Well, then that washed-up nobody practically avenged your sister. He's your sister's hero!"
"You said it! My sister probably feels all her emotional baggage lifted right now. Mentors? Does everything a mentor say have to be right? The washed-up nobody sang so damn well, and wasn't he still targeted by the mentors? To hell with the mentors!"
"Stop talking, we better pack up and run! That washed-up nobody is heavily drunk and hasn't gone far yet. If he sets his sights on us, we might just lose our lives here!"
The crowd fell silent for a few seconds, seemingly imagining that horrifying outcome. A few young girls panicked so badly they didn't even grab their handbags before hastily fleeing through the back door.
No one else dared to linger either; they all grabbed their belongings and made a run for it.
This unprecedented grand spectacle had truly left a heavy and colorful stroke in their otherwise ordinary lives. Having lived for over twenty years, who had ever witnessed such a massive scene?
……

After leaving the broadcasting hall, Lu Ming walked unsteadily down the street.
At this point, he was heavily intoxicated, and his swaying gait made it seem as though he might collapse on the pavement and fall asleep right then and there.
Right at that moment, a Maserati Quattroporte suddenly appeared on the adjacent road and started honking at him repeatedly with a blaring "beep-beep-beep." Initially, Lu Ming didn't care, but as the honking refused to stop, he began to feel annoyed.
Driving a luxury car makes you special, huh?!
He immediately decided to give the driver a taste of the harsh realities of society.
Seeing the Maserati moving alongside him at a steady pace, Lu Ming feigned getting closer, and taking the driver completely by surprise, he leaped forward and threw himself flat onto the hood of the car. The driver inside seemed startled and slammed on the brakes. Using the momentum, Lu Ming acted as if he had been struck, fell with natural grace to the side, and collapsed heavily onto the ground.
"I've been hit! I've been hit and killed!"
"A Maserati hit someone! The license plate is Yue B·65777, help!!"
A tall woman with a stunning waist-to-hip ratio, fair skin, and beautiful long hair stepped out of the car. Speechless, she approached him and asked, "Are you alright?"
"My lumbar spine is broken!" Lu Ming was about to voice his grievances when he suddenly caught sight of a familiar face. He blinked in disbelief and stared hard: "Dilraba?"
Dilraba crossed her arms over her chest, supporting her not-insignificant assets, and looked down at the young man with a smiling expression.
"Even if we're acquaintances, you still have to pay up for hitting someone!" Lu Ming hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth. "Given our friendship, if you transfer 520,000 to me, we'll call it even."
"Half from strangers, full jackpot from friends, is that it?" Dilraba burst into a giggle and scolded, "Big brother, I have a dashcam in this car. Hurry up and get up, the ground is cold."
"I don't understand what you're talking about. The bottom line is, if you hit someone, you pay!" Lu Ming rolled over. Covered entirely in mud already, he didn't care at all about ruining his clothes. He wiped a hand across his face, instantly smearing thick, bloody-looking grime all over his handsome features, and then held out his hands toward Dilraba. "Look at how you hit me, so much blood is flowing!"
"Bro, are you trying to say I charged forward at a blistering speed of one decimeter per second and made you bleed from the impact?" Dilraba asked weakly.
Lu Ming thought about it for a moment, his expression resolute: "You can look at it that way!"
"Fine then. Get up first, and I'll pay you later." Laughing through her exasperation, Dilraba stepped forward, squatted down, and helped Lu Ming to his feet.
Nearby pedestrians recognized Dilraba and wanted to come forward for autographs, but the moment they saw Lu Ming standing up from the ground, they immediately turned around and fled.
In today's domestic entertainment industry, who wouldn't know the notorious name of this washed-up nobody?!
Lu Ming climbed into the luxury passenger seat and looked around. Pasted on the dashboard were a few pink little pig dolls, along with a tag that read "Husband's Exclusive." As he was observing his surroundings, Dilraba got into the car, tapped a few times on her phone, and the very next second, a notification sound chimed from Lu Ming's phone.
He tapped it open and saw the transfer notifications in the chat window:
[[Little Bear Gummy] transferred 200,000 yuan to you!]
[[Little Bear Gummy] transferred 200,000 yuan to you!]
[[Little Bear Gummy] transferred 120,000 yuan to you!]
Lu Ming looked in shock at the innocent-looking Dilraba, then looked back at the screen in utter disbelief. He suddenly fell silent.
"You actually transferred it?" Lu Ming still looked at Dilraba skeptically.
Dilraba replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "Wasn't it you who asked me for compensation?"
"Alright!" Lu Ming took a deep breath. "Considering your sincere attitude, I'll forgive you this time. Next time you pull off such a good... such a terrible stunt, give me a heads-up beforehand."
With that, Lu Ming tapped a few times in succession, pocketing all the transfers into his balance.
Dilraba's eyes curved into crescents as she looked at Lu Ming with a mixture of suspicion and lingering wonder.
Right at that moment, his notification sound went off like a string of firecrackers, ringing continuously with "ding-ding-ding" alerts, while incoming calls poured in one after another. Lu Ming rejected all the unimportant ones and called Xiao Ya back.
"Bro, how on earth do you manage to start a brawl with people every time you join a musical variety show?" Xiao Ya's tone was filled with sheer terror.
"You know how it is. Walking the rivers and lakes, one's body is never truly one's own," Lu Ming sighed. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Dilraba staring intently at his profile, prompting him to offer a profound reflection: "I poured my heart to shine upon the bright moon, yet the bright moon shines upon a ditch."
"Bro, going on a musical variety show is starting to sound like getting a college degree," Xiao Ya muttered under her breath. "If you do a few more musical shows, aren't you going to end up writing three hundred poems of lament?"
Lu Ming sounded displeased: "Xiao Ya, you've changed. You've gone bad!"
"It's all thanks to your nurturing influence!"
Lu Ming: "..."
He never imagined that one day he would be left speechless by his own little assistant.
"Anyway, the internet has completely exploded right now. Especially your Weibo—it's been utterly demolished by the fans of Teacher Yang, Teacher Hua, and Sister Zheng. The situation is far from optimistic. Most importantly, your hotel room number has been leaked!"
Lu Ming was surprised: "Can customer information from a five-star hotel even be leaked?"
"The hotel receptionist is a fan of Teacher Hua. She was just sitting there minding her own business, slacking off at work, hoping to admire the peerless beauty of her beloved idol, only to suddenly see their idol get wrecked by you... Well, a lot of tears were shed. In short, you'd better hurry up and change hotels tonight just to be safe. Don't come back, I'll send someone to pick up your luggage!"
"We already paid the money, how can you just stop staying there? Are we letting over a thousand bucks go down the drain for nothing?" Lu Ming lectured earnestly:
"Xiao Ya, my dear, our studio is on the path of entrepreneurship now. We save wherever we can. Saving another thousand bucks means we can hand out a bit more bonus to the company's employees. As the boss, it doesn't matter if I suffer a little hardship or fatigue!"
"Bro, is there some beauty sitting next to you? It's just a two-person studio, there's no need to worry about any other employees," Xiao Ya said honestly.
Lu Ming: "..."
He secretly glanced at Dilraba, who was desperately trying to hold back her laughter, and gave a light cough: "Alright then, I get it."
"What do you get?" Xiao Ya was about to say more, but Lu Ming had already hung up the phone.
"There's no help for it. I'm always modest in front of my assistant, so naturally, she's grown accustomed to being low-key too. Ten bucks is something she'd insist is only one buck, just being falsely modest for no reason."
"Bro, your situation is known by people across the entire country, stop pretending. And it's not hard to see that you've genuinely been having a rough time lately. If you aren't allowed to make some money, who knows, one day our top-tier entertainment bro might actually end up street-scamming people." Dilraba giggled merrily.
Seeing Lu Ming covered in dirt and looking thoroughly disheveled, she burst into a cascade of silver-bell-like laughter. The more she laughed, the more uninhibited she became, eventually curling up and hugging her fair legs as she shook with amusement.
"I was busy thrashing them inside, did I miss you?!" Lu Ming let out a soft snort, his gaze narrowing dangerously.
Dilraba recalled the terror of the mud pit in a split second and immediately bit her tongue to silence herself.
"Spit it out! How many times have you done this kind of thing?!" Lu Ming suddenly demanded in a stern voice.
Dilraba blinked: "What do you mean, how many times?"
"We've been keeping up at least an hour of daily deep conversation for these past few days, and thinking you were a decent woman, I got in your car. To think you already have a husband!" Lu Ming pointed at the sticker on the dashboard. "Given our current relationship, are you sure your husband won't get jealous if he finds out?"
Dilraba rolled her eyes and retorted, "Big brother, that was put there by my boss."
"You even make a move on your boss?!"
Dilraba looked deeply aggrieved: "My boss is Boss Yang, Sister Mi!"
"Oh. Then tell me, how many men have ever sat in your passenger seat? Tell me the truth."
"Only you. You're the one and only!" Dilraba declared with an earnest expression.
Lu Ming remained suspicious: "A woman who casually transfers 520,000 to a man she's known for less than half a month—you clearly know how to play the field. Confess, do you always treat everyone else this well too?!"
"Wasn't that what you asked for?"
"If I ask, you just give?"
"..." Dilraba fell silent for a moment before biting her lower lip with a wronged expression. "Bro, I've really never transferred money to anyone else, and I've never been in a relationship either. It's truer than real gold!"
"Swear it!"
"I swear it!"
"I don't believe you!"
"..." At this point, Dilraba looked as helpless as a man caught in a bind, and sighed with mental fatigue: "If that's how you want to think of me, there's nothing I can do."
"Look at that, I've barely asked you a few questions and you're already starting to dodge them. Women, oh women, can't you just talk properly with me? If you just spoke normally and explained things slowly, I'd definitely believe you! All I wanted was an attitude from you, but who would've thought that after just a few sentences you'd already be losing your patience? You really disappoint me."
Dilraba protested: "I really didn't..."
"I'm not listening!" Lu Ming interrupted decisively, covering his ears with his hands.
Dilraba let out a deep sigh, her delicate brows furrowing tightly. At that moment, she suddenly understood why men were so fond of smoking.
Staring at Lu Ming in contemplation for a brief moment, she finally picked up her phone and tapped on it a few times.
A "ding-dong" notification sound suddenly rang out from Lu Ming's phone.
He picked it up to check.
[[Little Bear Gummy] transferred 200,000 yuan to you!]
[[Little Bear Gummy] transferred 200,000 yuan to you!]
[[Little Bear Gummy] transferred 120,000 yuan to you!]
[Note: Freely given as a gift.]
"Take it and spend it," Dilraba sighed.
Lu Ming's eyes cleared up instantly: "Babe, do you need a boyfriend? How about the two of us date? I don't have any other redeeming qualities except for being completely dedicated and well-behaved. Let me state this clearly beforehand, my liking you stems purely from being moved by your wonderful character. Money doesn't matter to me at all; I've always believed that true love is invincible!"
"What kind of character of mine moved you?" Dilraba asked with a radiant smile.
Lu Ming: "You're not materialistic! You're not a gold-digger!"
"You didn't even need to say that!" Dilraba gave a soft huff and quietly started the car.
……