Chapter 468: Pay for what you do
The tall office building was about sixty to seventy stories high, and it was roughly the height of the Xingyue Bay hotel. As the building was currently being rented out, the floors that had been leased were still undergoing renovation. Therefore, all the floors above the 10th story were pitch black, as not a trace of illumination could be seen.
The view from the 52nd floor was at the same level as Su Li’s apartment, and it offered a broad field of vision of the surroundings. On its vacant floor, some twenty to thirty figures were scuttling about sneakily. They were “cats,” as they liked to call themselves, a euphemism for the dastardly paparazzi that celebrities all feared. Seeing how they sneaked about and hid here to snap pictures, it was an apt name for this creed. In teams of two, regardless of the time of day, they were always taking pictures and making sure they knew what was going on in Su Li’s apartment at all times. They were equipped with thermal imaging cameras, so even with all the curtains drawn, they could still determine the number of people in the apartment.
To avoid being detected, the “cats” only used really dim lighting at night and basically relied on their ears to identify one another.
“Brother Wei, we can confirm that there’s another child in the apartment with Goddess Su.”
A man looking into the thermal imaging camera whispered excitedly to the guy next to him—the man had a square looking face and was wearing a pair of glasses.
“Then there’s no mistaking it. This child must be the child she had with that guy.”
Another person was less restraint and offered his views in a more colorful remark. “Hah, what national goddess… someone else already h*mped her, and they even had a child together. If the tens of thousands of fans in the country find out that this woman that they’re a fan of is already a mother, they’ll most probably give up on m*sturbating,” he sneered.
“You can’t say that for sure, some people might have different tastes. Besides, she has the best figure and face, and having a child hasn’t affected her figure at all. I’ve m*sturbated to her sexy photos before. Don’t hold back, just look at her face!” another said, evidently in jest as he put the monitor in his hands down.
“Hahaha…”
The entire floor was filled with the creepy snickers of these perverts.
“That’s enough. Stop talking and pay more attention. If that guy appears now, we might be able to even take a passionate video of them. That video is going to be much better than any sort of photos you can find out there,” Zhuo Wei said. His voice was professional and calm, but what he had just said was nothing shy of disgusting.
“Brother Wei is like a bull; he drives the car without any warning at all.”
“Man, he can definitely match our ancestors. He’s talking about a bunch of lewd stuff with a serious look on his face.”
“All of you better listen to Brother Wei. Stay focused. The action scene is about to start, you better be prepared so that you can have a good view.”
All of them complimented him. They were not Zhuo Wei’s subordinates but were paparazzi, just like Zhuo Wei was. They specialized in covertly taking pictures of celebrities, and they earned their living by exploiting celebrities’ private lives. Zhuo Wei was like a mentor of this industry, and they could only earn a share of the profit if they followed a guy like him around.
Zhuo Wei felt compelled to say a few words to his junior peers. “You guys are still very young and not as patient or experienced as I am. If I did not employ sophisticated techniques, I wouldn’t have been able to discreetly take pictures of the complicated relationship between the female celebrity with the surname Yao and a married man. Or the intimate actions between female celebrity Zheng and her boyfriend,” he said, “and also, there’s the kiss between a guy and female celebrity Zhang, the kiss between female celebrity Dong and male celebrity Wang—the list goes on! I can’t be bothered to mention them all anymore. All of these clips are saved inside my personal hard drive.”
“Brother Wei, please share them with us!”
“Yes, please share the semen… oh no, I mean the videos.”
“You’ve taken so many pictures and videos of the private lives of so many celebrities; no wonder everyone calls you the discipline inspector of the entertainment industry!’
Zhuo Wei was like a role model to them. Everyone had an expression of deference on their faces, and in their worship of his dark methods, they revealed in themselves the nature of a wolf.
“I’m not interested in these celebrities at all, I’m only looking to pick out all their scandals,” Zhuo Wei said, lifting his chin and stared down his nose. He was evidently enjoying all the respect and admiration that he was receiving.
Clap, clap, clap.
Everyone applauded Zhuo Wei in the most ingratiating manner and gushed, “Well said, well said… your words are simply way too sophisticated!”
Suddenly, an intense light shone in from the direction of the staircase. Having been in the dark for a long time, the “cats” had become accustomed to the low light conditions; hence, they were blinded by the sudden illumination. They hurriedly shielded their eyes with their hands to block the glare, but all they could make out was a blurry figure standing right behind the light.
Zhuo Wei became really angry, and with a hideous look on his face, he roared, “Who the hell is there? You better switch off the lights now!”
His first thought was that it was a new paparazzi among them who turned on the lights without knowing the ground rules.
“Switch off the light, hurry up… switch off the light!”
“Hey, did you not hear what Brother Wei just said? I bet you won’t be hanging around in this industry for long!”
“Who is that clown? Oi, are you deaf or mute? Hurry up and respond!”
Everyone else was giving the newcomer a piece of their mind and pointing in the direction of the light, acting nastily like gangsters.
“Brother Wei? Yes, you in the glasses, are you the number one paparazzi in Xiahai, Zhuo Wei?” A calm voice came from the newcomer’s direction, and he was now flashing the light at Zhou Wei.
What? It was a stranger!
Everyone was shocked. How did anyone manage to find them hiding here?
Was there a traitor among them? Or, did someone sell information to the celebrity’s manager to earn a corresponding reward?
“I am Zhuo Wei, who are you?” Zhuo Wei responded.
The newcomer said, “It doesn’t matter who I am, what’s important here is that you better leave all the tapes behind and get the hell out of here. Otherwise, you’re going to pay for what you all are doing.” Of course, it was none other than Xiao Luo!
“Pay for what I do?”
Zhuo Wei gave him a venomous glare from behind his glasses and snarled, “Since you know that I am Zhuo Wei, then you should know what kind of backing I have! Are you sure you’re going to continue talking to me like that with that kind of tone and attitude?”
“I won’t repeat myself again,” Xiao Luo said.
“Damn it, where did this rascal come from, he must be crazy!”
“You are all alone. Are you not afraid that you’re not going to crawl out of here alive?”
“Huh, threatening Brother Wei, are you tired of living?”
The other paparazzi began screaming at Xiao Luo.
Zhuo Wei’s face turned dark with rage. He pulled out a pistol from behind his waist and pointed it at Xiao Luo. “Do you know this, brat? Nothing’s going to happen to me even if I kill you here today. I have friends in the political and legal world. As long as they speak up for me, this will be seen as an act of self-defense!” he hissed.
Xiao Luo laughed and replied, “Holding a gun, and it can still be judged as an act of self-defense… are you sure about that?”
“Hehe… let’s try it then!”
Zhuo Wei laughed cruelly and proceeded to squeeze the trigger. He was like a smiling tiger with a dagger hidden behind the smile… this phrase was the perfect description for people like him.
BANG!
The piercing report of a gunshot resounded across the 52nd floor.
Xiao Luo instantly made his move. He threw the flashlight up in the air, easily dodged the incoming bullet, and like a phantom, dashed toward the gathering of paparazzi in a flash. His hands were like knives as he aimed for their necks.
Zhuo Wei didn’t have the time to react and slumped to the floor with a thud. He had a stunned expression on his face, as everyone else was knocked out cold by Xiao Luo without even having a proper look at him. When the flashlight finally clattered on the floor, all the twenty to thirty paparazzi laid unconscious around Zhou Wei.
“To think that you have no qualms about shooting someone. It seems like you have some really strong backing indeed, no wonder the other celebrities can’t do anything to you!” Xiao Luo said.
Xiao Luo walked across and stood over Zhuo Wei, now half-conscious, and looked down at him impassively. He then lifted his right foot, stomped on Zhuo Wei’s right arm, instantly crushing it with an awful crunching sound. Sharp-edged bones pierced his flesh and muscles, and the Zhuo Wei let out an ear-shattering howl before losing consciousness once again.
Xiao Luo took a good look at the surroundings and found a stack of ropes in a corner. He suddenly came up with a wonderful disposal method and chuckled to himself as he walked over. The sole of his shoe was covered with blood from Zhuo Wei’s badly damaged arm, and as he walked, it left bloodied footprints on the floor.