Not Quite in Character for Someone as Detestable and Freakish as Me

The next day, ten o'clock.

The sunlight was dazzling and brilliant.

Xie Chen drove into the Xie Family villa in high spirits.

Without taking off his shoes, he stepped across the imported handmade carpet and walked straight inside, where he saw Father Xie and Mother Xie sitting on the living room sofa.

Both wore stern expressions. They had probably already heard what happened at the hospital and were working themselves up to settle the score with him.

Xie Chen sneered, ignored them, and headed straight upstairs.

"Stop!" Father Xie rose angrily. "Don't you greet your elders when you come home?!"

"Greet you for a few cents? I'm an uncouth, immoral person." Xie Chen did not even pause as he stepped onto the stairs.

Mother Xie could not contain her fury either. She rushed over and grabbed Xie Chen. "If you have grievances, take them out on us. Don't vent them on your younger brother! You actually dared to hit him?! We raised you all these years for nothing. Don't you have even a shred of gratitude?!"

Xie Chen turned at those words, a mocking smile spreading across his face. "Gratitude?"

It was because of those two words that, in his previous life, he had kept enduring it all, allowing Xie Ran, that black-hearted white lotus, to frame and bully him. In the end, Xie Ran had even pretended to be sick and insisted on taking one of his kidneys for a transplant.

When he refused, Father Xie, Mother Xie, and his several scumbag brothers had taken turns persuading him. They had even used underhanded means to imprison him in the basement and force addictive drugs down his throat, turning him into neither man nor ghost...

The agonizing scenes in his mind remained vivid. Xie Chen's teeth itched with hatred as he forcefully shook Mother Xie off and said coldly, "I'm an ungrateful wretch. I've never cared about gratitude. If you can't stand it, feel free to call the police and sue me anytime. If you can send me to prison, I'll consider that your skill!"

With that, he hurried upstairs and entered the single room where he had always lived. After packing simply and gathering his documents, he dragged his suitcase back into the living room.

Father Xie and Mother Xie had yet to recover from their adopted son's rebellion when they saw Xie Chen dragging a suitcase toward the door.

"Where are you going?!" Father Xie bellowed. "You want to run after causing trouble?! Stay home obediently and wait for your brothers to come back. Then we'll see how they deal with you!"

Xie Chen nearly laughed at the stupidity of that. "Am I a masochist? Wait for them to come back and deal with me? Sorry, I'm cutting ties with you. I'll never come back again."

The Xie Family was one of the foremost wealthy families in the capital, with immense power and deep influence.

His scumbag brothers had suffered losses and taken a beating at the hospital only because they had been caught completely off guard. After all, they could never have expected their obedient younger brother to suddenly resist... So he had to leave the Xie Family before they had time to react.

The instant Father Xie heard that he wanted to sever ties, he became even more furious. He threatened, "If you dare leave, don't ever come back! And don't even think about seeking the Xie Family's protection!"

"Nothing would suit me better!"

You should be thinking about who will protect you in the future!

A mocking curve formed at Xie Chen's lips. Dragging his suitcase, he left the Xie Family without looking back.

Father Xie remained where he was, his chest heaving with rage. "His wings have hardened, and now he refuses to listen! I'd like to see what he can accomplish after leaving the Xie Family!"

"Sooner or later, he'll learn that without the Xie Family, he isn't even worth as much as a street rat!"

Mother Xie walked over to comfort him. "He's only an adopted son, with no blood relation to us. There's no need to get angry with him. We should go see Ranran instead. Who knows how well he's recovering?"

"You're right! Hurry and have the driver take us to the hospital!" Father Xie said anxiously.

It had to be said, the variety show Transform, Freaks! was truly malicious.

Not only did it mercilessly rip away the fig leaves of certain celebrities in the entertainment industry, it even brazenly displayed the reasons they had been chosen in huge, eye-catching words on the promotional video.

For example,

Best Actress Li Jingfei—Queen of Tardiness, sharp-tongued diva. She could effortlessly offend everyone every time she joined a production. If not for her superb acting skills and wealthy family, the directors in the industry would have jointly driven her out of showbiz.

Host Wei Mingqi—renowned idiot, no filter on his mouth. He blurted out gossip and exposés without verifying anything. The reality show he hosted was forced to shut down because it could not book any guests. Not only did he have terrible online reviews, the industry despised him as well.

Singer Luo Mingyu—hot-tempered playboy. Drinking, fighting, street racing, clubbing; a seasoned lip-syncer and professional diva. Every recent report about him had been negative, and even throwing money at the backlash could no longer suppress it.

Rapper Li Sifan—hands in pockets, acting like he owned the world; childish and withdrawn. When senior judges asked him questions on a singing competition stage, he did not say a word. His arrogant, self-absorbed attitude made people want to rush through the screen and punch him.

The last one,

Minor celebrity Xie Chen—freakish dark horse. With a single sentence, he had shot from over thirtieth place into the top five, prompting countless netizens to curse, "You're the one with colorectal problems and kidney deficiency who needs to restrain himself!" His remark had even been included among the year's most influential internet catchphrases.

In short, this show had pushed variety-show traffic to an unprecedented new peak with its novel format.

On the day of the livestream, several million people were already waiting in front of their screens, eagerly anticipating the show as they constantly flooded the chat with comments.

[Li Jingfei really came to this? Does she have no shame? Has she got no roles to film, so she can only come out to earn some side money?!]

[No, no, the one who needs work most is Wei Mingqi. How long has it been since we saw him host anything? I heard he paid a lot of money after spreading rumors last time! If he doesn't go on variety shows soon, he might not even be able to afford food!]

[I doubt Luo Mingyu can even film normally. Paparazzi caught him picking up girls at a bar last night. He was drunk out of his mind, collapsed on the ground, and no one could even pull him up!]

[Hahahaha, the stream hasn't even started, but I can already picture Li Sifan sitting there with a sour face, saying nothing and only striking those cringey poses!]

[How much money did they give the director? They actually got a variety show made specifically for them. This has to be the biggest stain in history, right?!]

[The most disgusting one is still Xie Chen! He actually tried to piggyback off Brother Ye? Does he really think he's a traditional Chinese doctor?! He's disgraced traditional culture!]

[+1 to the comment above. He has absolutely no bottom line just to get famous. I'm camping in this livestream just to see how the director transforms him! Though I bet he's beyond saving already. He should quit the industry now!]

[Xie Chen, get your ass out here! I'm ready to go off!]

[...]

Sitting in the car, the director saw the festive flood of comments and could not help beaming with delight. He tilted his chin toward his assistant. "Is everyone here? We start filming at ten sharp."

The assistant glanced at the time, looking somewhat troubled. "There are five minutes left. At the moment... not a single one has arrived."

The director, "!!!!"

"We're about to start filming, and not one of them is here?! Then why aren't you calling them?!"

The assistant pulled a miserable face. "I did. They all said they had matters to deal with and would come later. Even the earliest one will be at least half an hour late."

The director felt the veins on his forehead bulge. He suppressed his anger and said, "Fine, fine. Anyway, they're the ones who'll get cursed for delaying everyone."

Thus, when Xie Chen arrived at the meeting location in a taxi, the livestream camera crew immediately rushed over impatiently.

Just as the staff member was about to complain to the camera about the guests being late, Xie Chen's lips slowly moved, and he drawled lazily, "Oh, I'm still early."

"Not quite in character for someone as detestable and freakish as me."

The livestream viewers were still stunned by his sudden, breathtaking appearance. When they heard that, they were instantly fired up.

[His face was the only thing worth looking at, and now he's thrown even that away?!]