I'll Put It on Your Tab

Back at the shop, Xie Yuan headed into the courtyard. "Old Yuan, Ms. Xiang wants to order five more paper figures."

"Female ones. Gorgeous women."

Old Yuan paused in the middle of making a paper figure and looked up at Xie Yuan. "Really?"

"Really." Xie Yuan nodded and patted Mu Ze on the shoulder. "How's it going? How much have you learned?"

Mu Ze didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I'm not a god. It's not that easy to learn."

Xie Yuan nodded in understanding. "All right, keep at it. I'll watch the shop out front."

A few minutes after Xie Yuan went to the shop, Mu Ze received a call.

After hanging up, Mu Ze looked grave. "Old Yuan, I'm going out front for a moment."

Old Yuan didn't look up. "Go ahead."

When he reached the storefront, Mu Ze saw Xie Yuan lounging leisurely in a recliner and softened his voice. "You're trending again."

"Oh." Xie Yuan waved a hand. "Is it that easy to get on the trending list?"

Mu Ze didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "The trending posts say you reduced that customer who came in earlier to tears by berating her."

"And that you forced her to order more paper figures."

Xie Yuan said, "That's right. I did berate her until she cried."

"She ordered the paper figures voluntarily to thank me."

In the livestream chat.

[See? He admitted it himself.]

[This is Xie Dog's true face. Do you see what he's really like now?]

[I used to think Young Master Xie knew who deserved gratitude and who deserved payback. Now I see you can know someone's face without knowing their heart.]

[What a joke. You berated her until she cried, and she thanked you? Can you at least say something believable?]

[I'd already thought it was really ungentlemanly for a grown man to keep targeting women. Turns out he's just rotten. He was only lucky enough to be born into a good family.]

Almost instantly, more than half the comments in the livestream were insults directed at Xie Yuan.

Looking at the densely packed insults, Director Ma suddenly felt a headache coming on.

"That troublemaker didn't really berate someone until she cried, did he?"

There were plenty of comments, but it was hard to say how many were genuine and how many were paid trolls deliberately steering the conversation.

Mu Ze said, "All right, I'll find a way to deal with things online."

Mu Ze looked nonchalant. "Do whatever you think is best."

Once Mu Ze left, Xie Yuan took out his phone.

After reading a few posts, he tossed his phone aside. "Not an original thought among them."

"Anyone with the intelligence of a three-year-old should be able to tell someone's manipulating this."

"Sigh, I really should spend less time on my phone. Too much scrolling makes you stupid."

The livestream commenters strongly suspected Xie Yuan was insulting them, and the evidence was conclusive.

[Seriously, isn't he way too arrogant?]

[Boohoo, did I just get insulted?]

[Young Master Xie insulted me. Why did that actually feel kind of good?]

[Drop dead, Xie Dog.]

[If someone like this can get on the show, the show won't last long either.]

[Those in the know realize this is a dating show. Anyone else would think it's a show about insulting people.]

The Wicked System, which had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.

[Host, Su Wanyue hired the paid trolls online]

[It took me a while to find out. She was quite cautious]

Xie Yuan said, "Aren't you a system? You can't even handle something this simple? You're useless."

[Systems have their own areas of expertise too. I just happen to be bad at internet-related things]

"Are you good at being wicked?"

The Wicked System: ...

Xie Yuan ignored the Wicked System's withdrawal. "This is a world inside a book. As the male and female leads, do Su Wanyue and Gu Yanzhou have the Male and Female Leads' Halo?"

[Yes]

"Looks like taking both of them down for good in one go is impossible." Xie Yuan thought for a moment. "Pretend to be an elite hacker and release the evidence that Su Wanyue hired trolls to smear me."

"Remember, only post the evidence. Don't say anything else."

[Okay]

Xie Yuan added, "Keep a close eye on Su Wanyue. There's a major opportunity waiting for her at the kindergarten. Don't let her get it."

[Host, I'm really not good at internet-related things]

"It's just surveillance. How much skill does that take?"

"Can't you hack into the cameras?"

The Wicked System: ...

After a long while, the Wicked System agreed anyway.

With the arrangements made, Xie Yuan leisurely closed his eyes to rest.

Online, evidence that Su Wanyue had hired paid trolls suddenly appeared on all the major platforms.

Su Wanyue's manager, Sister Ping, was so angry that her whole face contorted.

The moment she got through to Su Wanyue, she launched into a tirade. "Is there something wrong with your brain? Didn't you know to cover your tracks when hiring trolls?"

"Why did you do it yourself? Couldn't you have President Gu find a few suitable people and keep yourself out of it?"

"Or do you use all your brains on seducing men?"

Listening to the roaring voice on the phone, Su Wanyue's expression instantly darkened.

Mindful of the cameras, she gave a vague reply. "I understand. We're livestreaming right now. Let's talk when I get back."

Only after the call ended did Sister Ping regain some of her composure.

She had been so blinded by anger that she had forgotten Su Wanyue was livestreaming.

After hanging up, Su Wanyue went to the restroom.

Sitting on the toilet, she went online to check the situation.

The trending posts smearing Xie Yuan were still there, but several about her had appeared too.

#EvidenceTurnsTheTables#

#SheWasTheOneBehindTheSmear#

#SmearCampaignAgainstAShow#

Although they didn't name her outright, anyone familiar with her knew the profile picture in the chat belonged to her.

She couldn't stay in the restroom too long, so Su Wanyue hurriedly sent a message and left.

While things were bustling online, Xie Yuan lay leisurely in the shop, aloof from the world's disputes.

Nothing happened for the rest of the afternoon.

A little after six, Old Yuan saw them out of the shop. "Come at nine tomorrow morning."

When they returned to the villa, the other three pairs of guests were already back.

Seeing the two enter, Tan Yaya asked, "How was your first day at work?"

"Not bad," Xie Yuan answered truthfully. "Just a little boring."

Wang Zihua lay slumped on the sofa and said sarcastically, "You were inside a shop, out of the sun, with air-conditioning. That's more than just 'not bad.'"

After delivering takeout for two hours that day, Wang Zihua was so exhausted that he didn't even want to move a finger.

Xie Yuan sat on the sofa and crossed his legs. "You've still got the energy to talk. Have you finished delivering all the takeout?"

"Isn't this peak delivery time? Aren't you going to get to work, Young Master Wang?"

Wang Zihua gritted his teeth. "Don't mention takeout to me."

Su Wanyue stepped in to smooth things over. "Young Master Xie, you've had people waiting on you since birth. Of course you wouldn't know how hard delivering takeout is."

"It's already impressive that Young Master Wang has stuck it out this long."

"I almost forgot about you." Xie Yuan stared at Su Wanyue. "Aren't you going to explain what people online are saying about you hiring trolls to smear me?"

Su Wanyue's eyes immediately filled with tears, her face innocent. "Young Master Xie, it wasn't me."

"I don't know who's trying to frame me like this, but it really wasn't me."

"Hiring trolls to smear you wouldn't benefit me in any way."

Gu Yanzhou looked heartbroken. He raised his hand, took a few tissues, and wiped her tears. "Yueyue, I believe it wasn't you."

He looked up and stared at Xie Yuan. "Xie Yuan, someone has already come forward and admitted to hiring the trolls. He couldn't stand seeing you bully Yueyue, so he hired them to teach you a lesson."

"As for the profile picture, he's Yueyue's fan. It's perfectly normal for him to use her photo as his profile picture."

"I knew you wouldn't admit it." Xie Yuan looked as though he had expected this all along. "He's your fan, so I'll put it on your tab for now."

Gu Yanzhou looked furious. "Xie Yuan, are you going to listen to reason at all?"

"I told you, Yueyue didn't do it."