God is Being Pampered by the Group - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Committing Violence with Beauty

The Wrap Party

Guan Zhou did not know that on the other end of the line, Qi Yue—the one he was so wary of—was standing right next to Director Zhou, arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

After the call ended, Director Zhou turned to look at Qi Yue, his eyes filled with a mix of confusion and curiosity.

“Alright, I said everything as you suggested. That kid Guan Zhou promised to show up tonight. But honestly, since you know the guy, why couldn’t you just notify him yourself? Why did you insist on making me speak?”

“And another thing, don’t you usually skip these celebratory banquets? I was already prepared for you not to come.”

However, Qi Yue had no intention of explaining. He merely gave a slight nod, muttered a word of thanks, and strode away.

Director Zhou watched his back—which seemed to radiate a good mood and shook his head.

…

In the blink of an eye, evening arrived. Guan Zhou drove Bai Yan toward the party. Originally, he wanted to leave the black cat at home, as it wasn’t convenient to bring a pet to a banquet, but the black cat stubbornly insisted on tagging along.

In its own words: “I can just stay in the car, meow.”

Guan Zhou let out a dry chuckle. This cat demon really didn’t miss any chance to stay by Bai Yan’s side, especially by exploiting its cute appearance. Only the pure and kind Bai Yan was willing to dote on it.

In the afternoon, Guan Zhou had told Bai Yan about the wrap party. He wouldn’t have minded going alone, but Director Zhou had explicitly mentioned Bai Yan.

To Guan Zhou’s surprise, he thought Bai Yan—who had just started livestreaming today—would refuse, but he actually agreed. It was likely because he had been cooped up at home for several days.

Scanning the livestream room, due to Guan Zhou’s reckless and forceful banning methods, such a situation was a rare sight for a newcomer’s channel. Consequently, it had actually attracted quite a few viewers.

After the accounts posting nasty comments were banned and they witnessed “Brother Zhou’s” ruthlessness, the bullet chat was now relatively harmonious. The number of viewers was stable at around a thousand.

There were those who didn’t believe the UP-loader’s skills were truly that bad, those who just wanted to see how the UP-loader would die, and those who sought death by challenging “Brother Zhou,” bouncing back and forth on his bottom line. These people were usually gifted the “one-stop service” of comment deletion and account banning.

By now, Bai Yan’s channel had become somewhat famous in the Newcomer Zone, but the reputation was mixed. Most people were still pessimistic; after all, if one wanted to last and stand out, catering to the audience was the correct choice.

Likewise, as evening approached, the channel was still bustling. Viewers wanted to see if the UP-loader could successfully clear the third level today. Yes, that’s right—it had been an entire day, and Bai Yan had only cleared the first two levels!

It made the audience cry out in disbelief, but the ways Bai Yan manipulated the character to die were so varied that most people now believed the UP-loader was truly that “trash” rather than doing it on purpose.

While the netizens were still excited, they saw the UP-loader die one more time, but instead of continuing the attempt, the screen went dark—the entire livestream room went pitch black instantly.

At that moment, the netizens’ reactions were like this: “???” “What happened?” “Power outage?” “Is the Internet cut out?” “Is there a bug?” “…”

Until a system prompt floated across the dark room: [Your cute and charming UP-loader has gone offline for now~ Welcome back next time, everyone~]

Many netizens rubbed their eyes and looked out the window. Indeed, it was only evening; it wasn’t even dinner time yet, and the streamer had already signed off???

And they didn’t even say a single parting word…

Speaking of which, did anyone hear the streamer speak a single word all day?

No.

Not at all.

It was all eating drama, blocking, and watching the show. The only background noise was the game’s sound effects and the flurry of bullet chat comments from viewers who were so anxious they wanted to personally take over the controls when the streamer took a wrong turn…

…Streamer, you’re being so willful. Does your Brother Zhou know?

No, no, no rather, with this Brother Zhou around, the streamer probably wouldn’t find anything surprising at all.

…

Around 7:00 PM, outside an antique-style restaurant, guests were arriving one after another.

Guan Zhou parked the car and stepped out with Bai Yan. As for the black cat, it was left in the car; it wouldn’t be appropriate to bring it inside.

Before leaving, however, Guan Zhou gave it a strange look—it didn’t seem reluctant to part at all.

The black cat sat on the passenger seat. After watching the two walk away, a trace of confusion appeared in its human-like eyes. It sniffed the air, then suddenly turned its head in another direction, its fur slightly bristling.

After a moment, the black cat’s figure vanished from inside the car.

On the other side, Guan Zhou led Bai Yan into the restaurant and explained their purpose to the greeters at the door. Soon, a young woman came out to lead the way.

The restaurant occupied a large area, featuring rockeries, flowing water, pavilions, and corridors in an antique style. Even the waitresses here wore qipao, their figures graceful.

Soon, they crossed a corridor over the water. Lotus leaves and flowers grew in the pond, and a few goldfish could be seen swimming. They arrived at a private room with a wooden sign hanging by the door: [Xia He] (Summer Lotus).

Zhuting Pavilion Restaurant could also be called the “Wrap Party Restaurant.” Many crews chose to hold their celebrations here because the owner was a veteran director who, having nothing to do after retirement, built this place on a whim.

Initially, the owner only invited a few director friends to hold their wrap parties here. Later, for some reason likely because most directors know each other, more and more directors chose this venue.

Thus, Zhuting Pavilion became the de facto banquet hall for film crews. Naturally, the privacy here was quite high.

Before they even reached the door, the sounds of celebration could be heard from within, including Director Zhou’s loud voice.

Guan Zhou thanked the lady leading them. Just as he was about to enter, a figure stepped out first.

Guan Zhou froze, completely dumbfounded. He had done his research and assumed this rat spirit most likely wouldn’t show up at a wrap party.

Yes, the person before him was Qi Yue.

With a gaze of inexplicable meaning shifting from Guan Zhou to Bai Yan, Qi Yue smiled and said, “Ah, long time no see.”

Currently, Bai Yan was still wearing a hat and mask, revealing only his calm, indifferent eyes. His long, silver-white hair cascaded down his back.

Guan Zhou stepped forward first to block Qi Yue’s view of Bai Yan, his brow furrowing.

“What are you doing here?”

The smile on Qi Yue’s face deepened. “Oh? As the male lead, why wouldn’t I be here?”

It was indeed completely outside Guan Zhou’s expectations. Had he known this rat spirit would come, he shouldn’t have agreed to Director Zhou. Or, even if he came, he wouldn’t have brought Bai Yan.

Guan Zhou: “I just heard that the great star Qi Yue always disdained these kinds of banquets.”

Qi Yue: “Then you probably heard wrong.”

Guan Zhou: “…”

Director Zhou came to the door and looked at the two of them strangely. Why did he sense a faint feeling of confrontation?

Then, Director Zhou noticed Bai Yan. This was the first time he had seen Guan Zhou’s cousin from such a close distance. He was somewhat startled by the other’s eye color and silver hair.

A mixed-race?

There was no such thing as natural white hair unless one had severe albinism, but seeing how healthy the other looked, Director Zhou guessed the silver hair was probably dyed.

However, even with a mask on making it impossible to see his full features, Director Zhou’s practiced eye could still tell that his looks were likely excellent. The exposed skin was fair and delicate; his appearance was probably even better than that kid Guan Zhou’s.

At this moment, Director Zhou suddenly remembered that Qi Yue was strangely friendly with Guan Zhou and had made him personally invite the kid to this wrap party, specifically mentioning the cousin. Previously, Wang Shan had also asked him for contact information. Could it be… they took a liking to Guan Zhou’s cousin?

As a celebrity manager, it was perfectly normal for Wang Shan to have such thoughts.

For a moment, Director Zhou couldn’t help but look at him curiously a few more times, wondering if there would be a chance to cooperate in the future if this was true…

He had no idea that while his guess was quite close to the truth, Bai Yan had no intention of accepting the olive branch Wang Shan had extended.

As for whether there would be a chance for cooperation in the future, well, who knows~

…

On the corridor next to the rockery, a graceful waitress in a qipao suddenly felt a blur before her eyes, as if something had darted past. But when she looked closer, there was nothing.

The black cat blended its body into the shadows, following an uncomfortable aura as it snuck into the restaurant. It then stood atop a rockery and, through a window, saw the silhouette of a fellow kind exactly like the one it had seen in the mall last time.

The black cat sniffed the air again. Besides that, there was another unpleasant scent… staying right next to its master?!!