Chapter 100: Five Hundred Thousand

After hearing the paparazzo's account over the phone, Xu Fangyuan's breathing quickened at once.

Clutching her phone, she trembled all over, her eyes flashing with a sharp gleam.

"Enough! More than enough! With this dirt, Su Chen is finished for good!" Xu Fangyuan said, practically vibrating with excitement.

She was like a wolf that had gone nearly ten days without food, catching the scent of blood.

Hearing Xu Fangyuan's reaction, the paparazzo only felt a wave of nausea rise from deep within him, so disgusting it turned the stomach.

From his last conversation with Su Chen, he already knew about the grudge between Su Chen and Xu Fangyuan.

Xu Fangyuan was willing to ruin Su Chen over nothing more than baseless suspicion and worry. It was incomprehensible to the paparazzo, and it also made him realize just how vicious this woman was, heart as cruel as a serpent's.

At this point, he was only relieved. Relieved by Su Chen's generosity and kindness, relieved that he now had a chance to stop abetting evil and help bring down this poisonous scum who preyed on the good.

While he was still feeling sick, Xu Fangyuan impatiently asked, "Then hurry up and send it to me, Brother Gou. I'll go to Brilliant Star Public Relations right away, and before noon I can make Su Chen's dirt spread everywhere!"

Hearing that, the paparazzo did not rush to send over the edited video. Instead, he said somewhat sheepishly, "Right now? That might be a little difficult. I haven't finished processing the video yet, and my brothers and I have been up all night. We need to rest now."

His words made Xu Fangyuan's excitement falter slightly.

She was not stupid; hearing him say that, she naturally understood that he was asking for a fee.

Damn it.

Just a paparazzo, and he still dared to push his luck again and again. Once this is over, I'll definitely kick you to the curb. I'll make sure you can't survive in this industry!

Rage burned in Xu Fangyuan's heart, and her face even twisted with a ferocious expression, but when she spoke, every word was all warmth and cordiality.

"Brother Gou, you've really had a hard time with this. How about this: I originally promised you one hundred thousand for this dirt, but I'll give you two hundred thousand now. Think of it as your hard work over the past few days," Xu Fangyuan said with a smile.

Hearing her raise the price by another hundred thousand all at once, the paparazzo knew her bottom line was far above that.

"Two hundred thousand... We've been sleeping rough these past few days, battered by wind and rain, and my brother has even fallen ill."

"To be honest, two hundred thousand may not even be enough for his recuperation. And his whole family still depends on him to eat. Now that he's down, his family still has to live, right, Sister Yuan?"

The paparazzo's voice was full of sorrow.

Hearing this, Xu Fangyuan's face darkened even more.

She did not believe a single word about his brother being sick. There was something else hidden in his words.

The paparazzo was plainly telling her that two hundred thousand was nowhere near enough.

Xu Fangyuan had never expected that someone who could originally be bought off with just one hundred thousand would still be unsatisfied even after getting two hundred thousand.

If this had been any other time, she would have cursed this paparazzo out savagely and told him to get lost. But now that he had Su Chen's dirt in his hands, she felt as though he had her by the throat.

Xu Fangyuan quickly collected herself, then said to the paparazzo, "Yes, yes, yes, Brother Gou, your brother fell ill because of the work I arranged. I definitely bear some responsibility."

"How about this: I'll give you three hundred thousand. Whether it's for your brother's treatment or for supporting his family, it should be enough."

Three hundred thousand.

In just this short while, the paparazzo's earnings had surged by two hundred thousand. It was the first time he had ever felt money was this easy to make.

But even that was not enough.

The paparazzo said, "That's about right for my brother, but I've been busy all these days myself... I can't be working for nothing, can I?"

Hearing that, Xu Fangyuan felt as if she were about to explode.

But the dirt still hadn't been handed over, so she had to hold her temper in check.

Still, Xu Fangyuan could no longer keep up the gentle act from before. She stopped beating around the bush and asked directly, "Then what do you think is appropriate?"

"Flat price: five hundred thousand. If you can't afford it, I'll go find another entertainment company," the paparazzo said.

"Five hundred thousand?!"

Xu Fangyuan nearly shrieked. "Five hundred thousand for one piece of dirt?! Do you think Su Chen is some A-list or B-list celebrity?!"

The paparazzo was unfazed by her raised voice. He remained calm as he said, "He may not be now, but who can guarantee he won't be later?"

"Besides, I can't guarantee whether, after they buy it, it will actually be released or not."

"If they choose not to release it, I'll have to go look for new dirt on Su Chen. But I don't know when I'll find any."

The paparazzo's words left Xu Fangyuan, who had been on the verge of exploding, suddenly silent.

That's right. Su Chen was riding a wave of unstoppable success right now. If his momentum wasn't checked, it was only a matter of time before he became a second-tier star.

He might even become first-tier someday.

That was absolutely not something Xu Fangyuan wanted to see.

"If Sister Yuan thinks it's too expensive, then I'll hang up first..." the paparazzo said, pretending to hesitate, while quietly counting down in his mind.

But he had only counted to one, not even reached two in his head, when Xu Fangyuan's voice, thick with fury, came through.

"Fine! Five hundred thousand it is!"

The paparazzo suppressed the excitement in his heart and said calmly, "All right, but Sister Yuan needs to transfer the money first. Only then can I send you the video."

"No way! What if you lie to me?!"

"How could I possibly lie to you? You're a well-known figure in this circle at any rate. Once you speak up, I'd lose even the right to stay in this business."

"I may not be very clever, but I still know the difference between eating one meal and eating every meal."

His words made Xu Fangyuan silently nod as well. After thinking it over, she said, "...All right. I'll transfer it to you, same account as before."

"But listen carefully: if you dare to trick me, I won't just make sure you can't survive in this industry. I'll make sure you can't survive at all."

The paparazzo was unmoved by her threat. He simply said, "Don't worry, Sister Yuan."

Then the two of them hung up.

Only then did the paparazzo let out a long breath. In truth, his heart was far from as calm as his words had sounded. After all, this was five hundred thousand.

Nervous and excited, he waited by his phone for the money to arrive.

About ten minutes later, a text message popped up on his phone, and he fumbled clumsily as he opened it.

Bank of the Great Xia: Your Great Xia Card ending in 6961 received a bank transfer of 500,000.00 yuan on July 21 at 06:37. Current balance: 502,064.30 yuan.

"One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand... the five hundred thousand really came through! Hahaha!" the paparazzo said excitedly.