Chapter 82 Trending Su Mingyue

Is this really okay? Those legs, that waist, those curves—are these really things colleagues should be looking at? Staring at Zhang Xueying, embodying every inch of a commanding woman, Zhang Chu felt like he was about to explode.

He had just had a passionate dream involving Zhang Xueying. Was this a case of dreams becoming reality? And she even brought flowers?

“Women in this world really are much more reasonable than in my previous life,” Zhang Chu mused, his gaze locked intently on Zhang Xueying.

His burning eyes made Zhang Xueying uneasy. “Teacher Xiao Chu, how are you feeling?”

“Tense,” Zhang Chu blurted out without thinking.

“Tense where? Do you need a doctor to look at you?” Zhang Xueying sized him up.

Damn it…

Zhang Chu quickly pressed his legs together. Was this really something a supervisor at the Martial Arts Research Institute should say? It was more like the brazen words of a rogue harassing a virtuous woman.

“Scoundrel!” Zhang Xueying, an adult herself, instantly understood his meaning. She shot him a shy glare. “I came here to talk business with you, and you’re making fun of me! I’m ignoring you!”

“Wait!”

“What’s the meaning of this?” Zhang Chu wondered. “Is she acting coy?”

Though he hadn’t worked long at the Institute, Zhang Xueying’s reputation as a frosty, high-ranking woman was widely known. Now, seeing her act coquettish was absolutely devastating.

He was a hair’s breadth away from breaking his vow to remain aloof from women in this new life!

Seeing Zhang Chu’s bewildered face, Zhang Xueying changed the subject. “The director just called me about Su Mingyue. I’ll be leading a special investigation unit along with the Martial Control Bureau. I came to ask if there’s anyone else suspicious.”

“No, not really,” Zhang Chu replied, his smile innocent and harmless.

After a bit of small talk, Zhang Xueying received a call and hurried off.

Zhang Chu lay back on his bed and opened the “Home of Warriors” forum.

As expected, Su Mingyue’s photo shoot had just hit the top of the trending topics.

The top ten searches were all posts digging into Su Mingyue, with the first three being:
1. “Shocking! The former goddess of Binda, Su Mingyue, took out a nude loan to break through her cultivation bottleneck!”
2. “Su Mingyue leaps four levels to become a Double Force Warrior—does it have anything to do with the nude loan?”
3. “Su Mingyue’s nude loan confirmed—how will the Martial Arts Research Institute respond?”

Zhang Chu had overheard parts of the call Zhang Xueying just took—it was about Su Mingyue hitting the trending topics.

“Things are about to get interesting,” Zhang Chu thought, settling in for a peaceful sleep.

If Su Mingyue wanted to play the manipulative little vixen, Zhang Chu wasn’t going to make things easy for her! Complete ruin and disgrace—simple as that!

But Su Mingyue was in for a nightmare.

She had just moved into the Xisha Garden community when her front door was besieged by reporters and paparazzi—not to mention some official media outlets.

She couldn’t sleep, night after night, hiding under her covers and crying. She even received harassing texts, asking her how much for an overnight stay.

While Zhang Chu spent three days recuperating at the hospital, Su Mingyue endured three days of relentless cyberbullying.

When he was discharged, it was Zhang Xueying herself who came to pick him up, chauffeuring him to the Xisha Garden villa.

“Teacher Xiao Chu, your situation is still under investigation. The director personally ordered you to rest at home for now,” she told him. “I still have to deal with Su Mingyue’s trending scandal, so I can’t stay. Call me if you need anything.”

“And if I just miss you, can I call then too?” Zhang Chu teased.

“You’re impossible! Daring to flirt with me…” Zhang Xueying wagged a delicate fist at him, feigning anger but with a hint of playful banter. “By the way… do me a favor when you have time.”

Before leaving, she even ordered takeout for him.

This way of interacting—was there something ambiguous in the air?

After Zhang Xueying left, Zhang Chu logged into the forum with an alternate account and posted a rumor: “Insider tip—Su Mingyue is a member of the Divine Fall Alliance.”

The nude loan scandal would be easy to suppress, but with Zhang Chu fanning the flames, the power of netizens might even sniff out the Divine Fall Alliance’s lair. “Damn it, the Divine Fall Alliance keeps sending Su Mingyue after me. I’ll see them ruined yet!”

He even paid to push the post into the trending topics, feeling much better afterward.

His body almost fully recovered, he could hardly wait to get to the warehouse and tinker with the five hundred clover plants.

Now, having reached 3-star level, his acceleration domain was fully unlocked.

The duration of a single activation had increased to twenty minutes. His passive devouring skill, now in its second form, not only allowed unlimited devouring of star beast cores, but also passively absorbed the life force of thirty green plants per day.

For Zhang Chu, this was like a cheat code from the heavens.

He spent the whole afternoon in the warehouse, absorbing the energy from thirty thousand-year-old clovers. Only then did he shower and get ready to go out.

Taking advantage of his leave, he planned to visit the martial artists’ black market.

…

Half an hour later, his handsome Lei Zhan L1 was parked by the black market.

Zhang Chu, accustomed to the stares and cellphone cameras, headed straight for “Old Li’s Little Shop.”

Just as he entered, he saw a group of mercenaries leaving after a trade.

“You brat, after going into the star beast burrow, I thought you’d never show up at Uncle Li’s again,” Li Dashan greeted him with delight.

“Not a chance—Uncle Li’s hotpot is always worth mooching,” Zhang Chu replied, having brought along two bottles of fine liquor as a gift.

“You and Wang Peng are really the pride of the orphanage now. Just passed by and saw your photos hanging at the entrance,” Li Dashan said, clapping Zhang Chu on the shoulder with pride. “Wang Peng’s phone has been ringing off the hook these days—all sorts of people claiming to be his long-lost family, some of their stories rivaling fiction.”

“Who knew the orphanage would play it like this?” Zhang Chu marveled at their publicity tactics. “Oh, Uncle Li, did you say Wang Peng’s photo is hanging at the entrance?”

“Xiao Chu!” At that moment, Wang Peng came down from the second floor, radiant. Normally, he’d be in a business suit with his sales badge, but today he wore a white tracksuit and sported a fresh perm, looking quite the heartthrob. “Not working today, are you?”

“Check this out!” Wang Peng said excitedly, tossing over a badge and slinging an arm around Zhang Chu’s shoulders. “Starting today, I can finally keep up with you. From now on, we’ll conquer the world together!”

“Holy—!” Zhang Chu’s eyes lit up at the badge. “Uncle Li’s words really were prophetic. You actually became a Heaven’s Chosen! Quick, tell me, what talent did you awaken?”

“Heaven’s Gifted Skill: Hypnosis!” Wang Peng declared proudly, thumping his chest.

Going from the bottom to the top overnight—who wouldn’t be elated for years on end?

Hypnosis?

Hearing that Wang Peng had awakened such an outrageous and sneaky psychic skill, Zhang Chu suddenly had a wicked idea. “Got time tomorrow? Help me out—we’re going to the Martial Control Bureau to find someone!”

Fang Danan loved to play dirty, didn’t he? Well, tomorrow, Zhang Chu would see him utterly disgraced in front of everyone at the Bureau!