Chapter 152: Special Talent

Liu Jingye was stunned for a moment. Although the talk of keeping a mistress was just a joke, Tang Shiya had actually named her price.

Looking at the eighty-two yuan in total inside his wallet, Liu Jingye scratched his head and asked, "Can I pay a 0.1 percent down payment?"

Tang Shiya was speechless, a bitter smile tugging at her lips. She had asked for eight million, yet he offered eighty, and even had the nerve to call it a down payment. Only he could say something like that with a straight face.

"Forget it, don't take it too seriously. I'll go and be right back," Tang Shiya said, turning around to comfort him instead.

Yet today, Liu Jingye was stubbornly determined to make an issue of it. "I just can't stand the way corrupt officials bully the innocent and act as if they own the world."

"I appreciate your sense of justice, and thank you for being willing to help me. But I don't want to trouble you," Tang Shiya said firmly. She wiped her face, and under the stage lighting, she looked radiant and breathtakingly beautiful. If any KTV were to have a supreme beauty like her, business would undoubtedly skyrocket.

Just as Liu Jingye was about to say something more, Tang Shiya suddenly pulled out her phone and held it before his eyes.

A text message on the screen read: "My girl, I'm begging you to save my life!"

The message had been sent just five minutes ago. Liu Jingye paused slightly, instantly grasping the crux of the matter. He lowered his voice and said, "This is a distress text from your old man. He's being pressed for debts again, and since he can't pay, Tan Yifeng came to you and made you keep Wu Jie company with drinks and conversation... In other words, your father actually owes money to Tan Yifeng, and Tan is using that to coerce you into acting as his public relations tool."

Tang Shiya glanced at Liu Jingye and silently nodded.

Liu Jingye asked, "Does your father owe them eight million in total?"

"And it's a compounding debt," Tang Shiya said helplessly. "Although my appearance fees and salaries aren't low, the agency takes a huge cut, and after taxes, I simply can't clear his debts all at once. Besides, the interest snowballs way too fast. What's worse, he has no shame and is still gambling, living the high life every single day. Whenever the debt collectors close in, he comes crying to me for help. I really..."

Though she left the sentence unfinished, Liu Jingye knew she truly wanted to give up. As the saying goes, there are no dutiful children before a long-term sickbed, let alone in a situation like theirs where her father was practically courting his own death.

As she spoke, Tang Shiya's eyes grew red once more. Grieving over having such a good-for-nothing father, tears rolled down her face like precious pearls. She choked out, "He's trying to drive me to my grave. Sooner or later, he'll force me to sell my body."

Tang Shiya struggled hard to suppress her emotions, her very tears falling as if in secret. This glamorous superstar, adored by the public, harbored such unspeakable torment.

"Alright, I'll go over and deal with it first," Tang Shiya gathered her sorrow, pulling herself together. "I have to get through this somehow. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Liu Jingye paused slightly, looking at Tang Shiya's flushed face, feeling as though she were deliberately trying to reassure him.

With that, she stood up and walked toward the door, giving a slight nod as she passed Tan Yifeng.

Watching Tang Shiya walk out the door, it felt as though she were heading heroically toward a firing squad—step by halting step, heavy with sorrow.

"I can't just let her be thrown into the tiger's den like this," Liu Jingye felt a pang of deep distress in his heart. He thought to himself, "Even if she has ways to protect herself, it's inevitable that a corrupt official will take advantage of her. How can any man just sit by and do nothing!"

Liu Jingye pondered for a moment. That Wu Jie was an official from the provincial government and a leading candidate for the next municipal secretary. The only reason he dared to act so brazenly here was because this private club offered absolute security.

"We just need to make it unsecure for him," a cold smirk tugged at the corner of Liu Jingye's lips.

He stood up and walked out. The others were too engrossed in their merrymaking to pay him any mind.

Under normal circumstances, nobody knew Wu Jie was here, let alone which private room he occupied, save for Young Master Feng and a few others involved. But even if they knew, no one would dare ruin Wu Jie's good time.

"Tan Yifeng is currently being watched by Fatty, keeping him tangled up so he can't break away. Perfect timing for me to pull the rug out from under you."

Thinking to himself, Liu Jingye sneaked upstairs to the small private rooms. The entire club had been booked by Young Master Feng, so there were no other guests. The corridor was deathly quiet without a single sound, the staff staying far away since guests commanded total privacy unless summoned.

"The method to deal with a corrupt official couldn't be simpler," Liu Jingye smiled faintly. "Right now, the authorities are cracking down hard on official corruption, and all these bureaucrats are walking on thin ice. A little scare tactics will do the trick!"

Liu Jingye strolled around until he found the room where Tang Shiya was. Treading softly, he pushed the door open a crack and indeed saw Tang Shiya sitting on the sofa. Only she and Wu Jie were inside, and at that moment, Wu Jie had risen to pour her a drink.

Liu Jingye smiled softly to himself, thinking, "Next up, let me perform a magic trick for you both. Now is the moment to witness a miracle!"

He cleared his throat, secretly prying the door open just a tiny sliver so his voice could carry inside, and then...

"Hey, Xiao Wang, hurry up and gather all the security guards in the club! I just received a tip-off that a busybody journalist managed to sneak inside... We have very important guests visiting today, and we absolutely cannot let reporters ruin the mood. Mobilize all security and find them immediately!"

Liu Jingye spoke in a deep, authoritative tone. Both Wu Jie and Tang Shiya inside the room were struck dumb with astonishment because, to their ears, this was the exact voice of the club's owner!

This was Liu Jingye's hidden talent—an almost identical voice mimicry, achieved through miraculous and one-in-a-million vocal cord control.

Just as the shock settled, Liu Jingye spoke again: "Listen up, while you search, you are strictly forbidden from disturbing our esteemed guests. Also, give a discreet heads-up to the guests and advise them not to leave their rooms. I'm worried that reporter might have planted covert recording and filming equipment."

With that, Liu Jingye peeked into the room. Sure enough, Wu Jie was as frantic as an ant on a hot pan, pacing around the room in a panic, not even daring to step outside to check the situation. Tang Shiya also looked extremely nervous, repeatedly glancing toward the door yet too frightened to move.

Liu Jingye smiled faintly. If you're going to act, you have to commit all the way.

Feigning hurried footsteps from outside, he lifted his legs high in place to create the illusion of rushed running. Remarkably, he switched to a woman's voice—nervous, anxious, and crisp—imitating it to perfection: "Boss, quite a few reporters have shown up near our entrance too! They're lurking around with professional cameras like paparazzi. I went out to take a look just now and overheard them saying a top celebrity is here, and they're staking out the place to catch a scandal!"

Immediately afterward, Liu Jingye switched back to the persona of the club owner and commanded, "Quickly, find a way to chase them off!"

Having said that, Liu Jingye pretended to scurry away in a panic, though he actually just hid around the corner of the staircase. Before long, Tang Shiya emerged from the private room, looking left and right down the empty, desolate hallway.

She frowned in confusion, feeling entirely at a loss as to what to do next.

"Hey, over here!" Liu Jingye called out in a low voice.

The moment she saw him, it was as if she had suddenly found her anchor. She hurried over, whispering, "Let's go, let's get out of here quickly."

"Why are we leaving?" Liu Jingye asked with a smile.

"I heard a reporter managed to sneak in here, and it scared the wits out of that guy," Tang Shiya said. "Without another word, he threw me right out. Heh, I never imagined paparazzi could have such a useful side effect."

"Of course, we paparazzi have the power; trailing and covert filming keep us busy..." Liu Jingye quipped.

Tang Shiya froze instantly because the voice he had just used was none other than the club owner's—an exact match, as if the man himself were standing right before her.

A sudden flash of realization hit Tang Shiya, and she stared at him in utter shock. "You... it was you all along? How on earth did you do that?"

The young woman was too thrilled for words. Liu Jingye smiled faintly and, mimicking her exact voice and tone, replied, "You... it was you all along? How is that possible?"

Tang Shiya burst into laughter. "That is magical! How did you practice that?"

"Pure talent, entirely a gift," Liu Jingye said without an ounce of modesty.

"So all those voices just now were just an act you put on? You really gave me a fright," Tang Shiya laughed. "The guy inside was scared out of his mind. Too bad that room only had a sofa and a coffee table with no wardrobes; he probably wishes he could crawl inside the television set to hide right now."

"Who knows, he might even crawl into the toilet tank in a minute!" Liu Jingye chuckled.

After the banter and laughter, once the tension eased, Tang Shiya's eyes grew red again, her mood instantly plunging into despair.

Looking at her pitiful and forlorn expression, Liu Jingye gave a wry smile. "Hey, my friend, you really are a natural actress. How do you switch on these emotions so instantly?"

Tang Shiya choked back a sob. "The moment I walked through that door and that guy looked at me like a famished wolf spotting a fat sheep, rushing to pour me a drink... I even saw a box of pills on the table, and I had no idea if they were for him or meant to be slipped into my drink. It terrified me to death.

Even though you helped me bluff my way through today, as long as my father's debts remain unresolved, similar things are going to happen again. I can run away today, but I can't escape tomorrow. Tell me, what am I supposed to do?!"

The more Tang Shiya spoke, the more agitated she became, finally breaking down into deep sobs. Clearly, the scene in that private room had truly traumatized her.

Inside such an utterly secluded club, facing a high-ranking official who wielded immense power, and most critically, with her weakness held firmly in his grip—if Wu Jie had forced his hand upon her, she truly would have had no escape from his clutches.

Seeing her weep with such escalating grief, Liu Jingye began to panic as well. Hesitantly, he raised a hand, lingering for a long moment before finally resting it gently on her shoulder. He coaxed, "Stop crying. Crying won't solve anything. I think you should contact your father as soon as possible, find out the exact situation, and then figure out a concrete solution."

Tang Shiya seemed not to hear him at all, crying even more bitterly until she finally buried her face straight into Liu Jingye's chest, clinging to him tightly as her tears soaked through the fabric of his shirt.

Tang Shiya was too exhausted, truly terrified, and on the verge of breaking. Yet that man was her father; even if she wanted to give up, she couldn't, forced instead to endure it bitterly, walking as though through eternal darkness with neither light nor hope in sight.

Once upon a time, her father had been her pillar of support, but now that pillar had collapsed—and worse, it had crashed down onto her back, slowly crushing her. After all, she was only a woman, and the time had come when she desperately needed to find another pillar of support, a lifelong one at that.