"Excuse me, what is your relationship with Xu Ke…?"

"Is Xu Ke a philanderer? You two girls are here looking for him; do you have something in mind?"

"Based on your knowledge of Xu Ke, do you happen to know when he and Wong Qifu got together?"

One after another, the reporters bombarded them with questions, peppering them with blatant nonsense.

The two men and two women were immediately cornered and unable to move, their expressions turning ugly in an instant. One of the men, in particular, began to grow pale.

"We don't know! Stop crowding around us!" one of the women shrieked.

"Don't… don't crowd me…" At that moment, the pale-faced man began to gasp for air, looking as if he were about to suffocate.

Seeing this, the reporters were startled.

What's wrong with this person? Could he have some kind of illness?

Their faces changed dramatically. If someone were to die during this interview, the situation would get seriously out of hand.

So, the group of encircling reporters began to quietly back away.

They had merely intended to create public animosity toward Xu Ke; causing a death would be a disaster. Besides, whether this person lived or died was secondary. If he died and their companies were held responsible, it would derail their careers. That would be a classic case of shooting themselves in the foot.

Upon seeing them start to retreat from his vantage point on the floor above, Xu Ke smiled.

Since you're already here, you don't get to decide when you leave.

At that moment, seven or eight more people wielding cameras of all sizes charged in from outside the circle of reporters, surrounding them from various angles and closing in…

"Hello, what is your relationship with Xu Ke?"

"Could you briefly reveal if Mister Xu had any romantic history before he got together with Wong Qifu?"

"Have you witnessed the romance between Mister Xu and Miss Wang…"

Seeing these seven or eight people, the reporters who had been trying to retreat paled.

Where did these bastards come from?!

They were trying to leave, but these newcomers had herded them right back in.

As a result, the circle didn't loosen; instead, it grew even tighter!

The space compressed further, becoming unbearably cramped.

Just then, someone among the seven or eight new "reporters" stealthily gave the pale-faced man a wink.

The man understood.

He immediately clenched his fists and clutched his chest in pain. "Ah… ah… I can't… breathe…"

Before he could finish his sentence, an expression of extreme agony twisted his face.

Then, he collapsed to the ground with a THUD. His body began to tremble and convulse uncontrollably, froth bubbling from the corners of his mouth.

Witnessing this, everyone's expression changed drastically.

Did someone just die?!

"The media hounded someone to death!"

"Damn it, these people have no conscience!"

The remaining man and two women began wailing dramatically. As they shouted, tears streamed from their eyes as if on cue.

These tears came so readily!

The original group of reporters, who hadn't managed to escape in time, turned ashen.

With this, the entire situation had changed completely!

Originally, under the direction of their behind-the-scenes orchestrator, their plan was simply to harass passersby to provoke Xu Ke into losing his temper. That way, they could seize the opportunity to get new material to further smear his name. Failing that, even if Xu Ke kept his cool, they could still generate public resentment towards him and get him miserably chased out of the neighborhood.

Why would a kept man like you leave a perfectly good mansion to come show off in an urban village?

But now, they had only been at it for two days, and before they had even backed Xu Ke into a corner, they'd landed themselves in a huge mess.

They had caused a death!

The situation had spiraled out of control!

They could already imagine how their peers—sharks that smelled blood in the water—would report on the day's events. Those media outlets that hadn't participated in hounding Xu Ke would descend like a pack of starving wolves, tearing them to pieces to wring out every last drop of news value.

The Wang Family would definitely seize on this news as well, using it to reprimand them and gain even more control over public opinion.

At this moment, some people in the crowd had already started shouting plausible-sounding accusations. "A reckless disregard for human life! These reporters would do anything for a sensational headline…"

"Foaming at the mouth! Harassed by reporters, an innocent bystander collapses from a medical episode, his life hanging in the balance…"

These shouting individuals weren't hired by Xu Ke; they were just a few independent media bloggers from the upper floors. They were already excitedly writing their headlines, happy to stir the pot. After all, they had been thoroughly disgusted by these unscrupulous reporters for the past two days. Now that things had escalated, they weren't about to miss an opportunity to kick a man when he's down.

What truly terrified the original reporters was the sound of camera shutters clicking behind them.

Hearing the accusations and the cameras, the panic-stricken reporters grew even more desperate to flee. But the seven or eight "reporters" gave them no chance, pushing their way further into the crowd with all their might.

Following this, a wave of murmurs rose from the onlookers.

"What a bunch of bastards. They're so desperate for a story they'd risk someone's life."

"We need to record this! Let everyone see the true face of this unscrupulous media."

"Their press credentials should be revoked immediately! They're absolute scum!"

"…"

Hearing the disdain, the reporters' faces turned deathly white.

They were finished!

Their companies and the powerful families who had given them their orders likely had ways to evade punishment. But they, the grunts with no background, no power, and no money, were doomed to be nailed to the pillar of shame with no way down.

At this thought, they grew even more frantic to escape.

They couldn't let their faces be captured on camera!

If they were, it was all over!

Seeing their predicament, the seven or eight "reporters" all smirked and pushed even harder, squeezing them in. One of them immediately turned on the others, shouting, "I just got here and saw the whole thing! These people are shameless! They actually tried to shove a microphone down this poor guy's throat!"

"What scumbags!"

"Forget interviewing Xu Ke, I'm going to expose all of you today!"

At this, the first group of reporters felt their souls leave their bodies.

So it's true, colleagues really are enemies! Even at a time like this, their first instinct is to go after us?

Witnessing the scene unfold, Xu Ke couldn't help but laugh.

How is their acting still so good?!

In reality, the two men, two women, and the seven or eight "reporters" were all good friends of his. The first group of four were drama students. The others had genuinely been reporters and independent media creators before switching careers earlier in the year.

These were the same friends Siao Jia had invited to Xu Ke's home and taken advantage of not long ago.

So, when Xu Ke had reached out to them yesterday, they, already feeling guilty about the past incident, agreed without hesitation.

Xu Ke had assumed he would need to explain his relationship with Wong Qifu, ask for their understanding, and discuss payment. But they wouldn't hear of it.

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