The Tempting Road to Becoming an Official

In the elevator, four sturdy men.

Though not tall, each of them was robust.

One of them had a beard with a mean look on his face - probably the type who could scare kids to tears with just a glare.

Besides these four men, there was also a little girl, probably in her twenties, thin and small, shrinking into a corner – it seemed like she hid away after seeing that these men were up to no good, frightened to one side.

"Hey, big brother, is that you?"

Chen Fang called out in fake surprise.

The leader was the same guy who had been sitting in the passenger seat earlier.

Bald, face full of brawn, incessantly chewing something – probably betel nut.

When he saw Chen Fang, he was also stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized and asked, "Aren't you…"

"Right right right, I'm the one who just gave you directions… didn't you also hand me a pack of cigarettes? Heh heh…"

Chen Fang interjected quickly.

Bald frowned and asked, "You work here?"

When he asked this question, the other three men seemed to tense up.

"Work here? Haha, no, I'll level with you big brother, I'm here to chase a celebrity."

"Chase a celebrity? Which celebrity?"

Bald asked.

Chen Fang leaned toward Bald, purposely lowering his voice, "Big brother, have you heard of Qi Kexin?"

"Qi Kexin?"

At that name, Bald glanced at his companions again, on alert.

After a pause, he said, "Seems like I've heard of her, is she an actress?"

"Exactly, an in-demand actress, beautiful as can be. I heard she's staying in this hotel. I waited all day before I dared to come in."

While talking.

The elevator stopped.

The little girl from the corner hurriedly scurried out.

Then, Bald made a signal with his eyes to the bearded man.

After getting out of the elevator, Bald put his arm around Chen Fang's shoulder and headed straight to the emergency exit, took out a cigarette, and asked, "Little brother, I'm rather interested in this celebrity chasing of yours. What do you normally do? Ask for autographs?"

"Big brother, how much do you think an autograph is worth?"

At this point.

Chen Fang sneakily looked around.

He said, "I won't lie to you big brother, we're professional fans. Wherever the celebrity is, that's where we go, then we try to steal things like female stars' stockings or underwear, or even a lollipop she's sucked on, and we can sell them for a good price."

"How much can you sell them for?"

Bald asked with keen interest.

Chen Fang pretended to boast, "Let me tell you, for a star like Qi Kexin, an old pair of stockings can easily sell for tens of thousands, let alone underwear – those start at a minimum of fifty or sixty thousand..."

"That much?"

Bald couldn't help exclaiming out loud.

Then he quickly checked his surroundings again, to prevent others from hearing.

"Little brother, how about we team up for this?"

Knowing that Bald had taken the bait.

Chen Fang furrowed his brows, "How would we collaborate?"

Bald said, "I'll get you the stockings and underwear of that woman Qi Kexin, and you help me sell them. Afterward, we can split the profits fifty-fifty, how about that?"

"Heh heh, big brother, you must be joking. You think these celebs just hand out their panties and stockings for the taking?"

"Of course she won't give them, but we can just kidnap her, that's all."

Bald said.

Chen Fang pretended to be nervous and quickly covered Bald's mouth.

He said, "Big brother, we can't just talk nonsense like that. She is a big star and kidnapping her, we'd be finished – even with money, we'd have no life to spend it."

Bald handed over another cigarette.

Patting his chest, he said, "Little brother, meeting you must be fate. My name is Niu Yongjie, but most know me as Boss Niu. The guys keeping watch outside, they're all my brothers. We've come to Changming County specifically for Qi Kexin. Originally, we were hired to just kidnap her and take her away, but since little brother, you have a way to make money, we could join forces. The kidnapping has nothing to do with you; we'll handle that. As for her personal belongings, you can take them all, and as for the money, you decide how much to give. How about that deal?"

Chen Fang didn't agree immediately.

Or else it might have given away his game.

Seeing Chen Fang still frowning, Bald hurriedly remarked, "Little brother, if you want to make money, you've got to be bold. We'll do the illegal part; all you have to do is sell stuff, so what's there to be afraid of? Besides, you might not even be able to steal those things, right? Wouldn't this trip be in vain?"

"But..."

"There's nothing else to it, that's settled."

The bald man said anxiously.

Chen Fang gritted his teeth deliberately and said, "Alright, big brother, since you hold your little brother in such high regard, if I still refuse, I would be off the rails. So be it, we'll share the blessings and face the troubles together. When it comes to kidnapping, I'll join you. That way I can also judge what items can be sold and what can't, to maximize the profits."

"That's…"

This time, it was the bald man who hesitated.

After thinking it over, he said, "It's possible, but there's one condition. Once we get our hands on the goods, you need to pay upfront. As for how much they sell for later, that's none of my business. If you're okay with that, then we can set off right now."

"Okay."

Chen Fang said.

The bald man's face lit up with joy.

He immediately called the three people outside to come in.

They whispered among themselves for a while.

The men were blinded by greed; as soon as they heard there was extra money to be shared, they all perked up excitedly.

Now their target had been confirmed.

Chen Fang had already made up his mind.

He would find the right opportunity to call the police.

But as they discussed,

The bald man's eyes kept a close watch on Chen Fang; clearly, despite their greed, they still didn't fully trust Chen Fang.

A few minutes later.

The four men opened their backpacks.

They took out machetes and other items.

Then,

One after another, as if no one else was around, they arrived at the door of a room.

The others hid around the corners.

The bald man stepped forward and knocked on the door.

A woman's voice from inside asked, "Who is it?"

"Hello, we are from hotel maintenance. There's a problem with your plumbing that we need to fix."

As he said these words, Chen Fang was praying in his heart.

He hoped the person inside wouldn't be foolish enough to open the door right away.

But the result was disappointing.

Not long after the shout, the door clicked open.

The bald man jammed his foot in the door gap, then with a strong push, he entered, followed quickly by the others who also made their way into the room.

The woman's scream was about to rise.

But was quickly silenced, as someone had already covered her mouth.

As soon as Chen Fang walked into the room, the door was closed behind him.

At the sight of the woman on the floor, Chen Fang's heart skipped a beat.

Wasn't this young lady the same woman they had seen in the elevator just before?

Could it be that she was Qi Kexin's agent?

There was no time to think more.

For the bald man's scolding voice was already sounding from inside: "If you don't want to die, then keep your mouth shut, or I'll kill you right now."

Chen Fang looked up.

He saw it was a suite.

There was a living room on the outside, lavishly decorated.

On the sofa, a woman in a bathrobe was terrified out of her wits, nodding continuously in front of the knife in Niu Yongjie's hand.

It was indeed Qi Kexin.

A woman with a gentle and innocent appearance.

She was the leading actress in a recently popular period drama, and her face was captivating enough to enchant all living beings.

Her fans had given her an indelicate nickname, "Innate Widowed Holy Body," showing just how pitifully beautiful that face was.

"Kid, come here."

After dealing with the two women in the room,

Niu Yongjie's call interrupted Chen Fang's thoughts.