“How did you get here?”
Hui Jin sat up, becoming alert.
‘This guy never shows up for anything good.’
“Looks like I’m not very welcome.” Xia Che shrugged helplessly. “It’s work stuff… but before that, what’s going on here?”
“Th-this…”
Li Jianming’s legs trembled like sieves, his heart feeling like it was about to leap out of his throat.
He didn’t even dare look at Hui Jin anymore—
The look in that girl’s eyes just now… was no joke!
He really felt like he was going to be killed!
What a joke—
A super popular hero actually saying something like that.
He had to expose her, ruin her!
Oh no, his pants felt wet…
“These two claim to be from the Clarion Call, illegally trespassing and conducting an unauthorized interview. I was just about to kick them out,” Hui Jin said flatly.
“I see…”
Xia Che nodded thoughtfully.
“Excuse me, sir, could I take a look at the interview footage just now?”
Before he could step forward, Li Jianming blocked him.
“Sorry, this is an exclusive interview. We can’t disclose it to anyone before publication!”
Xia Che put on a polite smile and showed them the credentials he’d just gotten on his phone.
He hadn’t expected them to come in handy so soon.
“I’m Miss Hui Jin’s manager. I have the right to review any media files related to her. Also, I don’t recall receiving any appointment for an interview tonight. Any idea what’s going on?”
“Brother Li, what do we do?” Xiao Lin quickly asked.
Li Jianming’s legs were still shaking, but he didn’t want to lose face in front of his junior, so he snapped:
“Wh-what do we do…? You’re asking me! No initiative at all!”
He glared at the smiling young man in front of him, his face dark as thunder.
How was this possible?
Didn’t Hui Jin not have a manager yet?
But those credentials were clearly real…
Just hired this afternoon?
Tch, what rotten luck!
During the period when a hero just joined the Task Force and hadn’t found a manager yet, it was essentially an “incomplete contract,” and the Task Force couldn’t interfere with many media actions.
The Clarion Call had seized this opportunity to snag plenty of “exclusive interviews,” even though many heroes hadn’t agreed to them.
But in journalism, as long as it brought enough traffic and profit, it was good news!
After years of scrambling in this industry, that had become Li Jianming’s principle.
He would do anything for traffic, even if it meant printing fake news on the front page.
He had to get this material out!
Li Jianming rubbed his hands together and forced a smile:
“I think there’s some kind of misunderstanding here. Since the manager has spoken, we won’t intrude. We’ll be on our way now.”
With that, he gave Xiao Lin a big wink and started to slip away.
But Xia Che dashed to the door in one stride.
Swoosh—bang!
The door slammed shut.
Xia Che stood in front of it, blocking it completely, yet still maintaining a polite smile.
“Now, we can talk properly.”
He reached out to Xiao Lin.
“The footage, please let me see it.”
The two exchanged glances.
Despite Li Jianming frantically shaking his head, Xiao Lin handed over the camera anyway.
Who could refuse?
Hui Jin behind them stared daggers into his back, making him feel like his neck was about to be twisted off at any moment.
Between his career and his life, he chose survival.
“Thanks.”
Xia Che took the camera and started reviewing the footage.
At first he kept his smile, but when he saw Hui Jin say “I’ll kill you,” he finally lost it, rubbing his forehead and twitching his lips.
He looked at Hui Jin, who had curled herself into a ball, only her small head visible.
Noticing his gaze, the girl guiltily looked away, pretending to admire the view outside the window.
It was hard to imagine a magical girl saying “I’ll kill you” to ordinary citizens.
In Xia Che’s understanding, Hui Jin wasn’t like that.
‘Could it be combat trauma making her unstable, plus those two guys’ words provoked her?’
He raised his head and looked at the two men with a scrutinizing gaze, making their hair stand on end before he spoke.
“…If the Task Force finds out about this, what do you think will happen? Suspension? Firing? Or a huge fine?”
The photographer, clearly young, turned pale with fear at those words.
“I can choose not to hold you accountable, but…”
Xia Che pressed the delete button, wiping the footage completely.
He also checked the cloud files before handing the camera back to Xiao Lin.
“I’ve deleted this video.”
“You…!”
Li Jianming wanted to say more.
“You don’t have the right to negotiate.”
Xia Che opened the door.
“If you still have something to say, how about coming with me to the Task Force for a chat?”
The middle-aged man gritted his teeth, looking like he’d swallowed a fly.
After a long pause, he finally deflated, his arms hanging limply at his sides.
“Xiao Lin, let’s go.”
“Oh… oh!”
Before leaving, Li Jianming turned back, intending to glare at Hui Jin like a sinister villain in a story.
But the moment he turned, he met the girl’s icy gaze.
A cruel smile curved across her lips.
She made a throat-slitting gesture, her cherry lips moving silently:
“I’ll kill you.”
Oh, scared me to death!
Watching the two scramble into the elevator, Xia Che withdrew his gaze and looked helplessly at the girl on the bed, still nonchalantly admiring the scenery.
“Miss Hui Jin, do you have anything to say?”
Xia Che asked.
“Nothing to say.”
The girl blinked innocently, almost playfully.
Xia Che let out a deep sigh and sat at the head of Hui Jin’s bed.
“Were you serious about those words? As a hero…”
“If you’re going to scold me, save it.”
Hui Jin interrupted him calmly.
“I have no intention of pleasing anyone.”
Seeing the girl so unyielding, Xia Che was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly.
“…Even if it might hurt Xiao Chi?”
“What does this have to do with Xiao Chi?”
Hui Jin’s tone remained calm.
But her hand quietly clenched—
‘she cares like crazy, doesn’t she.’
Xia Che pretended not to notice these details and explained.
“Feizuan’s debut battle and her most famous ‘Miracle Battle’ both featured you. Plus, with your popularity skyrocketing, there are a lot of discussions online about the relationship between you two.”
He handed his phone to Hui Jin.
Under the topic “Hui Jin and Feizuan Relationship,” there were various tags, including but not limited to:
#IsHuiJinFeizuansSisterOrYoungerSister #WhoIsTheTopAndWhoIsTheBottom #HuiFei99 #HuiJinIsFeizuansMom…
Each one had tens of millions of views.
“Wh-what is all this?”
The girl’s face instantly flushed.
“People love this kind of thing…”
Xia Che took back his phone and shrugged.
“So do you understand? You’re a public figure now. Your words don’t just affect yourself—they affect the people around you.”
He looked at Hui Jin seriously.
“Have you thought about what would happen to Feizuan if that line of yours got exposed? Have a little sense of being a public figure, Hui Jin.”
“You… don’t get to scold me.”
The girl was still stubborn, but her momentum had weakened.
She turned her face away, avoiding his gaze.
Seeing Hui Jin like this, Xia Che’s attitude softened.
He sighed and said gently.
“What those two said was outrageous too, I agree.”
But Hui Jin… your reaction was exactly what those people wanted.
“I’m in no position to demand anything from you, but if something like this happens again, I hope you’ll remember what I said now. Okay?”