Reboot the heyday

Chapter 3505: Evil people still need to be punished by evil people

"not like this!"

Quan Meng'er's face drained of color instantly, as if all her strength had been drained away. She staggered back a step, staring at Wang Taika in disbelief.

Although she denied it, that was the reality. Her biggest trump card, the ultimate weapon she thought she could use to fight to the death, was easily exposed by the other party at the very first meeting.

This feeling of having nowhere to hide terrified and despaired her more than a direct threat.

Looking at her horrified expression, Wang Taika felt no smugness, but rather a complex and indescribable emotion. He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sharp as a knife, yet also carrying a rare, almost self-mocking pity.

"How would I know? Because if I were in your position, I would most likely do the same."

Wang Taika's tone was calm, yet it carried a penetrating power: "You're petty, overly sensitive and suspicious. You don't easily process grievances; they ferment in your heart like wine, eventually turning into hatred. Once you feel there's no way out, you think about overturning the table and ruining everyone together. Quan Meng'er, I know your tricks all too well; it's like looking in a mirror."

Quan Meng'er was completely stunned. She had never imagined that she was seen this way in Wang Taika's eyes, let alone that he would so bluntly categorize them as the same kind.

What's even stranger is that this realization made her feel an absurd sense of shame, while at the same time she felt a strange sense of being understood.
"Okay." Quan Meng'er admitted it, because she really had no other choice.

Wang Taika said, “We’ve known each other for a long time, and we have some relationship. Don’t worry, I don’t want to kill you. But I also know that simply suppressing someone as bad as myself is useless. You will only hate more and want revenge more. No matter how long you lie dormant, you will bite back like a venomous snake as long as you have the chance. I know this kind of personality too well. If you don’t cut the weeds at the root, they will grow back in the spring.”

Quan Meng'er found it absurd and laughable, because it seemed Wang Taika wasn't just insulting her, but also him. He really was a strange person.

"Let me think about how to deal with you."

Wang Taika still showed mercy to Quan Meng'er because her personality flaws were similar to his own, which was why he understood her methods so well.

It was as absurd as seeing another version of myself in the world.

Wang Taika wasn't trying to help Quan Meng'er; it was more like she was helping her inner self. So she decided to help Quan Meng'er turn over a new leaf, but she also knew that Quan Meng'er's personality meant she wouldn't give up unless she truly instilled utter fear in her.

Alright, let's just arrange for someone to find a place to keep a close watch on Quan Meng'er and scare her a little.

Wang Taika pondered for a moment, then walked back to his desk and pressed the intercom button: "Have Da Chui come in for a moment."

The bald, burly man quickly pushed open the door and entered. Zhou Dachui, whom we hadn't seen for a long time, reappeared, still with that expressionless look.

Wang Taika pointed at the distraught Quan Meng'er and instructed Zhou Dachui, "Take her to a quiet place to rest for a while. Confiscate all her communication devices and let her think about life. No one is allowed to see her without my permission, and she cannot contact the outside world."

Upon hearing this, Quan Meng'er looked up in horror: "You're going to lock me up? That's illegal!"

Wang Taika laughed, but there was no warmth in his smile: "Illegal? Quan Meng'er, when you planned to use that video to threaten me, did you think about whether it was legal? I'm just giving you a chance to calm down. To let you think carefully in an absolutely quiet environment about whether your so-called grievances and those extreme methods can actually solve the problem, and what kind of abyss they will lead you into."

Step by step, Wang Taika walked up to Quan Meng'er, looking down at her with a low but undeniably authoritative voice: "Remember this lesson. Fear is sometimes the best teacher. Once you truly understand where you went wrong and how you should proceed in the future, perhaps we can talk. If you still can't figure it out..."

Wang Taika didn't finish speaking, but the chill in his eyes sent a shiver down Quan Meng'er's spine.

As Quan Meng'er was led away from the office that symbolized power and decisiveness, her initial anger and madness receded like the tide, leaving behind a bone-chilling coldness and emptiness. She was then blindfolded and taken away, eventually placed in a quiet, almost isolated apartment. There was no cell phone, no internet, only four white walls and people watching her.

But reassuringly, no one would harm her. The ordeal she had anticipated did not materialize.

But no one paid any attention to it, which was very upsetting.

In the absolute silence, her delicate and sensitive nerves, which had been obscured by anger, began to awaken again, and fragments of the past played repeatedly in her mind like a silent film.

Quan Meng'er is essentially an extremely sensitive and even somewhat fragile person. She craves recognition, needs, and the spotlight. This desire was amplified to the extreme after she became an idol.

However, within the group AOA, there are many dazzling individuals. There's a leader with a natural center position and powerful charisma, a lead vocalist with a unique voice and exceptional talent, and a visually striking individual with a strong sense of variety.
And she, Quan Meng'er, always seems to be that somewhat vague existence.

At first, she felt a little disappointed and envious. She would secretly observe the members' every word and action, imitate the expressions she found cute, and learn how others spoke in a popular way. She practiced hard, hoping to get more attention on stage.

But at some point, this positive effort turned into endless internal friction and comparison.

She would interpret a member's unintentional glance as disdain. A casual joke would be taken as sarcasm. Add to that the slightest discrepancy in the allocation of company resources, and she would see it as favoritism and unfairness.

So Quan Meng'er began to weave a feeling in her mind: she was the one who was ignored, ostracized, and received the least.

A typical example of a self-destructive personality, where one only thinks of blaming others when problems arise, which is indeed similar to Wang Taika's personality.

But Wang Taika has one thing that others can't match: he has a clear understanding of himself.

Wang Taika is fully aware that this is actually his own problem. He just sometimes pretends not to know. Although it's utterly absurd, at least it doesn't implicate innocent people.

But Quan Meng'er was different. She genuinely believed she was innocent, that she was the victim, and that she was truly wronged. She felt she deserved more.

This mindset, like a vine, entwined her heart, distorting her perspective on the world. She began to view those around her with the utmost malice, interpreting every slight movement as a conspiracy against her. Normal competition and adjustment within the group became, in her eyes, backstabbing and infighting. The company's market-based decisions were interpreted by her as attempts to suppress her.

Quan Meng'er did try to struggle. She wanted to prove herself with better performances, but her eagerness for quick success led to more mistakes on stage. She wanted to open up to the members, but her sensitivity and inferiority complex prevented her from being truly honest. What she said often turned into barbed probing or complaints, pushing the relationship further apart.

Wang Taika's appearance was like a mirror, shattering all of Quan Meng'er's pretense and self-deception. A casual decision excluded her from the comeback plan, and that undisguised, condescending indifference was more devastating to her daughter than any accusation.

Because this is tantamount to directly denying her value, declaring that all her internal conflicts and all her self-constructed victimhood are just a ridiculous joke.

Finally, for the first time, after the fear and loneliness of being under house arrest, Quan Meng'er began to reflect on her twisted idol career and belatedly realized that she didn't actually have any major conflicts with the others. The members may have their own flaws, but they were far from deserving to deliberately persecute her.

What truly caused her pain was her own overly sensitive, constantly internally conflicted, and ultimately unbalanced heart. She herself wove a cage of imagined thorns, ultimately trapping herself within it.

"Was I really wrong?" Quan Meng'er finally had this question, but the empty room offered no response.

(End of this chapter)