A hundred flavors of life

Chapter 1268 Old De: Let's change the routine, I'm tired of it! (Please subscribe!)

P.S.: I'm late, sorry. Here's a 7,000-word post.

The ceiling fan in the courtroom creaked. The reporter stood in the dock, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes. The rotten eggs on her head had been cleaned off, but her once-permed hair had lost its shine. Stray hairs on her forehead were stuck to her face with sweat. Her expression was fearful and uneasy. Compared to her confident demeanor during the interview, she looked utterly disheveled.

When the presiding judge began reading the verdict, the entire courtroom fell silent.

"After hearing the case, this court holds that Suzhou TV, as a news media, should bear corresponding social responsibility, strictly adhere to the truthfulness and objectivity of its reporting, and prevent and eliminate fake news!"

"In this case, Suzhou TV failed to fulfill its responsibility of strict supervision, violated the legal obligation of TV stations to ensure the truthfulness of reports, and failed in its supervisory duties, thus bearing secondary responsibility in this case!"

"The defendant, Bian Wen, as the actual reporter for the 'Ordinary People' program, committed serious misreporting during the interview process."

The judge's stern voice echoed in the courtroom:

"Although he was an intern reporter, it has been verified that he was the one who orchestrated the malicious editing and misrepresentation of the entire report, and he bears the main responsibility for this case."

Bian Wen's face turned deathly pale instantly. She subconsciously looked towards the leadership section of Suzhou TV Station, only to find that the director, who was usually kind and gentle to her, was now looking at her with disgust.

The presiding judge continued;
"The facts of this case are clear, the evidence is sufficient, and neither party has any supplementary claims. After deliberation, this court hereby pronounces its judgment in court!"

The judgment is as follows!

"First, the defendant, Suzhou TV, must broadcast an apology statement during prime time for three consecutive days!"

"Second, the defendant Bian Wen must publish a written apology on the front page of the Suzhou Daily!"

Third, regarding economic compensation.

Bian Wen's heart raced. She saw Hua Shier looking at her with a half-smile, a gaze that made her feel uneasy.

"The defendant, Suzhou Television, shall compensate Suzhou Daily for economic losses of 680,000 yuan and for mental distress damages of 50,000 yuan. The defendant, Bian Wen, shall personally compensate Su Daqiang for economic and mental distress damages totaling 80,000 yuan."

This number made Bian Wen's legs go weak, and she almost knelt down.

Eighty thousand yuan!
As an intern reporter, her monthly salary was only a little over 600 yuan, which was equivalent to ten years' worth of her salary.

The reporter couldn't understand it. She just wanted to do a sensational report to get a promotion, so how did it end up like this?
After the verdict was announced, Bian Wen was led out of the courtroom by bailiffs like a zombie.

At the courthouse entrance, she was surrounded by a swarm of reporters.

"Ms. Bian, what are your thoughts on the verdict?"

"Ms. Bian, I heard that your press card has been revoked and you have been banned from working in the news industry for life. What do you think of this punishment?"

"Ms. Bian, the court has ordered you to pay 80,000 yuan in compensation. Do you have the ability to pay it? If not, will you choose to go out and sell yourself?"

The last question was so shocking that everyone was stunned and turned to look. They saw that the person asking the question was a young man in his early twenties with a frivolous smile.

At this moment, all of Bian Wen's negative emotions seemed to have found an outlet, and they burst out all at once. She yelled like a shrew.
"Which media outlet are you from? What's your name? I'm going to sue you."

The young man said, "I'm not a reporter, I'm just passing by!"

After saying this, he laughed heartily and smiled at the other reporters who were taking pictures of him, saying:
"I just wanted to ask her if she sells stinky tofu, why are you filming me? You must be thinking something else, ugh, disgusting!"

After he finished speaking, he appeared righteous and upright, gave everyone a disdainful look, and walked away with an air of righteous indignation.

As he left, he winked at Hua Twelve.

Hua Shier almost burst out laughing. That guy was none other than Xu Tailang Chao Ge! This move was indeed very reckless!
The flashbulbs kept going off. Bian Wen raised her hand to shield her face. She followed the young man's gaze as he left and saw Hua Shier standing on the steps with a mocking expression.

"Su Daqiang!"

Bian Wen suddenly broke free from the reporter and rushed over:
"Are you satisfied now? My life is completely ruined!"

Hua Shier turned around, his face still bearing that ambiguous, half-smiling expression:
“Miss Bian, that’s not right. It’s not me who ruined your life, it’s yourself! Besides, I personally believe that your life has only just begun!”

He took a step forward and lowered his voice:
"When you decided to use malicious editing to hurt me and gain attention, you should have thought this day would come."

Bian Wen wanted to say something, but was stopped by the bailiffs.

When the journalists saw Hua Shier come out of the courthouse, they immediately rushed over and held up their cameras and microphones in front of him, asking him to share his feelings and thoughts.

Hua Shier straightened his collar and said loudly:

"Thanks to Focus Interview and the law, I was cleared of all charges and made to believe that justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old president behind him applauded enthusiastically, leading everyone around him to clap along.

On the day the verdict was announced, Hua Shier called to thank Xiao Cui, Xiao Bai, and Deputy Director Zhang for their help, and even went out of his way to buy three Suzhou embroidery artworks to mail to them.

With the verdict finalized, Suzhou TV issued an apology during prime time, and major media outlets across the country reported on it, causing sales of physical copies of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" to soar.

Within just three days of its release, the first print run of 50 copies of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" sold out. The printing press of the Suzhou Daily never stopped, and the workers were working in three shifts but still couldn't keep up with the demand.

Hua Shier achieved his initial goal. After being featured on "Focus Interview," his novel "Ghost Blows Out the Light" became a nationwide sensation, riding the wave of popularity and online traffic.

Book dealers from various regions have almost all called the Suzhou Daily to purchase books.

The old president couldn't stop laughing for three days in a row. Later, he felt something was wrong and went to the hospital for a checkup. The doctor told him that he had arthritis, which is medically known as 'temporomandibular joint disorder syndrome'!
Hua Shier also had double good news: the sales of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" were booming, and triggering the incentive clauses in the contract was a done deal.

Then Old De called from the U.S., saying that he had acquired Random House Publishing and settled all the signing matters, and was just waiting for him to come over to sign the contract, or the other party could come over.

Meanwhile, Lao De also suggested that if the domestically published version of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" were translated into English and packaged as an "Oriental Archaeological Fantasy Classic," the marketing could use the gimmick of a Chinese version of Indiana Jones + "Tomb Raider" as a selling point, which should be very profitable.

Hua Shier thought it was a good idea, so he asked Lao De to communicate with the Suzhou Daily to find someone to translate "Ghost Blows Out the Light" and then list it in the United States to make money from the United States.

Actually, he could have easily abandoned the Suzhou Daily and made the money himself when publishing "Ghost Blows Out the Light" in the United States. However, the Suzhou Daily and its former editor-in-chief stood firmly by his side and helped him in various ways during the previous lawsuit. He couldn't leave that favor unpaid, so he decided to bring them along.

Although the former president may not reap any financial benefits, this achievement of overseas distribution makes it possible for him to advance further before retirement.

Two days later, the old president called Hua Shier, laughing heartily on the phone:

"Xiao Su, guess what good thing happened to us?"

Hua Shier found it amusing; he naturally knew it referred to publications from the Ugly Kingdom, and immediately reminded him with a smile.

"Take it easy, don't let your joy turn into sorrow. If your jaw keeps agape, it'll be troublesome!"

The laughter paused, followed by a fit of coughing. After the coughing subsided, someone said awkwardly:
"It's such a small matter, yet it got spread to you. It was purely an accident!"

The old president then told Hua Shier about a large publishing house in the Ugly Kingdom that wanted to collaborate with their newspaper to publish "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

The old president didn't pretend to be confused:

"Xiao Su, when we signed the contract, you didn't sign the overseas copyright agreement with the company. Now that you want to cooperate with them on your own, I have nothing to say."

Before he could finish speaking, Hua Shier interrupted:

"I hate trouble the most. How about the three of us cooperate? The company can handle the contract and other related matters for me."

The old president was overjoyed:
"That's great, Xiao Su. Don't worry, the agency will definitely get you the best contract terms. How about this: you come with us to the U.S., and the agency will cover all the expenses. Just think of it as a relaxing vacation there!"

Hua Shier had originally considered whether to go himself or have Lao De bring people to sign the contract, but upon hearing from the old president that everything would be reimbursed, he thought he absolutely had to enjoy the G-level travel package, and immediately smiled and said:
"Then I won't stand on ceremony with you, the plane must be in first class!"

The old president had never flown first class before and didn't know how much it cost. He figured it was just travel expenses, how expensive could it be? He immediately patted his chest and agreed, being very generous, and even said he would notify Hua Shier once the tickets were booked.
After hanging up the phone, he asked his secretary to book the plane tickets. However, when the secretary inquired about the price, she was shocked and didn't dare to make the decision herself. She immediately reported to the old president.
"They said that because it's the peak travel season during the summer vacation, the round-trip economy class ticket is 12,000 yuan!"

The old president was also astonished upon hearing this:
"So expensive? But if our publishing house can secure this overseas publishing deal, we might be willing to grit our teeth and do it. By the way, did you ask about first class? How much does it cost? If it's under 15,000, we can consider it!"

The secretary had a strange expression: "I also asked about the price of first class; it's 50,000 for a one-way trip and 100,000 for a round trip!"

"How much, how much?"

The old president was so shocked he almost bit his tongue, and when he tried to speak, he was so stunned he was incoherent:

"What? Just 100,000? Is it yen or rubles? Is 'first class' made of gold, or is 'cabin' made of gold?"

Before leaving, Hua Shier had one more thing to do: the compensation for reporter Bian had not yet been paid. After finding out where Bian lived, he went directly to his door to demand the money.

Reporter Bian is currently still living in the TV station's dormitory, but the station has given her a week to move out.

When Hua Shier came to collect the debt, it attracted a crowd of former colleagues, making the reporter feel extremely embarrassed and ashamed. She wanted to turn against him, but with so many people watching, she could only bite the bullet and promise to pay back 20,000 within three days and the remaining 60,000 within two months.

As soon as Hua Shier left, the reporter went outside to make a phone call, asking her current boyfriend to meet and discuss countermeasures.

The next day, Hua Shier received a call from the old president, informing him that all the arrangements for his trip abroad had been made and that he would travel from Suzhou to Shanghai in three days, and from there fly directly to New York, the United States.

When good things happen, Hua Shier goes to the company that night to drink with Xiao Ma, Zhengtai, and others.

At the dinner table, Xu Zhengtai slammed his fist on the table and boasted to everyone:
"See? I told you guys to speculate on pagers with me, but you wouldn't listen. In just a few days, the price of each pager has gone up by ten yuan. I've stockpiled several hundred. Just imagine how much money I'll make in ten years!"

As Xu Zhengtai's collaborator, Liu Yi wholeheartedly agreed with these words and looked at Hua Shier, Xiao Ma, and Niu Aihua with disdain:

"I'm not trying to criticize you, but your crappy chat software won't make any money even after it's launched. You'll lose so much money every day on rent, electricity, and labor costs. You really have no business sense!"

Xiao Ma explained:
"We're just starting out, and we've already surpassed 100,000 users. Next, according to Brother Su's plan, we will partner with China Mobile to launch the new 'Mobile Dream Network' service. We also have premium phone numbers and storage space coming up later."

Liu Yi and Xu Zhengtai both pouted:
"We don't understand any of what you're saying, so let me just ask you, did you make any money? We made ten yuan from one machine, oh yeah!"

Hua Shier smiled and waved his hand, stopping Xiao Ma from explaining himself:
"Didn't they say we'd be rich in ten years? Let's sit down and compare again in ten years!"

Xu Tailang shook his head with a wry smile, exchanged a glance with Hua Shier, and thought to himself that it wouldn't even take ten years. Once the number of QQ registrations increased and the mobile internet service was launched, the company would immediately take off.

His own father's side, if he hoarded pagers for three years, he'd lose everything, not even his underwear!

After dinner, everyone went to sing karaoke and partied until after 11 p.m. before finally going home.

Seeing that his father was too drunk and his mother, Niu Aihua, couldn't support him, Xu Tailang told Hua Shier that he wouldn't be going home that night. He would wait until he and Liu Yi took Xu Zhengtai home, and then stay at Liu Yi's house for the night after everything was over.

Hua Shier was walking home alone. Just as he entered Tongde Lane, he saw a young man in his twenties walking towards him. The two walked towards each other, getting closer and closer. When they reached each other, the young man suddenly asked:
"Are you Su Daqiang?"

Hua Twelve gave a half-smile: "It's me. What do you want?"

"It's good that it's you. Be more careful in your next life!" The man pulled a switchblade from his pocket, opened it with a bang, and stabbed it into Hua Shier's abdomen.

Hua Shier snapped his fingers, and Gu Yi appeared instantly, pulling the other party into the mirror space.

The young man had calculated the distance perfectly, intending to hit Hua Shier with one strike, but even with his arm outstretched, the tip of the blade was still half a foot away from Hua Shier.

He didn't know what was going on, but he was extremely nervous. He quickly stepped forward and stabbed again, but something strange happened. Hua Shier didn't move at all, and his stab was still half a foot away from being delivered.

"How...how is this possible!"

The young man's eyes turned red, and he simply rushed up and started waving his dagger at Hua Shier.

But no matter how fast he ran forward, the tip of his knife was always half a foot away from Hua Shier.

Finally, the man, panting heavily from exhaustion, simply stopped running: "This is fucking bizarre!"

Hua Twelve chuckled and glanced at the transparent Gu Yi beside him, then said with a smile:
"You're right, but there's no prize!"

He reached out and activated his dual-wielding technique, controlling the person in front of him and extracting their memories in the process.

A moment later, the image of a familiar person appeared in the memory.

The reporter hugged the young man's neck, nestled in his arms, and spoke softly:
"Zhang Bo, haven't you always wanted to marry me? You kill Su Daqiang for me, and no one will know it was you. Then I'll marry you, and we can run away together to Hong Kong, okay?"

Seeing this, Hua Shier couldn't help but raise his eyebrows:
"Wow, this woman's got some skills. I was waiting for her to pay me before I started to cause trouble, but I didn't expect her to strike first. She's really ruthless!"

He located the woman's current location in her memory, and the next moment, he disappeared into the mirror space, leaving the young man in Gu Yi's care.

In a rented room, the reporter waited anxiously for her boyfriend, Zhang Bo, to return, her heart filled with worry.

She and Zhang Bo came from the same small county; they were classmates and also lovers.

However, she was a better student and got into a media university, while Zhang Bo failed the exam and just drifted around aimlessly in society.

If it weren't for the fact that her tuition fees over the years were all paid for by the other party, Reporter Bian would have broken up with Zhang Bo long ago.

She had been stringing Zhang Bo along, planning to find someone else before breaking up with him. But now that she's infamous, she's no longer in a position to find someone else. So she's decided to use her boyfriend to get rid of Hua Shier and then leave this place together.

She had already packed her luggage and was just waiting for Zhang Bo to return so they could leave that very night.

The anxious reporter paced back and forth in the room, glancing at his watch every now and then:

"It's almost midnight, why isn't he back yet? This good-for-nothing can't do anything right!"

Just then, someone behind him said:

"Could you please stop walking back and forth? You're making me dizzy!"

She was startled and turned around abruptly, only to find Hua Shier standing right behind her. She was so frightened that she was about to scream.

Hua Shier reached out and sealed her acupoints, then glanced at the luggage on the ground:
"Fine, so you're planning to kill me and run, huh!"

The reporter was so frightened that he trembled all over. If he hadn't been acupunctured, he probably would have collapsed to the ground immediately.

Hua Shier took out the Anywhere Door, opened it, threw the reporter and his luggage inside, and then followed them in.

At the Anywhere Door, Old De was hanging out with several beautiful women when he saw Hua Twelve and immediately felt awkward.

The women screamed in fright when they realized someone had suddenly appeared.

Old De roared, "Shut up, all of you! This is my boss!"

Hua Shier waved his hand at him: "Continue, I can wait!"

Old De smiled sheepishly:
"How could I let you wait for me? But they all saw you arrive. Is there anything I need?"

He made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand, meaning to kill him to silence him.

The women understood his meaning and screamed again in fright. Old De glared and used the power of the thousand-year-old vampire. The women immediately froze and stood motionless.

Hua Shier had no grudge against these women, and waved his hand, saying, "No need, just erase their memories!"

He then used his double-handed technique to erase the women's memories, and the women fell into a deep sleep:
"When they wake up, they'll only remember playing with you all night, they won't remember me being there!"

After Hua Shier finished speaking, he noticed that the women all had different skin tones, and couldn't help but laugh:
"You're really like a toad trying to climb a frog, ugly as you are, yet you're still trying to play the field!"

Old De is a handsome middle-aged man, definitely not ugly, and he's not angry:

"I met a sports star named Johnson here in the U.S., and this is the game he taught me, something called the Rainbow Tactics, and it's really fun!"

Hua Shier's expression was strange; "You mean the one with AIDS? You're really bold!"

Old De chuckled sheepishly: "We vampires are immune to all poisons!"

His eyes swept across the room, and he saw the reporter next to Hua Shier who had been acupunctured. He quickly dressed and asked:
"Master, who is this?"

Hua Shier walked to the sofa and sat down. He took out an authentic Cuban cigar from the cigar box on the coffee table, lit it, and put it in his mouth before speaking.

"This woman has offended me. Same old method, send her to work in the mines. Australia is out of the question, my friends are already fed up with it. Which do you think is better, South Africa or Mexico?"

Old De was speechless. Did sending them to South Africa and Mexico mean they weren't mining?
"Master, to be honest, I'm tired of being a mine owner too. How about trying something new?"

Hua Shier immediately became interested: "Then what do you say is new?"

Old De's mind raced, and he instantly offered several suggestions!
“There are many illegal fishing boats in Thailand. Selling her to those boats is like sending her to a floating prison. She has to work 20 hours a day, killing fish, sorting them, and cleaning the deck. If she is even slightly slow, she will be whipped.”

"They drank dirty water, ate moldy rice, slept in fish tanks, and were covered in a foul, rotting stench."

"The ship is always adrift in international waters, and when it comes to shore, it is locked in the hold, so there is no way to escape."

"I guarantee she'll live in complete darkness; it'll be far more hopeless than mining!"

Hua Shier gasped in shock; this was indeed even more ruthless than mining.

Old De got more and more excited as he spoke, his face beaming with enthusiasm:
"There's also the option of sending her to the Mexican swindlers' laundry factory to work as free labor. She'll have to work every day, be beaten, raped, and tested on their new products. More importantly, she has no chance of escaping in Mexico. Even if she manages to run away and call the police, the officers who answer the phone will be swindlers' own people!"

Seeing that Hua Twelve's expression was not good, Lao De quickly asked:

"Master, are you not satisfied? How about we sell her to a black brick kiln in Uttar Pradesh, India?"

"Think about how she carried bricks and mixed mud every day in 50°C heat, her hands and feet covered in blisters, living in a cowshed, eating spoiled food with lower-caste laborers, and even being arbitrarily insulted by overseers."

"Trying to escape? There's only desert around her; the villagers will catch her and bring her back for a reward."

Hua Shier couldn't stand it anymore and quickly waved his hand to stop:

"Old De, let me ask you, have you ever run an industrial park in Southeast Asia? I thought I was fierce enough, but you're even more vicious than me!"

Old De chuckled awkwardly, unsure whether his master was praising or insulting him.

Suddenly, both of them smelled a strange odor at the same time. Turning around, they saw that the reporter had wet his pants in fright, and they couldn't help but show disgust.

Hua Twelve instructed:

"None of your ideas will work. How much can she fetch? This woman owes me 80,000 yuan and doesn't want to pay it back. She even wants to have someone kill me. Arrange a job for her where she can earn a meager wage through labor, enough to pay me back!"

Old De snapped his fingers:
"Then let's send her to a logging camp in Siberia. Let her experience high-intensity physical labor in the extreme cold hell. It's guaranteed to be more challenging than mining. In winter, she'll be cutting down trees and moving timber in temperatures of minus thirty degrees Celsius, living in a drafty, dilapidated wooden hut, and eating black bread and frozen potatoes."

“I will take special care of her, making her do the hardest work, but I won’t let her die.”

“That place is surrounded by vast snowfields, and the nearest town is hundreds of kilometers away. Once she gets there, there’s no way she can escape.”

Hua Shier thought this was good; at least it was much more humane than the previous ones. It was simple labor, and labor is the most glorious thing, right?
"This is fine, I'll leave the person here for you. Look at this shabby place you're living in, it reeks of urine!"

He turned to leave in disgust, but Old De was speechless. "Isn't it your people who ruined the smell? It was supposed to smell like heather and hormones."

Seeing that Hua Twelve was about to leave, Old De quickly said:

"Master, since you're here, let's sign the contract while we're at it!"

Hua Shier glared at him:
"Get lost! How tactless of me! I haven't even had a chance to enjoy my G-class travel yet. Wait until I fly over here before we talk!"

Back in Tongdeli, only a dozen minutes had passed. Hua Shier used his double-handed technique to alter Zhang Bo's memory and then immediately called the police.

Zhang Bo was taken to the police station and quickly confessed that his girlfriend, Bian Wen, had instructed him to do so, adding that she was currently waiting for him at their rented apartment.

When the police arrived, they found the house empty and no one was there.

Ultimately, the police determined that Bian Wen instructed her boyfriend to commit murder and then secretly fled.

It's believed that Zhang Bo will soon be serving a few years in prison, while the logging journalist in Siberia will be listed on the Six Doors' portrait ranking list, alongside legendary figures like Song Jiang, Tian Boguang, the Two Kings of the Northeast, and Lai Changxing!
A few days later, Hua Shier, along with the old president and two others, went to Shanghai and then boarded a flight to New York, the United States, at Shanghai Airport.

On the plane, Hua Shier sat between two over 200-pound passengers, feeling like he was trapped between two mountains of flesh. He looked at the old editor with a resentful expression:
"This is what you meant by first class?"

The latter chuckled and said, "Little Su, first class is too expensive. Economy class is fine too!"

Hua Shier stood up immediately: "I want an upgrade, and I'll pay for it myself!"

He only understood the old president's predicament after inquiring. The price of a first-class ticket, converted to RMB, would cost 100,000 yuan for a round trip. In the 1990s, a round trip would have cost as much as a house in Tongdeli.

Hua Shier was taken aback and asked the same question as the old president: "Is first class made of gold, or is cabin class made of gold?"

He spoke quite loudly, and many passengers laughed out loud.

Even though Hua Twelve has money, he didn't take the lead and switched to business class.

After being led to business class and seated by the flight attendant, Hua Shier suddenly noticed a beautiful woman wearing sunglasses next to him. She looked very familiar and appeared haggard. Pointing at her, he asked in surprise, "Hey, aren't you the one who just got divorced?"

The woman immediately turned her head and said, "I don't know you. Please don't bother me. I want to be alone!"

Thanks to 08a and Little Tiger of the Demon Realm for their donations, and thanks to the brothers who voted with monthly tickets and recommendation tickets. Thank you very much.