I’ve Gone Viral Because of a Money-Saving Variety Show

In another fan group, the situation had already exploded.
“Ha ha, take this! Let’s show that little jerk Zheng He what it feels like to shoot himself in the foot today!”
“So satisfying! They really think we fans are easy to bully, huh? And to think they actually set their sights on us!”
“The main thing is, Sister Xixi is clever, otherwise just kicking Zheng He out of the group chat wouldn’t have been enough to vent our anger!”
“Yeah, he thinks he can take advantage of us to win over Xixi, he’s really dreaming!”
…
At the community office.
Brother Li shifted a chair to sit down, the smile on his face disappearing in an instant and replaced with a stern expression: “So what are you saying now? That you’re not going to donate, is that it?”
Zheng He thought to himself that Li Yuan sure changed his expression fast!
But that wasn’t the main point!
Zheng He also pulled up a chair to sit opposite Brother Li, chuckling twice: “The donation is a must, but the money, I’d like to donate it in this way…”
Li Yuan’s brows slightly raised, he didn’t speak, waiting for Zheng He to continue.
Zheng He: “I’ll go up on stage later and donate twenty thousand yuan, and after the event ends, you give me that twenty thousand yuan back…”
Li Yuan didn’t wait for Zheng He to finish speaking, cutting him off harshly: “No way! That’s false donation! And who’s going to fill the gap left by this twenty thousand yuan?”
Zheng He waved his hands, speaking with a calm face: “If you don’t tell and I don’t tell, no third party will know! I won’t let you help out for nothing either, once it’s done, I’ll give you two hundred yuan for cigarettes… What do you think…”
Zheng He gave Li Yuan a meaningful look.
Li Yuan frowned, two hundred yuan was like trying to appease a beggar. Moreover, taking such a risk for just two hundred yuan could negatively impact his job later on. That wasn’t worth it.
Li Yuan firmly rejected the offer, but the fame and fortune-seeking Zheng He naturally wouldn’t give up just like that.
Finally, after Zheng He’s persistent persuasion and offer to raise the price, the silent Li Yuan finally spoke: “Alright then, let’s do it this way, but you must not let this leak, or it won’t be good for either of us.”
There are no people who can’t be dealt with, only offers that aren’t enticing enough.
If Li Yuan really wanted to refuse, why didn’t he leave right after Zheng He made his proposal?
It seems he was just waiting to see how much more Zheng He would offer!
Zheng He, gritting his teeth for the last time, increased his offer to three thousand yuan. After all, he would still have the chance to make money later, might as well secure this wave of popularity first!
Li Yuan also seemed to think that Zheng He had reached his limit, and only then did he relent. In these older suburban communities, almost no one oversees, so it wasn’t uncommon for him to quietly accept gifts and help with the paperwork for favors. So his initial refusal stemmed partly from thinking the sum Zheng He offered was too low, and part of it was to put on some show since it was their first transaction.
Zheng He smiled slyly: “Rest assured! My lips are sealed! I wouldn’t reveal this even under torture, and if it does get out, it would also badly affect me. I’m not that foolish!”
“That’ll work,” replied Li Yuan with satisfaction, nodding his head.
Having settled the agreement, a gleeful Zheng He then expressed his concern to Li Yuan, “But what about the twenty thousand yuan gap you mentioned earlier… It won’t be discovered, right?”
Li Yuan revealed a cunning smile: “No worries, I have contacts at the charity organization. I’ll let them know to just submit the surface data, and then later when we set up the activity room, we can overreport some funds. The discrepancy of this twenty thousand yuan will easily be reconciled!”
Zheng He raised his thumb admiringly after listening, “You really are the man!”
Li Yuan: “Alright! Let’s head out, everyone is waiting for you outside!”
“Hold on… but you need a pretext to give me this money. Otherwise, my donation will bizarrely end up back in my pocket, and when the funds ranking is announced tonight, it might raise suspicions among netizens.”
Li Yuan: “That’s easy to handle! I watched a bit of your livestream yesterday. In a moment, I’ll have someone secretly rough you up, and then compensate you with seventeen thousand—that should do it!”
Zheng He felt his not-yet-healed handsome face inexplicably starting to ache again, but it seemed there was no better plan available.
Zheng He instructed: “Tell your guy not to hit the face, not to use excessive force, just make it look good.”
“Rest assured!”
Zheng He stood up and opened the door, catching a glimpse of a red figure disappearing around the corner in the corner of his eye.
Could it be someone just passing by… Chen Xixi wasn’t eavesdropping, right?
Crap!
Zheng He hurriedly chased after the figure, grabbing the person’s arm at the corner. The individual turned around, and he saw a completely unfamiliar baby face.
The baby-faced girl disdainfully shook her arm twice, freeing herself from Zheng He’s grasp, and frowned, “What do you want? Do you need something?”
“It’s nothing, I mistook you for someone else!” Zheng He was relieved.
As long as it’s not Chen Xixi, all is good!
If Chen Xixi found out about this, she would definitely blow his cover, and then he’d be finished!
Zheng He rejoined Li Yuan back at the event, and Li Yuan’s face held the same smile as when he left, inviting Zheng He onstage.
At this moment, Zheng He’s live stream was also normally broadcasting.
[What just happened? Where did Zheng He go?]
[Is there something we’re not allowed to hear?]
[Where he went isn’t important, what I care about is whether he’s really going to donate?]
The host announced fervently, “Let’s invite the next kind-hearted Guest, Zheng He, to make a donation! The charity funds Zheng He is donating are—twenty thousand yuan!”
Zheng He promptly and generously transferred twenty thousand yuan into the charity’s account, live on camera.
After the transfer, he also showed the successful transaction screen to the audience and netizens.
Suddenly the entire place erupted into amazement!
[Damn!! He really donated!! Just for this, I have to vote for him today!]
[Right! Regardless of anything else, purely for the surprising side of Zheng He, I have to cast my popularity vote for him today!]
[I’m actually crying! Society can hardly accommodate him, yet he still thinks about giving back to society. I truly didn’t expect Zheng He to be such a person!]
[Setting aside everything else! I seriously admire Little Zheng’s move! He’s actually willing to give up five million prize money for the sake of charity, proving that money seems not that important to him, and that he himself isn’t a stingy person. His behavior on the show must have just been for show effects!]
[I kind of want to switch from hating to fanning over him, what’s going on?]
[The key question is, what about the five million? The show is ending in a few days, isn’t this too much of a pity for him?]
The media below started snapping photos, and incidentally, they also captured Chen Xixi, who was standing by and quietly watching.
Without comparison, there would be no harm done.
In the show, the Guest with the best reputation stood by, watching coldly throughout, while the Guest with the worst reputation stood on stage doing charity.
What a ridiculous scene.
Another person, probably the community manager, signaled the host over, whispered something in the host’s ear, whereupon the host nodded, walked back to the center of the stage, and stood beside Zheng He with a smile, saying:
“Our leaders have made a decision to express our gratitude to Mr. Zheng. We will name our planned anti-fraud publicity room after Mr. Zheng’s name! Congratulations to the ‘Zheng He’ Anti-Fraud Education Publicity Room on its official establishment!
Furthermore, we will continuously play Mr. Zheng’s classic case on the large screen in the publicity room to constantly remind everyone to stay vigilant and prevent deception!”
Zheng He: “…” That’s really not necessary.
Is this supposed to be gratitude? It feels more like revenge!
Playing his dark history on repeat, isn’t that the same as putting his face out there for everyone to slap at will?