ABSML Chapter 56: The Downfall
ANNOUNCEMENT
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As the wind blew and her words were still lingering in the air, Chen Zhan continued, “I remember you’re highly educated.”
Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t make such a basic mistake.
The moment the words slipped out, Yin Ronglan already realized how foolish it was. Now, unable to find a proper excuse, he simply turned his face slightly, choosing to remain silent.
Chen Zhan stood up, dusted the dirt off her clothes, and reached out to pull him up. “You’re not cut out for lying.”
Yin Ronglan’s smile was tinged with helplessness... To be more precise, he wasn’t suited to lying to the person in front of him.
Making a friendship knot sounded a bit strange. After thinking for a moment, he finally spoke up: "Actually, I want to weave them into the protective talisman you gave me."
Not sure if it was because the weather was too cold, but thinking of that horribly ugly doll made Chen Zhan, who was usually not afraid of ghosts or spirits, feel a little unsettled from the bottom of his heart.
The next moment, Yin Ronglan spoke again—
"Characters' personalities are varied."
It was a repetition of what he'd said earlier that day.
Although he hadn’t seen those book reviews suggesting a change of main character, after Yin Ronglan’s repeated emphasis, Chen Zhan could more or less sense that something was off.
"You're gentle, you're the little sun, you're gloomy and dark," Yin Ronglan shifted his attitude, sounding like a bard, slowly elongating his words: "So, what exactly are you?"
[System interrupts: I am who I am, a different kind of fireworks.]
Chen Zhan closed his eyes for a moment and made a decision: he was going to get rid of it sooner or later.
Yin Ronglan wanted to say that he already had all the qualities the readers wanted, but his expression remained tight, his lips pressed thin, and his sharp gaze locked with Chen Zhan’s, unwavering this time.
Sensing something, Chen Zhan no longer pressed the matter: "Get in the car."
As the car started, Yin Ronglan turned on the radio, and the silence between them seemed to ease a little.
Chen Zhan glanced out of the window: "You seem less busy recently."
Yin Ronglan turned the radio volume down: "I have about half a month of free time left."
Chen Zhan pondered: "About the same as Lin Chiang."
At some point, Yin Ronglan had developed a subtle aversion to that name.
Chen Zhan didn’t notice and continued: "I’ve been to the Lin family recently, and I've bumped into him more often than before."
Yin Ronglan said indifferently: "It’s best to avoid him."
Chen Zhan was a little surprised: "Didn’t you tell me to get along with him before?" He muttered to himself without waiting for a response: "Oh, I forgot. You’re unpredictable now."
"…"
Knowing continuing this topic would be disadvantageous to himself, Yin Ronglan asked what Chen Zhan’s plans were recently.
"Filming a promotional video, and I also need to attend an influencer night event."
Noticing that Yin Ronglan seemed to have a limited understanding of social platforms, Chen Zhan explained a little more: "It’s a gathering of high-traffic celebrities and influencers."
Yin Ronglan nodded, showing he understood somewhat.
In the next few days, the frequency of their contact decreased compared to before, mainly because the promotional video wasn’t going as smoothly as expected, and the owner’s son of the vineyard was quite a perfectionist. By the time Chen Zhan had a chance to catch his breath, he was already expected at the influencer night event the following evening.
Unlike the filter and lighting effects of the video, the real-life scene only felt cold.
Chen Zhan lingered in front of the camera for a few seconds as a formality, then quickly walked inside.
There were many people around, and after scanning the crowd, he didn’t see any familiar faces.
Just then, someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind. Chen Zhan turned around to face a pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes. The person raised an eyebrow: "You’re here too?"
Pei Yinqiu was dressed much more formally than he had been at the wine party: "Thanks to you."
Chen Zhan hesitated for a moment: "Does it have something to do with me?"
Pei Yinqiu smiled: "The netizens mistook me for Yin Ba, and I ended up trending a few times."
A low-key person who focused on theater acting and was good at it, Pei Yinqiu had genuinely gained a fair number of fans this way.
Chen Zhan was about to tease him, but suddenly looked in a certain direction.
Pei Yinqiu followed his gaze, but couldn’t make out anything, and asked: "What’s wrong?"
Chen Zhan furrowed his brows slightly: "I feel like someone’s watching me."
Pei Yinqiu couldn’t help but chuckle: "Being too famous means being overexposed, it’s normal."
Chen Zhan smiled in agreement, though he didn’t fully accept this view. The original body had made quite a few enemies, and the robbery incident had already served as a reminder to be cautious in everything.
The seats were arranged closely together, and the two found their seats and sat down.
Chen Zhan sank into the overwhelming scent of various perfumes, almost feeling like he couldn’t breathe. He slowed his breathing as much as he could and casually surveyed the surroundings. People next to him were either chatting or looking down at their phones.
It wasn’t until the lighting changed and the host took the stage that people, almost in unison, sat up straight and focused on the front.
Chen Zhan completely blocked out the host’s speech and began to feel an increasing sense of malicious intent surrounding him.
Now that the event had started, looking around wouldn’t be appropriate, so Chen Zhan decided to calm his mind and began to communicate with the system in his head.
"Was there any involvement from you in the strange way the robbers targeted me?"
The system babbled for a while, and its angry tone didn’t seem fake.
Chen Zhan calmly responded: "So, it was your superiors pulling the strings."
[System: Don’t slander me, slander is…]
Chen Zhan interrupted: "I don’t have many transactions with you, but I know you want the host to form a strong dependency on the system… A being that’s uncontrollable, I’d want to eliminate it too."
He laughed lightly as he said this, inadvertently attracting attention from people nearby, who gave him strange looks.
Chen Zhan continued: "I’ve been robbed on the way back from the racetrack, someone tried to drug me while I was shooting on set, I’ve been kidnapped by the same people who once kidnapped Lin Chiang... Admit it, your so-called fairness is just a cover-up for peace…"
He spoke in fragments, and the system was almost crying from his accusations.
[Please, stop brainwashing me.]
Chen Zhan was a master of conspiracy theories. He explained it from every angle, even saying that choking on water could be part of a planned scheme.
The system, being a workplace naive type, was so frightened that it started to believe him, worried that knowing too much might lead to being silenced by its superiors.
Only then did Chen Zhan pretend to casually ask: "Do you know why my reputation is still building up?"
[System: Relying on yourself is better than relying on others?]
Chen Zhan smirked: "On the redemption page, 20,000 redemption points can be exchanged for a complaint opportunity." He smiled innocently like a pure little flower: "If something happens to me, I’ll complain about you before I die."
[System: …Heartless! I’ve definitely chosen the wrong person!]
After grumbling for a while, the system finally said something useful:
[…One thing is certain: as a major supporting character, your interactions with the male and female leads cannot be erased.]
Chen Zhan lowered his head, lost in thought, and stopped pressing the system for answers.
The event lasted a total of two and a half hours, during which Chen Zhan went on stage to accept a trophy. It wasn’t even gold-plated, made entirely of copper, and he didn’t even spare it another glance until it was over.
When the night update came, his writing style inevitably reflected his mood. Chen Zhan took a sip of tea and decided to write the piece about the The Years When I Harassed the Queen of Film first—
...........
Exhausted.
Sometimes, winning a person’s heart is harder than plucking stars from the sky.
The goddess already has someone in her heart. That was a blow too big to bear.
After thinking about it for half a month, I finally came up with a way to save my broken heart… That’s right, find a stand-in for the goddess.
She needs to have the same eyes, the same eyebrows.
But it’s okay if her lips are different.
A little thicker is fine, even sexy.
At a nightclub, I found someone like this.
If we’re talking about looks, it’s only seven points similar, but her aura is almost identical to the goddess’s.
She said her name was Kui Kui.
We went shopping, had tea, but avoided any physical contact.
The goddess is high and aloof, so I need to make her act cold and distant too.
One pays, one performs—a win-win.
The balance was broken one deep night.
After all, a fake can never replace the real thing. My longing for the goddess grew so intense that I unconsciously found myself near her house.
There, I saw Kui Kui, standing under the goddess’s building, looking up, a strange smile on her face.
That was the last time I saw Kui Kui.
..........
Chen Zhan finished updating and went to take a shower. While drying his hair, he leisurely scrolled through the book reviews.
[Yu Nan: Was Kui Kui hired by Lin Chiang to mock Chen Zhan?]
[Hugui: Did the author mean that Kui Kui killed the Best Actress and is impersonating her?!]
[Yueluo Wutian: Stop talking nonsense, the article says they only look seven points alike.]
[Ghost Xiao Bai: Who knows, maybe without makeup, she’s nine points alike.]
[Neighbor’s Little Sister: Stop scaring people so late at night!]
The readers’ imagination always exceeded the limits that Chen Zhan had set for them.
Since he still had another article to update about the male god’s friend, he didn’t pay much attention to the book reviews.
As one of Chen Zhan’s readers, Lin Chiang had, of course, read the new update.
At that moment, Jiang Ying was gently applying cream to her face in front of the mirror, glancing at the handsome man lying on the bed: “What are you looking at?”
“News.” Lin Chiang put his phone down.
Jiang Ying grinned, showing a somewhat eerie smile, and lowered her voice: “You saw the article by Chen Zhan, right?”
Lin Chiang lazily nodded in acknowledgment.
Jiang Ying turned around, slowly stroking her own face: “Do you think this face is real… or fake?”
Lin Chiang replied nonchalantly: “Stop messing around.”
With that, he silently pulled his feet back under the blanket.
“…”
Lin Chiang was kicked out for two days, and when he shamelessly returned, Jiang Ying dragged him into watching three days’ worth of horror movies.
Chen Zhan couldn’t help but feel some pity upon hearing the news. When he met with Yin Ronglan, he explained the origin and process of the situation, his gaze revealing an air of mystery: "In this world, trust is the most fragile thing."
Yin Ronglan surprisingly disagreed with him: "Some trusts cannot be destroyed."
Chen Zhan smiled and didn’t respond.
Yin Ronglan seized the opportunity to bring up the topic: “I’m not like Lin Chiang.”
Chen Zhan stared at him for a few seconds.
Yin Ronglan added: "You can try testing it."
Chen Zhan thoughtfully propped his chin, then after a moment, said: “Rock-paper-scissors. The loser has to accept a dare.”
In the first round, Chen Zhan won.
His eyes subtly lifted at the corners, and he smiled mischievously: "Dare to show me your phone?"
Yin Ronglan unlocked his phone without hesitation, handing it over with an unbothered expression.
All his chat records, apart from those with Chen Zhan, were related to work. There was nothing to hide.
Chen Zhan was just joking around, so he didn’t actually intend to go through the WeChat or personal messages. After thinking for a moment, he opened the browser, ready to check the search history.
Seeing this, Yin Ronglan’s expression changed slightly. He reached out to grab the phone back, but it was too late.
There was no need to do anything special. Just by lightly tapping the search bar, several recent searches popped up:
Can rabbits eat the grass around their burrow?
Why don’t rabbits eat the grass around their burrow?
What happens if a rabbit eats the grass around their burrow?
The top search was the most recent one, seemingly a venting of frustration:
How to make braised rabbit head!
Author's note: Yin Ronglan's view of Chen Zhan: Grass by the burrow, a little tempting.
Yin Ronglan proceeded to search for more, and the encyclopedia’s answer came up… "Those who eat the grass around their burrow are not good beings."
Yin Ronglan, irritated, muttered: "It’s not the act of eating the grass that’s wrong—it’s the rabbit species!"
_
T/N: Please support my ko-fi page so I can post more, and I'll try to update like before but if you want more chapters it's on my kofi page🌸🌸🌸
Was the chapter 55 copied by mistake with chapter 56? The first half was in the last chapter.
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