ABSML Chapter 60: Caught in the Act
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Cockroach?
The host instinctively leaned back a little.
The look she gave Chen Zhan was unusually complicated—it felt like this might be the first major disaster of her interview career.
“What do you think about this gift?”
She finally managed to find her voice again, and asked the question stiffly.
Chen Zhan gave an honest assessment: “It’s one of a kind.”
The livestream comments probably echoed the host’s thoughts:
“Just end the interview already, we get it.”
“Stop trying, it’s just getting more awkward.”
“Chen Zhan is an interview bug!”
As the stream of comments rolled by, the host’s smile gradually faded—until it was completely gone.
The videographer beside her quietly held up a number with his fingers, signaling that only ten minutes had passed.
Each episode needed to be at least half an hour.
The host took a deep breath and forced herself to keep the conversation going.
The interview continued awkwardly, while viewers came and went in the livestream. One person, however, hadn’t left at all: Yin Ronglan.
When he first gave that gift, he thought it was a rare and thoughtful gesture. But now, months later, seeing it through a normal person’s eyes—he felt like he’d been...
“An idiot—” One of his subordinates blurted out, seeing his expression. Realizing what he’d said, he stopped just in time. Regaining his composure, he quickly changed the subject: “Looks like this might trend online. Want me to send a heads-up and suppress it?”
Yin Ronglan was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, “Why suppress it?”
His subordinate was a little stunned at the unexpected response.
“Don’t people think Pei Yinqiu is the real ‘Yin Boss’ anyway?” Yin Ronglan said calmly. “Let’s trust his PR skills.”
“…” The subordinate pursed his lips. When it came to being ruthless, no one outdid their boss.
After the interview, Chen Zhan's popularity spiked—but the label that came with it was "conversation killer." He even received a few offers to appear on stand-up comedy shows.
As he was scrolling through online reactions, he got a call from the son of the vineyard owner.
“What are you doing?”
Chen Zhan replied, “Getting ready to read some poetry.”
The other side laughed. “What poem?”
Chen Zhan: “If Life Deceives You.”
There was a moment of silence before the voice on the other end said, “The promo video’s finished editing—I’ve sent it to your email. Check it out when you get a chance.”
Chen Zhan gave a simple “okay.” Sensing that Chen Zhan wasn’t in the mood for small talk, the other person thoughtfully ended the call.
Beauty filters can sometimes blur a person’s features; during the shoot, it was more about lighting. Objectively speaking, there was a certain allure in how he appeared in the promo.
Chen Zhan only watched it once before closing the window. After finishing reading, he noticed the weather was nice outside—perfect for continuing his cooking lessons.
He was a little surprised to run into Lin Chiang at the Lin residence—he should’ve been at the office at that time.
Lin Chiang looked at him coldly and said, “My cousin is coming over later.”
Chen Zhan was long used to this attitude. What surprised him more was that Lin Chiang actually offered an explanation. After washing his hands, he headed into the kitchen to find Lin’s mother.
The Lin household gave off a feeling of “quiet” and “cold.”
Lin Chiang’s cousin was the exact opposite—like a ball of fire. As soon as she arrived, she kept sneaking glances toward the kitchen.
Lin Chiang grabbed her arm and warned, “Don’t even think about Chen Zhan.”
The girl replied nonchalantly, “You two don’t get along. What’s it got to do with me?”
Lin Chiang: “He used to pursue Jiang Ying.”
“That’s ancient history.” The girl’s eyes sparkled. “Mom and Dad keep pressuring me to get married. Finding a partner is an art—compatibility matters most.”
Lin Chiang let out a laugh of disbelief. “You two haven’t even interacted—where’s the so-called compatibility coming from?”
The girl counted on her fingers, explaining seriously, “The kidnapping incident made all the female celebrities in the circle avoid him. Now he’s even got the title of ‘conversation killer.’ The chances of him cheating are significantly lower.”
After drinking a large glass of water to soothe her throat, she continued, “Most importantly, marriage is the union of two families. He’s the only one left in his.”
A lot of issues were basically eliminated at the root.
The girl pressed on enthusiastically. “He also cooks really well.”
At that moment, Jiang Ying happened to walk in from the courtyard outside. Her gaze wavered slightly upon hearing that.
Lin Chiang noticed the look and narrowed his eyes. “Are you getting interested?”
Jiang Ying responded from the side, “His conditions are pretty decent.” Then, not forgetting to appease her fiancé, she added, “Though of course, he’s nowhere near as good as you.”
Lin Chiang tugged at the corner of his mouth, put down the magazine in his hand, shot a cold glance at the two of them, and went upstairs.
The girl was incredulous. “He’s mad already?”
Jiang Ying sighed. “He’s someone who once spent an absurd amount tipping just to win a lead role.”
When Chen Zhan came out of the kitchen, he was immediately surrounded like a chirpy, excited lark.
“Hi! I’m Cheng Lele.”
Chen Zhan glanced at Jiang Ying, who shrugged helplessly.
He had a hard time dealing with overly enthusiastic girls. After a brief and awkward conversation, he found an excuse to leave in a hurry.
·
Feelings between friends often come up in conversation.
By the next day, Yin Ronglan had already heard about the wealthy heiress who had taken a liking to Chen Zhan. The news left him in such a mood that work that day was unusually unproductive.
It happened to be the weekend. After feeding his gluttonous dog, he drove to a hospital in the city.
“I really can’t stand the thought of my friend getting into a relationship.”
The psychologist sitting across from him listened patiently and asked, “A male friend?”
Yin Ronglan nodded.
The psychologist, clearly experienced in dealing with all sorts of situations, offered an analysis: “This could point to a mild paranoid personality with strong possessiveness—or you might have romantic feelings for your friend.”
Yin Ronglan frowned. “What’s the difference?”
“The former is a psychological disorder. The latter means you’re gay.”
“…”
Psychologist: “Let’s run a psychological CT first.”
After completing the test, the psychologist asked a few more questions, then leaned back with a smile, fingers interlaced.
“Congratulations. You don’t have any signs of mental illness. You simply have subtle romantic feelings toward someone of the same sex.”
Locking eyes with the man, Yin Ronglan began to question whether he was even licensed.
Sensing his doubt, the psychologist said calmly, “Some gay clients are quite sensitive. I’m always extra cautious when talking with them.”
Yin Ronglan waited silently for him to continue.
“The anxiety that homosexual individuals experience often stems from family and societal pressure.” After a brief pause, he added, “But as you mentioned earlier, your parents passed away early, you’re successful in your career, and you hold high social status. There are no risks.”
In other words—so long as you follow the law, go about your business, and don’t make a fuss, there’s nothing to worry about.
“There are five or six more people in the queue,” the psychologist gently reminded.
Yin Ronglan gave him a long look, then got up and left with the report in hand.
·
All this—just because of a romance that hadn’t even begun. And Chen Zhan knew nothing about it.
He also had no intention of developing things further with Cheng Lele.
Granted, they would make a good match on paper—but that was all it was.
Cheng Lele was the kind of person who knew when to let go. After realizing it was unlikely between them, she went on to introduce him to several of her other close friends.
Her philosophy was simple: Only by getting to know someone would you know if there’s a spark.
But somehow, something always went wrong. Every time Chen Zhan showed even the slightest sign of starting a relationship, it would be exposed online. The fragile sprouts of budding feelings would instantly be scorched by the spotlight.
“I think someone’s targeting me.” While having hotpot with Yin Ronglan, Chen Zhan’s voice was unusually serious. “How else can it be such a coincidence every time?”
Yin Ronglan replied calmly, “Maybe it’s fate.”
Chen Zhan eyed him suspiciously.
Yin Ronglan wiped the corner of his mouth nonchalantly. “I’m older than you, decent enough in all aspects, and still single.”
Half convinced, Chen Zhan also decided to chalk it up to fate.
After that, every new female friend around him seemed like a weak seedling—any signs of growth were quickly trampled back into the mud.
One day, after finishing his writing for the day, he went to the Lin residence as usual. Cheng Lele was there too. When she saw him, she rushed over excitedly.
“Case closed! I finally figured out why everyone who likes you ends up backing off!”
Chen Zhan, uninterested, just let out an “oh.”
Cheng Lele shoved her phone in front of him. On the screen were several chat screenshots.
“These are from a friend I introduced to you. She got drunk last night and spilled the reason why she backed off.”
“If he falls in love, updates will slow down. If he gets married, he’ll definitely need to take time off. Honeymoon? More breaks!”
“Girl, if you truly love him, you should turn your romantic love into support for his career!”
“What’s more important? A lovey-dovey romance or piping hot updates?”
…
The entire chat was filled with brainwashing comments.
The worst part? The girl actually bought into them.
As Cheng Lele chattered on, Chen Zhan extracted the key info: Apparently, there was something called the Chen Zhan Career Group, with the sole mission of destroying any potential relationships.
He searched the group number from the screenshot and applied to join.
The group admin sent him a form. After he filled it out, they told him he didn’t qualify—and promptly removed him from the group.
He reapplied, this time answering against his own will, and was finally deemed “qualified.”
He had joined Chen Zhan Career Group ⑧, suggesting there were others in the series.
He registered several alternate accounts to gather intel from the rest of the groups.
Cheng Lele, unable to keep a secret, quickly spilled the beans to Lin Chiang and Jiang Ying.
After hearing about it, Jiang Ying frowned. “That’s a little… extreme.”
Lin Chiang: “You actually have a fan group?”
The two of them were clearly focused on different things.
Jiang Ying shot him a glare, then turned to Chen Zhan and said, “Even though it sounds like it’s all just for fun, you still need to take control of the situation.”
When it came to fan-related matters, she was pretty experienced. “Get on good terms with the group admin and stay on top of the latest updates.”
Chen Zhan had only joined the group out of curiosity. It wasn’t until Jiang Ying specifically brought it up that he started to take it more seriously. “I’ll keep an eye on it.”
In the massive group with over a thousand members approaching capacity, Chen Zhan located the admin. He hadn’t paid attention before, but now that he clicked on the profile, the avatar looked strangely familiar.
He checked the other groups—this same person was the admin in all of them.
He vaguely recalled that Yin Ronglan’s WeChat avatar looked very similar.
However, since Chen Zhan had never added him on QQ, the avatar alone wasn’t enough to prove anything.
He lowered his head and looked through the admin’s profile: birthday, zodiac sign—everything matched. Just to be sure he wasn’t wrongly accusing someone innocent, he made time to invite Yin Ronglan out for a meal.
During the meal, he secretly sent a message in the group insulting himself.
The very next second, Yin Ronglan’s phone vibrated. He glanced at it, his brows furrowed, and without saying a word, kicked the offending member out of the group.
Confirmed.
There were nine total Chen Zhan Career Groups—and Yin Ronglan was the admin of eight of them!
Author’s note:
Yin Ronglan’s confession:
“At first, I was just a regular group member. Because of my outstanding contributions, I was promoted to admin. Later, as one of the founding members of the original group, I went on to create a few more myself.
“It was like a snowball—just kept getting bigger.”
Chen Zhan: …
_____
THE THERAPIST SIMPLE EXPLANATION SENDING ME SO HARD.
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