BXBX NOVEL Chapter 90 - The Right Way To Solve a Problem
Chapter 90: The Right Way To Solve a Problem
After Bai Zhi’s rehearsal ended, she had to return to her studio and prepare for the evening’s fashion night. Makeup and outfit selection would all require time.
Meng Fan naturally followed her out. At this time, the second special guest of the concert appeared.
Being Su Qing Cen’s first tour, the company had paid considerable attention to it. They had arranged a lot of special guests, especially for the kick-off, where they had scheduled three.
Bai Zhi was Su Qing Cen’s good friend in private, and the other guy and girl were artists from Su Qing Cen’s company. Their sets were all very elaborate, for they weren’t just invited because they were her friends, but to support the performance.
Although Meng Fan already had an opportunity to speedily finish [Group Photo God], he still couldn’t pass up a chance that brushed by him.
“It’s fine, I can take a cab home, go do your business.” Meng Fan waved his hand.
“Alright, you head back early, Cai Wei is by herself at home and is quite sad.” Bai Zhi didn’t persist and lead him outside before leaving.
“If I go back, I’ll be sadder.”
Meng Fan did not go back, but he couldn’t ask Bai Zhi to take him to the UP fashion night.
The UP fashion night was in its third year. It was an event jointly organized by the UP group and the fashion group, featuring a cross-border film festival that integrated fashion, entertainment, and technology.
Although it wasn’t the top fashion festival in Hua Xia, the specifications were alright. There were many guests attending, and aside from the celebrities from the entertainment and fashion realms, there were also big tycoons from the tech industry present.
After eating a meal at McDonalds, Meng Fan arrived at the venue.
Several onlookers and paparazzi had already gathered outside the main entrance to the concert center. Various equipment had been set up as well, all facing the red carpet.
The red carpet became a standard for parties and events and festivals. This was for outsiders to see, and it most importantly indicated the specifications of the event.
At almost six o clock, the red carpet segment kicked off.
The vehicles of the attending guests were assembled in a unified place, then one by one they drive slowly toward the open red carpet. The celebrities then disembarked in an elegant and handsome fashion and walked the red carpet, accepting the applause from the audience and the snapping of cameras.
When Meng Fan arrived, a guest stepped out who was a fashion idol. It was the kind of idol that was on TV a lot so much that even Meng Fan, who didn’t follow fashion at all, recognized him. He didn’t remember what their name was for a long time until he heard a crowd of people began to chant his name.
“This should give lucrative experience, right?”
Meng Fan wasn’t very clear on the definition of these public figures, especially when it came to social activists like this one that he recognized but didn’t know the name of until someone called them out. Did they count as a public figure?
He could only take a photo and see if his experience would increase or not.
Putting on the hat, he walked towards the red carpet.
Of course, he wasn’t directly on the carpet, but behind the audience around the carpet.
Although Meng Fan was wearing the presence masking hat and knew that people couldn’t see him or film him, he still couldn’t guarantee that a small or large camera wouldn’t accidentally capture him into the shot.
His validation was on the verge of zero, but it didn’t mean people wouldn’t see him. However, even if they saw him, their eyes wouldn’t transfer his ‘image’ to their brains. Basically, he was ignored by their brains.
But it was a different story if he was captured on camera. What was photographed was already solidified. Once a person looked through the photos and filtered them, he would be noticed for sure.
‘Hey, why is this person strolling around on the red carpet?’
After all, verge of zero did not equal zero.
If it had really equaled zero, Meng Fan’ could stroll around and be filmed without any sense of presence. At that point, photos and films couldn’t contain him.
But verge of zero was very different.
Meng Fan took a self-portrait wearing the hat, then took off his hat to show the photos to other people and asked what they saw to confirm that he did show up in pictures. Only, the answers he received were very heart-wrenching.
Approaching the edge of the crowd, at the end of the red carpet, there was an autograph wall. Two hosts outside the venue were interviewing celebrities with a microphone.
The fashion idol had also arrived there, signing his name on the wall. Seeing that the host was still interviewing someone else and showed no signs of interviewing him, he entered the conference hall.
Screw fashion night!
‘What did the celebrity being interviewed know of fashion? Look at what he is wearing? He couldn’t even catch up with the subject of a street fashion photo shoot. Such poor taste!’
‘Shouldn’t fashion night interview an idol like me? Just because the other person is more famous and well known, they have to suck up to him?’
‘Next time I won’t attend this kind of stupid activity…’
Well, he still had to come. If others didn’t interview him, at least he could take some selfies and find other people to take photos with. He could share it in his WeChat moments and tell everyone on Weibo he had participated in such a highly regarded event. At least it made it easier to go on TV and sell things!
There was nothing to be upset about, it was just a stupid interview!
If a person frequently attended these events, that person would get used to it. Who cares about one interview!?
Snap!
‘What the hell was that?’
The fashion idol heard the sound of a camera lens and jumped out of his skin. He was already far from the photo wall. How could anyone still film him?
Immediately, he adjusted his posture. He turned around and revealed a smile, then turned to make his backside look more handsome.
‘It increased!’
Standing at the corner of the autograph wall and entering the venue, Meng Fan snapped a picture next to the fashion idol and saw his experience increased by 1.
It seemed like the standard for ‘public figure’ was not very high.
A minute later, the interview ended, and the interviewed celebrity began heading inside the conference center.
This person… Meng Fan thought about it and remembered who they were.
It was a handsome male star. Meng Fan didn’t recognize him before, but because the studio administrator kept bringing up Er Qing, Meng Fan had searched it up as well. He just happened to come across this male star, who happened to play the role of the man who had married Er Qing. He seemed to be one of the main male leads in the show and had gained a lot of fame recently.
Photo successful +1.
Meng Fan turned off the shutter sound on his phone, in case it scared the celebrities he was sneaking photos with.
Soon, another celebrity approached.
This seemed to be idols from a group. There were seven of them, with two of the more well-known ones being left behind at the signature wall to receive interviews. The five entered first.
+1,+1,+1,+1!
+1, +1, +1, +1!
Meng Fan took a photo with each one of them, adding 4 experience points. Out of these four, Meng Fan didn’t recognize three of them, so he had no idea which one out of them had not given him an experience point.
This was a double-injury. Not only did Meng Fan miss out on experience, but the person who was inept at providing experience would be even more upset if he knew the truth!
After a while, three more people approached. The first two from the group of seven weren’t done with their interviews, but the difference between these stars was quite big.
Soon, the two leftover guys from the group of seven approached.
A guy and girl, Meng Fan recognized both of them. They were both quite popular, and Meng Fan liked them as well. His mood during the group photo was much more light-hearted than it had been with the others.
The woman who had dared to declare that she was the most beautiful female celebrity in the world was indeed beautiful—although the line was from a movie.
The male star did have a big head; no wonder, he was one of the three big heads in the entertainment industry.
Meng Fan thought his own head was not small either, but he really paled in comparison. His head circumference alone could count for +10 validation!
+1, +1, +1… Twenty minutes later, Meng Fan had collected 32 experience points. Including the +5 from before. He had a total of 37.
If he hadn’t wasted time waiting for them outside and collected all at once after all the celebrities were indoors, it would be even faster.
After finding the correct solution to the problem, the [Group Photo God] task was almost too simple!
Two women approached, both of them were very popular. Meng Fan wasn’t willing to take photos with everyone who came though. For example, these two sellouts who had accidentally ruined their reputation for selling contacts made him feel nauseous. Meng Fan was disdainful. With so much experience, he didn’t need the likes of these two.
Of course, it was only a negative feeling, not hatred. Meng Fan wasn’t going to go up and trip them.
About five minutes later, he saw Bai Zhi.
“Why are you thanking me!? If my hubby Dong didn’t go get the car, I would have kicked his butt myself! This kind of people can’t be tolerated, nonetheless feared!”
The aunty gave Meng Fan a big thumbs up and said, “Young man, speaking of which, you did beautifully today! That is a bit too smoothly. Aunty knows you were wary of maintaining the girl’s dignity. You said you were catching a thief. After she left, you could have spoken up! What if the guy had a companion? You would have been the one suffering! And the onlookers would all misunderstand you too!”
“A… Auntie.” Meng Fan could only address her by what she called herself. Smiling, he replied, “You’re right, I’ll be more careful next time!”
“Okay, okay. Well, you’re a good kid. You’re courageous, and you listen to people! Look at auntie’s entire life. The level of wisdom and martial arts you demonstrate is only slightly below my hubby Dong,” she half-jokingly said.
“What’s wrong? Is everything okay?!”
As they left, a person who had been waiting rushed towards the auntie. He was tall and strong, looking like an uncle whose actual age was not less than fifty. Looking up and down, his face was full of concern.
“It’s alright!”
The auntie’s face flushed with happiness as she grabbed the tall sturdy man’s hand. Then, to the big-eyed girl and Meng Fan, she introduced him. “This is my husband. I call him Dong bro.”
After introducing Dong bro to Meng Fan, she asked the big-eyed girl for her name.
It was only then Meng Fan knew that they weren’t familiar with each other. She had so curtly followed the aunty into the police car with an ‘aunty wait for me’ attitude… His brain really didn’t work very well.
“This fellow is fierce! The girl is brave!”
This Dong bro evidently knew about what happened before and after the event. After confirming that his wife was okay, he patted Meng Fan on the shoulders. He was about to do the same to the girl but then retracted his arm with a laugh. “Meeting you guys was definitely the biggest gain we have made coming out on vacation! Let’s go, big bro will treat you some skewers! I know a place nearby that tastes pretty good!”
Dong bro cooly dragged Meng Fan into the backseat of his car. Fortunately, it wasn’t a smart car, but a Ford Explorer, so he wasn’t crammed in.
The big-eyed girl had also been shoved in by the aunty.
As the car started, all that could be heard was the carefree laughter of the couple.
After arriving, Dong Ge discovered that Meng Fan lived far away. He only ate skewers and didn’t drink any alcohol. After the hearty laughter ended, and everyone ate their skewers, he took Meng Fan back without saying another word, also dropping off the big-eyed girl off nearby along the way.
Before leaving, he asked Meng Fan for his contact information, promising to have a good drink together next time if they had the chance.
“I didn’t think you were also a streamer on 8th station.”
This was the WeChat message Meng Fan received after stepping out of the shower. It was from the big-eyed girl who he had just added on WeChat.
“Also?”
“I’m also a streamer, gaming stream, next time I’ll take you into a party.”
“What a coincidence.”
Meng Fan didn’t know she had searched him up.
He looked at his other news updates.
“My god, do you have to be this badass? You even got interviewed!” This was from Zhang Zhou Wei, in addition to two photos of the couple on their vacation.
“You’re pretty feisty. I saw you on the news.” This was from Qin Jiao, along with a photo of him from the article.
“You’re really running here?” This was sent by Meng Cai Wei, whom he hadn’t contacted in two days.
“Older brother, you’ve been starting a lot of fuss lately. You’re really gonna debut with your weight!” This was from Meng Cai Tang.
“Be careful on the road.” This was from Wu Tong.
“Yeah, I’ll be cautious. Have you slept yet?”
Meng Fan ignored the other messages and only responded to Wu Tong.
“I just came back after eating a midnight snack. Every holiday season, I gain about three pounds!”
…
The next day was October 2nd. Meng Fan got up at 5:00. He ate a light breakfast and began running at 5:30.
In the morning, he managed to run 24 kilometers in two durations, walking nearly 3 kilometers. At around 10:00, he entered Jia Xing city’s city boundaries.
Leaving at one o’clock in the afternoon, Meng Fan ran 12 kilometers and walked half an hour to rest. He then ran 16 kilometers in two hours. The route to Jia Shan County led directly toward the Xi Tang ancient town’s scenic area.
He had consumed an energy chew during his 16-kilometer run. That abled him to run a total of 52 kilometers in one day!
Before, he didn’t live in the scenic spot because it wasn’t on his route, but Xi Tang had been just on the route.
Besides, he had to live in a scenic spot at least once since he was running the whole way.
He had booked the room in advance, afraid that other circumstances might appear. He had arranged to stay for two days.
There was a benefit to the scenic spot, as it provided a +1 experience for the [Night Touring God] task.
On the morning of October 3rd, Meng Fan had just completed his first 12 kilometers when a ding went off in his head. His total distance had reached 400 kilometers, completing [Travelling Deity] task phase 6.
Rewards received: Achievement points +400, strength +2.
Task phase 7 required that he reach a total mileage of 700 kilometers. The reward was +700 points and speed +2.
After receiving the reward, even with his incredible strength from his weight, the +2 increase could still be clearly felt.
If his previous strength along with his tonnage could crush most people into disparity, then now, Meng Fan felt he had to restrain himself, as it was easy to end someone’s life in one ‘sitting’.
After the +2 increase in strength, his rest time in between his 12-kilometer runs was also reduced significantly. The black magic running shoes had carried out appropriate adjustments in real-time.
After getting enough rest, Meng Fan continued and began the second 12 kilometers.
He ran another 20 kilometers in the afternoon. Arriving at the New Economic Park of the Caohejing development zone in the Song Jiang district of Shanghai, he paused. He was only 22 kilometers away from his destination, the Shanghai stadium.
“666!”
“Badass!”
“He actually ran to Shanghai!”
“Although he hasn’t arrived at the stadium yet, I’m gonna give out the smoldering smoke worth 1024 ahead of time out of respect!”
“I also gifted mine in advance.”
Meng Fan prepared to log off, but when he saw the top-tiered gifts being sent out to his stream, he waited for a moment.
These two gifts had been broadcasted on the entire station. He had to wait for the viewers to come draw for rewards before logging off; after all, they all counted for experience!
As he waited, he found a hotel to stay at.
“Tomorrow at 7 am the stream will begin. I will try to run the 22 kilometers to the stadium in one breath! At night I won’t be streaming, so rest early!”
Meng Fan made the announcement before going offline.
After a two-hour nap at the hotel, Meng Fan headed out to search for food. He headed for a nearby area where traffic had been congested and began madly giving out likes.
Why was he ‘mad’?
The traffic jams throughout the last few days made the task progress for [Real • Adoration Fever] at 4,700,000.
Meng Fan aimed to collect the rest tonight!
“Ding!”
At 10 o’clock that evening, outside the Wanda Songjiang store, Meng Fan completed all the task phases for [Real•Adoration Fever]!
Rewards: Points +500, validation +1.
The reward wasn’t Meng Fan’s focus. His focus was that after completion, he gained the qualifications to purchase the equipment from the task!
The hat that made one’s validation disappear!
The hat cost 1000 points to redeem, and Meng Fan had accumulated 1245.
-1000, 245 points remaining.
In a beam of light, a thumbtack sized hat appeared in his hands. Evidently, it could adjust in size, and it could also be integrated into other hats.
The hat itself was really simple, no matter how he looked at it.
Meng Fan didn’t put on the hat immediately, but he headed into the washroom and enlarged the hat before wearing it on his head.
How did it feel?
As if nothing had happened!
Boom.
Just as he left the washroom, a guy bumped into Meng Fan.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry.”
The guy continuously apologized somewhat awkwardly. There was someone here?
Meng Fan was also baffled.
Wasn’t the hat supposed to make his presence disappear? How come people were still running into him?
Could it be there was no effect?
Or could it be that this person was really just careless, and the person from the dorm had done so intentionally?
Meng Fan thought about it and walked into a clothing store on the side of the road. He randomly picked up a piece of clothing and shook it at a clerk, signaling her to come to him.
The clerk was indifferent!
Meng Fan then looked at the clothes he was holding, confirming that the hat was effective. Otherwise, someone of his size holding female underwear would surely attract all kinds of eyes.
He switched into the men’s clothing store and picked up some clothes, waving it again. Nobody acknowledged him. He walked up to a clerk and shouted at him before the clerk acknowledged him with a slight jump.
The look in his eyes said, ‘Jesus, where did you came from? You scared me!’
Exiting Wanda, Meng Fan hailed a taxi. In ten minutes, four or five vehicles passed, none of which stopped for him.
He logged into the stream on his phone and waited five minutes. Not a single person came.
It was as if he had been forgotten by the world!