Chapter One Hundred: The Collapse of the Household

After hearing the bad news from Zhou Miao, Zuo Qiu grabbed the wine bottle and downed nearly half of it in one go, letting out a long, unladylike burp.

“I always expected a day like this, just didn’t think it would come so soon,” she said, wiping the wine from her lips.

“Alright, I get it. I’ll have the PR department ready,” she added.

Though Zuo Qiu was quite disheartened by Zhou Miao’s impending relationship exposure, she wasn’t worried it would severely damage his popularity.

Rainbow had conducted research before, revealing that Zhou Miao’s fanbase was distinct from other top male celebrities. His male-to-female fan ratio was nearly 4:6, whereas other male idols barely reached a 1:9 ratio.

The main reason for this vast difference was that Zhou Miao had always relied on his work to speak for him, combined with his genuine, unpretentious character, which earned him a substantial number of male fans’ admiration.

In contrast, if you asked a random person to name three songs by other top idols, hardly anyone could.

At the end of the day, talent is the ultimate truth.

That evening, Zhou Miao was playing ranked games with Hu San, Yang Xiaoya, Zhao Li, and Lin Ke’er. When Yang Xiaoya died mid-game and switched over to check Weibo, she immediately shouted into the mic, “Guys, check Weibo!”

Zhou Miao was startled. Could it be that his relationship was exposed? No, the black paparazzi hadn’t come to ask him for hush money yet. The process wasn’t over.

The five of them surrendered immediately. Zhou Miao hurriedly opened Weibo and saw that Lin Zekai and Li Qin’s relationship had exploded, shooting straight to the top of the trending list.

Everywhere in the related topics were Lin Zekai’s fans sobbing and screaming, like broken records, shouting, “The house is collapsing!”

Zhou Miao clicked on the leaked photos. Li Qin and Lin Zekai were holding hands, walking down the street. Though both wore masks and hats, from the half-exposed faces, it was unmistakably them.

There were many photos, each showing their intimate behavior, undeniable evidence with no room for explanation.

Zhou Miao couldn’t figure out how much the black paparazzi had gotten from Lin Zekai to risk exposure rather than accept the hush money. Did the paparazzi have a smaller target this time?

Not only was Zhou Miao baffled, but Lin Zekai was too. He sat on the edge of his bed, stunned, not even noticing when his phone slipped from his hand and hit the floor.

Before his relationship with Li Qin was exposed, there had been no hint, no one had contacted him for PR fees—just a direct leak!

Soon, his phone rang; it was his manager. Lin Zekai picked it up.

“We were made an example of,” his manager said.

Within the black paparazzi world, there was a practice of “killing the chicken to warn the monkey”: they’d expose one celebrity’s dirt to scare the big targets, showing the consequences of not paying, then demand double from the big fish. Clearly, Lin Zekai had been an unlucky victim this time.

Lin Zekai’s face turned ashen, his phone crunching under his grip. His frustration boiled over. “Damn it!”

When misfortune strikes, even drinking cold water can choke you. First, he was roasted across the internet by Zhou Miao’s song “Actor” in “Decisive Peak.” He’d planned to keep a low profile for a while until the storm passed. Now, this unexpected disaster—his relationship exposed!

For an idol singer like him, once a relationship leaks, it’s basically game over. Fans would desert him en masse, and many might turn hostile.

After calming down, Lin Zekai told the still-connected manager, “No matter what, we can’t admit it. Just say we’re close friends.”

The manager sighed in frustration but agreed. Friends? Hand in hand on the street? Hugging? Who would believe that?

No sooner had the call ended than Li Qin’s call came through. Distracted and upset, Lin Zekai hung up immediately, then switched off his phone—out of sight, out of mind.

On the other end, Li Qin released her phone in shock. At this moment, he had even turned off his phone…

The next day, Zhou Miao’s chauffeured van was blocked by a sneaky figure. Zhou Miao’s bodyguard dragged the man aside, preventing him from getting close, but the man struggled and shouted, “I have photos of you and your girlfriend! If you don’t want to end up like Lin Zekai, just—”

Zhou Miao rolled down the window. “Let him through.”

The bodyguard loosened his grip. The man straightened his clothes indignantly, snorted at the bodyguard, and approached the window.

“I’ve got photos of you and your girlfriend. If you don’t want the same fate as Lin Zekai, just—”

Zhou Miao cut him off, “Enough. Don’t waste my time. Go find a big influencer to sell them. And make sure my girlfriend looks good in the photos.”

Closing the window, Zhou Miao left the man flustered and desperate. The bodyguards pulled him away as the van drove off.

The man collapsed to the ground, utterly defeated. Zhou Miao was just too tough—no intimidation worked at all. If only he had exposed Zhou Miao’s relationship first and then tried to get money from Lin Zekai! Now, holding the biggest scoop on two top idols, he hadn’t earned a cent.

“Fine! I want to see if you’ll still be so defiant after your relationship is exposed!” the man muttered angrily.

Inside the van, the two bodyguards exchanged weary glances. As former special forces soldiers, their tracking skills were top-notch.

Many had tried to tail Zhou Miao before, but after warnings, they’d all been chased off. They couldn’t understand when exactly the paparazzi had gotten the shots this time. Maybe it was during Zhou Miao’s visit home over the New Year?

Regardless, the exposure was inevitable now. At noon, a well-known gossip blogger posted a teaser: “Tonight at 8 PM, live reveal of a top male singer’s relationship.”

The news instantly surged to the top of trending topics. Fans were anxious, speculating wildly about who the “top male singer” might be.

Some even rushed to the mountains to burn incense, praying fervently, begging the heavens not to let their idol’s reputation collapse, tossing coins into the wishing pool.

As time passed, Rainbow’s entire PR team worked overtime, even preparing the press release, just waiting for the blogger’s reveal.

At eight sharp, the gossip blogger went live. Countless onlookers flooded the stream, causing lag and buffering.

Without wasting time, the blogger launched into the juicy details, flashing one photo after another.

Zhou Miao, who had been ready to watch quietly, suddenly widened his eyes upon seeing the pictures. “What the hell?”

In the school dormitory, Hu San stared dumbfounded at the photos in the livestream, utterly speechless.