Chapter 34: The Fierce Dragon Roars Across the River

As November approached, the weather had already turned cool. Ma Jun changed into a tracksuit—unless the script demanded a certain look, he generally preferred loose, comfortable clothing.

Currently, he owned two cars: one was a nanny van for work, the other was a regular, inexpensive vehicle—less than thirty thousand, arranged by Lao Qian—for daily commuting. After all, the trip from the villa to the school took nearly an hour, so having a car made things convenient.

He woke up in the morning, had breakfast, and drove to school alone. At school, hardly anyone cast him a look of envy.

Just after lunch, as he was heading back to the dormitory, his phone rang—it was his father calling.

“Hey, son, you’ve become an internet celebrity now, huh? Not bad. People have revealed all your embarrassing stories!” Ma Jun’s father teased, laughing.

His father had started working in transportation right after graduating high school, traveled all over the country, and was considered a seasoned driver. He had a great personality and was always joking with everyone. Although Ma Jun used to see his father only occasionally, their relationship was never distant.

“Well, you’re keeping up with the times, always surfing the web. Bet you’ve seen plenty of things not suitable for children!” Ma Jun retorted mercilessly. “Be careful, or Mom will have you kneeling on the keyboard!”

“You little brat, speaking to your father like this! Do you believe I’ll drive over right now and give you a beating?” his father said hurriedly. “Don’t think I don’t know what treasures you have on your computer! Still have the nerve to criticize me—I’ll delete them all for you later!”

“Jun, didn’t you say you signed with some ‘Galloping Horse Company’ recently?” his mother grabbed the phone. “The news about you online lately—is that your company’s publicity? They’re being too outrageous. My son may be a bit mischievous, but he’d never toy with girls!”

When out in the world, parents are always worried, always believing their children to be well-behaved and sensible. They were still unaware that their son was no longer the boy he once was.

Walking along, Ma Jun explained to his parents. His message, repeated in various ways, was clear: he was doing very well, truly happy and content. He urged them not to worry, but to enjoy their retirement.

After chatting for over half an hour and hanging up, Lao Qian called next, reporting the latest developments.

Agent Qi Wanying had been negotiating with the other company from last night to today, but the results weren’t great. They wouldn’t give her any face.

The main reason was that the other company’s artist was someone they had invested heavily in, intending to groom into a superstar. It was a massive effort and expenditure, with an overall detailed plan.

Additionally, there was another hidden reason: the industry was wary of this suddenly wealthy Galloping Horse Company, wanting to test them. Everyone was playing their own game, ready for a bout to see who was stronger. Their plan was at least to give Galloping Horse Entertainment a hard time.

“Boss, you need to pay attention to your image for the next while. If you have physiological needs, deal with them yourself—if you’re caught on camera, it’ll be a struggle to clean up your reputation later!” Qian Mo concluded with this advice.

Ma Jun listened, speechless—so this was how his image appeared in his subordinate’s eyes?

“All right, it’s just a show of strength, isn’t it? When a dragon crosses the river, it roars first so fewer creatures try to bite later. Handle these matters yourself. If things get bloody, you still have that tailcoat—go in person and use tougher methods if necessary!”

Ma Jun never felt troubled by these matters; his cards were strong, his position secure. The barrage of online insults meant nothing as long as he didn’t look—his daily life was unaffected.

So, over the next few days, reports about Ma Jun appeared across various media—some positive, some negative. In contrast, the rival company’s artist didn’t gain any fame.

Qian Mo was shrewd; his publicity always focused on defending and rehabilitating Ma Jun, never mentioning the other artist. The rival company, meanwhile, poured all their efforts into attacking Ma Jun, with dirt and scandals escalating layer by layer.

But every time their plan was about to be implemented, Lao Qian had already received word and took preemptive action, always making their blows land on empty air.

In the final round, Lao Qian arranged for Ma Jun to meet and “date” the female lead of the crew, creating a forced romantic scandal. The rival took the bait, promoting it wildly. Yet the next day, the production crew and company released a statement: the new drama was about to begin filming, and the two leads were simply discussing scenes with the director.

This maneuver outwitted the rival, making them promote the drama for free.

After this battle, both companies withdrew and shook hands, and Galloping Horse Entertainment officially entered the industry’s spotlight!

That company, called Azure Sea and Sky, barely qualified as first-tier and mainly produced TV dramas. After their clash with Galloping Horse, they offered a promising project for investment, as a gesture of goodwill, which Lao Qian gladly accepted.

Business competition is like this: sometimes the big fish eat the small, leaving blood in the water; sometimes everyone sits together and divides the cake, peacefully. Everything is driven by profit.

During this period, Ma Jun lived freely—except for avoiding Weibo, he would perform comedic sketches in class, tease his assistant at night, and spend weekends gaming at internet cafes with his roommates.

He was untouched by the negative press, but his parents suffered for it, calling every so often to check in. Both of them spent their days online, focusing on news about their son’s scandals, growing angrier the more they read, afraid that their son was upset too, and always offering comfort.

In truth, each time it was Ma Jun comforting his mother—his father was fine. To cheer them up, Ma Jun transferred fifty thousand yuan, claiming he’d earned it from acting.

He wasn’t stingy—he simply didn’t send more, knowing that too much would make them worry about how he earned it, suspecting he’d done something unsavory.

After a month’s break, the new journey of plundering other dimensions was about to begin.

After lunch, Ma Jun and Lao Qian hid in the study of the villa, shut the door, and let no one else in.

Just as before, Ma Jun would go first; if needed, he would summon Lao Qian to avoid wasting energy.

Currently, he had eleven thousand points of energy, not a small amount, but Ma Jun hadn’t bought anything from the mall, saving it for possible difficulties in the other dimension.

For this traversal, he naturally chose the two-thousand-point plane; all preparations had already been handled by Lao Qian.

He summoned the system panel and began the traversal; darkness descended, then light returned a moment later.