How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 436 Interception
Police station.

The short-haired woman covered her eyes and started crying as soon as she entered the door, her voice shrill like a teddy bear whose tail had been stepped on.

"Police, we've been wronged! He was arrogant and then turned around and accused us. You have to believe me."

The long-haired woman also pulled her t-shirt to show the police, saying innocently, "I really didn't lie to you. He deliberately spilled the coffee. This is the evidence. Who would pour coffee on themselves?"

As for the two reporters in windbreakers, they stood their necks straight and said confidently, "We are journalists and have the freedom to interview. This is our press card. He is framing us because he has a guilty conscience."

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Everyone has a chance to speak." The older policeman, holding a notebook, wore a professionally serious expression. He had seen too many conflicting accounts, so he remained unaffected. He looked at the group in front of him and asked, "Who would like to speak first?"

“I’ll speak!” the tall, thin reporter interrupted. “We are reporters from Qiyi Video, here in Guangzhou for the Golden Melody Awards ceremony. This morning, we were staking out the hotel as usual when we saw Zhang Wen come out. Out of professional instinct, we followed him. At noon, we saw him arguing with two ladies, and we immediately took out our phones to film him. As a result, he falsely accused us of being in cahoots with these two ladies and setting him up.”

“Yes, that’s right.” Another short, thin reporter nodded in agreement.

"Is that so?" the police officer asked the two women. "Are you sure you don't know these two reporters?"

"We don't know each other, we really don't know each other," the long-haired woman said earnestly.

"Officer, I swear." The short-haired woman raised her hands.

The police officer didn't ask any more questions, but turned to Zhang Wen and asked, "What do you say? Do you agree with his statement?"

"I disagree." Zhang Wen said after hearing this, "Whether they know each other or not can't be determined by just words. It would be best to check their phones."

"Let's investigate!" the tall, thin reporter said confidently.

“Yes, we have nothing to hide, so we have nothing to fear,” the short, thin reporter said earnestly, taking his phone out of his pocket with an air of complete innocence.

Looking at the two reporters' confident demeanor, Zhang Wen couldn't help but sneer inwardly. If he wasn't mistaken, these two had probably already deleted their contact information from their phones.

However, this did not pose a problem for him.

"Police, do you have any computer experts here who can recover deleted content from a phone? If not, I can help you," Zhang Wen said calmly.

Upon hearing this, the two reporters, who had been so confident just moments before, instantly changed their expressions, and a hint of panic flashed in their eyes.

Especially the short, thin reporter, who almost dropped his phone.

"What do you mean? There's nothing to recover on our phones. You're just stalling for time!"

The tall, thin reporter also got anxious and immediately chimed in, "That's right, who knows if you'll take this opportunity to do something sneaky and tamper with the contents of our phones!"

The two women were also in a panic. The long-haired woman clutched the hem of her clothes tightly, while the short-haired woman was pale.

The older police officer glanced at the four flustered individuals, then at Zhang Wen, who looked completely confident. He had a general idea of ​​what was going on, so he turned to the younger officer beside him and said, "Xiao Hu, collect their phones and contact the technical department to see if we can recover the data."

"Yes, Captain Wang," Xiao Hu replied, stepping forward to collect the phone.

The two reporters immediately panicked, sweat dripping from their foreheads. The tall, thin reporter quickly turned to look at the long-haired woman beside him and gave her a quick wink.

Upon receiving the signal, the long-haired woman immediately exclaimed, "It's a misunderstanding! Mr. Zhang probably just accidentally spilled my coffee. I misunderstood him."

The short-haired woman's mind worked quickly. Knowing that continuing to argue would be detrimental to her, she quickly forced a smile and tried to smooth things over. "Yes, yes, since it's a misunderstanding, I think we should just let it go. Teacher Zhang, you're a magnanimous person, you wouldn't be so petty as to hold a grudge against us fans, would you?"

Seeing the two fake fans suddenly change their expressions, Zhang Wen knew he had made the right bet. He stared coldly at them and said, "Let it go? You weren't saying that on the street just now. You called me a diva in front of so many people, and now you think you can just dismiss it as a misunderstanding?"

As he spoke, he looked at the police officer beside him and said firmly, "Officer, this is no small matter. They deliberately framed me and even colluded with reporters to create negative news, which constitutes defamation. If we just let it go like this, will anyone be able to just find someone to put on a show and ruin someone's reputation?"

The older reporter nodded, clearly agreeing with the statement. He tapped the table and said in a serious voice, "Whether it's a misunderstanding or not is not up to you. The phone must be handed over. We'll deal with it as appropriate once the technical department has the results."

The long-haired woman panicked completely. It had always worked before, but she never expected to fail this time. If the target really pursued her to the end, wouldn't her future and her life be ruined?

Perhaps if I admit it now, I can still get a lenient treatment.

There's a saying: "Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely."

By the time the police found the call history on the phone, it was too late.

"Pfft!"

The long-haired woman's legs went weak, and she sat down on the ground, pleadingly saying, "I confess, he contacted me..." She pointed to the tall, thin reporter and continued, "He gave me three thousand yuan and asked me to pretend to be a fan of Teacher Zhang and create some topics. He also said he would give me another three thousand after it was done."

This sudden action stunned everyone present. The tall, thin reporter looked at his companion in astonishment, his eyes filled with disbelief. He hadn't expected this woman to be so easily frightened.

Upon hearing this, the short-haired woman's face turned pale and then red. She knew she couldn't hide it any longer, so she simply confessed, "What she said is true. I was blinded by money, which is why I agreed to do this. I hope Teacher Zhang can forgive us."

The tall, thin reporter's face turned extremely ugly when he saw that the two men had confessed, as if he had been stabbed twice in the back. He glared at them and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I don't know you at all!"

He shouted as he looked at the police, sweating profusely: "Officers, don't listen to their nonsense! They're framing me! How could I, a respectable reporter, do such a thing?"

The short, thin reporter quickly chimed in, "Yes, we don't know them at all. They must have been paid by someone else to frame us."

The older policeman glanced at the two flustered reporters, then at the two women bowing their heads to confess, and made his judgment. He then gave a wink to Xiao Hu, who was standing to the side.

Xiao Hu immediately understood, snatched the phone, and turned to leave.

The tall, thin reporter tried to snatch it back, but after meeting the stern gaze of the older policeman, he stopped abruptly, muttering to himself, "It's over, it's all over."

The short, thin reporter was also ashen-faced and could no longer utter a word of defense.

Ten minutes later.

The young policeman approached the older policeman and whispered a few words in his ear.

The older policeman's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, his expression grew increasingly serious, and a chill crept into his previously calm eyes.

After the young policeman finished his report, he stepped aside, while the older policeman looked sharply at the two reporters and said in a low voice, "The technical department has recovered the deleted chat history and transfer vouchers from your phones. What else do you have to say?"

The tall, thin reporter trembled, stood there dumbfounded, his eyes filled with despair.

The older police officer closed his notebook, stood up, and said with a serious expression, "You are suspected of defamation, disturbing public order, and also of gang-related crimes. We will deal with this matter seriously."

Upon hearing this, the two women trembled with fear and bowed repeatedly while apologizing.

"Teacher Zhang, we're sorry, we were wrong, please forgive us this time."

"Please, we'll never do it again, really. I'm still a graduate student and I'm trying to earn some living expenses. If this gets reported to the school, I'll definitely be expelled."

The older policeman looked at Zhang Wen with a questioning look in his eyes, as if seeking his opinion.

Looking at the two sobbing women in front of him, Zhang Wen felt no sympathy whatsoever. He coldly said, "Have you ever thought about how I would survive in the entertainment industry if I were labeled as 'diva'? You are adults and need to be responsible for your actions."

Upon hearing this, the long-haired woman cried even harder, while the short-haired woman seemed to have an idea and looked at the older policeman, asking, "If we confess voluntarily, can our case be reconsidered?"

The older police officer nodded. "We will handle the matter according to the specific circumstances."

"Can you let us go?" the short-haired woman asked.

"Release them? That's definitely not acceptable." The older policeman shook his head.

"..." The expectation on the short-haired woman's face vanished instantly, replaced by regret in her eyes.

The short, thin reporter looked at the tall, thin reporter, his brows furrowed in anxiety.

After hesitating for a moment, the tall, thin reporter shook his head slightly. In his opinion, now was not the time to be honest.

Now that things have come to this, we must contact Cheng Ke. If he can offer a substantial amount of compensation, I can simply be detained for a while; if he doesn't intend to pay, then it won't be too late to confess and seek leniency.

"Take them away, separate them, and take detailed statements," the older policeman said.

"Yes, Captain Wang," Xiao Hu replied.

Two women and two reporters were taken away by the police. The long-haired woman was still crying, while the short-haired woman had her head down and looked dejected. The short, thin reporter staggered a bit, while the tall, thin reporter tried to remain calm, but his clenched fists betrayed his nervousness.

The reception room finally quieted down. The older policeman looked at Zhang Wen and softened his tone: "Mr. Zhang, we're sorry you had to go through this. We'll keep you informed if anything happens. You can go ahead and get back to work. Don't miss the awards ceremony this afternoon."

Zhang Wen nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "I don't think those two reporters were telling the truth; they were probably acting under someone's orders." "Understood," the older policeman nodded.

"Thank you."

Zhang Wen shook hands with the police officer, then turned and walked out of the police station.

Sunlight filters through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

Zhang Wen looked up at the clear blue sky. Although this incident had taken a lot of effort, it had finally come to a conclusion.

He took out his phone, checked the time—it was just 10 a.m., still a long way from the awards ceremony—so he opened his phone's navigation app and leisurely walked towards the hotel.

"Teacher Zhang, where have you been?" Upon returning to the hotel, Zhang Wen was surrounded by Zhao Tong and others.

Although the five women were all adults, the absence of Teacher Zhang made them feel uneasy and as if they had lost their anchor.

"Let's just go for a stroll," Zhang Wen said with a smile after hearing this. In order not to affect the mood of the five people, he did not tell them what had just happened.

"Teacher Zhang, you're really not being fair! Why didn't you invite us?" Zhang Jiajia asked.

"There are reporters and fans all over the hotel today. I'm afraid if I go out with you guys, we won't be able to go sightseeing," Zhang Wen said.

"It can't be that exaggerated, can it? We're just newcomers, not singers, who would care about us?" Zhang Jiajia was a little skeptical.

“Don’t underestimate yourselves,” Zhang Wen said seriously. “Your new song has topped the charts for seven consecutive weeks, and has been played over 500 million times since its release. The dance in the music video has even sparked imitations across the internet. Your popularity is quite high right now.”

The five women thought about it and realized that what Teacher Zhang said made a lot of sense, so they smiled happily.

The Golden Melody Awards ceremony will officially begin at 19 p.m., but there will be a red carpet event for artists before the awards ceremony.

In order to present their best selves to the audience, the celebrities started preparing at noon, doing makeup and styling, striving to be the most beautiful girls and the most stylish guys on the red carpet.

Zhang Wen had no interest in walking the red carpet and did not plan to, so she did not deliberately put on makeup. She simply wore a suit that Gao Yue and Bai Lu had chosen together and got into the car arranged by the organizer.

The hotel wasn't far from the stadium where the awards ceremony was held, only a few kilometers away. However, because there were so many cars heading to the stadium, the journey was incredibly slow, like a snail crawling along.

"It's so slow!" Zhao Tong said, glancing at the time and looking out of the car. The other four were also anxious, afraid of being late and missing the red carpet.

They are newcomers, so their order on the red carpet was arranged to be earlier. If they are late, it will affect those behind them, and might even anger the organizers.

"Calm down," Zhang Wen said calmly. "There's still an hour until it's time to walk the red carpet. Even if we take a short walk, we'll be there soon. Besides, it's not like we're the only ones stuck in traffic. Everyone's stuck. What are you worried about?"

Zhao Tong and the others knew that Teacher Zhang was right, but they still couldn't help feeling a little worried. This kind of feeling wasn't something that could be easily eliminated.

As the car approached an intersection and was about to turn, a white sedan suddenly sped from the adjacent lane, blocking the front of the minivan.

"squeak--"

The driver slammed on the brakes, and the people inside the car were thrown forward due to inertia.

"Oh!"

"Bang bang bang!"

Caught off guard, the girls bumped into the seats in front of them, their faces showing expressions of terror.

The driver was startled and honked his horn loudly to signal the other driver to move aside and not cut in.

But the white sedan seemed not to hear, inching forward, determined to cut in.

"What's going on? Can't you drive?!" Zhao Tong said with dissatisfaction, gently rubbing his arm that had been bumped.

"Maybe he's in a hurry to be reincarnated," Zhang Wen said casually, then looked at the driver beside him, "Sir, no rush, let him go first."

It wasn't that he was a coward, but the most important thing right now was to get to the red carpet safely. There was no need to argue with this kind of person; if they actually got into a fight, it would only waste more time.

The driver nodded and stopped honking. He just sighed helplessly. If he hadn't been carrying a celebrity, he would have definitely pulled over in an American style.

The traffic ahead moved slowly, and the white sedan successfully cut into the queue. However, it had only driven a few meters forward when it suddenly braked hard.

"Damn, are you out of your mind?!" The driver frowned deeply and slammed his hand on the steering wheel. Because of the high chassis and good visibility of the minivan, he could clearly see the white sedan in front of him.

Although the traffic flow was slow, it was not completely blocked and was able to continue moving forward.

"Beep beep!" The driver honked the horn a few times, signaling the other party to leave quickly, but the white sedan still didn't move.

"Could the car be broken?" Zhang Jiajia blinked and asked doubtfully.

Zhang Wen thought for a moment, then pointed to the lane next to him, "Driver, go this way."

"Okay." The driver nodded, then turned on the turn signal and slowly began to turn right.

However, just as the car had passed halfway, the white sedan in front suddenly turned on its right turn signal and slowly turned right, blocking the front of the van.

"Damn it, you did it on purpose!" The driver finally couldn't help but swear.

The girls also noticed something was wrong, and their faces showed a hint of nervousness.

Zhang Wen frowned slightly and carefully examined the white sedan in front of him. The windows were tinted with dark film, and even with his superhuman eyesight, he couldn't see the people inside.

But he had a feeling that this was related to being followed and set up that morning, with the aim of preventing him from attending the awards ceremony that evening.

To verify his thoughts, he looked at the driver and said, "Driver, move to the left a bit."

"Okay." The driver followed Zhang Wen's instructions and turned the steering wheel sharply to the left, giving the impression that they were back in the same lane.

The white sedan then activated its left turn signal, giving no chance to overtake.

The driver stepped on the brake, turned to look at the passenger seat, and waited for Zhang Wen's next instructions.

After obtaining the definitive answer, Zhang Wen didn't say a word. He immediately summoned a bad luck talisman from the Wenqu Tower and threw it at the white sedan in front of him.

As the bad luck charm slowly merged into the white sedan, the next moment, with a "poof" sound, smoke suddenly billowed from the hood of the car, and flames quickly shot out from the gaps.

"Holy crap, is it really broken?" The driver was slightly taken aback and turned to look at Zhang Jiajia.

"Ignore it, go around it from the left," Zhang Wen said.

"Okay." The driver immediately turned the steering wheel sharply to the left, and this time, without the white sedan blocking the way, he passed it smoothly.

Zhang Wen looked at the white sedan that was smoking and on fire through the rearview mirror. At that moment, the car door was open, and a man ran out of the driver's seat in a panic. He then took a fire extinguisher from the trunk and sprayed it onto the hood of the car.

reporter?
Another reporter?
Zhang Wen's eyes gradually turned cold as he looked at the opponent's skill panel.

Clearly, this was another premeditated interception.

Could it be another reporter from ESPN?

As Zhang Wen thought about it, he opened the car window and casually tossed out a talisman for bad luck.

The talisman of bad luck floated in the air and eventually landed on the reporter.

"bang"

The car exploded again, flames shooting outwards and engulfing the reporters who were trying to put out the fire.

The explosion was so sudden that the reporter had no time to dodge and was instantly engulfed in flames.

Fortunately, a driver nearby took out a fire extinguisher and sprayed it at the reporter, quickly extinguishing the flames on his body. In the end, the reporter was unharmed, but suffered burns all over his body.

……

(End of this chapter)