Chapter 45: The Trending Star Who Died from Cyberbullying (1)

After returning to the system space, Xie Hui, as always, converted all the rewards he earned from his mission into merit and bound them to Xie Qi’an.

That way, even if she didn’t have him as her father in her next life, she would still be born into a good family and live a stable life.

“Host, do you need to choose your next world?”

Xie Hui sat in his chair, gently rubbing his brow. After a long pause, he finally answered:

“Pick a world where my mission target is a son.”

Xie Hui felt that he needed to take it slow this time. In the past, after completing a mission, he could always process his emotions well.

The principle he always followed was that for the people in the mission, their lives were everything. Once he completed his task, it meant the end of that connection.

Raising those two children before had already made it difficult to completely suppress his emotions, but he still managed. However, after this last mission, even after returning to the system space, the emotional impact lingered.

A tiny, fragile little baby, whose cries were barely audible, whom he had raised with his own hands—watching her grow, transform, get married, have children, and eventually go through old age and death—it was a lot for Xie Hui to take in.

Even though he was a highly experienced mission executor, at the end of the day, he had once been an ordinary human being.

It was only through continuously carrying out missions that he refined and tempered his state of mind.

From Xie Hui’s perspective, he was still growing, even now.

“Understood, Host.”

After careful selection, the system assigned Xie Hui to a modern world, where the mission target was already an adult.

“Host, would you like to meet the client?”

Since Xie Hui wasn’t in a hurry to start the mission, he nodded.

The person who walked in was a man whose clothes were so worn they had faded. Upon seeing the elaborate furnishings of the system space, his expression became slightly uneasy.

The system space was beautifully decorated. Xie Hui was someone who valued his quality of life, and since he had the means, he naturally ensured his comfort to the fullest extent possible.

“Welcome, client.”

The mechanical voice of the system startled the client. It took him a long moment before he finally began to recount his story.

His words were hesitant and fragmented, not very coherent.

“I regret it so much… I was just a farmer in the countryside, but my son made something of himself—he was on TV. He was capable enough to even build me a house in the village.”

“That kid was always strong-willed, and everyone said he was a good boy.”

“Then one day, someone came to the village looking for me. They said my son had gone astray out there, that he was being kept by an older woman—someone even older than me. I was afraid he was too young and being deceived, so I went to his company to find him.”

Hearing this, Xie Hui had already guessed what came next.

In the entertainment industry, it was easy to ruin someone’s reputation. A baseless scandal could stain them forever. And this time, the rumors weren’t just vague accusations—they were words coming straight from the boy’s own father.

Even if the child had done nothing wrong, he would still be torn apart by the public, possibly to the point of total ruin.

By now, the client’s weathered face was streaked with tears.

“I regret it… My good son, only thirty years old—how did he end up jumping to his death?”

Every client Xie Hui had encountered was truly remorseful after the fact. If their guilt weren’t deep enough, they wouldn’t have been able to find him.

Xie Hui patiently listened to his story. The old man, hunched over, walked toward him and tried to kneel.

Xie Hui quickly stepped forward and supported the client’s arm.

“Please, heaven above, I’ll give anything—take my next life, make me an animal if you must—just save my son.”

When human efforts fail, all that remains is to pin hopes on the divine.

“Don’t worry. You won’t need to pay such a price. This is simply a transaction between us.”

Most of the people who became clients and sought out Xie Hui were those who had accumulated immense merit in their past lives. Their deep regret served as further qualification. When they entered the system space as clients, they tacitly agreed to use all their past-life merit as payment for the mission executor.

Once the mission was completed, they would reincarnate as ordinary people in the next life.

“That child was always well-behaved… How did I let myself get so blinded, so easily swayed by a few words from strangers?”

Even as Xie Hui prepared to carry out the mission, he could still hear the old man’s murmuring regrets.

Entering the World

When Xie Hui entered the new world, he found himself holding a hoe under the scorching sun, his head dizzy from the heat.

He adjusted his grip on the hoe and moved to a shaded spot to process his memories of this world.

Back in the system space, the client had been too distraught to speak clearly, so Xie Hui could only piece together the truth based on what little information he provided and his own deductions.

As expected, the reality wasn’t far from what Xie Hui had guessed.

Someone in the entertainment industry had been displeased with Xie Xingzhou’s success. Since he lacked any powerful background, his rise had blocked the paths of many others.

Yet when they tried to dig up dirt on him, they found absolutely nothing. The deeper they dug, the cleaner he appeared.

Xie Xingzhou had always been that outstanding child— excelling in academics since childhood, later attending a prestigious university in the country.

It was during college that he was scouted while working part-time and offered a small supporting role. No one had expected that such an unremarkable character—who only appeared for two episodes—would leave such a stunning impression on the audience.

Originally, his role was just a minor one, a character that would quickly exit the story. His costume was as plain as any other extra’s.

In modern dramas, unlike in the past, elaborate costumes and designs had become rare. A minimalist style had taken over, with both lead actors and background characters alike dressed in simple, white clothing.

But when Xie Xingzhou appeared in that first episode, his unique ethereal and cold aura captivated viewers. Many refused to believe he would disappear after just two episodes.

Xie Xingzhou himself hadn’t even realized that he had unintentionally gone viral online. All he thought about was how working as an extra paid better than taking a part-time job at a convenience store.

Later, after he gained popularity, someone approached him with roles in a few low-budget productions, and he became an overnight sensation.

From the original host’s memories, Xie Hui could tell that, in the end, Xie Xingzhou likely couldn’t bear the cyberbullying anymore and chose to end his life to prove his innocence.

At first, it was just his father scolding him for supposedly being kept by an older woman. But after that, it didn’t matter what kind of slander was thrown at Xie Xingzhou—people were willing to believe it. Because of the initial scandal, even the most ridiculous rumors, ones that would fall apart under the slightest scrutiny, still had an audience.

Some even said that if it were anyone else, they wouldn’t have believed it. But when it came to Xie Xingzhou? Maybe.

At its core, someone wanted to ruin Xie Xingzhou. Since they couldn’t attack him in other ways, they latched onto this scandal.

Most people instinctively thought, His own father said it—how could it not be true? If it weren’t, would a father really slander his own son?

Xie Hui could completely understand the client’s impulsive decision to confront his son. After all, even though Xie Xingzhou had been too busy with work to communicate much with his father, he had done everything he could to provide him with the best possible material conditions.

He was afraid the original host would overwork himself doing all the farm work alone, or worse, get injured with no one to care for him. So he even hired a housekeeper, leaving the original host with only light gardening to do.

The original host wasn’t well-educated and didn’t have many sources of entertainment. When he had farm work to keep him busy, it wasn’t so bad, but once he suddenly had too much free time, his thoughts ran wild.

Then someone told him that the reason his son was making so much money was that he was being kept by an older woman his age. In a moment of anger, he just wanted to pull his son back from the so-called “wrong path.”

Who could have predicted that his love for his son would be used against him, turning into the sharpest blade that ultimately destroyed Xie Xingzhou?

Xie Hui slung his hoe over his shoulder and went home. The sun was too intense—he really couldn’t take working under it any longer. After washing up and changing into fresh clothes, he sat down to take a breath.

The moment he arrived in the mission world was always random. Fortunately, Xie Hui’s luck had always been decent. This time, he had arrived just in time—his son was still in college and hadn’t even stepped into the entertainment industry yet.

The Lord God didn’t require Xie Hui to strictly follow the original host’s personality, but Xie Hui always preferred to keep changes to a minimum while completing missions.

It was like a ball—if a small bump appeared here and there, it was fine as long as it still rolled smoothly.

But he couldn’t just turn it into a pincushion.

Right then, the original host’s old-school phone rang, the loud ringtone shaking his skull.

Xie Hui picked it up and saw that the caller was none other than the mission target of this world—Xie Xingzhou.

“Hello, Dad? It’s so hot outside. My summer break is coming up soon, and I’ll be home soon. Don’t do any farm work—just wait for me to come back and take care of it.”

Through the outdated phone, the voice sounded a bit distorted, but it was as clear as a babbling stream, carrying a youthful energy that was genuinely pleasant to hear.

Xie Hui, suppressing his voice like the original host would, replied,

“No need for that. Your dad’s got everything taken care of—just focus on your studies.”

The original host often reminded his son of how tough things were at home, urging Xie Xingzhou not to waste money. He wanted his son to become independent as soon as possible.

When Xie Hui absorbed the original host’s memories, he immediately understood why the boy had ultimately chosen suicide in despair.

The weight of too many expectations was like a mountain pressing down on him, making him afraid to do anything less than perfectly. He feared letting his father down, feared that all his father’s struggles and sacrifices would be in vain.

“Dad, you’re not young anymore. Just stay home and take it easy. I’ve been doing part-time work at school and saved up enough for next semester’s tuition and living expenses.”

Xie Xingzhou rarely received this kind of concern from his father, but he knew all too well about the family’s financial situation. Just hearing his dad say something like this was enough to make him happy, so he still tried to convince him not to overwork himself.

“Alright, Dad’s heading into town this afternoon to buy some things. I’ll send you some money—don’t be too frugal at school.”

After hanging up, Xie Hui found the original host’s bankbook and checked the balance.

Honestly, the amount saved wasn’t small. But the original host had lived frugally, never even buying himself a new set of clothes, saving every cent for his son’s future wedding.

Since this was the original host’s lifetime savings, Xie Hui decided to consult the client through the system before using it.

The client, eyes red with emotion, nodded without hesitation.

“Yes, use it, use as much as you need. I saved all my life, but in the end, my son never even got to spend a cent of it… and he left first.”

Xie Hui transferred 10,000 yuan to Xie Xingzhou’s account. Then, after wandering around town for a bit, he decided to rent a storefront.

The original host was just an ordinary farmer—humble and unremarkable. The only thing of note was that he had excellent cooking skills. Whenever there was a wedding or funeral in the area, people would hire him as the head chef.

Coincidentally, Xie Hui himself had once been a professional imperial banquet chef. The love of good food among his people often exceeded even his own expectations.