The car hadn't driven far when Jiang Bai sensed something was amiss. It seemed as if they were being tailed all the time, and they couldn't shake off the pursuer.
Previously in the urban area, with so many cars and people, it wasn't very noticeable. But now on the outskirts, the situation gradually became apparent.
"Look at the car behind," Jiang Bai glanced at the rear - view mirror. Ren Qingzhou followed his gaze and saw that there was indeed a car trailing them.
"I'm not kidding. Their skills are subpar. Who follows this closely?"
"Maybe they're afraid of losing us if they follow from afar," Fang Ting also craned her neck to take a look. Although they weren't sure whether the people behind were entertainment reporters or fans, they just thought the people these days were extremely crazy.
"We don't know who's in that car."
"That's easy. Stop and ask," Ren Qingzhou replied.
He glanced at Jiang Bai, who was immediately stunned by his look. "Really stop?"
"Otherwise, do you expect them to follow us all the way?"
"I'm wondering if we'll get into a fight later."
"No, you're overthinking. At most, they'll just take some photos. They won't really fight."
"I still think it's dangerous. How about we just speed up and shake them off?"
"Racing on the main road is even more dangerous. There aren't many people on the road now, but what if someone suddenly shows up? That would be terrifying."
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
As Jiang Bai said this, he pulled the car over to the side.
Their sudden stop clearly caught the car behind off - guard. For a moment, they didn't know whether to stop or keep going.
Su Tang watched as their speed gradually slowed down and finally came to a halt.
Ren Qingzhou walked over and knocked on the window of that car. "Dude, come out and have a talk."
The windows of that car were all tinted with anti - peeping film, so it was hard to see what was going on inside from the outside.
Su Tang felt extremely nervous. She was really afraid that as soon as the door was opened, several strong men would jump out and beat her up.
They didn't know what was happening inside. After a while, the door finally opened.
There was a young man in the front passenger seat, and three young girls were sitting in the back.
The three girls didn't look very old, probably in their early twenties.
Ren Qingzhou saw that they weren't holding any equipment, so they were most likely fans.
Actually, fans were relatively easier to deal with compared to entertainment reporters.
Those entertainment reporters were like dog - skin plasters. Once they stuck to you, it was impossible to get rid of them.
Sometimes, even if you talked to them nicely, what you said seemed to take on a different meaning in their ears.
The reports they wrote would make you feel incredulous and even doubt if you had lost your memory that day.
"Do you know how dangerous it is to follow a car like this?" Ren Qingzhou was really angry. He pulled a long face and scolded them.
At first, the three girls just looked at each other but didn't say a word.
Finally, one of the girls couldn't hold it in anymore. Her voice was timid, obviously because it was her first time doing such a thing.
"Sorry, it's our first time. We won't dare to do it again."
After all, they were just teenagers and young girls in their twenties. Once one of them started talking, the other two also spilled the beans.
"We saw a message in the group saying that you were here. At first, we didn't really believe it. We just came here to have a try."
"We really didn't mean to chase your car. We only found out after we came that they were leading us to chase your car all the way."
"We're really not crazy fans. Could you not expose us on Weibo?"
These groups were probably private groups that sold the schedules of celebrities. Most of the people in them were scalpers and candid photographers.
Speaking of candid photographers, they were almost a law unto themselves in the entertainment circle. They seemed to have a complete industrial chain and could get hold of the specific schedules of many celebrities. They made a fortune by selling photos and schedules of these celebrities.
Some celebrities strongly resisted these people, but it only led to their abuse and retaliation.
These were really people with no bottom line. You really didn't know what attitude to take towards them.
Some entertainment reporters still had a certain professional ethics, but the candid photography industry was really a mixed bag.
Most of them were like local bullies. If you didn't let them take pictures, they would scold you.
If a celebrity offended them, they would really get themselves into a mess.
Ren Qingzhou wasn't encountering these people for the first time, but it was the first time that they had led his fans to chase a car.
Especially these three young girls, who looked innocent.
"They're just kids. How could you lead them to chase a car like this? If there's a traffic accident, could you take the responsibility?"
"I know you make a living from this. I'm not trying to cut off your source of income. Usually, if I run into you taking pictures, I won't stop you. But what you did this time was really out of line."
"Look at these three. There might even be minors among them. Is it really worth it to earn such a small amount of money and risk something bad happening?"
The man was also a bit scared by what he said. "We really didn't mean to chase your car. We just wanted to follow you and see what you were going to do. Look, we didn't bring any equipment and didn't try to take secret photos."
"We're about to get on the highway. What's there to follow? Do you still want to follow us on the highway?"
"Definitely not. We'll go back as soon as you get on the highway."
"Still waiting for us to get on the highway? Take them back now. Don't do this kind of thing again. This is almost an act of endangering public traffic safety."
Although Ren Qingzhou was very angry, he didn't lose his temper with them.
He still advised them gently.
The first girl among the three to speak had been made to cry by him.
She sobbed and couldn't speak in complete sentences. "We... won't... dare... to do it... again..."
"Study hard at your age. You should pursue your idols moderately. Don't do such things again."
"Come on, stop crying. Go back early."
Seeing that the matter was finally about to be resolved, Su Tang still wasn't at ease. She stepped forward and asked, "Little sister, how old are you?"
"I'm 18. I'm really an adult."
"18. So you just finished the college entrance examination this year?"
"Yes. I had nothing to do after the college entrance examination... so I..."
"I used to be a fan too. But you should pursue your idols moderately. You can watch the shows he acts in, listen to his songs. If there's a concert, go and support him. Buy a few magazines."
"Don't do such dangerous things again," Fang Ting felt that it wasn't right for only one person to talk, so she added a word.
"How much did they pay to come out today?" Su Tang asked the man who had been in the front passenger seat.
The man gave a somewhat embarrassed smile but didn't say a word.
Su Tang knew that this meant it was inconvenient to disclose. She had come out for a trip this time. Afraid that it would be inconvenient to use WeChat and Alipay, she also carried some cash with her.
So she opened her wallet and took out some money for him. She used to be in the fan circle. Although she had never done this kind of thing of chasing a celebrity privately, she knew a bit about it. She guessed that this amount of money should be more than enough.
"They're just kids. They probably don't have much money. We'll pay for what happened before today. Just let them learn a lesson from this. Don't do such things again."
The three girls just stared at her without saying a word. Maybe they originally wanted to ask what the relationship between them was, but now they didn't know what to say.
It wasn't until they got back in the car, started the engine, and left the scene that the car behind didn't chase after them anymore.
Fang Ting had been wanting to ask since she got in the car. Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore. "What's gotten into you today? They were the ones who did something wrong, but in the end, you paid for them. They should have paid for it themselves. That's how you learn a lesson."
"These girls aren't that young anymore. How could they be so muddle - headed? If they ran into some bad guys, they might not even know they were being sold."
"Sometimes I really don't know what to say about these kids in the fan circle. They're still the better ones. There are some kids whose thoughts you really can't understand."
"Just think of today's incident as us paying for a lesson. These candid photographers are just like those entertainment reporters. You never know what they'll say, and the probability of them saying something good is really low."
"We were blocked on the road by them today. We were in the right on this matter. But if we offended them because of this, and then they spread some messy news later, we'd really be in a mess."
"It's better to give them some benefits. Even if they don't say anything good about us, as long as they tell today's incident exactly as it happened, we won't be in the wrong."
"Let's see what they say later. If they don't mention this incident, we'll just let it go. If they speak well of us, we might as well cooperate with them and create a hot search. Anyway, the popularity has been so high these days. It would be a waste not to use it."
Ren Qingzhou thought her analysis made some sense and couldn't help saying, "If you can't work in their company anymore, you might as well jump to my studio and be my assistant. You're really on point when it comes to looking at problems. If Li Momo heard what you said, she'd probably shout that she's found a kindred spirit."
"So your studio shouldn't always think that what the fans say doesn't make sense. Actually, a lot of fans have quite reasonable ideas about your future."
"I've seen quite a few rational fans during the years I've been your fan. Naturally, I've learned a thing or two from them, but it's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm not really good at this."
"You're being too modest. In fact, the entertainment industry is all about getting the first - hand information, keeping up with various trends in a timely manner, and then building up some connections. There doesn't seem to be any other professional skills, unlike your line of work. If you don't have professional skills, you simply can't do it."
"Keeping up with various trends in a timely manner, having a sharp sense of getting information, and being good at managing connections. These are all professional qualities."