After my divorce, I started to have good luck-Chapter 1120 - 591: The Paparazzo’s Self-Cultivation

Ge Dong is already thirty-two years old this year. He graduated from a second-tier university with a major in Mechanical Engineering, has worked in sales and sold insurance. He had a girlfriend he started dating during college, who stuck with him for many years. They got married four years ago, and then divorced three years ago.

The reason for the divorce was simple: they were defeated by stark reality.

Especially for a couple like them, who are working in a big city far from home, reality is really cruel. No house, no car, and at thirty, they still couldn't afford to have a child. Divorce became inevitable.

Nowadays, many women can't stand grievances, especially material grievances.

Of course, as a man, if you don't have money, you have no right to get married, let alone have children. Otherwise, you're just harming yourself and others.

If you can't provide a woman with material security in life and give her enough sense of security, marriage can't possibly be happy.

After divorcing, Ge Dong deeply realized the pain of not having money, so he focused single-mindedly on making money.

He changed from a straightforward and honest entertainment reporter to a heartless paparazzo who specialized in digging up dirt on celebrities and then blackmailing them.

Through two years of continuous efforts, he finally managed to buy a house in the big city of Xiu Zhou.

But this was obviously still not enough. He needed more money to repay the mortgage and also support him in starting a small business.

It's not that he hasn't considered the risks of doing what he's doing, but how could you completely avoid taking risks if you want to make a lot of money?

Precisely because he's aware of the risks, he plans to stop once he's quickly and substantially profited enough, and then resign to start a legitimate small business.

This time, when he chose to target Lin Yujiao, he didn't feel that there would be much risk.

The reason is simple, as he told Jin Xinyan on the phone, Lin Yujiao is currently in the rising phase of her popularity, and her commercial value is also continuously increasing. At this time, the most feared thing is negative news, which could cause a fatal blow to her popularity and commercial value.

Though his asking price of 400,000 for the manuscript buyout fee might seem a bit high, he thought Lin Yujiao could easily afford it.

Not only because he knew Lin Yujiao had two very profitable clothing stores, but also because her commercial performances were making money now.

From his few years of industry experience, he judged that Lin Yujiao's appearance fee could be around 50,000 to 60,000 per song nowadays.

The fact is, she could easily earn 400,000 by doing a few commercial performances, which really isn't a lot for her.

As long as she had popularity and buzz, and no negative news, she could capitalize on this wave to make a large profit.

By then, not only could she recoup the hundreds of thousands she initially spent on promoting a single, but she could also earn back multiple times more.

Therefore, he believed Lin Yujiao wouldn't be likely to report him to the police for such an amount of money—it wasn't worth it.

Besides, if she reported him and he got caught, what if that article still got published? What good would that do her?

Ge Dong thought the other party should be mindful of the consequences, spending money to avert disaster and handling the matter quietly, rather than making a big scene out of it. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Moreover, Ge Dong has always been prepared for the worst-case scenario—that the person he targeted would report him.

He felt that asking for a benefit fee shouldn't count as blackmail. It's entirely a fair transaction between two parties; the other party pays for the manuscript, which is also hush money, and shouldn't be considered extortion.

So, even if he got caught and prosecuted for blackmail, he believed he could find a good lawyer to defend him and get acquitted.

Furthermore, even if he ended up convicted and had to serve a few years in prison, he had already earned so much money before, it would still seem worth it.

Ge Dong sat at his study desk in his newly purchased house, smoked two cigarettes hard, and then got up, stood up, and carried his interview bag, ready to go out.

As an entertainment reporter, and also an old reporter with several years of experience in the industry, he controlled most of his working hours, as long as he submitted several high-standard articles each month, he didn't need to clock in at the company from nine to five.

This time, he left to go to the airport to stake out a traffic idol. He received definite news yesterday that this traffic idol's flight would arrive in Xiu Zhou at 1 p.m. today to attend a commercial event.

This traffic idol starred in a minor online drama this year; it was a major flop, but unexpectedly, he began to gain popularity as the second male lead. He's signed to a small agency that Ge Dong can totally afford to offend.

And this traffic idol's popularity is way bigger than Lin Yujiao's. A commercial performance starts at 200,000, and if he can dig up real dirt on him, blackmailing several hundreds of thousands in one go wouldn't be difficult.

However, this pursuit isn't easy either, and the costs aren't small. He might even have to follow the person by plane out of the province, which is very normal for stars and their entertainment reporters—flying all over the country is a common occurrence.

But before he digs up dirt on the opponent, he must advance these travel expenses himself.

Of course, if he finally digs up juicy content, everything will be worth it. The fear lies in not finding anything, and those expenses going to waste.

Opening the door and going downstairs, his place in Linjiang New District has good property security and such, though the property fee is fairly expensive.

Driving out of the underground parking lot in the old second-hand Toyota he bought, he quickly left the community.

About an hour later, Ge Dong drove to the airport and began staking out.

At this moment, it was about half-hour away from 1 p.m., which was enough time for him to wait.

He cooled his patience while sitting in the waiting hall, swiping his phone and lurking in a familiar paparazzi group.

In this group, many of his peers exchange information with each other, or privately do shady transactions.

He usually remains silent, occasionally popping up to chat aimlessly with group members.

Time unknowingly passed. When it was about 1 p.m., he put away his phone, took out a pair of earphones from his interview bag and put them on.

Actually, this pair of earphones was disguised as a pinhole camera. There's a small clip to attach to his clothes, with a hidden camera in the clip.

Equipment like this for secret filming is an essential "interview instrument" for their entertainment reporters.

Ten minutes past 1 p.m., Ge Dong easily spotted the traffic idol. The reason was simple, there were fans of his coming to pick him up, and as soon as he appeared, a dozen female fans excitedly screamed.

In Ge Dong's professional opinion, those dozen female fans probably weren't hired to act. Otherwise, their acting skills would be too good. They should have been selected from his support team, organized and planned by fan leaders, remotely controlled and supervised by the idol's company.

As long as these traffic idols are handsome enough, they can attract wave after wave of mindless female fans, especially some young girls.

Ge Dong merely pretended to be a curious passerby, and walked a bit closer to observe.

This traffic idol didn't seem surprised by the appearing fans, obviously having known about it beforehand.

He appeared calm and composed in demeanor, with a tall, slender height of 1.8 meters, fair skin, an attractive face, paired with big sunglasses, looking very handsome indeed. No wonder he had a large group of young girls liking him.

This traffic idol's name is Zhao Bo, just 22 years old this year. According to official records, he just graduated last year from a 211 University and has somewhat of a top student persona.