Chapter 94: Airport Pick-Up Drama!

While waiting for the cars, the fans suddenly erupted, shouting in chorus, their voices rising with strange slogans and cries in languages he could not understand.

“Ah! Sawasdee!”

“&￥#￥……”

Jiang Lun turned to look. It turned out to be a Thai ladyboy group arriving at the airport.

The group was called Bidog, five members in all, and they were hugely popular across Asia. The moment they appeared, they caused a sensation. Fans jumped and screamed their names, while passersby took out their phones to snap photos.

The five members had dyed their hair silver, red, green, blue, and pink, looking exactly like a flock of gaudy parrots. Their faces were caked with so much foundation it looked like plaster, and their eyeliner and eye shadow were painted on thick and heavy.

They stopped before the crowd of fans, each one posing with a flashy, cocky expression and exaggerated, showy movements. At once, the fans erupted in shrill cries.

There were also quite a few reporters here today, all of them drawn by these celebrities. Even the television crews had arrived, and aerial cameras were being used to film them from above.

“Wow...”

Just as Bidog was striking their cool poses, another wave of shouting rose like a tidal roar.

The fans who had gathered earlier immediately split into two groups, and one of them surged straight toward the airport exit. The security guards could not hold them back.

“Which star is this one for?” Jiang Lun could not help asking the man beside him, Mike Le.

Mike Le glanced over. “Can’t tell. Too many people!”

From the airport poured a cluster of black-clad bodyguards, and in the center of them were four young boys. The fans, shoved back again and again by the guards, still shouted their names through tears.

“T-F-X! T-F-X! T-F-X!”

“The four little ones! The four little ones! The four little ones!”

“Zhang Yuan...”

“Wang He...”

“Wang Yang...”

“Liu Xi...”

Some of these fans supported the group as a whole, while others were devoted to individual members. Everyone was shouting something different, but at least it was all in Chinese, so Jiang Lun could understand it.

Looking at this boy group, which had been riding the crest of every trend and dominating every chart since debut, he could not help sighing, “You have to become famous early.”

Compared with those two celebrity groups, Jiang Lun’s side looked pitifully lonely. Not even a single passerby had recognized him, and the difference in popularity was glaring.

Mike Le grunted. “What’s so great about them? Give us two more years, and I guarantee the fans who come to pick us up will outnumber theirs.”

“Why compare that?” Jiang Lun said calmly. “If you want to compare, compare the work. Iron has to be strong from within. The idol route may last for a while, but it won’t last a lifetime.”

“Right, right!” Mike Le nodded repeatedly. “Exactly. We’re the talented type.”

As they spoke, the cars arrived.

The first to come was an Antelope minibus, but because there were too many fans on this side, it had to stop across the road and could not drive over.

The airport security guards raised handheld loudspeakers and shouted, “Everyone here to pick up your idols, please make way for the cars coming to collect them! Please make way...”

After several rounds of coordination, the fans finally opened a path.

Just then, another vehicle rolled up, tall and imposing, its wheels nearly a meter high.

It was a top-tier off-road vehicle called the War Horse, and this was the super-armored version. Its cost was at least six million yuan. Compared with the earlier Antelope minibus, which was worth only a little over one million, the difference was obvious at a glance.

When the two vehicles appeared at the same time, both groups of fans were stunned. Which one had come for their idol?

Even the two groups themselves were baffled. The cars had been arranged by the agencies, not the television station, so such a mismatch was only natural.

Competition was especially fierce among fan clubs, and discussion broke out at once.

“Which car is for our four little ones?”

“It should be the War Horse, right? How could our babies ride in something worse than those ladyboys?”

“Exactly!”

“Hey! What do you mean by that? Why can’t my brothers have a better car than yours?”

“Exactly! My brothers rushed here from overseas over thousands of miles. They’re VIPs!”

Bidog’s fans immediately shot back, and of course T-F-X’s fans were not to be outdone. A war of words was inevitable.

The managers of both groups were equally frustrated. The drivers of the two cars were just as helpless, stopped by the roadside and refusing to come any farther. If the cars had driven right up to the groups, it would have been easy to tell which was which. But one was parked across the road, while the other was between the two fan groups. Which one were they supposed to get into?

Get into the War Horse?

What if they chose wrong and got yelled out of the car? How humiliating would that be?

But getting into the Antelope would not be any less embarrassing.

The five members of Bidog had initially been able to face their fans with smiles, but after waiting so long without any result, their expressions turned sour.

The silver-haired leader asked their manager in angry Thai, “Which one is our car? The agency isn’t making us ride in that minibus, is it?”

“No, surely not...” The manager was uncertain too. In Thailand, Bidog had also been transported in a minibus for performances, but when they came to Hua Xia, perhaps for reasons of etiquette or international goodwill, they might have been upgraded to the more luxurious War Horse. Yet looking at T-F-X’s setup over there, with six bodyguards alone, not to mention assistants and managers, that kind of grand display made it entirely possible that the War Horse had been prepared for them.

Hearing the manager’s uncertain tone, the silver-haired young man grew even angrier. “Then why aren’t you asking? Find out which car is ours, and tell them to drive it over here. Otherwise, we’re not getting in!”

“This...” The manager looked awkwardly at the silver-haired youth, then at the other four.

The four of them nodded in unison. “We listen to the captain.”

“All right then. I’ll go ask.”

With that, the manager left them and went off to inquire.

The same thing was happening on T-F-X’s side.

Only, the four boys were not throwing a tantrum. The youngest, Wang Yang, looked embarrassed. “This is so awkward. Which car is ours?”

His personal assistant leaned down to answer, “Don’t worry. The manager is asking right now. We’ll know soon.”

“Oh man, my legs are so sore!” Liu Xi pouted, bending over to pound her knees.

At once, the assistant beside him crouched down. “Come on, I’ll massage them for you.”

“What should I do? I need to use the bathroom!” Zhang Yuan was even worse off, clamping his legs together and trembling with urgency.

His personal assistant immediately said, “I’ll take you!”

“No!” Zhang Yuan shook his head. “I only use the hotel bathroom!”

“Uh... then you’ll have to hold it a little longer,” the assistant said, equally distressed.

As for Jiang Lun, he had only brought Mike Le and Chen Yingying, three people in total.

But the car that had come for them had not shown up yet either.

Just a moment ago, Jiang Lun had even indulged in a fantasy: what if that War Horse suddenly drove up in front of him, and the driver got out to open the door, bowing politely as he said, “Mr. Jiang Lun, thank you for waiting.”

Ha ha! How satisfying would that be? How impressive?

And yet he knew that car was not here for him. When he came, the company had told him clearly that the pickup was not from a rental agency, but from one of Liu Xiahui’s friends in Nanjin.

As for what that friend looked like, or what sort of person they were, he had no idea.

Ding-a-ling-ling...

Suddenly, Jiang Lun’s phone rang. He took it out and saw an unfamiliar number, though the digits were strangely intimidating: the ending was six eights.

When he answered, a woman’s voice came through. “Are you Jiang Lun?”

“Yes, that’s me. You are...”

“Wait there. I’ll be there soon.”

And just like that, she hung up without the slightest politeness.

Jiang Lun stared in confusion. He guessed this must be Liu Xiahui’s friend, the one coming to pick him up. Her temper was certainly awful. How was he supposed to get along with her later?

But while he was still feeling frustrated, Bidog and their fans began making a scene again.

It turned out that after asking around, they had learned the War Horse off-roader was here to pick up T-F-X. After all, the four little stars were still just boys, and when they heard the news, they actually shouted “Yeah!” in delight.

Their fans, too, erupted into jubilant cheers, as if they had just won a major battle.

Bidog was furious. Hearing the other side’s laughter only made it sound as though they were being mocked. The silver-haired leader instantly turned on their manager. “What is going on? We came all this way and we’re supposed to ride that junk? Is this how Hua Xia treats its guests?”

The manager had no good answer. The company had only paid for so much. With five people to feed, house, and transport, saving money was only natural.

Bidog’s fans were even more aggressive, and some of them were already fighting with T-F-X’s fans on the spot.

The situation quickly spiraled out of control. The airport security guards were sweating profusely, and the captain hurriedly ordered, “Call the police! Call the police!”

Unexpectedly, just as he finished speaking, sirens came from afar.

Everyone at the scene froze. Three police cars appeared in the distance, their lights flashing as they drove in.

“Run! The police are here!”

No one knew who shouted it, but the fans immediately scattered. Especially those who had just been fighting; they bolted faster than rabbits.

The three police cars entered the inner lane but did not stop. Instead, they slowed and rolled forward.

To everyone’s astonishment, behind the three police cars was a vehicle whose shape seemed almost enough to set the blood racing: a Rampage Dragon. And behind that was a giant Mighty Red, followed by two more police cars, with six police motorcycles escorting them on both sides.

“Holy crap! The upgraded Rampage Dragon?”

“This is the Rampage Dragon that exists in only seventy units worldwide and costs more than fifty million yuan?”

“Damn, who’s rich enough to ride in that thing? And with a police escort?”

“That Mighty Red behind it isn’t cheap either. Close to two million!”

“But it’s still nowhere near the Rampage Dragon!”

“Ah! Could it be coming to pick up our Bidog brothers?”

Under everyone’s gaze, the Rampage Dragon finally came to a stop.

The door opened, and a stunningly sexy woman stepped down from the driver’s seat. She flicked back her long hair, removed her sunglasses, and swept a look around before suddenly calling out, “Jiang Lun!”

“...”

The people who had been whispering fell instantly silent. That one shout carried enough force to silence everyone. For a moment, no one could even react. Who had she called?

“I’m here!”

A voice answered, and Jiang Lun stepped out from the crowd, with Mike Le and Chen Yingying following close behind.