All The Villain Wants Is Money - Chapter 15
Xie Gu wasn’t interested in looking, but since the system wouldn’t stop its noisy racket, and he hadn’t yet figured out how to mute the annoying thing, he had no choice but to follow its demand and glance at the original protagonist’s career progress bar.
In summary, the system displayed two types of progress: one was the counterattack progress, and the other was the original protagonist’s career progress.
The two bars influenced each other, but it wasn’t absolute. In short, once Xie Gu’s counterattack progress reached the passing threshold, he could apply to leave this world. However, if the original protagonist’s career bar reached full while he was in this world, the mission in this world would be considered a failure, and Xie Gu would be permanently trapped here. In other words, he’d be truly dead in the real world.
Previously, his comeback progress had reached 10%, while Xu Yucheng’s career progress was minimal—so much so that the system had noted it had been nearly suppressed to rock bottom the night before.
But now, when Xie Gu looked, Xu Yucheng’s career bar had surged to 20%.
That bar was rising even faster than Xie Gu’s counterattack progress bar.
It was this discovery that had caused the system to ping Xie Gu in a frenzy.
Xie Gu fell silent for a moment. “Do you know what happened on Xu Yucheng’s end?”
The system replied honestly, “No idea.”
“Then why are you freaking out and calling me?” Xie Gu asked.
The system explained, “It’s a complementary service that is part of the newbie protection package. When there’s a major change in the progress bars, a message—no, a notification—is automatically sent to the tasker.”
“Turn off this annoying feature,” Xie Gu said decisively, then tapped open his counterattack progress bar.
The system had just been about to ask what was the point of looking at the progress bar — staring at it won’t make it grow, after all — when it noticed the comeback progress bar slowly inching forward to 20%, now neck-and-neck with Xu Yucheng’s career bar.
“… What just happened?” The system was so stunned it felt like its entire program trembled.
“I think I should be the one asking that,” Xie Gu said. “But since both bars jumped…”
He paused, then let out a low chuckle. “I suppose Xu Yucheng must have done something that benefits his career, but goes against his original aspirations.”
Otherwise, how could Xie Gu’s counterattack progress have increased when he hadn’t even done anything on his end? The only explanation was that Xu Yucheng himself felt humiliated—and that internal shift had affected the bar’s progress.
But what exactly had happened?
Xie Gu rubbed his chin, curiosity flickering briefly in his eyes, but then he turned back to his paperwork.
There was no rush. Whatever he needed to know, he would find out sooner or later.
It was already late at night. Xu Yucheng sat on the roadside, face buried deep in his hands. Tears hung at the rim of his eyes — but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t cry.
Just an hour earlier, he had drugged his friend and sent him to a powerful executive’s bed — all to secure resources for the company.
He had already mentally prepared himself again and again, telling himself that ruthlessness was the hallmark of the strong. That he would make it up to Zhang Shi later. That even Rang-ge would approve if he knew.
In fact, Xu Yucheng had managed to calm himself completely. But just after delivering Zhang Shi to Sun Qian’s room, he ran into Guan Hongtu in the elevator.
At that moment, Xu Yucheng didn’t even have time to feel shame or gratitude before Guan Hongtu clapped his hands and said, “I knew I wasn’t wrong about you.”
Xu Yucheng wanted to ask what he meant, but Guan Hongtu just smiled and said, “You’re definitely ruthless enough. But since you look so upset, let me tell you one more thing. Zhang Shi was the one who told Wu Borang that Sun Qian had his eye on you.”
As he pressed the elevator button, Guan Hongtu added, “Feeling a little better now?”
A storm churned in Xu Yucheng’s chest. Instinctively, he moved to follow Guan Hongtu into the elevator — only to be stopped by the man himself, who hit the close button before he could enter.
“Young man, you’re not qualified to share an elevator with me.”
His final words echoed in the hallway. “Maybe your ex-bandmate Xie Gu has that kind of status.”
Watching the elevator doors close, Xu Yucheng nearly collapsed right there.
Never before had he so clearly realized how important it was to become powerful. Only by truly making it big would he have the right to say no. Instead of ending up like tonight, deceiving a friend into someone else’s bed, agonizing over it internally, only to discover in the end that the person who held malicious intentions first wasn’t even him.
Numb, Xu Yucheng stumbled into the emergency stairwell, his mind haunted by Guan Hongtu’s last remarks.
Not qualified. Not qualified.
Xie Gu. Xie Gu.
Why him?!
It wasn’t until Xu Yucheng reached the hotel entrance that a well-dressed secretary hurried over, silently slipped a business card into his hand, and left without a word.
He glanced at the card — it belonged to a senior executive at Jingong Entertainment.
Jingong Entertainment was currently the top talent agency in the industry, with the controlling shares held by the Liyuan Group. Getting in wouldn’t just mean someone saw his potential — it would be a solid acknowledgment of his ability as an artist.
It was, by far, his best stepping stone right now.
But what about Rang-ge and Zhang Shi…
Xu Yucheng sat on the roadside for a long time, weighing his options.
The next morning, Zhang Shi woke up in bed, aching all over. For a moment, he was completely dazed.
Once he pieced together what had happened, he nearly broke down.
He never imagined Xu Yucheng would actually pull something this underhanded.
Just then, Sun Qian leaned in with a smirk, his hands already roaming. “What’s the matter? Not satisfied?”
Seeing the camera set up in the corner, Zhang Shi knew he had no room to fight back. Any resistance would mean public disgrace and total ruin. So all he could do was force a smile and shake his head. “How could I not be? I thought you didn’t like me, President Sun.”
Sun Qian chuckled, clearly pleased. “Actually, the one I liked most in your group was Xie Gu. Shame he quit the scene. He’s not someone I can mess with now.”
Zhang Shi felt humiliated, but could only go along with it.
That evening, he stormed over to Xu Yucheng’s place in a rage, kicking the door and shouting for a long time. Only then did a neighbor inform him Xu Yucheng wasn’t home. He tried calling but got no answer. In the end, he had no choice but to leave.
He thought he’d get another chance to confront him. But days turned into weeks, and nearly a month passed — Xu Yucheng had completely vanished. He couldn’t be found at all.
In the height of summer in June, Gu Fei Catering officially moved its headquarters to the capital and held a banquet to celebrate. Many business figures who had dealings with the company came to show their support. Sun Qian, who was barely connected to Gu Fei through the thinnest thread, still managed to get his hands on an invitation and brought Zhang Shi along.
At the banquet, Zhang Shi finally saw what Xie Gu had become.
Radiant. Untouchable. So dazzling it made you want to tear it all down.
Not caring about anything else, he stepped out onto the terrace and dialed a number. As soon as the call connected, he said, “I know you’ve got dirt on Xie Gu. Give it to me.”
Little did he know, Xie Gu was standing nearby, casually using the system’s features to overhear the entire conversation.
“This guy’s opening line is trash.” Xie Gu swirled the red wine in his glass and turned to leave without hesitation. “Boring. You don’t even need to hear the rest to guess how it ends.”
“…” The system wanted to ask what he thought was interesting.
But that, too, was easy to predict. Making money, of course.