How to Stop the Villain from Going Crazy
Translator: Fuyu
Chapter 66 - You want to win over a mediocre person? (1)
Bo Li batted her eyelashes and continued to lavish praise. "Really, if you hadn't hypnotized Henry, the other actors wouldn't have been able to perform so well. That Henry is so arrogant. If the premiere had failed, the actors would be devastated… It's all thanks to you that such a situation didn't occur."
As she said this, she slightly tilted her head. Her lush eyelashes brushed across his black gloves.
There was clearly a layer of leather between them, but Erik could feel the touch of her eyelashes. Like feathers, like sand.
His scalp tingled, and his voice became cold and stiff. "I'm not here to listen to your flattery."
Bo Li didn't notice anything unusual, but he did.
He had a terrifying control over sound. He could create sound without moving his lips and easily control the volume, timbre, and position of that sound. He could make people feel as if that sound was everywhere.
This was the first time he uttered such a strange sound.
Bo Li: "..."Then why did you let me speak for so long?
Her lips twitched, but she maintained her sweet smile. "Then did you drag me in here to whisper sweet nothings?"
Several seconds passed before his low, chilly voice rang out. "The performance format you designed is very novel. Success was inevitable."
Ah, he was here to praise her.
Bo Li's heart felt warm. Just as she was about to hug him and thank him, she heard him continue to say indifferently, "But your vision needs improvement. Theodore has no talent for acting. If he hadn't met you, he would only be worthy of selling his strength in a circus. He doesn't deserve your praise."
Bo Li: "..." She would have never expected that the first time Erik said so many words to her was because of Theodore!
She wanted to make clear that there was nothing wrong with her vision. "I can see that his performance is a bit wooden. I only praised him to encourage him. This is a method to win him over."
He paused, and his voice became strange again. "You want to win over a mediocre person?"
Bo Li patiently explained, "This isn't a question of whether he's mediocre. Theodore is my employee. It doesn't matter if his performance isn't outstanding, as long as he works hard, I'll praise him. Only by doing this will people feel that working under you is worthwhile thing-"
Bo Li didn't finish her thought.
Erik suddenly pressed his hand down, grabbed her throat, and slammed her against the wall of the secret room.
His gaze was aggressive, and his movement was rough.
The tanned leather of the black gloves were slightly cracked, and it caused a subtle itch when it was rubbed against her neck.
Distracted by the sensation, Bo Li put her hand on his wrist.
Before she could speak, he abruptly let her go. He turned his face away with his Adam's apple bobbing. He swallowed several times. His breathing was rougher than hers.
Bo Li was baffled. "What's wrong? Was it something I said?"
Erik coldly looked at her. She hadn't said anything wrong, but her every word made him uncomfortable and furious.
Perhaps, this was the crux of the matter.
The secret room was cramped and stuffy, and his breathing became heavier and more ragged. His jaw was almost trembling from suppressing his intense breathing.
Bo Li was worried that he wouldn't catch his breath. She patted his back. "Calm down, relax. Take your time to speak… There's no need to get so angry…"
He stared at her with a chilling look.
If this happened in the past, Bo Li would think that look meant he wanted to kill her.
But now, he just grabbed her wrist and pushed her out of the secret door.
Bo Li: "???" Fortunately, her mood was stable.
Erik had been behaving like this for a long time, so she was already used to his moodiness. After wondering about it for a few seconds, she shrugged and left.
Bo Li was more curious to know whether those three gentlemen had seen the provocation that she published in the newspaper than the mystery of Erik's attitude.
Contrary to her expectations, two days passed, but those three gentlemen didn't respond to the courage test that she proposed.
They seemed to think that she wouldn't pester them if they stayed silent.
Bo Li wouldn't miss out on such a great opportunity for publicity, so she continued to goad them in the newspaper.
"What is a gentleman? Only men that are honest, brave, upright, altruistic, respectful of women, and have a certain social status can be called gentlemen.
By talking behind her back, these three gentlemen failed the criteria of being respectful of women. By pretending to not see her previous message in the newspaper, they were dishonest. By not daring to accept the courage test she proposed, they were cowardly.
If men like them could be considered gentlemen, then the South is truly in decline."
Bo Li's word choice was deliberate. The conflict between the North and South was long-standing.
The southerners viewed the northerners as rude, barbaric people who had no bottom line. In order to win the war, these northerners had even shouted the slogan of freeing the slaves, which made the US into a mess.
The northerners thought the southerners were stubborn people that closed themselves off and were unwilling to be flexible, but after the war, many northerners wanted to attach themselves to the southern aristocracy and shed their titles as the nouveau riche.
Bo Li had investigated these three gentlemen. They were born in prominent families in the South. Two of them had married northerners with rich dowries in order to keep their status. Otherwise, they would have fallen to planting cotton in fields.
Sure enough, after these words were published, the three gentlemen couldn't remain silent. They criticized her in the newspaper for harboring ulterior motives and sowing dissension.
A woman like her, who was an expert at sophistry, wasn't decent. It was only natural that gentlemen would criticize her. As gentlemen, they wouldn't criticize noble women.
Polly Clermont wore men's clothing every day and did business like men. She ostentatiously showed her face in public and even bribed the police to build momentum for her circus. She was utterly shameless. Why can't they criticize such a shameless, lowly woman?
Their words involved the police, and the sheriff could no longer stay still.
The sheriff solemnly declared, "Miss Clermont hasn't bribed the police. We published that reminder in the newspaper out of the goodness of our hearts. One of our officers, Henry Johnson, is still in a coma in the hospital due to excessive shock."
It was the first time the city residents had seen such a large-scale quarrel that involved a wide range of people that included even the police.
Everyone watched with keen interest, and the private conversations about it were endless.
If even one day went by where the three gentlemen didn't reply to Polly Clermont in the newspaper, there would be busybodies coming to ask them about their silence. Was it because they intended to accept the courage test?
The three gentlemen's livers were about to explode in anger. They had tried to attack Polly Clermont from the angle of not following traditional womanly virtues.
Unfortunately for them, Bo Li didn't care about following traditional womanly virtues. Even after seeing their sharp comments in the newspaper, she still wore men's clothing and would ride past their houses on a horse.
It was considered a serious failing for a lady to not have virtue. What's more, she was being criticized by gentlemen in the newspaper.
If a lady, who scrupulously abided by societal doctrine, received such an evaluation, she would probably commit suicide by jumping into the river.
In contrast, Bo Li was completely unaffected. She continued cheerfully and wittily talking with the people around her. It was as if there was an invisible protective wall around her.
The three gentlemen thought she was shameless. Her armor was impenetrable.
In the end, these three gentlemen gave in and agreed to take part in her test of courage.
Bo Li's psychological quality wasn't that strong. If she received negative comments for her acting in modern-day, she would feel sad for days.
But, this was the 19th century. Letters, newspapers, relay stations, factories… and even rumors were slow to spread.
Even though they were arguing through the newspaper, there was a lag. There was no instant response like on the Internet.
She quarreled with those three gentlemen in the newspaper, and it would take several days to receive their angry response. This way of communicating wasn't even as good as the drift bottle function when the Internet became widespread.
These three men lost because they had never experienced the Internet age.
T/N: The drift bottle function was first offered by QQ Mail, a social app that came before WeChat. Through this function, users could throw "bottles" containing a text or voice message into a virtual ocean or pick up bottles thrown by other users. WeChat suspended this function in 2018.