Chapter 543 - Hope Media (1/2)

After several concerts, Li Ran was starting to look a little tired.

However, before setting off on the journey to Stronghold 73, Li Ran did not board her own minivan. Instead, she got into Zhou Yingxue and Ren Xiaosu’s car. This surprised Ren Xiaosu a little.

With Li Ran sitting in the same car as them, he couldn’t speak casually anymore. After all, he was supposed to be Zhou Yingxue’s assistant.

Ren Xiaosu wondered, “Isn’t it more comfortable for you to take the minivan?”

The seat in the minivan had been modified so it could be used as a bed for resting by reclining it fully. One could sleep through the entire journey and find themselves arriving at the destination when they woke up, so how much more enjoyable could it get?

However, Li Ran gave a very good excuse. “I’m worried we’ll encounter danger in the wilderness, so I wanted to take the same car as my bodyguard. That way, if we encounter any danger, you guys can protect me immediately. Besides, any potential attacker would expect me to be in that minivan. If someone really attacks the convoy, they’ll target the minivan first, and I’ll be able to escape from danger.”

Ren Xiaosu said in a speechless manner, “As if there’s that many bandits targeting convoys in the wilderness of the Central Plains.”

However, Li Ran’s reasoning was legitimate, so they couldn’t really refuse to take her in their car.

After they set off, Ren Xiaosu and Zhou Yingxue remained silent. Li Ran was reading the newspaper in the backseat of the off-road vehicle, and she kept flipping through the newspaper noisily.

Ren Xiaosu could not help but turn around and look. Li Ran immediately pretended to be reading the news seriously. However, Ren Xiaosu was surprised to find that the entire page facing him was full of news about Li Ran’s successful performances. From the looks of it, it was even featured as the headliner!

It was no wonder she was flipping the newspaper so noisily. So it turned out that she was trying to show off.

The most eye-catching picture on the front page was Li Ran’s photo. It was probably taken during one of her concerts as she was in her performance outfit that looked really dazzling.

Ren Xiaosu turned back around and resumed resting with his eyes closed. Behind him, Li Ran coughed twice and said, “This newspaper from Hope Media is very influential and can be bought in all of the Zhou, Wang, and Kong Consortiums’ strongholds. Also, I heard their newspaper is sold at all newsstands in the Pyro Company’s strongholds.”

Zhou Yingxue rolled her eyes as she drove. What this woman was obviously trying to say was that she was amazing for being able to get on the front page of such a newspaper.

Yet Ren Xiaosu’s interest was piqued by the other aspects of this discovery. “What’s up with this Hope Media? Which organization do they belong to?”

From his point of view, the various consortiums were still relatively isolated from one another. After all, if he wanted to go to the strongholds of the other consortiums, he would have to apply for a visa beforehand.

So why was this Hope Media able to cast such a wide net?

“It is a business arm under the Qinghe Group.” Li Ran smiled and said, “The last leg of our tour was set at Luoyang City because we also wanted to pay a visit to the chief editor of Hope Media.”

Ren Xiaosu was enlightened. So it was a business arm under the Qinghe Group? No wonder.

A mouthpiece like a newspaper would have to adopt a neutral stance in order to be distributed in so many strongholds.

It would be very difficult for the newspaper industry of the Wang Consortium to make any headway in the Zhou Consortium’s strongholds. After all, a public opinion mouthpiece should not be influenced by external forces.