Chapter 79

  What's going on?

  What just happened?

  How did that trash can explode?

  ...gun, isn't what's being fired just empty shell casings without bullets?

  Suddenly, he felt a slightly rough finger pinching his chin and turning his head to the side. The next second, he met a pair of azure eyes. The man who had put down the gun asked: "Besides you, has anyone else touched this gun?"

  "The way, the props group..." He blinked his eyes and replied hesitantly, "I don't remember, things were just placed there, everyone was looking at it curiously and went to take a look, both men and women, basically every participant touched it..."

  He spoke in a tongue-tied manner, as if he had something stuck in his throat, and couldn't continue. Jiang Chuan's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he patted him on the cheek: "Calm down."

  At this moment, the black pupils finally had some focus. He lifted his eyelids and swept a glance at the man who was frowning at him, and he couldn't understand how he could be so calm - even if gun control laws weren't that strict abroad...

  At this moment, the black-haired young man moved his lips and said in a low voice: "How can I be calm... That's a real gun! There are really bullets inside! If you hadn't accidentally discovered it and seen that trash can, then tomorrow would have been my fate..."

  He finally couldn't say anything more, his soul still shaken. He looked at Jiang Chuan in front of him and then turned his head to look at the overturned trash can again. Wanting to stand up, he found that his legs were very weak at this moment.

  He simply took out his mobile phone and called Fang Yu, asking him to hurry over. He didn't say much on the phone, just that something had happened.

  At this time, not far away, the crew of "Qing Shi Hong Yan" who were frightened by the previous gunshot sound all came over - the person running in the front was Ding Pao, shouting "what's going on what's going on" and running towards them. As a result, when he arrived at the scene, he looked down and saw that Jiang Chuan had an old-fashioned box-shaped gun next to him, a 1896 Mauser military pistol. He knew at a glance that this gun was stolen from the crew of "Chuan Na", because most of its kind are now in museums, and there are no more than three domestic film and television companies that can take out real guns like this for filming - "Chuan Na" is one of them, and it's usually not available to ordinary actors, only taken out when the main character has a special scene.

  It's obvious that Jian Ran is just playing around with this.

  Logically speaking, such a thing would be discovered by the crew and scolded severely. However, at this moment, it's clear that no one cares about this anymore - everyone saw the gunshot clearly earlier, and now they all know without needing to be told explicitly that the bullets in the gun had been replaced with real ones.

  Ding looked stunned, and quickly pulled out his phone to call the leaders of the "Star Fire" crew who were in H City. Before long, those people put down their bowls and hurried over.

  This is absolutely big news.

  A shocking and earth-shaking event.

  If it wasn't for Jiang Chuan opening fire, then the person who changed the bullets would have clearly targeted Jian Ran, that is murder.

  At this time, after all, many people had witnessed the scene before, and it was impossible to cover up a low-key investigation. In short, the news spread quickly.

  Yuan Jinyan's new anti-war drama uses prop bullets that were replaced, fortunately discovered by Jiang Chuan in time to avoid a major disaster. Similar headlines flooded various media platforms, causing a huge stir. That night, even the car radio station that specializes in broadcasting traffic conditions found time to insert this news...

  When such news just started to spread, some people still suspected that it was another publicity stunt by Kan Na. Until someone from the crew of "Qing Shi Hong Yan" released a photo of a trash can shot through with bullets and the chaotic scene - this is what you call real evidence: in the photo, the trash can was shot so badly that the garbage was splattered everywhere, and the pale face and frightened eyes of the young black-haired man surrounded by the crowd were absolutely impossible to fake.

  Very soon, at the time of greatest doubt, entertainment circle explosive material person Li Gou Hai also stood out to express: it's true, now the "Star Fire" crew is in a mess, but I'm fine.

  The comments below exceeded 20,000 in an instant, and most of the messages were enthusiastic fans.

  "Damn it, this is too much..."

  "Scared me to death, luckily nothing happened, since nothing happened then it's all good, catch the culprit quickly!"

  "I just want to know what deep hatred I have with the person who changed the bullets!!!!!!"

  "This person has completely lost language function, I'm going to take some Rescue Breath Mints"

  At this point, people finally had to believe the authenticity of this shocking news, although some still expressed that it was hard to believe that such a thing could actually happen, and even exclaimed "too absurd, how can replacing bullets with actors be possible"

  At this time, there will be enthusiastic netizens quietly posting an old news link - opening it to discover that as early as 1993, similar things had already happened, and the one who actually took the "replaced bullet" was none other than Brandon Lee, the son of international kung fu superstar Bruce Lee.

  Li Guohao ultimately died of excessive bleeding due to a gunshot wound. This news shocked both domestic and foreign media at the time - some people said that Li Guohao, who died young like his father, was silenced by the underworld because they were worried that he would avenge his father's suspicious death. In any case, after this incident, all foreign films that used real guns for effect would conduct strict checks on firearms and ammunition before filming began.

  However, because it's been a long time and also because no one thought such an absurd thing would happen again, the management of this aspect in the country is not so thorough.

  When two similar news stories are mentioned together, the next topic is naturally led to -

  Who on earth could have done such a crazy thing?

  For a time, Xiaoming and Jingran had some contact, and in the eyes of fans, Jingran's relationship with other stars who were not so good was also exposed.

  Among them, Xu Qianqian received slightly more votes for being a suspect of crime. The reason is that some netizens think that the oil painting she posted earlier with Jianran and an unknown man was too suspicious in terms of timing and motive. Even a technical expert made a long Weibo timeline, which clearly shows that when Xu Qianqian posted the oil painting, it was exactly when her relationship with Jianran was not going well and the atmosphere was tense.

  Apart from Xu Qianqian, there are other actors. Lao Li Rui, who is already old, also didn't escape being labeled as "taking revenge in private" - some people mock this statement for being too ridiculous. Li Rui has been in the entertainment industry for a lifetime and nobody expected that he would turn out to be a ruthless character who would say "if you anger me, I'll make sure you die". Now that he's old, his sharp edges are finally showing, it's simply unbelievable.

  Some people even put Jiang Chuan's name on it, I don't know if it's a joke or what, the reason is: Unrequited love turns to hatred.

  As soon as this statement was made, it instantly entertained the fans who were still very tense, and everyone laughed and scolded "Your grandfather didn't see that something was wrong with Jiang Chuan"

  In short, at one time there were all sorts of rumors flying around, and without the parties involved knowing anything about it, people with nothing better to do on the internet had already begun enthusiastically speculating about who the murderer was.

  Of course, at that time, Fang Yu didn't have the chance to go online or go somewhere else to see how others commented on the news, because his mobile phone was flooded with various calls and condolence messages. Fang Yu's mobile phone also rang non-stop until it reached the company's switchboard.

  In the evening, the crew reported the case and the police who handled it arrived quickly.

  As a public figure and having direct contact with the police for the first time, I couldn't help but feel a bit tense. Fortunately, Jiang Chuan was also there, so he took care of most of the questions that needed to be answered on my behalf.

  From head to toe he was only responsible for nodding or shaking his head.

  Although he wanted to say that the person who could do this thing should be surnamed Xu, but in the absence of any evidence, he knew he couldn't say such an irresponsible thing - after all, it's not a child playing house.

  The police understood the excessive silence of the young black-haired man - after all, it's hard for ordinary people to have such an experience under the scythe of death. Being cautious and taciturn is also a responsible attitude towards oneself and the police, because many people are in a state of tension and panic on the day of the incident, so they make up some facts that don't exist and tell them to the police. After the police investigate with difficulty, they find out that things are not what the victim said at first.

  The testimony of the victim is very important and often becomes the key to solving the case.

  At this point, the officer in charge of investigating the matter had to remind the young man with black hair: "Mr. Yuan, we need you to provide a list and carefully recall who you have been in contact with recently and whether there has been any conflict - the more detailed the better, because from the current situation, the inspection side may accuse the person who replaced the bullet of intentional murder..."

  The officer's words fell, and the entire room was plunged into a moment of silence.

  "It's not necessarily murder," said the black-haired young man, who had been silent for a long time. "After all, tomorrow that gun was fired by Bai Wengui teacher at my shoulder—"

  "Has he ever practiced with a gun?" Jiang Chuan asked abruptly.

  Jin Ran turned his head, and the black eyes met the azure pupils for a brief moment. After a while, Jin Ran shook his head, and Jiang Chuan changed his sitting posture, saying: "Then no one can be sure where that gun will finally hit, of course, it's also possible to miss the target. The person who replaced the bullets did this quite risky, I guess they were also uncertain whether to take this dark hand or not, and finally chose a compromise - handing over the right to announce the results to someone else."

  Police officer: “………”

  "Think about what kind of person has a weak and indecisive personality, and whose interests are in direct conflict with Yuan Jinyan's," Jiang Chuan said. "Then conduct an in-depth investigation."

  The policeman's gaze at Jiang Chuan became somewhat strange, and the man seemed to notice it, raising an eyebrow: "What?"

  Officer: "You're quite fond of detective stories, aren't you?"

  "It's okay."

  Officer: "That's a good analysis."

  "Thank you."

  Policeman: "I've seen the potato chip commercial you were in, those chips look pretty tasty - and that hamster in the ad is quite cute too, do you raise it?"

  Jian Ran: "Cough."

  Officer: "Alright, Mr. Jiang Chuan, may I ask you a question? According to eyewitnesses, after receiving the gun and weighing it slightly, you immediately fired at the empty space. How did you determine that there was something wrong with the gun?"

  "How," the man said with his hand under his chin and his eyes slightly narrowed, "are you doubting me now?"

  "Cough," he coughed again and stretched out his hand to pull the man beside him, "Speak properly, what are you dragging with the police officer......"

  "Ah," the man responded expressionlessly, leaning back in his chair which creaked softly behind him. A lazy smile spread across his face as he continued, "That's an M1896 Mauser military pistol, also known as a Broomhandle Mauser. It was originally designed by the Fiedler brothers at the Mauser factory in Germany during their free time. Due to its unsuitable size and insufficient firepower, it was only used for a short period of time in a certain country where weapons were restricted - we can easily determine the age of this pistol and its wear and tear ratio just by looking at it. German manufacturers are quite meticulous about their craftsmanship, so each pistol's weight variation should not exceed 2 grams when it leaves the factory. By subtracting the wear and tear ratio from the original weight of the pistol, we can calculate the weight of the bullet. Of course, if there is a bullet head inside, the weight will change slightly."

  Officer: "………"

  Jian Ran: "............"

  "I'm fooling you guys."

  Officer: "………"

  Jian Ran: "............"

  Jiang Chuan: "Just casually saying, I'm not a firearms expert... and didn't judge that the gun had problems but simply just wanted to try if it could be fired - of course when trying the muzzle wouldn't be pointed at people, just like when passing a knife the blade tip should face oneself, this is common sense as well as etiquette..."

  "What kind of etiquette is this?"

  The man moved his head and said: "So when the gun went off, I was also startled."

  "Do you have?"

  "Of course."

  "......You're not thinking of taking in that hamster the police officer mentioned earlier, are you?"

  Jiang Chuan looked at him with an innocent face: "No way."

  The police officer looked equally speechless - if the person sitting in front of him at this moment was not a star but just an ordinary stranger, he would almost think that this guy was simply a small-time hoodlum who often dealt with the police... no, a old slippery fish among small-time hoodlums.

  The police officer then asked Jianran to write down all the people and things she had come into contact with recently. Jianran was also a bit nervous about this request, worried that she might inadvertently reveal some information that would lead the police to start investigating Xiu Qianqian in depth. At that point, even if the real culprit wasn't her, things would likely spiral out of control.

  Considering this, all the things related to Xu Qianqian were simply glossed over by him. He only mentioned that she seemed to have a bad relationship with Xu Wenjie recently, and it seemed that Xu Qianqian blamed Xu Wenjie for getting the supporting role in Chuan Na while she couldn't get a chance to perform...

  As for Xu Wenjie, he was not so polite. From his rise to power to his attempt to replace his own dark past, the words of Baiyan Ge teacher that day at the dinner table, his reaction and the ambiguous words he said when arguing with Xu Qianqian were all written in the blank space.

  When he had written down everything he had seen and done over the past few days, it was already approaching midnight on Wednesday. The police officer looked at the full page of paper in silence, then suddenly threw down his pen and laughed, saying: "If these materials are sent to a certain place, they might build another high-rise building."

  "Don't worry, we'll keep it confidential here." The police officer said with a smile.

  ……

  Jin Ran and Jiang Chuan walked out of the interrogation room together, and when they got outside, they found that their agent had already been waiting for them and had even bought them a late-night snack. Jin Ran was starving and wolfed down the food in big mouthfuls, while Jiang Chuan only ate two bites before putting it down and asking Fang Yu about the current progress of the case.

  Mentioning this, Fang Yu suddenly became interested and said that the police had reviewed the surveillance footage. At a suspicious point in time, someone indeed entered the prop warehouse, but that person cleverly avoided the camera by lowering their head. Judging from the person's physique and skill level, some people suspect that the person who replaced the bullets might be the same otaku who killed the chicken egg-throwing incident involving Jiang Chuan years ago. It is speculated that this person is a brainless fan of Jiang Chuan, and out of jealousy, they committed this heinous act.

  Upon hearing this, Jin Yan was drinking porridge while twisting his head to look at the man beside him. He saw that he was sucking on his lips with a very speechless expression: "Who came up with this conclusion? Is your country's police force just relying on guessing to handle cases?"

  "Oh, actually it was me," Fang Yu smiled awkwardly and scratched his head, "I just made a casual guess - okay, anyway, the director's team asked me to ask you if you want to take a rest tomorrow, after all, something big happened..."

  "It's okay," Jian Yan put down the spoon and said without thinking, "After eating enough, calm down a bit. If it's really like Jiang Chuan guessed, the culprit is still uncertain whether to kill me or not, then he must be a newcomer. In that case, with such a big thing happening ahead of time today, he should still be quite flustered..."

  Her eyes changed expression.

  "Are you going to kill me like Xu Qianqian, silencing me after all you know about her..."

  "If it were Xiu Qianqian, after failing once and deciding to get rid of me again, she definitely wouldn't choose a method that's so full of uncertainty - she's already lost out once, would she try again?" Jian Yan put down the empty lunchbox calmly and said, "So I think this time it's not her."

  Jiang Chuan didn't say anything, he just nodded calmly beside him.

  Returned to the hotel, took a bath and went to sleep, preparing to continue filming according to plan in the afternoon of the second day.

  The next day, Jin Yan woke up to find that the topic of his near-murder was being hotly discussed - and the conversation was subtly heading in a direction he feared the most: people were starting to suspect that his series of mishaps might not be coincidental after all, and the billboard incident from before was brought up again.

  Xu Qianqian seemed unusually quiet, otherwise, everything on set was normal.

  The next day, Thursday, after occupying the headlines of major newspapers, Jian Ran suddenly found a piece of gossip about Xu Wenjie in a corner: it seemed that a reporter had taken a photo of him entering a hotel with a person of the same sex in an unusually intimate manner.

  This piece of news is actually quite explosive, but compared to the more sensational gossip out there, it's not that attention-grabbing, so not many people are paying attention: this is the advantage of being unknown, even if you're photographed like this, nobody cares.

  It was actually because I had heard that Xu Wenjie and his big backer Shao Xudong had broken up, so I took a few more glances at the photo of this mysterious man - as I looked, my heart suddenly started to feel uneasy for some reason. I quickly called over Fang Yu and Jiang Chuan to take a look, Fang Yu turned the newspaper upside down and shook his head saying "don't recognize him". On the other hand, Sherlock Jiang Chuan took one glance at it and directly snatched the newspaper away, who knows where he went with it.

  In the evening, Jiang Chuan returned with a stunning piece of news: the police had deduced that there was an 85% chance that the person who entered and exited the hotel with Xu Wenjie was the same person who entered and exited the prop warehouse that day.

  Suddenly thought of that day, Shirai Kō in the dinner table inadvertently said "without Jingyan Saito this role is Xu Wenjie yours", instantly felt a chill run down his spine.

  On Friday, the police announced the results of this speculation, and for a time, all the spearheads pointed to Xu Wenjie.

  The authorities are always ruthless, they will release their information to the public without any guidance at the first time, and ensure that their data is accurate. However, under such speculation, even if the police say "currently unverified", many netizens have ignored this sentence, and for a while, all rumors pointed to Xu Wenjie.

  A torrent of abuse flooded in, with phrases like "murderer" and "you're also very good at selling out" filling his blog, Weibo account, and fan sites.

  He had a three-scene part in one afternoon, he went to the wrong position and read the wrong lines countless times, finally the director had to shout stop and let him rest.

  For these things, he has always been calm and detached, neither gloating nor kicking others when they're down. When someone brought it up and asked him about it, he said: "The innocent are unaffected. If he didn't do anything wrong, he shouldn't be affected by these rumors - it's okay to feel bad when being slandered, but it can't affect one's work. As actors, our job isn't just about listening to the voices of fans who love us."

  On Saturday, without any official news released, netizens continued to launch inhumane attacks on Xu Wenjie. He was occupying the headlines of major newspaper websites for the first time, and he, who had never seen such a scene before, was apparently also unable to withstand it and was on the verge of collapse.

  On Sunday, Xu Wenjie did not appear in the public eye, and due to his pressure resistance and being suspected of entering a hotel with someone of the same sex, the director's team began to consider the possibility of replacing him.

  ……

  Above.

  Just as the controversy surrounding Xu Wenjie was still raging, a video from "Entertainment Circle Exploration" Weibo account sent shockwaves through the internet.

  The video shows a time of January 1st, 2015 at 8:35 pm, after work hours.

  That was a surveillance video recording of the route, at the beginning of the screen, it can be clearly seen that Yuan Jinyan walked in a certain direction from under the camera. After he left, around the 30th second of the video, another person appeared behind him with a sneaky voice. It was a tall woman with long curly hair and big waves. She stared at the direction where Jinyan had left for a long time in the shadow, then turned her head back and looked again, but her expression couldn't be seen clearly. Only around 1 minute and 20 seconds later, she turned her head back, obviously hesitating to look at the elevator behind her.

  For thirty seconds, the elevator doors opened and she who should have left the company returned to the elevator. The elevator doors closed and the cursor pointed to the top floor of the building.

  The video ends here.

  At first, people were unclear what the video meant until a netizen quietly said: Didn't Yuan Zeyu's incident happen about 15 minutes after this?