Chapter Eighty-two

  Xu Qianqian left.

  He stood still, watching her being taken away by the police until she disappeared from sight. The young man with black hair then withdrew his gaze and returned to the room. When he seemed to have remembered something and turned back, he found that Jiang Chuan had also quietly followed him in at some point...

  He blinked his eyes and asked: "What's up?"

  "What's Xiu Qianqian afraid of now that the police don't even have any solid evidence? She's so scared, what can she do?" Jiang Chuan put his hands in his pockets, his tone seeming somewhat nonchalant, "Even those harsh words were spoken."

  He listened to the words and didn't immediately respond to Jiang Chuan, but instead walked to the window on his own, feeling that Jiang Chuan had also followed him to stand beside him. He lowered his head, looking at the place directly opposite the hotel lobby entrance downstairs - where countless reporters were squatting. After a few minutes, when the first person wearing a police uniform appeared, those reporters who were originally seated stood up and raised their cameras in a certain direction.

  "Look, there are reporters everywhere on the scene, carrying all sorts of cameras." Jianran pointed downstairs with a flat tone, "Cameras can't speak, they can only capture scenes like 'Xu Qianqian and police' together - but the ones who really speak are those reporters."

  In the midst of a young black-haired person's speech, the on-site order on the first floor suddenly fell into chaos - it was unclear which reporter attempted to aim their camera beyond the safe distance at Xu Qianqian, and the police, in protecting the subject of investigation, stretched out their hand to block them. In this push, it was unclear who was pushed, but in any case, the surrounding crowd was like a row of dominoes falling down. Then more people from the periphery rushed over, and those reporters took advantage of the police's distraction in helping up the people trampled on the ground to quickly close in on Xu Qianqian.

  From a distance, Xu Qianqian can be vaguely seen raising her arm to cover her face, while the reporters are overstepping and trying to pull open her arms. At this time, the police turn back to take care of Xu Qianqian again, and the reporters clash with the police once more. In the midst of pushing and shoving, it is unclear whether someone accidentally bumped into her or pulled her hair from behind, causing Xu Qianqian to quickly fall to the ground, covering her face and bursting into tears. She may have been screaming, but no one can hear her.

  At the same time, countless flashlights lit up, capturing this embarrassing scene of hers...

  At this time, the calm voice sounded again at a moderate pace: "Jiang Chuan, I ask you, compared to news headlines like 'Xu Qianqian prepares to respond to video incident, calmly accepts police investigation', do you think news headlines like 'Film queen successor Xu Qianqian attempted murder, fell into the law net, pale face was taken away by the police' would make you want to click in more?"

  Jiang Chuan turned his head and glanced at the black-haired young man beside him, but didn't speak. The latter chuckled softly and continued...

  "This is why Xiu Qianqian said that if she was seen with the police, she would be finished," Jin Ran said. "Which celebrity hasn't suffered this kind of loss? The truth doesn't matter; people will only listen to what they want to know - and reporters are responsible for hitting a balance, trying to steer the event towards the type of information everyone wants to know. As for authenticity, as long as it's not too excessive, there's no problem... You see, Xiu Qianqian was indeed taken away by the police, so if she really did commit murder, then this kind of news headline wouldn't be a problem at all; but if she's innocent, it would just be a matter of the newspaper apologizing - those who are barefoot aren't afraid of those wearing shoes. The newspaper has already gotten the sales and influence they wanted, so an apology wouldn't hurt them much."

  “……”

  "Just you wait, it won't take thirty minutes for almost everyone online to know that Xu Qianqian is connected to the murder case; it won't take twenty-four hours for even people who read books and newspapers to get this delayed information... by then everyone will think Xu Qianqian is a murderer, a superstar murderer..."

  He propped his hands on the edge of the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window, turned his head, curled up the corners of his lips, but that smile did not reach those bright black eyes, he even looked a bit dazed as he stared at Jiang Chuan.

  "Jiang Chuan, do you know? Xu Qianqian is done for, and I'm done for too."

  After saying those words, Jian Ran was like he had sentenced himself to death.

  The smile at the corner of his mouth quickly disappeared, and his face was as pale as a dead man... He let go of his hand on the armrest of the sofa, floated back like a ghost for two steps, and sat down on the bed with a thud - At this moment, the young black-haired man looked like a defeated attacker, holding his forehead with one hand, the shadow cast by his palm covering the emotions in his eyes. However, when he spoke again, his voice was dry and terrifying: "Sometimes I blame myself for being so weak, doing nothing wrong but being forced to retreat again and again... I watch those bad people jumping happily in front of me, watching those people I dislike looking down on me with pride, thinking they've defeated me. Heaven knows that sometimes I really want to take that step I've never dared to take, pick up a knife like a man and chop them into pulp, so they'll never dare say or do anything scary again..."

  "This isn't cowardice." Jiang Chuan said calmly, "You're just—"

  "Look at me now—" He smiled wryly and cut off Jiang Chuan's words, "These days I haven't gone to clear things up for her as Xu Qianqian said, it was the small step I took after mustering up my courage - a life for a life, I kept telling myself that's how it had to be. But to tell you the truth, now I regret it. If I had another chance to choose, I wouldn't necessarily keep silent and watch Xu Qianqian ruin herself before ruining me too. Now I have a question: after she gets her retribution, if I follow her down to destruction, what's the point of that for me?"

  “……”

  "Can't think of an answer, huh? I'm also very confused. The billboard has already hit me on the head, and I've been lying in bed for seven or eight months. I've lost everything that should be lost. These things can't be taken back. Now, to make Xu Qianqian get what she deserves, I even have to sacrifice my future.

  Taking a deep breath, he covered his face with both hands, and his voice sounded particularly dull as he said slowly, "So every time it's like this. When I feel the urge to do something crazy and reckless, when I turn around to find a knife, I see those people standing behind me - my company, my agent, the director who recommended me for acting, my friends, my fans, and myself.

  The self that just entered the entertainment circle with full of yearning; the self that was happy to be an extra in a small crew; the self that rehearsed lines in front of the mirror day and night to perform better; the self that was excited to get the male lead for the first time and couldn't sleep all night; the self that has been wronged many times but still bit the bullet and came this far today - everyone has been let down by me."

  “……”

  "I want Xu Qianqian to die on the one hand, but on the other hand, I'm struggling to bear the thought of burying my own and others' hard work." Jin Ran exhaled a breath from his palm, and from Jiang Chuan's perspective, he could clearly see a faint trail of water sliding down from the junction of his palm and cheek. "I despise the me who hid behind Xu Qianqian, timid and fearful; I also despise the current me, who is destroying everything with my own hands for personal desires and impulses."

  Jiang Chuan took two steps, thought for a moment, dragged a stool in front of the young man with black hair and sat down with a thud. He stared at him for a while before saying expressionlessly: "I think they can understand you - the company, Fang Yu, and your fans... and all that stuff you just explained..."

  The man finished speaking, paused for a moment, stretched out his hand to pull the young black-haired person's hand, slightly lowered his head and said in a hoarse voice: "Don't cry."

  "I didn't cry."

  "Cry if you must, what's with the stubbornness, are you a cow or something?" The man furrowed his brow, seemingly unsure of what to do for a moment. Finally, he took a deep breath and stretched out his arm, pulling the person in front of him directly into his own arms, hugging them and patting their back. "It's not as serious as you think, just because Xu Qianqian said you're gay doesn't mean you are... Hmm, your back feels like it's lost a bit of meat, have you been dieting?"

  "Damn it, she has photos." Jian Yan placed her chin on Jiang Chuan's shoulder, let out a sob, and in a place where the man couldn't see, her eyes were red as if she had conjunctivitis. "Once the photo is released, even a blind person can tell that I was with Jiang Luo Cheng. I've been in this industry for so many years without any scandals, and there have already been rumors online about my ambiguous sexual orientation. Now it's all over... With just one gust of wind, those black materials will be able to publish an 800-word long review. Do you think a single photo won't make their little universe explode?"

  Jiang Chuan listened and was slightly speechless: "Still worrying about those black... you're really entangled in many things."

  "That's not it," Jian Yan sniffled, wiping his nose on the sweaty shirt from Jiang Chuan, "This thing is such a mess... I don't even know how to explain it to Fang Yu... Maybe I should just hold a press conference and come out of the closet early, then announce my retirement?"

  "'The Blazing Fire' has been filmed halfway, the male lead is a murderer, and the second male lead has retired from the industry. Do you want to drive your production team's leader to jump off a building?"

  Jiang Chuan said expressionlessly, casually picking up the tissue box by the bed and pulling out a sheet to gently pat the young man's face and shoulders. As he took it from Jiang Chuan and lowered his head to blow his nose, Jiang Chuan pulled out another sheet to wipe his own shirt, which was covered in tears, snot, and his own sweat - there wasn't much left to salvage anyway.

  "It's not the final step yet, no need to rush. Whether Xu Qianqian will have a chance to speak out is still unknown."

  "He's just being taken away to assist with the investigation," Jian Ran said. "The police can only hold her for a limited time without concrete evidence, and she'll be released soon - even if it's just for a short while, which is enough for her to hold a press conference."

  "Then don't let her come out," Jiang Chuan said calmly, "Tonight I'll take the police to her backyard and dig up that thing she's hiding?"

  "...it's all just a matter of time." Jianran said, "First, Xu Wenjie was taken down, and then it'll be Xu Qianqian's turn. Do you think her agency isn't furious with me?...Xu Qianqian knows things that her agent definitely also knows, but she wasn't taken away by the police, and her mouth is still hers to control. Once you reveal the truth, it's equivalent to sentencing Xu Qianqian to death - her agent will be like a wild horse without a master...Think about it, when the higher-ups at Xu Qianqian's agency are jumping with rage and wanting to strangle me from afar, she comes up with this earth-shattering secret that can kill me. This is the perfect opportunity for her to rise above, just by making a move and posting a Weibo or something. Even if people say it's revenge, it doesn't matter. Those who are barefoot aren't afraid of those who wear shoes...In the future, she'll be able to rely on her agency to live a life of luxury..."

  Jiang Chuan: “...... You've really thought of everything.”

  "It is, so I feel like I've died a clear death."

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  "Right when I was about to become the successor, just a few days ago I was still acting as Bai Wen's teacher, retiring and bidding farewell to the film and television industry with the work 'Star Fire' cultivating the next generation of film and television industry No. 1, the youngest film emperor such a grand dream——"

  He hadn't finished speaking when the big hand on the back of his head exerted a slight force, pressing him back onto the shoulder in front of him. He struggled for a moment but couldn't break free, so he simply stopped struggling and let out a long, depressed sigh.

  "I'm done for."

  "It's not over yet."

  "It's all over, I couldn't think of a way to shut up Xu Qianqian and that bunch of people together, I don't have a single thread of hope."

  "There will be."

  Jiang Chuan fell silent for a moment before responding calmly.

  ……

  The next day, Jing Yan still gritted his teeth and prepared to arrive at the scene of "Star Fire" according to the schedule. The shot for this day happened to be the play he performed as Saito Ryota, where Saito was chased by the protagonist and others into a dilapidated building. He found a broken radio in the building, turned it on, and inside came the news of Japan's surrender, becoming a defeated country.

  Saito lost heart and will, took poison and died.

  He arrived at the film set early in the morning and received a red envelope from the crew - generally speaking, whenever someone is about to play a "dead" role, they will usually receive a red envelope before or after filming, which is also a superstitious way for Chinese people to wish each other good luck... Jin Yan held the red envelope with mixed emotions, thinking that his acting career would end with such an inglorious finale as a small Japanese military officer, it was simply a very unglamorous curtain call.

  Thinking of that, the face that was originally pale turned white with a hint of black, and the young man with black hair rarely spoke in a low voice, his face gloomy as he stuffed something into his pocket. At this time, he had already changed into his costume, covering himself in pig's blood and dirty mud, with bandages wrapped around his head. When the director shouted "action", he took a deep breath to calm himself down. As he heard the footsteps of Bai Wengui teacher and other supporting actors running towards him from behind, he also turned around and ran towards the dilapidated building behind him. He entered the building, went up to the second floor as written in the script, and stopped for a moment, looking around with a somewhat bewildered expression.

  His tense expression suddenly became disoriented, he stopped fleeing, stood at the stairs, as if suddenly lost the direction to continue escaping.

  The director, squatting in front of the monitor, nodded his head in satisfaction and praised him in a low voice for "getting into character quickly". Then he saw the black-haired young man on the screen bend down, use both hands to dig through the rubble and mud of the building, and excavate a cash register from underground.

  He held the cash register and sat down at the corner of the wall, at this time the background sound in his ear was the miserable cry of countless fleeing devils being caught and shot, the black-haired young man leaning against the wall was originally just sitting quietly there, after hearing that miserable cry, he suddenly trembled slightly - the hanging long and dense eyelashes also trembled slightly.

  It's as if I've received some kind of shock.

  His movements were frozen for about ten seconds - this movement was not in the script - as time slowly passed, Li Rui, sitting behind the monitor, slightly furrowed his brow, seemingly thinking that he had forgotten what to do next. The director was about to shout "cut", but at this moment, he saw the black-haired young man lift his head, and the camera zoomed in, clearly seeing the numbness and calmness in his eyes.

  Li Rui was stunned, a "pa" sound couldn't be shouted out, and then he saw Jianran complete the opening of the radio, listening to the pre-recorded tape report inside. When the broadcast said the five words "unconditional surrender", the young man with black hair lit up, but immediately it was like being thoroughly extinguished candlelight, the initial numbness and calm fell into silence, and finally despair.

  Li Rui suddenly felt a little curious, what was the black-haired young man thinking earlier that made him reveal such an expression: his heart was truly as dead as ashes, just like he was preparing to bid farewell to something.

  He looked calmly and raised the gun in his hand, aiming at his own mouth.

  At such a close distance, of course, no blanks could be used, so he just made the motion of pulling the trigger, and then the sound of gunfire echoed in the background - at the same time as the sound echoed, the young black-haired man trembled slightly, his head tilted to one side, as if he had lost all his strength - only that pair of eyes still maintained a desperate and hopeless gaze before death, staring blankly into the distance...

  "Crack!"

  Li Rui hastily shouted, and for some reason, he felt a little uneasy, making eye contact with his assistant beside him. The assistant immediately understood and rushed over to help the young man with black hair who was slowly getting up from the ground. He stood up straight, patted his butt, walked over to Li Rui, bowed his head, and looked at the screen in front of him, reviewing the scene he had just acted out. Seemingly satisfied with himself, but after a while, he said: "Teacher Li, I think my eye movements still weren't quite right earlier, do you want me to do it again?"

  "Really?" Li Rui stood up to take a look, "It's great."

  "Here, the gaze changes too quickly."

  "This little flaw doesn't matter, I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't said anything - you did great afterwards..."

  "Do we really have to go through this again?"

  "It doesn't matter."

  "But I want to play this role well."

  Li Rui heard this and seemed to turn his head strangely to look at the black-haired young man beside him, not knowing why. Although the sentence sounded ordinary, it now gave him a strange feeling. Li Rui wanted to speak but hesitated until Jian Yan turned his head back to cast a puzzled glance at him. Only then did he move his lips and ask: "Do you want to go rest for a bit? Adjust your state."

  "It doesn't matter," he said with a gentle smile, "I'm not hurt."

  Jinran said as he turned to prepare for the next scene, leaving a group of staff and Director-sama looking at each other in dismay. Everyone felt that something was off, but they couldn't quite put their finger on what it was. In the end, they decided not to mention anything and just let Jinran continue filming the next shot. As it turned out, Jinran's performance remained outstanding, but every time Director-sama thought it was already okay, he would find some areas for improvement and ask if they should retake the scene - including some more difficult and troublesome shots. Even the directors were taken aback by the sudden change in Jinran's attitude, asking him what was going on, to which he simply smiled and said: "I want to act well, so I can leave something to remember, just in case it becomes my masterpiece."

  "After this play, there will be many opportunities for cooperation. Your strength has been seen by everyone, and our Kun Opera Troupe will definitely use you again." Li Rui waved his hand, "Don't talk as if we are burning the bridge after crossing the river."

  The people around burst into laughter, and Bai Wengui, who was drinking water beside him, also laughed and interjected: "At such a young age, it's too early to talk about masterpieces. This kind of remark should only be made by me, an old cadre preparing for retirement."

  Among the laughter of everyone, Jian Ran also laughed along.

  Nobody knows what happened.

  ……

  In the afternoon, when Xu Qianqian was still in the police station with no news, Xu Wenjie had already completed his first trial verdict - as the most important direct suspect of the crime was not found, that is, the guy who was photographed by the surveillance camera was not found yet. He still has fifteen days to find that person, file a lawsuit and prove his innocence.

  Xu Wenjie walked out of the courtroom, and outside, it was already packed with reporters and onlookers. Under the protection of bodyguards, Xu Wenjie almost immediately got swarmed by journalists and the crowd. Although he wore a duckbill cap and mask, it wasn't hard to see that he was still terrified, backing away while covering his face. At first, the bodyguards could hold him back, but as the reporters and crowd grew more frenzied, some fans mixed in with the onlookers became enraged, grabbing whatever they could find, like high heels, and flailing them at him. Soon, the scene descended into chaos, just like what happened to Xu Qianqian outside the hotel yesterday. People were pushed down, others screamed, and it was complete pandemonium. Nobody knew who they were hitting, and reporters were wildly snapping photos without knowing what they were capturing.

  Until the court's security guards rushed out to help maintain order ——

  Ten minutes later.

  A scene of utter chaos outside the court.

  People stood up and tidied their clothes, angry fans quietly put on their high heels, but someone found at this time that several bear-like bodyguards were still there, but Xu Wenjie was gone.

  Goodbye!

  Everyone was stunned, and for a moment they were at a loss, from the bodyguards dispersing with tense faces to start recruiting people, Xu Wenjie's agent also started taking out his phone to make calls, it seemed that he didn't seem to be withdrawn in a planned way...

  Xu Wenjie disappeared in front of the court at night, suspected of absconding due to fear of punishment.

  The internet is filled with curses.

  Such headlines have been hanging for almost half a night.

  Until 3 am, a netizen found a Weibo post that was probably posted by medical staff at H City People's Hospital.

  I'm just gossiping, not necessarily accurate, a car drove by outside the hospital earlier and two people fell out of it. One was already dead when sent to the ward, don't know what injuries; another one had his right hand and left foot chopped off, when sent to the emergency room the blood on the floor was still fresh, can you believe it? Emma... I won't say anymore, my hands are shaking while typing... before pushing him in, I rushed up to take a look, that person seemed to be Xu Wenjie.