Chapter 19

In the makeup room, Ji Hanzhang was leaning back in a chair while the makeup artist was carefully touching up his makeup. Suddenly, his half-closed eyes snapped open, his brows furrowing slightly as he listened to that familiar voice:

[That day Liang Hao made plans with four girls. He ended up running into three of them at the restaurant and got beaten up by them. He completely forgot about the fourth girl.]

[Today, the roommate of that fourth girl filed a police report.]

[That girl has gone missing.]

[Fortunately, the Gossip System says that girl is still inside the film studio.]

“All done,” the makeup artist said.

Xiao Zhang pushed the door open and walked in. “Mr. Ji, it’s time to head over.”

Ji Hanzhang tapped his slender fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair, made a soft sound in acknowledgment, and stood up to leave the makeup room.

Outside the door, he paused briefly, turning his head slightly to glance at Jiang Shuwan and Liang Hao walking away in the distance. A trace of scrutiny flickered through his deep, dark eyes. Moments later, he lowered his gaze and turned away. “Let’s go,” he said calmly.

*

At the entrance of the set, a few staff in charge of security were offering cigarettes to two uniformed police officers. One of the officers raised his hand to decline and pointed at them with his fingers.

“You’ve got some pretty complex set designs here, and lots of flammable materials. Be sure to stay on top of fire safety.”

The staff hurriedly stashed away the cigarettes. “Oh, we don’t usually smoke. The crew has fire safety rules.”

A man leaning casually against the wall let out a snort and asked, “Don’t smoke? Then where’d those cigarette butts over there come from?”

He was dressed in plain clothes, thin and wiry, with sharp, angular features and an indifferent, slightly mocking gaze.

The staff had never quite figured out his identity. He looked too casual to be a police officer—no uniform, and ever since arriving, he’d just leaned off to the side, not joining in any conversation, clearly disinterested. But he had gotten out of the same police car as the two uniformed officers, so it was clear he wasn’t just a bystander either.

Now, under his cold and piercing gaze, the staff broke out in a cold sweat. A quick glance confirmed it—several cigarette butts, nearly smoked to the end, were lying in the corner.

Speechless, one of them forced a dry laugh. “You really have a sharp eye, officer. Those must’ve been from some of the temp workers sneaking a smoke. We’ll make sure to strengthen supervision and prevent this kind of thing from happening again!”

The man merely curled his lips in a faint smile, not bothering to respond.

The two uniformed officers exchanged a glance, silently thinking the same thing: *Why bother lying in front of *him? You’re just setting yourself up to get caught.

That said, they weren’t here for fire safety anyway. A reminder was enough.

While waiting for Liang Hao to show up, the officers chatted with some of the crew, asking about him.

If they’d asked a few days earlier, maybe not many people would have known who Liang Hao was. After all, the crew was huge, with people constantly coming and going. Not everyone knew each other. But after the “scandal,” now everyone in the crew—director, producer, janitor, or assistant—knew who Liang Hao was.

“This kid’s something else,” one of the staff sighed, then launched into a dramatic retelling of the “Three-on-One Scandal” that had taken the set by storm, adding extra flair and exaggeration as they went.

The two police officers had been working at the precinct for years and had seen all kinds of absurd cases. Still, when they heard Liang Hao had set up dates with four girls in one night and even scheduled time slots for each one, they were left speechless.

What kind of person even does that?

“If he met three of the girls at the restaurant, then what about the fourth one?” one officer asked.

That caught the staff off guard. “Right! There was a fourth girl! I haven’t heard anything about her…”

The two officers looked at each other and nodded. “Alright, got it.”

“Huh?”

The man leaning against the wall, who had been looking bored, suddenly stood up straight. He narrowed his eyes at someone approaching from a distance.

“Xiao Wan?”

At first, Jiang Shuwan hadn’t seen Jiang Zhan. She was focused on the two uniformed officers. But when she heard his voice and turned her head, she was surprised. “Uncle Zhan? What are you doing here?”

Jiang Zhan raised an eyebrow and let out a short laugh. “I should be asking you that. What are you doing here?”

Only then did Jiang Shuwan realize—oh right, no one at home knew she’d taken a break from school. Technically speaking, she was supposed to be on campus right now.

But Jiang Shuwan had always been good at bluffing her elders. She quickly composed herself and, without batting an eye, started spewing nonsense: “I’m taking an elective in Social Relations. My research focus is on the ecosystem and social relationships of actors in film studios. I’m conducting practical field research here.”

Jiang Zhan: “…Are you messing with me?”

What kind of nonsense ‘actor ecosystem in a film studio’? It’s just acting. What ecosystem?

Jiang Shuwan looked completely innocent. “Why would I mess with you?”

Jiang Zhan studied her for a moment, saying nothing.

He had a sharp intuition, and it was screaming that his niece was lying to his face and hiding something from him. But logically, it didn’t make much sense.

This was the same girl who had focused on studying her whole life—so much that she was practically a bookworm. What kind of mischief could she possibly get into?

Surely she didn’t just skip class to hang out at a film studio for fun?

Thinking back to when she’d asked him to help investigate that fight involving Xia Xiangyang, Jiang Zhan had assumed she’d met this male celebrity through the Han family. But now it seemed clear—she had met him on her own at the film studio.

Tsk.

His sharp gaze shifted to the man standing behind Jiang Shuwan. “And who’s this?”

Jiang Shuwan answered, “This is Liang Hao—the person you’re here to find.”

Jiang Zhan had pretty much guessed it already. That pretty-boy’s neck injuries were only mostly covered by makeup—he could still see through it easily.

He clicked his tongue again.

Four dates in one night. What garbage.

“You’re Liang Hao?” Jiang Zhan tilted his head. “Alright. Come with us.”

Liang Hao nearly jumped up in shock, his face turning pale. “You’re Shuwan’s uncle? Uncle, I’m innocent! I—I—I just got to know a few more girls, I only had a few meals with them, I didn’t do anything bad!”

Jiang Zhan looked even more disgusted. “Shut up. Who the hell are you calling ‘uncle’?!”

He couldn’t help turning to Jiang Shuwan. “This guy? Is he really worth investigating? I think you staying here is just a waste of time.”

Jiang Shuwan: “…”

Speechless.JPG

One of the uniformed officers came over. “Alright, it’s just for a statement. If you didn’t do anything wrong, what are you afraid of?”

They immediately started dragging Liang Hao away.

“I—I—I didn’t do anything wrong, so why do I need to give a statement…” Liang Hao wailed.

“We’re just taking him in for questioning. You can head back,” Jiang Zhan said lazily. “Someone from the production crew went missing. I can’t give you the details, but keep your eyes open and stay safe.”

Jiang Shuwan nodded obediently. She thought to herself, I more or less know where the person is, but I can’t tell you that. You guys better hurry up with the investigation.

Jiang Zhan thought for a moment, then added, “These men in the production crew—don’t be fooled by their looks. Who knows what kind of people they really are. Don’t go picking a boyfriend here, and don’t believe their sweet talk. Once your little ‘research’ is done, get yourself back to school as soon as possible.”

He was already thinking he’d need to talk to Han Jinzhou and ask him to keep a closer eye on his sister. The Han family wasn’t going to go bankrupt if she worked less. But if she wasn’t looked after properly and something happened—or if she got tricked by some random guy—he’d have nowhere to cry.

Jiang Shuwan just kept nodding sweetly, then returned the gesture of concern to her uncle she hadn’t seen in months. “Uncle, are cases in the film studio under your jurisdiction too? You seem to handle quite a lot. No wonder you’re so busy.”

Jiang Zhan was from the Serious Crimes Unit of the S City Public Security Bureau. Logically, even if someone went missing at the film studio, the case shouldn’t immediately land with the Serious Crimes Unit, right?

Although Jiang Shuwan found it a bit strange, she just made a passing comment.

Jiang Zhan’s expression froze for a second. Being demoted and transferred to a small police station was an embarrassing affair—one he didn’t particularly want his niece to know about.

After a few seconds of silence, he cleared his throat and replied nonchalantly, “This case is complicated. We’re just assisting with the investigation.”

Almost at the same time, a mechanical voice rang in Jiang Shuwan’s ears:

[Beep. System initiating automatic search mode.]

[Jiang Zhan, Deputy Leader of the Serious Crimes Unit, S City Public Security Bureau. Fell out with his superior over a smuggling case. Slammed the table and scolded the boss: ‘Your bald head must mean your brain is mush.’ Got targeted and demoted to a subordinate police station in S City’s Western District.]

Jiang Zhan: “Alright, this is adult business. You wouldn’t understand. I’m busy. I’ll find you later.”

[The Western District Substation’s jurisdiction includes the film studio. Due to the studio’s well-organized management, case volume is low. Compared to the Serious Crimes Unit, it’s not busy at all.]

Jiang Shuwan: “…t…”

Comrade Jiang Zhan really was as stubborn as they come.

She stared at Jiang Zhan in exasperation. “Uncle, when I was little and you tricked me out of my New Year’s money to buy gifts for girls, you used the same excuses.”

Jiang Zhan: “…”

Sure enough, once kids grow up, you just can’t fool them anymore.

He rubbed the tip of his nose. “Was I tricking you out of your money? I was just worried a little kid like you would lose it. Besides, I bought gifts for girls to find you a future aunt. As my niece, shouldn’t you be contributing a little to that?”

Jiang Shuwan looked at him solemnly. “And where exactly is that ‘aunt’ I contributed to?”

Jiang Zhan: “…”

Not only was she hard to fool now, but she’d also learned how to stab where it hurt.

---

At noon, Liang Hao returned looking utterly dazed and pale as a corpse.

He came back just as everyone was eating. When they saw him in that state, they all turned to look curiously. He ignored everyone and went straight to the corner where Jiang Shuwan was sitting. Plopping down on the step beside her, he looked like he was about to cry.

“Shuwan, you have to tell your uncle I’m innocent! I really am innocent!”

Not far away, Xia Xiangyang immediately dragged his chair over with a curious face. “What happened? What did you do? The police came for you?”

Liang Hao muttered, “That night I had arranged to meet Sun Yunyun for a late-night snack. But I got beaten up, remember? My head was spinning, and when I got back to the hotel, I went straight to sleep. I was afraid my agent would call and yell at me, so I muted my phone. I never even saw any of Sun Yunyun’s calls. By the time I called her back the next day, her phone was already off.”

“I couldn’t get in touch with her after that. I thought she found out I was dating other girls and just ghosted me.”

“How was I supposed to know… that she’d go missing?!”

With a howl, Liang Hao finally broke down in tears.