Chapter 24

After landing a critical blow to her own uncle, Jiang Shuwan obediently finished the cup of jujube and goji berry tea he had made with care. Then she pointed to the phone on the desk that had been vibrating non-stop and said, “Uncle, you’re busy. I’ll head out first.”

Jiang Zhan struggled to regain the dignified image he had in his niece’s mind: “I was sent here for temporary training…”

Just then, a young police officer burst into the room, walking quickly. “Boss! Why aren’t you answering your phone? The chief’s looking for you! I’m telling you, stop arguing with him. Yeah, he nags a bit, but he’s not a bad guy. He’s actually pretty forgiving. If he wasn’t, with that nasty temper of yours, wouldn’t he have been giving you a hard time just like the guy from the city bureau? I mean—”

He rattled on like a machine gun as he came through the door, but finally fell silent under Jiang Zhan’s furious glare. Only then did he belatedly notice Jiang Shuwan standing behind the mountain of documents.

Scratching his head in embarrassment, the young officer said, “Oh, uh… someone’s here?”

Jiang Zhan laughed in rage, “Heh, so you can see after all?”

So much for salvaging his noble image. It had been shattered to dust.

Jiang Shuwan fought back a laugh and once again said she wouldn’t interrupt Jiang Zhan’s work and would take her leave.

Jiang Zhan barely held onto his elder’s composure and gave a warning to stay safe. But the moment Jiang Shuwan stepped out of the office, he grabbed a stack of documents and smacked the young officer on the back with them: “You’ve ruined my entire reputation!”

The young officer was clearly a blunt and clueless type. “Come on, Boss, what reputation? Everybody in the station knows you’ve got a temper and that it’s gotten you in trouble. Who doesn’t know that?”

Jiang Zhan nearly exploded with fury. “I’ll show you what a real temper looks like today!”

The young officer laughed, “Hey! Boss, now you’re just mad because it’s true!”

As the voices faded behind her, Jiang Shuwan descended the last step of the staircase and looked up. The sky was streaked with brilliant crimson and orange from the setting sun, and her mood suddenly lifted.

Then she saw a tall, upright figure standing in the courtyard. The momentary delight from seeing a fun new side of her family seemed to rise a notch higher. She smiled unconsciously.

She walked toward him in a lighthearted step. “Mr. Ji.”

Ji Hanzhang turned around. His deep, clear black eyes looked at her gently, and he offered a soft smile. “Miss Jiang, are you ready to go?”

Jiang Shuwan was momentarily taken aback. “Were you waiting for me?”

Ji Hanzhang nodded. “I had someone bring another car. Let’s go together.”

The two of them walked side by side toward the exit. Jiang Shuwan was just about to ask about Xiao Zhang and Old Lin when she saw the two of them near the carport at the gate, sighing over the mangled, wrecked van parked there.

Xiao Zhang looked like he was on the verge of heartbreak. “We just bought this car six months ago. I’ve only ridden in it a few times, and now it’s like this.”

Old Lin had always maintained a calm and steady image. Even when the traffickers were smashing up the car, he hadn’t flinched. But now, it was as if Xiao Zhang’s emotions had infected him. With a cigarette in his mouth, he looked just as pained. “Seriously, this car was great. I treated it like my wife—washed it every day till it gleamed. Now look at it… seeing it like this hurts, man!”

Both of them let out a synchronized sigh. “Ugh… this hurts.”

Jiang Shuwan: “…”

Ji Hanzhang said mildly, “The car’s here.”

The two men, who had been lamenting the wreckage a moment ago, immediately switched into professional mode.

Xiao Zhang swiftly walked up to Ji Hanzhang. “Mr. Ji, are we heading straight back to the hotel? What would you like for dinner? I can call ahead and have the hotel prepare it, or if you’d like something else, I can go buy it and bring it to your room.”

He’d already spoken with Hui-ge on the phone and gotten a major scolding. Hui-ge had given him an ultimatum: he had to persuade Ji Hanzhang not to go out again during this period, or he’d lose his bonus.

While Ji Hanzhang was technically the boss of the studio, Hui-ge handled all the practical matters. He might not have the authority to fire Xiao Zhang, but deducting his bonus? That could happen any second.

Just a humble working man.jpg

Jiang Shuwan was replying to WeChat messages as they walked. Upon hearing the question, she looked up and said, “Let’s just eat at Wanzhou. I already told the manager.”

After what happened today, Ji Hanzhang and the others had all been dragged into it because of her, and she felt deeply apologetic. Just now, the hotel manager had messaged her asking if she’d be returning for dinner. She had simply instructed them to prepare the best possible meal.

Ji Hanzhang glanced at her and nodded. “Then let’s eat at the hotel.”

Xiao Zhang assumed she had arranged a buffet with the hotel and breathed a silent sigh of relief. Going back to the hotel was ideal—safe and secure, and his bonus would be spared.

The studio’s car was parked right outside the police station. Just as Jiang Shuwan was about to get in, she heard a few shrill screams. She instinctively tried to turn her head to look but was stopped by Ji Hanzhang behind her. “Don’t look back.”

She quickly realized—they must have seen Ji Hanzhang.

She climbed into the car quickly. Ji Hanzhang followed close behind, and Xiao Zhang and Old Lin, experienced as ever, blocked the crowd and darted into the car.

The vehicle pulled away swiftly.

Through the window, Jiang Shuwan glanced back. In just that short moment, more than a dozen people had gathered at the police station gate. Many were holding up phones, some filming in their direction, others already pointing cameras at the station entrance.

Ji Hanzhang rubbed his temple and instructed Xiao Zhang, “Tell Deng Youhui to proceed as we discussed.”

Ji Hanzhang. Police station entrance.

Those two keywords were enough for gossip accounts to spin a hundred sensational stories. Most of them would lean toward the scandalous side.

Normally, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. At most, it would blow over in a few days. But this time was different. Luo Qingyao had poured his heart and soul into the drama The Regent Prince, and Ji Hanzhang knew that better than anyone. As the lead actor, he didn’t want to bring any negative attention to the production right now.

Of course, this was a situation they had long anticipated.

When they finished giving their statements earlier, Ji Hanzhang had already discussed countermeasures with Deng Youhui over the phone.

Xiao Zhang said, “Alright, I’ll message Hui-ge right now.”

He picked up his phone and began tapping away to send Deng Youhui a message.

At the entrance of the police station—

Those who recognized Ji Hanzhang with just a glance on the bustling street were mostly young people.

Ji Hanzhang had a very high level of national recognition. Most of these people weren’t even his fans, but they were still thrilled beyond words to catch a glimpse of him in person. Even as the car drove away into the distance, many continued to snap photo after photo of the back of the vehicle.

Yang Xiaoxia was a casual fan of Ji Hanzhang. She had a full-time job and was always incredibly busy. She had grown fond of Ji Hanzhang because of a movie, but her interest was usually limited to occasionally checking his works and silently lurking in fan groups without participating.

Today, she had come to the industrial and commerce office next to the police station to handle some paperwork. Who could’ve guessed that she’d run into Ji Hanzhang the moment she stepped out?

In the fan group she silently followed, she had often seen visuals-focused fans rave about Ji Hanzhang’s otherworldly beauty. Of course she knew he was good-looking, but as a mature woman, she valued his superb acting skills and excellent reputation more than just his appearance.

At least, that had been the case.

Until today.

Until the moment she saw Ji Hanzhang in person.

Oh. My. God.

Only after seeing him with her own eyes did Yang Xiaoxia truly understand what people meant by breathtaking beauty.

The face that already looked so good on the big screen—turns out that was the worse version? He looked even better in person!

Yang Xiaoxia reacted quickly and took out her phone to snap a few photos. Though she didn’t get a shot of his full face, she did capture his profile. Under the warm, dusky evening light, he looked like he was glowing.

Even though the pictures were hastily taken, they were still leagues better than the heavily filtered and overly edited studio photos of some celebrities.

Feeling overjoyed, Yang Xiaoxia opened the fan group and, for the first time, typed a message:

“Ran into Teacher Ji! He looks a hundred times better in person than in photos!!! [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic]”

The group immediately exploded.

“Waaaaah! Sis, did you save the galaxy in your past life? How did you randomly run into Old Ji?”

“I’m licking my screen right now! Our Old Ji is truly ethereal—no bad angles, no bad lenses!”

“Anyone who hasn’t seen him in real life will never understand. Cameras are actual trash!”

“Just kill me already—I want to spiritually possess one of those bystanders!”

…

As an actor, Ji Hanzhang’s popularity surpassed that of many idol stars, but he was a very low-key person. Outside of filming, he rarely appeared in public, didn’t take on many advertisements, didn’t participate in variety shows, and barely posted on Weibo.

Photos like this—taken in candid public moments—were extremely rare. The fan group rejoiced in an uproar.

Several minutes later, someone finally asked timidly:

“Did any of you notice… it looks like there’s a girl walking ahead of Old Ji?”

The photo was of Ji Hanzhang getting into the car. It also captured a few bystanders and Xiao Zhang and Old Lin holding back the crowd. But the person walking ahead of Ji Hanzhang had only half of their figure visible, and it was blurry.

The figure was near the edge of the image and quite fuzzy—easy to miss unless one looked closely.

But with some attention, it became clear: the person had a low ponytail—it seemed to be a girl.

Long-time fans knew that Ji Hanzhang’s team, from his manager to his assistant to his driver, was famously made up of single men. Not a single woman.

The group immediately fell into silence.

A few minutes passed before someone finally broke the quiet:

“Could it be Ding Fengjiao, the female lead of The Regent? Didn’t she still not join the crew yet?”

That was the spark to break the tension.

Someone tagged Yang Xiaoxia:

“Sis, did you see who that person in front of Old Ji was? Was it Ding Fengjiao?”

Yang Xiaoxia was already on the bus by then. She saw the mention and replied, explaining that she had been too excited at the time and hadn’t paid attention to anyone else. She didn’t know if the girl was Ding Fengjiao.

So, still no definitive answer.

But someone had noticed another key point and tagged Yang Xiaoxia again to ask:

“Sis, where exactly did you run into Ji Hanzhang?”

A few minutes later, Yang Xiaoxia replied:

“I was at the industrial and commerce office. Teacher Ji seemed to be coming out of the police station next door.”

The fans instantly flooded the group with rows of ellipses.

“Wait… what was he doing at the police station?”

“It can’t be drugs, gambling, or sex scandals, right? I mean, come on, look at Old Ji’s ice-cold vibe—show me a sex tape of him and I still wouldn’t believe he did anything lewd. Drugs? He doesn’t even take painkillers when he has a headache. Gambling? Please, if he had any spare time, he’d be working overtime filming.”

“Sis, your analysis is flawless. But… if there is a sex tape, mind sending it to me? I have a friend who’d like to see it.”

“Yeah, me too—I have a friend.”

…

With all the jokes and teasing, the group became lively again. But the fact that Ji Hanzhang had come out of a police station—and was caught on camera doing so—set off alarms in the minds of the long-time fans.

They knew what that meant.

It meant that an online storm was brewing.

And sure enough, about half an hour later, a trending topic suddenly shot to the top of Weibo:

#RandomEncounterWithJiHanzhangOutsidePoliceStation#