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Chapter 158: Shen Mingxuan’s Fate
“We are joint investigators from the Tax Bureau and the police. Here are our credentials!” The officer flashed his ID and then spoke to Shen Mingxuan, who was still on the ground fighting with Bai Ruoruo.
“After investigation, it has been confirmed that in the past five years, Shen Mingxuan has signed eight yin-yang contracts with production companies, evading taxes amounting to a total of 403 million yuan. You are under arrest.”
Shen Mingxuan froze upon hearing the words. “What… what did you say?”
Two officers, holding silver handcuffs, began approaching step by step.
Shen Mingxuan seemed unable to comprehend what was happening. His eyes wandered blankly around the scene.
He glanced over Bai Ruoruo, who was closest to him, the director, the cameraman, Lu Yu, Cheng Lin, and Chen Wanruo, and finally at Jiang Mi and Gu Chuan.
Shen Mingxuan was filled with confusion and disbelief.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
He was supposed to be a high-ranking film emperor, adored by the industry, loved by fans, and obsessed over by Jiang Mi. Besides, Jiang Mi was supposed to constantly clash with Bai Ruoruo over him.
But Jiang Mi was supposedly foolish, big-chested but brainless, and every time she confronted Bai Ruoruo, it only benefited Bai in the end.
Eventually, Jiang Mi, because of her stupidity, would hand over all her wealth and resources to Bai Ruoruo and end up being tragically killed out of despair.
After that, Shen Mingxuan would hold the shares of the Jiang family business that Jiang Mi had given him, go through numerous trials, and finally rise to become the head of the Shen family.
He was supposed to be the revered film emperor.
He was supposed to be the master of the powerful Shen family.
He was supposed to be the most successful man in the world, holding supreme power and endless wealth—definitely not a criminal thrown into prison.
Shen Mingxuan’s face gradually twisted, becoming deranged and losing all sanity.
“I’m the male lead! I’m the film emperor! I’m the head of the Shen family! You can’t touch me! How dare you disrespect me—someone come and shoot them!”
Several uniformed officers came up beside him, holding him down on either side by his shoulders. With a click, the handcuffs were locked around his wrists.
The silver handcuffs gleamed sharply in the sunlight, cold and despairing.
The sight of them sent a chill through the crowd.
Looking at Shen Mingxuan, who had completely lost his mind, the people around couldn’t help but feel some pity.
Once a highly sought-after film emperor, he had now fallen because he chose not to walk the right path, always seeking shortcuts through unscrupulous means, ultimately ending up as a criminal.
Jiang Mi’s eyes remained cold. One could say Shen Mingxuan had gone mad, or that he was trapped in his delusions. No, it wasn’t really a delusion—if she hadn’t intervened, everything he imagined would have come true.
Suddenly, a crucial question crossed Jiang Mi’s mind.
“Bunbun, if both the male and female leads end up dead, what will happen to this world?”
“Let me check the world’s stability… Oh! It’s actually increasing! So it seems like the male lead’s death has no effect on the world.”
Jiang Mi caught a glimpse of Gu Chuan’s sharp, handsome profile from the corner of her eye and smiled.
“Well, that’s a relief. But, isn’t it strange that the male and female leads of this world are so weak and morally terrible?”
Usually, to be the leads of a world, there should be at least some redeeming traits, right?
Frankly, Shen Mingxuan and Bai Ruoruo had none.
Bunbun thought for a moment and then carefully explained.
“Boss Jiang, it’s not that they’re weak—it’s that you’re too strong.”
Jiang Mi laughed. “Well, Bunbun, you’ve learned to flatter me now.”
“No, no, really! The male and female leads actually had decent qualities. But no one is perfect, and they had flaws in their characters. After you entered this world and continuously outshone them, jealousy, resentment, and dissatisfaction slowly magnified the worst aspects of their desires.”
“The main thing is that, Boss Jiang, the story you saw was centered on the male and female leads. Their actions and motives were portrayed in the best possible light, so of course, you wouldn’t see any of their bad traits!”
“For example, in Shen Mingxuan’s mind, he believed he had dignity and couldn’t rely on a woman to succeed, which is why he distanced himself from the original heroine. But in reality, he was just shamelessly taking advantage!”
Hearing this, Jiang Mi finally understood.
If the original character were still here, Shen Mingxuan and Bai Ruoruo would have just waited for the original character to make stupid mistakes and self-destruct. There would have been no need to waste time scheming against her.
But now, it’s Jiang Mi who’s here, and it’s Shen Mingxuan and Bai Ruoruo who are making foolish mistakes, getting increasingly frustrated, and letting jealousy and hatred cloud their judgment, leading them to make even more errors.
Jiang Mi smiled and said, “Bunbun, why do I feel like you’ve suddenly gotten smarter? Your little brain is working like magic.”
Bunbun, feeling proud, was thrilled.
“Hehe, Bunbun has always been smart! I even know that the villain is actually…”
Mid-sentence, Bunbun’s sweet mechanical voice abruptly stopped.
When Jiang Mi tried to ask again, Bunbun pretended to stammer.
“Oh no… Oh no… The signal here is bad. I can’t hear you properly. It seems like the system is malfunctioning, Boss Jiang. I’ll go fix it.”
Jiang Mi: “…”
But even if Bunbun didn’t say it, Jiang Mi had already guessed who the villain was…
Suddenly, a voice rang out in front of her.
“Ms. Jiang, we really appreciate the evidence you provided, which allowed us to quickly identify and arrest the suspect for tax evasion.”
It was Jiang Mi who reported Shen Mingxuan.
This was unexpected, yet also entirely reasonable.
After all, Shen Mingxuan and Bai Ruoruo had plotted against her. Reporting him was actually a mild response.
“Paying taxes legally is the duty of every citizen,” Jiang Mi nodded in agreement.
The officer was particularly pleased. “We need more people like you in this country.”
Jiang Mi felt a bit undeserving of the praise since her true intention had been to ruin Shen Mingxuan’s life.
But the officer clearly didn’t see it that way and cheerfully added, “If you ever find anyone else evading taxes, feel free to report them!”
Everyone around: “…Whoa, savage!”
Jiang Mi smiled and glanced at Bai Ruoruo. “Sure, I will.”
Bai Ruoruo was so frightened that her whole body trembled, shrinking back in fear. At this point, she was utterly terrified of Jiang Mi’s piercing gaze.
Jiang Mi curled her lips into a mischievous smile, making Bai Ruoruo shrink back even further. She would let her live in fear for a few more days.
As the live broadcast ended with Shen Mingxuan being taken away by the police, the show’s crew wasted no time and quickly organized the guests for the next destination.
However, while the live event wrapped up, the internet exploded.
Pictures of Shen Mingxuan being handcuffed and escorted by the police flooded every corner of the web.
Hashtags like:
dominated the trending charts. Shen Mingxuan’s name was everywhere, ruling the entertainment hot topics, something he once dreamed of.
Now, he had finally succeeded.
But he could no longer see it.
Wait, actually, prisons were said to be quite humane. He might be working hard at a sewing machine, but with occasional breaks to watch TV. Maybe then, Shen Mingxuan could see himself.
As an infamous example of tax evasion, he would be featured in educational broadcasts over and over, serving as a cautionary tale!
As the internet buzzed with chaos, the dating show group arrived at their next destination: a picturesque mountain village.