Chapter 111: Suspicions
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
A perfectly fine person suddenly disappeared, and he was from the same crew. Feng Tangtang was timid and got startled, forgetting to speak for a moment.
Xi Mo, though surprised inside, remained calm and kept asking for details. She always felt that Cui Jiayu was not simple. If she came to ask questions, it must be something very important.
Ruan Yesheng sat there getting her makeup touched up, but her ears were listening carefully.
The coordinator, who now talked freely with them, said, “That prop master’s name was Yang Zhen. At the time, I even called him. His phone was off. I thought he might have left suddenly without going through any handover and still had a pile of unfinished work. Maybe he felt embarrassed and deliberately didn't answer any calls from the crew. We had run into situations like this before, so I didn't think much about it.”
She spoke very detailedly. “If not for Officer Cui coming to find me this time, I still wouldn’t have known that he’d already gone missing the day I couldn’t reach him. His family couldn’t get in touch with him at all, and he didn’t reply to any messages. He used to keep in close contact with his family, so when he suddenly went silent for a long time, it didn’t fit his usual behavior. His family started to panic. He even missed his sister’s wedding, which he had already promised to attend. His family called the crew to ask and only then found out he had resigned. They went to the house he bought and saw a thick layer of dust. After leaving the crew, he had never gone back home. The elders got worried and called the police right away.”
While listening, Xi Mo began thinking but still caught the important point, “Which city did he buy the house in?”
Most of the crew members drifted from place to place for work. Whenever a new drama started, new people would be hired. After filming wrapped up, many would leave and join new teams in different crews.
So even though many people worked in Hengdian, they actually settled in different cities.
“His family’s in Suzhou,” the coordinator said.
“They reported to the police in Suzhou?” Xi Mo asked again to confirm.
The coordinator nodded.
Xi Mo slightly frowned.
If the report was filed in Suzhou where the house was, it should have been handled first by the local police there. If, after investigation, the Suzhou police confirmed that Yang Zhen had not returned to Suzhou for a long time, they would naturally start looking into his previous workplace. After learning that Hengdian was the last place Yang Zhen had appeared, the investigation would shift to Hengdian, which was under Dongyang City's jurisdiction.
Now that the city police came to the crew for questioning, it seemed fine on the surface.
But Xi Mo still felt something was off.
Ruan Yesheng’s mind was also spinning with thoughts. She couldn't help but say, “Then why would Officer Cui be the one coming?”
As she spoke, she subconsciously turned her head to look at Xi Mo.
Before, Ruan Yesheng had been sitting still like a wooden statue and barely moved. The makeup artist was used to her being quiet and was caught off guard by her sudden turn. She quickly smiled apologetically and said, “Sister Xi, please hold on a bit more. Try not to move here. It’s almost done.”
“Sorry.” Ruan Yesheng sat upright again.
Hearing Ruan Yesheng’s question, that vague sense of wrongness in Xi Mo’s mind was suddenly swept away like clouds breaking apart, and bright light shone through.
That was right — why would Cui Jiayu come?
Cui Jiayu was the head of the city’s first investigative unit, which handled homicide cases, very similar to the major crimes unit.
If it was merely a missing person case, before anything was confirmed, it should have been assigned to the missing persons unit. It should not be handled by Cui Jiayu. Cui Jiayu was already overwhelmed with work. Just recently, one of her cases had left Zhang Yuning dead, and while following the clues, she had uncovered the terrifying Ding Qihong. But then Ding Qihong vanished into thin air. How could Cui Jiayu have any time to handle another missing person case now?
Unless, that Yang Zhen was already dead, or Cui Jiayu believed that he was connected to the two cases she was handling now.
No matter which it was, when one thought about it carefully, it was horrifying.
Xi Mo glanced at Ruan Yesheng again and thought that her and Ruan Yesheng’s hearts beat as one*, always able to think along the same lines.
*心有靈熙 (xīn yǒu líng xī) lit. The heart has a spiritual rhinoceros horn (referring to the ancient Chinese belief that the mythical one-horned rhinoceros have spiritual sensitivity—it could detect truth and sense hidden things)/ having telepathic connection, originally used between lovers then later refers to the mutual understanding between two people.
…Wait, hearts beat as one?
Why would she use such a phrase?
Xi Mo felt that something was wrong with herself and quickly forced the idiom down.
But as soon as she suppressed one thought, another surfaced. She then felt that Ruan Yesheng was indeed very clever.
She had always liked dealing with clever people. It was not tiring, and there was a sense of having a confidant who always understood her instantly.
Xi Mo noticed that her thoughts were starting to go off track again, so she quickly threw away the hot gourd and ladle*, sat upright, and put on a serious expression of furrowed brows as if she was deep in thought.
*another problem - from the idiom 按下葫芦浮起瓢 (ànxià húlu fúqǐ piáo) - hardly has one gourd been pushed under water when another bobs up—solve one problem only to find another crop up.
Feng Tangtang couldn't figure out what was going on and asked in confusion, “Why can’t it be Officer Cui coming to ask?”
To her, a police officer was a police officer. Everyone in the police station was a police officer. She didn't understand about different divisions handling different cases.
The coordinator couldn't think that deeply either and didn't suspect that Yang Zhen might already be involved in a homicide case. She nodded in agreement with Feng Tangtang’s words.
Xi Mo explained, “Cui Jiayu only handles major homicide cases. Missing persons should not fall under her responsibility. She can’t handle that many cases.”
The coordinator’s eyes widened in shock, frightened: “You mean, Yang Zhen might already be…”
After all, they were in the same crew. The coordinator had met Yang Zhen and had his phone number. Just the thought that Yang Zhen might be dead made her whole body turn cold, and she felt it was such a pity.
"I don't know," Xi Mo shook her head. "I'm just guessing."
She asked one more question, "Do you know the last date Yang Zhen showed up? Did Cui Jiayu mention it to you?"
"Officer Cui did ask me about that date," the coordinator, who knew every detail about the crew, said, "I didn't know at first, but I helped contact Yang Zhen's coworkers in the props team. They said that after that day, Yang Zhen never returned to the hotel."
"Which day?" Xi Mo actually had already guessed.
"The day when a lot of police came to the crew's hotel to check the rooms. Yang Zhen went out that morning with coworkers for work, but he never came back afterward."
The coincidence of that timing made Xi Mo feel more and more that something was wrong.
Cui Jiayu probably thought so too. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come to ask in person.
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
"Maybe we… shouldn’t… talk about this anymore." Feng Tangtang shivered. "We’re just here filming. Shouldn’t we stay out of things like this? Watching crime shows on TV is fine, but when it really happens around us, it’s way too scary."
The coordinator also felt uneasy. "...Yes, I didn't feel anything at first. But after what Ruanruan said, now I'm starting to feel scared too. Could it be… Yang Zhen really is dead?"
"It is fine." Xi Mo softened her voice, bringing a kind of calm that made people want to rely on her. She said, "I just asked a few more questions out of curiosity. Let's not talk about this anymore."
Actually, it was not just curiosity.
There was something hidden behind this string of strange events, but she couldn't figure out what exactly it was.
If it were some other case, she could have stayed away. The police were already handling it anyway. After all, investigation was not her duty. She was only an actress.
But when all these matters were linked together, she felt she couldn't stay out of it.
She couldn't let it go.
It was like a whirlpool on the sea, growing larger and larger, and her boat was being pulled into it without her control.
Ruan Yesheng finally finished her makeup. The next scene was about to start soon, and she didn't have much time to rest. She stood up, walked over to Xi Mo's side, bent down, and spoke softly near her ear, "I'm going to film now. Will you still be here later?"
Xi Mo felt a shiver on her ear.
If you want to talk, just talk. Why do you have to lean in so close?
Xi Mo tensed up inside but kept a smile on her face. "I'll stay here. I'll wait for Tangtang to go back together."
Tangtang was like a brick, moved wherever needed.
Feng Tangtang didn't realize this herself. She gave a silly grin, feeling that Ruanruan was so kind to her. Even though she had wrapped up her scenes, she was not going back to the hotel to rest and was still willing to wait for her to finish and leave together.
"Is that so?" Ruan Yesheng looked at Xi Mo and said, "Tangtang has to follow me. You have to wait until I finish work."
Feng Tangtang and the coordinator were sitting beside them. Yet Xi Mo felt that Ruan Yesheng's gaze carried a bit of heat, which made the originally damp and cold air from the rain feel warm.
She actually knew that Ruan Yesheng had something to ask her.
It was all in Ruan Yesheng's eyes, but now was not the right time.
She more or less guessed what Ruan Yesheng wanted to ask, and her heart skipped a beat.
But she realized that she was actually looking forward to Ruan Yesheng asking her. This sudden realization made her restlessness even harder to place.
"Then I'll wait for you," Xi Mo said.
"Go change your clothes and remove your makeup. Look at you, so much 'blood'." Ruan Yesheng smiled softly at her and reminded her gently before heading toward the filming area.
Xi Mo watched Ruan Yesheng’s back for a long time. Ruan Yesheng was still wearing Deng Sui’s costume, but she had already finished playing Ding’e.
Ding’e was dead. She was no longer Ding’e.
She could no longer act opposite Ruan Yesheng as Ding'e. At first, she didn't feel anything, but now, seeing Ruan Yesheng walking alone toward the camera while she stood in the resting area, a belated sense of emptiness and loneliness overwhelmed her.
This was a feeling she had never experienced in any previous wrap-up.
But it was fine.
Xi Mo thought again.
She and Ruan Yesheng still had the next Gu Ru movie.
This made Xi Mo inexplicably breathe a sigh of relief.
Her steps were light, as if stepping on a kind of unspeakable, secret delight and joy, as she left the set to change her clothes.
Author’s Note:
Students of the Cutest Organization in the Universe, pay attention, look here, a major event is about to happen [.
But don’t panic. Let’s get our cuteness ready and welcome the big twist!
