It was unknown whether the entertainment industry was too cruel, or Qu Jie was too much of a failure in life. After his death, instead of investigating to let the deceased rest in peace, his agent demanded to minimize the incident. Jian Jing was speechless but also wondered.
With this attitude, was the agent trying to cover up some truth?
However hard she tried to probe, the agent refused to provide any suspects. Jian Jing had no choice but to let him leave first and went on to inquire the most important eyewitness.
The girl's condition had improved somewhat. Wrapped in a thick bathrobe, holding hot water, she sat in the dining room in a daze.
Jian Jing said gently, "I know you've been frightened, but I have to ask some questions. Can you help me?"
The girl nodded reluctantly.
"What's your name?"
"Shao Mai."
Jian Jing: "Is that your screen name?"
She nodded and introduced herself as the vice president of Qu Jie's fan club. She had been his fan for years and often visited him on set or variety shows. She was quite familiar with Jie.
One thing led to another, and the two sides had developed a relationship that went beyond idol and fan.
"Jie told me that he couldn't date during his rising career," Shao Mai sobbed as she recounted their story. "I understood him. It wasn't easy for him to get to where he is today. The entertainment industry is too competitive..." She sniffed, "I'm already very content like this. I'm willing to be his fan forever and always support him."
Jian Jing thought of the hair on the floor, was silent for a moment, and changed the subject: "Tell me what happened today?"
Shao Mai: "In the afternoon after finishing the shoot, I went with Jie to a bar. He wasn't very happy. He said..." She hesitated for a moment and glanced at Jian Jing, but still bravely went on, "He said someone in the crew was targeting him. First blood plasma was poured on his car, leaving him without a trailer to rest. Then they deliberately arranged scenes he wasn't familiar with and embarrassed him in front of everyone..."
When interviewing witnesses, unless interrogating, Jian Jing rarely argued with them. She looked at the girl encouragingly.
Thinking she agreed with her, the girl's tone gradually became indignant: "This circle is so biased. Jie worked so hard, but no one wants to see his progress or give him more opportunities."
Jian Jing listened patiently.
After defending her idol for a long time, Shao Mai finally got to the point.
"Tonight, he drank a lot and said someone was targeting him. His agent kept asking him to cherish the opportunity to shoot, but Jie got even angrier and kicked him out halfway." Shao Mai recounted, "Not long after he left, a middle-aged man came. Jie said he was the producer... They chatted a lot. I was drunk and groggy at the time and didn't hear clearly. I don't know how long it was before we left."
Jian Jing asked, "Then what happened after you went back to the room?"
Shao Mai embarrassed: "Actually, I don't have a good alcohol tolerance. I blacked out after drinking today and only remember going into the room with Jie, then nothing."
"When did you wake up?"
"I don't know... I was half awake half asleep. Suddenly my face felt very itchy and someone was touching my face. When I opened my eyes, oh my god, it was all blood." She shivered, looking frightened. "Jie... Jie was already killed by the female ghost!"
Jian Jing held her hand and said gently, "How do you know it was a female ghost?"
"Wasn't it?" Shao Mai's eyes widened innocently.
Jian Jing said, "I don't know. Maybe it was a male ghost. Who told you it was a female ghost?"
Shao Mai tried hard to remember: "Jie told me. He said a fraud was pretending to be a ghost, saying a female ghost in the old house was haunting him, definitely wanting his money. He also said Director Li was so bad, using this sinister scheme to force him out, actually wanting to promote the second male lead who was the director's relative."
"It doesn't sound like he believed the ghost story," Jian Jing said.
"Yeah, he said he didn't believe it, but..." Shao Mai was a little confused, couldn't think straight. As if also puzzled about why she thought it was a ghost, she asked blankly, "If not a ghost, where did all the blood come from?"
"I want to know too," Jian Jing said lightly, then smiled, "By the way, I forgot to ask, how long have you and Qu Jie been dating?"
Shao Mai was a little shy: "Sister, we weren't boyfriend and girlfriend."
"I mean, when did you get close?" Jian Jing rephrased.
Shao Mai held up three fingers.
"Three years?"
"Three months," she said embarrassed. "Jie had principles. We only got together after I became an adult. Before that we were just friends."
Jian Jing jokingly asked like a confidante: "Then how long were you friends?"
"Less than a year," Shao Mai said happily. "I only added him on WeChat last year. Our president gave me his contact."
"You all have his WeChat?"
"Of course not. You have to be a long-time fan who has made contributions to Jie's career, and haven't tried to climb the wall for at least three years." Shao Mai said, "We have strict management."
Jian Jing thought to herself, it wasn't this troublesome for me to get a top actor's WeChat.
But she didn't show it on her face: "Did Qu Jie ever tell you that someone wanted to harm him or something like that?"
"Yes," Shao Mai nodded firmly. "Didn't I say so, sister? Showbiz is very dark." She seemed to think Jian Jing was an undercover policewoman.
Jian Jing helplessly thought this was funny: "I don't mean his career. I'm asking if someone wanted to murder him."
Shao Mai was stunned for a good while before saying, "No way, I didn't know that." She racked her brains but had absolutely no relevant memory. "Someone killed Jie?"
She got angry almost instantly, "That person must be jealous of him!"
"That still needs investigation," Jian Jing appeased. "What I want to know is, when you were asleep, did you hear any sounds, anything at all."
Shao Mai shook her head: "I have a really bad alcohol tolerance. Once I drink, I pass out and don't remember anything."
Jian Jing nodded. Seeing she had no clothes, she said, "Your clothes are all dirty. I'll lend you mine, don't worry, they're all new."
Shao Mai was still a little embarrassed: "I want to take a shower first, I feel so uncomfortable."
"Then come back with me to the hotel and rest in my room."
"Thank you, sister."
Jian Jing sent Shao Mai back to the hotel, gave her a set of spare clothes to change into, and arranged for her to rest in the room while she herself went back to the inn.
The next round of questioning would be more tricky.
The first to return was female lead Bei, but she had gone to bed. Jian Jing could only skip her for now and go directly to ask the third person back, the production manager.
He was a man in his fifties, lean, with white hair. He sat on the doorstep smoking.
Jian Jing said, "Director Li told you right, I'm here to ask some questions."
The manager nodded, brief and to the point: "What do you want to ask?"
"These two days, did Qu Jie quarrel with you?" Jian Jing cut to the chase.
The manager admitted: "Yes. His car got splashed, right? He asked me to arrange another car for him. I did arrange one. But we only have commercial vehicles, certainly no match for his personal trailer. Then he said I was deliberately making things difficult for him. We quarreled over it briefly."
Thinking for a moment, he added: "It was yesterday's matter. Oh no, the day before yesterday." He mocked himself, "Old already, bad memory."
Jian Jing said, "I feel like he wasn't very popular with the crew."
"Some people know they are here to work, polite to each other. Some think they're here to be the boss. We aren't slaves, of course we don't have to cater to him." The manager spoke bluntly.
"Does this happen often?"
"There are always a few like this."
"How many have you encountered?"
"Five or six for sure. But like him, probably top three."
Jian Jing nodded. Changing the subject, she asked, "Was work heavy last night? I see you all came back very late."
"I was fine," the manager said. "Got everything arranged. Old Li was more bothered since the plans were disrupted."
"What time did you come back?"
"After eleven, didn't pay attention to the exact time."
"Then you stayed in your room the whole time?"
"Where else would I be? You can't suspect I killed him right?" The manager retorted, "Just because of the car thing?"
"Can't say suspect or not, everyone has to account for their whereabouts. You just need to answer me," Jian Jing explained calmly.
The production manager said: "Like you said, I rested in the room and fell asleep after a while."
"Did you call or video chat with your family?"
He shook his head.
"I see."
The next one was the producer who came back with Qu. According to Shao Mai, he went to the bar specifically to talk to Qu.
"Yes, I went to find him on purpose." The producer was in his thirties, not yet forty, slightly fat, with a very stylish shaved head, "I had no choice, after the fight with Old Li today, someone had to smooth things over."
Jian Jing asked: "Are you close with him?"
"We're alright. His boss and I are drinking buddies, so I know the kid pretty well." The producer chattered away. "Actually I have a good impression of him. In this industry you can lack acting skills, but you can't lack sensibility. I was very surprised by what happened today."
He shook his head ruefully: "It must have been because of what happened this morning that provoked him. Young people are hot-blooded, and seeing a younger co-star who got the male lead must have frustrated him."
Jian Jing feigned surprise: "What happened this morning? Why would he get upset over that?"
"Oh, like the old saying goes, 'Wind without cause, there must be a hole.' " The producer looked ready to talk endlessly, especially to a pretty girl. He said mysteriously, "Old Li didn't want Qu for the role initially, but the contract was signed so he had no choice. He pulled some tricks which Qu found out about. That made Qu feel even more targeted."
"Let me tell you, running into this kind of thing is inevitable when you enter society. No one is family, so of course we look out for our own interests. Should we be talking about empathy? We're all in the same circle, we see each other all the time. If everyone talked about empathy, how would anything get done?"
Jian Jing: "..."
She swallowed her distaste at being lectured and asked: "Did he listen?"
The producer slapped his thigh and lamented: "He wouldn't take it in. I persuaded him every which way until he finally agreed to apologize to Old Li tomorrow - the show must go on, right?"
"I remember you came back together." She got to the point. "Did you take him back to his room?"
"Of course." The producer said. "As drunk as he was, if he fell over, what then? A star's face is how he makes a living."
Jian Jing: "Was everything normal in the room at that time?"
"Other than being messy, it was pretty normal." The producer said. "I didn't see any blood at all, no idea where that came from."
"Was Qu Jie still lucid?"
"More or less, he drank quite a bit."
"Did you chat for a while longer, or leave right away?"
The producer said: "I persuaded him some more before I left."
"Do you remember what time it was?"
"Around midnight, just before 1 AM."
"How was the girl, was she drunk?"
"She was alright, babbling nonsense."
Jian Jing: "I understand, thank you."
