Just as Jiang BaiYan was feeling puzzled, a bright light appeared before his eyes. The lights turned on.
Jian Jing stood in front of him, trying hard not to laugh. "What kind of pose is that...did I scare you?"
Jiang BaiYan awkwardly put his hand down, pretending nothing had happened. "Teacher Jing, how come it's you?"
"I wanted to try sneaking into your room." She explained.
Today, her actions were divided into three parts. In the morning, she wandered around the set trying to gather information from the makeup artists. In the afternoon, she went to the Demon Crew set to make an appearance and found an excuse to stay another night. After dinner, she returned to the hotel to look for a way to enter someone else's room.
To be honest, it was surprisingly simple to pull off.
Although each room had its own key card, the hotel staff had master cards. The cards were kept in a password-protected locker behind the front desk and could be taken out by staff when needed.
Jian Jing pretended to have lost something and asked the hotel to help her check the surveillance footage to find it. At first, the server said "Please wait a moment while we help you check", but after she slipped him 200 yuan, he immediately changed his tune and allowed her into the control room.
The control room had spreadsheets for all the surveillance cameras. She looked through them one by one and found that things were much simpler than she had imagined.
The floor had surveillance cameras but only one, and Jiang BaiYan's room was the most secluded, near the emergency exit, with a surveillance blind spot.
And the cameras in the lobby...were broken.
Or rather, the number of cameras on the spreadsheet was far fewer than what she had seen in the hotel.
Not just one or two were "broken".
Perhaps the hotel didn't think there was anything valuable enough in the lobby to warrant extensive coverage, just the entrance would suffice. But this provided an opportunity for someone like her.
The crew had booked out the entire hotel, no other guests were being accepted, and the front desk was often unmanned. It took Jian Jing just half a minute to steal a glance at the password and get a master key card.
No wonder the crime rate was so high in this world, the barrier to entry was too low.
But she couldn't say this to Jiang BaiYan.
Jian Jing said, "As you can see, sneaking into someone else's room is not that difficult."
Jiang BaiYan patted his chest, looking very aggrieved. "You could have given me a heads up, you almost scared me to death."
"Your phone is in someone else's hands, it would have caused trouble if they saw something." Jian Jing was perceptive and could tell Chen Jie was being cautious. "I'm sorry I scared you."
Jiang BaiYan was just hamming it up rather than actually blaming her. "Oh well. Was teacher waiting for me?"
"She is escalating her crimes more quickly now, and her patience is waning. I have to work during the day so it's hard to get away, nighttime is the best chance. I can't let you take the risk."
The first message on the mirror and the second with the detergent in the cup were 5 days apart. The second and third with the glass props were 3 days apart.
It had already been a day and a half since yesterday afternoon until this late hour tonight.
Not only was Jiang BaiYan not keeping his distance from Cai Tonger, he was interacting with her happily. This was sure to enrage her. She probably wouldn't wait too long. The deep of night when everyone was asleep would be the best time for her to make a move.
"Then..." he hesitated, "does Teacher Jing have any suspects?"
Jian Jing smiled. "Seventy percent sure."
Without an investigation target, searching for suspects among the crew was like finding a needle in a haystack. But once she identified a suspect, digging up information about her would be much simpler.
The high-tech binoculars card turned out to be surprisingly useful.
There were many vintage prop cars in the studio with high chassis. She snuck into one when no one was looking and used the binoculars to keep watch on her target. While monitoring, she also finished a cup of coffee and a box of fried chicken.
However, the target didn't reveal anything out of the ordinary the whole day.
No time.
The assistant was too busy, with so many extras she had to help supervise their styling.
This was why Jian Jing felt nighttime would be the most fitting opportunity.
"Here's my room card." She gave Jiang BaiYan her card. "Stay in my room for the night."
Jiang BaiYan was taken aback for a moment before taking it hesitantly.
Noisy sounds came from outside the door.
"BaiYan, are you in? Tong'er bought late-night snacks for everyone." Cai Tong'er's agent knocked on the door.
Jian Jing swiftly hid in the bathroom.
Jiang BaiYan opened the door and declined the kindness: "I don't eat at night, but thank you."
"No problem, I have iodine cotton swabs here, how's your wound?" The agent was extremely enthusiastic, thanking him repeatedly. "Our Tong'er just started filming, please take good care of her."
Jiang BaiYan put on a professional smile as he deflected gracefully.
The two chatted awkwardly for a while before ending the conversation.
"Achoo." Jiang BaiYan sneezed, then said, "Teacher, Cai Tong'er's door is open. I'll head over later after showering first, if that's okay? Feeling a bit cold."
Jian Jing certainly had no objections and casually said, "Remember not to get water on your wounds."
Jiang BaiYan: "Oh." They were already soaked.
He took a change of clean clothes into the bathroom and quickly turned on the hot water for a shower, washing away the lingering chill. As water streamed over his palms and seeped into the gauze, a sharp stinging pain came from the wound.
It really did hurt, but since it already hurt, he couldn't let it be for nothing.
Jiang BaiYan shook his hand and clumsily washed his hair and body with just his left hand, somehow finishing the shower.
Outside,
Jian Jing was chatting with Kang MuCheng on WeChat.
He didn't know her real purpose for being there. He just reminded her not to interfere with the filming: [Director Huang really hates other people interfering. If you want to be the screenwriter yourself, we can discuss it for the sequel.]
Jian Jing: [I didn't say anything, just looking around.]
After she said this, Kang MuCheng instead asked: [Did you notice anything inappropriate?]
Jian Jing thought back and responded objectively: [It's fine.]
Kang MuCheng: [That's good then.]
Her: [^_^]
After finishing the chat, she put her phone away and saw Jiang BaiYan peeking timidly at her from behind the bathroom door.
"Teacher Jing, am I causing you trouble?" His voice was weak and his face full of unease. "President Kang definitely doesn't want you to get involved, it's too dangerous."
Jian Jing laughed. "I was planning to come check on the filming anyway, solving your problem is just a side matter."
Jiang BaiYan scratched his face and shyly said, "Um, Teacher Jing..."
"Hm?"
"The gauze came off." He held out his hand pitifully. "Can you help wrap it again? It really hurts."
The disinfectant gauze Cai Tong'er's agent had gifted came in handy.
As Jian Jing disinfected and rebandaged his wound, she curiously asked, "Did you really get into a fight today? It looks even worse than yesterday."
"Got hit a few times by accident." Jiang BaiYan said. "It's normal to get injured while acting."
Jian Jing sighed and sped up her bandaging.
"Achoo." He let out another little sneeze.
Jian Jing looked him over and frowned. "Hurry up and get dressed, or you'll catch a cold."
"I can't with just one hand." Jiang BaiYan said softly, a blush showing through his cheek skin.
Jian Jing: "..." What was this kid being shy about, he could just wrap a towel around himself. Hiding behind the door looking silly.
But they ultimately weren't very close, so she didn't say anything. She tightened the bandage. "Don't get it wet again, or it could get infected and scar."
"Oh." He obediently agreed and came out after putting on his clothes.
Jian Jing opened the door a crack and used the mirror of her makeup compact to check the hallway. It was empty. "Go rest. Sleep well."
Jiang BaiYan hesitated. "Will Teacher be okay alone in the room?"
Jian Jing figured she could easily subdue a female target right now, but this was Jiang BaiYan's room. If there was a commotion, it might reflect poorly on him, so she said, "I'll have Chen Jie come over later."
Jiang BaiYan: "...Oh."
Dejected, he took his belongings and left for the neighboring room to rest.
More than ten minutes later, Chen Jie came knocking.
"You're staying with me here tonight." Jian Jing got straight to the point.
Chen Jie was very worried. "Will she really come?"
"She will." For some reason, Jian Jing had an inexplicable intuition about this. The other party must have been provoked to anger, and the flames of fury would continue searing her heart. Even lying in bed, she wouldn't feel a shred of drowsiness until disappointment and rage overwhelmed everything, forcing her to get up and vent.
As Jian Jing thought this with such certainty, she suddenly realized - wait, I don't actually understand criminal psychology. How am I acting like I totally get it? And empathetically projecting emotions?
Heavens, could I have the potential for antisocial personality disorder?
She shuddered and promptly put a stop to that train of thought.
"Anyway, you lie in bed pretending to sleep. I'll handle it if someone comes." Jian Jing asked, "Does this arrangement work?"
Chen Jie had no objections, only asking: "What about BaiYan?"
"In my room."
Jian smiled, "Then he can have a good sleep tonight. Little Bai is not easy. Don't look at his high popularity now, it can drop anytime. He can't make any mistakes."
Jing fumbled with the tissue box, putting her phone in to use as a monitor, "What are you trying to say?"
"Teacher, don't get me wrong. I just want to thank you." Jian said with a smile, "The company has its own concerns, sometimes we have to sacrifice the artists' interests. With things like this, it can ruin half of someone's life. Remember what happened to that other person whose car caught fire? He almost died."
She was sincere, so Jing said, "It's nothing."
Jian paused for a moment, seeming to make up her mind, "Can I ask, why were you willing to come all this way?"
Actually, she didn't dislike Jing. A smart, pretty and capable girl, who wouldn't like that? But it was precisely because she was so good that made Jian worry.
What do young idols fear most? Romance.
She was afraid of unrequited love, that when it happened, nothing could stop it and a promising future would be lost to love.
But Jing simply replied, "It's not a difficult case. I feel I can try it, what's wrong with that?"
Jian: "That's it?"
"What else?" Jing was more puzzled than her.
Jian: "Nothing..."
Jing smiled, putting the tissue box on the bedside table. She also borrowed Jian's phone and hid it behind the toiletries in the bathroom. "Everything's ready, just waiting for her to come."
Jian hmm-ed, crossing her arms over her chest.
Someone had suspicions, was worried the child would go astray, but it wasn't taken seriously... Why was she still feeling down?
*
Kiki laid motionless on the bed, breathing lightly, afraid her roommate Nika would hear her.
She was a makeup assistant. No one bothered to remember the assistants' names, only going by easy nicknames like Little Leaf Yezi, Pretty Pretty, the simpler the better.
She had been here for days already, yet didn't know Nika's real name, and of course Nika wouldn't know hers either.
Kiki's real name was Du Qi, quite an ordinary name when written out, but with an unpleasant homonym. She was often mocked for it in school.
Inferiority was the leitmotif of Du Qi's student years.
She wasn't pretty, nor very smart. The only thing she was slightly talented at was art. Her childhood interest class teacher had praised her bold use of colors and vivid imagination.
But that was when she was seven or eight and still innocent.
The older she grew, the more mediocre she became.
She wanted to pursue arts in the college entrance exam, but her family couldn't support her dreams, so she studied academic subjects, barely getting into a local college, living life aimlessly. Her dormmates loved chasing stars, and brought her along, becoming extras at Hengdian a couple times.
That was when Du Qi met Jiang Baiyan.
