Card Room (Rebirth)

It was already dark when Yu Hanjiang returned to the police. He sent his colleagues home and planned to stay up late to work overtime by himself. The entire corridor was empty and dark. Only a warm light was shining in his office. It seemed that someone had forgotten to turn it off. Yu Hanjiang pushed open the door suspiciously.

It was Xiao Lou waiting for him in the office.

Xiao Lou obviously hadn’t finished work. He was still wearing the white coat as he sat quietly at the desk, his laptop open as he carefully checked the information. After hearing the door being pushed open, Xiao Lou raised his head and met Yu Hanjiang’s eyes. A smile immediately appeared as he stood up. “Group Leader Yu, you’re back? You definitely haven’t eaten yet. I ordered takeout for you. Let’s eat first.”

Yu Hanjiang, “……”

The feeling of having someone waiting for him to come back was very subtle. Yu Hanjiang felt warm and it seemed that even the lights in the room had warmed up. He looked over at Xiao Lou and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

Xiao Lou’s eyes curved in a smile. “Why so polite? Come eat. I don’t know if it suits your taste or not.”

‘As long as you buy it, everything is to my taste.’

Yu Hanjiang thought like this as he sat down beside Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou opened the box and revealed braised chicken leg, three home-cooked side dishes and egg drop soup. It was very rich.

Obviously, Xiao Lou had been distressed that Yu Hanjiang had been busy all day and wanted to give Group Leader Yu some nutritious food.

In the past when encountering difficult cases, Yu Hanjiang often worked overtime and forgot to eat. He didn’t expect Xiao Lou to be so careful that he stayed in the office and waited. Xiao Lou even ordered takeout for him.

This takeout was really delicious.

Yu Hanjiang ate a large meal and soon cleared the plate. Xiao Lou knew this person was so busy today that he didn’t even eat lunch. Therefore, Xiao Lou couldn’t help worrying. “This secret room has no time limit. You don’t have to work so hard and should eat your meals on time.”

Yu Hanjiang’s voice was soft. “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”

It felt good to be cared for. The exhaustion of the entire day disappeared the moment he saw Xiao Lou. Yu Hanjiang walked over to Xiao Lou in a good mood. He placed one hand on the desktop and leaned over to look at Xiao Lou’s laptop screen. “How is the data organization?”

Xiao Lou opened a document. “I’ve been reading the information all afternoon. Lin Yiyan entered the entertainment industry with the character setting of a ‘gentle lady.’ She reads many books and is talented. She can also play the piano. She has a good temper and gets along with people in the circle on the surface. She had her birthday on October 29th last month and there were at least 50 well-known celebrities in the circle who sent her blessings. Her popularity seems very good.”

As he checked the information, Xiao Lou also searched for information on the Internet and took screenshots of Weibo posts. On October 29th, Lin Yiyan’s birthday caused her to go on the hot search. This showed how popular she was.

Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought for a moment. “At present, Lin Yiyan gives the impression that she is a bit unreal. She is beautiful, has good acting skills, a good temperament and good popularity. Her shortcomings can hardly be picked out.”

Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. I also think that Lin Yiyan among fans and people in the circle is like a character set by the company. It isn’t the real her. By the way, I also checked her debut history and found some problems.”

Xiao Lou carefully listed Lin Yiyan’s experiences over the years written in the document.

10 years ago, the 20 year old Lin Yiyan was a sophomore student at the movie academy. She went to participate in an audition and was favoured by the director. She starred in a youth idol drama ‘Young Hearts’ which had very little investment. The male and female protagonists were both newcomers and the drama followed the small and fresh style. Unexpectedly, it was scored extremely high after being broadcasted on the Internet and Lin Yiyan became an instant hit.

She became famous at the age of 20 and her star journey after that was a one-way trip.

After Young Hearts became hot, she didn’t continue to take more youth idol dramas. She took a costume martial arts drama with unpopular themes and a low-cost production. However, she was so popular that she blazed through the highly competitive summer season and won the top ratings. Netizens commented that she was a rare newcomer with both appearance and acting skills.

Over the years, Lin Yiyan shot TV dramas and each one had guaranteed ratings. It had to be said that Lin Yiyan was very good at choosing scripts.

She entered the movie market at the age of 27. The box office and word of mouth of several movies she starred in were good and she won some awards. The age of 30 should be the most beautiful year for her. She starred in the super large IP costume drama World of Mortals not to mention that the movie she participated in broke a box office record. She also won the ‘Best Actress’ trophy at the most valuable movie festival in the circle.

Yu Hanjiang carefully watched the debut experience that Xiao Lou summed up and analyzed it. “She has progressed too smoothly over the years. She is either a lucky person or someone is behind her helping her. Based on her family background, her parents are just ordinary company employees. There is no one in the entertainment industry among her relatives and friends… who was the investor in her first drama?”

If she had met a financial backer in that drama and hugged the thighs of a local tyrant in the entertainment industry, the financial backer would then recommend various resources to her. It could explain when she progressed so smoothly.

Xiao Lou replied, “It is written Chief Shao in the credits.”

Yu Hanjiang opened the WeChat group and directly sent a message to Shao Qingge. “@Shao Qingge the youth campus online drama Young Hearts was invested in and filmed by Starlight Entertainment 10 years ago. Do you still have the crew information? You were an investor. Do you have any impression of what happened in the past?”

Shao Qingge quickly replied, “I found that the company invested several million in this drama. Newcomers were invited to play and it was a project to test the water. The actor auditions were decided by the director. Qi Ming was the company’s representative and followed up on this matter. Our company shot the drama to select talented seedlings to cultivate. Lin Yiyan signed a contract with the company because of this drama.”

Chief Shao naturally couldn’t be Lin Yiyan’s financial backer. Yu Hanjiang frowned. “In other words, Lin Yiyan has been following Qi Ming since her debut. Was it Qi Ming who discovered her?”

“Yes, Qi Ming is the company’s ace agent and has looked after several celebrities before. The people he likes will definitely have no problems. Lin Yiyan has been following him since signing the contract and it has been 10 years.”

Xiao Lou brought up the promotional trailer of the drama and watched it with Yu Hanjiang.

The 20 year old Lin Yiyan was indeed pure but the entertainment industry had never lacked beauties. There were many young and beautiful girls competing for the same role. Why did the agent Qi Ming and the director of this drama choose Lin Yiyan?

Was Lin Yiyan just particularly good or was there a hidden deal?

It wasn’t new for certain stars in the entertainment industry to have sex with the director in order to grab a role. Lin Yiyan looked innocent and gentle on the surface. As for whether she used other means to grab the role, they would have to continue investigating the people involved.

Xiao Lou turned back and asked, “Were there any clues from the traffic police side?”

Yu Hanjiang repeated the information he found and Xiao Lou frowned. “It was Cheng Yu who entered the villa that night? This means that Cheng Yu and Lin Yiyan should be having an affair. However, there was Lin Yiyan’s body in the bathroom and no traces of semen were found in the body, nor were there any condoms. Did they do it in the bathroom? Are they so clean?”

Yu Hanjiang spoke seriously. “They drove two cars in so perhaps it was car play. The two car license plate numbers are 501 and 502. If they did it in the car then it is normal that no traces were found in the house.

Xiao Lou, “……”

Group Leader Yu, you seemed to really understand this?

Xiao Lou was too embarrassed to continue this topic and said, “I just checked Cheng Yu’s information. His identity is a bit special.” As he spoke, he opened a document for Yu Hanjiang. “His father is Cheng Jianqiang, the owner of the largest real estate company in Binzhou City. Cheng Yu is the only child of the Cheng family. If he can’t make it in the entertainment industry then he can go back and inherit the family business.”

Yu Hanjiang came to take a look.

In the contract that Cheng Yu signed, only the names of his parents were written in the family members column and their occupation was listed as ‘company employees’. However, Xiao Lou searched it up and found that this couple happened to match the names of the husband and wife of the largest real estate company in Binzhou.

Then Shao Qingge confirmed it. Cheng Yu was indeed a rich second generation and was acting in the entertainment industry purely because he was interested. He had a bad temper and often left when something didn’t agree with him. He was very willful.

Yu Hanjiang analyzed it. “Cheng Yu is a rich second generation and has no obvious motives for killing. There are many assets in the family waiting for him to inherit. It isn’t worth it for him to torture and kill a female celebrity.”

Xiao Lou also agreed with Yu Hanjiang. A rich second generation worth billions of yuan was so deeply in love with a female star eight years older than him in the entertainment industry that he would kill her? The rich second generations weren’t so brainless.

Yu Hanjiang added. “One more thing. Lin Yiyan had already put on pyjamas and took off her makeup when she died.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Many celebrities will show a big difference before and after removing makeup. If Lin Yiyan likes Cheng Yu then she will definitely show him her more beautiful side. My speculation is that Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu had a relationship in the car that night. After Cheng Yu drove away, Lin Yiyan removed her makeup, took a bath and prepared to go to bed. Only then did the murderer act.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Judging from the timeline and on-site evidence, this is indeed the case.”

Xiao Lou paused as he remembered something. “Both cars weren’t at the scene. Cheng Yu drove away in 501 so what about the other car? Where is Lin Yiyan’s car?”

Yu Hanjiang rubbed his temple. “I checked the whereabouts of the two cars with the traffic police. Judging from the surveillance records, Cheng Yu’s car no. 501 left Yuehu Villa at 3 a.m. Car no. 502 left at 4 a.m. It is an hour apart. Except for Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu, there must be a third person. After killing Lin Yiyan, the murderer drove her car and took her mobile phone. In this way, the community’s security would think Lin Yiyan already left.”

Lin Yiyan’s body was frozen in the bathtub and it would be hard to find it for a long time. Lin Yiyan’s car was taken out and the murderer also took Lin Yiyan’s mobile phone and sent WeChat messages to her agent and friends. Everyone would think that Lin Yiyan was still alive.

The murderer could always pretend to be Lin Yiyan and send messages. Finally, she would announce that she quit acting and would fade out of the entertainment circle.

There were only a few people who knew Lin Yiyan’s secret residence. The false image created by the murderer would be hard to find suspicious. A living person would be able to disappear without a trace.

During this period, the murderer would be free to take care of the body. The murderer had clearly planned this for a long time.

Xiao Lou’s eyes suddenly brightened. “The murderer knows Lin Yiyan’s whereabouts very well. They could act immediately when Lin Yiyan returned to the Yuehu Villa area. Perhaps… the murderer also lives in this community?”

The Yuehu Villa area was located on the outskirts of the city. The scenery was excellent and there were no other residential areas around it. It was very secluded and could only be reached by driving through a mountain road. This obviously wasn’t a sudden case but a planned murder that had been prepared for a long time.

It would be a very tight timeframe if the murderer headed for the villa area after learning that Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu had returned there. However, what if the killer lived in the villa area? Then it would be much easier to act!

Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou appreciatively. “I think so as well. Let’s rest. Tomorrow, I will go to the property management and get a list of owners in the Yuehu Villa area. I will also stop by the movie and television studio to ask Cheng Yu about the situation that night.”

Xiao Lou nodded. It was time for them to join the crew and meet their other teammates.

Proofreader: Fictional Reality