Bang—!
A heavy crash!
The camera had smashed onto the ground and was rolling rapidly toward the steps!
Shen Li reacted extremely quickly. Before the camera could hit his shin, he instinctively dodged, twisting aside and blocking it with the suitcase in his hand.
At the same time, Shen Li’s gaze shot toward the entryway.
The large, burly Jiang Nan had grabbed a vase and was jabbing it threateningly toward the staff, clearly intending to smash that too. His words were even more vicious.
“Give me my phone back right now. Are you giving it back or not?”
“You violated the contract, so don’t blame me when I sue you into the ground. I make millions every minute. You’d better fucking compensate me—”
Crash!
Another vase hit the floor and shattered.
Several staff members were forced to retreat again and again, saying, “Mr. Jiang, please calm down first.”
No one dared approach him.
Jiang Nan stood sideways to the door. The gloomy sneer on his lips widened. He rolled the wrist that had just smashed the vase, then, as though becoming addicted to it, grabbed a ceramic ashtray and raised it high, preparing to hurl it at another staff member—
Crack!
But the sound was not the ashtray falling. It came from Jiang Nan’s wrist bone.
In an instant, Jiang Nan felt someone clamp down firmly on his wrist from behind! He could not move it at all!
He turned his head, ready to unleash a stream of abuse, only to see Shen Li standing there with his brows slightly furrowed, his eyes calm, stern, and cold.
“…You.”
Jiang Nan had barely grunted the word when an abnormal pain tore through his wrist. An indescribably powerful force seemed almost capable of wrenching the joint apart, forcing his right hand to open. His wrist hurt as though the bone had cracked.
The ceramic ashtray was about to fall, but Shen Li caught it steadily in his other hand without even blinking.
Jiang Nan grimaced in pain and stared at Shen Li in disbelief.
Shen Li wore a spotless white T-shirt and jeans. His thin body looked weak and sickly, the sort that appeared unable to withstand much rough treatment at all, yet right now there was almost no sign of effort on that beautiful face.
Jiang Nan could not understand where someone who looked so frail had gotten such strength.
“Fuck—ow, ow, ow, ow! Are you tired of living? Let go of me!”
The staff members Jiang Nan had just cursed and attacked also came closer, staring at Shen Li in astonishment and unsure how they should help.
But Shen Li did not seem to want anyone’s help. With one hand, he placed the ashtray back where it had been. With the other, he kept Jiang Nan’s wrist locked, forced the arm down, and twisted it behind his back.
His tone was perfectly calm. “Still want to smash things? You already owe at least three hundred thousand yuan.”
“…” Jiang Nan froze, glanced at the camera, and sneered. “You think I don’t have money?”
“Oh.”
A faint trace of mockery appeared on Shen Li’s exceptionally cold, beautiful face. His sharp gaze swept over. “After secretly making those phone calls this morning, you still think you’re rich?”
The moment he said that, nearly everyone present froze. Several staff members who knew the situation looked at Shen Li in surprise.
Jiang Nan really had secretly used Yang Zhiqi’s phone that morning to make several calls.
Because of the rooms’ “functional restrictions,” Jiang Nan and Li Weiwei’s rooms prohibited phone use, while Zhao Yunzhi’s room, like Shen Li’s, required him to stay on a call with his ex while sleeping.
Therefore, this was actually the second day Yang Zhiqi and Zhao Yunzhi had slept while connected on a call, and the production team had not collected their phones after midnight.
So that morning, while the staff were not paying attention, Jiang Nan had discussed it with Yang Zhiqi and privately used Yang Zhiqi’s phone to call the only three numbers he could remember.
The first call went to his close friend. No answer.
The second went to his lover. Still no answer.
The third finally went through—to his parents.
Only then did he learn that more than five hundred people had been taken away from the Yellow Donkey Club over the past two days, and that everyone throughout WCC was undergoing liquidation and investigation.
Jiang Nan panicked when he heard the news. He wanted his own phone back so he could check messages and contact people again. When the follow-up director refused, he grabbed a camera, began wreaking havoc, smashed things around the cottage, and threatened the staff.
But…
Hadn’t Shen Li gone out? It seemed he had not even slept at the cottage last night.
How did he know Jiang Nan had made phone calls? And how did he know more about what had happened on Jiang Nan’s side than the staff themselves?
Everyone watching widened their eyes and held their breath as they stared.
Jiang Nan’s neck flushed red with rage.
The man was half a head taller than Shen Li and now struggled desperately to break free, but Shen Li’s hand gripped him tighter than a clamp. The tricky angle and controlled application of force kept him twisted in place. No matter how long the much larger Jiang Nan struggled, he could barely move. Even turning around to face Shen Li directly was difficult.
“—You—what the hell do you mean? How would you know whether my family has money? What, you’re mad just because I wouldn’t pay the price you wanted to sell yourself for?”
Smack!
Shen Li abruptly exerted force and caught Jiang Nan’s other fist as he tried to swing it backward in a sneak attack.
Now both of Jiang Nan’s hands were restrained behind him, his wrists forced tightly together as though held by a pair of handcuffs.
The movement was unbelievably practiced.
Jiang Nan stared in shock, a layer of cold sweat instantly breaking out across his back.
As he twisted his head around in alarm, Shen Li’s beautiful phoenix eyes were already fixed on him. Before Jiang Nan could react to anything else, a burst of violent pain struck behind his knee.
Bang!!!
His left knee slammed hard into the floor.
Shen Li had kicked him mercilessly from behind, forcing him to stop moving. Shen Li’s icy voice drifted down from above at an angle, sounding like a warning.
“Behave yourself. And clean up your mouth.”
Cao Sheng, the person in charge of the cottage, finally arrived. He rushed inside, clearly intending to smooth things over.
Before he could speak, however, Shen Li’s cold voice cut him off without leaving room for compromise.
“—If he keeps smashing things, find something and restrain him first.”
Cao Sheng had been spoken to by Guan Ning just two days earlier and knew something of the relationships involved.
He sighed, then immediately arranged for someone to find a long yoga strap.
Jiang Nan kept cursing. “No, don’t you think you look ridiculous? You really think you’re a cop? What you’re doing is illeg—”
“Oh? You want to say it’s illegal?”
Shen Li’s voice was cool. Somehow, those few words alone made goosebumps rise all over Jiang Nan’s body. “You deliberately damaged the production team’s equipment. You are already suspected of intentional destruction of property.”
“…Who the hell are you trying to scare?!”
Shen Li’s narrow eyes sharpened. His next words, however, were addressed to Cao Sheng.
“Find someone else to drive. Take him straight to the police station.”
—
Forty minutes later.
Jiang Nan, who had spewed profanity the entire way, arrived at the entrance of the police station with both hands tied behind his back using the yoga strap. Yet he sat stiff-necked in the car and absolutely refused to get out, no matter how the staff outside tugged or hauled at him.
“I want my lawyer! Give me my phone back! I want my lawyer! The contract clearly says I have the right to use my phone for thirty minutes every day. I’m going to find someone to sue all of you!”
No one paid him any attention.
“—Shen Li, you fucking illegally detained me! I’m suing you for intentional assault!”
Still no one responded.
Shen Li sat expressionlessly in the front passenger seat, using his phone and apparently chatting with someone.
“—Fuck you! Why are you the only one allowed to use a phone? You backdoor slut. Aren’t you just someone who sells his ass to—”
Before he could finish—
A burst of hurried footsteps approached.
Then came an angry shout from nearby.
“—Fuck your mother! Who the hell are you talking to like that?”
Jiang Nan froze at the sound and started turning toward it, only to feel tremendous force yank at the back of his collar. Three or five hands grabbed him together and hauled him out of the back seat like a chick being lifted by the scruff.
Jiang Nan’s neck tilted awkwardly. Behind him stood three uniformed police officers, who immediately replaced the yoga strap around his hands with a simple little pair of silver bracelets.
Now Jiang Nan truly panicked.
“Hey? Hey? Hey? Hey? What are you doing? What are you doing?! What grounds do you have to arrest me?! Be careful or I’ll sue you for police brutality!”
The police did not bother wasting words on him. Each glared at him fiercely, then moved in together to take him into the station.
At that moment, Shen Li put away his phone and stepped out of the passenger seat.
He stood there as straight as a green bamboo stalk, cool and composed, watching them with cold eyes.
The next second, the uniformed officers stopped worrying about pushing Jiang Nan forward. One after another, they saluted Shen Li first, followed by a chorus of greetings.
“—Captain Shen!”
“Captain Shen!”
“Good to see you, Captain Shen!”
Jiang Nan’s eyes widened in astonishment, his pupils contracting sharply as he looked at Shen Li.
Shen Li’s gaze was clear and cold. He gave Jiang Nan a cool glance as Jiang Nan’s brain slowly began processing what all those calls of “Captain Shen” could possibly mean.
Then Shen Li straightened his spine. His previously casual posture instantly became upright and disciplined. The five fingers of his right hand came together and rose swiftly, his fingertips landing precisely at his temple in a smooth, forceful movement.
He had actually returned…
A standard salute?!
Only after lowering his hand did Shen Li say, “…I’ve told you not to call me that anymore. Take him inside first.”
Several officers led Jiang Nan away. An older officer did not join them physically and instead walked behind with a younger one, smiling as he greeted Shen Li. “Shen Li, long time no see. Captain Xing said to invite you inside!”
Shen Li shook his head, his voice still mild. “Not this time. Let Xiao Chen make the statement with you. She also witnessed the entire process of Jiang causing trouble and destroying things. I’ll head back first.”
“Ah! You really won’t come in and sit for a while? I heard Da Wang used to be closest to you. He’s been sick lately and doesn’t even enjoy chewing bones. Maybe he’ll recover the moment he sees you,” the trainee officer urged.
Shen Li still refused. “Next time.”
Seeing this scene, Jiang Nan finally understood completely what was happening.
Fuck…
Shen Li… really had been a police officer?!
And apparently… some kind of official too…
Then that shooting champion thing…
Sending his apprentice to ask about the club…
The practiced reasoning and evidence gathering…
And that arrest technique just now…
Fuck!
Wait, wait, wait!
No—?!
Who the fuck had told him Shen Li was some little freelance model???
Jiang Nan remained completely stunned and had not recovered by the time the officers shoved him along from both sides and took him away. Before disappearing, he still shouted toward Shen Li, “—How long do you think you can hold me?! It’s just one shitty camera! I’ll pay for it! I’ll get a lawyer! I’ll be out immediately!”
Before the sentence even finished, his back had disappeared from sight.
Shen Li was about to turn away too, but after thinking for a moment, he stopped Old Sun. “Old Sun, can I ask one more thing? How is the evidence involving Jiang Nan coming along? Can you tell me the parts that aren’t restricted?”
Old Sun and a trainee detective Shen Li had never met both stopped and smiled.
“Listen to you being so formal. Since Qian Xingzhi reported the case, you count as half of the reporting side too. Under Article 52 of the Criminal Procedure Law, as someone associated with the reporting party, you have the right to know the non-confidential progress. Ask whatever you want.”
“The Yellow Donkey Club case involving the organization of prostitution.” Shen Li’s knuckles tapped the metal frame of the car door in a steady rhythm. “Economic investigators took away more than five hundred people this morning. How deeply is Jiang Nan involved?”
Old Sun sighed again. “Based on the evidence we have now, Jiang wasn’t directly involved in organizing prostitution. It was mostly his buddies doing it. When he went to that club, at most he was there as a paying customer enjoying the services.”
Shen Li’s eyes darkened. “What about the drowning case from three years ago? Any progress?”
Old Sun shook his head, and the trainee detective answered instead. “That case is too difficult. It hasn’t even been three full days since it was formally opened. Brother Shen, I heard you used to handle plenty of major cases yourself. For an old cold case where there wasn’t even an autopsy, how could it move that quickly?”
Old Sun added, “According to Xiaoting’s statement, the girl who fell into the water back then most likely didn’t slip and drown on her own. There’s a strong possibility of negligent homicide. The perpetrator should also be connected to WCC, but it probably wasn’t Jiang.”
Shen Li’s gaze grew heavy, and he nodded once.
Criminal detention required the person to be caught in the act or qualify as a major suspect, while also satisfying one of seven emergency circumstances.
Based on the evidence currently available, the organized prostitution case pointed only toward people associated with Jiang Nan. Jiang Nan himself did not yet meet the standard for criminal detention.
As for the drowning case involving suspected rape and homicide, the investigation had only just begun. There was not merely no evidence pointing toward Jiang Nan—there was not even complete evidence proving that rape and homicide had occurred. At most, there was reason to suspect it had some connection to WCC.
Therefore, there were no grounds to arrest Jiang Nan directly. He was better suited to becoming…
A lever for prying the truth loose.
Shen Li narrowed his eyes, glanced at the driver in the car, then pulled Old Sun and the other officer five or six steps away, completely out of the driver’s hearing.
Lowering his voice, he continued asking,
“So over the past few days, has leadership approved activating Article 254 of the procedural regulations?”
This time Old Sun nodded immediately. “Yes. It’s been approved, and the communications surveillance order is already in place. The value of the equipment Jiang Nan deliberately damaged this time genuinely reaches the threshold for opening a case for intentional destruction of property. After we release him, we can legally monitor everything he does afterward. We’ll be able to hear whoever he calls.”
The trainee blinked and suddenly had an epiphany, as though all his meridians had opened at once. “Huh? Wait?! So when the production team designed the segment and deliberately stopped him from using his phone, they were actually waiting for him to lose his temper on purpose? We detain him for causing trouble, then release him so we can reasonably monitor him?!”
“Correct.”
The trainee scratched his head again. “But Master, I still don’t get it. If we wanted to monitor him, couldn’t we just use Article 254 directly? Why do we need to arrest him once and then release him?”
Shen Li sighed expressionlessly. Thinking back to when he used to train Zhao Rong and Lin Jie, he glanced at Old Sun, who was also sighing, and explained in a flat voice, “…If you simply monitor him normally, the most Jiang Nan will do is ask why the club was shut down. He would never mention the drowning three years ago.”
“Right, nobody would bring that up…” The young officer blinked quickly and mentally reorganized the logic. “So first we wait for him to cause trouble on his own. After he gets arrested this time, we make his associates think on the surface that it’s only an ordinary public-disturbance case. Then we repeatedly question him and accuse him of suspected involvement in the rape and killing from three years ago! That way, after we release him and monitor his calls with other people, he’ll start biting in every direction, pull more related people into it, and give us more leads from what they say?”
“You finally got it.” Old Sun knocked him lightly on the head. “You’re really slow.”
“Hiss.” The young officer sucked in a breath, then asked in an extremely quiet voice, “Then… doesn’t that count as entrapment?”
Old Sun scolded him. “—We didn’t induce him to commit a crime. He chose to damage the equipment himself!”
Shen Li nodded indifferently and added, “After he’s released, he’ll be given a backup phone, and he’ll be informed in advance that it has a recording function.”
“What if he wants to protect those buddies of his and doesn’t ask them anything?”
Old Sun nodded, the corner of his mouth lifting. “That’s where we have to thank Little Qian for choosing such a good candidate.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry. Qian Xingzhi deliberately sent in the dumbest one. Once the time comes, he’ll be too busy panicking about himself. Look at him just now—every other sentence was about getting a lawyer. Once he hears that he’s suspected of murder, after he regains his freedom he probably won’t be able to wait before biting everywhere like a mad dog.” Old Sun suddenly remembered something and changed direction with a laugh. “Ha! When leadership heard this morning that the guy had already started smashing things, they specifically praised this idea. They said it was excellent and want to give you credit for it, Shen Li.”
A faint smile finally softened Shen Li’s icy face. “Why give me credit? Qian Xingzhi came up with it.”
They spoke a little longer before Shen Li nodded and returned to the car.
Xiao Zhang, the driver who had brought them, had initially managed to overhear a few juicy details, his eyes nearly bulging.
Later, when they walked farther away to talk, he could not hear a single word.
As soon as Shen Li got into the car, Xiao Zhang hurriedly buckled his seat belt, pressed the accelerator, and started driving.
They had not even gone a kilometer before he could no longer restrain himself and asked,
“Mr.—Mr.—uh, Mr. Shen?”
Xiao Zhang also wanted to call him Captain Shen, but once he opened his mouth, it felt awkward. That did not seem like something he had the right to call him.
Shen Li lifted his eyes from his phone screen and responded,
“Mm?”
“You—you—Mr. Shen, aren’t you a teacher? I—I saw the occupation listed in your profile. It clearly says, clearly says you’re an elementary-school teacher?”
“Mm.” Shen Li answered expressionlessly. “I’m a teacher now. I used to be a police officer.”
“Oh. Oh… That’s quite a career change?”
Shen Li’s voice turned serious. “Don’t tell anyone about my previous profession. As for what happened today…”
“No, no! I won’t! I’m very good at keeping my mouth shut! I absolutely won’t tell anyone!” Xiao Zhang straightened his back and promised. But as he spoke, he remembered another question. “But what if Jiang Nan lets it slip? If he gets a lawyer, then once he compensates for what he broke, can he be released today?”
Shen Li looked at Xiao Zhang with slight sensitivity and frowned. “Do you know the law?”
“I know—I know—I know… not much!”
Xiao Zhang stammered. Shen Li was amused enough to let out a soft laugh.
Xiao Zhang’s Adam’s apple moved. He studied Shen Li’s rather cool eyes in the rearview mirror and ultimately could not resist asking again. “Then that thing you mentioned just now, about… murder and stuff… Hiss, I wasn’t deliberately eavesdropping. I really heard it by accident. If he really is a murderer but the evidence isn’t sufficient, can we still arrest him?”
Shen Li’s gaze sharpened. Those first few sentences had been spoken beside the car door.
So he really had heard them.
“You need approval for an arrest before you can detain someone. Opening a case alone isn’t enough,” Shen Li answered briefly.
“Ohhh.” Xiao Zhang blinked rapidly as though his mind worked very quickly. Then Shen Li’s cool voice asked, “Who lives in Room 208 in your building?”
“Huh? Which—which building?” Zhang Min licked his lips and glanced at the rearview mirror.
“Is there a second building?”
Shen Li remained expressionless, his tone unhurried.
“Oh… Room 208 seems to belong to Director Cao, the person in charge?”
Shen Li gave a very soft laugh. He did not speak for a long while, only quietly studying Xiao Zhang’s profile. He was extremely skilled at psychological pressure. “Are you close to him?”
Cao Sheng, the person in charge, had previously been a marketing-department supervisor at WCC.
Qian Xingzhi had mentioned that before.
And since Zhang Min had been sent by Cao Sheng to drive them, he was obviously one of Cao Sheng’s “own people.”
Xiao Zhang had no idea what Shen Li meant. He simply knew perfectly well what Cao Sheng and those people were like. Being questioned so sternly by this “former police officer,” he immediately wanted to distance himself as completely as possible. “Uh, yes, I used to work under Director Cao, but lots of other people did too. And Director Cao also works under Director Li. We’re all part of that team.”
“Mm. Don’t be nervous.” Shen Li’s tone was even. “I was only casually asking who lives in 208.”
“Oh…”
Xiao Zhang licked his lips again and secretly glanced at Shen Li through the rearview mirror.
Shen Li clearly no longer intended to initiate conversation. His cool eyes lowered to his phone again. From the side, his aloof, handsome profile no longer looked threatening at all, as if the questioning just now had been an illusion.
Xiao Zhang swallowed and could not help explaining himself further. “I—I’m actually just an ordinary errand guy. I came to work here mainly because the pay is good, and I get to watch some drama on the side. My wife loves celebrities, so I can help her get a few autographs too. Speaking of which, Mr.—Mr. Shen, could you get Best Actor Qian to sign something for me?”
Shen Li: …
His acting was poor, and his ability to change the subject was not much better.
He was probably only a peripheral figure who had temporarily been sent by Cao Sheng to find out what was happening here.
So Shen Li stopped making things difficult for him.
“Oh, Qian Xingzhi’s autograph. Do you want a real one or a fake one?”
“Huh?” Xiao Zhang was confused. “A real one, of course…”
Shen Li said, “If you want a real one, go ask Qian Xingzhi yourself. The hand is attached to his arm.”
“…Then—what if I wanted a fake one?”
“For a fake one, buy it on a secondhand marketplace. I’m not in charge of counterfeiting.”
“Pfft!” Xiao Zhang laughed. “Mr. Shen, I didn’t expect you to have such a sense of humor!”
Shen Li had deliberately wanted to narrow the distance between them. Now he looked through the reflective car window at the young man in the driver’s seat. After a short pause, he returned to the previous topic.
“You’re still young. You need to think clearly for yourself about what is right and what is wrong.”
“…Huh?”
Xiao Zhang seemed about to defend himself immediately.
Shen Li raised a hand and cut him off. “I’m only reminding you. I’m not accusing you of anything. Think about it yourself. You don’t need to tell me anything.”
“Mm!”
“Want to add me on WeChat?” Shen Li asked on his own initiative.
“Ah! C-can I?!”
“Sure. Otherwise, how would I give you Qian Xingzhi’s autograph?”
“I—I understand!” The somewhat stammering Xiao Zhang seemed intelligent. He immediately reciprocated with understanding. “If—if there’s any strange movement from Director Cao or Director Li’s side, I—I’ll definitely tell you!”
“Mm.”
The corner of Shen Li’s mouth lifted slightly. He found the man through one of the production-team group chats and sent a friend request, then sat quietly in the passenger seat and browsed the online discussion board for a while.
The moment the page opened—
Several of the hottest posts floated at the top, all related to the voting results that had closed at midnight.
After Su Xilan’s cooperation with the show had ended because of the farce, Qian Xingzhi had won first place in the “Observation-Room Guest Most Like the Ex-Husband” vote. Since today’s episode had not yet begun, however, no official channel had responded to whether Qian Xingzhi really was the “true ex-husband.”
The viewers were burning with impatience. So the posts at the very top read:
[So when Qian Xingzhi played those four ones, who exactly did he blow up?] #Hot
[An Analysis of Qian Xingzhi and the “Real or Fake Ex-Husband” Question] #Hot
[Could Qian Xingzhi actually be the fake ex-husband?! Give us an announcement already, I can’t take this anymore!]
[If Qian Xingzhi is real, did he have something going on with Shen Li??? Or was it Kris???] #Trending
[Shen Li, Shen Li, Shen Li! Please! Can you! Not! Date! Qian Xingzhi!] #Trending
Seeing his own name repeated in such a long string, Shen Li reflexively opened that post first.
Yet the insults and interrogations he had imagined did not rush into his eyes without restraint the way the messages Geng Qiuqiu had sent him yesterday had.
Instead, the opening post and a long stretch of the comments all contained exactly the same words:
[Don’t date the guy surnamed Qian. Shen Li, date me.]
[Don’t date the guy surnamed Qian. Shen Li, date me.]
…
[Don’t date the guy surnamed Qian. Shen Li, date me.]
Shen Li narrowed his eyes and instinctively scrolled downward. It was not until the third page that he finally found a fresh comment that had not simply been copied.
[Don’t date the guy surnamed Qian. You don’t have to date me either. I only want Shen Li to be my mommy. [sobbing] [complete breakdown]]
Shen Li stared at the strange comment, but before he had time to think about it—
Several consecutive message notifications appeared in the alert bar. [Copper Coin] had sent him several image messages, all screenshots of brand-new Weibo posts.
The posting time even read:
Just now.
Shen Li’s brows tightened, and he opened the original versions of the two images.
The first was a repost:
[@QianXingzhi-V: Repost //@Everyday Legal Education: Most acts of cyberbullying are “private-prosecution cases.” We would like to remind all internet users that if you are currently suffering cyberbullying, please be sure to preserve relevant evidence and promptly use legal means to safeguard your lawful rights and interests.]
The second was an original Weibo post, written like a public-relations statement.
Shen Li had assumed Qian Xingzhi had posted a detailed explanation of the Su Xilan incident or a statement about yesterday’s voting result.
But when he opened the image, he saw—
[@QianXingzhi-V:
Hello, everyone. I’m Qian Xingzhi.
I am extremely angry that yesterday some fans committed cyberbullying in my name, even going so far as doxxing and exposing people’s personal information.
As a public figure, I will absolutely not tolerate this kind of behavior. Therefore, effective immediately, I have decided to dissolve my official fan-support club and will not establish any similar organization in the future. I hope that if you like me, it is because of my work, and that you do not express that support through various forms of organized fan activity.
I do not need fans to control comment sections, manipulate engagement data, or perform any other organized tasks for me. I also sincerely ask everyone to stop all forms of cyberbullying.
Using the internet civilly and speaking rationally are responsibilities we all share.
Finally, thank you to the fans who have always been normal, civilized, and respectful of the law.
Fate brings people together and sends them apart; there is no need to dwell on it. Gathering together does not require a particular form, and even after parting, we may meet again somewhere in this world.
Qian Xingzhi]