Chapter 101 – Who Is The Mastermind? (3)
The filming location of the advertisement was indoors, and it took just over an hour for Lan Jinyao to complete the shoot. When she came out of the studio, Li Qi was already waiting for her.
"How come you've arranged it all so quickly?" Lan Jinyao asked him.
Li Qi snapped his fingers. "When I handle things, you can rest assured! Where to next? Am I sending you home?"
Lan Jinyao had initially wanted to go home. However, she suddenly thought of something, so she said to Li Qi, "We won't go home; let's go see Xiaoyun together! Didn't you tell me last time that you wanted to let her enter the entertainment industry? Let's ask her for her opinion. If she agrees, I can help her."
Li Qi was immediately happy upon hearing her say that. "Okay. If you're willing to say a few words to President Fu, maybe Xiaoyun will have a chance to appear in a film."
"Look at your foolish behaviour!" Lan Jinyao shook her head as she laughed. It seemed that Li Qi had already fallen too deeply in love and couldn't free himself for the rest of his life.
They arrived at the bar rather early, so there were only a few people milling about. He Xiaoyun was busy adjusting her guitar backstage.
"Li Qi, can you go out for a while? I have something to ask Xiaoyun."
Li Qi hesitated, but seeing that Xiaoyun didn't object, he went out.
It was still quite early in the day, so the other singers hadn't arrived yet. He Xiaoyun and Lan Jinyao were the only people in the restroom. After Lan Jinyao closed the door, she went to sit beside He Xiaoyun.
"I came here today because I want to ask you something."
In actual fact, Shen Wei'an's case had nothing to do with her, so she could just ignore it and leave it to the police to handle. However, her intuition told her that there must be someone in the dark wanting to deal with Shen Wei'an, and that person was the mastermind behind this matter. She already suspected a person in her heart, but she wasn't sure yet.
"Ok, what do you want to ask?"
"When Lan Xin and I were drinking at the bar the other night and were later drunk, was it you who helped us to the room upstairs?"
On that day, Lan Jinyao had felt that the words Lan Xin had said to her while drunk were strange. At that time, she'd just thought that Lan Xin had someone she liked, but now it seemed that she'd misinterpreted Lan Xin's meaning.
He Xiaoyun recalled the situation on that day, then shook her head. "The bar had originally prepared a few rooms for VIP guests. You both were drunk that night, and Lan Xin had said that she didn't trust you to drive, so she helped you get a room, but…"
"But what?" Lan Jinyao quickly asked.
"But…Lan Xin left after that, and came back at twelve. At that time, I was on stage and about to sing the last song, so I happened to see her coming in, but I didn't pay much attention to her at the time. Only, I felt that it was a little strange; why did she leave and come back again? After that, I thought that it might be because she didn't feel reassured leaving you here to sleep alone. Therefore, I didn't ask you."
Lan Jinyao was silent. At this moment, the answer buried in her heart gradually surfaced.
Lan Xin had lied to her that day. She'd said that the room was arranged by He Xiaoyun. But then, why would she have lied to her?
She suddenly remembered what Li Qi had said to her. They had to be a step ahead and prove that she wasn't on the scene of the crimes at that time, so they had to create a news story and bet everything on it working. What if this matter was really Lan Xin's doing? Then, she would be the best alibi for Lan Xin.
However, what Lan Xin didn't expect was for He Xiaoyun to sing the last song and spot her returning to the bar.
"Lan Xin, she… Did something happen?" He Xiaoyun asked. "Could it be that what happened to Shen Wei'an that day was related to her?"
As expected from someone who sang in a bar. He Xiaoyun had seen countless kinds of people, and even her way of thinking was exquisite and sharp, she guessed it right away.
Lan Jinyao quickly made a silencing gesture to her. "Shush! Lower your voice. Be careful, or others might hear you. I'm only guessing, that's all."
He Xiaoyun nodded and asked in a small voice, "Is there a grudge between Lan Xin and Shen Wei'an?"
"There's nothing!" Lan Jinyao's expression darkened.
Although He Xiaoyun had only asked one question, her question had hit the most crucial point. As a Chinese person who'd lived abroad, it was reasonable to say that Lan Xin couldn't possibly have had contact with Shen Wei'an before. So, what was the grudge between them? Lan Xin always carried a backpack full of information about Shen Wei'an; what more did she want to find out about her?
One question after another emerged within Lan Jinyao's mind. Her thoughts were spinning, making it difficult for her to think clearly.
After a long time, she said to He Xiaoyun, "This matter is extremely important, so I hope that you can help me keep it a secret. Don't tell anyone, including Li Qi."
He Xiaoyun was as bold as before, and she responded without hesitation, "No problem!"
The other night, all Lan Jinyao had had to drink was a glass of wine before she'd become drunk. Lan Jinyao had begun to doubt her capacity for alcohol. So, this time, she didn't touch anything with a strong alcohol content and only ordered a glass of fruit wine to slowly sip.
When she got home later that evening, it wasn't very late, just past 6 PM.
However, what surprised Lan Jinyao was that Fu Bainian, who'd always previously been busy with work, was actually at home.
The study door was open, so she walked in and looked at him as she asked, "You came home early today?"
Fu Bainian didn't lift his head and only hummed in response, "Mhm."
Lan Jinyao didn't pay his response too much attention as she didn't like to bother him when he was dealing with business. Before leaving, she closed the door behind her.
Once the study door was closed and Lan Jinyao had left, Fu Bainian raised his head. He absent-mindedly stared at the doorway. On the table in front of him, there was a closed folder.
After some time had passed, Fu Bainian took out his phone from his pocket. With his eyes staring fixedly at the device for a moment, his thumb almost cracked the screen due to force he was exerting as he pinched it.
It was later in the evening that Lan Jinyao finally sensed that something was wrong. It should be known that President Fu, who'd always been aloof while he was at work, would typically speak non-stop when he was at home. However, while in the bedroom today, he seemed a lot quieter.
"Fu Bainian, are you worried about something?"
Lan Jinyao reached out her finger and poked his chest. "Do you still remember what you said before? We must be honest with each other. Otherwise, those small misunderstandings will destroy the feelings between us."
Fu Bainian stared at her for a long time. When Lan Jinyao thought that he would finally speak, he only uttered one sentence, "It's already late, let's sleep!"