Chapter 49 - 2#
He dreamed of killing that beast!
Yan Xiangnan had undoubtedly walked right into the line of fire, seeking his own death.
One late night, Yan Zijing gave Yan Xiangnan a heavy dose of sleeping pills, then ended his scumbag father’s life with a single stroke of a knife.
As someone who had just been released from prison and had cut ties with relatives, Yan Xiangnan’s “disappearance” and “death” went completely unnoticed.
It was from this moment on that Yan Zijing’s life veered completely off track—
Using Yan Xiangnan’s blood mixed with paint, he secretly created a bizarre and twisted painting, selling it anonymously on the art black market for a high price.
With that money, Yan Zijing opened his own studio before he even turned eighteen. Later, he unexpectedly gained fame online and was increasingly sought after by fellow painters and young fans.
Over the years, Yan Zijing was publicly a well-known painter, with artworks he could display that were warm and healing. But in reality, the blood paintings he sold on the black market were dark and sinister—each one was a creation born after he had meticulously planned a murder.
“The corpse the police found downstream of the Ning River was that actor from the beginning of the anthology drama—the one who was secretly married.”
“…”
“His wife, Song Ci, was originally a painter. She had a brief exchange with Yan Zijing during work, and he accidentally noticed the bluish marks on her wrist.”
His childhood experiences gave Yan Zijing an accurate guess on the spot.
Over the years, he had come to hate all men who used domestic violence, wishing he could kill them all!
Due to his leg disability, Yan Zijing always avoided surveillance from the start, secretly confirming the willingness of domestic violence victims in ways that went unnoticed before using his intellect to set up his schemes—
First, using sleeping pills, then draining the blood.
Finally, based on each victim’s living habits, he would create various accidental death scenes, helping abused women escape.
And the female victims who received his help would often use their identity as family members to cover for Yan Zijing, even cremating the bodies and destroying all evidence before the police could investigate.
“Of course, there was a flaw in the last case during the commission.”
Under the effects of sleeping pills and excessive blood loss, Pan Tong actually woke up again and tried to call his agent for help.
Song Ci panicked and smashed an ashtray over Pan Tong’s head, but Yan Zijing, who was responsible for transporting the body, had no idea.
Later, the still-uncoagulated blood on the back of Pan Tong’s head stuck to Yan Zijing’s black wheelchair, becoming one of the pieces of evidence pointing to him.
Jing Shun recalled the images he had seen in the surveillance feed not long ago and looked toward the back row. “Did you guys notice? Just now, when Brother Ting was acting, there was this very subtle change in his expression—”
“He glanced at Yan Zijing’s wheelchair.”
Yu Zhen honestly shook his head. “Didn’t notice at all.”
Jing Shun smiled and added, “When the drama airs, they’ll probably replay that glance in a montage. Brother Ting acted that part brilliantly.”
“…”
Chi Gui, hearing this praise, said nothing.
He shifted his gaze out the window, his fingers resting on the window control button, holding back for two seconds before not pressing it.
Yu Zhen asked, “So, what’s the final ending?”
“Justice has long arms; Yan Zijing will certainly face legal punishment, but…”
Jing Shun recalled his own spectacular wrap scene and left a bit of suspense. “Secret.”
Yu Zhen took a breath. “Huh? Don’t leave us hanging!”
Jing Shun just wouldn’t say. “Anyway, my part isn’t that much. If the filming schedule stays on track, in about eight or nine days, you’ll be able to see the final scenes being shot yourself.”
After all, when you’re following a drama, leaving a little suspense makes it more interesting.
…
The car arrived at the north wing of Chi Residence. Eone and Goubao happily rushed up to greet their owners.
“Awooo~”
“Woof!”
“Woof woo!”
“Woof!”
The two dogs barked in turn, each louder than the last, making a racket.
Jing Shun manually closed Goubao’s mouth. “Okay, okay, I know you missed me. Quiet!”
Yu Zhen also patted his own Eone’s head. “Good boy~”
Yu Xiuzhu was the last to get out of the car. Seeing this, he felt a hint of envy. “It’s nice for you two. You still have dogs waiting for you when you get home.”
Yu Zhen said, “Brother Yu, you should get one too.”
Yu Xiuzhu shook his head. “Too busy with work. No time to take care of one.”
Jing Shun seemed to think of something and slyly joked, “Brother Yu did have one before. A super ~ big ~ one ~”
Yu Zhen didn’t catch on at all and asked curiously, “Really? What breed?”
“…”
Yu Xiuzhu understood and gave Jing Shun a helpless look.
Jing Shun tilted his head and asked knowingly, “Brother Yu, what breed was it?”
Yu Xiuzhu deliberately said, “…A stray dog.”
Yu Zhen took it seriously and asked earnestly, “Huh? Aren’t stray dogs usually very fierce? Can they protect their owner?”
Jing Shun struggled to hold back his laughter and instinctively turned to Chi Gui for “help.”
Chi Gui noticed how much more lively the person before him had become and a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips, putting an end to this discussion where “three understood and one didn’t.”
“Let’s go inside for dinner first.”
“Okay.”
Uncle Lin knew that Jing Shun had started filming today, so he had the servants prepare an especially lavish dinner.
Half an hour later, Jing Shun and the others were full and satisfied.
Yu Xiuzhu glanced at the time and was about to stand up and leave when his WeChat suddenly buzzed with a message from the company’s online media team—
“President Yu, Teacher Xiao Jing has landed on the trending list. For now, it looks positive. Do we need real-time monitoring?”
Yu Xiuzhu immediately shared this with everyone at the table. “Xiao Jing, you’re trending on Weibo. Go check it out.”
“Huh?”
Jing Shun was surprised and quickly opened Weibo.
Chi Gui silently took a sip of warm water and, citing work, went upstairs first.
Once the study door was closed, he immediately picked up his phone, logged into a Weibo alt account he hadn’t used in ages, and effortlessly navigated to the trending topics.
At that moment, the topic #JingShunTraces was sitting at the sixteenth spot on the trending list, with decent discussion numbers.
Clicking into the topic, the most popular post had been made about an hour ago—
@MayIShipEverything: Oh my god! What did I just see! Jing Shun has joined the cast of Traces! His character look is so beautiful! I can’t wait, ahhh!
At the same time, this netizen had attached three photos—
The first two were solo shots of Jing Shun, and the last was a behind-the-scenes photo of Jing Shun, Fu Changting, and Jin Yulin together.
Judging by the photo quality, it was likely taken secretly with a phone.
The comment section under this post was already flooded with netizens and fans who had caught wind of it:
——Ahhh! Thanks for sharing, OP! Finally seeing fresh Jing Bao! So handsome! Save!
——Oh my god! I thought it was just a rumor! Turns out it’s true! Mother-fans are crying, wuwuwu! After so many years, finally seeing Jing Bao act again?
——Are Jing Shun’s legs better now? Haven’t heard from him in a while since the variety show ended! Looking at the photos, he’s on set? His character is in a wheelchair?
——Yeah, he’s joined the cast. Probably an important character in the last unit!
——Saw Teacher Jing Shun wrapping up today! He’s still in a wheelchair! His face is super small and delicate. Looks like he already removed his makeup, but his bare skin is fair and flawless! Super good-looking!
——Ahhhhh! Fu Changting and Jing Shun! Isn’t this the third collaboration I’ve dreamed of?
——Hold up, sisters! I already shipped them in True Job, and Traces is produced and supervised by Teacher Fu, right? And Xiao Jing managed to get a guest role even while in a wheelchair. Oh my, I’m swooning!
——Let me just crop the third photo a bit. Who else gets how perfect these two look in this shot? Is it too much to ship them?
Clicking on the attached image in this comment, the original three-person photo had been recropped. The other actor, Jin Yulin, was gone, leaving only Jing Shun and Fu Changting.
Fu Changting was looking down at Jing Shun in the wheelchair, while Jing Shun was looking up at him. One strong, one weak—the overall composition was unexpectedly harmonious.
This comment had received many likes from netizens and even spawned a thread of replies:
“I get it!”
“I get it!”
“I get it!”
“…”
I don’t get it.
Chi Gui forcefully closed the Weibo interface and tossed his phone onto the desk.
He knew that Jing Shun loved acting and wanted to keep working in the entertainment industry.
Even if he could use the “agreement” to pressure him, Chi Gui never crossed that line to stop him.
Over the past six months, whether it was variety show filming or acting on set, Fu Changting had always been present in Jing Shun’s work environment.
Chi Gui remembered how Jing Shun always spoke of this person with smiles and admiration, and he couldn’t help but feel a sour pang in his heart. The more he thought about it, the more unsettled he became.
If this kept up, could the two of them really develop feelings through their work interactions?
The thought of that possibility made Chi Gui unable to focus on work at all. He left the study.
Ding-dong.
The elevator doors slid open.
Chi Gui froze mid-step as he saw Jing Shun appear in the elevator lobby on the third floor.
“…”
Jing Shun glanced around the third floor—an area he had never set foot in before—and seemed worried that Chi Gui might mind. “Uncle Lin said it’s been hot lately, so he specially brewed a pot of herbal tea to cool down and clear the heat.”
Jing Shun held up the cup in his hand. “Yu Zhen and I already had some downstairs. Uncle Lin’s still busy, so I, uh, I thought I’d bring this up for him.”
Every year during the hot season, Uncle Lin had a tradition of brewing herbal tea.
Chi Gui knew about the butler’s yearly habit and took the cup from Jing Shun. “Did Yu Xiuzhu leave? Do you need to handle the Weibo situation?”
The hashtag was climbing pretty fast.
When Chi Gui had exited the trending page earlier, the topic had already moved up a couple more spots, though the public sentiment seemed normal.
“Brother Yu just left. Yu Zhen went back to rest too.”
Jing Shun recalled the fairly positive trending topic and told the truth.
“Brother Ting called me himself. He said the photos were likely leaked by someone on the crew, and he’d figure out how to resolve it properly. He told me and Brother Yu not to worry.”
“…”
Brother Ting, Brother Ting?
Getting more familiar by the day.
Chi Gui took a sip of the herbal tea he was holding, finding its taste inexplicably sour. “Jing Shun.”
“…”
Jing Shun was about to speak, to explain the real reason he had come upstairs, but the other man beat him to the punch.
He froze for a second. “Huh?”
Chi Gui looked at the figure so close to him, his right hand gripping the cup with subtle tension. For the first time in his life, he forgot what “restraint” meant and blurted out.
“Do you like Fu Changting?”