Before coming, Chu Yun had taught her a foolproof routine to handle Chu Xuxu
Be yourself, but on the condition that you hide that “NPC-like” robotic energy.
As it turned out, Jiang Huaiyue succeeded. Her attitude toward Chu Xuxu remained consistently aloof. Although she didn’t say much, she would offer a perfectly timed, cooperative smile whenever Chu Xuxu deliberately sought out a witty topic. Under the hazy pink and purple lights, her upturned fox-like eyes became exceptionally attractive; one could lose their soul to them if they weren’t careful.
Chu Xuxu was quite good-looking herself and had mingled in the “vanity fair” for many years, having seen countless beauties. However, this was the first time she had encountered someone like Jiang Huaiyue—someone who possessed such a dazzling presence tempered with a touch of detachment.
Before leaving, Chu Xuxu reluctantly exchanged contact information with Jiang Huaiyue. The moment she got into her car, Chu Yun immediately started her engine and followed from a distance.
“Any findings?” Chu Yun tapped a notification on the center console screen, communicating with Wen Yu via Bluetooth.
“I suspect that child isn’t hers.” Jiang Huaiyue’s words were like a sudden bolt of lightning, making Chu Yun let out an involuntary hiss of surprise.
“Reasons?” Chu Yun’s usually upward-lilting tone was now serious to an uncharacteristic degree.
“Her belly… it’s very smooth. There are absolutely no marks from natural birth or a C-section.” Jiang Huaiyue weighed her words for a moment before adding, “I know rich people do postpartum restoration; I have people like that around me. But that procedure can only restore about eighty percent at most. So, I find her a bit suspicious.”
“Of course, it’s also possible I’m overthinking it. Maybe she’s just exceptionally good at skincare.”
“No, being sensitive is a good thing Chu Yun’s tone shifted. “If this is true, then the situation has become complicated.”
She sat in the car, hands on the steering wheel, pretending to drive. The prop crew surrounded the car with screens projecting video to simulate road conditions.
This kind of filming was a great test of her composure. Through the front windshield, Song Jin looked directly at Li Hang, who had a solemn expression. Making eye contact with a best friend who is being so serious really made it hard to hold back laughter.
According to the paternity test, Ye Jingxiu and her “child” Huang Yuyang had no biological relationship. Armed with this report and evidence of the husband’s infidelity, they interrogated Huang Tianqi again. Seeing that he could no longer hide the truth, Huang Tianqi finally admitted the child wasn’t Ye Jingxiu’s, but belonged to him and his mistress, Chu Xuxu.
“Her health was never good to begin with. Even when she was pregnant, she didn’t know how to rest, holding a laptop all day for meetings. That day, she took an accidental fall and lost a lot of blood. The operating room lights were on all night, and in the end… she gave birth to a stillborn.” As he spoke, Huang Tianqi narrowed his eyes, as if lost in memory.
“She loved her child so much; she definitely wouldn’t have been able to accept it. So, I lied to her and said the baby was in an incubator because of the premature birth. It just so happened that Xuxu’s due date arrived around those few days. I told her that was our child.”
“I know what I did wasn’t right, but it was for her own good.”
“But she eventually found out.”
“She had a breakdown. She smashed everything in the house that could be smashed and even tried to come at me with a knife. I really don’t understand, Officer. They say the bond of raising a child is greater than the bond of birth. She looked after Yangyang for four years, watched him grow up with her own eyes, and Yangyang is closer to her than to Xuxu. Does a blood relation really matter that much?”
“She’s simply a heartless, crazy woman.”
“She wanted a divorce, and she didn’t want the child only the money. I agreed. The money was given and the divorce was finalized. Aside from that, we had no other conflicts. I had no reason to kill her. Officer, I really didn’t do it.”
As soon as he said this, not only Jiang Huaiyue on the scene, but even the three people observing him through the screen in the monitoring room fell silent.
Jiang Huaiyue just sat across from him quietly, watching Huang Tianqi’s hypocritically pained expression. After a long pause, she pushed another file toward him: “Then, did you know that the child actually isn’t yours either?”
The mask on Huang Tianqi’s face finally developed a crack.
The director made a gesture toward Song Jin. Understanding the signal, Song Jin slowly pressed the accelerator to simulate following the car, even though the engine wasn’t actually running.
She pretended to watch the road ahead and replied to the line while distracted: “I originally thought this was just a story about a scumbag playing ‘Civet Cat for Crown Prince,’ only to find out it’s a story of ‘he who greens others shall himself be greened.'” (Translator’s note: “Green” refers to being cheated on).
“It seems my imagination is still lacking.”
Chu Yun said, “You should still be at the bar, right?”
“I am. Why?” Jiang Huaiyue asked.
“I left a coat at the front desk. Remember to pick it up when you leave.”
“And, find a way to swipe the glass Chu Xuxu drank from. We’ll do another paternity test when we get back.”
“No need, I got her hair.” On Jiang Huaiyue’s end, the noisy background sound gradually faded; it seemed she was leaving.
Chu Yun was somewhat surprised: “When did you pluck it? How come I didn’t see?”
When she had stolen a hair from Huang Yuyang the other day, she hadn’t controlled her strength well and made the kid cry.
“I didn’t pluck it. She shed it onto the table herself,” Jiang Huaiyue added. “She lost several strands.”
Chu Yun
Well, with her lifestyle habits, it would be strange if she didn’t lose hair.
Chu Xuxu’s car followed the flow of traffic, turned left, and finally drove toward the affluent district. Chu Yun followed closely, and after seeing her enter a certain villa with her own eyes, she floored the gas and drove away in another direction.
“Cut—this take is good. Wrap it up!”
Li Hang called out, then immediately dropped everything and rushed outside as if she were in a desperate hurry to use the bathroom. A moment later, a world-shaking “goose-like” cackle echoed from outside the door.
Song Jin pushed the car door open and stepped out, her lip twitching as she glanced in that direction, thinking to herself that there was really no need to avoid her that much.
“Leaving now?” Wen Yu’s voice came from behind. Song Jin rubbed her brow and replied, “Let’s grab our stuff and go. Du Bing and the others should be here.”
The clothes they were wearing were their own, so they didn’t need to go to the dressing room to change before heading home; they could just leave in them.
Wen Yu nodded and walked side-by-side with Song Jin toward the parking spot.
Du Bing was originally huddled in her seat playing CP (Couple Pairing) videos of the two out loud. Hearing the sound of the car door opening, she scrambled to turn the volume to the lowest setting. She looked up reflexively, and when she saw Wen Yu entering the car, she was so startled that her phone slipped through her fingers and hit the floor with a “thud.”
Wen Yu was clearly dazed by her reaction but instinctively bent down to pick up the phone. By the time Du Bing reacted, it was too late. Wen Yu’s gaze had already landed on it, and whether it was an illusion or not, it seemed Wen Yu’s pupils shrunk slightly in shock.
Du Bing didn’t care that she was about to curl her toes through her socks in embarrassment; she quickly laughed nervously and took the phone back. She just didn’t know how much Wen Yu had seen.
“Goddess, did you get in the wrong car…?” The smile on Du Bing’s face reeked of guilt. Her current situation was no better than being caught by the “Real Person” while reading fanfiction about them.
Wait, this was the “Real Person”!
Before Wen Yu could respond, Song Jin’s voice rang out: “She’s in the right place. She’s riding with us for the next few days.”
She poked Wen Yu’s back from behind, signaling her to hurry inside and not block the way.
Wen Yu found a seat, and Song Jin naturally sat directly opposite her, sliding the car door shut.
“Come on, let’s run the lines.” As soon as Song Jin sat down, she immediately opened the electronic script on her phone.
“Don’t you want to rest first?” Wen Yu looked down at her; Song Jin had clearly looked exhausted just a moment ago.
Despite saying this, she still pulled up the scenes they were to film tomorrow.
“No, the drive back isn’t that long. I’ll practice as much as I can,” Song Jin said. “Actually, we don’t need to look at our scenes together. Help me look at this part and this part…”
Song Jin leaned in toward Wen Yu with her phone, the faint scent of laundry detergent on her clothes following her closely. Wen Yu dazed for a moment, but quickly recovered, following Song Jin’s moving finger to the sections she had circled.
They were two very abstract paragraphs with only a few simple words. Yet, it was precisely because the information provided was so sparse that it was difficult to grasp the performance.
Wen Yu suddenly remembered the scene Song Jin mentioned earlier—the one that had been “stuck for five takes”—it seemed to be a similar segment with very few lines.
“Alright, you start.” Wen Yu sat up straight, her hands resting naturally on her knees, staring directly at her.
The gaze made Song Jin feel a bit self-conscious.
She opened her mouth for a long time, but not a single word came out. She didn’t know if it was because of that fixed gaze.
She blinked and said, “I can’t just pull it out of thin air. Can you give me some emotional padding?”
“Okay.” Wen Yu’s brow arched slightly. She thought for a moment. “Let me think…”
She ran through the lines in her head, cleared her throat, and lowered her pitch, actually managing to squeeze out a male voice: “How many times do I have to say it? I didn’t kill anyone! You have no evidence at all!”
Song Jin was momentarily stunned by the sound she made, but once she snapped out of it, she quickly entered character. She crossed her legs and glared at her: “How do you know we don’t have evidence?!”
“No, the tone for this line is too high.” Wen Yu interrupted her, offering her own interpretation. “Chu Yun’s attitude during the interrogation is leisurely—even carrying a bit of a ‘watching a good show’ mindset. So, the tone of your speech shouldn’t be pulled off-track by the opposing actor.”
Song Jin let out a “hiss” of realization and said thoughtfully, “You’re right. Back when I was singing, I used to get pulled out of tune easily by others.”
Wen Yu shrugged. “So you can try to find that old feeling; the way to correct both is actually interchangeable.”
“Got it.” Song Jin closed her eyes to simmer in the emotion for a while, then repeated the line. It was indeed much better than before.
Wen Yu gave an “OK” gesture, pinched her throat, and continued: “What evidence? What evidence could you possibly find? Don’t think I don’t know—you police just make things up to try and watch me lose my cool—pah! I’m telling you, I won’t tell you a single thing until my lawyer gets here!”
The journey was only twenty minutes long, but for Song Jin, it was enough.
After arriving, the two got out of the car one after the other. After saying goodbye to Du Bing and Sister Wang, they entered the elevator side-by-side.
This time, without waiting for Wen Yu to move, Song Jin pressed the button for Wen Yu’s floor herself. As the numbers on the display skipped upward, Wen Yu hesitated for a moment before pulling an exquisitely wrapped box from her bag. Gathering her courage, she handed it to Song Jin: “This… I made it myself. It’s to make up for yesterday’s birthday gift. I hope you like it.”
Song Jin blinked, somewhat surprised as she took the item.
So Wen Yu hadn’t just been being polite yesterday?
She wasn’t in a hurry to open it. Instead, she placed it in her coat pocket first, her face lighting up with a brilliant, truly sincere smile: “Thank you. I’ll treat you to dinner another day.”
“Okay.” Wen Yu did not refuse.
She seemed to want to say more, but the floor chime sounded just then. Wen Yu lowered her eyes and said to her, “Then… see you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow. I’ll message you when I wake up.”
“Mm.” Wen Yu gave her a deep look, her tone very soft.