The agent instinctively looked at the phone, only then realizing it was Young Master Su Mingjie’s own phone ringing.
“Xiao Jie, father has already mobilized the entire company to clean up the mess you’ve made. Tell your agent to come back to the office—handling this online isn’t convenient enough.”
“…Okay.” Su Mingjie’s eyes were red. He sniffled.
The authorities’ official rebuke was a form of soft blacklisting. For at least the next few years, no one in the entertainment industry would be willing to work with him.
He truly loved being a celebrity. He loved that feeling of being above others, adored and worshipped…
As a child, his academic performance had been terrible. His father and genius brother were both ashamed of him, reluctant to even mention him in front of outsiders. His stepmother had no real affection for him and often mocked him, calling him a pig-headed fool.
His status in the wealthy family was like that of a fallen star outside the spotlight—only mentioned when people were taking inventory of failures.
Later, he met Wei Lingfeng, who was also unloved, and the two began to bond over their shared misfortune. When Wei Lingfeng rose to power within his own family through his abilities, Su Mingjie’s standing in the Su family rose as well.
But the longings of his childhood had left permanent marks that never faded.
And so, Su Mingjie convinced his father to let him enter the entertainment industry. Backed by the Su family’s resources, he successfully won the adoration of millions, to the point where his fans enshrined him like a deity.
That was why, even knowing the gardener was a rabid fan, he kept him on staff.
The humble, devout gaze of a fan, their unwavering choice of “only you”—it was an addiction he couldn’t resist.
“It’s all Su Zhisheng’s fault!”
“If it weren’t for him, how could I have gone astray? Before he came back to the Su family, everything was perfectly fine…”
Su Mingjie complained, hoping to hear words of comfort from Su Minghao.
Even more, he wanted to hear Su Minghao—a blood brother to Su Zhisheng—spew venom about his own sibling on behalf of a fake like him, maybe even turn them against each other!
He knew he was twisted. He knew his actions were despicable.
So he quickly climbed the stairs and retreated to his second-floor bedroom.
Click. The door closed.
Shutting out his voice, hiding his face—makeup smeared by tears, utterly haggard.
His voice turned gentle, almost tender, but his words were laced with malicious provocation.
But Su Minghao on the other end of the line pretended not to notice his little schemes. Instead, he dropped explosive news.
“We found out—Su Zhisheng became a police consultant because he can understand animal language.”
“In this dismemberment case, he even made deals with the fish and shrimp in the river to locate Xiao Tao’s remains and give her a proper burial.”
In an instant, Su Mingjie’s pupils contracted in shock!
There were so many animals everywhere. How careful would he have to be with everything he said from now on?
No—animals’ testimony could only aid an investigation, not serve as evidence in court, as long as it wasn’t legally recorded. After all, police and judges couldn’t understand animal speech.
Su Mingjie calmed down slightly, then suddenly remembered something.
“Those damned night herons… It must have been Su Zhisheng who ruined my engagement banquet! I’m going to expose his true colors to the whole world!”
“Oh? Go ahead, then,” Su Minghao said, a trace of disdain in his voice.
“You don’t have evidence. You can’t sue him. If you try to take this to the court of public opinion, netizens will just see it as a victim outsmarting a villain and getting his revenge—they’ll mock you even more.”
After all these years, still no improvement.
Su Minghao thought of someone but swallowed his final barb.
“Still, I can’t just let this slide.”
Su Mingjie paced frantically, but he genuinely couldn’t think of any good way to go after Su Zhisheng while staying within the protection of the police.
After all, even his schemes to frame Su Zhisheng had required putting his own body on the line.
In his heart, Su Mingjie sneered at Hu Xiuchun as a failed schemer—someone who only made things worse despite always wanting to cause trouble… But honestly, he wasn’t any better himself.
“Big brother, Su Zhisheng knew how important the Wei family’s support is to us, yet he still ruined my engagement banquet. He’s gone too far…”
Su Minghao pretended not to understand the provocation. “Father has been moving forward with the cooperation between the Wei family and the Su family as usual. Even with your misdeeds exposed this time, the Wei family heir has been shielding you from any backlash. The cooperation hasn’t hit any snags, so don’t worry.”
Su Minghao was a cold-blooded creature. He’d never do anything out of emotion.
He had allowed Su Zhisheng to be bullied for profit. Naturally, he wouldn’t actively help Su Mingjie get revenge either.
Su Mingjie ground his teeth.
No hawk, no target. With that much love for money, one day it would choke him to death!
“Big brother, I heard you’ve been wanting to build a short-form drama filming base. Brother Feng is quite interested—he’s considering investing…”
“Then I’ll wait for your good news.”
Without leaving any promise—unless the benefits were secured, that stubborn mule wouldn’t turn the grindstone.
Su Mingjie pulled out his phone, ready to persuade his fiancé.
But when his finger slipped and he opened his Moments, he saw that Su Zhisheng had posted a Mid-Autumn Festival photo of fireworks.
#Even though I’m all grown up, my mom still wants to buy me the sparklers from my childhood
A child with a mother is like a treasure—so happy, it’s blindingly infuriating!
The one responsible for ruining him was still joyfully celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival… utterly despicable!
Unable to resist, Su Mingjie scrolled further and discovered that Su Zhisheng’s previous post was actually him enjoying the gossip!
And not just any gossip—his gossip!
[So many brands are rushing to break their contracts. Su Mingjie is going to bleed money this time, hee hee~ Grinning face.jpg!]
Going back one more post, it was clearly a screenshot of Su Zhisheng’s report.
[Netizens who love gossip are just too good! They’ve not only got the reporting websites ready, they’ve even written the reporting scripts. All I have to do is move my fingers, and I can help bring justice—so convenient!]
Su Mingjie’s pupils dilated in shock: “!”
This guy Su Zhisheng had been lurking around him like a vengeful ghost the entire time!
Only after Su Mingjie had been publicly crushed by the authorities and given a grand funeral did Su Zhisheng go shopping for Mid-Autumn Festival supplies. No wonder he was in such a good mood—that smile probably hadn’t left his face since before he even left the house…
Furious and helpless, Su Mingjie threw his phone in rage!
But his tantrum lasted only a few seconds before he sniffled and picked the phone back up to pour his grievances out to his lover.
Unfortunately, that lover was busy cleaning up his mess for him. He cried until dawn, but the other man never found time to comfort him.
Mid-Autumn Festival. The moon is full. Families reunite.
Whether good or bad, everyone wants to take this long holiday to return to their hometown and spend time with family.
The Su family naturally gathered together for the festival too—though Su Jingye and Su Minghao both had dark circles under their eyes from working through the night, and Su Mingjie had cried his eyes red from sorrow…
But two different breeds of “giant pandas” sitting together at least counted as a family reunion for the holiday.
The poor unlucky employees, though—whether it was the day before the holiday when they were rushing home, or the first day of the Mid-Autumn break while they were still on the road, or even during the daytime of the festival itself… they were still replying to messages from the company!
Sure, the Su family counted this as remote work and paid them for it, but that hardly made the experience any less painful!
In another luxurious villa in Yuntian City, Xing Tianwei was gathered with his family.
The Xing family was in real estate—a powerful, sprawling clan. Currently, the family company was managed by the eldest branch. Xing Tianwei and his father had never been interested in that path.
Thanks to his shares in the company, Xing Tianwei had lived a life of luxury since childhood. But it was his admiration for his police officer father that led him to walk a far more difficult road.
After the Mid-Autumn banquet at the Xing family’s ancestral home ended, Xing Tianwei and his mother returned to their own house, where she had set another table of dishes.
But this table wasn’t placed on a moonlit rooftop. It was placed in front of the memorial altar inside the house.
Xing Tianwei lit a stick of incense and bowed in tribute.
His mother stood beside him, her voice thick with emotion. “If your father could see you solving major cases at the police department, he would be so proud.”
“The Su family’s baby-swap case is connected to a human trafficking case. It might just catch the ones who slipped through the net back then,” Xing Tianwei said, turning his head. “Tomorrow, I’m going to the hometown of the Su family’s nanny to investigate while I have the chance.”
His mother didn’t try to stop him. “Not being able to arrest all the masterminds behind that trafficking case was your father’s greatest regret. He always hoped that someday new leads would appear and he could reopen the investigation. I never expected he’d fall first in the line of duty investigating another case…”
“Go. Whether you find anything this time or not, your father would be proud of you. And so am I.” His mother’s gaze was gentle as she lightly patted his shoulder.
Xing Tianwei said nothing. He simply hugged his mother silently.
A trace of guilt surfaced on his handsome, stoic face.
He had no regrets when it came to his father or the people. It was just that, like all his colleagues, he spent too little time with his family… How could he not feel guilty?
Luckily, Xing Tianwei’s mother was an optimist—a perfect complement to his late father, who had been as cold as ice.
Soon, she picked up her phone and wandered off to send voice messages to her girlfriends.
“It’s Mid-Autumn Festival. Everyone’s at home celebrating. My quiet, brooding son came home too, but we’ve barely said a word. If I bring up marriage, he’ll run faster than a police dog…”
“I’m just an ordinary citizen. How can I keep up with a man who chases fugitives?”
Hearing this, Xing Tianwei silently retreated to his bedroom.
He opened his phone and saw a message from Su Zhisheng.
Tomorrow, Su Zhisheng would tell his adoptive mother the details and have her chat with the villagers to see if there were any new leads. Su Zhisheng would also ask around himself to help find the missing nanny.
[The Su family and I have offered a total reward of 130,000 yuan. The villagers are all working hard to find clues. But it’s been so long, and still no good news… I suspect asking around everywhere probably won’t lead to much either.]
[Chongshan Province is full of mountains. There are also many damp, narrow caves that no one dares to enter—perfect for hiding a body. I suspect the nanny’s body might be in one of them.]
[That nanny wasn’t a good person, but she was really good to her son. The treatment he got made us village kids jealous for years. I think she must have died a long time ago. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to abandon her child.]
Seeing that Su Zhisheng planned to go into the mountains and ask the small animals for information, Xing Tianwei immediately grew concerned.
[I’ll drive over tomorrow. Don’t go into the mountains alone first. It’s not safe.]
Su Zhisheng, who had originally planned to organize the villagers to search the caves together: […]
[Okay.]
After finishing their business, Xing Tianwei casually clicked into Su Zhisheng’s Moments.
It was a rare trip back to his hometown, and Su Zhisheng had posted quite a few photos sharing his life.
Beautiful natural mountain scenery, a table of moon-offerings with fruit and chicken, and…
A lit sparkler held beside his face. Su Zhisheng was smiling warmly toward the camera, as if smiling at the person on the other side of the screen.
A small white fireworks bloom sparkled in his eyes, like a brilliant sea of stars.
A professional-level staged photo, enough to catch the attention of anyone scrolling through their Moments.
Xing Tianwei’s gaze darkened.
The conversation had already ended, but he reopened the chat.
[A lot of criminals steal photos to sell or use them to scam people… Be careful with your privacy.]
[I know, but I don’t have a good solution either. I’ll just sue them if I find out. I have some business contacts in my Moments, so I post a photo now and then to show my face. If they ever have a suitable part-time gig, they’ll reach out to me.]
Xing Tianwei: […]
[Are you short on money?]
No scammer had used Su Zhisheng’s photo to cheat Xing Tianwei out of money, but someone was about to open their wallet because of that photo.
No deception needed.
[I have a well-paying job now. I have enough money. But as long as there’s no unspoken rules involved, I have no reason to give up jobs that use my looks.]
Xing Tianwei: […]
[Don’t worry, Captain Xing. I prioritize my studies first, then the police department’s tasks, and then the pet hospital internship. If there’s a schedule conflict, I’ll turn down the part-time gigs.]
Xing Tianwei: […]
[Even without taking extra gigs, do you actually have time to sleep?]
[Haha, don’t worry. I mostly just go between school and the police station. I basically don’t need to go to the pet hospital anymore.
The teachers have us take turns interning to give us hands-on experience. They’ll only call me back if there’s an animal case I haven’t seen before…]
Xing Tianwei thought back to Su Zhisheng’s usual state and realized he didn’t have dark circles under his eyes very often.
Only then did he feel relieved.
[Captain Xing, don’t you think the last message I sent you was typed too fast?]
[Because my adoptive mother asked me the same question about time before. I just copied my reply and sent it to you. I’m so lucky to have a good leader like you who’s so dedicated to mentoring new people.]
[Cat thanking you.jpg]
Suddenly bumped up a generation, Xing Tianwei: […]
At the market in Qiandong Village, Chongshan Province, Su Zhisheng sat under a large tree, enjoying the shade.
He looked at his phone, then glanced toward the intersection.
“Captain Xing, over here!” Spotting the target vehicle, he waved.
Under his guidance, Xing Tianwei found a spot and parked.
He had changed into hiking clothes today, with a gun hidden in his large pants pocket.
Su Zhisheng led the way, taking him into the mountains.
“Actually, the villagers also suspected that a body might be hidden in one of the caves. But they organized search parties earlier and checked quite a few caves without finding anything.”
“Also, deep inside the caves, not only is there a lack of oxygen, but some spots even have toxic gas. And the caves are full of bats, insects, and everything else…”
“Even with preparations, the villagers only searched the mountains for three days before people started getting hurt and ending up in the hospital. Most of the permanent residents in the village are elderly people and children—their physical condition isn’t great to begin with—so one by one, they gave up.”
“But with the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays connected, a lot of young people have come back from out of town. Once yesterday’s Mid-Autumn Festival was over, many of them, like me, wanted to go into the mountains today to look for the nanny’s body. With more people in the mountains, the killer won’t dare act recklessly, and we’ll be safer too…”