Card Room (Rebirth)

Yu Hanjiang carefully observed Zhou Yuanyuan’s expression. The woman had a cold look and she was smoking while talking. If the scars on her face hadn’t ruined her delicate appearance, she should be a very temperamental, special female star.

Judging from the information found, Zhou Yuanyuan’s popularity had been comparable to that of Lin Yiyan. She was also nominated for ‘Best Actress’ at a movie festival but Lin Yiyan won the grand prize at the time. Zhou Yuanyuan regrettably lost and she politely reposted the official Weibo to express her congratulations. At the time, the relationship between the two of them didn’t seem so frigid.

The turning point was last year.

Yu Hanjiang used the clue that Qiao Xuening provided and asked Shao Qingge to check with the producer. The facts showed that Qiao Xuening was right. The heroine of the big IP drama World of Mortals was indeed set to be Zhou Yuanyuan at the beginning. The director liked her very much and the pay and schedule had been agreed upon. Zhou Yuanyuan’s studio had even drawn up a contract and Zhou Yuanyuan had signed it. She was just waiting for the other party to sign and seal it.

However, the contract hadn’t been sent out when the producer suddenly broke it, saying that he had found another heroine.

The people of Zhou Yuanyuan’s studio had been busy for more than a month but in the end, their efforts were worthless. Naturally, they were very angry. According to the producer, the reason was that Zhou Yuanyuan’s image didn’t match the heroine’s image. However, the director had liked her and this proved she could handle the heroine role. There must be something going on behind the scenes.

Shao Qingge used his own network to check and finally came to a conclusion. Lin Yiyan was able to get the role because she participated in a wine party with the investor under the arrangement of her agent. The people drank but no one knew what happened at the wine party. After that, the investor insisted that the director change the heroine and the director could only obey due to the funds involved.

Lin Yiyan’s appearance and acting skills were all good. The drama wouldn’t collapse if she replaced Zhou Yuanyuan as the heroine. As a result, Lin Yiyan happily signed a contract with the crew and Zhou Yuanyuan’s one month of preparations were useless.

After learning the truth, Zhou Yuanyuan was so angry that she almost vomited blood. Then she was seriously injured in a rear-end collision on the way to the airport. Lacerations were left on her face and she needed skin grafts to repair it.

Not many people knew this secret. To the outside world, Zhou Yuanyuan’s agent just said it was an accident.

Lin Yiyan relied on having the backing of Starlight Entertainment behind her to use unscrupulous means. Zhou Yuanyuan’s agent obviously didn’t want to openly confront Starlight Entertainment so she could only swallow down these grievances.

Now it seemed that Zhou Yuanyuan was recovering well but the scars on her face were difficult to conceal. Her path as a celebrity was most likely ruined.

Yu Hanjiang got straight to the point. “Miss Zhou, how is your relationship with Lin Yiyan? Have you seen her recently?”

Zhou Yuanyuan was surprised. She probably hadn’t expected them to ask about Lin Yiyan. She frowned slightly, put the cigarette butt in her hand out on the ashtray and replied in a hoarse voice. “I’m not in the same company as her. I’m not familiar with her in private.”

Yu Hanjiang stated, “She took away the role that originally belonged to you and caused you to have a car accident. Don’t you hate her?”

Zhou Yuanyuan’s expression changed and she clenched her fists. “How do you know about this?”

“We naturally have a way to find out. Last year, you were originally scheduled to play the heroine in World of Mortals. However, before you signed the contract, Lin Yiyan intercepted the role.”

Zhou Yuanyuan took a deep breath and calmed her emotions. She replied coldly, “Lin Yiyan looks like a gentle lady but she is very dirty in private. She has climbed into the bed of countless people. Wasn’t my role robbed because she seduced the investor’s son and slept with someone in exchange?”

Yu Hanjiang asked, “Do you have any evidence for your words?”

Zhou Yuanyuan directly issued an eviction order and turned to leave.

Yu Hanjiang stood up from the sofa. “Lin Yiyan was killed.”

Zhou Yuanyuan’s back stiffened. She turned her head and stared with wide eyes. “What?”

“Her death time is between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m. on the 17th. The location is the villa opposite your home. Miss Zhou, you have a personal grievance with her. If you can’t provide an alibi then we have reason to detain you as a suspect for a detailed investigation.” Yu Hanjiang stared at Zhou Yuanyuan sharply. “Miss Zhou, please think again about where you were in the early hours of the 17th.”

“……” Zhou Yuanyuan’s face was blue and white. She was shaking all over as she supported herself on the sofa. Then she started laughing wildly. “Haha, dead, that bitch is dead? Haha, retribution, retribution!”

Father Zhou immediately stepped forward and spoke sternly, “Yuanyuan, what nonsense are you saying! Stop talking!”

Mother Zhou had tears in her eyes as she walked over and gently grabbed her daughter’s hand. She spoke in a choked up manner. “My Yuanyuan has been hospitalized for one year and she has been mentally stimulated. However, she would never kill someone. Police officer, you must check properly!”

Yu Hanjiang said, “Miss Zhou, we are going to search your home now. This is a search warrant.”

He took out a printed search warrant and let the three people look at it. Then he went upstairs with Xiao Lou.

Mother Zhou wanted to stop them but Father Zhou said calmly, “Let them search! Our Yuanyuan can’t kill someone! They will clear things up themselves!”

However, the moment the two men arrived upstairs, they saw a telescope at the window next to the corner of the stairs. Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged glances and walked to the telescope, looking through the lens…

This was a very professional astronomical telescope. It was just that a slight adjustment of the angle and lens allowed them to clearly see into Lin Yiyan’s house.

Yu Hanjiang turned to the kitchen and found a sharp, long knife with a width of around 5cm and a length of around 30cm in the drawer. The shape of the knife was the same as the murder weapon drawn by Xiao Lou after he did the autopsy on the corpse and reconstructed it based on the wounds.

Yu Hanjiang searched Zhou Yuanyuan’s bedroom next.

The moment they entered the bedroom, both of them were shocked. They saw that the wall of the bedroom was covered with Lin Yiyan’s promotional photos. Each photo was crossed out with a red pen and the face on the photo was very red. The strokes were extremely hideous. These posters had bright smiles but the red strokes on their faces were so unsightly that it gave people the chills.

In addition, some disposable gloves were found inside the house.

Yu Hanjiang took photos of all the evidence found at the scene and called his colleagues on standby at the gate of the community. Several police officers entered the house and took the evidence back. Yu Hanjiang handcuffed Zhou Yuanyuan and said indifferently, “Miss Zhou, we are officially arresting you. Please go back with us to the police station for investigation.”

Zhou Yuanyuan sneered. “I didn’t kill anyone.”

Seeing the photos in the bedroom, Mother Zhou’s legs weakened and she slumped on the sofa. The photos were all crossed out and Zhou Yuanyuan’s hatred for Lin Yiyan was clearly communicated to everyone.

Father Zhou trembled. “Yuanyuan can’t kill anyone. She can’t kill, even if it is Miss Lin…”

Mother Zhou couldn’t believe it and rushed over to grab Yu Hanjiang’s arm. “Officer, my daughter must be innocent! You can’t take her away. She wouldn’t kill anyone! How could she kill?”

Her parents were agitated but Zhou Yuanyuan looked calm. She declared coldly, “I really hate Lin Yiyan and wanted this slut to die!” Then she spoke seriously. “However, I didn’t kill her. It is useless for you to take me back. Can you still convict me without evidence?”

Yu Hanjiang replied lightly, “Let’s go. If you are really innocent then we naturally won’t wrong you. If you are guilty then we won’t let any murderer go.”

Yu Hanjiang arrested Zhou Yuanyuan according to regulations. He could see that this woman’s mental state was very wrong and she might do something crazy. Zhou Yuanyuan also didn’t have an alibi. She said she was home but no one could prove it.

The telescope found at home, the sharp knife consistent with the murder weapon and Lin Yiyan’s posters with red crosses over them in the bedroom… She also had plenty of motivation and time to commit the crime. Add in the evidence and her suspicion was too great to not be arrested.

Yu Hanjiang took her to the interrogation room. Zhou Yuanyuan still had a cold face as she repeated, “I didn’t kill her.”

Yu Hanjiang asked, “How do you explain the telescope?”

Zhou Yuanyuan shrugged. “I have loved astronomy since I was a child. I bought a telescope to watch the stars when I was bored. Can’t I do that?”

“What about this knife?”

“It is for cutting watermelons.”

Yu Hanjiang took out the disposable gloves he found in the bedroom and the posters of Lin Yiyan’s face that were drawn on.

Zhou Yuanyuan explained, “I need to often apply medicine to my postoperative wounds and the gloves are used when applying medicine. These posters… I just hate Lin Yiyan and want to destroy her posters. Is this a crime?”

She had excuses for every piece of evidence but every excuse wasn’t very credible.

After interrogating Zhou Yuanyuan for an hour, Yu Hanjiang stopped questioning her and returned to the office. She kept repeating things like ‘I slept at home on the 17th’, ‘I didn’t know Lin Yiyan was dead’ and ‘I didn’t do it.’ The interrogation was at a deadlock and Yu Hanjiang simply told her to calm down for a while.

They returned to the office and Xiao Lou rubbed his aching temples. “Zhou Yuanyuan’s words sound ridiculous. Is she really using a telescope to look at the stars? However, it is strange. Why do I feel that… it is not a lie? Isn’t it a coincidence to find so much physical evidence in her house? It doesn’t match the murderer’s meticulous style.”

Yu Hanjiang spoke softly. “She isn’t the murderer.”

Xiao Lou was surprised. “Group Leader Yu, how did you judge this?”

“First, the murderer thought carefully and planned well. They wouldn’t be so stupid as to leave the murder weapon and so much evidence at home for the police to come find it. Secondly, Zhou Yuanyuan’s hatred of Lin Yiyan is justified. Did you find something when she destroyed Lin Yiyan’s posters?”

Xiao Lou reacted quickly. “It was the face that was crossed out?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes, in every poster, Lin Yiyan’s face was crossed out with a red pen because Zhou Yuanyuan was disfigured by Lin Yiyan. She has made no secret of her hatred for Lin Yiyan and she has some mental problems after staying in the hospital for so long. She stuck the posters of Lin Yiyan in her bedroom and disfigured them to vent her negative emotions. If she really wanted to kill Lin Yiyan, what would she do first?”

Xiao Lou’s eyes lit up. “She would destroy Lin Yiyan’s face!”

Yu Hanjiang’s eyes filled with appreciation. “If the murderer is Zhou Yuanyuan, from a criminal psychology perspective, she should retaliate against Lin Yiyan by destroying Lin Yiyan’s face, then putting Lin Yiyan in the car and pushing her down the mountain. She wouldn’t freeze the corpse in the bathtub with ice cubes.”

The man paused, slender fingers tapping the table as he spoke thoughtfully, “The ice cubes should have a special meaning in this case. We found Lin Yiyan’s car today. If the murderer wanted to destroy evidence then the best thing to do is to put Lin Yiyan in the car, take her to the mountain road and push the car down the mountain. The car will explode and Lin Yiyan’s body will burn to ashes. Even if the police find it, they will think that Lin Yiyan just had a car accident.”

Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. “That’s right! The murderer had a better way of dealing with the body. Why freeze the corpse in the bathtub? This should be to satisfy a special psychological craving?”

What exactly did the ice represent? The two men were puzzled.

Just then, a message popped up in the WeChat group. it was from Ye Qi: @All members, the concert will begin soon. I saw the members of the 505 girl group backstage. They are happily getting their makeup done and nothing seems unusual.

Old Mo complained in the group: The start-up ceremony was held normally in the afternoon. Actors are truly amazing. Yesterday, Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao came to the crew to investigate the case. Cheng Yu and Qiao Xuening discovered that their lover/best friend is dead. As a result, these two people are smiling brilliantly at today’s ceremony like they aren’t affected at all!

Liu Qiao added: Yes, these people really have first-class acting. If it was me then I definitely wouldn’t be able to laugh.

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang glanced at each other.

Acting skills… These stars in the entertainment industry all had excellent acting. Who was acting and whose words were true?

6th Anniversary Event Page

Proofreader: Fictional Reality