Card Room (Rebirth)

The next morning, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou once again went to the traffic department. They wanted to check the whereabouts and car records of people like Liang Ting, Ye Lan and Qiao Xuening.

In doing so, the case of ‘Liang Ting killed Lin Yiyan and was later killed by Jin Xiaoyue’ could be ruled out. They could also confirm the movements of Qiao Xuening and Ye Lan during those two days.

Facts proved that Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou’s speculation was correct. Liang Ting wasn’t the type of person who had deep thoughts and would plot murder.

On the two days of the incident on the 16th and 17th, Liang Ting drove a white car with the license plate Bin A-T7777 from her residence to the hospital every morning before driving home at dinner time. In these two days, Liang Ting and Xie Yuan’s youngest daughter was hospitalized for pneumonia and stayed in a VIP ward of a private hospital in the suburbs. Liang Ting went to the hospital to watch her daughter during the day and changed shifts with Xie Yuan at night. This was consistent with Xie Yuan’s words.

On the night of the 16th, Liang Ting drove home from the hospital and her car never left. There was no record of Liang Ting going out late at night in the taxi apps. On the morning of the 17th, she drove to the hospital again, proving that she had been at home on the night Lin Yiyan was killed.

Liang Ting’s suspicion was completely eliminated.

Ye Lan was with the 505 girl group on both days. She had the lowest level of suspicion. After all, the other four members and the agent of the girl group could prove that Ye Lan didn’t leave the team in those two days. She only appeared to give this clue about Xie Yuan and Lin Yiyan.

As for Qiao Xuening, there were many people from the show who could prove she was filming the variety show in the mountains on these two days.

The agent Qi Ming’s alibi was also very strong. He left in a taxi at 3:30 a.m. and was caught by the surveillance at the gate of his community returning home. Lin Yiyan’s car was driven out of the community at 4 o’clock and the timing didn’t match for it to be him.

There were only two possibilities when the suspects had an alibi.

First, none of these suspects was the murderer and the real murderer was still hidden in the dark.

Second, there was actually a murderer among the suspects and there was a problem with their alibi.

Yu Hanjiang checked Lin Yiyan’s vehicle information again. He found a 4S store based on the model of the burned car. After checking, it was confirmed that the two black cars were new cars produced a year ago. Payment was made at the time of purchase by Cheng Yu.

In other words, Cheng Yu bought two cars at once and gave one to his lover Lin Yiyan. This car was very valuable but for a rich second generation like Cheng Yu, giving a car to his girlfriend was a piece of cake.

Lin Yiyan’s second car was a sports car with the license plate number of her birthday. This was bought by the agent Qi Ming and was obviously given by Qi Ming on Lin Yiyan’s birthday. This information was within Yu Hanjiang’s expectations and the investigation just 100% confirmed it.

He returned to the police department and compiled all the information about Lin Yiyan’s case before going to Binzhou TV station. It was to meet the director and staff of the ‘Close Your Eyes When it is Dark’ variety show.

This variety show happened to be recorded by Binzhou TV station and the staff were in the radio and television station building. They were doing the final editing when Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou came to find them.

Yu Hanjiang showed his police officer ID to the staff and the other party immediately stated that they would cooperate with the investigation.

The director was a veteran of the TV station. He was in his 40s but he was full of youthful vitality. He loved to smile when he talked. Yu Hanjiang called him to a separate office for questioning. “On the 16th and 17th, are you sure that Qiao Xuening was recording the show?”

The director nodded. “Of course. In order to edit the best performance, we played several rounds of the game and only took a rest at 3 o’clock in the middle of the night. Qiao Xuening wasn’t good at playing this game and was always voted out by people. She showed a helpless look and it was very fun to shoot.”

Xiao Lou often played this type of game with his classmates when he was in university. People who couldn’t play were really easy to become cannon fodder.

Yu Hanjiang inquired, “How was the lighting during the recording of the show? Could everyone’s faces be seen clearly?”

“It was a killing game at night so the lighting was deliberately dimmed to create a horror atmosphere. However, in the voting session, the lighting engineer will adjust the light very brightly and our cameraman will zoom in and give close ups on all the guest’s faces. Naturally their faces can be seen clearly. Otherwise, it would be boring for the audience to watch a few dark shadows playing games.”

Then Yu Hanjiang asked, “Was the scene closed when the show was recorded? Could outsiders sneak in?”

The director immediately shook his head. “No outsiders can get in. Recording at night is inherently risky. The outer ring must be cordoned off and security guards were invited to guard it. We must ensure the safety of all guests and staff.”

“No one came in and no one left?”

“Yes,” the director replied.

“Was there anything unusual about Qiao Xuening that night? Her expression, voice or walking movements?”

“She was in good condition that day. She was very polite to everyone. She just had a bit of a cold so when speaking, her voice was a bit hoarse. However, it was fine and didn’t affect the recording of the show.”

“What about her leg? Was there a problem?”

The director was stunned before he thought of something. “Oh, I remember. She accidentally fell from her horse when filming a martial arts drama. I heard that she broke her leg and was hospitalized. At that time, I was worried about whether she could record the show. Her reply to me was to look at her recovery. Later, she said she could record it. On the day we recorded the show, she had recovered very well and was walking normally.”

The director paused before adding, “The amount of activity for our show wasn’t too much. Once dark, the guests will collectively enter their tents and the murderer will come out to leave a sign on the tent of the person they want to kill. At dawn, everyone took a few steps out of the tent. This had little effect on her legs.”

“Was she alone? Her agent didn’t come with her?”

The director nodded. “All the guests came alone. Our program has assistants and we arranged accommodation for them.”

Yu Hanjiang finished asking questions and said, “Can I trouble you to give me what you shot without any editing? I want the original version.”

“Okay.”

Yu Hanjiang questioned the other staff including the makeup artists and stylists. They said that Qiao Xuening had no other abnormalities except for a cold. She seemed to be recovering well and walked steadily.

She had a good temper and was very polite to everyone. This was everyone’s opinion of Qiao Xuening.

Soon, the director arranged for someone to give the original film of the show to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang took it back for a closer look with Xiao Lou. It was as the director said. They recorded the program deep in the mountains and the horror atmosphere was indeed very realistic. There was some distance between the tents and it really gave people a chill when the murderer came out to place the sign on a tent. Each tent had a camera that captured the performance of the guests when alone in the tent.

Several times, Qiao Xuening’s expression was captured in the close-up shots. She was sitting in the tent, her expression a bit nervous. She held her fingers and bit her lip like she was worried the murderer might stick the sign behind her. On the day of the recording, she wore a thick down jacket and held a hand warmer. She had a cold and sometimes couldn’t help coughing.

Qiao Xuening really didn’t know how to play this game. During the villagers’ voting, the other guests spoke nonsense seriously to whitewash themselves. However, Qiao Xuening’s eloquence was far worse than the other guests and she was always voted out in the first round.

She looked dazed and almost became the game’s mascot.

Xiao Lou deliberately observed her walking posture. Once he saw her turning back to the tent, he immediately paused it and pointed to her leg. “She just recovered from a fracture of her left leg. When she walks, she will subconsciously place her weight on her right leg. It can’t be seen on the surface but after careful comparison, she steps with her left leg differently from her right leg. Her pelvis tilts slightly to the healthy side.”

Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly. “According to Qu Wanyue, Qiao Xuening is currently agile in dancing, let alone walking. On November 17th, she recorded the show in the mountains. At that time, she subconsciously shifted her focus to her right leg when walking. Can she recover so quickly that she can move freely, let alone dance?”

Xiao Lou shook his head. “Even if her legs can recover, she can’t change so quickly mentally. It is okay when walking normally but for nothing to happen during dancing… I have never seen such a patient. There must be a problem with Qiao Xuening’s leg injury.”

Yu Hanjiang watched Xiao Lou with admiration. Professor Xiao had sharp eyes and noticed that Qiao Xuening’s strides when walking with her left leg and right leg weren’t the same. She focused more weight on her right leg and it was obvious that the injury to her left leg had a certain impact on her mental state.

So how could Qiao Xuening be so calm when dancing in front of Qu Wanyue?

That afternoon, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou went to the crew together.

The security staff of the crew didn’t let them in until they saw Yu Hanjiang’s police office pass. The other party immediately wanted to call for someone when they saw the police officer pass but Yu Hanjiang shook his head. “I am investigating secretly. Please don’t disturb the others for now.”

The group of security guards exchanged looks.

Currently, the crew was shooting a scene between the male and female leads. Everyone was busy and the staff were gathered together. The lightning, sound effects, photography and recording… dozens of people were present. Therefore, the appearance of Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou didn’t attract too much attention. Qu Wanyue, Liu Qiao and the others saw them but pretended not to know them. They continued to stay at their posts.

The content of this scene was that the male lead had a misunderstanding with the female lead and left angrily. The female lead chased him down the street for a while only to accidentally fall to the ground. She shed tears silently before finally turning around and leaving in despair.

This idol drama took the dog blood route of making the female lead miserable first and then the male lead.

The crew had already started filming so Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou watched from a distance.

Several days had passed and Cheng Yu and Qiao Xuening now cooperated quite well. Cheng Yu performed the angry expression well and Qiao Xuening ran after him. After she fell, she gasped with pain and lay on the ground, weeping blankly. Tears fell and she cried sadly without any eye drops.

Xiao Lou whispered to Yu Hanjiang, “Qiao Xuening’s acting is really good.”

It was said that her crying scenes had almost become the benchmark of the entertainment industry. This reputation was indeed well-deserved.

The director was very happy and spoke cheerfully. “Okay, it’s over! Today you are in a good state. This scene is very difficult and I thought we would have to film all afternoon. As a result, you passed at once. The crew will get a break. Everyone, go back and rest!”

There were cheers from all around them.

Cheng Yu ran over and spoke in a humble manner. “Director Zhang, haven’t I improved very quickly?”

The director laughed and scolded him. “It is because Xuening taught you well!”

Qiao Xuening politely bowed to the director. “Thank you Director Zhang, thank you everyone.”

Director Zhang waved his hand. “Everyone can go. I will send you the scenes that will be filmed tomorrow. The deputy director will send you back. Go back and prepare well for the dance scenes.” He looked at Qiao Xuening’s legs and wondered, “By the way, can your legs take it?”

“Yes, I’ve made a full recovery.” Qiao Xuening smiled.

The director earnestly told her, “Don’t force it. If your leg is injured then it can last a lifetime. It is very painful to suffer from arthritis when you are old. If necessary, you can ask for a stand-in. The close-up of your legs will be taken directly by the stand-in and I will do the post-processing.”

Qiao Xuening immediately refused. “It really isn’t necessary. I can do it myself.”

Her agent looked at her helplessly. “Actually, I suggested that she use a stand-in for the difficult dance scenes but Xuening is insistent on doing it herself. She learned dancing when she was a child and has solid basic skills. Before her leg injury, she set aside time at the beginning of the month to go to the ballet class to prepare for these scenes. She doesn’t want these efforts to be wasted.”

The director smiled with satisfaction. “Xuening is indeed a very dedicated actor. Then let’s try it. You will personally do it tomorrow and we will look at the effect. If you can stick to it then it is best to shoot it yourself.”

Qiao Xuening nodded. “Okay, Director Zhang.”

Yu Hanjiang heard it all.

Once the director left, Yu Hanjiang came to Qiao Xuening. “Miss Qiao, we meet again.”

Qiao Xuening was startled and spoke softly, “Officer Yu? You came to the crew to find me. Did you make progress in Xiao Yan’s case?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes.”

Qiao Xuening was delighted. “Great!”

The agent next to her was nervous. “Officer Yu, the crew has a lot of mouths. Shall we go back to chat?”

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to the hotel with Qiao Xuening and her agent.

The agent poured cold water for the two of them and asked, “Do you have a clue about who killed Lin Yiyan?”

Yu Hanjiang’s sharp eyes fell on Qiao Xuening. “That will be determined after we have seen Miss Qiao’s stand-in.”

Qiao Xuening’s expression changed slightly. “W-What stand-in?”

Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. “The stand-in who took your place and broke her leg in the costume movie last time. Miss Qiao, did you forget so soon?”

6th Anniversary Event Page (Final Submission Date: 15th November)

Proofreader: Fictional Reality