When Yu Hanjiang returned to the police station, it was already dark. He had given his colleagues the day off and was preparing to work overtime alone that night. The entire lobby was empty and pitch black, except for a warm light shining from his office. It seemed someone had forgotten to turn off the light. Yu Hanjiang pushed open the door with a puzzled look—
It turned out that Xiao Lou was waiting for him in the office.
Xiao Lou was clearly still at work, still wearing his white coat. He sat quietly at his desk, carefully reviewing documents on his laptop. Hearing the door open, Xiao Lou looked up and met Yu Hanjiang's eyes. A smile immediately appeared in his eyes as he stood up and said, " Captain Yu's back? You must not have eaten yet. I ordered takeout for you. Eat first."
Yu Hanjiang: "..."
The feeling of someone waiting for him to return was subtle, and Yu Hanjiang felt a warmth in his heart, as if even the lights in the room had become warmer. He turned to look at Xiao Lou, meeting her smiling eyes, and couldn't help but smile slightly: "Thank you."
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "Don't be so polite, eat up. I don't know if it suits your taste."
—Anything you buy is to my liking.
Thinking this, Yu Hanjiang sat down next to Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou opened the box and found a braised chicken leg, three simple side dishes, and an egg drop soup—a very generous spread.
Clearly, Xiao Lou felt sorry for Yu Hanjiang, who had been working non-stop all day, and wanted to give Captain Yu some nutritious food.
In the past, when faced with various difficult cases, Yu Hanjiang often worked overtime and forgot to eat. He never expected Xiao Lou to be so thoughtful. Not only did Xiao Lou stay in the office to wait for him, but he also ordered takeout for him.
This takeout meal tasted exceptionally delicious.
Yu Hanjiang ate heartily, quickly finishing his plate. Xiao Lou knew he had been so busy today that he hadn't even had lunch, so she asked with concern, "There's no time limit for this escape room, so you don't need to push yourself too hard. You should still eat lunch on time."
Yu Hanjiang said softly, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
It felt so good to be cared for. All the fatigue of the day completely disappeared the moment Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou. In a good mood, Yu Hanjiang walked to Xiao Lou's side, propped himself up on the table with one hand, and leaned over to look at Xiao Lou's laptop screen: "How's the data organization going?"
Xiao Lou pulled up a document and said, "I've been looking at the information all afternoon. Lin Yiyan's persona in the entertainment industry is that of a 'gentle and innocent girl,' well-read, talented, and a pianist. She has a good temper and seems to get along well with people in the industry. On her birthday, October 29th, at least 50 well-known celebrities in the industry sent her their blessings, so she seems to have a good reputation."
While researching, Xiao Lou also searched for a lot of information online and took screenshots of many Weibo posts.
On October 29th, Lin Yiyan's birthday, she immediately trended on social media, demonstrating her immense popularity.
Yu Hanjiang frowned and pondered for a moment before saying, "Currently, my impression of Lin Yiyan is that she is almost unrealistically perfect. She is beautiful, has good acting skills, a good temper, and is popular. There are almost no flaws to be found."
Xiao Lou nodded in agreement: "I also think that the Lin Yiyan that fans and people in the industry talk about is like a character created by the company, rather than the real her. By the way, I also looked up her debut history and found some problems."
Xiao Lou meticulously listed Lin Yiyan's experiences over the years in the document.
Ten years ago, when 20-year-old Lin Yiyan was a sophomore at Film Academy, she went to audition and was spotted by a director, leading to the starring role in a youth idol drama called "Young Heart". The drama had a small budget, and the male and female leads were both newcomers. It had an artistic and refreshing style, but unexpectedly, it received extremely high ratings after being broadcast online, and Lin Yiyan became an overnight sensation.
She became famous at the age of 20, and her career thereafter was smooth sailing.
After the huge success of "Young Hearts", she did not continue to take on youth idol dramas, but instead took on an ancient costume martial arts drama. It was a niche subject and a low-budget production, but she still managed to make it a hit. It broke through the fierce competition of the summer season and achieved the best ratings. Netizens also commented that she is a rare newcomer with both good looks and acting skills.
Lin Yiyan has been filming TV dramas all year round, and every one of them has guaranteed high viewership ratings. It has to be said that Lin Yiyan is very good at choosing scripts.
She entered the film market at the age of 27, and the films she starred in were well-received at the box office and won some awards. Her 30th year was probably her most glorious year. Not only did she star in the super IP costume drama "Red Dust", but the films she participated in also broke box office records, and she won the "Best Actress" award, the most prestigious award in the industry.
Yu Hanjiang carefully examined Xiao Lou's account of her debut and analyzed, "Her life has been too smooth these past few years. Either she's truly an exceptionally lucky chosen one, or someone is helping her behind the scenes. Looking at her family background, her parents are both ordinary company employees, and none of her relatives or friends are in the entertainment industry... Who was the investor for her debut drama?"
If she met a sugar daddy on that show and got close to a tycoon in the entertainment industry, who then recommended various resources to her, making her career smooth sailing, that would be understandable.
Xiao Lou said, "The character is named CEO Shao in the setting."
Yu Hanjiang opened the WeChat group and sent a message directly to Shao Qingge: "@Shao Qingge, do you still have the production materials for the youth campus web drama 'Teenage Hearts' that Starlight Entertainment Company invested in and filmed ten years ago? You are an investor, do you have any recollection of what happened back then?"
Shao Qingge quickly replied: "I checked. The company invested several million in this drama, hiring newcomers; it's just a trial project. It involved open auditions."
The director will decide, and Qi Ming, as the company representative, will oversee the process. Our company is producing this drama to select talented individuals for development; Lin Yiyan signed with the company because of this drama."
CEO Shao could n't possibly be Lin Yiyan's sugar daddy. Yu Hanjiang frowned: "So, Lin Yiyan has been working with Manager Qi Ming since her debut? Qi Ming discovered her?"
Shao Qingge said, "Yes, Qi Ming is our company's top manager. He's already managed several stars, so anyone he chooses is definitely qualified. Lin Yiyan has been with him since she signed with him, which is about ten years."
Xiao Lou pulled up the old promotional video for the show and watched it with Yu Hanjiang.
20-year-old Lin Yiyan is indeed beautiful and innocent-looking, but the entertainment industry is never short of beauties. So many young and pretty girls competing for the same role... what must the manager in charge of this be like? Why did Qi Ming and the director of this drama choose Lin Yiyan from among so many people?
Is Lin Yiyan truly exceptional, or is there some kind of shady deal involved?
It's not uncommon for celebrities in the entertainment industry to sleep with directors to secure a role. Lin Yiyan appears pure and gentle on the surface; whether she used any underhanded methods to get the role remains to be investigated.
Xiao Lou turned around and asked, "Do the traffic police have any leads?"
Yu Hanjiang briefly recounted the information he had found, and Xiao Lou frowned: "Was it Cheng Yu who entered the villa that night? So, Cheng Yu and Lin Yiyan must have been having an affair. But there were no traces of semen or condoms found on Lin Yiyan's body in the bedroom. Didn't they do it in the bedroom? Why did they clean it up so thoroughly?"
Yu Hanjiang said seriously, "They drove two cars in, maybe they were having sex in the car. The license plates of the two cars are 502 and 501. If it was done in the car, it is normal that no traces will be found at the scene."
Xiao Lou: "..."
Captain Yu, you seem to know a lot about this?
Xiao Lou was a little embarrassed to continue the topic, and said, " I just checked Cheng Yu's information carefully, and his identity is a bit special." As he spoke, he opened a document for Yu Hanjiang to see, "His father is Cheng Jianqiang, the largest real estate developer in Binzhou City. Cheng Yu is the only son of the Cheng family. He is the kind of rich second-generation who can go back to inherit the family business if he can't make it in the entertainment industry."
Yu Hanjiang leaned closer for a closer look.
When Cheng Yu signed the contract, he only listed his parents' names and their occupation as "company employee." However, after Xiao Lou searched, he found that the couple's names matched those of a couple who were real estate developers in Binzhou City.
After confirmation by Shao Qingge, Cheng Yu is indeed a second-generation rich kid, and he entered the entertainment industry purely out of interest. He has a bad temper and is said to often walk away at the slightest disagreement, making him quite willful.
Yu Hanjiang analyzed: " Cheng Yu is a second-generation rich kid. He has no obvious motive for murder. With so much wealth waiting for him to inherit, there is no benefit for him to torture and kill a female celebrity."
Xiao Lou also agrees with Yu Hanjiang's inference: a rich second-generation heir worth billions, deeply in love with a female celebrity in the entertainment industry who is 8 years older than him, and then torturing and killing her because he couldn't have her? A rich second-generation heir wouldn't be that brain-dead.
Yu Hanjiang said, "One more thing, Lin Yiyan had changed into her pajamas and removed her makeup when she died."
Xiao Lou nodded and said, "Many celebrities look quite different before and after removing their makeup. If Lin Yiyan really liked Cheng Yu, she would definitely show him her most beautiful side. I speculate that Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu may have had sex in the car that night. After Cheng Yu drove away, Lin Yiyan went upstairs to remove her makeup, take a shower, and prepare to go to sleep. That's when the murderer appeared."
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Based on the timeline and on-site evidence, that is indeed the case."
Xiao Lou paused, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Neither car was at the scene. Cheng Yu drove away in car number 501, so what about the other one... Lin Yiyan's car?"
Yu Hanjiang rubbed his temples and said, "I checked the whereabouts of the two cars at the Traffic Police Department. According to the surveillance footage, car number 501, which is Cheng Yu's car, left Moon Lake Villa at 3 a.m. Car number 502 left at 4 a.m., an hour later. Besides Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu, there must have been a third person at the crime scene. After killing Lin Yiyan, the murderer drove off in her car and took her phone. This way, the community security guards would assume that Lin Yiyan had already gone out."
Lin Yiyan's body was frozen in the bathtub and remained undiscovered for a long time. When Lin Yiyan's car drove away, the murderer would use her phone to send WeChat messages to her manager and friends, leading everyone to believe that Lin Yiyan was still alive.
The murderer could keep pretending to be Lin Yiyan sending messages, and then finally announce his retirement from acting and fade out of the entertainment industry.
Very few people knew about Lin Yiyan's secluded residence. The illusion created by the murderer was hard to suspect; a living person could just disappear without a trace like that.
During this time, the murderer had ample time to dispose of the body.
The murderer's modus operandi was clearly planned for a long time.
Xiao Lou's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said, "The murderer knows Lin Yiyan's whereabouts very well. He was able to strike immediately when Lin Yiyan returned to the Moon Lake Villa area. Maybe... the murderer also lives in this community?!"
The Moon Lake Villa area is located in the suburbs, with excellent scenery and no other residential areas nearby. It is very secluded and requires driving along a mountain road to reach it. This case was clearly not a sudden incident, but a premeditated murder that had been planned for a long time.
If the killer strikes after learning that Lin Yiyan and Cheng Yu have returned to the villa area, time will be extremely tight.
But what if the murderer lives in this villa community?
That would make things much easier!
Yu Hanjiang praised
He looked at Xiao Lou and said, "I think so too. Let's rest first. Tomorrow I'll go to the property management office to get the list of all the owners of Moon Lake Villa. I'll also go to the film crew at the film studio and ask Cheng Yu about what happened that night."
Xiao Lou nodded; it was time for them to head to the film set and meet up with their teammates.