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    Su Yue had also been in the office earlier; she didn’t know the situation, nor did she know Xu Zhizhi’s background. Hearing her sigh, the only thing she could do was stand there and keep her company.

    They stood there until the van arrived, at which point Xu Zhizhi finally composed herself, got in the car, and went home to rest.

    The sudden turn of events had left her feeling somewhat disoriented. She feared the sudden claim of kinship and worried about losing Jiang Yuchuan as a friend.

    She regretted not accepting the multi-million dollar penthouse apartment. She felt a little bit of regret about that.

    Lin Yu stayed at the company to work overtime, so she didn’t leave with Xu Zhizhi. She mainly wanted to be there in case anything came up that needed urgent attention.

    Xu Zhizhi went home to rest; she had filming the next day.

    Just after her car left, Jiang Yuchuan’s van pulled into the company.

    Jiang Yuchuan, wearing a mask, rushed to Yun Ziwei’s office, knocking and pushing the door open in one swift motion, his hands resting on Yun Ziwei’s desk. Remembering his mask, he reached up and quickly pulled it off. “Where’s Zhizhi jie? I heard she was at the company!”

    “Zhizhi went home. She was tired from filming today,” Yun Ziwei, initially startled, paused slightly after seeing it was Jiang Yuchuan, before replying calmly.

    Jiang Yuchuan was a bit flustered, asking blankly, “Wasn’t she still at the company just now?”

    “She just left,” Yun Ziwei replied coldly.

    Jiang Yuchuan opened his mouth, suddenly realizing that Yun Ziwei’s reaction suggested she knew something.

    His expression became one of self-reproach. How could he have been so reckless, posting that Weibo!

    He pursed his lips, his expression cautious. “Yun jie… you and Zhizhi jie saw my Weibo? Right?”

    In the entertainment industry, especially for someone like him, any Weibo post is easily noticed. Even if it only existed for a minute, anyone who cares to look, except those who don’t follow him, would easily see it.

    On his way, he remembered that Xu Zhizhi’s assistant, Lin Yu, was a huge fan of his.

    So he was very anxious, and at the same time felt sorry for Xu Zhizhi; his actions had been too impulsive.

    He could only apologize; he had no intention of making excuses.

    He had just called his mother and received a good scolding.

    “Zhizhi asked you not to contact her recently. Your fan base and their tolerance level are extremely low, we don’t want a repeat of what happened last time,” Yun Ziwei, looking at Jiang Yuchuan, who was now as wilted as a frostbitten eggplant, continued to speak in a cold voice.

    Regardless of who Jiang Yuchuan was, as long as it involved him and Xu Zhizhi, she would unconditionally choose the latter.

    From a purely pragmatic point of view, accepting the family connection, despite having to hold her nose, would result in more benefits than drawbacks. Because she would then be his biological sister and no longer casually disregarded.

    But from an emotional standpoint, no one easily accepts those who abandoned them.

    Accepting now would merely satisfy her own longing for a complete family, and Xu Zhizhi’s presence would bring additional benefits to the family.

    Yun Ziwei and Xu Zhizhi saw things the same way: Xu Zhizhi would never compromise herself for profit in the past, and even less so now.

    Jiang Yuchuan lowered his long, thick eyelashes, fluttering constantly. He realized this matter couldn’t be based solely on his family’s wishful thinking.

    He had so much to say, but he also had to consider Xu Zhizhi’s feelings.

    Finally, he could only say in a low voice, “I understand, thank you, Yun jie.”

    “Go back, everyone needs to calm down,” Yun Ziwei directly issued a dismissal, telling him to leave. She knew Jiang Yuchuan was busy, so she directly asked him to leave.

    Jiang Yuchuan had rushed in with incredible speed, but his departure was incredibly slow. Whether or not Xu Zhizhi was his sister, he didn’t want to lose her as a friend.

    Perhaps after Xu Zhizhi calmed down, they could still be friends.

    After getting to know each other better, perhaps there would still be a chance for them to acknowledge their family ties.

    He knew his aunt and uncle had searched for twenty years, traveling countless times—he’d known that since he was a child. He knew they genuinely loved their child, so he hoped they could at least meet her, once.

    Zhizhi jie knowing that someone had searched for her for so many years, even if she didn’t accept it, should bring her some comfort.

    And his aunt and uncle could finally stop their search and move on with their lives.

    He left slowly, his thoughts gradually maturing during his journey. The last time, it was because of his sister, and this time, it was also because of his sister.

    Lost in thought, he got in his car and hurried off to his next event.

    His aunt and uncle had found their way to the remote Yun City. Traveling by car, high-speed rail, and plane, it would likely take them until the day after tomorrow to reach Beijing City.

    Incidentally, originally one of them was supposed to stay in Beijing City.

    But news came from Yun City that they had found a girl who matched the age of their missing child.

    Fearing they might miss her, they both went.

    Over the years, they had taken turns searching, ensuring that one of them always remained to manage their lives and continue their search for Yueyue jie.

    Their main goal was to hope that if their child returned, she would have a decent family and wouldn’t have to struggle with life.

    He heard from his mother that girls who are trafficked, even those as young as three years old, have a very low chance of having a good life.

    Thinking about this, he carefully researched Xu Zhizhi’s earlier life. This was detailed in the past by those who had dug up her information, or perhaps it was a classmate who described her as an orphan abandoned by her parents.

    She was ignored by her adoptive parents and raised by her grandmother. After her grandmother passed away, she was kicked out of the house. She was eighteen years old at the time, a complete outcast.

    Unexpectedly, her fortunes changed, and Xu Zhizhi signed a contract and became a minor star.

    People even mocked her, saying she had nothing but beauty, yet dared to venture into the entertainment industry. Because Xu Zhizhi had been badly tarnished online at the time, even though her experiences were tragic, she couldn’t avoid the mockery.

    Jiang Yuchuan felt a knot in his stomach. Those people hadn’t treated his sister well, and why did they even have to abduct her? It created a tragedy for the family that was irreparable.

    His manager, observing Jiang Yuchuan staring at his phone with a heavy expression, patted him on the shoulder solemnly. “Calm down first, put this aside for now, and focus on your work. Someday, you will resolve your conflict and have a better day.”

    Many things, if you keep an open mind, will lead to unexpected outcomes.

    “Okay, I will try my best, to let Zhizhi jie see us!” Jiang Yuchuan clenched his fist, cheering himself on.

    Seeing his resolve, the manager also breathed a sigh of relief.

    After returning home, Xu Zhizhi lay down on the sofa, stared at the ceiling for a while, then took out her phone and started texting.

    This was something she couldn’t tell just anyone, but she felt that Qin Su would know what to do.

    Zhizhi’s unknown account to Qin Su: Qin Su, I think I found my biological parents. It’s Jiang Yuchuan. Don’t we look very much alike? Unexpectedly, this afternoon, he clarified everything on Weibo and said I am his biological sister. [Attached photo].

    After some deliberation, Xu Zhizhi sent the message.

    Qin Su seemed busy and didn’t reply immediately.

    Xu Zhizhi got up, went to the refrigerator, took an apple, washed it, and started eating it.

    Halfway through, her phone vibrated.

    Qin Su: He probably just found out. I’ll look into the Shen family’s matter, to understand what happened.

    Qin Su didn’t offer comfort or make excessive conjectures, instead opting to investigate the truth behind the matter for Xu Zhizhi. As for Jiang Yuchuan’s surname being Shen, that wasn’t surprising to him.

    Xu Zhizhi’s eyes widened immediately. Qin Su was truly Qin Su – getting straight to the core issue, no nonsense.

    She bit into her apple, picked up her phone, and started typing.

    Zhizhi’s unknown account to Qin Su: Okay! Thank you, Qin Da dui zhang (Captain Qin)! Sending you a heart! ~

    Qin Su: Mm.

    Xu Zhizhi smiled. The serious, formal, yet gentle Captain Qin was truly the best!

    Investigations like this take time, especially cross-provincial ones.

    Xu Zhizhi didn’t expect immediate results, continuing to live her life as usual. Make money, make money!

    When Xu Zhizhi woke up early the next morning, the only thing that spurred her to sit up was the thought of making money from acting.

    Su Yue, as her assistant, got up earlier than Xu Zhizhi. By the time Xu Zhizhi got up, Su Yue had already bought breakfast.

    Lin Yu, holding skincare products, applied them to Xu Zhizhi step-by-step after she finished washing up. Mainly, she was worried Xu Zhizhi would be too lazy to do it properly herself, as she usually just slapped on some face cream and rushed out the door. If she did that, her skin would get dry and cause the makeup to cake throughout the day.

    Makeup would be done at the set, so Xu Zhizhi, after applying her skincare, put on her mask and left.

    The current filming location was in Beijing City, so they didn’t need to stay at the film crew’s hotel. But the trade-off was that they needed to arrive quickly or early if required.

    Today, there were no scenes with the male lead because Zhou Lingchen’s main task was to get his official publicity photos taken. Once they were professionally edited, they would be released to announce that Gu Lie had been replaced.

    The Gu Lie incident was still making waves; brands were issuing termination notices and lawsuits, and his agency was also facing lawsuits. The main focus of everyone’s attention was now “Tracking and Searching”, with everyone eager to see if they would replace Gu Lie in that drama as well.

    This was like the last straw that would crush Gu Lie’s remaining fans. Currently, it’s the stage before the police report is released. If “Tracking and Searching” also dropped Gu Lie, then he would truly have no chance of recovering.

    Director Meng, in order to dissuade the fans causing a ruckus under the drama’s official Weibo account, practically had to arrange for Zhou Lingchen to take publicity photos overnight. By posting a message stating the cast had been changed and awaiting the release of the new publicity photos, he could quell the entire situation. This is because Zhou Lingchen’s fans, looking forward to Zhou Lingchen’s career reaching its peak, would, upon the release of the publicity photos, quickly dominate Weibo and overwhelm Gu Lie’s remaining fans’ comments.

    While Xu Zhizhi waited after finishing her makeup, she watched the fans stubbornly clinging to the narrative that Gu Lie had been wronged, filled with confusion. These people, did they really like Gu Lie that much?

    Zhong Man leaned over to look at the comments, explaining, “Don’t try to understand. Even murderers have fans who adore them. Who knows what these people are like in private? It’s even possible that they are like Gu Lie, so they desperately hope he’s alright.”

    It must be said that Zhong Man, someone who has seen a lot in her life, offered a very reasonable analysis.

    “I understand,” Xu Zhizhi nodded, closing the app.

    After handing her phone to her assistant, Xu Zhizhi started reading her script and memorizing her lines.

    This scene was a bit difficult; it was still part of the painter’s arc.

    Based on information about the painter, the police checked the apartment complex’s security footage and apprehended someone. Unexpectedly, the information revealed that the delivery was made by a stranger, and as to who the stranger was, no one knew since it had been some time.

    Then, Jiang Ningfu (played by Xu Zhizhi) found through testing that the DNA detected in the blood samples from the two incidents belonged to two different people.

    Everyone suspected the painter was the culprit, and decided to question him again.

    In this episode, the male lead, Fang Cheng, was out on assignment, so the interrogation was conducted by the female lead and other members of the serious crimes unit.

    In the serious crimes unit office, Jiang Ningfu was there as an observer, standing aside to observe the painter’s reaction. Mainly, she wanted to join in the fun, to see the painter’s reaction.

    “We’ve investigated some things, we hope you will honestly tell us everything,” Wen Qing said with a cold expression, staring at the painter.

    This case originally didn’t require their involvement, as the blood in the paint didn’t constitute a criminal offense. But because of the painter’s status, the incident caused a huge stir with speculation and rumors flying everywhere. So they were forced to investigate.

    Considering what happened and the clues they had found, they had reason to suspect the painter was deliberately misleading them to boost his fame.

    A look of guilt flickered across the painter’s face, and his eyes darted about. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You should be investigating; I really don’t know how the blood got into the paint.”

    “You know Liu Bo, right?” Wen Qing said, striking a decisive blow.

    Liu Bo was the person who delivered the package to the painter.

    In the painter’s previous statements, he claimed he didn’t know Liu Bo.

    But according to the investigation, there were security cameras in front of the painter’s apartment building. The painter would have definitely checked the security footage upon receiving the package.

    So he definitely knew who delivered it, but pretended not to know during the first interrogation.

    The painter was clearly flustered, his voice trembling. “I… I know him. I didn’t mean to, but I really needed to get famous! You don’t understand, I’ve been painting for so many years, if I don’t get famous, I’m going to starve!”

    “But I guarantee, not everything I said was a lie! I didn’t put the paint in the second time! That storage cabinet belonged to a former classmate of mine. I saw the paint when I went swimming and just took it.”

    Wen Qing’s face was like ice; he slammed his fist on the table. “And then you discovered that the paint was the same material as the paint you made before, and you thought you’d use it to create a publicity stunt?!”

    The painter shrunk his head, a little afraid, nodding his head, tremblingly recounting the whole process.

    For the painting of the little girl holding her heart, he’d told everyone who had seen it that the “映雪红” (Yingsxue Hong – literally “Snow Reflection Red”, a made-up name) was made from human blood to create a sensation. He also worked with someone to invent a mysterious story to make everyone think the painting’s origins were mysterious. He felt that it might work, but the effect was surprisingly good.

    So when he saw similar paint again, he immediately decided to take it. He tried it at home and it really worked.

    Thinking about the fame he’d gained, he decided to go all the way and report it to the police. The police wouldn’t find anything, so he felt comfortable creating a massive media storm.

    His paintings had even reached a price of several hundred thousand yuan.

    He just didn’t expect that the matter would be exposed in just two days.

    “I really didn’t mean to! You won’t arrest me, will you?” The painter cried out in alarm.

    Yu Feng, a male member of the team, expressed his dissatisfaction: “Using public resources like this, you…”

    The painter lowered his head, his whole body looking dejected.

    At this moment, Jiang Ningfu suddenly asked, “You said that you got the two large tubes of paint from stealing from your classmate. I want to know where his paint came from. To get these two large tubes of paint, you need to extract the blood, then let it settle, and do some processing to get this large 500ml amount.

    “According to the estimate, it would require at least 120 to 150 ml of blood. An adult male has about 4000 to 5000 ml of blood. So much blood can’t be obtained from the blood bank. If he took it from himself, a single extraction would leave him half dead. As for doing it in batches, it wouldn’t produce this kind of paint.”

    Jiang Ningfu folded her arms across her chest, her eyes fixed on the painter, watching him with a look of amusement and excitement. There was no fear in her eyes, only a strange kind of excitement, the excitement of encountering a bizarre situation.

    Wen Qing happened to look up at Jiang Ningfu and was stunned for a few seconds by her expression, before he reacted and turned to look at the painter.

    The painter was stunned, then quickly confessed, “I really don’t know! I admit to the theft, but I really didn’t commit murder for those two large tubes of paint!” Then, as if remembering something, the painter shouted, “That’s right! My friend, he’s been missing recently!”

    For a moment, everyone in the serious crimes unit looked at each other in astonishment.

    Wen Qing, ignoring Jiang Ningfu, began to question the painter, then urgently dispatched a search team to find the painter’s friend.

    “Cut!”

    Everyone on set breathed a sigh of relief, and then they shot some close-ups.

    After finishing her scene, Xu Zhizhi found a small stool to sit down. Luckily, there weren’t many NGs this time, only three or four takes.

    Lin Yu handed her phone to Xu Zhizhi, “There seems to be a message notification, Zhizhi, take a look.”

    Xu Zhizhi picked up her phone and looked.

    It was a message from Qin Su, saying he had some information about the Shen family.

    Seeing that Xu Zhizhi hadn’t replied, Qin Su directly sent all the investigation information to her.

    Xu Zhizhi sat on the small stool, scrolling to the beginning of the messages, slowly reading them.

    As time went on, the relaxed expression on Xu Zhizhi’s face grew serious, filled with complexity.

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