Muchuan and Xiang Wan - Chapter 137
Chapter 137: Everyone’s Shooting off Their Mouths
The hard work of the detectives were reflected in these places.
They have yet to finish their food, but when they have work, they have to stop eating and leave.
Whenever there was a case, it was often a race against time, so they could not afford to waste more time than needed.
Looking at everyone getting nervous around her, Xiang Wan also quickly gobbled some food and looked up at Bai Muchuan.
“I want to come along!”
Bai Muchuan gave her a glance, showed a slight frown, but quickly looked normal again. “Fine!”
“Thank you!” Xiang Wan was elated inside and smiled at him from her heart.
After that, she saw the food tray and cutlery on the table and cleared them up together with Bai Muchuan’s.
“Captain Bai, you can go ahead first. Let me take care of these little things!”
She had a pleasant, sweet smile. Her actions were forthright and adorable. Her big eyes were as though a pair of shiny black pearls that when she smiled, it could even melt the heart made of steel.
Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow and gave her a piece of tissue. “Use this to wipe off the grain of rice on your mouth first!”
“…”
With that, he went away to quickly assign missions for his men!
Xiang Wan was left frozen in the wind…
What the heck! Can’t he tell me that earlier? So I have been having a rice grain stuck on my mouth this whole time?!
It’s too embarrassing!
…
They did not drive the police car when they made their way to the Avenue of Stars.
They drove two ordinary cars and arrived at the filming location of “The Grey List”.
The film crew was busy shooting. When they saw the group of people coming, they stopped whatever they were doing and looked over in confusion.
The atmosphere in the area suddenly quieten down.
Bai Muchuan had no intention of stopping them in their work.
He waved to a man who was wearing a pass—an indication that he was a member of the crew.
That man was startled for a moment and looked to his left and right in a somewhat worried manner. Seeing that no one said anything, he plucked up enough courage and walked over to Bai Muchuan. “Who are you looking for?” He looked at him dubiously.
Bai Muchuan showed his police officer badge expressionlessly. “We’re looking for the in-charge.”
Police?
The member of the crew: “…”
He did not say anything but just nodded his head and hurriedly went to look for the in-charge.
Maybe the expression of the man affected the rest of the people as almost instantaneously, their expressions were as though shrouded with a layer of haze.
“Police!
“Yeah, they’re the police.”
“Police!”
“…”
The word “police” kept spreading around amongst the crew members in the filming set.
After that man’s not-so quiet dissemination of information, the people present soon learned that a group of policemen had arrived in the set.
Under the baffled gazes of the crew, the producer came over, his sleeves rolled up. That busy look of his did not make him look scholarly but more like a laborer. He smiled warmly to receive Bai Muchuan and team, where he led them to a nearby teahouse.
The film crew had booked an entire teahouse as a place for their employees to rest and drink as they would be filming at the Avenue of Stars for the entire day.
The producer invited Bai Muchuan to talk over tea. “Detective, is there… What happened again?”
The word “again” revealed his fear.
When one went out to work, one would want things to run smoothly. In this short period of time, there were too many incidents that happened in the filming set which made them passive, irritable, and nervous.
Bai Muchuan noticed that the producer broke out in cold sweat. “It’s nothing serious. We’re just here to find out about something.”
Producer: “No problem, please say it!”
Bai Muchuan took a look outside of the teahouse. “How many scenes did you shoot today?”
The producer was stunned for a moment and immediately called the planner over to show Bai Muchuan their shooting plans for the day and their memorandums.
Indeed, there was the scene of luring the police away…
Bai Muchuan took a look at Tang Yuanchu, who then proceeded to take photos of them as evidence. Next, they asked the producer and planner several questions and began to take the statements of the rest of the crew in the filming set.
Investigation was a tough job.
It was especially so, when it was a large filming set of more than 100 members.
Every two detectives form a team and ask questions accordingly.
They requested the crew to say clearly what they were doing when the “chasing” scene took place, if they had any alibi and et cetera. All of these were properly recorded. After that, they would analyze these data to find any clues within them…
The teahouse had become an “office” for the police.
The film crew were cooperative and informed everyone of those who appeared at the set.
Bai Muchuan specifically asked for the contact of the middle-aged fat man who helped the set to find extras and got Tang Yuanchu to inform him to come by the teahouse.
Very soon, the fat man appeared, bringing along another two young men with him.
One of the young men was the one whom Xiang Wan and Tang Yuanchu had met earlier, Chen Liu.
Before they got near the teahouse, the loud voice of the fat man could already be heard.
“Officers, is it still because of the earlier incident today?”
He walked up to Bai Muchuan where he folded the hem of his trousers as he was perspiring profusely. When he laughed, all his body fats were trembling. His mouth was full of yellow teeth due to long term smoking, and the thick gold chain around his neck suggested he was an upstart.
“Officer? Did… something else cropped up?”
Bai Muchuan did not speak but looked at him expressionlessly.
Sometimes, acting tough was necessary, especially for the police. That fat man was being stared at by Bai Muchuan. Even though he did not show any expression, the fat man could have thought of many things inside his head. His face twitched, and he started to look uncomfortable.
“Officer… Did I do something wrong?”
It was only then did Bai Muchuan say something, “Take a seat!”
His tone was suddenly warm, but the fat man was already scared by him earlier and dared not look him in the eye. He pulled a chair and sat down about two steps away from him. “Officer, I’ve sat down…” He gulped.
“…”
The scene was hilarious. Xiang Wan felt like laughing.
Bai Muchuan, on the other hand, looked at the fat man indifferently.
“Tell me what happened today, one more time.”
The fat man had confusion written all over his face. “What, what happened?”
Bai Muchuan took a look at Chen Liu who was beside him. “The incident where you got someone to lure the police away!”
He had spoke slowly—one could clearly hear his cold and distant tone in it. Everyone present there was taken aback by his words.
The atmosphere instantly became silent.
The fat man’s head was filled with perspiration.
He smiled uneasily and couldn’t stop wiping his perspiration with his sleeve.
“Officer, I’m just a small business owner helping to supply extras for filming companies. Just look at me… What kind of guts do I have to lure the police away?”
Bai Muchuan squinted his eyes slightly. “I’m saying, how did you arrange for the chasing scene that such a misunderstanding can actually occur?”
The fat man was stupefied.
A second later, he laughed again.
“This incident is really such a coincidence. It’s also partly Chen Liu’s fault for causing this…”
The fat man turned to stare at Chen Liu. “You can speak now. Weren’t you blabbering about this earlier on? Hurry and tell the officer what you know!”
Chen Liu was already as white as a sheet of paper by now.
Hearing the fat man shouting at him, he thought his entire body was bent.
“Boss, what do I… have to say?”
“D*mn, just say how it happened!”
“Oh!” Chen Liu gave it a thought. “Boss asked me to try out a scene and the make-up artist did the make-up for me. After that, the Assistant Director talked to me what I have to do in the scene. I asked boss if I will be up to it. Boss said he will only know after I do the shoot… Then I ran out of the alley and saw that the police had appeared. Then I-I just followed and acted accordingly…”
Chen Liu gestured as he talked coherently.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Bai Muchuan did not say anything and no one knew what he was thinking.
Everyone listened to Chen Liu talking about the situation as though they were hearing a story.
After Chen Liu finished, Bai Muchuan looked to the fat man. “When he started running, where were you?”
The fat man was dazed for a moment and pointed outside of the teahouse. “I was standing over there, under the tree… Many people can vouch for me!”
Bai Muchuan nodded his head, looking at his sweaty face. “Did you notice anything unusual at that point in time?”
“Unusual?” The fat man was under the scrutiny of Bai Muchuan’s cold, chilly gaze. His eyes blinked as though in tremendous stress. He dared not look straight at him and kept shaking his head. “No, no, no! There’s nothing. I was talking with the Assistant Director… Oh yes, there’s something unusual!”
Everyone looked at him.
The fat man stared fiercely at Chen Liu and pointed a finger at him.
“Only this fellow was unusual! He just ran away like that…”
Chen Liu looked distressed. “Aren’t you the one who asked me to run faster?”
“You still dare to talk! Wanna have a taste of my punches…” The fat man was so furious that he had forgotten there were detectives beside him. When he raised his fist, he suddenly came back to his senses and swallowed the words he was about to say. “Officers, I didn’t tell this fellow to run immediately. What I’ve said to him was to run faster when the shooting starts…”
“You wanted me to run. You wanted me to run faster!”
They thought Chen Liu was silly, but he did not seem to be as silly.
After the police repeatedly asked him about this incident, he started to realize that things might be unusual after all.
Even if he might not be smart enough, he knew how to protect himself when he sensed something wrong. So he started to quarrel with the fat man over this.
The two of bickered with each other that their faces turned red. They looked at each other and refused to back down…
Who was lying?
It was simple. They just need to ask the Assistant Director!
A while later, the Assistant Director came over.
But his words made the whole matter enter an even more puzzling state.
“I told Chen Liu what he needed to do in the scene, and then I got a call from the assistant location manager which I did not pay attention to what they talk about…”
Bai Muchuan was on the right track in his investigation of the incident.
Yet none of their statements seem to match.
After spending a few hours there, they collected a thick amount of statements, yet there was hardly anything useful.
Xiang Wan looked at Bai Muchuan’s furrowed eyebrows. “Are we making a mountain out of a molehill?” she asked softly.
Bai Muchuan did not say a word but turned to the planner. “Is everyone here in your film crew?”
The planner thought for a while and shook his head. “Everyone who needed to be here are here. I didn’t inform those who are not here…”
Bai Muchuan furrowed his brows and wanted to talk when he heard a laughter that came from not too far away.
“Detective Bai’s here on a case again?”
That voice was unfamiliar but drawn out and pleasant.
Xiang Wan looked up and saw a man walking out from the shadows. He had his hands in his pockets, looking completely indifferent as a faint smile hung from the corner of his lips.
“Long time no see, detectives!”
Ye Lun! Xiang Wan was able to recognize him.
Such an attractive face that could make an impression in the minds of people, it was hard not to recognize him.
Thinking of it, she had seen Ye Lun face to face twice. This was actually the first time she met him officially.
Yes, Ye Lun was standing before her with a distance of less than two meters. This hot young stud had gotten so popular lately. She was close enough to take a good look at him.
“Long time no see!” Bai Muchuan took a few seconds to reply him coldly.
He did not show any emotion, only a solemn expression that he was carrying out his duties accordingly and there would be no special treatment for celebrities.
“You’ve come at the right time. Please cooperate with us on our work.”
“Hur, my pleasure!” Ye Lun sat down nonchalantly and crossed his legs. “I’ve been asked to cooperate so many times, I won’t mind cooperating more with the police.”
Bai Muchuan narrowed his eyes to a squint and questioned him without further ado. “Where were you at 10:00 a.m. in the morning?”
Ye Lun: “I was chilling outside. There’s no shooting for me in the morning.”
That means he was not at the scene.
Bai Muchuan paused for a moment. “What were you doing then?”
Ye Lun: “What else can I do when I’m chilling outside?! Of course I will shop to my heart’s content!”
Pausing for a moment, his lips curved upward and smiled somewhat devilishly. “Do I need to provide alibi for this? I was hanging outside alone, shopping alone. I didn’t bring my assistant…”
Bai Muchuan did not even look at him, as though he was used to his style of talking. He continued to question him according to his usual style.
“Tell me, which streets did you visit? Which shops did you go to? What exactly did you buy?”
Ye Lun was surprised. “I have to give an account of all these?”
Bai Muchuan wore a cold expression. “Yes, everything.”
Ye Lun laughed. “Sure.”
It was not easy to give an account for one’s whereabouts, let alone an account for one’s whereabouts to the police clearly.
The police needed to repeatedly ask, verify and confirm every single detail…
About more than 20 minutes of talking, Ye Lun felt thirsty after he finally completed giving an account of what he did.
Bai Muchuan wore a faint smile. “Alright, you may go now!”
When other people heard this from the police, they would behave as though they had received amnesty and wanted to get away soonest possible. Ye Lun, however, did not seem daunted being questioned by the police. He did not seem to be in a hurry to leave but continued to sit idly as he glanced at Bai Muchuan from the sideways.
“That’s all?”
Bai Muchuan looked at him without saying a word.
“Hur!” Ye Lun laughed. “There’s no need to detain me for 24 hours so I can think it over carefully?”
Seeing how Ye Lun behaved as though he was looking for trouble, Tang Yuanchu couldn’t hold his anger anymore. “Don’t ask for trouble! It is the duty of citizens to assist in handling cases. Do you think you’re great because you know how to act? Look at your attitude!”
“Tang Yuanchu!” Bai Muchuan stopped him by giving him a glance.
Tang Yuanchu was young and rash at times. But a slip of the tongue did not make him someone foolish.
He knew that the police were often the ones in a disadvantaged position when dealing with people like Ye Lun.
Just Ye Lun’s die-hard fans alone, if they really rallied together and complained against him, he would be in hot soup.
With Huang He’s incident serving as a warning for them, he did not want to invite trouble for himself as well as the whole team. Therefore, he obediently chose to keep quiet.
When Ye Lun saw that, he laughed and swept a glance at Tang Yuanchu. “This detective seems to have something against us actors? Don’t worry! There are thousands and thousands of people like you who shoots their mouth off everyday. They look down on us yet at the same time envy us…”
As he said that, he suddenly stared at Tang Yuanchu.
“In the future, if there’s any audition for roles, I’ll inform you to come, okay… Detective?”
He smiled in a chilly manner, his eyes especially charming, and his lips especially gorgeous… He was born with an effeminate, beautiful face accompanied by a dark aura.
When Ye Lun and Tang Yuanchu looked at each other, the rookie detective was no match against the young celebrity.
For a moment, Tang Yuanchu was speechless and his face flushed red.
“Hur!” Ye Lun got up smiling proudly. This attitude of his could be said to be very arrogant.
“Detectives, if there’s nothing else, I’ll get going then.”
No one answered.
There was silence in the teahouse.
Ye Lun strode along leisurely but turned back again after taking a few steps.
He turned to stare at Xiang Wan.
He looked at her for a few seconds which made Xiang Wan felt uneasy and her heart started to beat faster. He gave a dark smile before looking at Bai Muchuan.
“I have a suggestion, Detective Bai.”
Bai Muchuan’s gaze felt like piercing swords, cold as frost. “Say it!”
Ye Lun gave a lazy smile. “I’m only acting as the antagonist in the drama. It doesn’t mean that I’m really a bad person. Could you guys stop your surveillance on me? If you’re so free, you should look for those who acted as the police? What if you manage to find a criminal from the police?”
With that, he strode away.
From the moment he appeared, he was haughty and arrogant. Besides Bai Muchuan, he did not bother to look straight at other people. It could be said he was putting on airs.
But everytime when she thought of his gaze, Xiang Wan would feel all her internal organs going cold.
He was such a young man. What kind of experience did he have that he behaved so arrogantly without a care for his image?
After Ye Lun left, the investigation and questioning of the film crew had entered the last stage.
However, when they verified the materials, they realized that they had left out an important person.
It was the celebrity who acted as the first male leading character of “The Grey List”—Yu Ning.
He was Fang Yuanyuan’s new idol…
He was the leading actor in the morning scene.
When Tang Yuanchu went to ask, the film crew told him that Yu Ning had no shooting scenes in the afternoon and had gone back to the hotel for rest. However, when they saw Bai Muchuan sitting there coldly without any intention to leave, they had no choice but to send someone to get Yu Ning.
In the beginning, Xiang Wan had thought that Yu Ning was putting on airs by not coming to communicate with them.
But when Yu Ning finally appeared in front of everyone, she realized that all her previous guesses were wrong.
Yu Ning was several years older than Ye Lun. They were two people with completely opposite personalities. Compared to Ye Lun’s rebellious, unrestrained dark nature, Yu Ning also had the same character as the first male lead in “The Grey List”. He was manly, low key, and laid back. He treated people politely and cooperated with the police fully by answering all those questions that he knew of.
It was just that his answers were totally of no use to them.
He was changing his uniform at the props section when Chen Liu was doing the “chasing scene”, and there were many people who could vouch for him.
After analyzing and summarizing the situation, that chasing incident was simply a pure coincidence.
When Chen Liu was running away in panic accordingly to what he was told, the crew was still preparing the props—the suitcase that would be used for luring the police away.
After thorough investigations, the props that were used to pretend as drugs for the shooting were flour. They did not find any criminal activity within the filming set as well.
“So we’ve worked for nothing throughout the whole afternoon?” Tang Yuanchu stretched himself and got up from his seat. “D*rn, this filming set is spooky! Almost everything is related to them, but when everytime we investigate, nothing ever pops up!”
When one thought it over carefully, it was really what he remarked.
Xiang Wan pressed her lips together as she felt somewhat guilty about this matter.
She glanced at Bai Muchuan, somewhat ashamed of herself. “My apologies, I’ve wasted everyone’s time…”
Bai Muchuan looked at her. “There’s no such thing as wasted time as long as we persist. Maybe, we’re just a step too late!”
Xiang Wan looked at him in the eye and lowered her head as she still felt a little upset… Tang Yuanchu, He Wencai and other detectives, on the other hand, were exchanging glances with each other.
Bai Muchuan turned and stared at them. “What’s the matter?”
Tang Yuanchu’s eyes rolled in thought as he smiled somewhat cautiously. “Boss, give us a night off? We’ll go for some drinks?”
Bai Muchuan returned a glare. He neither approved nor disagreed, but Tang Yuanchu and the team took it as a silent consent where they broke out in cheerful laughter.
“Brothers, let’s go for drinks tonight.”
“Tang Yuanchu’s buying us drinks!”
“Let us all go to Grand Orchid Pavilion—”
The group of them began to pack up, getting ready to leave.
Bai Muchuan got up slowly and looked at the lane where one could not see the end.
“Who do you think is lying?”
Xiang Wan did not know who he was asking, but she was just standing beside him, so she answered him naturally.
“Chen Liu is honest and simple. Most of the time, he speaks incoherently, and he is clearly not the smart type. The fat man, on the other hand, is street smart. This type of people is especially cunning. If there wasn’t a considerable amount of interest involved, he wouldn’t easily commit himself…”
After hesitating for a moment, Xiang Wan said, “We’ve seen so many people today. I feel that the most suspicious one of all… is Ye Lun!”
“Hm?” Bai Muchuan turned to look at her.
Xiang Wan returned his gaze and suddenly thought of Ye Lun’s puzzling smile.
“There are innumerable possibilities for those who are not present.”
“In fact,” she paused for a while and puffed a sigh. “I don’t understand why and what they were doing to lure the police away during that period? Is it the same as the plot of the novel that there was a drug dealing, or there was some other shady business?”
Bai Muchuan did not respond.
He stood there for a long time, his tall stature cold and solemn.
“Ye Lun.” He repeated the name slowly and softly. “He will show his true colors one day.”
…
When they completed their work, it was time to knock-off from work.
Everyone was excited as Tang Yuanchu would be giving them a treat. They kept persuading Bai Muchuan to come along in their loud voices.
However, Bai Muchuan rejected the invitation.
Reason: He was moving that day.
The moment Xiang Wan heard him talking about this, her heart twitched and her skin felt a little scalding.
She felt weird and her scalp felt numb.
However, most of the detectives did not know where he stayed originally and did not know the reason of the move. Therefore, they did not mind about it, instead, they started to pester Captain Bai to give them a treat.
It was the custom of Jin City citizens to give a treat if they move to a new house. Bai Muchuan laughed and accepted graciously by taking out a credit card from his wallet and gave it to Xie Hui.
“You guys go ahead, my treat!”
Everyone gave a shout of excitement.
Tang Yuanchu, on the other hand, was perplexed. “Boss, this is not right! Heh, I’ve already said I’m buying drinks tonight. Why not you give us a treat tomorrow…”
“Stop nagging!” Bai Muchuan stared at him and fist bumped him on the shoulder. “You can give us a treat when you get married!”
The moment Bai Muchuan finished saying that, someone cried out teasingly.
“Oh my goodness! Guess Tang Yuanchu will never be able to give us a treat for the rest of our lives?”
“Nonsense!” Tang Yuanchu gave him a kick. “Do you believe I’ll bring a girl with me tomorrow to show you?”
“Show me if you have guts!”
“…”
The few detectives went away in a hubbub of laughter and shouting.
Xiang Wan lowered her head to pack up her stuff, preparing to go back as well…
She did not want to go to any pub or club for a drink with Tang Yuanchu and the detectives nor did she want to get pulled along by Bai Muchuan to help with the moving.
However, the things that happen are exactly those that one dreads the most!
After she came out from the ladies with her bag, she slipped out through the back door… and she saw Bai Muchuan’s car parked there.
“Miss, where are you running off to?” The corners of his lips curved upward, forming a smile in the afterglow of the sunset. It was warm but provocative.
“…” Xiang Wan felt speechless for a moment. Her lively, glistening eyes narrowed to a squint. “What do you want?”
Bai Muchuan looked toward his car. “Get on!”
Hur! Xiang Wan hugged her laptop bag and stared at him in dissatisfaction. “For what? You’re moving house but it has nothing to do with me?”
Bai Muchuan chuckled as a mischievous glint flowed from the depth of his eyes. “Who said that I’m going to move now? Teacher Xiang, don’t tell me you can’t wait to live with me?”
Can’t wait to live with you? My foot! Aren’t you the one who said you wanted to move now?
Xiang Wan lowered her eyelids as she snorted unhappily like a young girl. “What do you want then?”
Bai Muchuan raised his eyebrows. “Avenue of Stars. Let’s go star chasing!”
Xiang Wan: “…”
She looked up in bewilderment and met Bai Muchuan’s solemn, serious gaze.
What was more surprising was, an hour later, Bai Muchuan brought her to meet her supposed number one love rival—Xie Wanwan.
