Case Files Chapter 6: Debut (4)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

“Guan Jin,” Wen JingHan called, stopping the person who was hurriedly rushing outside right when he got off work. “Why don’t you go to the hospital and visit Tan Qu?”

“Why me?” Guan Jin frowned.

“Because you saved him, so he’ll trust you a little more. He’s a very important witness, so if he’s willing to talk one day earlier, then we’ll solve the case one day earlier,” Wen JingHan said gently.

“I’m off duty.” Guan Jin really didn’t like this request for him to work overtime.

“Police are never off duty, you’ll see soon enough.” Wen JingHan shamelessly walked off, leaving only this ‘curse’ behind.

Guan Jin remained standing where he was and drew three deep breaths to hold back the urge to pick a quarrel. He was fuming as he hailed a taxi to the hospital, and on the way, he even bought a basket of fruit for the first time. It wasn’t because he was feeling kind; instead, it was because he knew that public reimbursement existed, so he believed that any fees related to the case wouldn’t be out of his own pocket. Thus, he didn’t think twice about buying the fruits, and he was also quite happy to hail the taxi. 

However, it didn’t feel good to have to be so stingy and have to plan every cost carefully when he had been able to spend money like water in his previous life. This was because Guan Jin’s bank deposit was meager, and although he had a lot of money in his own UBS account, he didn’t dare to risk touching it, lest a disaster occur now, when he had no way of protecting himself. He had already died once, so he cherished his life greatly now.

Tan Qu still looked the same. He was curled up underneath a blanket, and his expression was fearful. When he saw Guan Jin show up, his expression changed, though only fleetingly.

Guan Jin put down the fruit basket and tried to find some comforting words to at least pretend to be nice, but he couldn’t think of anything. He had never really cared about anyone, so he couldn’t even pretend to do so now.

“Get well soon,” he finally forced out. Then, he thought for a moment and said, “Men should be strong, so just treat it like you’ve been bitten by a dog. Don’t be like women and make a big deal out of small things. As a man, you should take revenge!”

Tan Qu recoiled a little.

Guan Jin gave up on his preaching and promptly turned around and left. The police officer guarding the door looked at him curiously, and when Guan Jin was far away enough, the officer muttered, “He really did get amnesia. Before, his head was always lowered when he saw people, but now, not only is his chin up and his chest puffed out, he’s also arrogant, and he doesn’t even say hello.”

Guan Jin sped up as he walked, and he was practically roaring internally, Shit! I need to find out who manipulated things regarding my death behind the scenes, cut them into pieces, and then go and live a happy life. Why do I need to go look after a fragile little kid, watch a bunch of stupid fucking TV dramas, and discuss a case that has nothing to do with me?!?!

The doctors and patients in the corridors were all frightened by his livid expression, and they carefully walked around him. However, it was inevitable for some people not to notice, and when Guan Jin turned a corner, he nearly bumped into a tall man. Just before they were about to collide, Guan Jin swerved to the side. However, he still wasn’t too used to this new body, so he miscalculated his step and toppled over in the other direction.

A strong hand grabbed his arm and saved him from the embarrassment of falling over.

“Are you okay?” The man’s voice was low, and his eyebrows were a little raised.

Guan Jin had originally been very angry, and when he saw the person in front of him that seemed to be smiling but also not, he felt even more irritated. However, it was only for an instant, and he quickly suppressed the sudden urge to kill someone. As a top-notch assassin, he was seldom affected by emotions, but ever since he had become another person, he kept breaking his personal records, and had nearly let his violent inclinations pour out. Guan Jin didn’t reply and left without even looking back.

The man adjusted his tie as he watched the person leave. Had it just been his imagination just then? In that instant, he seemed to have sensed a danger he had never felt before; it was as if a knife had been held at his throat, the tip of the knife pressed tightly against his skin——the sense of death.

*****

“Boss, the Zilan Clubhouse is affiliated with an enterprise called Lishan Hotels. This is a joint venture, and the foreign party is a hotel chain in the United States. The middle party is the controlling party, and it’s called Lishan Industry. However, this Zilan Clubhouse isn’t controlled by Lishan Hotels, it has a major private shareholder investment. I haven’t found who the investor is yet,” reported Lin Bai.

“Keep searching, this private shareholder is very important. In addition, check the situation of the Lishan Industry.” Wen JingHan said, “QiaoYu, let’s go to the film set, Tan Qu is still going to be key to a breakthrough. Guan Jin, if you’re not busy, then come along with us.”

When the three of them arrived at the film set, it was their first time at one.

Chen QiaoYu said in surprise, “This is the film set?”

Guan Jin looked around. “The buildings are so fake, and so are the people.”

Wen JingHan was silent, and he walked towards a crowd gathered near where a scene was being shot. Suddenly, a person popped out and said enthusiastically. “Are you here for an audition? Ah, it’s such a pity for someone like you to just be a passerby. Why don’t you join our company, I guarantee you’ll quickly become very famous!” The person rubbed his hands and looked at him with bright eyes.

Suddenly, he saw the people behind him. “Are they with you? They’re also not bad, you——”

Wen JingHan raised his hand and interrupted the extremely enthusiastic person. “And you are?”

“You don’t recognize me?” He was very surprised, and when he saw Guan Jin’s and Chen QiaoYu’s blank expressions, he asked again, “You all don’t recognize me?”

“Are you an actor?” Chen QiaoYu carefully searched her memory for the artists she knew, but she didn’t recognize him.

“…I’m Mo Wei, an agent from JingTian Entertainment.” Mo Wei fished out his business card and handed it to Wen JingHan.

Wen JingHan raised an eyebrow slightly. “That golden agent?”

“So you do know me.” Mo Wei was very proud. “I rarely take the initiative to take someone in, so whenever I set my sights on someone, they all turn out to be very big names.”

‘You’re careers will be prosperous, and you’ve gotten extremely lucky, so you should be thanking me’, and similar things had been drifting in Mo Wei’s eyes the entire time, but unfortunately, the three of them were unmoved and indifferent.

“Was this film set constructed with JingTian’s investments?” asked Wen JingHan.

Mo Wei replied, “Of course, JingTian has a ton of fundings, so only it has the ability to create superstars.”

“Brother Mo ¹,” interrupted a sweet-sounding voice.

“Ahhh!” Chen QiaoYu suddenly became very excited, and she tugged on Guan Jin’s arm. “It’s Yan Qing! My idol! Seeing him this close up indeed makes him even more handsome than on television~”

The corner of Guan Jin’s mouth twitched, and he silently pulled off Chen QiaoYu’s hand from his arm.

“Have you finished filming a scene?” asked Mo Wei.

“Mn.” Yan Qing looked Wen JingHan, Guan Jin, and Chen QiaoYu up and down. “Are these the people President Min asked you to take care of?” 

“I can train him into the next you,” said Mo Wei as he pointed at Wen JingHan.

Yan Qing crossed his arms and laughed. “Brother Mo, the type the president seems to like is more of the one behind him.” His gaze shifted to Guan Jin.

Guan Jin froze, and his eyes narrowed at once. “You: name, gender, age, hometown.”

This made Yan Qing freeze too.

“Mr. Mo, I need to find the person responsible for the operation of this entire film set, please cooperate with us.” Wen JingHan fished out his shiny police badge and smiled as he waved it in front of him. “We’re performing official duties.”

Mo Wei’s jaw dropped.

A short middle-aged man jogged to them, panting. “It turns out you’re the police. My apologies for the poor hospitality, I was busy with things over there.”

“Not at all, please forgive us for disturbing your work. Our case is related to this place, so we need to understand the situation.” Wen JingHan said, “Are you the person in charge here?”

“Yes. I’m Dong ChangLong, the manager of this film set.”

“Is this where the TV drama, ‘Snow of Summer’, filmed?”

“That’s right, we finished filming that drama last year,” said Dong ChangLong.

“Where’d you find the extras for this drama?”

“Well, did you see the crowd of people gathered at the entrance when you came in? Some of them are fans, and some are waiting to act as extras. Now, the dreams of a lot of young people are to become a celebrity one day, so their only way to do so is to meet people in the field by being background actors in the hopes that they’ll be seen and excel at once.” Dong ChangLong shook his head wisely. “How can it be that easy? There’s thousands of people who act only as extras or other small roles, yet only Yan Qing was able to make it above them.”

“Are they all chosen on the spot like this?”

“Not entirely. Some dramas require a few fixed ones, so our Actor Management Department is responsible for recruiting a group of extras prior to filming. Some people depend on this for a living, since they’re professional background actors, and we have a lot of those here.”

“Can you find the person responsible for directly contacting the extras?”

“Of course! But,” Dong ChangLong asked cautiously, “what happened?”

Wen JingHan merely smiled, but he didn’t say anything.

As a person in the entertainment industry, Dong ChangLong was good at reading expressions, and he knew when he shouldn’t poke his nose into things. He immediately said, “I’ll ask people to go find them at once!”

“Ahh, did you see? That person over there is that idiotic male lead. Say, he really is the same type as you, hehe…” Chen QiaoYu said quietly.

“What type?”

“Delicate, elegant, and cute~”

 

This was also one of the types that Guan Jin liked before, cute and obedient. Yet now, he had become the type he wanted to top the most, it really was… very tragic, and his heart ached in multiple places.