Woke up and Heard I Was Married

Chapter 9: Gu Yanzhou had an overcoat draped over his shoulders, looking clean-cut and dapper. He lifted his eyes, gaze unreadable.

　　News of Yang Yinyin’s suicide shocked the entire entertainment industry.

　　“Mr. Lu, as Yang Yinyin’s manager, how do you feel about her suicide? Were there any signs before it happened?”

　　”I heard that the last time she was on set before her death, she had to stop filming because she felt unwell. Was it starting from then that she was experiencing physical and mental health issues?”

　　 As soon as Shao Si turned on the TV, the screen was filled with a swarm of media reporters, their arms desperately outstretched, bodies jostling and scrambling as they formed a tight circle around the man in the middle. 

　　 Lu Jiahui – Yang Yinyin’s manager, thirty-eight years old.

　　Square-faced and sporting a buzz cut, he looked like a good-natured, honest guy. At this time, he had his head bowed down, a sorrowful expression on his face, evidently unwilling to talk much to the media about this topic.

　　 As he walked, the media followed, a fluid circle that kept him surrounded. 

　　 At this time, Lu Jiahui had no choice but to stop walking. He took off his sunglasses. Under the sunglasses were a pair of red and swollen eyes.

　　 “Since a few years ago, Yinyin’s mental condition hadn’t been the best… her depression had been getting progressively worse.” Lu Jiahui said, “She didn’t want her fans and family to worry, so she had been shouldering the burden by herself.”

　　 Countless flashing cameras were focused on him, and the media reporters’ arms stretched longer and longer: “So Ms. Yang chose to commit suicide because of depression, correct?”

　　 Lu Jiahui put his sunglasses back on, waved his hand and didn’t want to continue speaking. He and his assistant walked faster to the car and drove off right away.

　　 The media persistently snapped photos as the car sped away. Several live broadcast hosts turned their backs to the freshly emitted car fumes to wrap up their segments: “It is with great sorrow that our world has lost a beautiful soul and top actress of our generation today. May the deceased rest in peace. We will continue to follow up with updates on this story – you can scan the QR code in the lower right corner to follow the WeChat official account of this show…”

　　 Shao Si lifted his hand and turned off the TV.

　　 The system lamented: [Dead, alas. ]

　　 Shao Si: [… You’re really sad? ]　

　　[Extremely sad, but according to what happens in dramas, you should be sneaking into Yang Yinyin’s house tonight to find clues. ]

　　 [Like a complete idiot? ]

　　 [ I just can’t carry on a conversation with you,] the system said, [ you casually trample on people’s dreams of being a detective every time. ]

　　 [Ok, then I’ll be a little less casual. ] Shao Si sits up, [Yang Yinyin’s house is the first crime scene right now, and the whole building’s blocked off and guarded by the police. What am I going there for? Going there to seek death? ]

　　[……]

　　 After Shao Si finished speaking, he added on: [In the future, watch less of those moronic dramas, you’re not far off from becoming a fool. ]

　　 Shao Si originally thought that this was the end of the matter. He and the broken system were even planning to find a new mission target…

　　 Yes, it was this casual. If one thing doesn’t work out, move on to the next one.

　　  But what ended up happening was that one week later, when he returned to China after attending the fashion show, Shao Si got a phone call as soon as he got off the plane. 

　　 He stopped walking, passed his luggage off to Li Guangzong, and dug his phone out from his coat pocket. Li Guangzong also stopped walking, motioning to the two assistants with him to go ahead and make some arrangements – they had to prevent the airport from getting congested in case too many fans and media reporters showed up to see Shao Si.  

　　 “Hello Mr. Shao, this is the Longyan City Public Security Bureau calling. Regarding Yang Yinyin’s case, there are a few things we’d like to have you confirm,” the voice of the caller sounded like an eloquent middle-aged man. “Do you have time to come by the police station tomorrow afternoon at three o’clock? We hope you can proactively cooperate with the police investigation.”

　　 “……”

　　 Public Security Bureau?

　　 Li Guangzong began rushing him: “Who’s calling? Can’t you talk while walking?”

　　 Shao Si responded distractedly with an ‘Okay’, and then hung up. Although his facial expression didn’t change at all, he started to feel uneasy on the inside. 

　　 If he had to identify something between him and Yang Yinyin that would actually be a cause for investigation, it could only be about the private investigator he had hired.

　　What should he say?

　　Should he portray himself as a perverted imbecile who had a crush on Yang Yinyin?

　　 As he made his way out of the airport, he smiled and waved at the fans who came to greet him. Only when Shao Si got in the car did his smile disappear, and he tapped Li Guangzong on the shoulder: “Son, what do I have scheduled for tomorrow afternoon?”

　　 Then, without waiting for Li Guangzong to answer, he continued, “Turn them down.”

　　 “…You have to attend a brand event, and I’m afraid we can’t turn that down, since we scheduled it ages ago.” Li Guangzong checked the memos on his phone. “But it’s not impossible to communicate with the company for the other stuff. Do you have something urgent to do?”

　　 Shao Si: “If I said that I asked a private investigator to follow Yang Yinyin before, and now the police want to investigate me, what would you think?”

　　 Li Guangzong: “You’re…a pervert?”

　　 “Okay,” Shao Si propped his arm on the car window ledge, his face grim, “Looks like I’ll just have to be a pervert.”

　　 Three o’clock in the afternoon the next day, at the police station.

　　 While it was Shao Si being questioned inside, Li Guangzong was more nervous than Shao Si himself.

　　As an insignificant, little citizen, he was as panicked as when he got called to the office by a teacher when he was a child, though it wasn’t him who was being reprimanded.

　　 He was panicking anyway.

　　 But what he didn’t know was how calm Shao Si was inside the interrogation room.

　　 In the interrogation room.

　　 One table, three chairs.

　　 Shao Si sat on one side, and on the other side were two police officers.

　　 Sure enough, the content of what they asked about was within his expectations – it had to do with the horribly lackadaisical private investigator he had hired.

　　 “This is a detailed statement of the transactions between you and Huang Kangkang. The transactions occurred before March 18th and April 20th of this year respectively. You paid him about 40,000 yuan and had him help you follow Yang Yinyin. Was there such a thing?”

　　 Shao Si was taken aback for a moment, and then admitted: “Yes.”

　　 Of the two policemen, one was in charge of taking notes and the older one was in charge of asking questions. As they probably didn’t expect Shao Si to answer so resolutely, they were a little surprised, and the officer paused before asking the next question: “Why? Why did you need someone to follow her?”

　　 Shao Si didn’t answer this question immediately. He lowered his eyes, as if trying extremely hard to hide his emotions. After a long pause he said: “…because I had a crush on her.”

　　 The two police officers both fell silent for a while.

　　 “We met through the drama, Lady Returning to the Village…” Shao Si skillfully started to spin his narrative, his words seemingly laced with pain, “but she didn’t like me. And I’m usually very busy, but I wanted to be able to see her and know what she was doing all the time…”

　　 “Stop.” the officer rubbed his temples, “Okay, we pretty much know your situation.”

　　 Shao Si played it smart and didn’t talk any further, careful not to overdo it. 

　　 In reality, hiring a private investigator was rather contentious behaviour, but he didn’t use illegal methods like ‘phone monitoring’ and ‘computer hacking’, and simply only followed her like the paparazzi.　

　　 China’s laws around privacy weren’t considered comprehensive. Take the paparazzi staking out celebrities all day, hindering the celebrities from having normal lives. Is their behaviour illegal? Nope, not illegal.

　　 “We can understand how you feel liking a person, but this approach is really not recommended…” the police officer in charge of the questioning said, “Thank you very much for supporting us with our work. Rest assured that this information will be kept confidential.”

　　 Shao Si’s eyes fluttered shut, then opened again: “Thank you.”

　　 Two minutes later, Shao Si came out of the interrogation room.

　　 Li Guangzong’s hands had been nervously twisted into knots, his toes irritably tapping the ground. When he saw Shao Si come out, he immediately got up: “How did it go, did you explain everything that should be clearly explained? The police didn’t do anything to you, right? …You’re not being suspected of a crime, are you?”

　　 Shao Si took his jacket from Li Guangzong and put it on. He comforted Li Guangzong as he adjusted his collar: “It’s nothing, don’t think too much.”

　　 Li Guangzong waited for him to put on his jacket, then handed him the scarf: “How do I not think about it? Huh?! What kind of private investigator do you hire? What was this about, you…”

　　 After putting on the scarf, Shao Si habitually took a few looks at himself using the glass door in the hallway, and casually slapped the perverted idiot label on himself, reciting a poem: “Love, in itself, is irrational.”

　　 Li Guangzong: “……”

　　 Just as the two were about to leave through the emergency exit, two familiar people showed up in front of them.

　　 Chen Yang, Gu Yanzhou.

　　 The four people, seemingly acquainted but not truly well-acquainted, stood face to face, all silent.

　　 Li Guangzong was a little embarrassed and touched his nose: “Uh…are you also here to cooperate with the investigation?”

　　Chen Yang was also very embarrassed: “…Yes, to fulfill civic responsibilities.”

　　 Another moment of awkward silence followed.

　　 Only when Li Guangzong discreetly poked Shao Si in the back, did Shao Si make a sound: “Hello, Gu shixiong.”

　　Gu Yanzhou had an overcoat draped over his shoulders, looking clean-cut and dapper. He lifted his eyes, gaze unreadable. He also slightly nodded and said, “Hello.”

　　At this moment, a policewoman came over with a large stack of documents: “Mr. Gu, right? Come this way, please.”

　　 Gu Yanzhou signaled Chen Yang to wait for him in the area, and then followed the officer to the interrogation room.

　　For some unknown reason, the police officer seemed to remember something suddenly, and stopped walking abruptly. She turned around and shouted: “Wait a moment, Mr. Shao, please come with me as well.”

　　 When she said this, Shao Si had already almost made it to the door with his sunglasses and mask on. On hearing the lady’s voice, he froze. 

　　 Li Guangzong’s heart started to beat like crazy again: “Didn’t they already finish all the questioning?”

　　 Shao Si: “…Who knows.”

　　 In the same interrogation room as before, with the same two police officers. 

　　 But the difference was that this time, a Gu Yanzhou was sitting next to Shao Si.

　　 The older police officer unclipped his ID badge from his chest, placed it on the end of the table, and steadily pushed it toward them with his fingertips.

　　 As he slid his ID forward, he said in a deep voice: “My apologies, I didn’t reveal my identity earlier, so I’ll formally introduce myself now. My surname’s Wang, and I lead squad six of the Criminal Investigation Division, Major Crimes unit. We actually invited you here today to make a bold request – we’d like to enlist your help and support in solving a case. 

　　 Officer Wang said: “This matter’s extremely complicated, and also immensely dangerous. Of course, we absolutely won’t force your participation. After listening to the information I’ll divulge, you have the right to refuse, no matter what your reasons are.”

Author’s note:

They’re finally teaming up!

TL Lumi:

I have no words to describe how great it feels (no matter your gender) to be in a well-fitting suit and looking sharp