Chapter 122 – Falling From Grace (1)

Lan Jinyao recalled that on the second day after she’d arrived on set, she’d asked Jiang Cheng, “What if this drama makes you lose money?” and Jiang Cheng had answered, “Since I’ve chosen this industry, then there’s bound to be profit and loss. No one could guarantee a profit all the time.”

She then asked again, “What if it was not by force majeure, but due to human factors?”

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng pondered for a moment before he suddenly changed his previously serious attitude and replied with a smile, “Truth to be told, I haven’t invested much money in this drama. I had long guessed that this drama wouldn’t result in anything. In fact, the actors have already guessed this outcome, but they still choose to cooperate anyway as they all have their own purposes they want to achieve.”

Jiang Cheng said that he’d already guessed that, so he didn’t invest much money in the drama. He also said that he didn’t lose money, but made a profit instead. As to why he’d made a profit, he explained it vaguely and only mentioned that he’d achieved his goal.

As he had said himself, he was already aware of what her real objective was and what she wanted to do.

Therefore, even though that man was neither a staff member nor part of the production team, he could also enter the set unimpeded and find Shen Wei’an without a hitch.

Lan Jinyao thought that she was a step too late and was unexpectedly forestalled by Xu Hao.

Under the watchful eyes of so many people, after Shen Wei’an had splashed tea on Lan Jinyao, Li Qi started to keep close to Lan Jinyao. Whenever Shen Wei’an neared Lan Jinyao, he would stand guard in front of Lan Jinyao, precautiously staring at Shen Wei’an.

Lan Jinyao deliberately let the production team stagger her part, but Li Qi had unexpectedly started keeping watch over her.

On the set, Shen Wei’an and Xu Hao were currently acting together in a scene, and her acting skills were still as showy as usual. Xu Hao’s acting, on the other hand, was more professional.

Everyone was focused on the two people in the scene. Lan Jinyao looked around and then lowered her voice and said to Li Qi, “I’m going to the bathroom!”

“Alright, if you need me…”

Lan Jinyao hurriedly interrupted and said, “No need! You stay right here; you don’t need to follow me.”

After saying this, she felt that she’d overreacted, so she gently added, “My phone is here, and Shen Wei’an might play another trick on me when she takes a rest. Please help me keep an eye out, I’ll be right back.”

Li Qi nodded upon hearing this.

In fact, Li Qi was an extremely clever person. He’d been with Lan Jinyao for so long already that even if he wasn’t very clear about her affairs, he understood one thing and that was: the relationship between her and Shen Wei’an wasn’t good. It could be said that the relationship between her and Shen Wei’an was as incompatible as fire and water. If Lan Jinyao didn’t want to talk about it, then he wouldn’t ask.

Lan Jinyao went to Xu Hao’s room, but he was very cautious and had locked his door. Lan Jinyao stood in a daze at the doorway. If she’d guessed correctly, the things that Xu Hao had photographed must be in this room. But, how could she get in there without alerting Xu Hao?

While Lan Jinyao was lost in her thoughts, she was suddenly patted on the shoulder by someone. She turned around, and when she saw the man’s face, she let out a cry of surprise. “You…”

Her mouth was covered, and her words were cut off.

“You have a problem with Xu Hao? If you want to sabotage him, I can help you!”

The person who’d spoken was Jiang Cheng, he stayed almost every day on set these days and never left. It was as if he didn’t have to manage his other properties at all.

Lan Jinyao wanted to deny his earlier question, but then she saw the string of keys that Jiang Cheng was dangling in front of her. There was the spare key to Xu Hao’s room!

Jiang Cheng smiled somewhat equivocally at her. “I said that I can help you.”

He thought that she was trying to play a trick on Xu Hao? If that was really so, then he’d indeed misunderstood her.

Lan Jinyao tried to hide her actual intention and her eyes spun around a few times. “I don’t have any problems with Xu Hao,” she said. “I just passed by here on my way to my room to get something.”

“Oh~” Jiang Cheng elongated his tone and looked at her with a smirk.

Lan Jinyao was a very good actress. She could fool anyone if she wanted to, but at this moment, in the eyes of this canny, successful man, her acting skills made her look like a clown performing a comical act instead. He obviously knew everything yet he pretended not to know anything at all.

Following this, Lan Jinyao was about to go back to her room when Jiang Cheng put the key in her hand and whispered, “Here’s the key. Whatever you want to do, I won’t stop you. As I said, not everyone present is here for money; they all have their own objectives.”

Then, Jiang Cheng left as if nothing had ever happened.

Lan Jinyao stared at the key in her hand and frowned. What exactly did he want? She didn’t believe that she had enough charm to make Jiang Cheng give her a helping hand. This man must have other motives.

Something flashed through Lan Jinyao’s mind, but it quickly disappeared before she could grasp it.

Currently, it was quiet in her surroundings as everyone had gone to watch the recording, so Lan Jinyao was alone as she stood in the corridor. She stared at the key in her hand again and gritted her teeth before quickly unlocking the door.

All the rooms here were the same, so Lan Jinyao finished looking through all the drawers very soon. She opened them one by one, only to find that there was nothing inside them.

She searched the wardrobe, drawers, and even the spot behind the toilet tank where things could be hidden. Lan Jinyao, like a thief, rummaged through the stuff in the room, but she still couldn’t find the thing she wanted.

After a while, Lan Jinyao stopped searching. Now, she had two options. One was to keep looking, and the other was to wait for that man to come another time.

After thinking about it for a while, Lan Jinyao decisively chose the first option.

Her eyes then fell on the notebook. When Xu Hao had arrived, his Manager was carrying a bag with him. At that time, Li Qi had jokingly asked Xu Hao’s Manager.“Are you here on holiday? Such a big bag must be loaded with clothes, right?”

Presumably, that bag wasn’t filled with clothes, but with a camera and a laptop instead. Clothes were just an excuse to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes.

Honestly, why would an actor bring a laptop with him when he was there to shoot a drama? At a glance, one would deduce that his purpose wasn’t that simple. Come to think of it, Xu Hao had come prepared this time.

Following that, Lan Jinyao closed the door and turned on Xu Hao’s laptop.

After anxiously having turned the laptop on, she saw a password prompt on the screen; the moment she saw that she really wanted to smash that laptop.