Zhang Xiaobai was ordinarily a very clean person. If even the slightest bit of dirt got on his hands, he would wash them over and over several times before stopping.

To put it plainly, this person had severe germaphobia!

He was twenty-five this year, five years younger than Wang Jun. He had been with the Zhao Family Troupe for ten years now. When he first entered the profession, Troupe Master Tao had personally trained him, so privately some people spread rumors saying he was actually Troupe Master Tao’s son, but these rumors eventually came to nothing.

Back when Wang Jun was still a clown role performer, Zhang Xiaobai was already considered half a male lead. He had extremely delicate features, fair and clean. Five years ago, Troupe Master Tao had originally planned to make him the Zhao Family Troupe’s male lead, but who could have known that the then-clown Wang Jun would catch Zhao Zhuang’er’s eye and even marry him, thus gaining powerful backing. Because of this relationship, plus business dealings, Troupe Master Tao could only temporarily change his decision, promoting Wang Jun to male lead, while Zhang Xiaobai slipped away like a loach in water, continuing as the male lead’s understudy.

He had been doing this until now.

Now that Wang Jun had disappeared this time, he finally had the chance to go on stage as a replacement. Just when he was about to overshadow Wang Jun, who would have expected such a thing to happen!

Zhang Xiaobai poured tea into the cup he had already wiped clean, lifted it and took a delicate sip, but finding the tea unpalatable, he set it down again. His phoenix eyes swept over everyone, and with the exaggerated tone of an opera singer, he said, “You all think Song Zhi is too timid to kill someone, but I think that fellow is quite bold.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it—he could even write a ghost play like ‘The Ghost Bride Buries Her Husband,’ which shows his heart must be quite bold. Killing someone might be a piece of cake for him! Also, it seems like he had no quarrel with Wang Jun, but who can say for certain what happened privately?” Zhang Xiaobai’s thin lips curved in a cold laugh.

That expression made one want to beat him to death.

Actually, everyone disliked Zhang Xiaobai, especially his usual haughty attitude. Just because he had fair skin, his eyes looked up at the sky.

So they stopped engaging with him!

At this moment—

The red-clothed woman said in a sarcastic, lowered voice, “By the way, what if… what Song Zhi said was true, and he really did come to the theater that day to return a gift to Wang Jun, then… where did that bundle go?”

Uh!

This immediately brought a stretch of silence!

This was actually everyone’s question too.

Each person looked at one another.

One person said, “Could it be… someone really lied?”

“Nonsense!” A young female role performer in the troupe said, “This kind of thing isn’t a joke. Why would someone lie about taking the bundle? It’s just a few worn clothes, is it worth it?”

It really wasn’t worth it.

But—

“What if the person who took the bundle… is the murderer?”

“Is the murderer sick or something? Why take a bundle?”

“Mm… true!”

Earlier, Ji Yinshu had already speculated—if a thief stole the bundle, why would they only steal those few sets of clothes and not steal the more valuable items on the table? This was completely illogical!

If the bundle was taken by the murderer, then wouldn’t the murderer’s purpose be to frame Song Zhi? But Song Zhi had neither money nor power—what would be the point of framing him? This point didn’t work either.

So that bundle became a mystery.

Unless Song Zhi had been lying from beginning to end!

But there was no way to determine this now.

Everyone fell into deep thought—

Suddenly, someone said, “Zhang Xiaobai, before Wang Jun became the male lead, you were almost the pillar of our Zhao Family Troupe. Later, because of Boss Zhao, you became Wang Jun’s understudy. You’ve been an understudy for five years—are you really content with this in your heart?”

Oh my!

Anyone with any sense knew what those words meant.

They were plainly suggesting whether Zhang Xiaobai might have developed murderous intent because of this!

Zhang Xiaobai raised his eyebrows and shot that person a sidelong glance, asking, “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing, just saying it casually.”

“A dog’s mouth can’t spit out ivory.” Zhang Xiaobai’s skill at cursing people was also exceptional.

He could insult heaven and earth!

Almost everyone in the Zhao Family Troupe had been insulted by him.

Although everyone felt uncomfortable in their hearts, they were helpless because they couldn’t out-curse him, so they could only endure it.

But that troublemaker seemed to have eaten the heart and gall of a bear, continuing, “Everyone knows you and Wang Jun had the worst relationship. Could it be…”

When Zhang Xiaobai heard this, he picked up his teacup and threw it at that person.

But it was caught steadily!

“Why get so angry? I’m just saying it casually.”

“I do resent Wang Jun for stealing my role, but I don’t do that kind of disgusting thing.” He snorted, lifted his rear end, and left.

Everyone also felt it was quite boring.

“Let’s all disperse. It’s so late and no one’s coming to watch performances anyway.”

Without performances at the theater, sitting around like this was pointless.

So they all dispersed.

Zhang Xiaobai angrily returned to his room, immediately closed the door, and took out a bottle of medicinal ointment from the cabinet and twisted it open.

He removed his upper garment.

As soon as the clothes came off, the several scabbed-over scratch marks on his chest were revealed.

Although they weren’t deep, for someone with germaphobia like Zhang Xiaobai, he absolutely couldn’t tolerate even half a scar on his body, so he treated them very carefully.

He poured out some medicinal powder and was just about to apply it—

“Knock knock knock…”

Someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it!”

“It’s me, Xiao Jiang.”

Xiao Jiang, an odd-job worker in the troupe!

Zhang Xiaobai asked, “What is it?”

The person outside replied, “The costume you asked me to wash earlier has been cleaned and I’m bringing it to you.”

“Wait a moment…”

“Hurry up and open the door! It’s freezing me to death out here this late at night.” Xiao Jiang was shivering outside from the cold, knocking on the door insistently.

Zhang Xiaobai really had no choice and started to panic. When he stood up, he accidentally knocked over the medicine bottle.

White medicinal powder spilled all over him.

He quickly righted the fallen bottle, patted the powder off his body, then called out, “Just leave it at the door.”

“This costume was just washed clean—won’t it get dirty again if I put it on the ground? What are you busy with? Hurry and open the door.”

With no alternative, Zhang Xiaobai didn’t have time to apply the medicine. He quickly put on his clothes, hid the medicine away, and went to open the door.

When he opened the door, he hadn’t yet finished putting on his clothes and was hurriedly tying his waist sash.

Xiao Jiang stood at the door holding several sets of freshly washed costumes. Seeing his disheveled appearance, he suddenly smiled, looked inside, and asked, “In your room… you couldn’t be hiding some beauty, could you?”

“What nonsense are you talking?”

“Look at yourself.”

Zhang Xiaobai swallowed and explained, “I was just about to go to sleep.”

“Why so nervous?”

Zhang Xiaobai glared at him, took the costumes from his hands, and said, “Alright, you should leave now.”

He moved to close the door!

But Xiao Jiang blocked the door and squeezed right in. “What’s the rush? Everyone’s gone off to sleep, how boring! I came to chat with you for a bit.”

“I need to rest.”

“Don’t you usually go to sleep the latest?”