The two of them entered the lobby.
As they walked toward the front desk, two young women carrying various bags brushed past them, bearing some resemblance to celebrity assistants.
As they walked, the two women kept searching the lobby with their eyes, their faces full of anxiety, clearly looking for someone.
One of them said, “She said she’d just sleep in her room for two hours, but now she’s gone, and her phone’s not answering. She just up and left the entire film crew, and now David’s here waiting to do her makeup. Why is she being so willful now? She’s about to wear us all out.”
Lu Yan gave the two a thoughtful look before turning back and walking to the front desk with Xiao Zhou.
“Hello,” Lu Yan opened WeChat and found the verification information sent by the organizers, passing it over. “I’m a participant in the Guanhua Cup competition and would like to check in.”
“Certainly.” The front desk quickly confirmed Lu Yan’s information on the computer.
Just then, several men in their twenties or thirties walked past, all well-dressed, maintaining polite but distant smiles, as if they were heading to a business meeting.
Among them was a tall man, seemingly the youngest, who had already walked past but happened to glance at Lu Yan and stopped.
After careful observation, a hint of uncertainty flashed in his eyes, but he still whispered something to his companions before walking toward Lu Yan.
Xiao Zhou, highly alert, immediately looked at the man.
However, the man showed good judgment, stopping about a meter away from Lu Yan. Looking at her, he nervously cleared his throat before speaking: “Excuse me, are you Lu Yan?”
Lu Yan turned to face him.
He looked somewhat familiar.
After a few seconds, her expression stiffened – wasn’t this the student from the neighboring school who had stalked her in senior year?
His surname seemed to be Feng, from the neighboring school’s basketball team. After that incident, she had a deep impression of him, and if she remembered correctly, Tang Jie had recently told her that this person was now married with children and seemed to be a good husband and father, at least appearing much more normal than before.
But whether he still had psychological issues, probably only he knew.
She raised an eyebrow slightly, what a coincidence to run into him here.
Seeing Lu Yan’s cool silence, the man smiled wryly: “Your expression tells me you recognize me. Yes, I’m the one who ‘stalked’ you back then. I’m Feng Lin. Never expected to run into you here, but there’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for many years. Since we’ve met, please let me say it: Look, Classmate Lu, there was a misunderstanding back then – I’m not a pervert.”
Lu Yan watched him guardedly; if Xiao Zhou hadn’t been beside her, she probably would have left immediately.
But his demeanor and tone had somewhat piqued her curiosity.
Given that her safety was assured, she didn’t want to appear too discourteous, so she gave a slight smile and waited for him to continue.
Feng Lin spoke very quickly as if afraid Lu Yan would leave before he finished.
“I’m quite a positive person, and when I like a girl, I pursue her. I saw you during the preliminary competition, and I didn’t know Jiang Chengyi from your school was also pursuing you then. I bought gifts wanting to give them to you, but since we weren’t from the same school, I didn’t dare approach you directly. Yes, I did follow you once then, but I purely wanted to get to know you, with absolutely no ill intentions. Somehow Jiang Chengyi found out and decided I was a pervert. Ah, Classmate Lu, I really couldn’t defend myself then. Later, whenever I tried to explain this to anyone, they’d shut me down with one question: ‘Just admit it – did you follow the girl or not?’
“Yes, I did follow you, but just that one time. After the incident became known, I felt frustrated, always wanting to explain things to you, but never found the chance. Then everyone went to university, and the matter gradually faded. But Classmate Lu, since we’ve met today, I must clarify this: back then, I was just an ordinary admirer. Though my approach was inappropriate, it was just that one time.”
His tone was very sincere.
Lu Yan wasn’t someone who easily trusted others, but after hearing this confession and seeing his sincere expression, she actually felt somewhat swayed.
“I don’t expect you to believe me,” Feng Lin shook his head with a smile. “I’m happy with my family now, and after so many years, if I hadn’t brought it up, no one would know about this. But honestly, if I had something to hide, I wouldn’t have approached you just now after recognizing you. Well, whether you believe me or not, these words were eight years late, but being able to get them all out makes me feel a bit better. You must have been quite popular back then because when I was preparing to give you gifts, I noticed there was another boy following you. I remember he was quite small and thin, fair-skinned. I saw him wearing a No. 7 Middle School uniform and thought he was from your school, but later when he took off his jacket, the basketball jersey underneath didn’t look like No. 7’s uniform, so I wasn’t sure anymore. Well, anyway, I didn’t hear about any other incidents afterward, so I didn’t think much of it. Alright, Classmate Lu, thank you for listening to my explanation.”
After saying this, Feng Lin seemed to have finally resolved a long-standing concern. He nodded at Lu Yan with a smile and turned to leave, while Lu Yan remained lost in thought until the front desk reminded her to take her room key.
“Dr. Lu,” Xiao Zhou said with a grin, “so our Captain Jiang pursued you back in high school.”
Lu Yan nodded absently.
She remembered clearly that back then, that person had stalked her more than once because whether she was leaving evening self-study to enter the residential complex or going alone to math olympiad classes, she could always feel someone following behind her. Sometimes she could even hear footsteps, especially noticeable in the evening.
It wasn’t until she officially got together with Jiang Chengyi, who then accompanied her everywhere, that the feeling of being stalked completely disappeared.
She had always thought it was because they had caught Feng Lin, but apparently, there had been another thin student who had followed her.
“Ding—” The elevator chimed.
The two entered the elevator.
Inside the room, Xiao Zhou intentionally left the door open, first scanning everywhere out of professional habit, then properly sat down in a chair, taking out his phone to call Jiang Chengyi.
Lu Yan hesitated before walking over to close the door.
Just as the door was about to close but wasn’t completely shut, two people walked by in the hallway, not noticing Lu Yan’s movement. One person said in a low voice to the other: “I’ve been in this industry for so many years, how could I not judge whether news is true or false? I’m telling you, Zhang Dashan registered his marriage with Zheng Xiaowen, and it just happened on Monday! This was supposed to be your brother’s exclusive scoop, but somehow the news leaked, and now those bastards are all here staking out Zheng Xiaowen. Don’t even mention it – a perfect headline stolen, your brother is really upset now.”
The other person whispered back: “So that’s what’s going on. But think about it, how many years has Zheng Xiaowen been with Zhang Dashan? When she was eighteen or nineteen and still studying at the Film Academy, wasn’t she already unofficially with Zhang Dashan? After all these years, she’s finally made it official.”
Their voices gradually faded away.
Lu Yan closed the door and turned to look at Xiao Zhou, only to find his expression particularly grave.
“Dr. Lu,” Xiao Zhou said to her, “Captain Jiang suspects the perpetrator is at the film base, and they’re coming right away. This area will be sealed off soon, and Captain Jiang says we should stay put in the room.”
“The suspect is at the film base?” Lu Yan recalled what Feng Lin had said earlier, something quickly flashing through her mind.
Her thoughts were slightly chaotic, realizing she needed to calm down and think. She sat on the edge of the bed thinking for a while, and the more she thought, the more something felt wrong.
So there had been another short student who had stalked her back then.
And now the killer was at the film base. Somehow, she remembered Zheng Xiaowen making that wish with tarot cards at Da Zhong’s birthday party that night, feeling an oddly subtle coincidence.
After much consideration, she decided to call Jiang Chengyi, but after several attempts, his line was always busy.
Xiao Zhou tried too, but still couldn’t get through.
They tried Old Qin and this time it connected.
“Old Qin, this is Xiao Zhou. We have important information to provide—”
“Quick, tell me, we’re busy here.”
“Dr. Lu might have been stalked by the killer in the past, but she’s not entirely sure if it was the killer, though the person might not have been a No. 7 Middle School student.”
“What’s all this about No. 7 Middle School? The killer is Wen Peng!” Old Qin was so agitated sparks seemed to fly. “That celebrity, Zheng Xiaowen, disappeared from the film base at noon, and that’s not all – Wen Peng disappeared at the same time. Wen Peng was already a suspect, and now with this happening, everyone suspects Zheng Xiaowen is Wen Peng’s next target. Worst of all, Zheng Xiaowen’s assistant just found a ‘threatening’ recording left by Wen Peng in her room. The female assistant panicked and called every one, spreading the news. Look, I can’t talk now, just protect Dr. Lu well. We’re arriving at the film base now, and we’ll have to launch a search operation in the area immediately.”
As they were about to continue talking, a commotion erupted in the hallway, sounding like many people rushing out of their rooms simultaneously, footsteps thundering.
Someone shouted excitedly: “Finally caught a breaking headline in my lifetime! I’ve already thought of the title: ‘Popular Actress Zheng Xiaowen Missing, Suspected Connection to Murder Case!'”
Countless people surged outward.
The situation unfolded so suddenly that Lu Yan felt as if a gun had gone off beside her ear, blood rushing to her head.