"Don't be a smartass with me. You're on the hot search again, and it's about being kept. The company's been quiet for now. If nothing unexpected happens, they're probably going to squeeze the last drop of blood out of you."
"Does he even deserve it?" Su Yao turned on the speaker and opened Weibo. Before seeing the hot search, she thought that she hadn't made any big moves recently. All the rumors were either about her arguing with reporters or baseless claims of her being a diva. But she never expected it to be 【Su Yao Is Being Kept】.
She was so angry that she almost laughed. "Do people not even need a brain to spread rumors these days?"
Li Lin looked at the video with a worried face. "I actually wish they were being brainless this time."
Su Yao clicked on the topic and saw the video. The sound was very low because she was on the phone. This was the first time this year that she had watched an entertainment news video so seriously.
The video was two minutes long. After the initial nonsense, it was the Q&A session.
Entertainment Reporter: How did you and Actress Su meet?
Du Ou: It should be the summer four years ago. She was walking towards me in a white dress, and we fell in love at first sight.
Su Yao recalled what she was doing in the summer four years ago. She realized that she was struggling to survive under her brother's control and didn't even have time to change clothes, let alone the plot of "walking past him in a white dress" that only appeared in stupid, angsty romance novels.
Entertainment Reporter: What made you two confirm your relationship?
Du Ou: She was filming a drama at that time, and I often visited the set. So we got together.
Well, that's a good one.
Visiting the set? Visit your mother.
Su Yao really burst out laughing this time. "Does this idiot really think I'm the kind of person who has no resources and has to sell my body to become famous?"
"Don't listen to his nonsense. He's not even worthy of tying your shoelaces." Li Lin said skillfully to comfort her.
Pei Yan came over with a box of ice cream and heard a man's voice. He whispered, "On the phone?"
Su Yao nodded to signal him to wait and continued discussing with Li Lin about what was wrong with people these days. How could they be regressing?
"They're not regressing." Li Lin told her to search for a small account named [There's Nothing I Don't Know] and let her see that they had planned this carefully. "See this photo? It's the evidence."
Su Yao clicked on the photo of the two hugging. She looked at it carefully for a while and said helplessly, "Kid, you're the one who's regressed. When did my hair get that long?"
Li Lin scoffed. "If you're asking me, who should I ask? Do you want me to help you contact a lawyer and send a lawyer's letter?"
"No, I have my own lawyer. Don't worry about the situation on Weibo. Those idiots can only spread rumors. They can't dig out a single piece of dirt on me." After saying that, Su Yao hung up the phone before Li Lin could ask about the dirt.
Pei Yan opened the lid and took out a spoon from the cutlery box he always carried. He handed it to her and asked, "Because of work?"
"Yes, someone is spreading rumors that I'm being kept."
Su Yao typed a Weibo post with one hand holding the spoon and the other typing. "I don't know what they're thinking."
Pei Yan squinted his eyes and responded with a soft "Yeah" as his fingers lightly tapped on the table.
After Su Yao finished editing and sent the post, she put down her phone and focused on the ice cream. Under the light blue ice cream ball were fruits and crushed peanuts. "Their sea salt ice cream ball is absolutely amazing. It's such a pity that you can't eat cold food."
"However," Su Yao scooped up half a spoonful of ice cream and held it to his mouth. "A little bit should be okay. Let you taste it."
She coaxed him, "Don't be afraid. If you get a stomachache, I'll take care of you."
"Okay..." Pei Yan ate the ice cream expressionlessly, thinking that her habit of forcing others to share things when she was in a bad mood still hadn't changed.
At this moment, Weibo was in an uproar because of Su Yao's words.
【Su Yao: Who the hell are you calling ugly? Look at the measly amount in your account. Do you even deserve to keep me?】
Su Yao finished the ice cream and looked at her phone. She found that the screen was filled with Weibo messages. There was a fierce battle on Weibo. Su Yao's fans and haters were arguing with each other, and with the passers-by who saw the news, it was like a bustling marketplace. One comment after another popped up. Su Yao exaggeratedly threw her phone aside.
"Can these people stop @ me? I have to clean up the unread messages. I hate seeing those red dots." Su Yao complained.
"Yaoyao, you're a public figure. I know you have a straightforward personality, but you should pay more attention to your words and deeds." Pei Yan pushed his glasses and said calmly.
"I've been posting Weibo like this for years." Su Yao didn't care.
"Doesn't it always cause a stir?" Pei Yan continued to persuade Su Yao calmly.
"Lawyer Pei, we've made new progress in this case." Bai Linglong's voice suddenly appeared between them. "We have new clues."
"What is it? Hurry up and tell us." Su Yao got excited when she heard this and quickly urged Bai Linglong to continue.
"It's a business card on the deceased, Sun Shan. This business card wasn't burned because it was tightly held in the deceased's hand." As Bai Linglong said this, she despised her inefficient colleagues in City C in her heart. It was just a post - mortem. In City B where she used to work, it could be done in minutes. But in City C, this case was almost ruled as a suicide. There were clearly so many doubts in this death case.
"Business card? Is it his own business card?" Su Yao couldn't wait to ask. Her expression made Pei Yan on the opposite side can't help but want to cover his forehead: There must be something hidden behind this charred body case. This Su Yao still wanted to be a detective. It seemed that he had to put in more effort to fulfill her detective dream.
"No, it's Zhou Zheng's." Bai Linglong ignored Su Yao's guess. After she finished speaking, she glanced at Pei Yan to see the reaction of this famous lawyer.
"What? He knew Zhou Zheng? How did they meet? Are these two cases related?" Su Yao's expression and tone were already unbearable for Pei Yan and Bai Linglong, who were both experienced in handling cases. Although Pei Yan was also quite surprised when he heard this news, he had handled so many strange cases that he was used to it.
"The most important thing is that the name on the business card is Zhou Zheng, but his work unit is in another city. We've contacted Zhou Zheng's parents, and they confirmed that this is the city where he said he was going to start a business."
Bai Linglong was very satisfied with her work efficiency, and her tone was a bit proud.
If she hadn't made that mistake when handling cases in City B, how could she have come to such a city where even the criminal police were so casual?
"And this work unit, we've verified that it's a newly - established internet game company. The position on the business card is business manager." Bai Linglong finally finished saying all the information.
"You're really keeping us in suspense. It took you so long to talk about a business card. I'm dying of impatience." Su Yao ignored the ringing of her phone and started to complain about Bai Linglong.
"Yaoyao, analyze it. Why did Sun Shan have Zhou Zheng's business card in his hand? And why was he still holding it tightly before he died?" Pei Yan finally couldn't stand this new detective's shouting and interrupted Su Yao.
"Well, since he was still holding it tightly when he was dying, it must be something very important. Maybe this Zhou Zheng is the murderer?
No, no. Zhou Zheng is already dead. It can't be him. Did someone give him this business card? Who was it? Why did they give him the business card?"
In Pei Yan's opinion, Su Yao's analysis proved that she still had the potential to be a detective. She had just analyzed two key points.
"Yes, the appearance of this business card represents three things: First, the case of Sun Shan is not an isolated and accidental event, but is related to Zhou Zheng's case.
Second, this business card was indeed very important to the deceased, so it was preserved after his death.
Third, who gave Sun Shan this business card and for what purpose? Or did Sun Shan just pick it up on the street?" Pei Yan translated Su Yao's reasoning into professional doubts that could be further investigated.
"..." The three of them were silent for a moment, only Su Yao's phone kept ringing.
"My God, it can't be?" Su Yao finally picked up her phone. The news on it seemed to shock her.
"Lawyer Pei, I still have other clues to follow up. You guys continue to work. I'm leaving." Bai Linglong was a bit dissatisfied and a bit surprised by Su Yao's out - of - the - ordinary behavior. Wasn't she a big star? How could her private personality be like this? It was really unexpected.
Su Yao started to scroll through the messages on her phone one by one. Her eyebrows were sometimes tightly knitted and sometimes showed a contemptuous smile. Her expression was very colorful.
Pei Yan, sitting opposite her, looked at Su Yao with an expression of "I'm used to it" and buried his head in organizing the case files.
But the peace didn't last for a few minutes. The door of the room was suddenly pushed open with a "bang". "Sister Yao, you're still here? Do you know what's going on? How can you still sit still?" Li Lin's panicked voice and panicked face appeared between them.
Su Yao was still looking at her phone and ignored Li Lin.
Pei Yan had never seen Su Yao's agent so flustered. He was a bit curious about what had happened. However, considering Su Yao's position in their circle, it shouldn't be too difficult for them to handle.
"Sister Yao, we're all trying to come up with a solution. Could you say something?" Li Lin saw that Su Yao was silent and urged her even more anxiously.
"Yaoyao, what's going on?" Pei Yan finally asked.
"Lawyer Pei, don't you read the news? Take a look. It's all over the internet now!" Li Lin was already getting impatient.
Pei Yan finally realized the seriousness of the situation. He opened his phone, and the first message that popped up made him cover his forehead for the second time today.
He, Pei Yan, was always known for his cold and rational personality. He never expected that this Su Yao had the ability to make him lose his composure.
"Linlin, we don't need to deal with this." Su Yao said calmly.
"Miss, this kind of thing is very important to your career. How can you just ignore it?" Su Yao's words left Li Lin and Pei Yan confused.
【Is the Rumor of Being Kept Confirmed?! Actress Su Yao Has Actually Done Such a Thing? Get Out of the Entertainment Industry!】
This was the first message Pei Yan saw... Pei Yan, a lawyer who had seen many storms, began to wonder if today was an inauspicious day. This Su Yao really had the ability to make him cover his forehead three times in one day.