Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 29

Chapter 29: Sleeping in the River View Room

Qin Luo was silent the whole way, dropping Liu Jia off downstairs at Logos.

As Liu Jia pushed open the door, Qin Luo slowly said, “Jia, thank you. It’s been hard on you these past few years.”

Liu Jia, who had just stepped out of the car, was still holding the door and turned back in surprise.

She had known Qin Luo since they were children.

When she first met Qin Luo, Qin Luo was a left-behind child.

Her parents had left her in the provincial capital to work when she was three. Qin Luo had grown up with her grandmother. The two families’ elders had known each other for many years, and her grandmother would often bring Qin Luo to her house when they played mahjong. The two of them had started playing together, and it had been twenty-five years to this day.

In her heart, Qin Luo was someone who never spoiled the fun.

She would never undermine her, nor would she pour cold water on her. No matter what crazy idea she came up with, Qin Luo would agree. Even if Qin Luo didn’t want to agree, she would still go along with it.

It was actually quite difficult to be someone who never spoiled the fun.

It required a person to squeeze out a lot of themselves to bear it, to bear listening, to bear emotions, and even to spend a lot of thought to respond.

To open your arms and embrace others, you have to throw away what’s in your own hands. Qin Luo always lived elsewhere.

And Liu Jia was not a good listener. She preferred to complain.

Complain that the heavens didn’t love her, complain that all the lights were red, complain that her life was worse than a dog’s.

So she admired Qin Luo’s never-spoiling-the-fun quality.

The year she graduated from college, she was an intern at the international channel of a television station. She often worked overtime until the early hours of the morning to meet deadlines. There was no room for error in the news scripts. The daily proofreading of the text made her mind as tense as a soda bottle that had been shaken hundreds of times. She commuted to work from outside the third ring road, taking two buses and then the subway, three hours on the road, eleven hours in front of the computer. She had worked like this for three years.

Three years, and she still hadn’t saved any money.

One day, she was so tired she broke down and cried by the river. She picked up her phone but didn’t know who to call.

If she called her parents, they would urge her to go home and get married. If she called her grandmother, she realized it was already the middle of the night. So she had to call Qin Luo.

Qin Luo came to Beijing the next day and rented an apartment for her near the television station with her manuscript fees.

She had never paid Qin Luo back for that rent to this day.

But now she heard Qin Luo say thank you to her.

Why say thank you between family?

Liu Jia slung her bag over her shoulder and leaned on the car door. “Are you sick?”

Qin Luo gripped the steering wheel, her fingertips tapping lightly. “The company is said to be my responsibility internally, but in fact, you’re the one who handles everything, big and small. I was just thinking on the way here that you really have too much to worry about. I’ll think about how we can lighten Logos’s burden when I get back.”

“You’re sick.”

Liu Jia was furious. She rolled her eyes, slammed the door, and walked away. But after a few steps, she was still fuming. The two of them had big fights over Logos’s affairs every now and then. It was normal for partners to bicker. When had Qin Luo ever said thank you to her? When Qin Luo’s father had surgery and she had stayed with her overnight, she had never said thank you…

Liu Jia strode back and pulled open the door. “You’re so strange today. Is there something wrong with your medical report from last month?!”

Qin Luo frowned. “My body is fine.”

“Then what is it? Were you unhappy about what I said about Shen Yiyi just now?” Liu Jia stuck her head into the car. Qin Luo’s expression seemed quite normal.

“…”

Liu Jia sighed. “I’ll keep an eye on the live stream. I… I’m just used to complaining to you. Just listen with one ear and let it go.”

“About Shen Yiyi.” Liu Jia shook her head and said grimly, “As long as you’re happy.”

With that, she closed the door and strode away.

Qin Luo watched Liu Jia’s back disappear into the building, then started the car and drove toward the production set. She didn’t play any music on the way, didn’t reply to Liu Jia’s messages, just kept her eyes on the road ahead.

Her mind was in a mess from Liu Jia’s words.

Logos had had an incident a few years ago. A female scholar had given a closed-door lecture to the male executives of a large company and had been scolded on the trending topics for four days straight.

At that time, all of Logos’s online business was forced to a halt. Just the compensation for delayed and breached contracts from advertisers had cost Logos a large sum of money.

Closed-door lectures were a common thing for executives.

In layman’s terms, it was called a strategic closed-door meeting, a small group class for company founders and core management, to improve critical thinking and decision-making skills, expand their mental horizons, and interpret some macroeconomic policies.

For a single targeted development course from a team of scholars, a company would pay at least ten million in service fees.

Logos could make money from the service, and the contracted scholars could also get more reliable resources. Everyone benefited.

Originally, these courses were projects for elite men to play with. No executive was willing to listen to a woman lecture.

Liu Jia had come to understand after socializing with many investors at dinner parties that female executives were also unwilling to listen to men lecture. A class was filled with self-proclaimed humorous dirty jokes and outdated discrimination. It was all the same old historical and literary views. Old men always wanted to teach women something, so no investor was willing to listen to these things. They would rather sunbathe and drink tea.

So Liu Jia and Qin Luo discussed it and decided to set a precedent.

Qin Luo sought cooperation with literary scholars from universities through the resources of the Writers’ Association, and Liu Jia also poached a few social science scholars through her connections at the television station.

Logos launched its own community of scholars with a bang, and the target audience was all female investors.

The first time they had a class, more than twenty female executives came.

One of them was Li Wenping.

Sister Li had even asked Liu Jia at the time: “The Logos team isn’t a scam, is it? It doesn’t matter if I waste a few million listening to a joke, but I’ve brought a lot of sisters with me. It’ll make me look like a real idiot.”

Liu Jia didn’t say a word and chartered a plane, taking the bosses on a deep cultural tour of the northwest.

The scholars were dedicated, and the bosses were satisfied. They spent the ten-day course playing and chatting.

And just like that, Logos made a name for itself in the industry.

Later, as there were more and more scholars, Liu Jia began to set her sights on male executives.

She said that Logos had to go in and poke a hole, inject some fresh blood, refresh their worldviews, and exchange for resources.

There was no shame in making money with your head held high.

The trending topic incident was purely a case of professional jealousy.

It had started at an investment summit. A contracted scholar from Logos had attended the event, and afterward, Liu Jia had arranged a dinner for the scholars and the big bosses.

At the dinner, the group had chatted about new national policies, broadened their horizons, and exchanged resources. After dinner, they had all gone back to the hotel together.

The summit was held at a hotel, and everyone attending had to stay there. Even a picky person like Liu Jia hadn’t changed hotels.

“Women have a natural allure. Men don’t understand men. Our Logos, whose Logos is it?”

The next day, when Liu Jia woke up, a certain official account had published a long article, the whole of which was about how “the basic purpose of the female-empowering Logos is to serve men.” There were black-and-white photos of Liu Jia hugging men and drinking, videos of scholars and bosses going in and out of the hotel, and even photos from the inspection tour in Jiangxi were exposed one by one, pushing Logos to the peak of gender antagonism.

Netizens cursed Logos, and Liu Jia was so angry she laughed in her office.

She pointed at the photos and cursed:

“The teachers didn’t even take a group photo after our own closed-door class, and the rival company has now completed them all. And what’s wrong with hugging my own brother?”

“Men laugh at Logos for sucking up, and women curse Logos for being dirty and messy. The rest who didn’t curse… well… those who didn’t curse are probably just living their lives properly.”

This crisis had a huge impact. Many businesses were suspended. Liu Jia hadn’t had a good night’s sleep for several weeks trying to solve the company’s problems.

Seeing Liu Jia’s pale face, Qin Luo felt sorry for her and advised her not to be impatient, to wait and see.

But Liu Jia said that she wasn’t worried about the company, but about the reputation of the bloggers, writers, and scholars under her, who would be ruined along with Logos.

In the end, it was the aid society and the empowerment institutions that turned the tables on the rival’s slander.

Especially the few empowerment factories in the mountainous areas that they had invested in. The female bosses had told their stories with Logos over the years on their own media accounts. Logos had sent various technical teachers to the countryside to provide guidance. She had learned how to edit videos, how to operate, how to do packaging design, and how to manage at the institution. And just like that, she had expanded her orchard step by step.

The story of a single mother’s career comeback was always more convincing than a paparazzi’s photo. In addition, Logos had a good reputation with the public, and the bloggers under it also came out to clarify. Only then did Logos not fall into a reputation of being universally condemned.

It had taken them more than two years to slowly walk out of this haze.

Qin Luo had always been shaken by this incident.

So every time there was a content meeting, she would focus on avoiding risks. She also had strict background checks on contracted authors and bloggers, and the artists under the company were not allowed to socialize for business.

It was also an accident that Qin Luo had seen the extreme remarks in the live stream last night.

She had to thank the Shen Yiyi who didn’t reply to her messages.

Ever since they had had seafood porridge that day and Shen Yiyi had said goodbye at the police station, she had disappeared as if she had evaporated from the face of the earth.

No calls, no messages.

Shen Yiyi hadn’t even replied to the training notice sent by the production assistant.

Qin Luo firmly remembered Shen Yiyi’s words: “Just friends.”

She had her pride too. She couldn’t possibly disturb her.

Qin Luo couldn’t write at home and would get distracted when she read, so she opened her phone and started watching the live stream.

The host was selling baby products, and she was constantly inciting emotions against the fathers-to-be, which made Qin Luo frown.

This was what had led to her reminder to Liu Jia in the morning.

There was no rehearsal for a live stream. Words spoken from the mouth could not be taken back. Qin Luo didn’t want another storm.

The filming of Her Kill was imminent. It was Logos’s top priority this year. It couldn’t be hindered by the extreme remarks of a few hosts.

Qin Luo parked her car on the roof of the complex, took the elevator down, and ran into assistant director You Ning and cinematography director Lu Xi on the third floor.

The two were holding coffee and gossiping. The moment the elevator doors opened, You Ning looked up, saw Qin Luo, and suddenly clammed up.

“Sister Qin.”
“Screenwriter Qin.”

“Are you continuing the location scouting meeting today?” Qin Luo took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

You Ning forced a smile. “Yes, we flew to Chongqing last week. The art department still thinks there’s a problem with the location, so we’re adjusting the details of the plan.”

Qin Luo was in a bad mood and didn’t want to say much. “Okay, thank you for your hard work.”

“Hey, Sister Qin, are you coming for a drink tonight?” Lu Xi was wearing a painter’s hat today. Although it didn’t match her bald head, it suited her artistic temperament. She looked like she was involved in some shady art business. “There are two rounds, a massage first, then drinks.”

Qin Luo shook her head. “No, you guys go ahead.”

Lu Xi whined, “Come on. Sister Jia said you’re a great drinker. I want to see for myself. We’ve had dinner together several times as a crew, but I’ve never been able to get a drink with you.”

The elevator doors opened, and the three of them walked toward the internal creative meeting.

Qin Luo looked down at her watch. It was 9:30. Shen Yiyi should already be training the actors. That was good. They could still buffer some of the awkwardness.

Qin Luo asked, “What time tonight?”

“After the massage.” Lu Xi rubbed her neck. “My neck has been killing me lately.”

As Lu Xi raised her hand, the plaster under her wrist was revealed.

Seeing it, Qin Luo asked with concern, “What happened to your hand?”

Lu Xi giggled twice and put her hand in her pocket. “I was taking pictures with Little Wen and fell down the stairs. It’s not a big deal.”

“You still have to work with this hand.” Qin Luo glanced at her and joked, “Don’t think I don’t know you just started a new relationship. Who knows if you really fell.”

You Ning took a sip of her coffee and interjected, “Sister Qin, do you want some coffee? I’ll go get it for you.”

“No need.”

“So are you coming with us tonight or not?” You Ning probed.

“We’ll see after it’s over.” Qin Luo walked ahead.

Lu Xi nudged You Ning’s arm. “Alright, then you go to the conference room first. We’ll go wash our hands. We just looked at the equipment list in the warehouse.”

Qin Luo glanced around and nodded, then left.

Lu Xi nudged You Ning into the restroom with her elbow, poked her head out to wait for Qin Luo to walk a few steps away, and then turned to whisper, “Is your information reliable?”

You Ning was speechless. “I saw it with my own eyes, okay? She and that forensic pathologist were all over each other. The production assistant also said that Qin Luo has to approve every notice sent to that forensic pathologist. I went back and studied Qin Luo’s private account. She and that forensic pathologist are both from Fengjiang.”

“I don’t think it’s possible for them.” Lu Xi shook her head. “I’ve looked through her Moments. Qin Luo is such an open person. If she were in a relationship, she wouldn’t hide it.”

You Ning took out her e-cigarette from her pocket and took a drag. “It’s annoying. It’s so annoying when you can’t sleep with someone you want to.”

Lu Xi squeezed some coffee onto You Ning’s hand and walked to the sink. “If you work hard tonight, you might succeed.”

The water was running, but the gossip didn’t stop.

“Qin Luo is a great drinker. Didn’t Logos stipulate that their artists can’t socialize for business? A lot of the business is handled by Qin Luo and Liu Jia.” You Ning held two cups of coffee. “Like that boss of the casting team for Goodbye, Ah Qiao, the one who started that company with director Zhang Qi, backed by a big company. Qin Luo drank with them for three rounds, a full set of morning, noon, and night. It was hilarious. Zhang Qi ended up being carried out by a security guard.”

“Zhang Qi even tried to pursue her afterward. He specially chose a good script for Qin Luo to write. But before the contract was even signed, he got handsy at a dinner party. Qin Luo walked out on the spot. Now, Zhang Qi’s studio and Logos are like two separate wells. They avoid each other’s projects as much as possible.”

Lu Xi shook the water from her hands. “That scumbag Zhang Qi. Qin Luo should have called the police on the spot. It’s just that everyone is in the same circle and can’t afford to offend each other.”

Taking back the coffee cup, Lu Xi raised her chin. “Her river view at home is beautiful, according to her Moments. You work hard tonight. Get Sister Qin, get the river view.”

As they were talking and walking out, the door of the restroom next to them opened.

You Ning glanced over casually, and a cold shiver ran down her spine.

Damn it?!
So embarrassing?!

This… this… how did this forensic pathologist walk out of the restroom stall? Was she just in the restroom? Why didn’t she make a sound?! So she heard everything they were gossiping about her and Qin Luo?

Seeing You Ning suddenly fall silent and her face stiffen, Lu Xi turned to look.

The forensic pathologist who had been sitting opposite her at the table read was now holding her phone between her legs and washing her hands intently.