Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 65p2

Chapter 65 p2: Someone Died

The battle between Logos and Ranmei was the king of traffic in the entertainment circle recently. As long as you surfed the internet, you could find relevant information about the black material of the two companies.

Shang Yi had also taken action for this.

He had even used the several self-media companies under him to launch an attack on Ranmei, especially some bot accounts that specialized in gender antagonism, which had posted posts praising Ranmei in a leading manner, doing the opposite.

Large media matrix companies all loved to play this kind of trick.

They would buy and sell bot accounts with a basic amount of traffic from private individuals. Usually, the prices of these accounts ranged from tens of thousands to a few thousand yuan. They would have their operators select controversial topics and continuously drive traffic until the volume of comments on this media was large enough, and then they would sell it to a public relations company.

Of course, if the remarks of this account were too extreme, they would also analyze the legal risks, and after an assessment, they would be transferred to an individual by a downstream company. This way, they would not only make money from the transfer, but the chances of being sued would also be small.

Foreign lobbying and consulting firms particularly loved to buy and sell accounts with Shang Yi, paying millions in public opinion fees to stir up a market crisis, and then turning around and charging tens of millions in consulting fees from large enterprises.

Shang Yi had made his fortune by eating foreign subsidies, and then had laundered his reputation by investing in educational institutions. An entertainment agency like Logos, with scholars and new forces, was naturally his favorite.

He was not afraid of wasting these tens of thousands of traffic accounts. What he wanted was a more stable market development for Logos, a decisive say in the track.

So under Liu Jia’s efforts, Ranmei had completely become a “burning eyebrow,” and Logos had magnificently disappeared from the cusp of the storm with the help of others’ scandals.

But it wasn’t a complete disappearance. Qin Luo would still be scolded. Netizens had split from different groups and had become all kinds of missiles, attacking every part of her body. They would even scold her for wearing nude nail polish at a public welfare event.

And on the other end, Qin Luo was tossing and turning in her big bed, unable to sleep, her mind full of the hot kiss with Shen Yiyi.

At three in the morning, Qin Luo found her small private account, a book blogger with a pseudonym. She couldn’t help but post a blog post:

“Kissing is so intoxicating.”

This account had tens of thousands of followers, all of whom had followed her because of the book lottery and their shared love of reading. They had never expected the blogger to post a personal update and were shocked in the comment section:

[This account? A real person?]
[What book did the blogger read? It’s making my heart go wild.]
[Did the operator switch to the wrong account?]

Qin Luo replied: No, I just wanted to show off how good kissing feels.

Just two minutes later, she received a congratulatory message from her former assistant, Wang Dapao, on WeChat:

[Sister, I saw your Little Red Book. Your private life has been very rich recently!]

She had forgotten. Assistant Wang usually had to help her with her copy and had followed all her platform accounts.

But it was also good to be seen. At least she had an old acquaintance to share her happiness with.

Former assistant: [How come you got into a relationship just a month after I left?]
Qin Luo replied: [Your internet surfing skills are as fast as your hookups.]
Former assistant: [Haha, congratulations on the arrival of spring for the peony.]
Qin Luo replied: […]
Former assistant: [Is the reading group still okay? Have you found a new assistant?]

Seeing the reading group, the smile on Qin Luo’s lips instantly faded.

She typed: [Little Zhan has taken your place.]
Former assistant: [Ah… is that the volunteer Zhan Luo? He’s a very warm-hearted person, very diligent, and reliable. He’s very good.]

Qin Luo replied with a “mm” emoji.

Former assistant: [Hahahaha, but he’s definitely not as good as me! Without me, isn’t the reading group boring?]

Qin Luo sent a smile.

A few simple words from her former assistant had made the history of the reading group flash before Qin Luo’s eyes. She still remembered the nights Little Wang had stayed up to invite guests, and the grievances he had suffered for the members.

Qin Luo asked her: [Do you think my decision to put the reading group on a video website back then was the right one?]
[Of course it was right. More people saw it, and it spread more widely. It’s not just the thirty-something members who can experience the reading group. Every subscriber can also benefit.]

Qin Luo asked again: [Was it right to let it accept investment, to be surrounded by advertisers, to become a beautiful business card?]

It took two minutes for Assistant Wang to reply:

[The original meaning of the reading group was to find a place to rest in reading.]
[Who cares if it’s a broken bus station or a commercial train station now? In the end, its existence is for resting.]
[Besides, what’s wrong with being commercial? Now even knowledge-based bloggers have to have paid subscriptions. Our reading group’s high-quality reading content is already a charity for being free. Without investors and advertisers, where would the money to invite guests come from? Who would pay the production team’s salary?]

Qin Luo couldn’t remember anything about the kissing.

She replied to the other: [Then when are you coming back? The assistant position will always be reserved for you.]
Wang Dapao: [Let’s see how long this relationship lasts. If I run out of money and we break up, I’ll come back to you immediately.]
Qin Luo: [Is it easy to be in a relationship?]
[It depends on what kind of relationship quality you’re pursuing. My personal view on relationships is not worth sharing. It’s easy to get hurt.]

Qin Luo replied with a “mm” emoji.

Then she typed: [Then let’s talk another day.]

On Wednesday morning, Qin Luo arrived at the production early.

She first sorted out the matters that had been delayed for two weeks, and then talked to the production team about the matter of separating Logos and Her Kill.

After all, Logos’s reputation was still stinking. Liu Jia and the other producers did not want to affect the movie’s release, including the later promotion.

The production assistant came into the conference room with a file. Qin Luo was looking down at the materials.

“Screenwriter Qin, Director Shen seems to be waiting for you in the corridor.”

“Waiting for me?” Qin Luo threw the materials on the table, abandoned the work group that was about to negotiate the schedule, and stood up to walk out. “Where is she waiting for me?”

The assistant smiled. “At the entrance of the conference room next door.”

The great Screenwriter Qin said thank you with a smile and ran out in her high heels. As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw Shen Yiyi.

Shen Yiyi was wearing a clean black T-shirt and was pacing with her hands behind her back. Her hair was tied up neatly, and even her gait was particularly cute.

“Are you looking for me?”

Shen Yiyi came back to her senses and looked up, asking seriously, “Have you eaten?”

“Not yet.”

Shen Yiyi moved her hands from behind her back to the front and held up a bag of buns. “Here.”

Her tone was very serious, as if if she didn’t finish the buns, she would be taken down on the spot.

But actually, even without Shen Yiyi being so serious, Qin Luo would have been taken down on the spot.

Qin Luo walked up quickly and, without any hesitation, put her arm around her waist. “Did you buy them?”

She was too close, and the perfume was too cloying. Shen Yiyi leaned back slightly, resisting the urge to break free from the confinement on her waist. “My roommate’s girlfriend bought too many.”

Oh right, she couldn’t pull the rope too tight.

Qin Luo tactfully let go of her hand, took the buns, and at the same time, gave her a push and pull. “Then should I thank you, or thank someone else?”

“You don’t have to thank anyone. Just thank the food.” Shen Yiyi took out a bottle of mineral water from her bag and handed it to Qin Luo. “I have an online meeting this afternoon, so I won’t be having lunch with you.”

Was this a proactive report?

Qin Luo was so charmed she was a little at a loss. She reached out and tidied the hair by Director Shen’s ear. “Then what do you want to eat? I’ll bring it to the conference room for you.”

“No need. I can take care of it myself.”

Shen Yiyi swung her handbag and stared at the corridor floor. “And I have to go back to work overtime tonight, so I’ll be leaving early.”

Qin Luo joked, “Is Director Shen so busy?”

“It’s all your fault!”

“It’s my fault that you have to work overtime~” Qin Luo’s tone was gentle, with a hint of reluctance in her joke. “Then I should compensate you.”

“Okay! Stop!” Shen Yiyi took a step back. “I’m going to work!”

With that, she took her laptop bag and brushed past Qin Luo, heading straight for the conference room at the end.

No! This person just came to deliver some buns and then left?

Just as Qin Luo was standing in the corridor in a daze, another assistant came over with a takeout bag. “Sister Qin, your breakfast and coffee.”

“Ah…” Qin Luo looked at the buns in her hand. “Just give me the coffee. You can leave the breakfast for a colleague who hasn’t eaten. I’ll have the buns.”

The assistant looked at the screenwriter. She had two big meat buns in her hand!! It was clearly not the screenwriter’s favorite flavor.

“Oh, right. Clear out a conference room for Director Shen at noon, and put a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door.”

The assistant nodded. “Okay.”

Qin Luo was about to leave with the buns but turned back. “Hey! Send me Director Shen’s production schedule for next week in a bit.”

“Okay, no problem.”

After giving her instructions, Qin Luo left with satisfaction.

Qin Luo held the two buns and had a meeting all morning. At lunchtime, she took the buns to the cafeteria and looked at the production schedule while eating.

In the two weeks she had been missing, the art department had already finished scouting the locations, and the actors had almost finished their costume fittings, which meant that Her Kill was about to officially start filming, and Shen Yiyi’s work on the production would be less and less.

Without the production, would Shen Yiyi meet her privately?

At this thought, Qin Luo sent a WeChat message to Director Shen:

[Are you working overtime tomorrow too?]
[Yes.]

Qin Luo took a bite of the bun skin. [Then what if I want to see you?]

As expected, Shen Yiyi gave her the answer she had anticipated: [We can meet at the production.]

Qin Luo frowned and typed: [So we won’t meet outside of the production?]

But she didn’t send it. She revised the wording to make her tone less oppressive, to try not to put pressure on Shen Yiyi.

[So besides the production, I have no other way to see you?]
[Qin Luo, I have a lot of meetings this week. I can’t squeeze out the time.]

She couldn’t say she was disappointed. Qin Luo was used to the obstacles in Shen Yiyi’s mouth. It seemed that there was nothing wrong, but she had lost her appetite.

She was even a little nauseous.

She moved her phone away, leaving some space in front of her.

Just as she was about to reply to Shen Yiyi with an “okay,” Liu Jia’s call suddenly took up the entire screen.

Qin Luo answered and put it to her ear.

This was the first time the two had talked since she had disappeared. She said “mm” awkwardly.

She only heard Liu Jia’s trembling voice on the other end of the line:

“Qin Luo! Shang Yi is dead!”