Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 76

Chapter 76: Seeing the Light Again

Huang Qihan was dressed in a Ralph Lauren white plaid shirt and wrinkle-free suit pants. Even the hottest plum rain season couldn’t stop him from feigning an elite air.

On his arm was his daughter, Huang Shuyi. The father and daughter greeted Qin Luo at the entrance of the reading group.

“Qin Luo.”

“Editor-in-Chief Huang.”

Although the publishing industry was no longer as glorious as it once was, the title of editor-in-chief still held weight. Qin Luo had not changed the way she addressed him all these years.

“It’s been a long time. You didn’t even invite me to the last season’s reading group.”

Qin Luo smiled. “I did want to invite you, but I heard you were busy with film investments in Beijing and had no time to spare, so we didn’t want to trouble you.”

“If you say that, you’re really treating me like an outsider.”

Huang Qihan was from Fujian. After graduating from the Chinese department, he went to the Hong Kong entertainment industry to develop, and only came to the mainland after the decline of Hong Kong entertainment. The two’s friendship had grown after Qin Luo had won an award. Huang Qihan had helped Qin Luo with many literary award nominations and could be considered her short-term benefactor. Huang Qihan had also helped with Her Kill. Not only had he laughed off Qin Luo’s teasing of him, but he had even used his connections to help her find channels for recommendations.

He spoke with a thick accent and gently patted the hand on his arm, enthusiastically introducing her to Qin Luo:

“Let me introduce you. This is my daughter, Shuyi.”

“Sister Qin~”

The girl who spoke had an extraordinary temperament, and her every move was that of a socialite.

Qin Luo pushed up her glasses. “The last time I saw you, you were still studying in Germany. You’ve grown so much in the blink of an eye? Have you graduated from college?”

“Not yet. I’m doing my Master’s in Germany, in film production.”

Qin Luo understood in a second. “I don’t think I have your contact information yet.”

Huang Shuyi immediately took out her phone from her bag and hooked Qin Luo’s arm. “I have WeChat. I’ll scan you, sister~”

“Tsk tsk, sister?” Liu Jia really couldn’t stand Huang Shuyi’s affected voice. She shrugged her shoulders and wiped the sweat from her hands with a wet wipe.

She had just been receiving various dignitaries at the door, and those old men were sweating in the summer, making her hands sticky.

Seeing that his daughter was chatting with Qin Luo, Huang Qihan walked to the main entrance alone. When he saw Liu Jia, he immediately smiled. “Little Liu.”

“Editor-in-Chief Huang.” Liu Jia also put on an affected voice. “You’re here so early?”

Seeing that Liu Jia was wiping her hands, Huang Qihan did not shake her hand and instead nodded in greeting. “I came to Shanghai the day before yesterday to see a few projects with my daughter.”

Liu Jia couldn’t chat with the pedantic old man and led him upstairs. “Why don’t you go up and sit down first?”

But Huang Qihan stopped. “No hurry. Shuyi is still chatting with Qin Luo. We haven’t seen each other in a long time. We might as well talk.”

Damn it. There were so many old men who loved to chat.

Liu Jia smiled. “Oh my, my cultural level is low. I’m afraid I can’t chat with you.”

“We’re not talking about literature.” Huang Qihan put his hands in his trouser pockets. His shirt was stiff and straight, and you couldn’t tell at all that he was almost sixty. “I’m talking business with President Liu.”

Business?

Liu Jia was very sensitive to these two words. She immediately moved and led him into the courtyard. As she walked, she said, “A capitalist like you who has taken over a film company, how can you be interested in our small business?”

Huang Qihan sized up the building. The last time he had attended the reading group, this building project had just landed. Now, it was decorated like a museum.

A huge Western-style building, four stories high. The central courtyard was monopolized by a glass cover. The light refracted from the glass and fell on the pine and cypress trees in the center. In the golden location of the city center, it enjoyed a piece of peace. The combination of historical years and modernity had a unique aesthetic style.

“A good dish can’t do without fragrant sesame.”

Seeing that there was no one around, Liu Jia said frankly, “I want to laugh just by asking. It’s already good that we can support ourselves. You actually want to join in the fun. Weren’t you afraid of the black trending topics a while ago?”

“Controversy is traffic. This pool of water hasn’t started to boil yet.”

This old man always had to be pedantic when he spoke, not at all in tune.

Liu Jia was annoyed by him, but she still had to pretend to smile. “Go ahead. Which piece of our cake are you interested in?”

Huang Qihan directly reported the name of the dish: “Logos.”

“…” Liu Jia’s face stiffened.

“I heard about President Shang’s death. He’s a foreign investor. I’m clear about his shareholding ratio. And I also know his wife…”

The old man’s words had a hidden meaning. Liu Jia heard it. She did not speak and looked up at the distant Qin Luo.

Qin Luo was arm in arm with the girl, her face radiant.

She shouted in her heart: Damn it! Stop talking.

But she said, “But President Shang was involved in a criminal case. The foreign investment regulatory agency is keeping a close eye on Logos. You’re also a foreign investor.”

Liu Jia fanned herself with her hand and said euphemistically, “For a year and a half… it probably won’t be finished.”

“Daddy!” Huang Shuyi came running over, lifting her skirt. The smell of her perfume was so strong that Liu Jia sniffed.

“Are you done chatting with Teacher Qin?”

“Yes, we’ve added each other on WeChat and are planning to visit the production in a few days.”

Huang Qihan frowned. “The filming has just started. You shouldn’t go and cause trouble.”

The Hong Kong father and daughter were communicating in non-standard Mandarin, clearly for the mainland Liu Jia to hear.

Liu Jia was disgusted. Just then, she saw someone coming in at the door and quickly changed her position. She said, “You two, the seats upstairs have your names on them. Please go up and sit down first.”

With that, she rushed out the main entrance.

After the welcoming at the entrance was almost over, the interview and live stream teams also arrived. Only then did Liu Jia find Qin Luo in a corner.

“Why is Huang Qihan on the invitation list?”

“At least he helped with the reading group.”

Liu Jia rolled her eyes. “Is sending a flower basket for the opening ceremony also called helping?”

“Shh!!” Qin Luo pinched the corner of her clothes and gently tugged to remind her that this was a public place and there were photographers around.

Liu Jia observed her friend.

Qin Luo had specially done her hair when she had come in the morning. She looked like a somewhat fashionable intellectual. She was wearing a lapel shirt and gray wool trousers, as if she were going to get a multi-million dollar project— capable and dashing.

She was a little nervous, her gaze sweeping across the room, but her breathing was wandering.

“I can see that you’re about to say goodbye. You even invited Huang Qihan…” Liu Jia pursed her lips, reached out to straighten Qin Luo’s collar, tucked a stray hair behind her ear for her, and at the same time, adjusted her glasses. “Alright, today is your most important occasion. I won’t say much.”

Liu Jia put her hands on Qin Luo’s shoulders and pressed down firmly. “The big rock you’ve been holding up is about to be put down. Do you feel it’s a pity?”

The event was in a closed space. The opening of the event was a review of the journey of the reading group over the years for the guests present. To make the projection clear, the venue was almost half-dark.

“It is a pity.” Qin Luo bit her lip. “When it fell, I found that the scale had not yet tilted. The weights were far from enough.”

Liu Jia said, “But this ball of yours has rolled big enough.”

“For me, or for the scale?” Qin Luo asked sincerely.

Liu Jia gently stroked her shoulder. “For the eighteen-year-old you.”

The film on the projection screen was still playing. On it were the birthday wishes sent by the readers who had been solicited. The light and shadow flickered. Qin Luo felt that she had seen all those people, but she had no impression of them in her mind, just like her shining ten years, which had passed in a hurry.

“Oh right, I privately invited two people.”

Qin Luo frowned. “Who?”

Liu Jia blinked. “Your eighteen-year-old—”

Qin Luo didn’t react, but she heard the central control calling on the walkie-talkie: “Have Teacher Qin get ready. She has to give a speech after the film is over.”

Suddenly, Zhan Luo appeared from behind a curtain.

The surprise about the white moonlight in Liu Jia’s mouth did not surprise Qin Luo. She herself was startled by the man who had appeared out of nowhere.

She covered her chest. “What are you doing hiding behind the curtain? Who are you trying to scare?”

Zhan Luo nodded apologetically and turned to say, “Sister Qin, it’s time for your speech.”

“Who?” Qin Luo had guessed who it was and suddenly felt stage fright about going on stage. “It’s not Shen Yiyi, is it? Why did you ask her to come? Are you crazy? Didn’t I tell you not to contact her? No, why didn’t I see her come in at the door just now?”

…

Lost, confused, and unfocused.

Qin Luo looked around the dark space in a panic, as if something foreign were wriggling in her blood, and she would be burst by that name in a matter of minutes.

Help!!! Liu Jia couldn’t help but repent in her heart.

She had originally hoped that Qin Luo could say a proper goodbye to her white moonlight. Who would have thought that it would turn into a kind of mental torture?

The last time Qin Luo had been nominated for a literary award, she hadn’t been so anxious as to pace like this.

Qin Luo suppressed her voice. “She’s already told me not to see her. What’s the point of you inviting her here? To have her listen to this fake speech of mine?? I have nothing more to talk to her about. I’ve already blocked her!”

“Alright, alright, don’t be in a hurry. Calm down.”

Liu Jia held Qin Luo’s arm and stroked her back, but she didn’t dare to use too much force, afraid of ruining her makeup.

“Who asked you to be so presumptuous!”

Liu Jia was so scared that she distanced herself from Shen Yiyi. “…It wasn’t my idea to find Shen Yiyi. It was Guo Rui! It was Guo Rui who called her. Damn it… I just thought you used to always say that if only Shen Yiyi could come and see the reading group… then can we ask her to leave now? Oh my, that would be too embarrassing. Or you can just pretend you don’t know about this.”

Liu Jia regretted it. She shouldn’t have agreed to Guo Rui’s crazy idea. “Oh my, it’s fine. I didn’t see her just now either. Maybe she didn’t come.”

“Director Shen is here.”

Liu Jia shot a glare at Zhan Luo and winked at him.

Zhan Luo said honestly, “But when you were being interviewed just now, I saw her go out again.”

Liu Jia grabbed the main point. “Did you hear that? She went out!”

Qin Luo’s annoyance reached its peak, overflowing and spilling all over the floor. “She went out again?”

Liu Jia blinked… so did she want Shen Yiyi here, or did she want her to go out? Before she could think, the central control was urging her. The film on the screen was already ending. What Qin Luo needed now was someone to give her a push.

Liu Jia pushed Qin Luo’s waist and rushed into the hall. “Sister, business is important. Since you’re going to let go of her and the reading group, just treat today as the last lesson.”

…

Qin Luo’s originally tight heart softened when she heard the word “goodbye.” It was as if Liu Jia were using the thinnest needle to draw her hottest blood.

Right. She hadn’t been ashamed even when she had won a minor award. Why should a single Shen Yiyi make her hide everywhere?

Besides, she would let go of both of them.

And she dared to let go.
And she could let go.

“Yes, you’re right.” Qin Luo nodded in affirmation and then pushed away the hand on her waist.

She took the speech from Zhan Luo’s hand and, as she walked into the hall, she suddenly smiled and greeted the guests.

The central control had not yet had time to turn off the screen, change the lights, or give a transition to remind Qin Luo to go on stage. She just strode to the center of the screen.