However, she had just been deliberately tripped. One of her shoe heels was broken, and when she tried to stand, she almost fell again, losing her shoe.
“Zheng Yishan, come and rehearse! What, you’re crippled from a fall?”
Lo Yingbai didn’t know the specifics, but seeing the girl he recognized being bullied, he couldn’t stand by. Without understanding the conflict, he paused and said to the group: “Her foot seems injured. Could you all wait a moment? I’ll find her a pair of flat shoes to change into, okay?”
Xia Xianning said nothing, silently searching nearby maps on his phone, already prepared to run and buy shoes.
Lo Yingbai tried to mediate, and with his handsome features and gentle tone, he was usually hard to refuse. A woman in a pink dress looked him up and down, speaking unkindly: “Who are you? Mind your own business.
However, before she could walk further, a figure suddenly emerged from the side and blocked her path. Xia Xianning calmly reminded, “That’s enough.”
Although his tone was not harsh, Deng Xinjia inexplicably felt nervous. Meeting his gaze, she involuntarily shrank back.
“What’s going on?”
At this moment, Ou Ziheng had just finished shooting a scene.
Although he was on set, he was constantly stealing glances at Xia Xianning and Luo Mingbai out of concern for his own safety, which had earned him several scoldings from the director.
After the scene finally ended, Ou Ziheng saw that something seemed to be brewing and immediately rushed over – he was determined to perform well in front of Master Luo and prove that he had truly turned over a new leaf!
Deng Xinjia saw him and her expression brightened. She immediately went to meet him: “Young Master Ou…”
She originally wanted to complain, but just as her emotions were building up, she was stunned to find that Ou Ziheng was not looking at her at all. Instead, he was smiling broadly at Luo Mingbai: “Master Luo, you’re here.”
He then turned to Xia Xianning: “And Captain Xia, thank you so much. Once this is over, I will definitely thank you both properly.”
Secretly glancing at Xia Xianning’s expression and unable to discern what had happened, he feared Deng Xinjia might say something inappropriate. Carefully, he repeated, “What exactly happened?”
Luo Mingbai smiled and said, “Nothing much. My friend has sprained her ankle. If it’s convenient for Mr. Ou, could you lend an assistant to help her rest nearby?”
But now he couldn’t just abandon her midway. Since the conversation had come to this point, he might as well borrow Ou Ziheng’s assistance.
Ou Ziheng eagerly agreed. Xia Xianning frowned and said, “Let’s go.”
His frown scared Ou Ziheng. He watched Luo Mingbai and Xia Xianning walk shoulder to shoulder, feeling relieved once they were not too far away. Turning back, he met Deng Xinjia’s anxious gaze.
Ou Ziheng was already frustrated, and this woman asked, “What’s wrong? Didn’t you hate that Luo guy?”
“Shut up!” Ou Ziheng quickly looked outside, ensuring Luo Mingbai couldn’t hear. He pointed at her and said harshly, “Don’t think just because they’re not saying anything, I don’t know what you’ve done! Why did you offend them of all people? I’m telling you, stay away from me and don’t drag me down.”
Deng Xinjia almost screamed, “You said you loved me yesterday!”
Ou Ziheng stated, “Yes, because a few days ago I was a scumbag, and you were a mistress. It was a fair exchange. Now that I’ve promised the master to reform, I can’t associate with someone like you anymore. If you dare to pester me and offend the master, I’ll beat you!”
Deng Xinjia: “…”
This wasn’t meeting a master; this was clearly demonic possession!
But she had no time to overthink.
After speaking, Ou Ziheng turned and hurriedly left, muttering about “being a mistress” and “being immoral”. Deng Xinjia chased after him for a few steps but didn’t dare to approach, her tears almost spilling from her eyes.
She could feel the surrounding scrutinizing whispers. Just yesterday, her relationship with Ou Ziheng had progressed, and now it was over before she could enjoy it. She felt both heartbroken and embarrassed.
Deng Xinjia didn’t know who those two were, but they had made the usually reckless Ou Ziheng so apologetic. Though furious, she was also worried about offending Luo Mingbai and Xia Xianning. She could only glare hatefully at Zheng Yishan and angrily grab her script before returning to the rest area.
Luo Mingbai had no time to argue with her. He was searching for clues outside while listening to Xia Xianning’s discoveries about the deceased from the script.
Luo Mingbai, unusually serious, pondered, “What you’re saying makes sense. Although this matter started with Ou Ziheng, he might actually be the biggest variable. Just as you said, he hasn’t played a male companion or experienced a fire.”
Luo Mingbai spread his hands: “Look, although we didn’t witness the deaths of Sun Mo and Tao Shaochen, we can be certain they definitely weren’t killed like Ou Ziheng, with someone suddenly popping out to attack in front of everyone. Otherwise, the case would have been reported to the special investigation unit and wouldn’t have remained unsolved.”
His reasoning was sound, and Xia Xianning nodded: “Actually, I was thinking that if the killer is Ou Ziheng, he might have deliberately staged this scene for me to see, to clear his own suspicions. But that doesn’t make sense either – if it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have noticed the first two deaths at all.”
“Yeah, looking at his acting skills and intelligence, I don’t believe it either,” Luo Mingbai replied.
Luo Mingbai bent down, picking up a pomegranate flower branch carelessly broken and discarded, wiping off the dirt, and began to speculate: “Or maybe we’re overthinking this. They’re all celebrities, right? Maybe it’s a fan who likes these handsome guys, loving this one and that one, but unable to get them. So what do they do? Destroy them.”
Xia Xianning gave him a sidelong glance, half-smiling: “You have a lot of feelings to express.”
“Of course!” Luo Mingbai got excited, twirling the pomegranate flower and throwing a flirtatious wink.
During a school club activity, Luo Mingbai had casually learned to perform opera for a few days, with both posture and singing style quite impressive. He placed a hand on his shoulder: “Cannot lean on the railing, counting a few lakeside mountain songs…”
His gaze was filled with sorrow and resentment, and paired with that face, it was almost deadly. He kept getting closer, and Xia Xianning almost felt the other’s breath carrying a floral scent gently brushing against his face, causing his ears to inexplicably heat up. He stiffened for a moment, then suddenly curved his lips and flicked a finger on the flower branch in Luo Mingbai’s hand.
The flower branch swayed, and the remaining dewdrops splashed across Luo Mingbai’s face, the icy sensation causing him to shiver and instantly stop speaking. He probably didn’t expect Xia Xianning to suddenly “destroy the flower” and was startled, his expression a bit confused, resembling a small animal just waking up. Xia Xianning’s heart softened, finding Luo Mingbai incredibly cute, and couldn’t help but laugh.
When he laughed, Luo Mingbai immediately forgot about being splashed in the face with water and let out a sigh of relief: “Ah, it’s good that you’re laughing.” Xia Xianning was stunned, realizing that Luo Mingbai had gone to great lengths just to make him feel better. He no longer held back and smiled at the other, asking, “Are you satisfied now?”
