Chapter 40: Video

After sitting down in the room, Lu Jiming still felt a bit like he was in a dream. He pinched himself hard, “Hiss—we… we’re in? Am I dreaming?”

He stretched out his hand but didn’t dare to touch the leather surface of the sofa. Lu Jiming then paced around, carefully examining the porcelain vases and oil paintings in the room. His voice sounded ethereal, “I feel like I’m seeing countless gold coins sparkling in this room. Ah, it’s so dazzling! My eyes are going to be blinded!”

Seeing him fully immersed in his performance, Shen Xici waited until he was done before speaking, “Call Cheng Mingye.”

Lu Jiming sat back down in a few steps, asking for advice, “Brother, how did you pull that off just now? How did that man in black at the entrance let you in? And what was that ID code, that string of numbers? Why did the manager become so respectful as soon as he heard it?”

“The security guards at the entrance all wear in-ear headphones for easy communication. The Song Xinghuai I mentioned is the boss behind this club, which not many people know. Doesn’t my tone sound like I’m very familiar with Song Xinghuai? The manager probably thought so too when he heard it in his earpiece, so he let us in.”

“As for that ID code,” not wanting to reveal that he had recited Sheng Shaoyan’s ID code, Shen Xici glossed over it, “Actually, I also have a few sources of information.”

Lu Jiming immediately gave him a look of “so you’re one of us,” and understood, “You have a fake socialite group chat too? Yours must be more high-class than mine! The people in my group don’t even know about ID codes.”

“…” It would only get messier the more he explained. Shen Xici decided to remain mysterious. “Something similar, but not entirely.”

Lu Jiming: “I get it! Trade secret, right? When you’re out in the world, how can you not have a few special skills up your sleeve?”

If being reborn counted as a special skill, then he did have one. Shen Xici nodded, “Yes, you can understand it that way.”

He then urged Lu Jiming, “Director Lu, hurry up. The magic might wear off soon.”

The manager would surely report anything related to Sheng Shaoyan to Song Xinghuai, which meant it was highly likely Sheng Shaoyan already knew he had used his identity to enter this club.

He wasn’t sure what Sheng Shaoyan’s attitude towards this move would be, so he wanted to get things done quickly before they were kicked out.

As for how he knew the ID code, Shen Xici just decided to let it go. He already had so many suspicious points, he was probably at maximum suspicion level anyway. One or two more wouldn’t make a difference. No big deal.

Hearing this, Lu Jiming quickly took out his phone. “I’ll call right now!”

When the call connected, Cheng Mingye’s voice was still lazy, “Are you ready to give up? I told you, nothing is difficult in this world, as long as you’re willing to—”

“Um, could we trouble you to come to the room next door?”

“The room next door? What room next door? Do you even know where I am, talking about next door?”

Lu Jiming was secretly thrilled. He winked excitedly at Shen Xici and deliberately cleared his throat, “We are currently in the room next to yours. Area A, the third room.”

“What?!”

Less than two minutes later, a hesitant knock sounded at the door.

The door opened, and a head with a platinum blonde, choppy fringe haircut peeked in. He looked at Shen Xici, then at Lu Jiming, and quickly said, “Sorry to bother you!”

With a “bang,” the door closed again.

Lu Jiming was confused, “Why did the God of Wealth leave?”

Shen Xici was also puzzled, “Are you sure it was him?”

Lu Jiming was resolute, “Yes, I could forget my own face before I forget the face of the God of Wealth!”

The next second, the phone rang. Lu Jiming answered, and the static of an explosion of noise came from the receiver, “I actually believed your nonsense! You betrayed my trust! I really went and knocked on the door next door, it was so embarrassing! Don’t ever call this number again, I’m changing my phone right now!”

“Hey, hey! Don’t! Wait! Did you just see a really good-looking guy? The one you saw the first moment you opened the door!”

The distant voice on the phone came closer again. Cheng Mingye was suspicious, “How did you know?”

Lu Jiming: “Next to him! Wasn’t there someone standing next to that super handsome guy? That person was me!”

Cheng Mingye was absolutely firm, “Impossible! You must be tricking me again. I remember very clearly, the one I hit with my car was obviously a wild man!”

A wild man? A word got stuck in Lu Jiming’s throat, and he couldn’t speak.

Shen Xici was laughing so hard beside him. Thinking of Lu Jiming’s previous bearded appearance, he pointed to his own chin and mouthed to him, “An accurate description!”

Lu Jiming wiped his face, “How about this, I’ll open the door. If you would be so kind as to move your honorable legs and take another look? Wild men can also be upgraded, can also evolve, right? We can’t forbid a wild man from getting a taste of modern civilization, can we? Racial discrimination is wrong.”

Five minutes later, after confirming that Lu Jiming was indeed the upgraded version of the wild man who had shaved his beard, cut his hair, and changed his clothes, Cheng Mingye stepped into the room with some doubt.

“So this is what you look like. When I hit you back then, I took one look and whoa, I thought you had escaped from some primitive tribe on an island. I had to let you experience the warmth of human civilized society!”

Lu Jiming was all smiles, “I felt it, warmer than a fire pit! No, it was scalding! So scalding my heart is all warm and fuzzy, flowers are blooming!”

Two hundred thousand yuan, how could it not be scalding!

Cheng Mingye looked at the large, sectioned-off room, then at Shen Xici, confirming no one else was there. He exclaimed, “You two bros have some serious power! You got this room? With this kind of power, you still need to find me for investment? I only got in because I followed my big brother. This place has a membership system and vets your qualifications. I’ve been applying for years, and they still won’t approve me.”

He asked cautiously, “You guys aren’t running a pig-butchering scam, are you?” As he spoke, he touched his head, “Oh no, it’s a bit itchy. Am I suddenly growing a brain? I can even see through a pig-butchering scam now?”

Lu Jiming was very considerate towards the God of Wealth, “You definitely are. You were already brilliant, wise, and handsome as Pan An. Now you’ll surely surpass Holmes and Di Renjie!”

“Surpass Holmes and Di Renjie? Who?”

“Sherlock Holmes and Di Renjie!” Lu Jiming eagerly led Cheng Mingye to the sofa and served him tea. “Please sit, please sit. We have come before you with sincerity and piety. This movie of ours desperately needs someone with a discerning eye for talent like you!”

And your money! Lots and lots of money!

Lu Jiming kept the last few words to himself.

Cheng Mingye said honestly, “To be honest, I didn’t think you guys could actually stand in front of me. I do have some money on hand, but I was planning to save it up to buy the limited edition Pagani and the Aston Martin supercar. For the next race, I’ll blind their titanium alloy dog eyes!”

It was just as the fake socialite group chat had said, his eyes were full of cars, cars, cars. Lu Jiming subconsciously turned to Shen Xici, signaling frantically with his eyes—what do we do, what do we do?

Shen Xici spoke, “Young Master Cheng is going to a race?”

Cheng Mingye’s eyes lit up, gesturing with his hands, “Yes, yes! Holding the steering wheel, stepping on the gas, the roar of the engine,” he had a look of ecstasy, “is like an aria sung by a tenor. My eardrums tingle, my whole body feels amazing! Especially when crossing the finish line, all those cars behind me, every single one of them is a little brother!”

Listening to this description, Shen Xici finally remembered why the name “Cheng Mingye” sounded familiar.

In his past life, Sheng Shaoyan’s circle consisted mostly of heirs with real power. Among them was one named Cheng Weishen, who was decisive and whose methods were highly appreciated by Sheng Shaoyan.

At a hunting party, after Sheng Shaoyan, dressed in a brown hunting suit, finished discussing work with Cheng Weishen, Cheng Weishen inquired about the Sheng family’s medical resources in New York.

His younger brother, Cheng Mingye, was a paraplegic and had been bedridden for two years and ten months. He had developed severe respiratory complications, and his condition was not good. He planned to try a more outstanding medical team for his brother.

He remembered that after the party, Sheng Shaoyan had mentioned to him that Cheng Weishen’s brother had been in a racing accident where his brakes failed, causing the car and him to flip off a cliff.

“Sounds interesting. Does Young Master Cheng often participate in racing competitions?”

“No way! How could a regular competition be worthy of my Pagani wife and Lamborghini wife!” Cheng Mingye waved his hand, his eyes sparkling. “This young master has been recuperating for over half a year. It’s time to show those people. All those little black, white, and red sports cars put together can’t match the magnificent presence of my Pagani consort!”

Lu Jiming played the hype man on the side, “So heroic! Well said!”

Shen Xici didn’t speak.

Calculating the timeline, Cheng Mingye’s accident should be happening very soon.

Lu Jiming was frantically signaling from across the room—He’s the God of Wealth, coax him, quick, let’s both praise him!

Unexpectedly, Shen Xici raised his hand without any warning and began to calculate with a calm expression.

This familiar scene!

Lu Jiming immediately forgot about being a hype man. “You’re having a premonition again? What are you calculating this time? Can you calculate when I’ll get rich? A small fortune is fine too, as long as I get rich!”

Shen Xici thought to himself, when Lu Jiming’s hype-man routine was used on him, he didn’t even need to improvise his lines.

“I did indeed just have a sudden feeling, but it’s not about you. It’s about Young Master Cheng.”

Cheng Mingye thought to himself, this time he didn’t need to grow a brain to see it—it wasn’t a pig-butchering scam, it was a metaphysics scam.

He had seen this kind of trick countless times growing up. Bad feng shui, needing to change a name, clashing birth charts, spending money to avert disaster—it was always the same few lines, very boring. He didn’t believe in it at all.

“About Young Master Cheng?” Lu Jiming immediately turned to Cheng Mingye. “Young Master Cheng, let me tell you, his calculations are incredibly accurate! The second time I met him, he did the same thing, suddenly gave me a reading and figured out I had a friend with the surname Wu. And I really do!”

Cheng Mingye propped up his chin, with a “you guys continue your act” expression. “So, did you figure out what surname my friend has?”

“I don’t know your friend’s surname, but I have calculated that in your racing competition, your brakes will fail. The light outcome is serious injury, the heavy one is the destruction of the car and your death. Please be extremely careful.”

The room fell silent.

Those words were too heavy, and too tragic.

Even when they were leaving, Cheng Mingye’s expression was not good.

When only the two of them were left, Shen Xici said apologetically, “Director Lu, I—”

Lu Jiming waved his hand, “I understand. Nothing is more important than a human life! If your calculation is accurate, but you keep it to yourself just to flatter someone and get investment, only saying nice things, what if something really happens? If the investment is gone, we can find another. If a life is gone, it’s really gone.”

Before leaving, Shen Xici found an excuse to go and settle the bill himself.

They had been very careful not to order anything, even the tea served to Cheng Mingye was complimentary from the room. But just the base fee for the room would shrink his savings by a large chunk.

It was the same manager, his attitude even more respectful than before. After hearing Shen Xici’s intention, he replied, “Mr. Shen, Mr. Sheng has instructed that all your future expenses at the club are to be put on his account.”

Shen Xici knew that Sheng Shaoyan’s expenses here were settled on a monthly or bi-monthly basis, with a dedicated person handling it. He didn’t hesitate to say, “No need to put it on his bill. I’ll pay for it myself.”

The manager confirmed again, “Are you sure, sir?”

Knowing they were all wary of Sheng Shaoyan, Shen Xici smiled, “Do as I say. I will speak to A’Shao about it.”

He understood why Sheng Shaoyan would do this.

The people who frequented this club were all at the top of the pyramid. Sheng Shaoyan was giving him access, allowing him to come and go freely without spending a cent, which was equivalent to handing him the opportunity to network with top-tier individuals.

But Sheng Shaoyan didn’t owe him anything.

Saving him was something he did willingly. During that time, Sheng Shaoyan had screened brokerage companies for him, helped him find evidence, spent money to buy him hot searches, cleared up rumors for him, taught him archery, and even made him a gift with his own hands…

Most importantly, during this past month, because of Sheng Shaoyan’s presence, he hadn’t been alone.

On the contrary, he should be the one thanking Sheng Shaoyan.

Therefore, he would not accept that blank check, and similarly, he would not accept this expensive gift.

After nightfall, the neon lights around the club were sparse. In Ningcheng, where land was extremely expensive, to exclusively occupy such a quiet place made it seem even more luxurious and rare.

Xu Lingjia sat in the spacious nanny van waiting for Zhong Yue, scrolling through Weibo.

On the hot search list, the topic #XuLingjiaConfirmedToStarInGodlyCapitalRobberyAndMurder# had already rushed to the third spot.

As soon as this news was officially announced, it became a carnival for his fans and the ‘Xu Wo Zhong Qing’ CP fans.

“—Look what I found! A second collaboration! And as the first and second male leads, tears are streaming from the corners of my mouth. The main couple is actively feeding us, what do I do if my bowl is too small to hold it all!”

“—I used to only follow movie stars, but I noticed Jiajia because of Brother Zhong. Jiajia’s smile is so cute, they really look good together! I’m diving headfirst into this ship! More second and third collaborations, please!”

“—Seeing the official character announcement, this old mother is in tears. I hope more directors will see Jiajia! Our Jiajia is a really hardworking and diligent actor!”

Scrolling through the content under the topic, the smile on Xu Lingjia’s face grew deeper. Shipping CPs was indeed one of the fastest ways to gain fans and popularity.

And, the larger the gap in status, the more benefits he could gain.

Zhong Yue was also genuinely dedicated to helping him. This time, he had introduced him to the major capitalists from the capital circle, and he had officially made his debut. After Godly Capital Robbery and Murder was finished filming, he would have officially stepped into that circle. Coupled with the resources from Jiarui Media, wouldn’t he be swimming in scripts and endorsements in the future?

He thought back to the past when he and his mother worked themselves to the bone, filming funny or cute short videos, singing duets of Cheng Ningyu’s old songs, deliberately posting controversial photos, writing passive-aggressive essays on his Moments, pretending to be isolated or even bullied by his classmates, and so on. It was all to make it easier to buy hot searches and gain popularity and attention.

Compared to all that, the opportunity he had created for himself now brought far more traffic and popularity, and his rise in status was so much faster!

The car door was opened from the outside. Xu Lingjia looked up and said affectionately, “Brother Zhong, you’re here?” He shook his phone. “I was just scrolling through Weibo. After the crew’s official announcement, the popularity is so high! The fans are all so happy we’re collaborating for a second time.”

But Zhong Yue didn’t respond to him as usual. He sat down in the car in silence.

Xu Lingjia leaned forward, his tone concerned, “Brother Zhong, did someone upset you? Tell me, and I’ll curse them out with you!”

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but complain internally. Actors like Zhong Yue, famous for their acting skills, were just troublesome. They could easily hide their emotions without a trace, making you guess for ages. When interacting with him, he often had to put in a lot of effort to raise this person’s favorability.

“You’re scrolling through Weibo?”

Seeing that Zhong Yue was finally acting a bit more normal, Xu Lingjia quickly nodded, “Yeah, Brother Zhong, look. This fan said that when our movie comes out, she’s going to buy thirty tickets to show her support. Hahaha!”

Zhong Yue seemed not to have heard what he said. He took his phone, typed a few words into the Weibo search bar, then clicked on the first video that appeared and handed the phone back to Xu Lingjia.

“Take a look at this.”

“What video is this?” Xu Lingjia lowered his head, watched for a few seconds, and laughed. “Brother Zhong, isn’t this your mirror and vanity in the dressing room at the set? No wonder it looked familiar at first glance. But why is the camera angle a bit off? What is this filming? Why is most of the frame just a wall?”

Zhong Yue stared at his expression and just said, “Keep watching.”

For the first twenty-something seconds, although the progress bar was moving forward, the picture didn’t change at all, as if it were a still image. Just as Xu Lingjia was about to ask Zhong Yue what this video was, a thermos suddenly entered the frame from the bottom left corner.

More accurately, a slender hand placed a gray thermos on the counter and then left.

The smile on Xu Lingjia’s face slowly disappeared.

He recognized that thermos.

Suddenly thinking of something, he subconsciously reached out to turn off the video but was stopped by Zhong Yue. “I said, keep watching.”

The other’s eyes were cold and heavy. Xu Lingjia sat back down properly.

Unconsciously biting his lip, Xu Lingjia sat restlessly. His fingers trembled nervously. He kept comforting himself internally, it can’t be, it definitely can’t be…

The progress bar moved forward, bit by bit.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

At the bottom left of the screen, another pair of hands entered the frame. The left hand picked up the thermos on the counter, and the right hand placed another identical gray thermos on the counter.

Xu Lingjia’s face turned deathly pale.