Chapter 26: Giving a Statement at the Police Station

Zhou Yan had not yet recovered from the joy of his salary raise when he heard the wail of a police siren. He immediately lowered his car window halfway.

As the two vehicles passed each other, the police car on the opposite side also lowered its window. Zhou Jingyi was sitting in the back seat; he and Zhou Yan exchanged a look, and everything was understood without a word.

Then, the window rolled up, and the police car drove slowly forward.

It stopped at the entrance of the residential complex.

Sitting in their car, Zhou Yan and Chi Ran could see three uniformed police officers stepping out. Zhou Jingyi led the way, while the two younger officers followed closely behind him.

Soon, a middle-aged man emerged from the security booth. After presenting their credentials and exchanging a few words, the three officers got back into their vehicle.

The police car then drove into the complex and disappeared from view.

Zhou Yan was in the middle of communicating with Yu Ling’s manager, while Chi Ran sat with his eyes closed, feigning sleep.

Zhou Yan, being tactful, put the call on speaker, allowing them to hear every word of the conversation.

After hanging up, Zhou Yan turned to Chi Ran to report.

"I’ve already spoken with Li Wan. She’ll accompany Yu Ling to the police station to give a statement shortly."

Before his voice had even faded, his phone pinged with a new message.

Zhou Yan glanced at it and asked Chi Ran, puzzled, "Why was that young model’s apology video sent to me?"

Chi Ran kept his eyes shut, his tone languid: "I told her manager to find someone else; don't bother me with it."

He had reverted to his usual persona—a worldly wanderer indifferent to everything, exuding a sense of weary decadence, as if nothing in this world was worth a moment of his attention.

Zhou Yan looked at him and sat back in silence.

Exhaustion lingered in Chi Ran’s eyes, and was he any different?

He didn't know what had possessed that guy last night; he wouldn't sleep and insisted on dragging him and Wen Xun out for a race.

He and Wen Xun had no choice but to risk their lives to appease him. The consequence of that adrenaline spike was a sleepless night. Only when dawn broke did sleepiness slowly creep in. He had managed only three hours of rest before being woken up by a phone call from Chi Ran.

Zhou Yan couldn't help but look toward the sky with teary eyes; his life was truly miserable.

He yawned and pulled out a pair of sunglasses to put on.

The sun was quite blinding; the sunglasses would help block it out.

The sunlight felt warm, and Zhou Yan wiped away non-existent tears, closing his eyes to rest.

When Jingyi came out, the police car would sound its siren.

Taking advantage of this idle time to steal a moment of rest wasn't a bad idea.

.

When Li Wan received the call from Zhou Yan, she was as excited as if she had won a million in the lottery.

That was Zhou Yan, after all—a gold-standard manager in the industry.

Although he only managed Chi Ran under his wing, he was a shareholder at Huanxing; in a sense, he was capital itself.

Last year, a male celebrity had pulled every string he could to latch onto a big shot, specifically requesting that Zhou Yan be his manager.

Who would have thought that as soon as the big shot heard the request, he immediately dropped the star, terrified of inviting trouble upon himself.

That was Chi Ran’s person; who would dare poach someone from his camp?

The big shot loved playing with male celebrities, but that didn't mean he lacked a brain.

He knew the difference between a fleeting pleasure and a lifetime of enjoyment.

Although Li Wan had been a manager for many years and had cultivated many celebrities, she and Yu Ling had defected from Jia Shang a year ago, leaving on very bad terms.

After losing her backing and seeing her resources downgraded, Yu Ling—and by extension, Li Wan—had suffered significantly.

Yu Ling used to be the top star at Jia Shang, but after Lin Mianmian arrived, her position was quickly usurped, and Lin’s manager, Liu Hong, had pushed Li Wan aside.

This circle had always been about catering to the powerful. With Li Wan’s fall from grace, she was no longer what she used to be.

However, her professionalism as a manager remained. On the phone, Zhou Yan had explained in detail what to do next to stage a magnificent comeback.

Li Wan marveled at his thoroughness and careful planning, but Zhou Yan claimed it was all Chi Ran’s credit, refusing to take the glory.

Though she also felt that Chi Ran was somewhat unreliable, she believed Zhou Yan on this.

Without leveraging Chi Ran’s influence, things certainly wouldn't be this simple.

"Yu Ling."

"Huh?" Yu Ling was scrolling through Weibo and looked up, bewildered, having been caught off guard by the call.

Li Wan stood up, clapping her hands, looking radiant. "Let's go. Sister will take you to play support."

Play support?

Yu Ling blinked in confusion. What was this strange term?

Was it some 5v5 game?

Yu Ling’s gaze was filled with bewilderment. Did Sister Li want to play games at a time like this?

That didn't seem like her style.

So, Yu Ling asked earnestly, "Sister, are you taking me to play a game?"

Li Wan was amused by her peculiar train of thought and gave her a strange look. "Why would you think that?"

Yu Ling was even more confused. "But isn't 'playing support' something you do in a game?"

Li Wan patted her head and explained, "Where did your mind wander off to? Chi Ran’s manager just called me, asking me to accompany you to the police station to give a statement and go through the procedures."

When Li Wan took the call earlier, she didn't know the content, and fearing it would affect Yu Ling, she had walked to the balcony to answer it.

Therefore, Yu Ling had been completely unaware of the conversation.

Li Wan had braced herself for Yu Ling to grill her for details, but Yu Ling asked nothing, which was unusual.

Without a second word, she stood up and said, "Let's go then, let's hurry."

Li Wan gave her a strange look, opened her mouth, but said nothing.

Passing through the living room, Zhang Yue and Chu Ming were hunched over their laptops, their fingers flying across the keyboards.

Both wore the same expression—brows furrowed, lips pressed tight, looking extremely serious.

Yu Ling’s lips curved slightly, and a smile touched her eyes.

Her studio only consisted of these few people, and there was no need for an office building, so Yu Ling had simply cleared out an empty room at home to use as a studio. They often worked from her place, which saved on rent.

Yu Ling had also spent a lot of money on two laptops, keeping them at home for emergencies.

However, the computers had only been used once or twice since they were bought; they hadn't been touched for half a year. They were finally turned on today, and she feared they were likely covered in a layer of dust.

"Zhang Yue," Li Wan beckoned to him, "Drive; we need to go out."

"Coming," Zhang Yue replied. He rubbed his sore eyes, saved the document he was halfway through organizing, and pushed his chair back to stand up.

Chu Ming looked up at him, then shrank her neck and turned to ask Li Wan, "Sister Li, do I not need to go?"

If she hadn't spoken up, Li Wan might have truly forgotten her.

After a moment of thought, she waved a hand at Chu Ming. "You stay here; hold down the fort and keep in touch with us at all times."

Chu Ming’s eyes dimmed instantly, and she felt a bit dejected.

Was it because she was too useless that Sister Li didn't want her to come along?

This thought lasted only a second before the little person inside Chu Ming’s head swatted it away.

Impossible. Sister Li wasn't that kind of person.

Besides, holding down the fort was also a very arduous task!

With that, Chu Ming nodded heavily at Li Wan with a solemn expression and said, "Task guaranteed to be completed."

Yu Ling couldn't help but laugh and waved at her.

Even Li Wan, who was usually unsmiling, was amused. The tense and somber atmosphere vanished, and everyone felt much more at ease.

"Let's go."

Li Wan checked the time, and thinking it might be cold after they finished the statement, she grabbed a light jacket from the coat rack.