A Return Strike

Song Niaoniao was very proactive. She arrived at the studio in the crew's office at 2 p. m. to cooperate with the crew in shooting new posters.

What's a bit strange is that after this A-list celebrity arrived at the film set, he acted as if he had never seen the film set office before, and kept looking around.

Her agent asked her what she was looking for, and she said nothing.

Liu Liqun sat in a corner with a group of stagehands. He whispered, "Logically speaking, it's not uncommon for celebrities in the entertainment industry to snatch resources when other celebrities cause trouble, but I always thought Song Niaoniao wasn't that kind of person. I didn't expect her to be like that. Now Qin Peipei's resources are all given to her. Although Director Zhang isn't a top-tier director yet, I heard that everyone thinks highly of his script and says it's a good one."

Zhou Cang asked, "Who said it?"

Liu Liqun said, "My aunt and my second aunt."

Zhou Cang: "... You leaked the script."

Liu Liqun slapped Zhou Cang with the notebook in his hand. "What, are you going to report me? There are plenty of people who leak scripts. The one I took was a script that Qin Peipei just threw away. If anyone's going to investigate, it's Qin Peipei."

One of the stagehands said, "I overheard Director Wang and Director Zhang talking and they said that this Song Niaoniao wasn't invited by them."

"Huh? Who else could possibly get her?" Liu Liqun asked doubtfully. "This Song Niaoniao is trending towards becoming a top-tier star lately, her schedule is completely full, I didn't expect her to come and save the day..."

The stagehand said, "I heard that someone else invited her, but she turned down more than twenty events and called Director Zhang to say that she could bring her own investment to join the crew."

"Who has such a big influence?" Liu Liqun was surprised.

"I heard that a big shot from the Qing family personally contacted him, although Director Zhang doesn't remember knowing any big shot from the Qing family."

Zhou Cang said, "The media reporters are quite perceptive. They've already been waiting downstairs since the change of personnel. And many press releases have already been published, all about Song Niaoniao's role in the deal, with no one saying that Qin Peipei was being arrogant."

"It must have been a press release bought by Qin Peipei's management company, no doubt about it," Liu Liqun said. "By the way, where's Qing Xiao Tu?"

Zhou Cang said, "He worked overtime this morning, carrying all the equipment onto the car by himself. Then he said he was going home to pack his things and would meet us in the underground parking lot tomorrow morning."

Liu Liqun was taken aback. "He moved everything by himself?"

Zhou Cang nodded. "Although this kid's purpose in coming to the film crew is not pure, he is quite efficient at his work. And don't let his thin appearance fool you, he is quite strong."

Liu Liqun did not speak again.

What he needs are people to do the work.

As long as Qing Chen is willing to work, he doesn't care whether the other person is pursuing a dream in the entertainment industry.

Liu Liqun chuckled and said, "Then this kid is out of luck. Song Niaoniao is so beautiful. Didn't you see all those cameramen, photographers, and art directors tilting their heads to look at her? We need to talk to Director Wang and remind everyone to behave properly and not make the star look at us like that."

The next morning.

All the crew members gathered in the office; some held up banners, while others burned incense to hold the opening ceremony.

Strangely enough, Song Niaoniao acted as if she had never seen the opening ceremony before, and was still curiously looking at something.

Her agent asked in a low voice, "Tell me the truth, are you looking for someone?"

Song Niaoniao was taken aback for a moment. "No, no."

"Don't lie to me. You can't even lie properly; your eyes betrayed you," the agent said. "Have you been dating Li Yu without telling me? No wonder you were so eager to take this role—were you just trying to secretly date him on set? Let me tell you, don't even think about that!"

Song Niaoniao was both amused and exasperated. "Sister, it's really not what you think."

The agent whispered, "That Li Yu is no good. He brought 12 assistants, six men and six women. I think he's having an affair with two of the women. Also, he used to be the pet of a powerful female figure in the Chen Corporation. He's been used and abused for a long time. Don't get involved with this kind of person."

"Don't worry, sister," Song Niaoniao said with a smile, "You know me. Would I be interested in someone like that? I'm here to repay a favor to someone, not because of Li Yu."

"That's good. It's one thing to act yourself, but you also invested so much money," the agent muttered under his breath. "Just don't be like those love-struck fools. You're in the prime of your career right now, you can't be thinking about things like that."

"Okay!" Song Niaoniao said.

Everyone went downstairs and got into the cars. The crew had more than 30 vehicles, including six trucks.

After Liu Liqun, Zhou Cang, and the others got into the stuntman's car, someone in the back seat suddenly asked, "Are we ready to leave?"

"Ahhh!" Liu Liqun was terrified to find someone sitting behind him. He turned around and saw Qing Chen. He said irritably, "Why are you sitting in the car? Why aren't you at the opening ceremony? That's a great opportunity to take a photo with a celebrity."

"What's the point of taking a photo with a celebrity?" Qing Chen said.

Liu Liqun, the "King of Knowledge," chuckled and said, "You don't understand. When you go to other film crews in the future, showing this photo will be the best way to get in. So many people join a film crew just to take a photo with a celebrity."

The convoy drove out from the south of City No. 10. They had already made the necessary arrangements and paid the full amount of money. They even took the fast lane when leaving the city and did not stop for inspection.

The convoy headed north, everyone excited about leaving the city.

Qing Chen, on the other hand, appeared remarkably calm.

Sometimes when people stop by the roadside to relieve themselves, they linger a while to admire the scenery of the wilderness. But Qing Chen and doesn't get out of the car until everyone else has gotten in before he finally gets out to take care of himself.

Qing Chen clearly saw from inside the car that after Song Niaoniao got out of the car, she looked around as if she was looking for something.

This is no coincidence at all; the other party definitely knew that I was in the convoy!

Who leaked the information?!

Qing Chen narrowed down the suspects to a few people because his whereabouts were very secretive, and only a few major forces had the ability to find him.

The shadow is the most likely suspect.

At this moment, Liu Liqun was in the car, noticed Qing Chen stealing glances at Song Niaoniao and prompted, "Isn't she pretty?"

Qing Chen glanced at him and objectively commented, "It is indeed very good-looking."

Liu Liqun laughed, "Don't overthink it. We're from completely different worlds. Let me tell you, the best thing in life is not to have so many thoughts, otherwise you'll live a miserable life. Look at me, I've met so many celebrities, and I've never been attracted to any of them. I'm still single."

Qing Chen was speechless for a long time, thinking to himself that this person could always find a topic to talk about.

Song Niaoniao and he were indeed from different worlds. He had no feelings for this beautiful star, but he was worried about being found by her.

Then the society dies.

Liu Liqun probably never imagined that the person Song Niaoniao was looking for right now was Qing Chen.

He asked curiously, "You're fifty years old, aren't you single?"

"I had one when I was young, but we didn't end up together," Liu Liqun said.

"Why were they separated?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

"Because the other party's parents disagreed and looked down on me," Liu Liqun said.

"And then?" Qing Chen asked, "Didn't she wait for you?"

"No, he didn't wait. He got married the year after we separated," Liu Liqun said.

Qing Chen: "???"

Is the entertainment industry really this chaotic? Why aren't even the stagehands straight?!

When night fell, all the staff got out of the car to set up tents, Qing Chen did not get out of the car, ostensibly to guard the convoy on duty.

According to the rules, several people should take turns getting up at night to keep watch, but he took on all the work by himself, saying that he could just sleep in the car.

At 10 p. m., the campsite quieted down. There were no entertainment activities and the cell phone signal was poor, so everyone went to bed early.

Seeing this, Qing Chen quietly got out of the car and walked out of the camp.

"Inspector Qing Chen, is it really necessary to hide from me like this?" Song Niaoniao stood behind a tree, looking at him with a smile.

"Hahahaha, am I avoiding you?" Qing Chen thought to himself, feeling annoyed. "Miss Song, please don't overthink it. I just like staying in the car."

Song Niaoniao sized him up. "Tsk tsk, the youngest inspector in PCA history, and the youngest director in the future, actually disguised himself as a stagehand and mingled in the film crew. Nobody would believe it if this got back to City No. 10."

For ordinary people, the youngest candidate for director of the PCA (CIA) and a member of a powerful financial group is already considered a very important figure.

So when the agent was giving Song Niaoniao a lesson today, she was thinking, how could Li Yu be compared to this kind of person?

Song Niaoniao didn't have any other thoughts about Qing Chen; she just thought it was so much fun, like she had stumbled upon a New World.

Qing Chen thought for a moment and asked, "Why did you suddenly join the crew? Who let you come?"

Song Niaoniao felt strange. "Didn't you ask me to come?! You called me on video yesterday."

Qing Chen: "..."

Well, he was now absolutely certain that this was definitely Shadow's doing.

The other party impersonated her to retaliate against her for fraud, so she impersonated herself and tricked Song Niaoniao into joining the production team with her investment.

The Federation's intelligence technology is advanced; not only can Qing Chen impersonate others, but others can also make human skin masks to impersonate him if they spend some time.

This human skin mask might not fool professional intelligence personnel, but it's more than enough to fool Song Niaoniao.

Moreover, before he transitioned from closed beta to open beta, Shadow occasionally impersonated him, so Shadow must have been very skilled at it.

Qing Chen found it a bit strange. Was impersonating someone else really that effective? Just by inviting someone, they could bring their own funding to join the production?

You have to understand, this production team is short of more than just a little bit of funding.

"Ahem, I'm the one who asked you to come, I forgot," Qing Chen said.

That's the rule; he impersonated Shadow, and Shadow covered for him.

Even if his shadow impersonates him, he has to cover it up...

Song Niaoniao said, "I came to repay a favor to you. You saved me last time, and I haven't properly thanked you yet. So, this time, by bringing my own investment to the production team, we're even."

"We're even, we're even," Qing Chen said. He hadn't intended for the other party to repay the favor anyway; it was all Shadow's doing. He thought for a moment and said, "I'm going to the restroom, do you want to come with me?"

Song Niaoniao's eyes flickered as she turned and returned to the camp. "Go by yourself... By the way, I already know you're on set, so you don't need to hide anymore. Don't worry, I'll pretend I don't know you."

Qing Chen walked into the woods, and after a few hundred meters, he saw Yang Yang leaning happily against a tree. "Wow, Qing Chen, you even have an adventure in the wilderness?"

"What kind of strange encounter is this?" Qing Chen said, both amused and exasperated. "Let's go."

"Okay, show me the way," Yang Yang said, pulling Qing Chen into the air.

They are going back to City No. 10 tonight.

He now has an alibi, and more than a hundred people from the crew have testified to his presence. Who would have thought he would return to City No. 10 to cause trouble at this time?

Qing Chen had been waiting for this moment.

Just when everyone thought he had left City No. 10, he made a surprise return!