Chapter 98
The moment Lin Juezhou heard Lin Zhiqiao’s inner voice, his first reaction was disbelief.
Ever since Xu Mu’an, the first actor cast as his second male lead, had scandalized and collapsed, Lin Juezhou had become even stricter when selecting a replacement for that role.
The new second male lead was called Xu Qin.
As for Xu Qin, Lin Juezhou had not only referred to his past reputation in the industry and asked people who had previously worked with him for their opinions, but had even investigated both openly and secretly whether Xu Qin had ever dated anyone, male or female, all in order to eliminate the possibility of him collapsing to the greatest extent possible.
And most importantly, Xu Qin was someone recommended by his younger brother, Lin Mubai.
Lin Juezhou might doubt the results of his own investigation, but he had never doubted Lin Mubai’s judgment when it came to people.
That was an actor recommended by the younger brother he trusted most—how could there possibly be a problem?
That was Lin Juezhou’s first thought.
But immediately afterward, he remembered the strange things about Lin Zhiqiao.
A long time ago, Lin Juezhou had already realized that he could hear the inner thoughts of this younger brother whom the whole family disliked.
He had hinted at it, both openly and indirectly, to Lin Chen and Lin Mubai before, but unfortunately, neither his eldest brother nor his youngest brother had shown any reaction whatsoever.
In other words, among the three brothers, only he could hear Lin Zhiqiao’s inner voice.
Lin Juezhou did not understand why such a thing was happening, but out of curiosity, he had gone to watch Lin Zhiqiao’s livestreams and had looked into the title of “Gossip King” attached to him.
Because of that, he knew very clearly about all the bizarre things that happened around Lin Zhiqiao, and without exception, anything Lin Zhiqiao had ever “spoiled” would be proven true within a short time.
Including Xu Mu’an, his own former first second male lead.
Lin Juezhou’s heart began to pound uneasily.
Could it be… that this time it was true too? Was his second second male lead, Xu Qin, also about to collapse?
But the moment he thought of Lin Mubai, Lin Juezhou clenched his teeth and reproached himself for actually doubting his younger brother’s judgment.
Maybe… this time, Lin Zhiqiao had just gotten it wrong.
That was how Lin Juezhou comforted himself.
But very soon, that fragile fantasy of his was smashed to pieces by reality.
With a beep, the elevator doors opened again, and several police officers in uniform stepped out.
Two of them walked toward the people still standing in the hallway and not yet back in their rooms. “Routine check. Please show your IDs.”
The other two immediately began knocking on doors one by one.
Lin Juezhou unconsciously tightened his fist and swept his gaze toward Xu Qin’s room.
That room happened to be right by the elevator, making it the very first door the police knocked on.
While handing his own ID card to the police, Lin Zhiqiao was also craning his neck and sneakily peeking toward Xu Qin’s room.
The officers knocked for quite a while before an impatient male voice finally came from inside. “Who is it? I didn’t order room service!”
“Police. Routine inspection. Please cooperate.”
“P-police?” There was a brief flash of panic in the voice behind the door. “Coming right away.”
Only after quite some time did Xu Qin finally open the door.
He was wearing a bathrobe, and perhaps because he had been in too much of a rush, the belt at his waist was tied in a sloppy, loose mess, looking as though it might come undone if he took just a few more steps.
“Sorry, officers. I was showering just now, so I came a bit slowly.”
Xu Qin’s face was flushed, and the hair by his temples was damp, making him genuinely look like he had just come out of the bathroom. “Here’s my ID.”
The police officer took one look and asked, “Is there anyone else in the room?”
“Yes,” Xu Qin said. “My girlfriend is inside.”
Though he said that with a smile, to Lin Zhiqiao, that smile looked exactly like a forced one no matter how he viewed it.
And beside him, the moment Lin Juezhou heard Xu Qin’s words, his vision went black, and he nearly performed a full fainting act on the spot.
—Girlfriend?
As far as he knew, Xu Qin had never had any girlfriend at all, not even some secret underground one!
So what exactly was this so-called “girlfriend,” and when combined with Lin Zhiqiao’s earlier “spoiler,” the answer was already obvious without needing to be said.
Lin Juezhou closed his eyes. His heart had gone completely cold.
That police officer also caught the issue immediately. “You came to the set to film and even brought your girlfriend along? That good of a relationship?”
Xu Qin forced himself to stay calm. “Yeah. My girlfriend is an outsider to the industry, so it’s rare that we get to see each other.”
Another officer had already walked into the room and asked Xu Qin’s “girlfriend” for her ID.
The woman looked somewhat unwilling, but under pressure, she finally handed it over.
The officer only took one glance before raising a brow.
He looked back up at Xu Qin, who was standing at the doorway, and asked, “Girlfriend?”
Hearing the odd tone in the officer’s voice, Xu Qin could only force himself to nod. “Yes. Girlfriend.”
“How long have you been dating?”
Xu Qin answered vaguely, “Not long.”
“Not long, and it’s already hard for you two to see each other even once?” The officer let out a light snort, then waved the “woman’s” ID card in his hand and lifted a brow. “Then do you know that this ‘girlfriend’ of yours you haven’t been dating long… is actually a man?”
Xu Qin’s expression froze. “Huh? A man?”
Lin Zhiqiao: [Whoa! Is this cross-dressing or something? This dramatic?!]
He stretched his neck even farther, and from this angle he could see the so-called “cross-dressing beauty” in the room quite clearly.
[He’s so pretty!] Lin Zhiqiao blinked. [No wonder Xu Qin couldn’t tell he was a guy.]
But the “woman” inside the room said, “I’m not a man now. I just haven’t had time to change my ID yet!”
[Not a man now…?] His eyes widened again. [Good lord, so this isn’t cross-dressing—it’s a trans person!]
Beside him, after hearing his “girlfriend’s” words, Xu Qin had already stiffened into something like a statue.
The police, however, did not care about any of that. “Doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female now. Give me your phone.”
The woman obediently handed over the phone.
The officer did not scroll for long before finding what he wanted. “The chat records and transaction records are all here. Care to come with us?”
Xu Qin had no defense left. With his face pale, he could only be taken away by the police.
Inside his heart, Lin Zhiqiao clapped like a barking little seal: [Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Thank you, Director Lin and his second male lead for bringing us such a wonderful performance! Loved it, want more, more, more!!!]
At the side, after checking the IDs of everyone present, one of the officers suddenly stepped in front of the camera the cameraman was carrying.
“Stay away from prostitution, gambling, and drugs—starting with yourself.” Officer Big Brother looked righteous and stern. “If you find people around you crossing the line, we hope everyone will be brave enough to report it. Good for you, good for me, good for everybody. Building a civilized city depends on all of us!”
The cameraman froze for a second, then promptly gave the officer a high-definition close-up shot.
‘Following the Gossip King means there’ll always be gossip to eat. Truly an eternal truth [melon-eating raccoon screaming.jpg]’
‘Another one collapsed. And somehow I’m not even surprised anymore hahaha.’
‘I’m dying, the police uncle actually used the Life production team’s livestream for public service propaganda hahaha.’
‘Free exposure is exposure. If you don’t use it, it’d be a waste. That just saved a huge publicity budget [doge.jpg]’
‘How should I put this—Director Lin really is kind of tragic. Both second male leads collapsed, and each one collapsed more thoroughly than the last.’
‘So… in this lifetime, do we still have any hope of seeing Qingquan air smoothly [falling into thought.jpg]’
After the police left, Lin Juezhou stood there dazed, his body swaying. He only barely managed to stay upright by reaching out to brace himself against the wall, looking completely defeated by reality.
Lin Zhiqiao glanced at him and sighed inwardly while shaking his head: [See? This is why having eyes is such an important thing!]
