29: Chapter 29 Three groups of people investigating one security guard

Security Manager Zhao Guoqiang walked out of the Recording Studio, found a corner in the fire escape at the end of the hallway, squatted against the wall, and fished a cigarette out of his pocket.

Three hundred and twenty yuan.

When he fired Jiang Fan last month, he had felt quite satisfied.

Dealing with a disobedient night shift security guard was as easy as squashing an ant.

But look at the situation now.

The guy was sitting in an S-class Recording Studio operating a million-dollar mixing console, and even a diva was fighting to sing the songs he wrote.

Security Manager Zhao Guoqiang took a drag of his cigarette, opened his mobile banking app, and entered the amount: 320.

His finger hovered over the confirm button for two seconds.

He gritted his teeth and changed the number to 3200.

The extra two thousand eight hundred and eighty would be an apology.

Transfer successful.

Less than ten seconds later, his phone vibrated.

Jiang Fan replied: "Too much."

Security Manager Zhao Guoqiang quickly replied: "It's just a small token of my sincerity, please accept it, Brother Fan."

A minute later, the phone vibrated again.

Refund notification: 2880 yuan.

Jiang Fan only accepted the 320; the extra amount was returned down to the last cent.

Security Manager Zhao Guoqiang crouched in the fire escape, staring at the number on his phone screen, and stubbed out his cigarette on the base of the fire hydrant.

He took out another phone from his pocket, opened his contacts, and dialed a number.

"Old Zhou, help me investigate someone."

A middle-aged man's voice came from the other end, sounding a bit weary: "Who?"

"Jiang Fan. I'll send you his ID number on WeChat. Social connections, spending history, call logs—investigate as much as you can."

There was silence on the other end for two seconds. Old Zhou's tone changed.

"What's going on recently? You're the third party to ask me to investigate this name in the past week."

Security Manager Zhao Guoqiang's hand holding the phone froze. "The third party? Who were the first two?"

"You know the rules; client information is not disclosed." Old Zhou paused. "But I can tell you that the background of one of them is not something someone at your level can touch."

Security Manager Zhao Guoqiang didn't speak.

"I'll send you the data for this one for free. Consider it a favor for an old friend. But once you've investigated, you'll have to weigh your options yourself."

The call ended. Security Manager Zhao Guoqiang stood in the fire escape, his back against the cold concrete wall. A former security guard, and three parties were investigating him at the same time. The water here was too deep.

Vice President Wang Haiyang's office. After Security Manager Zhao Guoqiang finished reporting the situation, he stood there waiting to be reprimanded. Vice President Wang Haiyang sat in his executive chair, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the mahogany desk.

"Three parties." He repeated.

"Yes. The investigation company refused to disclose the client, only saying that one of them had a very deep background."

Vice President Wang Haiyang stopped tapping his fingers and muttered to himself. "Is that the Jiang Fan who made Xu Qingya stay in a hotel room all night?"

Security Manager Zhao Guoqiang was stunned: "What room?"

"You don't need to know." Vice President Wang Haiyang raised his hand to interrupt him. "Stop investigating."

"Yes." Security Manager Zhao Guoqiang turned to walk out. "Wait." Vice President Wang Haiyang called him back. "Did you transfer the three hundred and twenty?"

"I transferred 3200. He only accepted three hundred and twenty, and returned the rest."

Vice President Wang Haiyang was silent for a few seconds. "Get out."

After the door closed, Vice President Wang Haiyang leaned back in his chair, pressing his temples with two fingers.

Three parties investigating a former security guard.

Having been in the entertainment industry for twenty years, there were some things he couldn't see through, but some things he could. This person was not to be trifled with.

Vice President Wang Haiyang picked up the internal phone and dialed a number. "Go talk to Chen Weiyang; his contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of the year. Make up your own reason, don't involve Xu Qingya."

Before the person on the other end could reply, Vice President Wang Haiyang hung up.

Chen Weiyang didn't matter. The whole sordid business of power-for-sex trades was a ticking time bomb anyway. Getting rid of him at this juncture would also be doing a favor for Xu Qingya.

What really worried him was Jiang Fan. His background couldn't be investigated, yet three parties were looking into him. The less clear it was, the more dangerous it was.

"Damn it..." Vice President Wang Haiyang muttered, flicking cigarette ash into the ashtray. Forget it, if he could be won over, he would win him over; if not, he'd keep his distance. Definitely don't offend him.

Recording Studio. After Manager Chen packed up the contracts and left, only Jiang Fan and Xu Qingya were left in the studio. He sat in front of the mixing console, his consciousness sinking into the system.

"Redeem song 'blue and white porcelain'."

[Deducted 200 Lifespan Value. Remaining Lifespan Value: 4000 points. Remaining lifespan: 7 days.]

The complete lyrics, melody, and Arrangement structure flooded his mind. Jiang Fan spent forty minutes building the Arrangement framework on the workstation.

His phone vibrated; it was a call from Li Cheng.

"The Arrangement for national style music must use traditional instruments; you can't just rely on a guitar anymore. Do you have any band resources on your end?" Li Cheng got straight to the point after answering.

"No."

"I know a few bands that do live performances, and their level is not bad. What configuration do you need?" Jiang Fan listed the requirements. "Guzheng, piano, bamboo flute, erhu." Li Cheng was taking notes on the other end of the line.

"Electric guitar, electronic drums, percussion..." The sound of the pen stopped. "Wait." Li Cheng took the phone away to look at the screen, then put it back to his ear. "Guzheng and erhu with electric guitar and electronic drums? Are you doing national style or rock?"

Li Cheng had been in the music industry for twenty years and had seen many cases of mixing traditional music with electronic sound.

Nine out of ten were disasters that ended up being neither one thing nor the other.

"Brother Li, just tell me if you can get the people together."

"Fine, ancestor." Li Cheng sighed. "I'll get the people together for you tomorrow. Seven musicians, rehearsal space plus performance fees, package price of thirty thousand. This money—"

"I'll pay."

Jiang Fan hung up the phone. Xu Qingya didn't know when she had stood behind him. She turned, walked to her bag, took out her phone, and swiped a few times. Jiang Fan's phone vibrated. Deposit notification: one hundred thousand.

Jiang Fan looked up at her.

Xu Qingya had already turned her back to organize the sheet music, her tone nonchalant. "Buy some decent clothes. Don't wear a black T-shirt and jeans every day; you look like a construction worker carrying bricks when you're on the show."

She stuffed the sheet music into a folder and picked up her bag. "Go to my place tonight. There's still food in the fridge; I'll cook for you."

Jiang Fan leaned back in his chair, watching Xu Qingya's retreating figure as she walked out, the corners of his mouth curling up uncontrollably. "Okay."

His gaze swept over the system panel. 4000 points. 7 days.

Seven days.

Fortunately, she was there.

Meanwhile. Pengcheng. An old apartment.

The curtains were drawn tightly, and there were no lights on in the living room. A woman was curled up in the corner of the sofa, the light from her phone screen reflecting on her face.

She watched the same video repeatedly. In the video, on the initial stage of Tomorrows Star, Jiang Fan was singing the ordinary road.

She dragged the progress bar back and watched it again. Then she turned off the video, opened WeChat, and found a chat box marked "Li Cheng". She typed a line of text, deleted it all. Repeated this three times.

Finally, she bit her lower lip and pressed the send button. [Li Cheng, can you introduce Jiang Fan to me?]

After the message was sent, she placed her phone face down on her knees, staring at the pitch-black ceiling. Less than a minute later, the phone lit up. [Shen Nian, didn't you say you wouldn't enter the entertainment industry even if you died?]

The woman stared at the screen, her fingers hovering over the keyboard for a long time. [I changed my mind.]

The person on the other end took a full three minutes to reply. [You know that as soon as you show your face now, that incident from back then will be dug up. Are you sure?]

[Sure.]

In the chat box, Li Cheng's profile picture lit up and went dark, then lit up again. Finally, a message popped up. [After the recording of this episode is finished, I will arrange for you to meet.]

Shen Nian put down her phone and buried her face in her knees. On the coffee table, the last line of a medical diagnosis report read: Major Depressive Disorder.