Ideas
On Tuesday, the two had the same schedule as on Monday. When they returned to the apartment that evening, Yang Zheng brought back a video for Shen Anxia to identify: "I watched the videos from the past few days and found that this person appeared in your group and on Cuizhu Road at the same time. Most importantly, this person was carrying such a big bag, bulging, but when the surveillance footage showed this person walking back, the bag was flat."
"Emerald Bamboo Road? Where is that?" Shen Anxia had never heard of this place.
"It's near the abandoned building that these thugs mentioned, the one where they got the down payment."
Upon hearing this, Shen Anxia watched the video repeatedly. The screenshots were unclear, and the person was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, loose pants, a hat covering their head, and a mask, making it impossible to identify who it was.
but……
“Bai Yan seems to have a piece of this dress.” Shen Anxia noticed that Bai Yan had worn that dress.
Yang Zheng narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who is that?"
"He's the lead dancer in our group, the one who always leads the dance."
Yang Zheng looked completely bewildered, unable to recall the lead dancer at all. Realizing this, he stopped dwelling on it and said to Shen Anxia, "Then this person is very likely the one who doesn't want you to go on stage."
Shen Anxia remained silent. Bai Yan? If it were a matter of interview time, a deputy chief interviewee would have more interview time than the chief interviewee, which was indeed something to be jealous of. However, Shen Anxia did not believe that Bai Yan would hire someone to kidnap her.
"So, what will happen next?" Shen Anxia asked Yang Zheng.
"I will give the identification results to Director Chen, and they will bring people to conduct an investigation," Yang Zheng explained the process.
"Are we taking them away?" Shen Anxia asked.
"They might also contact the authorities by phone."
“Yang Zheng.” Shen Anxia pulled Yang Zheng’s arm and thought for a moment.
Yang Zheng grasped Shen Anxia's hand in return and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Don't tell me the results yet, I'll observe it again tomorrow."
Yang Zheng sat back down next to Shen Anxia and asked, "Do you have something on your mind?"
Shen Anxia hesitated for a moment: "I can't really explain it, but an intuition tells me not to handle it this way."
“Okay,” Yang Zheng agreed. “Press the video call first, let me check how the wound is.”
Shen Anxia turned around, and Yang Zheng checked her wound. It had healed a bit, and the injury on her ankle had also improved a lot, though it was still slightly swollen. He figured that she would be fine after applying the medicinal wine a few more times, and he was finally relieved.
"Yang Zheng, have you ever seen cured meat?" Shen Anxia asked.
"Huh?" Yang Zheng was puzzled.
"It's the kind of pork belly that's marinated with lots of seasonings."
"Do you want some? I'll buy some tomorrow." Yang Zheng instantly thought of a few recipes for cured meat.
"..." Shen Anxia was rebuffed and realized that she couldn't beat around the bush when talking to Yang Zheng. She said, "If I don't take a shower soon, I'll turn into dried meat."
Yang Zheng was stunned for a moment before he understood what Shen Anxia meant. He laughed and said, "Then rinse it off, but don't use water that's too hot, and don't wash it for too long, otherwise the wound will easily open up, and your ankle will heal more slowly."
Having achieved her goal, Shen Anxia happily found a new set of short-sleeved pajamas and was about to skip and hop into the bathroom.
Yang Zheng leaned against the bedroom wall, arms crossed, watching the excited Shen Anxia with a relaxed air. Just as she reached the bathroom door, he said calmly, "It doesn't count as pork belly."
Shen Anxia turned to look at him: "?"
Yang Zheng continued, "It's clearly spare ribs."
Shen Anxia almost choked on her breath, tilting her head: "?"
Under Shen Anxia's watchful gaze, Yang Zheng changed his tune: "At most, it can be considered lean meat."
Shen Anxia, who was always proud of her figure, couldn't stand the criticism. She said, "I clearly have everything I want, so how can I be without any meat?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Zheng instantly transformed into an infrared scanner, scanning her from head to toe. Finally, his gaze landed on her chest, and then he blushed and looked away.
Shen Anxia was wearing a loose-fitting ice silk nightgown, only revealing her forearms and calves, but Yang Zheng's gaze made her feel hot all over, as if she were not wearing any clothes. She didn't intend to pay any more attention to him and pushed open the door to go into the bathroom.
Then a male voice came leisurely from behind: "Hmm, that's right, you can have it wherever you want."
Shen Anxia: "..."
By Wednesday, Shen Anxia was able to walk a little faster, but Jia Yunjie still insisted on helping her walk and getting her food. When they returned with the food, Jia Yunjie saw Shen Anxia sitting next to Bai Yan.
Jia Yunjie was stunned.
Shen Anxia and Bai Yan, one gentle and aloof, the other proud and arrogant, never actively get together except to discuss dance moves, yet they are now sitting directly opposite each other.
Jia Yunjie sat down next to Shen Anxia with two lunches in hand, and heard Shen Anxia discussing pretty clothes with Bai Yan.
"It's that hooded sweatshirt, the one you can wear with bare legs. I've been looking for a long time but haven't been able to find the same one," Shen Anxia said.
Bai Yan was also filled with surprise.
Bai Yan has always been a loner, and Shen Anxia is not a social butterfly either. Yet today, she actually sat at the same table with Bai Yan for lunch. What's more, Shen Anxia, who Bai Yan also sees as someone who likes to be alone, actually asked Bai Yan where she bought her coat.
Bai Yan knew which coat Shen Anxia was referring to. She observed Shen Anxia carefully and saw that Shen Anxia's eyes were full of longing for that coat, so it seemed that she really liked it. Bai Yan was not the kind of person who minded if others wore the same clothes as her, so she generously shared the purchase address.
But Shen Anxia was clearly very interested in that coat, and pressed Bai Yan for details, asking, "That coat is so pretty, why don't you wear it? Don't you like it?"
Bai Yan's eyes showed even more incomprehension, but she still replied politely, "That dress isn't made of the light and thin material you think it is; it's a bit thick, and it's too hot to wear in this season."
Shen Anxia gave an understanding "Oh": "So it's not the Xia style."
Bai Yan noticed the obvious disappointment in Shen Anxia's eyes, but she wasn't a particularly warm-hearted person herself, so she lowered her head and ate quietly.
Jia Yunjie subtly glanced at Shen Anxia, trying to discern what had happened. Shen Anxia casually replied, "Oh, by the way, it seems the police have found the mastermind behind the kidnapping attempt that the taxi driver mentioned in the surveillance footage."
"Huh?" Jia Yunjie exclaimed in surprise, her voice rising eight octaves. "There really is such a person?"
Shen Anxia nodded: "Yes, there are call records proving that it was a woman. Although she deliberately changed her voice, she sounded young. Moreover, the suspect was captured on surveillance footage near the unfinished building where the kidnappers said the cash transaction would take place. The other party specifically asked the kidnappers to create some accidents before our commercial performance last week so that the actors could not go on stage."
She deliberately mentioned that the surveillance camera had captured the suspect, secretly observing Bai Yan's reaction.
"Why is that? And it's a woman?" Jia Yunjie suddenly seemed to realize something and lowered her voice to ask Shen Anxia, "Why do I feel a chill down my spine? Is it someone from the YY Dance Troupe? Did we take their performance opportunity because we were doing commercial performances?"
A surge of inspiration struck Jia Yunjie, and she began to have serious doubts again: "Could it be someone from our own troupe?"
Just now, Jia Yunjie suddenly raised her voice, which attracted the attention of many people around her. Now, although Jia Yunjie lowered her voice, people around her started asking questions.
When Shen Anxia brought up the topic, Bai Yan glanced up at her, then lowered her head to eat again, returning to her indifferent state.
It wasn't until Jia Yunjie lowered her voice and guessed, in a tone only the three of them could hear, that Bai Yan looked up again at Shen Anxia and Jia Yunjie.
However, she still didn't express any opinion.
Before leaving get off work in the afternoon, the girls were all changing clothes in the locker room. Although Shen Anxia hadn't changed clothes all day, Jia Yunjie still dragged her to the locker room to help her change.
Since Yang Zheng hadn't arrived yet, Shen Anxia sat in the dressing room waiting for Jia Yunjie to change so they could leave together.
The girls chatted and joked around while discussing the new dance moves. They had been changing clothes for ages and were still not quite done. Shen Anxia watched them laughing and joking with a smile.
Behind her came the sound of objects falling to the ground with a clatter. The sound stopped for a moment. Shen Anxia turned around and saw that Bai Yan had accidentally taken out her makeup bag while getting clothes, and her cosmetics were scattered all over the floor.
Kou Ke, who was next to Bai Yan, quickly helped her pick them up. Shen Anxia, who was closest to the two of them, turned around and bent down to help as well.
"Hey? Bai Yan, is this your SIM card?"
Shen Anxia paused, looking at the phone card that Kou Ke had picked up.
Bai Yan took it from Kou Ke and said, "It must have been left here by my family by accident."
"I knew it! You don't have two phones, so where did you get two SIM cards? Anyone who didn't know better would think you had two SIM cards." Kou Ke chuckled.
Bai Yan didn't respond to Kou Ke's words, but simply thanked Shen Anxia and Kou Ke.
Shen Anxia stared thoughtfully at the phone card that Bai Yan had put in her makeup bag.
Jia Yunjie also changed her clothes and came over. Seeing Shen Anxia bent over in a daze, she asked, "Did you touch your wound?"
“No,” Shen Anxia straightened up and said to Jia Yunjie, “Come outside with me, my boyfriend will be here soon.”
"Come on, let me help you out." Jia Yunjie reached out and helped Shen Anxia up.
Jia Yunjie helped Shen Anxia out of the exit, where Yang Zheng's car was already parked at the bottom of the steps.
"Alright, your partner has arrived. I'll leave you here. Can you come down the steps yourself?"
Shen Anxia smiled at Jia Yunjie: "Don't worry, I have some things to take care of right now. I'll have my boyfriend treat you to dinner in a couple of days."
"Really?" Jia Yunjie perked up at the mention of dinner. "Then I'll wait."
"Wait, maybe I'll have time next week," Shen Anxia promised Jia Yunjie as she walked down the railing.
Yang Zheng got out of the car and greeted Shen Anxia. Jia Yunjie waved to him from behind Shen Anxia and said, "Hello!"
Yang Zheng smiled and nodded to Jia Yunjie, then helped Shen Anxia down two steps and opened the car door for her.
Yang Zheng helped Chen Anxia sit down and got into the car, taking her to eat the glutinous rice lotus root she wanted.
After dinner, Yang Zheng took Shen Anxia to the park to enjoy the breeze.
He looked at Shen Anxia with some surprise: "What's wrong with you today? You were even distracted while eating the glutinous rice lotus root."
Shen Anxia looked at Yang Zheng beside her, her eyes filled with confusion: "Yang Zheng, I think I've figured out who's trying to prevent me from going on stage."
"Hmm." Yang Zheng turned to face Shen Anxia. "Who?"
Shen Anxia frowned: "It's just a gut feeling. If there isn't solid evidence, we probably can't draw conclusions just from guessing."
"Then tell me, and we'll verify it?"
Shen Anxia thought for a moment and said to Yang Zheng, "I'll try to find the answer first. Yang Zheng, come with me to see someone."
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