Yinling, Liangji Villa.
Inside the business club’s surveillance room.
"Yes, yes, this is the floor."
In front of the surveillance screen, Douzi stared at the enlarged image retrieved by the security guard and confirmed.
They arrived at the monitoring room a few minutes ago. After hearing their purpose, the security guard on duty first called the security supervisor. After getting permission, he retrieved the surveillance footage of the past week as they requested.
"Then you guys just watch first, I'm going to have a meal?" said the security guard on duty.
During this period, the villa was rented to the crew, and their main job was basically to ensure the safe operation of the crew. However, the operation of the crew had its own special features - many things required high confidentiality.
So the supervisor just said specifically on the phone: Since it is the lead actor of the crew who wants to adjust the surveillance, then do your best to cooperate, and don't ask about things you shouldn't know.
Because of this, the security guard planned to give them the monitoring room and take advantage of this opportunity to have lunch, which would also help them avoid suspicion.
"Okay, thanks for your hard work, big brother," Douzi said. "Just go do your thing, we'll take care of it ourselves."
The security guard didn't say anything else, nodded, took his keys and water cup, and walked straight out the door.
"When do you start watching?"
After the security guard left, Douzi sat down on the chair in front of the screen, picked up the mouse and became the operator.
Jiang Que thought for a moment, then turned to Song Yecheng and asked, "Tuesday?"
Song Yecheng recalled briefly and nodded, "Yes, let's start from Tuesday."
They filmed the scene on Thursday, the props team set up the set on Wednesday, and Zhuang Yan selected the office as the set on Tuesday.
This means that before Tuesday, even though everyone knew that the scene would be filmed in the office area of the business club, no one could be sure which room it would be filmed in, so the cameras must have been installed after that.
Douzi hit wherever he pointed and quickly found the video from Tuesday among the countless files. He clicked on it and enlarged it to full screen.
"Just delay it until after five in the afternoon." Song Yecheng said.
There were filming arrangements all day on Tuesday, and Zhuang Yan was present the entire time. He only mentioned when he was wrapping up at 5 p.m. that he wanted to go to the set in the ward selected by the business club.
Sure enough, when Douzi dragged the progress bar to five o'clock in the afternoon and chose fast forward, he soon saw Zhuang Yan, two assistant directors, the props team leader, and a person in charge of arranging the connection at the villa walking towards him from the elevator on the screen.
Zhuang Yan chose the location taking into account the difference in light between the north and the south, so after the five people walked into the corridor, they didn't even look at the row of offices on the north side, but only looked at the offices on the south side one by one.
This process was not important to Song Yecheng and the others, so Douzi did not adjust the playback speed and let it fast forward all the way until the five people in the picture walked to the door directly opposite the surveillance camera and finally selected it, then he clicked to resume normal playback.
In the picture, the person in charge of the villa opened the door with the key and pushed it as far as it could go. After the other four people entered the house one after another, he followed them in.
At this time, no one was actually visible in the picture, but the open door and the circle around the door panel were still in sight, and it was obvious that no one had approached.
A few minutes later, the five people returned to the door. Zhuang Yan pointed to several directions in the room and told something to the assistant director and the team leader. Then he turned to the person in charge of the villa and said something like, "Are you sure you want to use this room?" The person in charge nodded repeatedly, then closed and locked the door, and walked towards the elevator with several people.
"Huh?" Seeing this, Douzi suddenly asked in surprise, "The door wasn't locked when we went there just now, right?"
Song Yecheng didn't find it strange: "Now most of the props have been moved away, only the bed and bedside table are left. It's difficult to steal those things, so there's no need to lock them."
Douzi nodded and said "Oh——" and Song Yecheng said, "Keep going fast."
Douzi did as he was told and pressed the fast-forward button again.
After Zhuang Yan and his companions left, the surveillance footage became like a still picture, and not even a ghost appeared for several hours.
During the months that the villa was rented to the crew, most of the internal staff were on rotation leave, and only positions such as those responsible for food, accommodation and security were still operating normally, so this civil office area was basically idle, which made it convenient to use it as a film set.
The still scene lasted until the next morning.
At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, people finally reappeared in the surveillance footage - the villa manager and the props team arrived at the house together. After opening the door, they moved the original tables, chairs and other office equipment inside to the adjacent office for storage.
During this process, the door was just like yesterday, and it was kept open as wide as possible from the moment it was opened. It seemed that it was tightly sucked in by the door suction at the bottom of the wall. No one approached or touched it during this period.
It was almost lunchtime when all the things were moved in. Since the room had been cleared out at that time, they did not lock the door when they went to eat. When they came back, they moved in a large number of props and officially started setting up the set.
The specific arrangement process in the room could not actually be captured by the surveillance camera, because the camera only captured the doorway, so the three of them stared at the screen, their eyes fixed on the open door panel.
After watching for a while, Douzi couldn't help but ask in confusion: "No one has ever touched the door?"
Neither Song Yecheng nor Jiang Que said anything. After all, there was still a lot of video footage left and it was too early to draw conclusions. But it was indeed tiring to watch it this way, so Song Yecheng simply reached out and doubled the playback speed.
When the video recording reached 2:40 p.m., Douzi suddenly exclaimed, "Fuck, it's coming!"
As he spoke, he suddenly sat up straight and quickly restored the broadcast speed to normal.
In the high-definition picture, someone finally approached the door for the first time - a prop master from the prop group walked to the door with a curtain frame used to disguise the peephole in his right hand and a toolbox in his left hand. He gently hooked the door suction at the bottom of the wall with his foot, and then used his elbow to push the door panel towards the door frame.
The next second, the door suddenly closed.
Douzi was completely confused: "...How can I even understand this?!"
Song Yecheng and Jiang Que were actually very helpless, but fortunately they had anticipated this situation when they saw the location of the surveillance camera before, so they were mentally prepared and were not too disappointed at this time.
Jiang Que said, "Just keep watching and we'll talk after you finish."
Douzi had no better idea, so he could only continue reading in frustration.
The installation of the curtain took less than five minutes. At 2:43, the door was opened again and hit the door suction against the wall again. The prop master also turned around and walked out of the surveillance range with the toolbox.
For the next hour, no one touched the door again. At most, they passed by it when entering or leaving the room. At four o'clock in the afternoon, the ward was set up and people walked out of the room one after another, carrying things and walking towards the open space at the end of the corridor, which needed to be set up as a rest area in the hospital.
Seeing the last person coming out close the door, Douzi asked cautiously, "Is there anyone else inside?"
"No." Jiang Que and Song Yecheng said in unison.
After saying that, the two turned their heads and looked at each other, only to realize that they had tacitly done the same thing again - they had deliberately paid attention to the number of people who entered the room at the beginning, and added or subtracted the number every time someone came in and out, so that they could be sure that there was no one left in the room at this time.
Douzi turned his head and looked to the left and right. Somehow, he felt that he was a little redundant being sandwiched in the middle. He couldn't help but shrink his neck, blinked, and continued to look at the screen.
At this moment, he noticed with his sharp eyes that a few more people were coming from the corridor on the left side of the surveillance camera - the assistant director was leading Xu Yi, Xiao You and two actors who played police officers towards the elevator.
Seeing the five people approaching, Douzi immediately perked up. However, after a while, he found that this perseveration was a bit unnecessary.
The assistant director must have brought them here to familiarize themselves with the layout of the set in advance. When they arrived at the door, he turned the door open and let them in. He stood in front of the open door, waiting for them while looking at the progress of the layout of the "rest area" at the end of the corridor.
Not long after, Xu Yi and the others finished their inspection and came out. The assistant director closed the door and led them to the area at the end of the corridor which was still being decorated.
There was actually nothing to see in the next few dozen minutes, because everyone was at the end of the corridor. They finished work at around five o'clock and left in twos and threes through the corridor. Only the person in charge of the villa, who was walking at the end, stopped for a few seconds when passing by this room, but did not go in. He just took out the key and locked the door.
After everyone left, the surveillance video returned to a paused still image.
Douzi let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair. "So, it seems like there's only one person who's suspicious from the beginning to the end?"
He was referring to the prop master.
However, just as he finished speaking, he suddenly sat up with a start: "No! The door was closed at that time. What if someone else approached?"
Hearing this, Song Yecheng said: "It's not impossible, but the possibility is very small."
Douzi was a little confused: "Why?"
Song Yecheng said: "There were only three minutes from closing the door to opening it, which was very tight for installing the curtains. It is unlikely that he left in the middle. If someone else came to install the camera during this period, it would be equivalent to doing it under his nose, and the risk would be too great. So if the camera was really installed at that time, the most likely person to do it was him, who could just use the cover of his body to block the view from behind, which makes more sense."
Douzi thought about it carefully in his mind, then nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, yes."
Song Yecheng looked at Jiang Que: "What do you think?"
To his surprise, Jiang Que didn't agree with his reasoning this time, but he didn't object either. He just said, "I think we should finish watching the video first."
Song Yecheng immediately understood: "You think it's not him?"
Jiang Que hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
"Why?" Song Yecheng asked.
Jiang Que pondered and explained, "Because I think that for someone who was planning to do something bad, his expression just now was a little too calm."
If it were an ordinary surveillance camera, you might not even be able to see the person's appearance, let alone his expression. But this surveillance camera is not only high-definition, but also right across the door, so every detail is visible.
After hearing this explanation, Song Yecheng couldn't help but teased: "Oh, you can also read micro-expressions?"
"Not really," Jiang Que said, "I'm not 100% sure either, I just don't think it's likely. Or maybe you could interpret it as... intuition?"
Although the word intuition sounds mysterious, it is actually not "metaphysics". It is more like a person's subconscious judgment on the outcome of something based on a comprehensive system including common sense, experience, senses, and knowledge reserves. It may not always work, but sometimes it can be surprisingly accurate.
Song Yecheng accepted this statement with almost no obstacles, but the video was only played on Wednesday afternoon, and their scene was filmed on Thursday afternoon. If the camera was not installed when the set was being set up, it could have been installed at any time after the set was set up and before filming began, which meant that there was still almost half of the video to watch.
Thinking about it, he turned around, walked to the side, pulled a chair over, and pressed Jiang Que's shoulders to let him sit in: "Then you should sit down and watch. If you stand for too long, you might get hypoglycemia again."
Jiang Que was pushed into the chair without any preparation. Although he didn't say anything, he silently defended himself in his heart: it was true that he had hypoglycemia, but in the past few months, he had been following the crew's regular meals and work and rest schedule, and he had not had any symptoms for a long time.
Song Yecheng certainly didn't know what he was thinking. He naturally sat on the armrest of his chair, put his right elbow on the back of the chair, and patted Douzi's shoulder with his left hand: "Keep fast forward."
Douzi responded and adjusted the video playback speed to the highest speed. The three of them didn't say anything more and just continued watching the screen.
Playing at double speed did not save the still state of the picture. Only the slightly dimming light indicated the passage of time from dusk to night.
At seven o'clock in the evening, it was completely dark.
The light-sensing lamps in the corridor lit up one by one, and the cold white light gradually enveloped every inch of the wall and floor. The intersection of the planes extended straight into the distance, making the empty and deserted corridor appear even deeper and narrower.
The time ticked silently in the upper right corner of the screen. Douzi stared at the full-screen image for a moment, then suddenly took a deep breath and rubbed his arms. "Hiss...why do I feel a little creepy?"
Song Yecheng chuckled softly: "Why do you think horror movies always tend to be shot in corridors?"
Like mirrors, staircases, and basements, corridors have always been a favorite setting for thriller directors. Their narrowness can create a sense of oppression, while their expansiveness can easily evoke a fear of the unknown ahead. Therefore, when a corridor appears in a film, the audience's sense of immersion makes them feel that there are potential dangers everywhere, even if nothing happens.
Song Yecheng glanced at Douzi and saw that he was still craning his neck to stare at the screen. He raised his hand and pressed his forehead, pushing him back a little. "You're so creepy, but you're still getting so close. Be careful, one of my ghost faces might pop up and scare you to death."
Douzi shrank back in shock at the scene he described, while Jiang Que looked up at him. This glance happened to be caught by Song Yecheng out of the corner of his eye. He immediately turned around and smiled, "What? Did I scare you?"
Jiang Que's eyes clearly said "You are so childish", but Song Yecheng ignored it and raised his hand to rub his head pretentiously: "Be good, don't be afraid, brother will protect you."
Jiang Que: “…”
Douzi stared at the computer without looking away, but an old lyric echoed in his heart: I should be under the table~I shouldn't be here~See how sweet you are~
Song Yecheng put down his hands like a victorious general. Although he pretended nothing happened, the curve of his mouth was obvious. He turned his head and looked at the screen again: "Keep watching, keep watching."
Jiang Que glanced at him with a mixture of laughter and tears, then silently turned to the screen.
On the screen, the still picture continued calmly, from seven to eight, then to nine, ten, and until midnight.
Although I played it at the maximum speed, it still took me quite a while to finish watching it, which took half an evening.
Douzi was initially quite nervous, but by the end he was numb and a little sleepy. He yawned repeatedly and said, "Isn't this too boring? I'm almost wondering if I'm watching a video or a photo."
Song Yecheng looked at his watch and found that it was already noon. Considering Jiang Que's Schrödinger's hypoglycemia, he said, "Why don't we go eat first? The video is here and it won't run away anyway."
Hearing him say that, Douzi suddenly had an idea and turned around and said, "Huh? Why don't we just send it to our phones? We can watch it while we eat?"
Song Yecheng had thought about this before, but the problem was that the file was incredibly large, and the transfer process might be slower than reading it directly.
He was about to speak when Jiang Que suddenly said, "Someone is coming."
These words were like thunderclaps from the blue sky, instantly drawing Song Yecheng and Douzi's attention back to the screen.
The time in the upper right corner of the screen just jumped to 2:00 in the morning, and the door of the fire escape at the end of the corridor was suddenly pushed open, and a figure walked out of the door.
The three of them just wanted to take a closer look when they suddenly saw that the opponent moved as fast as a ghost. In the blink of an eye, he was approaching a long distance as if he had used the flash skill.
"Oh my god!" Douzi was suddenly startled.
He had stared at the still image for so long that he had forgotten it was being played at high speed. When he realized what was happening, he frantically adjusted the speed back to normal.
At this time, the man had already reached the middle of the corridor. Although his face was still unclear, his outline was clearly discernible.
The figure looked like a woman, wearing a dark casual suit and a baseball cap, with her hands in her pockets. The way she walked looked somewhat familiar.
When she took a few steps closer, the three were trying to identify her when they saw her suddenly raise her head without warning and look at the surveillance camera.
At that moment, it was as if she was making eye contact with the person outside the screen. Douzi suddenly stared and exclaimed—
"Xu Yi?!"
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