After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows
Chapter 374 - 365: Focus on the Main Points, Disregard the Rest

Chapter 374: Chapter 365: Focus on the Main Points, Disregard the Rest

The afternoon scenes were exceptionally smooth.

Except for the guy who almost burst into tears during the fight scene with Jiang Lingxi.

If they hadn’t been using extremely realistic prop swords during filming, he would have suspected he had died under the sword more than once.

"Alright, that’s a wrap!"

Wei Xiao smiled, raised his hand, and gave the order, which was greeted with cheers from the crew.

Wrapping up half an hour ahead of schedule meant they could clock out half an hour early too.

Who wouldn’t be happy to get off work early!

The male actor performing the scenes with Jiang Lingxi rubbed his slightly sore and numb arm, feeling crestfallen amidst the cheers around him.

Great, he was the only one in the crew who got hurt!

Back in the dressing room, he removed his makeup and changed back into his own clothes, precisely at 6 o’clock.

Jiang Lingxi walked up behind Xu Ling’an, who was fixing her outfit in front of the mirror, and helped smooth a few stray hairs near her temple, "Perfect!"

Xu Ling’an touched the dress her grandma had made for her, looked into Jiang Lingxi’s eyes through the mirror, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, "Sister, let’s go."

She was ready!

Lu Zhengzheng saw the two preparing to leave and quickly put down her phone to stand up, "Xixi, I’ve spoken to the driver, he will take you directly to the restaurant. Just contact him ten minutes before you’re done eating."

Jiang Lingxi nodded, took her phone, unlocked it, and saw a video from Shen Yunqing several minutes long, her brows furrowed.

However, she didn’t have time to watch now, so she simply turned off the screen again.

Seeing Gao Lan waiting outside, she noticed a small bag in her hand, "Grandma, what’s this?"

"With the festival approaching, I made some mooncakes at home last night. I thought I couldn’t show up empty-handed; these mooncakes are a good gesture."

Jiang Lingxi glanced at the small bag again, just hoping the Zhang family would genuinely accept this gift.

"The driver is already waiting outside, Grandma, An’an, let’s go."

The back seat was given to the grandmother and granddaughter, and Jiang Lingxi sat in the passenger seat, just in time to watch the video Shen Yunqing sent her in the car.

Just as she was about to put on the earphones, Xu Ling’an’s voice came from the back, "Sister, do you remember Brother Lei? He’s coming too."

Jiang Lingxi turned her head, "Where is he now, where should we pick him up?"

Xu Ling’an quickly waved her hand, "No need, I gave Brother Lei the address, he said he’ll come over after he gets off work."

She just felt it necessary to tell her sister in advance.

"Is he still working at the same restaurant?"

"Sort of, his boss recently opened another branch and made him the deputy chef there."

"That means he’s doing well, his boss appreciates him."

But after seeing the video from Shen Yunqing, the light mood Jiang Lingxi had while chatting with Xu Ling’an quickly vanished.

The video consisted of two segments.

Xu Qingmei brought Jing Huai into the villa.

Jing Huai came out of the villa alone.

The video even thoughtfully added subtitles for her.

In just half an hour, the person who went in and the one who came out seemed completely different to her.

They were like the puppet figures controlled by poison she had seen in her past life.

Soulless, like walking corpses.

She typed: [Is he being controlled?]

[Quite possible, that’s also my hypothesis.]

[Xu Qingmei had clearly drawn the line with Jing Huai, why would she take the trouble to control him now?]

[I suspect it’s the drug. The active substance Lu Ye found in Jing Huai’s blood is likely the key to controlling him.]

Jiang Lingxi suddenly remembered the dirty hand Xu Qingmei almost laid on Shen Yunqing yesterday. Seeing Jing Huai’s current state in the video, she almost couldn’t suppress the murderous intent rising in her heart.

This means Xu Qingmei originally intended to control their Prime Minister, but was interrupted by her, leading to Jing Huai being an accidental victim instead!

Damn it!

Originally focused on driving, the driver suddenly felt the air grow cold, and almost hit the brakes.

Jiang Lingxi turned her head to him, "Focus on driving."

"Yes, yes, sorry, Miss Jiang."

The remainder of the trip, the car was driven more steadily than ever before.

With Shen Yunqing currently helping her monitor Xu Qingmei’s movements, Jiang Lingxi worriedly typed back: [Be careful, keep away from Xu Qingmei, don’t give her a chance to touch a hair on you. Also, don’t come in contact with Jing Huai’s blood. Remember!]

They still hadn’t identified what the active substance was, and weren’t aware of how Xu Qingmei managed to use it to control someone. The villa interior couldn’t be monitored.

As the original target Xu Qingmei intended to control, Shen Yunqing was now in even more danger than she was.

But they couldn’t halt their efforts just because of danger.

She had to face danger head-on now.

"Boss," the young man with a beard observed the person in front of him smiling at his phone and couldn’t contain his curiosity, "What are you looking at that’s got you smiling so happily?"

Before he got too close, Shen Yunqing covered the phone screen with his hand, "Have you tracked Xu Qingmei’s movements after leaving the villa?"

Bearded youth: "...I was just about to report to you, I tracked her to a high-end residential area in the city, but lost the signal going further inside. I strongly suspect Xu Qingmei used a jamming device, a high-intensity one; a usual jammer wouldn’t work on me. No idea what secret she’s hiding that requires such levels of concealment."

"By the way, I also found out that Miss Jiang’s place isn’t far from that residential area, just a street apart."

Shen Yunqing couldn’t help but shoot him a cold look, "Remember to focus on the main point when reporting next time."

Bearded youth: "..."

Returning to his array of instruments, he slapped his forehead, eyes widening with sudden realization.

He got it; the main point was Miss Jiang!

*

A taxi stopped in front of Lin’s Imperial Chef Restaurant.

Xu Lei got out of the cab, adjusted his brand new suit, then looked up at the softly lit restaurant sign.

He murmured to himself, wow!

The decor here easily outshone his boss’s favored ornate style by at least ten streets.

He took out his phone to check the location share from An’an, roughly two kilometers away from here.

Standing at the entrance, he couldn’t help but open his boss’s contact, and sent a message: [Bro, what do you think of Lin’s Imperial Chef?]

The boss was probably free at the moment, and quickly replied: [What’s there to say, it’s hard to evaluate. It’s a century-old private kitchen restaurant; even if I worked for another 30 years, I couldn’t catch up. But why’re you suddenly asking about Lin’s Imperial Chef?]

[Just bragging a bit, I’m here at Lin’s Imperial Chef for dinner today.]

[Really? With your salary, one meal there would cost a month’s pay!]

[Hehe, did you forget why I asked for leave today? My sister’s reunion banquet is here.]

[Being held here implies your sister has quite an impressive background. Anyway, since you’re not the star today, just focus on enjoying the food. See if you can learn something from it.]

After reading the message, Xu Lei couldn’t resist looking back at the restaurant entrance again.

He had previously heard An’an mention that their grandfather was a painter and calligrapher; he didn’t understand much but had no concept of it until seeing the restaurant where the banquet was held. It gave him some idea.

It seemed they were quite wealthy. That’s good, really good—An’an, who grew up with her grandmother living frugally, lacked nothing in love but needed better nutrition. Now, having a few more wealthy relatives to cherish her is undoubtedly favorable, really great!

Yet when he looked over again, he met eyes full of dislike and disdain.

"Where’s the security? The restaurant entrance shouldn’t allow idlers to linger; do you want your wages docked?"

Xu Lei: "..."

Idlers? Did this aunt, dressed in a cheongsam with a large pearl necklace that screamed ’noblewoman,’ mean him?

At that moment, he felt like the suit he had splurged on was deeply insulted!