I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

Liu Ruying turned to look at her and said, word by word, "That's exactly why we've come here."

Lu Qingxuan asked Qin Yunshang, "He really never came back? When was the last time you saw him?"

Qin Yunshang frowned and thought hard for a moment, then said, "It's been at least half a week."

"So long?" Lu Qingxuan was a little surprised.

"Yes, if I hadn't texted him yesterday, I would have almost called the police to report him missing."

"How do you communicate via text messages? Can I see them?"

Everyone crowded around. On Qin Yunshang's phone, her chat with Chen Ya was very simple. Qin Yunshang asked him when he would be back, and Chen Ya's answer was also very simple—"We'll see."

Qin Yunshang, holding her phone, said, "I was upset with him before for not taking the competition seriously, but now it seems... he might have run into some love interest in Japan again?"

"No, it's possible they've run into trouble..."

Liu Ruying's expression turned somewhat solemn. She recalled the scheme she had set up for Asai Shinjiro a few days earlier, and her heart began to race.

The makeup artist, who had just been dismissed, spoke up again, whispering:

"Girls, aren't you going to start putting on makeup yet?... Time is really running out!"

No one paid any attention to her.

……

A man in a khaki trench coat appeared at the entrance of the stadium, took out a Seven Stars cigarette from his pocket, and just as he lit it, a volunteer came over and quietly reminded him that this was a no-smoking area.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

The man stubbed out his cigarette and tossed it into the nearby trash can. Looking up at the long queue at the entrance, he tightened his clothes and squatted down on the steps.

"Hirata...senpai?"

A somewhat unfamiliar voice came from behind him. The man turned around and saw a slender, short-haired beauty staring at him warily.

“Yayoi Mai…” the man called out her name with a slight awkwardness.

The other person was his junior at the police academy, and their relationship was limited to nodding acquaintances, but because of her somewhat tongue-twisting name, she left a particularly deep impression on him.

Of course, there were other, more crucial reasons why he was so impressed with her—

The photo of this junior student, along with the photos of Asai Ruriko and the Chinese man, was currently posted on his clue whiteboard, which he saw every day at work.

Hirata flashed a hearty smile: "What a coincidence?"

"Yes, what a coincidence." Yayoi Mai said expressionlessly, her hand remaining in her pocket as if she were holding something.

“I remember you work in security for the Triangle Group now, right?” Hirata laughed. “I really miss the days at the police academy.”

"Back then, I didn't have much interaction with you, senior, did I?" Yayoi interrupted his sentimental musings rather ruthlessly.

"Of course, I miss my younger self back then." Hirata's thick skin is proportional to his age.

Mai Yayoi's expression turned colder: "Stop with these pointless tests. Senior, you came here for Chen Ya, didn't you?"

Hirata grinned: "Huh? Was my expression that obvious? Yayoi, you might be quite suited to be a detective!"

“If that’s the case,” Yayoi took a step back, “then we are enemies now.”

She was wearing tall boots, which made her legs look very long. Hirata had no doubt that he could be easily attacked from his current distance.

"Why do you say that?" Hirata continued, seemingly casually. "Is it because this person has become your lover? That would be truly a cause for celebration."

“No, this is my boss now.” Yayoi’s expression remained unchanged.

She seems to have no sense of humor by nature.

Hirata's expression suddenly sharpened.

"Even if he is connected to the murder case at White Horse Manor, are you still willing to be my enemy?"

“Please provide concrete evidence before you speak, otherwise I have the right to protect my boss’s reputation,” Yayoi Mai said.

Hirata sighed.

In just a few days, things changed again.

This Chen Ya is even more capable than he imagined!

Chapter 480 The Fermi Paradox

Hirata realized that this bodyguard was not someone who could be easily intimidated by her imposing manner, so he immediately softened his attitude and smiled:

"Relax, relax, I was just joking."

"This joke isn't funny." The woman's expression remained serious.

"..."

Just as Hirata had thought, this woman's sense of humor may have been removed by God before she was born.

“I’m really not here to investigate a case. In fact, I’m on vacation today,” Hirata said, turning his pockets inside out. “Look, I didn’t even bring my work ID today.”

Hirata has been investigating the case at Hakuba Villa for three years now, and sometimes he still suddenly recalls the details of the case in the middle of the night.

Although the deceased was not entirely innocent, and his death contributed far more than he did while alive.

Hirata is still bothered by this case because its impact continues to this day.

It wasn't until he read the newspaper yesterday and learned about the major personnel changes within the Triangle Group that he belatedly realized that if it weren't for the White Horse Manor case, perhaps everything would be different today.

Moreover, according to the evidence he possessed, the real murderer was someone else entirely. This cunning Chinese man was merely a scapegoat, and behind it all lay a complex web of vested interests and exchanges. He simply took a risk and succeeded.

Therefore, Hirata's presence here was not, as Yayoi Mai feared, to arrest her boss.

He just wanted to meet with the person involved.

Yayoi Mai looked at him suspiciously, then asked, "What brings you here?"

"Can't I come here? It's so lively here, there's nothing wrong with coming over and taking a look, is there?"

Do you have a ticket?

"..."

Hirata sighed helplessly, while Yayoi curled her lips into a cold smile: "So you just squat here in the early spring chill, enjoying the lively atmosphere like this?"

"..."

After choking for a long time, Hirata stamped his feet, which were numb from the cold, and said, "Actually, it's pretty good outside too."

"Then you can just stay outside like this."

"Oh, right." Before Yayoi entered the gymnasium, he called out to her, "Why are you here today? Shouldn't you be protecting your employer? Why are you alone?"

"..."

Yayoi remained silent for a long time before awkwardly fiddling with her hair and saying, "They have other plans."

So, that's why I arranged for you to come to the concert?

"I'm going in."

"Hey!" Hirata called out to her retreating figure, "Can I see your boss today?"

Yayoi paused for a long time, seemingly also pondering the question, before finally saying:

"I do not know."

Hirata smiled, sat down on the steps, and watched the queue grow longer. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder and a ticket was handed to him.

"Take it. I just happened to have an extra ticket."

Hirata turned around, but Yayoi Mai's expression was not clearly visible in the backlight.

"Oh, thank you so much."

Hirata isn't the kind of hot-blooded detective; his ability to gracefully back down is quite remarkable.

Hirata studied the ticket for a while, then asked, "By the way, how did you get this ticket? Oh, did your boss give it to you?"

Yayoi didn't answer the question. Instead, she asked, "How did you find out that my boss was working on this show?"

Hirata grinned, revealing teeth stained with tobacco: "Your boss isn't exactly a low-key person, and look, it seems like I'm not the only one who noticed."

He raised his head towards the distance, and Yayoi looked over and saw several people with flamboyant hairstyles and fierce looks, who were obviously not good people, also appearing in the queue to enter.

"The Tayama Association?" Yayoi Mai became nervous.

Hirata put his hands in his pockets and said quietly, "It's alright. There are so many people here, they wouldn't dare to do anything. They're probably just here to show off. Besides, the Tayama-kai's power is waning, this is just their last bit of prestige."

Just as the two were on guard, a voice suddenly came from behind them, startling them:

"Hello, I heard you speaking Japanese just now. Are you from Japan?"

The two turned around and saw a group of people pointing cameras and microphones at them, with the female host standing in the middle, her microphone almost poking their faces.

"Uh, yes, that..."

"May I interview you? How did you learn about our program?"

"..."

Yayoi and Hirata looked at each other, and finally Yayoi had a sudden inspiration and said, "We are Chen Liang's fans."

The name "Chen Liang" sounds very strange in Japanese. The female host kept smiling, stared wide-eyed, and repeated the name with a strange emphasis.

"Chen Liang, Chen Liang?...Are you fans of Chen Liang?"

Yayoi and Hirata paused for a moment, then nodded simultaneously:

"Correct."

……

"Su Xiaonuan... do you know about her making a movie with Chen Ya?" Qin Yunchu asked, her eyes full of curiosity.

Jiang Xinhai lightly touched his chin with his fingers and frowned, saying, "He told me a little bit, but I don't know much."

"Cough cough..."

Gu Yuqing suddenly coughed twice. Jiang Xinhai looked over, and she shifted her body a couple of times before sitting up straight again, casually bringing her ear close.

Gu Yuqing had heard about Chen Ya and Jiang Xinhai's relationship, but she hadn't heard about anything before that.

Therefore, even she didn't know about Chen Ya and Su Xiaonuan's affair.

“Chen Ya told me that he made movies for only one thing,” Jiang Xinhai said, “to make money.”

"Making money? But...didn't he already make a fortune from writing back then?" Qin Yunchu asked in surprise.

"Making a fortune? No way," Jiang Xinhai said. "The domestic publishing industry was in a slump at the time. Do you know how many sets of his best-selling book, 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' were printed? It was barely a million copies, and that was after several reprints."

"what?"

This answer is very counterintuitive. In Qin Yun Chu's mind, the name of Jin Yong Ancient Cage is too famous. It seems that everyone in the country has seen it. It shouldn't be that little bit.

Jiang Xinhai said, "There's nothing surprising about it. The domestic publishing industry was in a slump at the time. You've also worked as a book editor, so you should know very well that the first edition of 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' only had 10 copies printed."

Qin Yunchu was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. Actually, an initial print run of 10 copies was already quite good for Chen Ya, who was just a newcomer at the time. An unknown newcomer would be considered lucky to sell 1 copies.

Qin Yunchu said, "10 copies of the book, priced at 35 yuan each, with royalties of about 6.5%, means that Chen Ya only received... a little over 20 yuan for the first edition?"

"Yes, the royalties increased a bit later, but taxes were still deducted, plus all sorts of other expenses. In the end, when he finished writing more than 50 books, he only had 800 million yuan in hand."

"800 million?" Qin Yun Chu's lips moved. "How could it only be this little?"

Jiang Xinhai smiled wryly and said, "It's less than I imagined, right? It doesn't match its reputation at all. The main reason is that, firstly, the publishing industry was indeed in a slump at the time, and secondly, there were too many pirated books. Most people were actually reading pirated copies."

Qin Yunchu pondered for a moment: "Hmm... indeed, back then, our biggest headache was pirated books."

"So what he actually received was only enough to get out of poverty, far from making a fortune. What's more... he immediately threw most of it into real estate."

Jiang Xinhai paused for a moment, then continued, "He bought dozens of houses in Beijing and Shanghai in one go."

Qin Yunchu gasped upon arrival: "Dozens of units? Oh, indeed, the real estate market wasn't as crazy back then as it is now."

Gu Yuqing finally couldn't help but join the conversation: "Back then, the housing prices in Beijing were around six thousand, and they still couldn't be sold. He bought so many; he had quite the foresight."

Jiang Xinhai said seriously, "It's probably not just about foresight. The rise in the housing market was mainly due to the massive infrastructure construction that followed that year. I doubt whether he could foresee the future, since he was able to invest all his money in the housing market the year before. Even the powerful and wealthy back then wouldn't have dared to invest like that."

Gu Yuqing pursed her lips and said, "Perhaps, he traveled back from the future?"

Qin Yunchu smiled silently. No one would take this joke seriously.