when the moon whispers

Chapter 406: Accomplice - Trump Card (Part )

Six accomplices in the case
Sixty-eight cards (Part 2)
"Who is Shao Jie talking to on the phone? Why is he smiling so happily?"

"She smiles like a chrysanthemum. Who else could it be? That Jiang——"

Xu Muyang's recent career path was shaken up by Jiang Weili. In the gaps between charging into battle, he repeatedly broke down in his love life. Seeing Shao Jie, the innocent "instigator", smiling with a smug look on his face, he frowned in dissatisfaction. When he heard the chatter next to his ear, he subconsciously thought it was Huo Ke who was back from smoking after fighting five rounds of the game. He was halfway through his words when he suddenly realized something was wrong. He took a half step back and bumped into Huo Ke, who was shivering with cold after running outside in a shirt. He turned his head to look at the unfamiliar face half-leaning at the door of the group interview room with a media certificate hanging on his head. He frowned and shuddered.

"We are a newly launched studio. I've heard of your name for a long time, Manager Xu..." The reporter, whose "sneak attack" failed completely, curled his lips with a little regret, then raised his eyebrows and looked at Xu Muyang who was vigilantly observing his every move. He picked up the media work card hanging in the chest pocket of his shirt, turned it over and introduced himself, then turned his head to look at Shao Jie who was still dawdling in the same place, "This...could it be related to the previous incident where I was almost banned?"

------

"Wow... I thought that guy came over for no apparent reason and seemed to be prepared. He actually did something big by sneaking around."

The controversy over suspected match-fixing had been going on for nearly a week. The young substitute Xu Xingchen took on one official match and three training matches under great pressure. On the day Shao Jie was reinstated, he was hospitalized for intravenous drip due to acute gastroenteritis in the middle of the night. Shao Jie relied solely on the few tactical trump cards he had accumulated from watching the training matches to get through the five games. As soon as the post-match interview was over, Huo Ke and Tao Fang took him back to the small dark room, where they confiscated his phone and put him in a two-on-one situation to review and practice. He finally got rid of the invisible handcuffs and staggered back to the training room at two in the morning. While he was picking up his phone and flipping through the midnight snack, Wen Xi had already put the phone in front of Shao Jie's eyes with a gossipy look on her face.

"You are still calm, Brother Jie! Didn't Lao Huo just tell you?! Just this——"

Wen Xi hooked the shoulders of Cheng Zi, who was passing by innocently with a cup of water, and sat on the armrests of the sofa, holding Shao Jie in the middle. "This e-sports media account called Zuo Yi is the thin man with glasses who just scared Manager Xu in the corridor of the preparation room. I remember that during the group interview, he asked about the photo of you and Officer Jiang that was secretly photographed on the roadside. At that time, we agreed that because Officer Jiang is a front-line policeman, this situation would be temporarily cut out. But he opened a comment thread under the interview video. Look, he responded to fans' questions, but he didn't dare to say it clearly and blatantly. Here he posted a series of emoticons with shushing and covering his mouth."

"You didn't see what Manager Xu was saying in the training room just now—" Li Zechuan pushed the door open with a popsicle in his mouth. He heard a brief summary of what happened in bits and pieces, and passed a bag of ice cream to everyone one by one: "…It was more satisfying than when he scolded Jiang Weili for doing bad things behind his back."

Shao Jie leaned back to avoid Wen Xi's phone, which was almost pressed against his face. He squinted his eyes and glanced at the screen as if to confirm: "This Zuoyi E-sports should be from Jiang Weili's side. Shengcheng International has invested in the studio's major shareholder--" Shao Jie paused slightly, raised his eyes to look at Li Zechuan, who was staring at him with a popsicle in his mouth and almost drooling, blinked, and added in a simple and easy-to-understand way: "In other words, this media studio is actually one and the same as the LM Club, but the difference is between personal investment and company investment."

Wen Xi and Li Zechuan hadn't figured it out yet, but Jiang Heyu, who was eating ice cream with one earphone on, interrupted vaguely: "That is... it's all related to Shengcheng International."

"I thought so. Manager Xu was furious. It's probably related to Mr. Liang's brother. It's not certain whether the family can get together. It's just a nuisance..." Li Zechuan bit his popsicle and shivered at the cold. "But Jiang Weili and his gang are really stupid. After failing to arrange a fake match, they took advantage of the nature of Officer Jiang's work that was not convenient to be made public and made up stories... They are so idle that they can't even issue a statement on the official account for admitting to being in a relationship. The trending searches have been withdrawn back and forth until now. How much human resources are wasted."

Shao Jie nodded solemnly: "Manager Xu said that all the money spent will be deducted from my salary. Even with the discount for acquaintances, it's still not cheap."

The match-fixing scandal had been clarified first, and the private life rumors about Shao Jie's unidentified lover obviously did not stir up much waves on the front line of online public opinion. Xu Muyang simply called the office of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of Sheng'an City to seek a solution. Jiang Mo even sent him a message at half past twelve in the morning, urging him to train well and prepare for the game. For other matters, everything should be arranged by Manager Xu. Shao Jie first sent a pitiful emoticon to Jiang Mo, and after ordering a midnight snack, he slowly flipped through the lively noise on Weibo during the few hours of forced confinement. Then, looking at Han Lu who was jumping up and down sending messages in the notification bar, he got up and slipped into the hotel lobby. While waiting for the midnight snack from the takeaway boy, he directly called Han Lu's mobile phone: "...What's the matter?"

Han Lu was slurping noodles from a bowl of instant noodles when he answered the phone and choked: "Ahem... ahem - although I'm still immersed in the pain of breaking up, I still want to congratulate you. The police family has officially been promoted. It's a pity that Officer Jiang's identity cannot be made public... When you come back, remember to treat me and Sister Zhao Zhao to a good meal... We agreed to report this to Sister Zhao Zhao before, but now that her limelight has been stolen, she is so angry that she has her hands on her hips. She is going to fight against Zuo Yi's media account and we'll see."

"I saw her sending messages cursing people." Shao Jie smiled silently: "In the company?"

"There's a small problem. I was afraid that you would be distracted by the competition the past two days. You can talk now, right?" Han Lu scratched his hair in annoyance and sighed in a hoarse voice, "Didn't the company sign an investment agreement with Uncle Zhou to introduce performances some time ago? After the contract was finalized, LM's current boss wanted to use the e-sports project that the government was bidding to attract investment from us... But now your identity is basically no secret. Jiang Weili knew that this company was related to you, but he still came to us to make trouble. I feel that this matter... is not right. I want to ask your opinion."

"He wants to cash out again... leave him alone for now." Shao Jie fell into the sofa in the hotel and took a heavy breath. "I was curious when Shen Yu'an was targeted by Jiang Weili. Logically speaking, Jiang Weili and his gang have been faking matches for such a long time, it may not be that easy for them to withdraw, but they can't end up with nothing... He wants to cash in all the resources he can squeeze out as soon as possible again and again. What is his plan..."

Han Lu was also confused: "Did he simply not save any money before running away? Or... the chips in his hand were not convenient?"

"Or... he wants to kill two birds with one stone and throw the hat of cutting off someone's financial resources onto me." Shao Jie frowned and thought for a while, tilted his head to glance at the newspaper rack next to the sofa, picked up a current issue of a collection and appreciation journal and spread it on the coffee table, "Shen Yu'an's matter didn't work out, and the promises made by Jiang Weili, such a small chess piece, are basically nonsense... I don't know if he just wants to test my bottom line, or is taking the opportunity to hide his real trump card-"

"Jiang Weili is...greedy, but cautious enough. The match-fixing can hardly be concealed now. He must also be aware that there is a high possibility that the backing behind him will collapse. I always feel that the trump card in his hand that is enough to protect himself will most likely be replaced."

Han Lu finished his instant noodles with a sigh. "Sister Zhao Zhao asked me to remind you that the evidence we have about match-fixing will be leaked to the police. Just because we are not in a hurry to report Jiang Weili doesn't mean we can't report the owner of their club... Li Fubei happened to have just taken a few photos of LM's boss privately bribing the staff who organized the bidding project. Reporting is a matter of minutes. But once the matter is exposed, you will be a sitting duck. Be careful."

"I know, Officer Jiang said so too..." Shao Jie drooped his eyelids and quickly glanced at the colorful newspaper page. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the lights of the delivery boy's electric bike slowly turning into the hotel front yard. He raised his eyes and glanced out of the floor-to-ceiling glass. However, when he was about to hang up the phone and stand up, he suddenly turned his head and sat back in his original position. He stared at the public notice of the auction of a private collection of oil paintings in the middle of the newspaper. His mind buzzed and he suddenly frowned.

The oil painting to be auctioned is a picture of a girl lying quietly with her eyes closed among the blooming flowers. The space in the middle of the newspaper is really limited, and the effect of ink printing seems to be difficult to restore the heavy and bright painting itself, but the appearance of the girl in the oil painting seems to be vividly revealed on the paper -

Shao Jie came closer in disbelief to distinguish it carefully, then rubbed his eyes vigorously, stunned for a few seconds, rubbed the goose bumps that suddenly climbed up his arms, and suddenly felt disgusted with his brain that was so out of place and had so many random memories.

The girl in the oil painting had clearly appeared some time ago. When Jiang Mo accidentally fell asleep on the sofa in the living room in front of him, he was flipping through the files of the missing girl he was investigating.

Due to work and health reasons, I will be working on another day~
“Great wisdom is leisurely, unrestrained, and lets things take their own course.”