A real killer playing a villain; the guy surnamed Zhen in Detective, run!

The only sounds in the ward were the continuous alarm of the monitor, Zhao Xiujie's panting, and the nurse's soft words of comfort.

Zhao Xiujie ripped off the oxygen tube that had just been reattached and grabbed Sister Li's sleeve. His hands were trembling. His whole body was shaking. From his fingertips all the way to his shoulders, his teeth were chattering.

"Leaving the group."

"Calm down—"

"Contact a lawyer. Issue a statement tonight. I'm not filming anymore."

Sister Li's face changed.

"Xiu Jie, the penalty for breach of contract is fifteen million. It's written in black and white—"

"I'll pay for it myself!"

Zhao Xiujie's eyes were so red they were almost bleeding. His vocal cords were half broken, and every word he uttered from deep in his throat was tinged with blood.

"We'll begin the liquidation process tonight!"

He crumpled the sheet into a ball, his ten fingers sinking into the fabric.

"You don't know what that thing is. You don't know."

......

At 11:47 p.m. that night, Zhao Xiujie's studio official account released a stamped statement.

"Due to an accidental injury during filming, Mr. Zhao Xiujie's physical condition, as assessed by the medical team, no longer allows him to participate in the high-intensity filming work. He will be withdrawing from the film crew of 'Black Gold' indefinitely, effective immediately. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to the crew and partners."

Within nine minutes of the statement being released, it garnered over 10,000 comments.

Seventeen minutes later, it became the number one trending topic.

Forty minutes later, the Weibo server crashed for the third time.

At the same time.

The Criminal Investigation Division of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, third-floor conference room.

Two screenshots were frozen on the projection screen. The one on the left was the forty-seventh frame, captured by a high-definition camera, showing the moment the cup slipped from someone's hand.

Jiang Yan stood beside the curtain, holding a laser pointer in her hand.

"0.3 degrees." The red dot landed on Lu Yuan's index finger joint in the left image. "Through a fingertip adjustment of no more than 0.3 degrees, the splashing point of boiling water was corrected from the ground to a specific part of the human body."

There were five people sitting in the conference room: the deputy director in charge, the head of the criminal investigation team, two senior detectives, and the one on the far right was from the technical department.

The deputy director in charge took off his reading glasses and wiped them: "Jiang Yan, what's your conclusion?"

"The film crew has become his behavioral experimentation ground for testing the limits of human physiology."

Jiang Yan placed the laser pointer on the table.

"Every so-called 'accident' is controlled with precision at the millimeter and millisecond level. He knows exactly what level will cause damage and what level will be fatal, and then he controls the output to be precisely between those two levels each time."

She turned to the last page of the report.

"I have applied to be stationed in the team around the clock as a security consultant."

The deputy director put his reading glasses back on, looked at the report, and then looked at Jiang Yan.

"Approved. Be mindful of the limits."

---

The next morning. Shed No. 5.

On the folding table lay a printed copy of a resignation statement stamped with a red seal, its corners pressed down by a coffee cup.

Su Qinghan sat in the director's chair with her legs crossed, her left index finger rhythmically tapping on the armrest of the chair.

In the corner of the shed, Lu Yuan squatted on the ground, opening a can of food for Lao Liu. Lao Liu's head was buried in the can, and his head bobbed up and down as he ate.

"The male lead has run away." Su Qinghan's voice drifted over from ten meters away.

Lu Yuan paused, his hand holding the cat treat pausing for a moment: "It ran away?"

"A statement issued overnight. The breach of contract penalty will be borne by the individual."

Lu Yuan clicked his tongue.

Su Qinghan pushed the statement to the edge of the table, picked up her coffee and took a sip.

"The investors had a four-hour conference call last night. They confirmed with me this morning that they had urgently transferred someone from within the industry to take over."

Lu Yuan said "Oh," and unscrewed the thermos to take a sip of goji berry water.

"Who?"

"Xu Changlin".

When Lao Jin heard this name while passing by, he almost dropped the steamed bun in his hand.

Xu Changlin, a leading figure of the tough-guy image in the Chinese entertainment industry, has been in the business for 28 years, winning three Golden Rooster Awards, two Golden Horse Awards, and one Hong Kong Film Award. His temper is so tough that even directors have to give him some leeway. There's a saying in the industry: "When Xu Changlin is on set, no one dares to be late, including investors."

Su Qinghan looked at the figure crouching next to the cat in the corner.

"You'll be joining the crew the day after tomorrow. You'll have a lot of scenes together."

Lu Yuan made an OK sign with his fingers covered in cat hair.

"OK."

......

Two days later, the iron gate of shed number five was pushed open from the outside, and Xu Changlin walked in wearing a pair of worn-out military boots.

A black jacket, hair combed back, a fifty-two-year-old man with a back as straight as a javelin.

He swept the area around.

My gaze fell on the luxurious vanity table in the very center, which occupied six square meters, with three soft-focus mirrors, two humidifiers, and a row of imported skincare products.

"What is this thing?"

Stagehand Lao Zhou poked his head out from behind the tracks: "Before Teacher Zhao—"

"Move away."

Old Zhou opened his mouth.

"Move everything. Humidifiers, that row of bottles and jars, take them all out." Xu Changlin tugged at his jacket sleeve. "This is a film set, not a beauty salon."

Three minutes. Old Zhou and four stagehands cleaned everything up.

The young men in the lighting crew were busy checking the wiring, working twice as fast as usual. The two girls in the makeup crew huddled behind a curtain, barely breathing.

The significance of the name Xu Changlin in the industry needs no explanation.

In the corner of the shed, Lu Yuan tore a hole in the cat treat, squeezed a piece of meat paste onto his fingertip, and brought it to Lao Liu's mouth.

The sixth brother licked it with smacking sounds.

He heard the commotion in the center of the field, but didn't look up.

It's important that the sixth child eats cat treats.