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

The wrap party ended, which also meant the end of life on set. It was time to pack up and leave.

Lu Yuan walked out of the hotel, carrying a snakeskin bag in one hand and a thermos in the other.

At the corner, a person stood in front of me.

Jiang Yan was dressed casually in a denim jacket and sneakers, but her posture gave her away—her center of gravity was slightly forward, and her right hand was naturally hanging down on the right side of her body, slightly behind her.

"You acted really well."

Lu Yuan stopped in his tracks.

"Whether it's the Shen Yibai who was fearless in the face of death, or this Lu Yuan who's obsessed with money now." Her eyes were fixed on his face, not missing a single micro-expression. "So good that it's hard to tell which layer is the real you."

Lu Yuan scratched the back of his head. "Officer Jiang is joking. I'm just a poor extra trying to make a living. It's true that if I settle the final payment today, I can live a few more months."

Jiang Yan took a step forward, lowering her voice.

"You can translate joint locks into performance moves without leaving a trace, and you can correct the trajectory of a falling object with a nut on the ground in a fraction of a second," she paused, "who exactly are you?"

Lu Yuan unscrewed the thermos, took a sip of goji berry water, and his casual, relaxed demeanor vanished.

He leaned forward slightly. "Officer Jiang, there are some people in this world who have already exhausted all their efforts just to live like an ordinary person."

"You can look it up if you want."

The next second, he straightened up, reverting to his thoroughly vulgar face, and gave a carefree smile.

"But just don't let the investigation interfere with my next job. I can't stand being idle."

Jiang Yan's spine tightened segment by segment from the tailbone upwards. She stood up straight.

"Wherever you go, I'll investigate. I'll definitely expose your true colors."

Lu Yuan picked up the snakeskin bag with one hand and stuffed the thermos into his pocket.

"Then Officer Jiang will have to keep a close eye on me." He walked towards the end of the corridor, saying as he went, his voice echoing back, "A penniless guy like me can move very quickly."

The light at the corner of the corridor cut his silhouette in half, then he turned the corner and disappeared.

Jiang Yan stood still, looking at the corner.

---

Outside the hotel, the setting sun had already dipped below the horizon, its afterglow turning the entire sky a dark orange.

Su Qinghan stood at the edge of the parking lot, her coat draped over her arm, talking to the director of photography.

A snakeskin bag passed by on her right.

Lu Yuan, wearing a white shirt that had been washed countless times, carrying a snakeskin bag containing all his belongings on his left shoulder and a scratched thermos in his right hand, was slowly walking towards the bus stop across the street.

There was some movement inside the snakeskin bag; it must have been the sixth brother turning over.

When the bus pulled into the station, the headlights were dim and the engine was shaking violently.

In the back window seat, Lu Yuan stuffed the snakeskin bag under the seat, and Lao Liu was snoring quietly inside, his snores much more regular than the car's shock absorption.

He took out his phone and opened the bank's app.

The final payment for his filming fee arrived today. He also put the wrap-up bonus in cash. These past few months with the crew, all his meals were reimbursed, and he barely spent any money; he was quite satisfied with the amount he'd saved.

I let out a sigh of relief and put my phone back in my pocket.

Once the bus left the city, the commercial building signs on both sides of the road turned into dark tree shadows. There were only a few people in the carriage; an old man was dozing off against the railing, and two students in the front row were scrolling through their phones with the screens lit up.

Lu Yuan rested his head against the car window.

The bus lurched one last time at the terminal station, the brake pads screeching as they applied pressure.

Lu Yuan got off the car carrying the snakeskin bag. Lao Liu burrowed his head under his armpits a couple of times, yawned, and then shrank back inside.

Lu Yuan stood by the platform, took out his phone and glanced at his bank balance.

Final payment of salary, wrap-up bonus—I'm starting to have some influence now.

I won't go back to that partitioned room in the urban village where even the door lock leaks air.

The sixth brother deserves a spacious place where he can roll around.

He switched the snakeskin bag to his other shoulder and walked toward a 24-hour real estate agency by the roadside.

"Boss, do you have any one-bedroom apartments under 2,000 yuan? Suitable for cats."

The real estate agent looked up, his gaze shifting from Lu Yuan's snakeskin bag to the orange cat at his feet.

---

The following morning.

The agent led Lu Yuan into an old street shaded by plane trees. The iron gate of the residential compound was rusty, and someone had planted roses in the yard, which were blooming haphazardly, with red and pink ones piled up by the flower beds, giving off a cloyingly sweet smell.

The sixth child jumped off Lu Yuan's arm, placed its front paws on the edge of the flower bed, and nudged a nearly wilted rose with its nose.

"This way. Third floor, south-facing, 62 square meters." The real estate agent led the way.

The door opened, and the landlord had arrived. A middle-aged man with a gold watch on his left wrist swayed as he sat imposingly on the fabric sofa in the living room.

The moment Lu Yuan entered the room, the landlord's eyes scanned him from top to bottom.

A windbreaker, canvas shoes, a thermos with peeling paint, and an orange cat licking its paws at his feet. A naive, penniless, and powerless out-of-towner.

The landlord's lips curled up slightly, revealing his teeth.

"Young man, have a seat." The landlord gestured with his cigarette toward a contract on the coffee table.

"This apartment is in high demand. It's 3,800 a month, three months' deposit and six months' rent in advance, plus property management fees." He put a cigarette in his mouth and flicked his lighter. "If you bring a pet, there's an extra 1,000 in depreciation deposit."

Exhale a puff of smoke.

"To be honest, there are three white-collar workers from foreign companies lining up to view apartments this afternoon. If you're too slow—"

The real estate agent stood in the entryway, a professional smile on his face. His lips moved slightly, but he didn't say anything.

Lu Yuan strolled around the living room for a couple of steps. He unscrewed the thermos and blew on the goji berries.

The sixth child had already run to the corner and was sniffing the baseboard with his nose.

Lu Yuan looked down at the cat, then looked up at the corner of the wall.

There is a gap between the baseboard and the wall, with an uneven width; it's two millimeters on the left and almost five millimeters on the right. The sealant at the joint is a newer, glossy color than in other areas.

His gaze moved upwards. The edge of the ceiling was painted at least two shades lighter than the yellowed old paint in the center of the room. The line wasn't straight, and the brush marks were still visible; the repair covered an area extending about 1.2 meters from the corner.

"This house was just renovated last month," the landlord's voice drifted over from the direction of the sofa.

Lu Yuan took a sip of goji berry water and swallowed it.

"Brother Liu."

The landlord was taken aback; he hadn't given his surname before.

Lu Yuan pointed to the corner of the wall with the lid of a thermos cup, "The sealant on the baseboard was applied within the last three months. I roughly know the curing period and yellowing rate of silicone sealant. The color difference in the paint on the ceiling indicates that it was a local repair, not a complete renovation."

A bit of the landlord's cigarette ash fell onto his pants.

"The extent and location of the repair, along with the direction of the gap at the bottom of the baseboard, indicate that a pipe has burst, and water is seeping from the wall to the floor below."

The living room became quiet.