Chapter 53: A Final Verdict

This perception was gaining traction among more and more people. The internet was truly magical; regardless of whether something was true or false, once enough people started talking about it, it practically became the truth.

Though Qi Fei rarely paid attention to online news, she had a little personal megaphone right beside her who reported on everything in real-time. Seeing the current universal consensus that she had been backstabbed and intentionally suppressed by her former agency so she couldn't rise to prominence—if she weren't the person in question, she might have actually believed it.

At this moment, Qi Fei certainly knew this public sentiment was advantageous to her, but she also understood that while the tide of opinion seemed uniform, the skeptics hadn't all vanished; they were merely sitting on the sidelines, watching. If her acting skills remained as abysmal as before, her current buzz would ultimately turn into nothing more than a stinging slap across her own face.

To truly transform her image in the eyes of the public, the only way forward was to substantiate this narrative with solid acting.

For an entire week, as various behind-the-scenes clips were released consecutively, Qi Fei's popularity soared higher and higher across major social media platforms.

With more and more footage unveiled, quite a few people began to anticipate the drama. The fact that this was an online streaming series also came to light among netizens, which immediately sparked another wave of discussions.

As for why her first project after terminating her contract was a web drama, Su Xiang naturally wouldn't let Qi Fei take the blame or allow netizens to think her career resources had been downgraded. Under the deliberate guidance of interested parties, this blame was neatly shifted back onto Sandu Entertainment.

He wasn't unfairly pinning a black mark on Sandu; after all, this was entirely their fault.

Su Xiang was no unsung hero; he immediately called Qi Fei to recount everything he had done.

The tone in his voice practically begging for praise made Qi Fei want to cover her face in amusement. Naturally knowing what Su Xiang loved to hear, she showered him with a flurry of rainbow farts—praising how handsome he was and asking how he could possibly be so dashing—until Su Xiang was grinning from ear to ear.

It seemed as though even the heavens were helping Qi Fei. Right at that moment, Sandu Entertainment officially declared bankruptcy.

News of the arrest of Sandu Entertainment's boss broke out via official channels. The owner and all relevant personnel were thrown behind bars, and the official statement declaring the complete confiscation of their assets made onlookers realize this matter was far from simple.

The official intervention essentially nailed the coffin shut on the perpetrators, thoroughly sealing the fate of the entire scandal.

While others might dismiss it as coincidence, Qi Fei certainly didn't see it that way. In her view, this was simply the authorities choosing an opportune moment to acknowledge her past contributions.

Since it had to be made public sooner or later, why not do a favor and pick a suitable timing for the announcement?

She had to admit she guessed right. Because of this incident, quite a few people within the system began to speculate about Qi Fei's true identity—after all, how many people could prompt that person to speak up, let alone someone who was merely a celebrity?

As soon as this news broke, a chain reaction ensued.

Artists under the agency and various so-called insiders rushed forward one after another, pouring out tearful accusations of corporate exploitation.

This indirectly validated the earlier suspicions of netizens, and these people coming forward contributed yet another wave of traffic to Qi Fei.

Regardless of how lively the internet was, Qi Fei remained entirely focused on her filming.

What amused yet exasperated Qi Fei, however, was that these netizens possessed supernatural investigative powers; they actually managed to dig up old videos of the original host working as a trainee abroad.

The glowing praises left Qi Fei riding a tiger, unable to dismount. To avoid exposing herself, she had to practice both singing and dancing after wrapping up her daily shoots when she returned to her room.

Practicing dance and vocals was one thing, but the original host also happened to play the guitar and the drums. When Qi Fei stumbled upon those videos, her mental state came very close to collapsing.

Wishing not to alert Zhou Ying, Qi Fei had to send Lu Yi out to buy a guitar. Drum kits were simply too loud and entirely unsuitable for a hotel, so in order to have a space to practice dancing, Qi Fei had no choice but to pay out of her pocket to upgrade to a suite.

Seeing Director Yao approach with an excited expression early this morning made her feel a sense of dread. She was terrified that some other hidden skill of the original host might suddenly surface.

If Yao Kang hadn't shown her those videos in the first place, she wouldn't be suffering through such relentless torture right now.

In Qi Fei's view, if she wanted to avoid blowing her cover, she at least needed to be able to execute the dances the original host knew. Egged on by the online hype, she couldn't just manage the movements—she had to dance exceptionally well. Originally, Qi Fei had just thought she shouldn't look completely clueless, and nothing more.

As it turned out, Qi Fei's worries were unfounded this time. It turned out that the "Mushroom" video streaming platform had contacted Yao Kang, wishing to purchase the exclusive broadcasting rights for the drama.

And so, he had come to find Qi Fei bright and early. If knocking on a female actress's door late at night hadn't been inappropriate, his excitement would have driven him over to share the good news the very previous evening.

Yao Kang was wide awake and understood the situation clearly. For a platform to reach out while the drama was only half-filmed, their target was entirely Qi Fei.

Moreover, the fact that this drama was generating buzz before even airing was inseparable from Qi Fei's acting prowess.

She had actually been wanting to find the director herself. Having received a call from Zhao Shan early that morning requesting her presence, the director's arrival was quite timely.

Nodding to indicate she understood, Qi Fei said, "I'd like to take a day off. I'll be back by tomorrow noon at the latest, or by the afternoon."

"Alright, I'll adjust the shooting schedule." Qi Fei was not only his financial patron now, she was also the core soul of the drama. Never mind asking for a day off; even if she claimed she hadn't slept well yesterday and needed to go back for a nap, he would still indulge her.

"Wait, Fei Fei, aren't you excited?"

Having anticipated this long ago, what was there to be happy about? Capitalists were always like sharks smelling blood—wherever there was money to be made, there they would be. Given that the drama was already generating pre-release buzz, there was nothing surprising about a platform coming knocking.

"I'm heading out."

Zhao Shan had sought out Qi Fei out of absolute desperation.

Although the suspect had been caught yesterday, he adamantly refused to admit to the murders.

In truth, his refusal to confess didn't matter as long as the chain of evidence was complete enough to secure a conviction; the problem was that the evidentiary chain remained incomplete.

Even though they matched DNA from the basement's blood pool to several girls who had been reported missing, there were still other DNA samples that did not match any known victims.

Because it was an urban village, blind spots in surveillance cameras were everywhere. While they couldn't track down the exact locations where people vanished, every single verified victim shared the common thread of entering the urban village and never coming out again.

Now the case was completely deadlocked because they had yet to find the bodies.

Without bodies, they could neither confirm the total number of victims killed by the suspect nor prevent him from escaping justice.

The girl who had been rescued remained incoherent and was entirely incapable of identifying the killer.

With no bodies found and the sole surviving victim unable to point out the culprit, the chain of evidence was incomplete, and to top it all off, the murderer refused to admit to the killings.

If the bodies could not be located, the suspect might ultimately end up being convicted solely on charges of assault.

Upon hearing Zhao Shan's words, Qi Fei boarded a flight without a second thought. She could never accept such an outcome.

For a perverted monster like him to escape proper justice on mere assault charges... The very thought of such a possibility made Qi Fei wish she could end him with her own hands.

When Zhao Shan met Qi Fei, his expression was frosty.

After the man was arrested, when they interrogated him about how many people he had killed, what their names were, and where their remains were buried, Zhao Shan had noticed something alarming. Upon hearing those questions, the man not only showed no signs of nervousness, but instead displayed a sense of relief, giving Zhao Shan an ominous foreboding.

This wasn't Beijing, and she could only observe the interrogations from behind the glass. Technically, her mission had been completed once the suspect was captured, but she couldn't rest easy until formal charges were filed and a trial concluded.

"What are you people talking about? I don't understand. At worst, I'm only guilty of assault."

"Don't pin some unfounded crimes on me."

For two days straight, he maintained this arrogant facade. Enraged to the point of trembling by this man, the interrogators finally lost their composure and slammed their fists onto the table.

"He's hitting people! The police are hitting people!"

Forget about Long Liang and the others—even Zhao Shan felt his blood pressure soaring. They had successfully captured the killer, yet they couldn't bring him to justice, and he had the audacity to act so arrogantly right in front of them.