Chapter 44

Chapter 44

“Broken, where are the keys?”

On the other side, Old Qiao tried every key in his hand, but none could open the meeting room door. He laughed awkwardly, embarrassed: “I came here this morning to prepare some factory materials. Maybe I dropped them somewhere later. Can you help me look?”

Xie Yiqian, standing behind him, followed along politely: “Which places have you been to?”

Old Qiao counted on his fingers: “The finance office on the fifth floor, the production workshop on the second floor, the waste recycling station on B3, and then I came to the main gate to pick you up.”

He checked his pockets again to confirm he had no extra keys: “How about this, I’ll go back to the first floor to look. Is that okay?”

The implied meaning was to have the artists search the other three areas he mentioned.

Of course, a real investor wouldn’t help an unreliable factory director with such tasks, but in the context of a variety show filming, the artists naturally agreed kindly.

Xie Yiqian thought for a moment and said: “No victims have been found so far. But since the director said this episode’s murderer can kill during the search, to be safe, no one should be alone.”

Tong Yang raised her hand: “I want to team up with Sister Zizi.”

Pei Chuzhi raised an eyebrow and smiled lightly: “Who was it that said they hold grudges?”

“T-That was just joking,” Tong Yang puffed her cheeks, her eyes cautiously glancing at Xing Ye, “I’ll just borrow her for a little while, is that okay?”

“No.” Xing Ye responded and leaned against the corridor wall, raising his chin: “If the murderer is male, can either of you handle it?”

Pei Chuzhi thought he made a good point: “Let’s pair male and female, each team searches one area?”

Tong Yang pouted, reluctant: “Even so, teaming up doesn’t feel safe. What if the partner is the murderer?”

“Then leave it to fate,” Ding Yang interjected. “Sister Zizi obviously chooses your Xing Ye. Tong Yang, you team up with Teacher Xie. I’ll take Fu Xingying. If anyone feels unsafe midway, just shout.”

Without any clues, Ding Yang’s arrangement seemed reasonable.

So everyone found their partners, quickly divided the search areas, and scattered.

Pei Chuzhi and Xing Ye went from the second floor down to the waste recycling station on the lowest floor.

The waste recycling station was clearly not a tidy place. Upon entering, they saw an NPC moving long-accumulated waste.

Though there was no bad smell, the show’s meticulously prepared trash-like set made them both frown unconsciously.

Pei Chuzhi stopped the NPC and asked: “The factory isn’t operational yet. How is there so much trash?”

The NPC replied: “People nearby probably treat this as a dumping site, throwing everything they don’t need. Look, there’s even an old wardrobe. These people really have no civic sense.”

Pei Chuzhi thanked him silently, realizing this probably meant the factory gate had been unlocked for a long time, allowing nearby residents to come and go freely.

“Let’s check the script first.”

Xing Ye moved to a well-lit area, leaving a relatively clean space for her: “You stay here to read, I’ll go over there.”

Pei Chuzhi nodded, and once Xing Ye walked away, she took out the script.

According to the script, the factory was located in a place called X County.

When the factory was first built, X County was still relatively barren. As the surrounding area developed, X County eventually caught up with the reform trend, becoming a well-known industrial hub.

After Old Qiao bought the factory, he urgently needed capital for production, so he invited an investment team to visit, hoping to secure funding.

Pei Chuzhi’s cover identity this time was assistant to Investment Manager Xie Yiqian.

Although just an assistant, the script indicated she was highly competent and might succeed Xie Yiqian as the investment manager after his promotion.

Regarding her private background…

She turned a page and found that in her childhood, her family was poor. Thanks to a kind benefactor, she managed to finish university. For over ten years, she maintained phone contact with this benefactor living in X County, but after joining the investment company, she never heard from them again.

This visit to X County with the company gave her the chance to inquire about the benefactor.

With her identity covered, Pei Chuzhi relaxed, feeling the script was quite friendly to her—a clean, upright young woman with no shady history.

She flipped to the last page and saw the tasks and clues provided by the show.

The task was the common “find the murderer,” but the clue surprised her slightly: “The help you receive is not born of others’ goodwill.”

Pei Chuzhi was stunned, and immediately thought of the stranger who had sponsored her studies.

Xing Ye had finished reading the script and walked over with his usual expression: “Looking for the keys?”

“Sure.”

Pei Chuzhi looked around the messy recycling station, feeling a headache coming on. She scanned the floor back and forth and asked, “By the way, what’s your identity?”

Xing Ye moved a cardboard box aside: “The driver the investors brought to X County. What about you?”

Pei Chuzhi choked slightly, thinking the production team was seriously underutilizing him. With his appearance and presence, he couldn’t just be a driver. She stepped onto the waste conveyor, walking deeper inside while answering: “I’m Teacher Xie’s work assistant, here to help him with the investments.”

“Teacher Xie’s assistant, huh.”

Xing Ye dragged out the tone, a half-smile in his eyes.

Pei Chuzhi internally freaked out. She suspected Xing Ye could never connect her name with Xie Yiqian in his lifetime.

How unfair, she thought—her fake fan identity was giving someone PTSD.

“I’m just an ordinary assistant, no romantic subplot.”

As she said this, her peripheral vision caught a toy half-covered by other plastic bags. She stepped forward a few paces and pulled it out.

It was a plush toy shaped like a little rabbit.

Though slightly worn, compared with other props, this little rabbit clearly showed the prop team’s care. Looking closer, she realized it was actually a small backpack in the shape of a toy.

The bottom had a misaligned zipper; it couldn’t open fully but was just enough for her to slip her hand inside.

Pei Chuzhi felt around through the fabric and found something inside.

“Found the keys?”

Xing Ye noticed her silence and crossed the conveyor in a few steps. His gaze froze for a moment when he saw the little rabbit in her hand.

“Doesn’t seem like it,” she lowered her head, unaware of Xing Ye’s expression. “Feels like a ball of paper?”

She carefully took out the paper ball and unfolded it.

On the yellowed sheet was a small red flower sticker, and faint handwriting with a fountain pen: “This Month’s Little Red Flower Award”. In the lower right corner, a red stamp read X County Kindergarten.

She looked up, puzzled: “Looks like a child’s backpack. Did the parents throw it out with the trash?”

Xing Ye’s gaze darkened: “Maybe not.”

Pei Chuzhi felt a chill down her back.

A sense of foreboding slowly crept up her spine.

Before she could think further, Ding Yang’s voice came from far above: “Come up, the keys are found.”

·

The keys were found in the finance office on the fifth floor.

When Pei Chuzhi and Xing Ye returned to the second floor, the meeting room door was already open.

On the long table were several sets of materials Old Qiao had prepared. The others, including Old Qiao, sat around, ready for a meeting.

Old Qiao first expressed his thanks, then said: “Let me show you what production parts I currently need.”

He turned, opened the lower drawer of a filing cabinet against the wall, and then, without warning, let out a loud scream.

Immediately after, there was a “thud.”

Ding Yang, nearest to the cabinet, jumped up. His panic spread contagiously from near to far.

Pei Chuzhi, sitting near the door, only saw clearly after everyone stepped back.

A short-haired woman was curled up, collapsed beside the cabinet.

The lower shelf of the filing cabinet had been removed, creating a confined space just big enough for an adult.

Amid the chaos, Old Qiao was still professionally running the scene: “Th-this th-this isn’t Accountant Dong?!”

Pei Chuzhi recalled for a moment and remembered that he had previously introduced that he already had several subordinates.

Among them was indeed an accountant surnamed Dong.

After the initial shock, Ding Yang mustered courage and stepped forward, adjusting Accountant Dong’s body.

The NPC’s eyes were tightly shut, foam at the corners of her mouth.

She was clearly dead.

The six artists squatted around Accountant Dong, exchanging glances, all momentarily at a loss.

Ding Yang froze for a long moment, then complained: “The production team isn’t following the usual script this time. We just arrived, right? There hasn’t even been time for a crime, so how is there already a victim?”

No.

Pei Chuzhi immediately rejected Ding Yang’s thought in her mind.

The director had explicitly said that there were two killers this episode. If by chance both killers ended up in the same team, they would have had the opportunity to commit the crime.

Xing Ye also realized this, quietly asking: “Who opened the meeting room door?”

“I opened it together with Ding Yang.”

Fu Xingying’s tone was calm, as if she had guessed his question: “We found the keys in the finance office on the fifth floor, then went straight downstairs. When opening the door, we notified Teacher Xie and Tong Yang, who were on the same floor in the production workshop.”

Xie Yiqian added: “To be precise, Tong Yang and I heard their notification. When we came out of the workshop, Ding Yang was opening the door, and I shouted from the railing—Old Qiao heard and came up.”

Ding Yang said: “After we entered, we noticed you two hadn’t arrived. We guessed Teacher Xie’s voice wasn’t loud enough, so you didn’t hear. I went out and shouted again.”

He rested his hands on the chair back, pointing at Accountant Dong on the floor: “Look, her body is still hunched over. She must have been in the cabinet for a while; it’s impossible that Fu Xingying and I killed her and stuffed her in there.”

His explanation made sense.

Pei Chuzhi frowned slightly: “We’ve only been in the factory for a little over ten minutes. That means no one had the time to commit a crime, right?”

“Well… I want to know if NPCs can kill someone?”

Tong Yang thought of a possibility. She looked around and suddenly raised her voice: “Where’s Old Qiao?”

Everyone turned at the same time, only to find Old Qiao was missing.

But his piercing scream soon echoed from the corridor: “He’s back! He really came back! He won’t let us go!”

Without hesitation, everyone hurried after him.

They only managed to see Old Qiao climb over the railing, looking at them in terror—or perhaps at one or even two among them.

At the last moment, he let go and jumped down.