"Sister Xuezheng!"
The young assistant ran over, her expression quite serious.
"Hurry over and take a look!"
Seeing her assistant's flustered appearance, Yu Xuezheng felt her earlier suspicions were mostly confirmed. She nodded towards Xiao He as a gesture, then lifted her foot to follow her assistant's steps.
Xiao He also vaguely guessed that this accident probably wasn't an accident at all.
The storm at Xingchen Entertainment seemed to have passed, but the ripple effects from the upheaval were persistent.
Yu Xuezheng, as the top actress of Xingchen Entertainment, had been implicated in the blacklisting and suppression incident against Xiao He. Now that she could withdraw unscathed, the people she had likely offended weren't just Linghui Studio behind Xiao He.
He lifted his foot, preparing to follow and investigate, but unexpectedly, he had only taken a few steps when he collided head-on with someone—
"Sorry, sorry!"
The person who bumped into Xiao He was wearing a very generic black period costume. The wig on their head was also clearly slapdash, looking fake at a glance, and their face was covered in dust. Their overall appearance was quite disheveled.
Xiao He originally thought the other person was just a passing extra, but when he clearly saw their face, he was so shocked he couldn't speak.
That person also glanced up at Xiao He, mouthing apologies, but in reality, they ran off extremely fast, vanishing into the set in a flash.
"Brother Xiao! Are you okay!"
Xiao Chen rushed in from outside, shouting anxiously.
Seeing his Brother Xiao standing there, lost in thought, he frantically looked Xiao He up and down. "What happened? I heard there was an accident here just now. Brother Xiao, you're not hurt, are you?"
Xiao He subtly tightened his grip on the note in his hand and shook his head at Xiao Chen. "I'm fine."
"Go keep an eye on the situation over there," he instructed Xiao Chen. "I'll leave for a little while."
"Okay!"
Xiao Chen nodded and immediately headed towards where the director and the others were.
Only after Xiao Chen left did Xiao He slowly meander to a deserted spot and unfold the note in his hand.
Seeing the note's contents, Xiao He raised an eyebrow, unsurprised.
...
A few minutes later, Xiao He appeared at the parking lot on the outskirts of the ancient town area.
At this moment, Lao Qi was smoking a cigarette in front of the van.
"Lao Qi, go smoke over there. I have some matters to attend to."
Xiao He sent Lao Qi away.
Lao Qi glanced at Xiao He, then at the person peeking and poking their head not far behind him, said nothing, pinched his cigarette between his fingers, and slowly walked to the entrance of the parking lot, conveniently positioned to observe the pedestrians coming and going.
Seeing Lao Qi's action, Xiao He breathed a sigh of relief.
After he got into the van, it wasn't long before another person also got into the celebrity van.
This person was precisely the one who had collided with Xiao He on the set earlier.
Xiao He sat in his seat, his gaze calmly meeting the other's eyes, his hands resting naturally on his legs, his tone even. "Who are you? What does this note mean?"
That note was very simple, just one English word—"Hacker".
In other words, it meant hacker.
Xiao He was quite surprised that his identity had ultimately been detected by this guy.
But thinking about it now, his existence being discovered by the other party didn't seem like a very difficult thing, after all, he had used this guy several times already...
"Brother Xiao, hello, I have no ill intentions. Actually, this is our first time meeting."
Even wearing dirty period costume, it couldn't hide the youthful vigor of the young man who smiled and proactively extended his hand. "My name is Zhou Junhao. I'm a news reporter. You might already know me, but please allow me to formally introduce myself."
Xiao He looked at the person before him, his feelings complicated as he extended his hand. "Hello, I'm Xiao He."
Speaking of which, Zhou Junhao was originally just a tool person Xiao He casually used.
A long time ago, when the "Fearless Journey" exposé happened, among the vast sea of media, he had randomly picked this guy, simply thinking that the media outlet he worked for had some influence, and he himself had performed excellently in school, had just entered the industry, and might still harbor a pursuit for journalism, adhering to the basic integrity of a journalist.
Later, he found this person was indeed useful, and particularly meticulous. He wouldn't simply chase after the initial heat and then immediately shift his focus, pouring his passion into the next trending topic like other journalists. Even after the initial heat faded, he would persistently follow up and report until the matter was completely resolved.
For example, the follow-up to "Fearless Journey"—the program director being arrested, the program team undergoing indefinite rectification, and the situations of the related victims—were all diligently tracked and reported by Zhou Junhao.
Another example was the later car accident involving the sale of counterfeit drugs, which Zhou Junhao also continuously reported on. Later, the current situations of the car accident driver and several victims were also things he kept an eye on, closely supervising matters like the donation drive led by Linghui Studio to ensure the funds were actually distributed to those in need.
For these reasons, when Xiao He obtained those pieces of damaging information about Qin Yuezhang, he thought of Zhou Junhao first.
This kid had some capability. Just based on him previously infiltrating the counterfeit drug group chat by buying his own products, transferring from left hand to right hand to fabricate sales figures, and then successfully sneaking into the "Gold Medal Sales Group," it was clear he was also a "ruthless character."
Letting Zhou Junhao dig into this matter gave Xiao He some peace of mind.
He just never expected that this guy, while digging, would inexplicably end up at their production crew and, in the process, dig him out as well.
Xiao He found it both funny and exasperating.
"Don't worry, my main target this time isn't you. I absolutely won't tell anyone else about your affairs!"
Zhou Junhao immediately assured him, then somewhat sheepishly rubbed his fingers together, lowering his voice as he said, "I just... I admire you a bit. To be able to uncover so many of their affairs so skillfully..."
Actually, for Zhou Junhao to uncover Xiao He wasn't that difficult. After all, in every incident he had gotten involved in, he had received help and hints from a hacker, and in these events, Xiao He's figure would always appear quite coincidentally.
Once, Xiao He happened to save someone; another time, Xiao He just happened to be involved in the car accident incident; another time, Xiao He just happened to be "blacklisted" by Qin Yuezhang...
Others might not have noticed this pattern, but for Zhou Junhao, who had received secret emails from the "hacker" multiple times, discovering Xiao He was quite normal. Moreover, the fact that he could use the simple clues Xiao He provided to dig up more things was enough to show his mind wasn't simple.
"Just tell me directly why you're looking for me."
Since things were already laid out, Xiao He stopped playing dumb and nodded directly, though he didn't verbally admit anything. Instead, he asked, "You suddenly sought me out because of what just happened with the production crew? Or are you investigating something again and need my help?"
"It's still about Qin Yuezhang."
Zhou Junhao explained seriously.
"When I was interviewing the victims' family members earlier, I accidentally learned about other matters, so I followed the clues and found Wang Shaoqi. But as luck would have it, Wang Shaoqi was caught gathering a crowd at the 'Cangyue Calamity' production crew. The trail with him went cold, and I just couldn't accept it. So I wanted to infiltrate and take a look at the situation, and also chat with some people in the crew to see if I could find another lead."
"Other matters?"
This time, Xiao He was genuinely somewhat astonished.