He was actually promoted by Xiao Rui. It is said that one day, when Miss Gan was resting, she accidentally overheard He Qiming's voice from the studio. Curious, she walked in and found that it was long past work hours, yet He Qiming was still in the studio practicing his chopping movements alone. That child was truly diligent, especially after Mr. Yan passed away. He practiced overtime almost every night. Perhaps Gan Xiaorui saw his potential and promoted him. Later, He Qiming successively played several roles in ancient Chinese dramas, all of which were very successful. Some even said that in him, they saw a shadow of Mr. Yan. Yan Zhanpeng's face was full of reminiscence. He seemed to be enjoying himself immensely as he spoke of He Qiming, as if he were talking about his own son.
It was evident that Yan Zhanpeng treated He Qiming as his own son and intended to promote him. I said, "Alright, with Mr. Yan's disciple around, I believe this collaboration will be very successful!"
"Indeed, Detective He, if this project is successful, I will definitely pay you double the remuneration, and the copyright fees will not be less either!"
"Well, I don't care about the money. We He family members always act with principles. We take what we deserve. Otherwise, I wouldn't have become a police officer."
"Oh, Detective He, I remember you started as a forensic examiner. Why did you suddenly become a police officer?"
I said a few modest words, essentially implying that I had solved more cases than the captain and was specially recruited. Yan Zhanpeng laughed heartily and patted my shoulder, "That's right, a genius detective like you is too much of a waste just to be responsible for autopsies!"
"Uh, please don't praise me like that. In reality, there are no such things as genius detectives in this world. It's all about rich experience and unique ways of thinking."
"Yes, yes, Detective He!"
Seeing everyone working hard, everything was normal. However, when it came to filming the scene of Song Qirong escaping from a city, explosions started everywhere. At that time, Xiao Cai was escaping with him. The city was attacked by Yuan soldiers, and it was beyond salvation. Originally, Song Qirong wanted to take his other family members away, but it was too late at that moment.
He pulled Xiao Cai, with a few of his guards behind them. Amidst the special effects explosions, according to the script, they were supposed to escape successfully. However, after a loud bang, several people screamed and were blown away.
Director Yan Zhanpeng was stunned at that moment and immediately shouted, "Call an ambulance!"
Several crew members immediately made calls. Yan Zhanpeng and I rushed to the injured. At this point, He Qiming was tightly holding Gan Xiaorui, who was sitting on the ground, terrified, his face full of panic. Xiao Rui was on the verge of tears and asked in fear, "Qiming, what's going on?"
He Qiming did not answer. I approached the injured and found fragments of explosive devices remaining. I asked Yan Zhanpeng, "Why did you use real explosives?"
"No! That wasn't done by me. You guys come here, who did this!"
"It has nothing to do with us. We all used special effect explosives for filming as you instructed, and we never expected one of them to be real!" a crew member explained.
"Nonsense, someone among you must be trying to harm us!" Yan Zhanpeng cursed furiously.
"No, really, Director Yan, we checked the special effect explosives after setting them up!"
At this moment, I asked, "Did you leave at any point in between?"
"No, Xiao Chong went to the restroom. I went too later. When we swapped, it should have been about 3 minutes, and we weren't on site."
"Damn it! Do you know how much can be done in 3 minutes? The murderer could have replaced the special effect explosives with real ones at any time!" I said angrily.
"How could that be? Who wants to harm us!" the crew member said fearfully.
"No, perhaps this wasn't aimed at you. Perhaps it was..." I didn't finish. He Qiming helped Xiao Rui up and stood. "Detective He, you mean someone wants to kill us?"
"Yes, in the crew, only you and Xiao Rui are relatively famous stars. The murderer must be targeting you. Have you encountered any competitors recently?"
"I don't think so. It seems that no one is willing to film such ancient dramas anymore, let alone talk about competition?" Xiao Rui asked confusedly.
"Is there any surveillance here?" I asked another question without answering Xiao Rui, while observing the injured. Fortunately, their lives were not in danger. Yan Zhanpeng asked the crew's medical staff to come over and provide temporary basic treatment to the injured.
Yan Zhanpeng said there was and asked a crew member to take me there. Upon arriving at the monitoring room, I carefully watched the footage from that time. The situation was similar to what the crew member had said earlier. They did leave for 3 minutes in the middle, but the infuriating part was that a piece of cloth covered the scene during that time.
I asked, "Who did this?"
Yan Zhanpeng grabbed the crew member who had set up the special effect explosives. "Was it you?"
"No, it wasn't me. We were all in the corridor at that time and weren't here at all. If a third party approached, it must have been him who pulled up the curtain." said Xiao Chong, the crew member.
I stared at the surveillance footage and replayed it several times, but the same phenomenon occurred. It seemed that the guy was very smart, knowing how to use the curtain to conceal his actions. He must have been very familiar with the environment in the crew, tampered with things behind the scenes, and left safely. This person should be a member of the crew.
I said, "Director Yan, please call everyone in your crew here. I need to question them one by one."
"Alright! I'll arrange it immediately. Can we not report this to the police?"
"Are you afraid of this matter being made public?"
"Yes, this TV series cost over a billion yuan. It would be very troublesome to stop filming!"
"Okay, let's send the injured to the hospital first. However, those few people are supporting actors. If you need to find new ones, it might be difficult."
"Yes, but as long as He Qiming and Gan Xiaorui are fine, the rest can be managed."
Yan Zhanpeng went to call people. When they arrived, I noticed there were dozens of people in the crew. I questioned them one by one, but it seemed like none of them were suspicious. Everyone had an alibi. They each claimed to be with specific people, and He Qiming and Gan Xiaorui were together at the time.
Yan Zhanpeng, seeing that I had finished questioning, said, "I think the person who did this must be an outsider, not one of our crew!"
"Perhaps. You should still be careful. If something else happens next time, it might not be just injuries. Have those injured people been sent to the hospital?"
"They have been sent. According to the doctor, two of them have minor injuries and can probably still film. However, Mr. Lei injured his ribs and is highly unlikely to be able to film anymore."
"Oh? Can I see this Mr. Lei?"
"Of course. I'll drive you to the hospital, Detective He."