Liu Yifei changed into a dry set of clothes in the van and checked herself for injuries. Her left ankle was a bit swollen, and she had some bruises on her body, but overall she seemed to be fine.
However, her assistant Chen Cheng insisted on going to the hospital for a checkup just in case there were any internal injuries.
Once she sat down, a still-shaken Liu Yifei finally remembered the main point. "Chengzi, who saved me just now?"
Chen Cheng had just finished a phone call with Liu Yifei's mother. "It seemed like Huo Ge, Brother Li's stunt double, was the first one to jump down. And also that cop named Qi something—right, Qi Tongwei."
"Huo Ge?"
Liu Yifei thought to herself that the name was quite unusual and easy to remember.
"Your mom said she's rushing back tomorrow!"
"Don't tell her! The moment she gets here, she nags every single day. My ears can't take it!"
"Something this major happened, you can't keep it a secret!"
"Sigh~"
Chen Cheng sat down next to Liu Yifei and started gossiping. "Xixi, the moment you fell just now, Huo Ge didn't hesitate at all. He jumped right after you, just like Jack in *Titanic*. You jumped, and he jumped too. It was so handsome!"
"You're just saying that because he's handsome."
"He's handsome, and his moves are handsome too. When he was sparring with other stuntmen during auditions, he was super handsome!"
"How come I've never seen him act?"
"His scenes were already finished before we got here. He's one of Brother Li's stunt doubles, rumored to be ranked third. Since the top two didn't get injured, it was never his turn to go on!"
"Oh, no wonder."
...
Huo Ge went back to the camp, took off his soaked costume, changed into a white T-shirt and a pair of beach shorts, slipped on his flip-flops, and ran over to the martial arts choreography team's tent.
Because of the filming accident, the director had gone to the hospital with Liu Yifei, and shooting was suspended.
The crew members on-site had a rare moment of leisure, gathering in groups of twos and threes to play cards, drink, and chat. No one was guarding the prop tent, and no one paid attention to what Huo Ge was doing.
Qi Tongwei had changed into dry clothes and walked around before finally finding Huo Ge.
He saw Huo Ge sitting on a prop crate, holding two steel cables about ten centimeters long, studying them intently.
"Is there a problem?"
With the professional sensitivity of a police officer, Qi Tongwei immediately recognized the two steel cables as the ones used by the crew for wire-fu stunts.
"Take a look at the snap point!"
Huo Ge handed the two steel cables to Qi Tongwei.
Qi Tongwei took them and inspected them, discovering that one end of each cable had a clean, smooth cut, while the other end had a small smooth section, with the majority showing the frayed burrs typical of a cable snapped under tension.
If a production had money, they would replace snapped steel cables entirely with new ones.
If the production was strapped for cash, they would usually cut off a section near the break and keep using the rest.
Huo Ge pointed at the broken ends of the steel cables. "It looks like these cables were first nicked with a cut, and then snapped under the strain when Liu Yifei was hoisted up."
"You think someone did this on purpose?"
Qi Tongwei suddenly grew excited. For the past two years, he had only dealt with trivial, everyday domestic disputes, and it was rare to encounter a case that might potentially involve murder.
"I don't know, but I find it strange too. Yesterday the wire snapped on me, and today it was Liu Yifei's turn. I just feel like this is too much of a coincidence!"
"Did your love rival do it?"
"Definitely not, Liu Yifei and I aren't even an item!"
Huo Ge's expression remained calm. "Normally, steel cables are inspected twice a day, and checked once more right before hoisting someone. If someone cut a slit into them, it definitely would have been caught."
"Give me a break. I've been here for so long, and nobody on this crew ever checks the steel cables. They just take a quick look right before using them!"
"Crew negligence is for sure, but now we need to rule out whether someone cut them intentionally."
"Do you have any suspects?"
"No. But the only people who have access to the steel cables are members of the martial arts choreography team."
"Well, that narrows down the field."
Qi Tongwei stood outside the tent, his eyes scanning the entire camp like a radar, but he didn't spot anyone who looked suspicious.
"Who do you suppose would want to harm Liu Yifei? She's so cute, so pretty?" Huo Ge walked out and looked around.
"A crime of passion? Murder for money? Jealousy? Serial killer? Who knows? Targeting her actually makes sense. But targeting me doesn't!"
"What do you mean it doesn't make sense? You're lustful, gluttonous, boastful, a chronic liar, and aggressive. Targeting you would be called eliminating a public menace! Targeting Liu Yifei is what doesn't make sense!"
"Fine, fine," Huo Ge quickly raised a hand to stop Qi Tongwei. "You know a few idioms and you're showing off. I really have to hand it to you!"
"I'm better read than you!"
Qi Tongwei continued observing the people in the camp. "If something happens to you and her, and it's not an accident, what are we going to do?"
"Go talk to Liu Yifei and make sure she remembers she owes us a favor."
"Owe a favor, is that it? Shouldn't we find the killer and take them down?"
"Catching the killer is the police's job. What does that have to do with me?"
"What's the use of making her owe a favor?"
"It's immensely useful! Later on, if I want her to star in my movies or invest in them, she won't have the face to turn me down. I've written several scripts where she can pick any role she wants. Otherwise, she'll just hand us a red envelope, settling the financial debt cleanly without owing any favors. How am I supposed to ride her coat-tails in the future? How am I supposed to develop my grand directorial career?"
*Sigh*, no matter what they were talking about, this guy could always steer the conversation back to directing. "You know, just based on you wanting her to owe you a favor, I think you're suspicious! Was this whole damsel-in-distress thing a stunt you staged yourself?"
"Didn't you say it yourself? For the sake of a dream, what does groveling matter? What does being devious and despicable matter?"
"When did I ever say that? Don't frame me!"
"Last time when you were drunk!"
"..."
Qi Tongwei felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his temples. He couldn't wrap his head around how a penniless nobody could harbor such grand ambitions of becoming a director!
"Let's go, let's go eat the wild chicken, it's getting cold!"
Qi Tongwei hurriedly shoved Huo Ge along. There was still a roasted wild chicken waiting for them by the stream.
As he walked, Huo Ge glanced several times toward the pool to the east. Six or seven stuntmen had gathered there to play cards. Exactly which one of them could it have been?
"What are you looking at?" Qi Tongwei walked side by side with Huo Ge, noticing that Huo Ge's gaze kept lingering on that group of people.
"It looked like the three Wang brothers were all there just now, but now one of them is missing!"
"Maybe he went to the bathroom?"
"Maybe. When I went into the tent earlier, I saw all three of them."
"Stop being so paranoid!"
"It's a reasonable suspicion." Huo Ge paused for a second before continuing forward. "Yesterday, the people pulling the wires included the three Wang brothers, and today the people pulling the wires should include the three Wang brothers too! They had the opportunity to tamper with the steel cables!"
"Without evidence, we can't arrest anyone. Besides, neither you nor Liu Yifei suffered very serious injuries. Even if it was them, it would probably just end with a financial settlement."
"I find it weird too. If you're going to make trouble, make a big deal out of it, not half-assed like this!"
"You're a strange one yourself, actually wishing for things to be worse!"
"Only when there's a major case can you perform meritorious service!"
"Please, just let me live a peaceful life. Don't give me any major cases!"
"..."