Chapter 383: The “Fugitive” in the Prop Vehicle
Lin Wan’s phone had become a hot potato in her hands.
“President Liu, I’m truly sorry, it’s not a matter of money.”
Standing in the noisy corridor backstage, Lin Wan’s tone was polite yet laced with coldness.
“Yes, an exclusive interview is also not possible. Jiang Ci is rushing to get home; his plane ticket is already booked.”
After hanging up, before the screen even dimmed, the next call came in from the China regional director of another top luxury brand.
Two hours ago, Lin Wan would have still needed to expend some effort to maintain relationships with these usually arrogant investors.
But now, she directly pressed the mute button and casually tossed the phone into her bag.
Outside the broadcasting hall, the media’s long guns and short cannons were set up,
waiting for the man who had just made the entire nation cry their eyes out to emerge.
“Taking the main entrance is out of the question.”
Feng Gang, a half-smoked, unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, pointed to the inconspicuous iron door behind him.
“Go down to the third basement level. That’s the dedicated channel for transporting props and garbage.”
He glanced at Jiang Ci, who hadn’t removed his stage makeup yet, and patted his shoulder with a complicated look in his eyes. “Sorry to put you through this, great artist.”
Jiang Ci was winding that prop red scarf around his neck,
the simple, earnest aura from his performance not yet fully faded. “Director Feng, what’s there to be sorry about? As long as I don’t have to pay that compensation for lost work time, I’d crawl through a sewer.”
Feng Gang: ”…”
The bit of moved appreciation for talent he had just been brewing was instantly fed to the dogs.
The third basement level was chilly and damp.
Several movers in military-style overcoats were tossing things into a truck.
Jiang Ci looked left and right, then casually pulled a dusty, army-green overcoat from a nearby pile of props.
He wrapped it around himself and hunched his shoulders.
The radiant “performance artist” from the stage vanished.
Mingling with the group of movers, he casually lent a hand to the big brother next to him, pushing a foam box onto the truck.
“Thanks, brother!” The mover big brother offered Jiang Ci a cigarette. “New here? Haven’t seen you before.”
Jiang Ci waved it off with practiced ease, grinning. “Yeah, just started. Wanted to finish up early and get home for the New Year, you know?”
“True, it’s tough for everyone during the New Year.” The big brother sighed,
completely failing to recognize that the grimy-faced young man in front of him
was the same person who had just made him wipe away tears while watching the TV in the break room.
Standing in the shadows, Lin Wan watched this scene, the corner of her mouth twitching uncontrollably.
Jiang Ci’s speed at blending into the lower strata was faster than some celebrities blending into high society.
“Get in!” the driver shouted from the front.
Jiang Ci nimbly climbed into the cargo hold.
Lin Wan sighed, pulled open the passenger door, and got in.
Her current identity was the “film crew set assistant” responsible for escorting this batch of old props.
With a sharp hiss of the air brakes, the truck slowly pulled away from the underground garage.
Jiang Ci found a relatively clean corner and sat down, leaning against a pile of discarded foam boards.
Through a gap about two fingers wide, he saw the nearly frenzied scene outside the main entrance of CCTV.
“Truly surreal.”
Jiang Ci muttered to himself.
[Ding—]
The system notification tone in his mind finally completed its final calculation at this moment.
[Calculating Heartbreak Value…]
[Calculation complete!]
Jiang Ci closed his eyes. On the virtual panel before him, a string of numbers was jumping wildly.
Finally, it settled.
[Current remaining Heartbreak Value: 24,588 points]
[Current remaining Lifespan: 20 years, 1 month, 5 days]
Twenty years.
Jiang Ci’s stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly.
He was genuinely hungry.
He fumbled around in the inner pocket of that tattered army overcoat for a while and pulled out a slightly squashed boxed lunch.
He had swiped it from backstage just before getting on the truck.
Opening the lid, the braised pork inside had gone completely cold, the fat congealed into white lumps.
Jiang Ci didn’t mind. Picking up the disposable chopsticks, he shoveled large mouthfuls of cold rice into his mouth in the dark, swaying cargo hold.
A bite of cold meat, a bite of hard rice.
Chew. Swallow.
This rough, slightly greasy feeling of satiety
yanked him violently back to the mortal world from the tragic performance he had just given.
He was still alive.
He could still feel hunger, he could still eat meat.
That was good enough.
In the front cab, Lin Wan glanced through the small rearview mirror window into the pitch-black cargo hold behind.
Though she couldn’t see anything clearly, she could hear the sounds of chewing coming from inside.
Her fingers gripping the seatbelt tightened slightly.
Somehow, the “star quality” on Jiang Ci had been fading more and more.
It had transformed into a rough, unfathomable texture.
The truck jolted along the road and finally stopped at a remote intersection outside the Fifth Ring Road.
An inconspicuous black Volkswagen sedan was parked by the roadside, hazard lights flashing.
Jiang Ci jumped off the truck. The cold wind instantly blasted into his collar, making him shiver violently.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you to the airport.”
Lin Wan had switched to the driver’s seat of the sedan and rolled down the window. “I booked you the earliest flight to Star City. The VIP channel has been arranged.”
Jiang Ci pulled open the rear door and slid inside.
The car’s heater was on full blast, making him let out a comfortable hum.
“Cancel the VIP channel.”
Jiang Ci slumped into the seat, took off the grimy Lei Feng cap, revealing his flattened hair.
“It’s New Year’s Eve. Don’t cause extra trouble for the staff. I want to go through the regular channel.”
Lin Wan looked at him in the rearview mirror. “Are you sure? Do you know how many people at the airport are looking at their phones right now?”
“Don’t worry.”
Jiang Ci pointed at his current outfit.
“Even if I stood in front of those fans right now, pointed at my nose, and said I’m Jiang Ci, they’d just think I’m a lunatic desperate for fame.”
Lin Wan fell silent for two seconds, then stomped on the accelerator.
She couldn’t win an argument with this madman.
Forty minutes later, Capital International Airport.
Even though it was New Year’s Eve, the departure hall was still bustling with people.
Most were stranded passengers who missed the last wave of the homecoming rush, or people taking advantage of the holiday to travel.
A huge LED screen was replaying the Spring Festival Gala.
Coincidentally, it was Return again.
The originally somewhat noisy departure hall grew a bit quieter because of the images on the screen.
Many people looked up, watching the man on screen toasting an empty chair.
“He acted so well… this Jiang Ci is amazing.”
“Yeah, it makes me want to call my dad.”
Two young girls, sniffling, dragged their suitcases forward.
Right next to them, a man in a tattered army overcoat,
walking with a slight stoop, was shuffling slowly along.
He smoothly made his way through the hall and arrived at the security checkpoint.
“ID card and boarding pass.”
The security officer was a young man, probably just after a shift change, still quite alert.
Jiang Ci fished out his ID card from the inner pocket of the tattered overcoat and handed it over.
The security officer took the ID card and glanced at it casually.
The next second, his movements froze.
The photo on the ID card was clean, handsome, the eyes holding a touch of youthful melancholy.
Name: Jiang Ci.
The security officer looked up, from the ID card to the man in front of him with messy hair,
wearing an army overcoat that looked like it was fished out of a dumpster.
His gaze switched back and forth between the two at least three times.
The Film Emperor Jiang Ci on the screen: Peerless elegance, profound subtlety.
The one in front of him… this vagrant: Dirt-poor tacky, reeking of destitution.
The security officer’s gaze gradually sharpened.
As a professionally trained staff member, his occupational sensitivity told him—this was absolutely not the same person!
If this guy was Jiang Ci, he’d eat the security scanner on the spot!
“Sir.”
Instead of returning the ID card, the security officer subtly moved his hand toward a red button under the counter.
That was the alarm bell for situations involving impersonation or suspicious persons.
He stared into Jiang Ci’s eyes, his tone serious, carrying the scrutiny of someone who has seen through everything.
“May I ask, where did you obtain this ID card?”
“And, please explain, this outfit of yours…”
He pointed at the frayed threads poking out from Jiang Ci’s collar.
“Did you just break out of some construction site?”