Huayu: This director is pretty strong.

Chapter 56 The Female Protagonist's Medical Record

"Let's go."

Chen Yan closed the car door.

The investigation team's black sedan started up, its wheels rolling over the puddles on the road.

Zheng Jian laid the newspaper flat on his knees.

He pointed to the black-and-white photo of Lin Qingqiu lying on a stretcher.

"Director Chen, every word in this article has a source."

"She suffered from lumbar nerve compression, accompanied by soft tissue injury. The article says she used to be a professional dancer, and this has completely ended her career."

Chen Yan looked down at the newspaper.

The ink left a gray shadow on my fingertips.

"Team Leader Zheng, that's an old injury."

"Shen Congzhou reversed the cause-and-effect relationship."

Zheng Jian put away the newspaper and looked out the car window.

"Before the investigation concludes, cause and effect are not important. The social impact has already been created."

The car drove into the courtyard of the guesthouse.

The iron gate slammed shut with a dull thud.

Meanwhile, at the administrative office building of Yenching Film Academy.

Yan Huaizhong sat by the window, with a stack of newly delivered internal reference materials in front of him.

Three teachers from the school board stood at a table to conduct an interview.

Director Liu spoke first.

"Old Yan, this matter has blown up too much."

"Although the Beijing Entertainment News is a tabloid, it spreads information very quickly. Now, the family members, the media, and even the association in Shanghai have all spoken out."

"The school's reputation cannot be ruined by one student."

Yan Huaizhong picked up his teacup but didn't drink any water.

"That's an academic topic. The ministry has the authority to handle it."

"Director Liu, the matter hasn't been fully investigated yet, and you're already talking about withdrawing investment and halting construction?"

Director Liu patted the newspaper on the table.

"The medical records are real. The person was carried out. This is called actor abuse."

"I suggest temporarily sealing off the laboratory building. We'll wait for the results of Chen Yan's investigation before making any further decisions."

Yan Huaizhong put down his cup and tapped his knuckles on the table.

"If the building is sealed off, who will take care of the film negatives?"

"Who among you can bear the responsibility for that three million US dollars in compensation?"

Silence fell over the office.

Yan Huaizhong pushed back his chair and stood up.

"I will have Chen Yan produce a detailed recording of the filming. Until then, the base cannot be shut down."

Tianjin.

First Central Hospital.

Su Wan, accompanied by her lawyer, stood in front of the window of the archives room.

The clerk behind the window flipped through the registration book.

"Lin Qingqiu's medical records in ward 302 cannot be accessed at this time."

Su Wan took a step forward.

"We are the parties involved. I have the actors' power of attorney."

"Check who tampered with the document copy machine last night."

The clerk avoided Su Wan's gaze and closed the notebook.

"The photocopier is broken. Zhou, the person on duty last night, is on leave today. We can't find him."

The lawyer took a legal opinion from his briefcase and pushed it across the counter.

"Illegally disclosing patient privacy involves criminal liability."

"We've already called the police. They'll be there in half an hour."

The clerk's expression changed.

He turned to look at the shadows behind the office.

A middle-aged man in a white coat came out and pressed down on the document.

"It's a misunderstanding. The hospital is verifying it. Please wait in the lounge."

Su Wan stared at the middle-aged man's name tag: Vice President Wei.

"Dean Wei, what is your relationship with Wei Cheng from the Shanghai Film Studio?"

Dean Wei did not answer, but gestured for the security guards to come over.

"This is a hospital. Please do not make loud noise."

Su Wan was asked to leave the corridor.

She leaned against the white tiled wall, took out her phone, and dialed Zhang Yuan's number.

"They've been brought under control at the hospital. Shen Congzhou's men gave prior notice."

The sound of a cassette tape spinning came from the other end of the phone.

Zhang Yuan answered in a low voice.

"Sister Su, I'm already in the editing room. Mr. Yan has brought over the backup copy."

"Lin Qingqiu is awake. Do you want to come over?"

Su Wan hung up the phone and pushed open the door to room 302.

Lin Qingqiu sat upright on the edge of the bed, her back straight.

She trampled that copy of the "Beijing Entertainment News" under her feet.

The newspaper was soaked through, and the boldface text on it was twisted into a mess.

Su Wan walked over and tried to put her arm around her shoulder.

Lin Qingqiu pushed Su Wan's hand away.

"Sister Su, they say I'm paralyzed."

Su Wan shook her head.

"That's fabricated. The doctor said it's just an old injury triggered by a muscle tear."

Lin Qingqiu pointed to her waist, her voice steady.

"I'm not afraid of pain. But I'm afraid of the audience."

"When they watch my movies in the future, their first reaction will be: Oh, this is the poor woman who was tortured to the point of disability by the director."

"My performance was interpreted as playing the victim in their eyes. Sister Su, this is worse than death for me."

Lin Qingqiu picked up the water glass from the bedside table, her hands trembling.

Su Wan took the cup and poured warm water back in.

"Chen Yan knows how to handle things. He never suffers a loss."

Lin Qingqiu looked out the window; in the distance were the tower cranes at the dock.

"Tell him not to issue a statement. Statements are useless; nobody believes the director."

"Make him send out that sample video. Let them see how I fell."

Interrogation room at the guesthouse in Yanjing.

Chen Yan sat at the table, holding a black ballpoint pen in his hand.

He drew a structural diagram of the clock tower on a piece of paper.

Zheng Jian pushed open the door and brought in a blast of cold air.

"Chen Yan, someone has filed a formal complaint against you. The funds you transferred through your Hong Kong account are suspected of involving inflated costs and money laundering."

Chen Yan did not look up, the tip of his pen drawing sharp lines on the paper.

"The funds came from a letter of guarantee from the legal department of the French authorities. Team Leader Zheng, you should check Shen Congzhou's transaction records in his offshore account."

"Last year, he registered three shell companies in the Cayman Islands specifically to fraudulently obtain tax rebates from domestic co-productions."

Zheng Jian froze, then bent down and stared at Chen Yan.

How do you know all this?

Chen Yan put down his pen and looked at the surveillance camera in the corner.

"Shen Congzhou thought that only he could exploit this information gap."

"I have ten minutes left. After that, I need to see my lawyer."

Zheng Jian snorted coldly.

"Lawyers aren't allowed in. You're under quarantine for questioning now."

Chen Yan pushed back his chair and stood up.

"In ten minutes, I will write down a list of all the accounts involved in Shen Congzhou's case. But I have one condition."

"I need to contact my editor. I need him to present evidence at the proof meeting."

Zheng Jian weighed the options for a moment.

He turned to look at his deputy by the door and nodded.

Five o'clock in the morning.

Northern suburbs of Yanjing.

Zhang Yuan sat in front of the cold editing machine, his eyes bloodshot.

He was wearing headphones and cutting the tape frame by frame.

"Brother Yan, the original records of the demolition team are all here."

"There's also the health condition waiver that Lin Qingqiu signed before joining the crew, and the insurance policy from the insurance company."

Chen Yan gave instructions via internal telephone.

"Get the original footage of scene 42, shot 3. Don't recolor it, keep the original footage."

"Take those five seconds when Lin Qingqiu was struggling in the mud and isolate them, repeating them over and over again."

Zhang Yuan pressed the input button on the control panel.

"I understand. So, we're going to confront them head-on?"

"No, it's for Shen Congzhou's funeral."

The phone hangs up.

Chen Yan put away his phone and pushed it to the supervisor next to him.

He took out a blank sheet of paper and began to write down a series of complex numbers and dates from memory.

Each line of text is like a nail hammered into the paper.

Those were Shen Congzhou's secret accounts that would be exposed within the next five years, but Chen Yan has extracted them ahead of time.

The snow outside the window has stopped.

A layer of grayish-blue light appeared on the horizon.

Shen Congzhou sat in his office in Shanghai, holding a specially made cell phone with a serial number burned into it.

He dialed Chen Yan's backup number.

The call was connected.

Chen Yan's voice was cold.

"Mr. Shen, get some rest."

Shen Congzhou stroked the jade thumb ring on his thumb.

"Director Chen, the medical records in the newspapers are just the appetizer. How long can you withstand this media onslaught?"

"The next thing that appears in the newspaper will involve Jiangsu Evening News, or your father's old factory in Shanghai."

Chen Yan finished writing the last stroke on the paper with extremely steady movements.

"Mr. Shen, that jade thumb ring of yours, is it from the mid-Qing Dynasty?"

Shen Congzhou froze.

Chen Yan continued.

"Unfortunately, it was stolen goods. There was an identical one on the inventory list of the theft case from the Xi'an Museum in 1998."

Shen Congzhou gripped his phone tightly, his knuckles losing color from excessive force.

"Who are you trying to scare?"

Chen Yan tore off that page and handed it to Zheng Jian, who was standing next to him.

"The item is in the safe in Shen Congzhou's Shanghai office. The second compartment."

Chen Yan uttered a single word into the phone.

"roll."

He hung up the phone.

Zheng Jian's expression changed repeatedly as he looked at the contents of the paper.

He immediately grabbed the landline on the table and dialed the ministry's direct line.

"My name is Zheng Jian. I am applying for a police transfer to another location. My destination is Shanghai, specifically Wukang Road."

At this moment, outside the guesthouse.

Su Wan stopped the car and got out of the driver's seat.

She was holding a sealed videotape case.

Two campus police officers stopped her.

Su Wan held the cassette tape above her head.

"This is the sample footage that Director Chen gave to Mr. Yan. Anyone who dares to stop it will be held responsible."

The campus police officers exchanged a glance and slowly made way for each other.

Shen Congzhou stared at the phone that had been hung up, feeling the cold sweat on his palms.

He stood up and walked to the safe.

Turn the keypad knob.

The cabinet door opened.

The emerald green jade thumb ring lay quietly on the velvet lining.

Shen Congzhou suddenly reached out, trying to grab it and throw it out the window.

But the movement froze halfway through the hand's outstretched motion.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw three white police cars approaching from the end of the street outside the window.

The alarm didn't sound, but the alternating blue and red light had already exploded on the snow.

Shen Congzhou slumped into the armchair.

His phone vibrated again.

There was only one text message, sent by Chen Yan.

The bell rang.