[NW] The Little Merman

After dinner, Yan Shu sent Jiang Yu home. The next morning, Jiang Yu received Fang Miao’s call again, asking him out.

Jiang Yu alighted at the public square in the city centre. At the corner of a Korean restaurant, he found Fang Miao, who wore a mask and was blocking his face sneakily behind a menu. He sat down beside Fang Miao and looked up; Fang Hua was seated a few tables away, this time with another woman.

“Why are there so many women with your father?” Jiang Yu whispered.

Fang Miao pulled the menu down slightly and looked in his father’s direction, then replied softly, “Recently, in preparation for his movie, he’s been meeting people everyday. I eavesdropped on his calls previously, and he said that he would make time to meet with that woman these few days. However, he’s met so many women, I don’t know which is the one who wants to be my stepmother.”

Jiang Yu looked towards Fang Hua’s table. The woman facing Fang Hua stood up and walked towards the restroom. An idea struck Jiang Yu, and he said to Fang Miao, “I have an idea. Go out and wait for me.”

After that, he pushed Fang Miao out of the restaurant, then asked the waiter for a piece of paper and a pen, and went to wait outside the washroom.

When he saw the woman coming, Jiang Yu walked over and asked, “Excuse me, is the person you’re with Director Fang Hua?”

The woman was surprised, then sized him up as she said, “What do you want?”

Jiang Yu hugged the pen and paper and smiled shyly, “I’m a fan of Director Fang Hua. I really like the movies that he filmed. I didn’t think I would actually run into him here, so I would like to ask for his autograph.”

He then looked at the woman and asked solemnly, “Are you Director Fang Hua’s girlfriend? You are really beautiful.”

The woman looked happy after being complimented by a younger man. She tucked the stray ends of her hair, then took the pen and paper from Jiang Yu and replied gently, “You’re mistaken. I’m not his girlfriend. If you want his autograph, I’ll get it for you. Just wait here, and remain quiet. Don’t let others know that he’s here.”

Jiang Yu’s eyes followed her without blinking. When the woman turned and returned to Fang Hua’s table, he silently snuck out from the door at the side.

Fang Miao witnessed the entire exchange from the glass door. When Jiang Yu went out, he asked, “What did you speak to the woman about?”

Jiang Yu pulled him further away from the restaurant before saying, “I helped you ask her. She’s not dating your father.”

Fang Miao rolled his eyes, “Do you think you can get the answer just by simply asking? Are you silly? Why would she tell a stranger like you the truth?”

“I… I can hear from her voice whether she’s telling the truth.” Jiang Yu hesitated for a moment before telling him seriously.

“Silly child, you trust people too easily.” Fang Miao looked at him affectionately, then reached out to ruffle his hair.

The woman had seen Jiang Yu just then, so the duo would be discovered if they continued following Fang Hua, hence they could only return for the day. Fang Miao drove today, so he sent Jiang Yu to the entrance of his neighbourhood. After Jiang Yu alighted, Fang Miao earnestly reminded him, “Jiang Xiaoyu, listen to Brother. If you want to survive in the industry, don’t be too innocent and believe everything that others say.”

Jiang Yu was infuriated because Fang Miao didn’t believe him. Without replying, he got off the car.

After two days, the filming of the variety show that Yan Shu had accepted for him was to start filming. The name of the show was “Who’s the Murderer?”. The guests and the hosts would split up into teams, some would enact a crime scene, while the others would try to identify the culprit.

There were prizes and punishments in the programme, and the conditions set by the crew were different each week, such that there were individual or team challenges. The episode that Jiang Yu was participating in was a team challenge.

During the broadcast, there would be a small game to split the guests up, but in reality, prior to filming, the production crew had already split the groups up. Two hosts would be paired up with two guests, and they were all split into four teams.

Among the guests this time were the male and female leads of a popular drama that had just ended. The “couple feel” in the drama had attracted numerous fans who shipped the couple, hence the production crew was prepared to focus their cameras on the pair.

Jiang Yu was paired up with another rookie who had just debuted, so they were destined not to have much airtime. Yan Shu didn’t have much opinion about this arrangement; after all, her intention was only for Jiang Yu to make an appearance on the show.

The show was indoors, and there would be a large group of audience offstage. The programme started, and after the guests were split into groups, the group started drawing lots for the scenes they were to perform and the roles they were each going to act. After the first group enacted the scene, each of the guests in the other three teams could ask a question, then share who they thought was the murderer.

Jiang Yu’s group was the third to perform. When the first group had finished acting, the inquiry started. This was the first segment, so the questions asked wouldn’t provide any useful clues, and was mainly used to allow the hosts and guests to create some comedic moments.

When the others asked their questions, they would do so in jest, but when it came to Jiang Yu, he would hesitate for a moment, then ask them one by one, “Are you the murderer?”

The hosts and guests would all naturally deny it.

When it came to identifying the murderer, Jiang Yu didn’t think too much, and simply pointed at one of the hosts.

In the next few rounds, the cameras would always focus on the male and female leads, and it was only during the identification of the murderer that the cameras would sweep over to Jiang Yu’s group. Even though they didn’t have many scenes, as the culprits were revealed one by one, the audiences noticed that the person that Jiang Yu identified after the first round of questions would always be the culprit.

Even the hosts couldn’t hide their surprise, and they asked him how he managed to correctly identify the culprit.

Jiang Yu smiled, the corners his eyes curling up too, saying that he relied on his intuition.

This variety show would always record during one week and broadcast in the next, and it would always be simulcasted on both TV and the internet. When the show was broadcasted, there were many comments once Jiang Yu appeared.

“Woah, this young brother looks so handsome. I haven’t seen him before, he must be a rookie.”

“Just for this young brother’s looks, I’ll be his fan.”

When he correctly identified the murderers, the comments increased.

“Oh man, this young brother is so impressive. There aren’t any clues, but he already knows the culprit.”

“This young brother said that he was relying on his intuition, that’s no intuition, that's a radar!”

Fang Miao had returned home after completing a commercial shoot. He was exhausted, and after resting in his room for a while, he pulled out a small book stored in a box in his bedside table, then crossed out a name on it. That name was the woman they saw at the Korean restaurant last week. He had found out that the woman was a producer who was married and had a child. The couple was in a loving relationship, so she probably wasn’t the one his father was dating.

Fang Miao’s brows furrowed when he looked at the remaining names, then threw the small book aside and turned on the TV. The variety show that Jiang Yu had participated in was showing right now. When he saw how Jiang Yu managed to identify the culprits without fail, even though Jiang Yu said he relied on intuition, Fang Miao discovered that before he identified the culprit, he would ask if they were the murderer.

He suddenly recalled the time at the Korean restaurant. Jiang Yu had told him that the woman wasn’t dating his father, and said that he could tell if the other party was speaking the truth.

“Could it be that he’s really able to tell the truth?” Fang Miao stood up from his bed and mumbled to himself. He thought for a moment, then took out his phone to call Jiang Yu.

The moment the call connected, Fang Miao said, “Jiang Xiaoyu, are you busy? Let’s meet.”

He had snuck out a few times, so now, his manager didn’t allow him to go out alone to crowded places. He couldn’t go out, but his father could return home anytime too, so his home wasn’t convenient place to meet too. He thought about it, then slapped his thigh, “I know a good place to meet. Let’s go to my brother’s house.”

Fang Miao didn’t believe him previously, and even undermined him. Jiang Miao originally didn’t want to bother with him, but when he heard that they were going to Qin Shen’s house, he was moved.