Return of the Goddess

When the call to the police connected, Ning Xi briefly explained the situation. However, she didn’t give too many details. She simply said that a colleague had suddenly called her to say that someone wanted to kill her, then the call was mysteriously cut off.

Although the police officer on the line thought that this sounded like a prank call, she still exercised caution and solemnly asked for the caller’s details and address.

When she heard the caller identify herself as Ning Xi, and that the victim was possibly Zhu Moli, she couldn’t help but repeat her question, “What’s your name again?”

After obtaining a definitive reply from the caller, the police officer quickly pulled out details of the phone number that Ning Xi provided. The subscriber’s name was Zhu Xia. She recalled how celebrities could be using aliases, hence she didn’t dare to delay and immediately transferred the case to the district police near Zhu Moli’s home.

"Thanks for the timely report. Please try to remain contactable. If there’s any follow-ups, we’ll immediately contact you.” After hanging up, the police officer couldn’t help but cover her face. No one would probably believe her if she said that she had actually picked up Ning Xi’s call.

After Ning Xi made the call, she didn’t bother about the matter any further. If Zhu Moli was really in danger, she had already helped by making the police report. If she was setting a trap for Ning Xi, then the arrival of the police at the scene would definitely cause a stir.

She opened up the Weibo app. The system notification indicated that she had more than ten thousand unseen comments, and dozens of unread messages from good friends. When she checked them, most of them were messages showing concern for her, or asking about how she was. There were even some who were worried about the developments of the case. She smiled. These fans were truly cute.

Just as she thought about it, Zhang Qingyun called. It turned out that the company had received a lot of gifts for her, and his office was overflowing with them. He called to ask if she wanted the gifts to be sent over.

“I’ll have to trouble Brother Zhang then.” In the past two years, she had received countless gifts from fans. She made the company return gifts that were too expensive, and even though she kept some, she donated most of them away. However, the fans didn’t seem unhappy with her treatment of their gifts. Instead, they praised her for her graciousness, even though she was simply giving her presents away.

Thirty minutes later, Zhang Qingyun brought along two staff workers who carried a few big boxes over. The gifts were carefully classified into edible, fun or essential items.

However, when it came to food, Zhang Qingyun never let Ning Xi eat them herself. He was worried that some anti-fans might spike the food, so he would normally just let Ning Xi take a look at them before taking them away.

Ning Xi pulled out her phone and took photos of the few boxes, then served Zhang Qingyun and the two workers a cup of tea. However, the two workers left quickly. When they were gone, Ning Xi told Zhang Qingyun about Zhu Moli’s call.

“It’s fortunate that you didn’t go.” Zhang Qingyun heaved a sigh of relief. “Zhu Moli has been shut out by her management agency. I heard that she even went to look for Jiang Hongkai recently, but Jiang Hongkai didn’t want to see her.”

“Zhu Moli doesn’t think before she acts, but Jiang Hongkai is worse.” Ning Xi smirked, “It’s her misfortune that she’s with this useless man.”

Zhang Qingyun listened quietly as he could hear how Ning Xi didn’t really like this man.

However, Ning Xi obviously didn’t like to gossip, so she changed the topic. “Brother Zhang, did you come here today solely to pass me these gifts?”

“Apart from the fans’ gifts, I have a few invitations and scripts for you.” Zhang Qingyun took out a thick stack of documents from his briefcase. The scripts and invitations were all for large-scale productions.

“Let’s reject variety shows for now. It’s not suitable for me, given my current situation.” Ning Xi placed the invitations for variety shows aside. Amidst the stack of scripts, she found one that appealed to her based on the synopsis alone.

This is an original piece of work, but the scriptwriter handled the plot well, making a simple story vivid. It was full of dark humour that probed into humanity; it was a half-artistic and half-comedic show. The male lead was an elderly widower over the age of sixty. The entire story revolved around the elderly man and his two children.

In this show, the elderly man was the first lead, while his daughter was the second lead, and could be considered the female lead as well. The man’s son and his other neighbours were also important characters.

“Has the male lead been decided?” Given the quality of the script and the reputation of the director, Ning Xi was sure that so long as the male lead’s acting stills were top-notch, the movie would definitely be successful.

“Yes, it’s the renowned actor Mr. Zhang Yimin.” Zhang Qingyun personally hoped that Ning Xi would take on this production. Zhang Yimin might not be as popular as idols, but his acting skills were impeccable. If Ning Xi could film with him, it would definitely be an educational experience for her.

“It’s Mr. Zhang?!” Ning Xi nodded when she heard it. “Brother Zhang, help me contact the production crew and tell them that I’m willing to accept this role.”

“I knew you’d definitely accept it.” Zhang Qingyun grinned, then took out his phone and started contacting the production crew.

While Ning Xi was choosing among the numerous scripts, Zhu Moli was in an entirely different situation.

Her hair was frazzled, and her entire body was covered in a corner. She looked out at the faint light from the window, then hugged her head and sobbed.

“Du du du …” The telephone nearby rang abruptly. She looked at the handset in fear, as though it was a man-eating monster. However, as she thought about the threats that Jiang Hongkai made, she forced herself to climb towards the phone, and picked it up with her trembling hands.

“Hello…”

“Miss Zhu,” a foreign voice could be heard on the other end. “Have you followed my instructions and made the call?”

Zhu Moli’s face was ashen as she nodded. Then, she remembered that the other party couldn’t see her at all, so she replied, “I did.”

“Play the recording of the call.”

It was then that Zhu Moli remembered that she had thrown her phone to a corner. She quickly turned on the phone, then played the call recording out for the man.

“After the recording ended, the unknown man said icily, “Miss Zhu is a smart person. You should know what to say, and what not to say, correct?”

“I, I know.” Zhu Moli didn’t dare to cry out loud. She could only try to wipe off the tears from her face. “What must I do before you can let me off?”

The man over the phone sniggered, as though Zhu Moli asked a funny question. “I’d just praised Miss Zhu for your wit, why did you suddenly turn around and ask such a stupid question?”

When Zhu Moli heard this, her body shuddered involuntarily, but she didn’t dare to make a sound. She could only weep silently as she hugged the handset.

“Now,” the man over the phone seemed impatient, “Hurry up and open the door. The man that I've arranged for has arrived. If Ning Xi comes over, then act accordingly.”

Hearing the dial tone from the phone, Zhu Moli crawled up from the ground with much difficulty. She walked across the living room and opened the door. A delivery man with a cap handed her a package that was the size of her palm. Zhu Moli nervously took the item, but she didn’t dare to look at the delivery man and hastily closed the door.

She opened up the box and retrieved a small toy from it. She then slit the teddy bear’s stomach open with a knife, and pulled out a small packet of white powder from it.

She quickly shoved the packet into her pocket, then threw the box and the toy into the bin in her kitchen.

More than ten minutes later, she heard a knock on the door, and the faint voice coming from a woman. She frowned. Could it be that Ning Xi brought an assistant over? Did that mean that her assistant also had to be…

She hesitantly opened the door. Standing before her was not Ning Xi, but two uniformed police officers, and someone from the management office.

The unexpected arrival surprised Zhu Moli, and she stared at them apprehensively. “What’s the matter?”

The two police officers pulled out their badges. “Miss Zhu, we received a report saying that you might be in danger, so we came over to investigate.” The police officer who was speaking noticed that Zhu Moli’s expression was strange, so suspicion rose in his mind. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Zhu Moli frowned. “Who told you that I was in danger?” She quickly realised that Ning Xi might have made the report. She didn’t expect Ning Xi to be unconcerned about the secrets that she revealed, and to call the police instead. She was almost livid.

The female officer closely observed Zhu Moli’s appearance. Her hair was disheveled, her face was sallow, and she didn’t even put on any makeup. Furthermore, she was wearing a set of crumpled pajamas, and she was visibly antsy and nervous. The officer deduced that she might have been controlled by someone, hence she used the communicator on her waist to request for assistance from the police station.

There were only two of them, and they couldn’t be sure if anyone was hidden inside the house, so they didn’t dare to enter on whim. However, in order to ensure Zhu Moli’s safety, they also didn’t dare to leave. They could only try their best to speak to her and delay her from going back in.

Initially, Zhu Moli didn’t notice anything, but when she realised that the police officers seemed unwilling to leave, she started getting paranoid. “What are you trying to do? I’ve already said that I’m fine. Are police officers all so free that they only know how to chat with people?”

Both officers had their bodycams turned on. When they heard Zhu Moli’s impatient tone, they felt that their suspicions might be unfounded. Perhaps this celebrity was really fine.

Even though they were scolded by Zhu Moli, it wasn’t good for them to argue back. Just as they turned to leave, they heard something from within the house.

The male officer finally couldn’t hold himself back. He pulled Zhu Moli out of her house, then closed the door behind her. Together, the two officers guarded Zhu Moli as they retreated from the house.

“What are you doing?” Zhu Moli didn’t expect herself to be dragged out from her own apartment. “Even if you are police officers, it doesn't mean that you can act violently against others! I can lodge a complaint against you!”

“Miss Zhu, we are also doing this for your sake. If a single complaint can be traded for your safety, I wouldn’t object to it.” The male officer signalled for the female officer to shield Zhu Moli, as he walked closer to the door. He stuck his face to the door and listened for more movements within the house, but nothing could be heard anymore.

He turned and looked at Zhu Moli and saw her dark expression, so he could only apologise. “Miss Zhu, it was a misunderstanding. We’re really sorry to have interrupted your rest.”

“It’s fine. I can’t be bothered with you any further.” Zhu Moli gave a look of disdain to these officers, then tried to find her keys. After a short while, she realised that she was in her pajamas, and didn’t bring her keys out at all.

“What’s this?” The female officer noticed the small packet of white powder that dropped from Zhu Moli, so she bent down to pick it up.

“Don’t touch my belongings!” Zhu Moli’s expression changed when she saw the item in the female officer’s hand. She wanted to snatch the item back, but the female officer was already prepared, so she turned to the side and avoided Zhu Moli’s grasp.

At this moment, the backup from the police station arrived too. Four police officers armed with guns alighted from the police car. When Zhu Moli saw the guns in the police officers’ hands, she instinctively wanted to run, but was eventually subdued by a female officer.

“Miss Zhu, I’m sorry, you’ll probably need to make a trip to the station with us.” The female officer didn’t allow any further explanation as she put Zhu Moli’s hands behind her back and pushed her into the police car. The residents around and the management office workers didn’t even have the chance to react to the situation when the police car left.

“Could the white powder in the police’s hands be …”

“I heard that this actress hadn’t acted in a long while. It could be that she was so stressed that she took this road of no return.”

“In this society, who doesn’t lead a stressful life? Must everyone be like her? Moreover, she’s a public figure. She’s such a bad influence.”

This estate was home to a group of wealthier people. This incident quickly reached the ears of many, and even the media caught wind of it and rushed to the police station and the estate to find out more.

“Boss, Ning Xi didn’t go to the venue. Zhu Moli has been taken away by the cops.”

The man sitting in the backlight raised his eyes leisurely when he heard the news. “Alright.”

After hanging up, he said to his younger brother who was seated beside him. “It seems like Ning Xi really doesn’t know that you were the real culprit behind her father’s death back then.” If Ning Xi knew this, she wouldn’t have been so unconcerned when she received Zhu Moli’s call, and simply made a police report.

“That’s right. What would an actress like her know?” Jiang Hongkai smirked, “Brother, instead of worrying about this matter, why don’t you think about how to make Sister-in-law change her mind? Now that the Chang family no longer wants to work with the Tao family, I can’t even find people to go out for drinks with me.”

Jiang Yuanpeng stared at his brother in disappointment. He frowned, “Minya probably wouldn’t change her mind so easily.”

“What about Jiang Cheng, did he run away with his mother?” Jiang Hongkai lit a cigarette and said in a displeased tone, “He’s from our Jiang family, why is he running to the Tao family instead?”

“Alright, I know what to do.” Jiang Yuanpeng threw an impatient look at his brother. “Go out if you want to smoke.”

Jiang Hongkai wasn’t angry despite his brother’s words. He sauntered out of his office. After he closed the door, he curled his lips, swirled the car keys in his hand, then went out to have fun again.

Shortly after Zhu Moli was taken away, the media reported her arrest for possession of drugs. There were even reporters who managed to contact the people who were at the scene, and obtained a few photos taken then.

Thus, the photos that everyone saw was that of the pale and unkempt Zhu Moli held down by the female police officer. Those who originally didn’t trust the rumours were also convinced that Zhu Moli was taken away by the police. However, it wasn’t clear if the reason for her arrest was due to drug possession.

Ning Xi didn’t expect that a simple call to the police could result in this outcome. Zhu Moli must have been mad to have hidden drugs at home.

She probably wouldn’t have known about this matter that quickly if not for Zhu Moli’s testimony that Ning Xi had set her up. Ning Xi had to go to the police station to record her statement. However, as Ning Xi was a public figure and Zhu Moli’s allegations were unfounded, the police made special arrangements for two police officers to go to her house to take her statement in order to prevent any problems when she went down to the police station.

Having the police visit her twice in a day. That was a strange experience for Ning Xi.

Yet, she didn’t have much to say. When the male officer questioned her, she just clarified everything.

“Miss Zhu and I are both celebrities. I was a rookie when we previously worked together, and might have done some things that Miss Zhu wasn’t happy about, hence she never liked me from then on.” Ning Xi chuckled, “As to how much she hates me, you’ll probably find out if you search the internet.”

The male officer nodded. They had already witnessed Zhu Moli’s terrible temperament, and how crass she was. In contrast, Ning Xi had a gentle countenance. No one knew how much she probably suffered under Zhu Moli when she was a rookie.

“To be honest, I felt that it was strange that she called me today, hence I recorded the call.” Ning Xi smiled sheepishly at the two officers, “Logically, I shouldn’t be doing this, but Miss Zhu has always … so I’m usually scared.”

The male officer continued to nod his head in understanding. He had heard about how complex the entertainment industry was; it was normal of Ning Xi to have her guard up. “If Miss Ning is agreeable, could we get a copy of the recording?”

“That’s not a problem.” Ning Xi generously offered her phone to the female officer, who stood closer to her.

The female officer didn’t take the phone. Instead, she smiled and said, “Miss Ning, you only have to hand the voice recording over to us.” Miss Ning was quite careless. As a celebrity, how could she easily give her phone away? It was no wonder why she would be bullied by Zhu Moli.

“Ah, my apologies.” Ning Xi unlocked her phone, found the recording, then played it for the officers.

The hearts of the two officers beat frantically as they heard the phone call. This wasn’t just a simple drug abuse case. After making a copy of the recording, they made sure to tell Ning Xi not to delete the recording, nor edit it in any way. In future, there’ll be someone who would evaluate the recording in order to confirm if it was edited.

Ning Xi agreed without any hesitation.

After sending the two police officers away, Ning Xi poured a drink for herself. She was in a good mood. She took a few sips, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face. She should be thankful for Zhu Moli’s call, since it raised the police’s suspicions further.

The truth could never be hidden. No matter how deeply concealed, as long as people persisted in digging further, the truth would come to light one day.