Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

”Why did he have to die at a time like this?”

Xiao He was genuinely disgusted and resentful.

Don’t bother telling him about respecting the dead.

Sure, the dead man had closed his eyes and shuffled off this mortal coil, but look at everyone outside—how many people were running around cleaning up the mess from the crimes he committed back in the day? How many had carried regret and bitterness for a lifetime because of him?

A man like that, disloyal and unrighteous, immoral and crooked, with no bottom line or ethics—even in death, he was still causing trouble.

”So, with him dead, does that mean the whereabouts of the authentic ’Stabilize the Realm’ calligraphy piece are completely lost?”

”And why did he suddenly die? Was it a real death or a fake one?”

It wasn’t that Xiao He was being overly suspicious for no reason. It was mainly that the Yun Family had already dared to bring a fake to China to scam people. Whether the old man was really dead or not—who could say for sure?

”I heard that because of what happened back home, he got emotionally worked up and suffered a sudden heart attack. As for whether that news is true or false, I wouldn’t know.”

Qian Wenya shrugged helplessly on the other end of the phone.”But my dad has already bought tickets. He’s planning to go abroad to check it out in person.”

Qian Wenya’s father was Fourth Uncle Qian—the archaeology expert who had once fought hand-to-hand with tomb raiders.

Compared to the rest of the Qian Family, Fourth Uncle Qian had seen all kinds of storms. He could go down into tombs to inspect and authenticate antiques, and he could also take down criminals and lawbreakers. He had collaborated with Officer Chen from An City on several cases involving cultural relics. Everyone felt fairly reassured that he was making the trip overseas.

Even though Xiao He had no idea what the Yun Family was cooking up—some desperate last-ditch struggle—he wasn’t particularly worried.

”After Elder Qian heard the news, how is he holding up?”

The police hadn’t publicly disclosed the part of the case involving Qian Congwen, but the Qian Family had still taken a bit of a hit.

Especially the few family members who were pursuing political careers. They were the most vulnerable to the fallout from negative cases like this. After all, the higher you climbed, the more people looked at your family background. Even the tiniest flaw could be seized upon by competitors as a weakness to attack. So, to prevent the younger generation of the Qian Family from being too heavily affected, and to preserve the family’s reputation, Elder Qian had stepped up in the end. He directly resigned from the Calligraphy Association, gave up some of his honorary positions in the calligraphy world, and took on the majority of the consequences.

By the time Xiao He found out, Elder Qian was already at home, leisurely raising fish and drinking tea.

Unfortunately, that had coincided with the promotional period for ”Thief Catcher 2,” and Xiao He had returned to Shanghai. Otherwise, he would have made a point of visiting the Qian Family again.

”Ah, Great-Granduncle is doing great!”

Qian Wenya laughed. ”He even went to the cinema yesterday to watch Brother Xiao’s ’Thief Catcher 2’!”

”Brother Xiao, you have no idea! Great-Granduncle was absolutely stunned when he saw you use that Bone-Cleaving Knife Technique. He asked us how the heck you filmed that—it looked so real, haha! And after watching the movie, he said his favorite character was Jiang Rushu! But Great-Granduncle said he liked Shen Jue at first! He switched sides way too fast!”

Xiao He was caught between laughter and exasperation. But from Qian Wenya’s words, it sounded like Elder Qian was in good spirits, so he felt relieved.

”But my brother hasn’t been doing too well lately.” Qian Wenya shifted the topic. ”My Great-Granduncle plans to take him out to clear his mind.”

The brother, naturally, was Qian Wenhao.

After everything that had happened, everyone finally understood his good intentions, but he still carried some guilt.

After all, Qian Wenhao was still a relatively pure person. He loved calligraphy and the history of Emperor Chen, and he had always acted with the most sincere heart.

But in the end, to protect his family’s interests, he had chosen to hide the secret and even deliberately burn the forgery, which might have been crucial evidence. This made it hard for Qian Wenhao to get past the hurdle in his heart and face who he used to be.

So, even though the matter had been aired out, he still seemed listless, lacking the vitality he once had.

Xiao He slapped his forehead.

Ah, last time he left, he had forgotten to give the guy some psychological counseling.

What a memory! At the time, he had been completely blown away by the matter of the two copied works.

He’d see if there was a chance to make up for it later...

But Xiao He never expected the opportunity to come so quickly.

—

The next day, the ”Imperial Enterprise” crew in Hengdian restarted production. The production team specially invited a completely new lineup of investors and producers to participate in this resumption ceremony.

They even went all out, putting together an arrangement and process that was almost identical to the opening ceremony. They even brought in a Taoist priest to perform the rites again on site.

Xiao He never thought Director Chou, as a leader, would still go in for this kind of thing.

But it was fine. Ward off bad luck and keep the big money rolling in—

Xiao He offered incense and prayed with great piety.

Then he spotted Elder Qian and Qian Wenhao at the scene.

”Huh? Elder Qian, Qian Wenhao? You came too?”

Xiao He remembered that from here on out, the plot was mostly about conquering the realm. There weren’t many dialogue-heavy scenes that required writing.

Why had Elder Qian and the others come anyway?

”Ah, just brought the kid out to clear his head.”

Elder Qian answered Xiao He with a cheerful smile, pushing the person beside him forward.

Seeing Qian Wenhao this time, Xiao He thought he looked less haggard than before. His mental state wasn’t as bad as Qian Wenya had described, but his eyes had dimmed a lot. He seemed awkward when meeting people’s gaze, and his whole demeanor was a far cry from how he had been during their first meeting.

Qian Wenhao was pushed in front of Xiao He by Elder Qian. He hesitated for a moment, then bowed deeply to Xiao He and said, ”Teacher Xiao, thank you so much for everything this time.”

If Xiao He hadn’t noticed and stopped it in time, that crucial piece of evidence might have really been burned by him.

Now, looking back, even Qian Wenhao found it hard to believe.

He couldn’t even recall what had gotten into him at the time, that he had wanted to destroy that copied work at all costs.

Clearly, doing so had gone against the family education he had received since childhood and the upright principles he had been taught as a person.

But the moment he thought about what the existence of that work could mean—a blow so heavy that his entire family might not be able to bear it—Qian Wenhao had gone and done it like he was possessed.

Oh, and he had even set the fire right in his own bedroom!

He must have been crazy back then—or maybe he had been hoping for something?

Like Xiao He bursting in and stopping him from doing it?

Qian Wenhao wasn’t sure either.

But when he confirmed that the work hadn’t actually been destroyed by the fire, he still breathed a huge sigh of relief.

”You’re welcome. This was just something within my power that I wanted to do.”

Xiao He accepted Qian Wenhao’s thanks without pretense. Then, smiling, he patted the other man on the shoulder, looked him squarely in the eyes, and said in a firm tone:

”I also believe that after going through all this, you’ll be able to stick to your passions even more firmly and look back on your past choices with greater ease. After all, in a situation like this, no one else would necessarily have handled it perfectly...”

Qian Wenhao listened in silence without replying. But Xiao He believed that, with the Qian Family’s support, he would come to understand that sooner or later.

”Xiao Qian, your Uncle Qin was looking for you just now. Don’t you want to go chat with him?”

When their brief exchange was over, Elder Qian motioned for Qian Wenhao to go find Screenwriter Qin from the production team.

”Alright.”

Qian Wenhao seemed to know that Elder Qian had something to say to Xiao He. He nodded, thanked Xiao He again, and turned to leave.

Once Qian Wenhao was gone, Elder Qian turned to Xiao He with a beaming smile and said, ”CCTV is planning to launch a large-scale cultural exploration program soon. There’s the opening promotional segment and the first episode’s live recording. Are you interested in participating? This is a project the authorities just brought up recently. It’s a bit rushed, but it’s absolutely important. As the special guest star for the opening, your value would far surpass anyone else joining the show later.”

Xiao He was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up. ”Elder Qian, you have a recommendation slot?”

This was an opportunity that you couldn’t find even if you searched high and low!