House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 441: An Unexpected Twist—It Was Actually Him!

After several days of investigation, Tianmei still hadn’t found any clues. Ju Jie felt very guilty, so he had even stopped recording “That Night” and kept muttering to himself in his office, peeking through the crack in the door and using a mirror to secretly watch Jian Chuo’s office across the same corridor.

“You have that much free time to keep an eye on someone. Why don’t you listen to my arrangements and go take part in that variety show that’s been a huge hit this month? If you ask, Sister Ling can definitely get you on it!” Du Lun was playing with his phone to the side, raised his head slightly, and said helplessly.

“You don’t understand a damn thing!” Ju Jie said without turning his head, “I’m doing this to give Mu Li’ang an explanation.”

“Didn’t he already give you a song? Who cares? Just sing this song well and make the money you’re supposed to make first.” Du Lun plugged his phone into the charging cable beside him, stood up, stretched, and said.

“I promised I’d help him solve this matter, but then some fool leaked the photos to the media. The matter wasn’t resolved, and instead, I made an even bigger mess for him!” Ju Jie was thirsty, so he closed the door, came back inside, poured himself a glass of water, and explained, “If I don’t help him find that person, how am I supposed to sing this song with a clear conscience? Besides, I still want the second song from him.”

“Then why are you keeping an eye on Jian Chuo? Haven’t they already ruled out her as a suspect?” Du Lun asked.

“I still think she’s suspicious. The USB drive was in her hands the longest, so she’s the most likely person to have stolen it!” Ju Jie got tired of standing, so he simply moved a chair over, sat down by the door, and continued secretly watching her.

Du Lun rubbed his temples and said helplessly, “I think you should just give that Teacher Kou’s email address to that Mu Li’ang—um, he’s called Yang Yi now. That’s all we can find out. Anyway, the matter has already been resolved, and the gossip has died down. There’s no need to continue pursuing it!”

Ju Jie waved his hand and said, “Don’t give me that nonsense. If you’re not going to help, then get lost. Hey, Du Lun, why do I feel like you’ve been getting more and more full of yourself lately? You weren’t like this normally!”

……

Ju Jie was still “loyally” helping Yang Yi investigate the culprit. However, Yang Yi was unaware of this. Having just returned from Shanghai, he was very dissatisfied with the feedback coming from Ju Jie and Tianmei.

He even wondered whether Ju Jie and the people at Tianmei were playing him!

Admittedly, the profit-seeking paparazzi hunter was highly suspicious, but Yang Yi felt that the people from Tianmei were also highly suspicious.

“Outsiders are always unreliable. If I want to find out the truth, I’ll still have to do it myself!” After Yang Yi returned to Jiangcheng, he coaxed Xixi, who was tired from traveling, to sleep, then went to the study to sort through some equipment.

It could be considered a professional habit. Yang Yi had even prepared a hidden compartment in his study, where he kept some tools just in case.

For example, there were some scattered parts inside that, when assembled, formed a handgun, and there were also a box of gleaming bullets. He had bought all of these on the black market. He figured he probably wouldn’t have any use for them, but Yang Yi felt that keeping something in reserve would always provide some protection for his own and his family’s safety.

There were also some other components that had likewise been obtained from the black market. After Yang Yi modified them, they could be made into mobile remote surveillance devices that seemed to have the kind of advanced technology seen in movies.

Of course, there were also truly sharpened blades that could cut through iron as easily as mud. Although Yang Yi knew how to use a gun, he was even more skilled with cold weapons. With a knife in his hand, he was a killing god.

However, there was no need to use the weapons for the time being. What Yang Yi needed to organize were some listening and surveillance devices. He wanted to keep an eye on Niu Meiling and Jian Chuo.

And there was also Ju Jie. Yang Yi had already lost his trust in the man and decided to install surveillance on him again so that he could find out who the real mastermind was!

Of course, Yang Yi wouldn’t do it the same forceful way as last time. He felt that he couldn’t alert the enemy, so he had to do it quietly!

Just as Yang Yi was pondering his surveillance plan, he suddenly remembered that he still had a listening device left with Ju Jie’s manager!

“Let’s listen to what Du Lun has said! Maybe he knows some of Ju Jie’s secrets!” Yang Yi felt that this lead probably wouldn’t yield much. After all, if Ju Jie really had such a deep mind, he wouldn’t have said anything in front of his manager!

But perhaps he could catch a fish that slipped through the net.

So, Yang Yi searched for the recording files on the computer that he had kept turned on all this time. However, the recording files only covered the most recent three days, so Yang Yi could only make do by starting with the recording from three days ago, which was that Friday.

Friday was the day the news about Mo Fei’s marriage had been exposed!

Yang Yi couldn’t hear anything suspicious. At most, the relevant recording captured Ju Jie asking Du Lun whether Jian Chuo was in the office. Yang Yi had no idea what Ju Jie had later discussed with Jian Chuo and the others.

For the next day’s recording, Yang Yi listened while fast-forwarding. It was only after he heard the conversation between Ju Jie and Du Lun that he switched it back to normal speed.

This wasn’t a phone recording, but a recording made in the office. Du Lun might have put his phone into his pants pocket, so the sound of the two people talking was rather muffled!

Fortunately, Yang Yi had previously bought some sound-processing software on the black market. After processing the recording for a while, he could barely make out their conversation.

Ju Jie told Du Lun the conclusion he had reached after questioning Niu Meiling and Jian Chuo—it should be that the paparazzi hunter had sold the goods to both sides! However, Yang Yi also heard Ju Jie angrily expressing his dissatisfaction, saying that he didn’t trust Jian Chuo and felt that Jian Chuo’s suspicion was still very high!

The conversation between the two was quite detailed. Through Du Lun’s questions, Ju Jie had basically restated the contents of yesterday’s meeting once again.

However, Yang Yi was now skeptical of what Ju Jie said. With lingering doubts in his heart, he felt that no matter how solemn Ju Jie’s assurances were, they all seemed like insincere words, and no matter how sincere his words sounded, they all seemed like lies full of mistakes and omissions!

Listening to the recording was time-consuming. Before he knew it, evening had arrived, so Yang Yi had to pause and prepare dinner for Xixi, bathe the little girl, and coax her to sleep. Only after Xixi had fallen asleep did he continue.

Originally, Yang Yi thought that there was little possibility of finding any fish that had slipped through the net. Suddenly, a recording of Du Lun’s phone call on Saturday night made Yang Yi’s eyes widen.

“It’s fine. I’ve already told you, nothing’s going to happen!”

“Hmm, they can’t find any flaws in our plan at all, and they even think that Teacher Kou was the one who went back on his word! Haha!”

“Ju Jie? That guy is a complete idiot! He’s still stupid enough to think that your manager was the one who leaked the photos!”

“No, he’d never think that I was the one who did it, even if you killed him. And there’s you too. If you hadn’t helped me unlock the door and drawer, I wouldn’t have been able to get the USB drive!”

“Alright, alright, Zhenzhen. Did I ever say I wouldn’t give you your money? According to what we agreed on before, I get seventy percent, and you get thirty percent. After all, besides doing the heavy lifting, I was also the one who came up with the idea.”

“I’ll give you the money! How could I possibly go back on my word? It’s just that a bank transfer would be too conspicuous, and it wouldn’t be worth the risk. I’ll withdraw it little by little for now. When you come back after your new album finishes its chart run, I’ll give you a big bag of cash directly.”

After Du Lun hung up the phone, he was still muttering things like “that greedy woman who only cares about money,” but Yang Yi couldn’t hear those words anymore.

He dragged the progress bar forward until he listened to the entire phone recording without missing a single word, and only then did Yang Yi finally understand.

Damn!

It really was a case of searching everywhere without finding it, only to get it without any effort at all!

Yang Yi only wanted to listen and see whether Ju Jie had revealed any shady tricks in private. He hadn’t expected to unexpectedly find the person who had set him up!

This Du Lun, who would have thought! Who would have thought that he was actually the real mastermind behind everything!

That Zhenzhen was despicable too, but at most, she could only be considered an accomplice.

But how could it have been him?

Yang Yi had too little information. He only knew roughly that Du Lun had made a substantial profit from this matter. He didn’t know that Du Lun had risked stealing the scoop about Mo Fei specifically for the money!

This all started after Ju Jie became famous, but to make a long story short, Du Lun had made some money off Ju Jie and wanted to make even more, so he put the money into the stock market. At first, luck was on his side and he made a fortune, but his good fortune didn’t last long. The stocks he’d bought soon hit their daily lower limit…

Obsessed with stock trading and determined to earn back what he had lost, Du Lun unknowingly spent more and more. Finally, the stocks became trapped again, and Du Lun discovered that the money he had on hand was no longer enough for him to spend. After the New Year, Ju Jie still didn’t start working for a long time, leaving Du Lun able to do nothing but worry and live on a small basic salary.

Just then, Ju Jie told Du Lun about Niu Meiling spending 500,000 to buy that USB drive, and Du Lun began to have bad intentions.

Taking advantage of the standoff between Ju Jie and Niu Meiling, Du Lun contacted his close friend, Zhenzhen. With Zhenzhen acting as an insider, Du Lun easily copied the information from the USB drive and then sold it to the entertainment tabloid.

Don’t underestimate Mo Fei’s influence. Although this was secondhand information, Du Lun still sold it for 600,000, and what he told Zhenzhen was that he had sold it for 400,000…

No wonder. Yang Yi had been so focused on watching Ju Jie before that he hadn’t noticed Du Lun constantly fishing for information from Ju Jie. Now that he thought about it, there were also many flaws in that recording!

But no matter what reason Du Lun had for doing this, Yang Yi could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

On the one hand, he had found the mastermind behind everything, and on the other hand, Yang Yi could clear Ju Jie of suspicion. This young master was a bit brainless, but he was still quite loyal.

Now, Yang Yi had to consider how to deal with Du Lun.

The first solution Yang Yi thought of was to give Ju Jie the recording of Du Lun and Zhenzhen cursing Ju Jie as a big idiot, and let Ju Jie drive Du Lun away.

However, if that was all, wouldn’t it be letting him off too easily? Yang Yi would then have no way to vent the frustration he’d been holding in!

Moreover, Yang Yi thought of an important problem: Du Lun knew about the transaction between him and Ju Jie. If Ju Jie drove Du Lun away, leaving him with nowhere to turn, he might become desperate and expose other things as well…

“What a troublesome matter!” Yang Yi gritted his teeth and walked back and forth in the study.

“Why not just kill him?” Yang Yi’s eyes flickered as he rubbed the sharp blade he had taken out while organizing his equipment earlier, and a chill emanated from his entire body.

However, while Yang Yi was thinking about some dangerous ideas, someone else was also thinking about getting rid of him!