Chapter 291: The Lion Opens His Mouth
Chapter 291: The Lion Opens His Mouth
The ragdoll cat lying in Jiang Shixi's arms was put back into the wooden cabinet with transparent glass.
After sending away the employee who came to deliver the letter, Jiang Shixi asked tentatively in a nervous tone:
"Mr. Fan, you don't really have any evidence against you, do you? 5 yuan is not a lot. There's no need to make a big news for such a small amount of money. After all, every move you make is being watched by the outside world."
When he just finished reading the contents of the letter, Fan Wumian panicked for a few seconds.
His relationship with Zhuang Muxi and Feng Ying'er is unclear, so it is inevitable that he will have wild guesses and speculate whether there was a mistake that was caught by someone in a photo.
After thinking about it again, I realized something was wrong.
Fan Wumian replied:
"What leverage do I have?"
"Think about it, if they really took a photo of me, with my current fame, even if they randomly find a newspaper, in order to get the exclusive news, the price they offer for the photo will definitely be more than just 5 yuan. Even if it's ten times higher, there will still be people willing to buy it."
"The ransom note is so vague, I guess it's just a bluff. If I had a little bit of a guilty conscience, I would have paid the money."
It felt reasonable, but I wasn't completely relieved.
Jiang Shixi understood that this involved some conflicts of interest, and Fan Wumian had been closely watched by his peers recently, so he added:
"That's right. Everyone knows that you are worth more than a billion. Unless you meet a fool, you won't just ask for such a small amount of money."
"I've been busy filming lately, so I've been in contact with Miss Zhuang quite a lot. There are all kinds of rumors about the two of you flying around. Even if I do come across new gossip, it's easier to clarify it."
"Boss, what do you think? Should we pay this money? If not, just think of it as buying safety. I lost 5 yuan while walking."
As an agent, of course I want to be prepared for any eventuality and make arrangements in the safest way possible.
After thinking about it, Fan Wumian said:
"Let's just call the police and see if we can catch the guy. I'm not married and I don't have any children, so why should I be afraid of rumors? I was only blackmailed for 5 yuan. If it gets out, I'll be so embarrassed."
After thinking about it, Jiang Shixi said:
"That's not bad. I'll take this letter with me later. Boss, you don't have to go in person. As long as you pay hush money, people will assume there's something fishy going on even if there's nothing wrong. It will give people excuses and cause trouble. If they dare to ask for 5 this time, they'll dare to ask for 500 million next time."
"Okay, I have to film later, so you go now."
Fan Wumian had the confidence to call the police because he was cautious enough in his daily life and was used to keeping an appropriate distance in public.
Most of the trysts take place at home.
The Siheyuan is a large courtyard with deep walls, and there are no drones with high-definition cameras on the market, so it is difficult to take solid photos.
As for his interactions with Zhuang Muxi, Zuo Ziyan and others in public, the paparazzi have already taken countless photos of them. They just treat it as a gathering with friends, or just having a meal and talking about filming. It doesn't matter even if it's published in the newspaper.
In order to avoid a possible fall from grace in the future, Fan Wumian never deliberately avoids rumors. Instead, he hopes to unconsciously establish the persona of a "romantic playboy" and thereby lower the psychological defenses of his fans.
This trick works very well.
There are rumors that Fan Wumian took the Beijing Film Academy entrance exam at the beginning of the year and fell in love with Yang Mi, who was still a senior high school student at the time, so he signed her to his company.
It was clearly gossip news with explosive potential, but it didn't cause much splash.
Because when he signed Feng Ying'er, there were similar rumors. The outside world is now more concerned about who will stand out and become the rich wife of the new wealthy family after Shanzeiwang Media signed so many beauties.
Some gossipers even made a list, with Zuo Ziyan ranked first, Zhuang Muxi ranked second, and the third was actually Britney Spears, with whom he had briefly hyped up a scandal and used each other.
In addition, several people publicly stated that they wanted to pursue Fan Wumian's rich daughter.
On the other hand, Feng Ying'er.
Lace’s character is simply amazing. She is so sexy and beautiful, but no one thinks that there might be a story between her and Fan Wumian.
It is worth mentioning that it is precisely because of Feng Ying'er's lace personality that she successfully attracted many boys and girls to become her fans, thinking that she is very cool and free and easy.
Recently, the number of followers on the forum is higher than that of Yang Mi and Liu Shishi.
No one was known to the police.
When agent Jiang Shixi left Wanghailou with the blackmail letter, he unexpectedly remembered that Yang Mi's father was in this line of work.
Of course it would be better if you could find a reliable acquaintance.
So Jiang Shixi quickly called Yang Mi's agent and told her that he had something urgent to discuss.
I don't have any classes.
After Jiang Shixi finished talking to Yang Mi on the phone, he drove to the gate of Beijing Film Academy to pick her up. They went to meet her father together to discuss the blackmail letter in a low-key manner.
After meeting.
I just heard that Fan Wumian might have had nude photos taken of him.
Yang Mi was shocked when she suddenly got to know the big news firsthand. She first thought of Zuo Ziyan who went to the crew to find the boss. Then she remembered that she had met Zhuang Muxi in the courtyard, and her mind was full of imagination.
Because Fan Wumian is "high and mighty" and has publicly admitted that he likes Zuo Ziyan, the two are still in contact.
The girl didn't dare to daydream too much. Although she had a good impression of her boss, she never showed it.
At this moment. After listening to Jiang Shixi's guess, he felt that the person who sent the blackmail letter was bluffing. Father Yang, who was indeed an old hand, figured out the key point in an instant and asked:
"He didn't leave any contact information, but only extorted 5 yuan? This small amount of money is nothing to Mr. Fan. The person who sent the letter is probably ignorant."
Jiang Shixi said:
"Mr. Fan and I both think that the other party is probably trying his luck, hoping that a blind cat will meet a dead mouse. If he really made a mistake, some celebrities might want to spend a little money to avoid disaster, so they just give him the money."
After listening to this, Father Yang smiled:
"Mr. Fan is quite upright. He thought of contacting the police first, which shows that he is not afraid of being blackmailed at all."
"I have basically figured out what happened. I will go to Yuyuantan Park myself tomorrow. If the sender is not vigilant, there should be a chance to catch him on the spot."
"I will arrange for my apprentice to wrap some newspapers and put them on the elephant sculpture as bait to attract the other party to come and take it. As long as the person dares to show up, he will definitely not be able to escape."
Reporting the case did not avoid Yang Mi.
She asked with interest, "Extorting 5 yuan, is that a small amount of money?"
Jiang Shixi explained:
"Of course, it's worth two years' salary for an average person, but with the boss's fame, an exclusive piece of gossip is worth at least three or four hundred thousand, and many newspapers and TV stations will rush to buy it."
Father Yang also said:
"I handled a case before. A celebrity made a mistake and wanted to give my colleague 100 million to settle the matter. That was a full 100 million. My salary over the years of working was not even half of that."
After saying this, he looked at his daughter, his eyes full of relief.
In the past, people thought that applying to Beijing Film Academy to become an actor was unstable and had an uncertain future. However, since signing with Bandit King Media and receiving a large signing fee, Yang's father has given his full support to his daughter's decision to become an actor.
Let’s get back to business.
Father Yang carefully put away the ransom letter and prepared to ask his colleagues to try to extract fingerprints from the letter later.
However, the other party was careful enough to copy words from the newspaper to write the letter, so he probably wouldn't leave any obvious clues. I can only try my luck.
Let’s finish talking about business.
While filling out the report, Father Yang pointed at the ransom letter and joked:
"Nowadays, many TV dramas on criminal investigation themes strive to be particularly realistic, and there are also some detective novels that allow criminals to learn a lot of knowledge, and their methods are becoming more and more sophisticated."
"In the past, many people would not even consider leaving fingerprints. Now that criminals have become smarter, it has become more difficult for us to handle cases."
"The criminal who blackmailed Mr. Fan this time is probably not very smart, otherwise he would not easily disclose the transaction location. If he was in a crowded place like a bus station or a train station, it would be more difficult to catch him."
Jiang Shixi continued:
"Maybe he was worried that there would be too many people and someone might take away a large sum of money. I used to like watching Hong Kong dramas about criminal investigations, such as "Forensic Heroes", "Armed Reaction" and "Criminal Investigation Files". These are all pretty good."
Yang Mi volunteered and said with a smile:
"Will our company make similar TV series? I don't think I will follow my father's example and do this. I feel very satisfied acting in some TV series."
As Fan Wumian's agent, Jiang Shixi holds a very high status in the company. All the contracted artists will greet him politely when they see him.
Hear the words.
Jiang Shixi said to her:
"The company is looking for good scripts from outside. I will keep an eye out for you. If you come across a suitable project, you can give it a try."
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A resettlement community somewhere outside the fourth ring road of Yanjing.
The management of the community is not strict enough, even the garage on the first floor has been converted into rental housing and rented out at low prices to migrant workers who come to Yanjing to make a living.
In a garage near the gate of the community, a young man in his twenties named Fang Yongsheng was working hard. He was wearing gloves and using a utility knife to cut small words from newspapers.
Two letters could be seen placed next to him, the contents of which were exactly the same as the blackmail letters sent to Fan Wumian.
Fang Yongsheng only has an elementary school education. A few months ago, he worked as a waiter in a KTV. Later, he was inexplicably beaten by a drunk customer. The manager even forced him to apologize. In a fit of anger, he resigned on the spot.
She had no money in her pocket and didn't want to do odd jobs like serving dishes or washing dishes. In July, she was inspired by a TV drama and started sending letters to blackmail male celebrities with bad reputations.
At first I was just trying my luck, but I didn't expect the effect to be so good.
The first time, he only asked for 5000 yuan, and I received the money successfully the next day. The second time, he asked for 10000 yuan, and the other party gave it to him readily.
This gave Fang Yongsheng a great boost of confidence. He kept muttering to himself that the entertainment industry was indeed a big melting pot, and at the same time he was amazed at how easy it was to make money. He succeeded 13 times in just half a year.
Even though Fang Yongsheng still lives in the garage, there are two cigarettes on the bedside.
He doesn't have any other hobbies, except playing games on the Internet cafe during the day. The only thing he does is go to KTV at night, get drunk, and then go out with his old lover to spend the night.
Although the prices were higher compared to hair salons and massage parlors, the atmosphere was completely different, and that was exactly the vibe he wanted.
Being called "Xiao Fang" during the day and being affectionately called "Brother Sheng" by the girls at night, I feel like I have a wonderful experience of crossing classes.
It’s not that I don’t know that Fan Wumian is very rich.
The main reason is that he is worried that the other party will call the police if he asks for too much. Therefore, Fang Yongsheng usually only extorts 20,000 or 30,000 yuan. He does not have too high expectations and only asks for enough for daily expenses.
This time, the offer of 5 yuan has broken his original intention of "better safe than sorry". He wants to raise money to go to the Paradise Club with his friends to meet the so-called four most beautiful courtesans.
(End of this chapter)