Chapter 261: Chapter 261: They’ve Ruined the Entertainment Industry!

The village chief’s eyes nearly popped out after he heard the whole story.

Their village had been harboring criminals involved in illegal wildlife trafficking?!

And these criminals were caught by Zhao Lang and Jiang Li, two young people?!

The village chief was both shocked and delighted, utterly at a loss for what to do.

In the end, the police provided a solution–

He followed Zhao Lang and Jiang Li to the police station to give a statement, while publicly claiming that nothing happened to prevent unnecessary panic and to reassure the public.

After sorting out his thoughts, the village chief quickly dispersed the crowd and then joined Jiang Li and Zhao Lang in the police car.

As the car smoothly drove onto the main road, the village chief still hadn’t recovered from the shock of the incident.

“Miss Jiang, we really owe you a lot this time. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known that we had such a dangerous person hiding in our village. If something had happened to any villager, I, as the village chief, wouldn’t know how to explain it to everyone.”

Jiang Li smiled calmly and said, “Village chief, you’re giving me too much credit. This is what I should do.”

The village chief, still frightened, patted his chest and said, “But you, my girl, must not take such risks next time. I’ve heard from the police that the other party had guns. What if something had happened? How would I explain to your brother and your family?”

Their village had now become famous online. If something were really to happen, it would be difficult to resolve, especially with millions of eyes on them!

Zhao Lang squinted his eyes and said, “Village chief, you needn’t worry. Miss Jiang is very skilled, even I admire her.”

The village chief was even more surprised, “Really?”

Miss Jiang, with her slender arms and legs, really didn’t look the part.

Jiang Li sensed the underlying probe in Zhao Lang’s words and after a light laugh, she also gave him a meaningful look.

“Mr. Zhao, you impress me too. Your skills are much better than mine.”

She had clearly seen how he dealt with Yan Dabiao.

If he wasn’t trained, he definitely couldn’t perform such techniques.

This Zhao Lang was even more mysterious than she had expected.

From the first time she saw him, she had already noticed.

Unlike other villagers in Chixia Village, Zhao Lang was more curious about her than anyone.

Every word he said to her was also full of probes.

But she had carefully recalled the content of the book and had not found any mention of this person.

It made sense, though. Her arrival in Chixia Village was accidental, and encountering unexpected people and incidents was to be expected.

Initially, she didn’t have a good impression of him and tried to minimize their interaction.

But after observing for a while, she found that he was quite decent, and he had a good reputation in the village.

If he hadn’t been so secretive and probing towards her, she might have really become good friends with him.

What a pity…

Jiang Li looked at Zhao Lang’s forehead wrapped with a headband and showed a resigned smile.

Is it necessary to be so guarded against me?

Zhao Lang noticed her attitude and, knowing that continuing the conversation would benefit no one, chose to remain silent.

Only the village chief, sitting in the front row, had no clue what had transpired.

Just a moment ago, the two of them were still joking and laughing, then suddenly, their faces turned cold and they fell silent.

Could he have said something wrong?

–

On the live stream, Wen Jiaojiao had still been unable to contact Jiang Li.

First, Director Sun suddenly left, then the gathering at Chixia Village mysteriously disbanded, and finally, the live stream also went offline temporarily.

But those completely in the dark became even more anxious.

Qi Tianyu hastily created a WeChat group, pulling Wen Jiaojiao and a few others into it, and started an online video call.

“How’s it going? Did you manage to get in touch with Jiang Li?”

On the screen, Wen Jiaojiao irritably hung up the phone.

“No, her phone is still with Jiang Yan, and that guy is completely drunk, I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. What kind of brother acts like that? He doesn’t even know where his own sister is, yet he still has the mood to drink!”

He Yun furrowed her brows.

“I just contacted the staff there, they sent someone to search the village but couldn’t find Jiang Li. The village chief seems to be missing too. A staff member mentioned they thought they heard police sirens earlier, but no one knows what happened.”

Wen Jiaojiao’s face changed, “It can’t really be something serious, can it?! Should we call the local police?”

He Yun nodded slightly, “I have a friend over there; I’ll ask him to check for me, but it’s pretty late now; we might not get an answer.”

Suddenly, Shu Yan slammed her hand on the table.

“We can’t delay any longer, we need to contact Jiang Li so she can address this public sentiment; the rumors have gone wild on Weibo, everyone is accusing her, it’s escalated to an ethical issue now.”

Wen Jiaojiao gasped, “Didn’t Director Sun just go to handle this matter?”

“It didn’t help,” Shu Yan said. “Director Sun even released a statement just now, but no one believes him.”

Just half an hour ago, Director Sun urgently posted a clarification on Weibo.

It mainly stated that his relationship with Jiang Li was purely professional, that they had only coincidentally gone to Xingmei Entertainment on the same day, and any time spent together during the shoot was strictly for discussing work.

To make his statement more credible, Director Sun even posted his WeChat conversation with Jiang Li, showing that they had only added each other as friends after the filming of the show had started.

When this Weibo post was first published, many people found it reasonable.

After all, Director Sun had a good reputation in the industry, never having been involved in any scandals.

And although Jiang Li used to be somewhat unruly, at least her conduct on the show had been commendable, her only pastime being reading.

However, it wasn’t long before some bloggers started pointing out loopholes in Director Sun’s words.

Although going to the Star Media Building at the same time might be innocuous, why would they kick all the staff out if they were merely discussing work during the filming period? Isn’t that suspicious?

This shifted the public opinion once again, and netizens began to criticize Director Sun’s conduct.

Even his wife started to question his loyalty, causing a huge uproar.

The comments section was filled with harsh words —

[To be honest, the leopard never changes its spots, Jiang Li was always like this, if people really changed that easily, would there still be villains in the world?]

[I’ve always said there was something off about these two, who keeps getting benefits like this in a variety show, obviously the director favored her.]

[Jiang Li used to fawn over Shang Shaojing so disgustingly, how could she suddenly become frigid? She probably had an affair with Director Sun long ago, after all, she never misses an opportunity.]

[So disgusting, just throw these two into a pig cage, they’ve spoiled the entertainment industry, death to unspoken rules!]