Perhaps because the role she had secured was snatched away, the company wasn’t too pleased either and immediately assigned Li Chu new work.
The next morning, before Li Chu was fully awake, Qian Duoduo dug her out of bed. She mechanically washed up, put on a mask, and was bundled into the car heading to the airport.
While getting her makeup done, Li Chu reviewed the script. She was participating in an indoor entertainment variety show. She memorized the general flow, then opened her phone to research the show’s style and some classic running gags.
The recording process went relatively smoothly. Li Chu was even cued to act out emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. She reacted quickly and picked up on the jokes easily. When it wasn’t her turn, she didn’t deliberately try to steal the spotlight. Watching her performance backstage, Tang Congnan felt a sense of pride, like seeing his own daughter grow up.
After the recording ended, as Li Chu was leaving with her mask on, she heard someone call her name.
She looked up, just in time to be captured by a camera.
It was a long-haired girl holding a camera, waving and smiling at her.
“Sister, you worked hard today! Keep it up!”
Li Chu understood she was likely her fan site photographer. She took off her mask, smiled back, said thank you, then put the mask back on and got into the car, protected by Tang Congnan in front and Qian Duoduo behind.
She appeared calm and composed, like a seasoned pro, but once inside the car, Li Chu immediately let loose.
“Brother Nan, was she taking pictures of me? Really taking pictures of me!”
Li Chu’s cheeks flushed with excitement as she spoke joyfully.
She felt she hadn’t produced any significant work or gained much popularity yet, but someone already liked and appreciated her enough to be her fan site photographer!
She was so happy!
Tang Congnan said, “Yes, you’re amazing. More people will see you in the future.”
“I’ll work hard!”
Li Chu was already immune to flattery and didn’t get lost in self-admiration. Instead, she resolved to work even harder, not wanting to disappoint her fans’ affection.
After finishing this variety show, Li Chu had a short interview the next day. She had to fly over first to avoid being late.
After several days of non-stop work, Li Chu, having caught up on sleep, was informed by Qian Duoduo that she was trending on the hot search again.
Li Chu mumbled sleepily, “Did the company buy it again?”
Qian Duoduo shook her head excitedly, “No, no! This is real!”
Li Chu woke up, took Qian Duoduo’s phone, and saw she was fifth on the hot search, marked with a “Hot” icon. The tag was #Li Chu Eldest Princess#
Li Chu clicked on it and found many comments praising her acting and appearance. Some were asking who she was and what else she had acted in.
Seeing that last question, Li Chu fell silent. She handed the phone back to Qian Duoduo, telling herself not to be impatient; the company would surely find a suitable script for her.
Actually, some friends she had added, including Dong Ming, had recommended scripts to her. Li Chu was carefully considering them. She preferred to progress slowly rather than rush into producing work.
Qian Duoduo sat aside with the phone, using her alternate account to reply to questions in the topic thread, diligently promoting Li Chu.
She saw a comment from a CP fan. The account owner was a well-known video editor in the CP circle; Qian Duoduo had even shipped another CP they had edited videos for before.
@CryingOverBeautifulLoveAgainToday: Brothers and sisters, can you recommend some dramas Li Chu has acted in? I want to make a video edit, but I don’t have enough material. The other person has all sorts of looks; I could even edit a story spanning past and present lives, fated for three lifetimes. But there’s just too little usable footage of the other one [sad]
Qian Duoduo sighed inwardly. Everyone knew that what Li Chu lacked now was a good, suitable script.
This opportunity appeared half a month later. A script was delivered to Li Chu.
After hastily reading the first half, Li Chu had already made up her mind to take the role.
Opening the first page, four characters were neatly written on the white paper—【Die at Dawn and Dusk】.
This wasn’t an arthouse film, but a crime drama.
The story begins with a girl reporting a case at the police station.
Her name is Qin Mu, a female Omega, twenty-two years old, a graduate of a prestigious university. She came to report her older sister missing. After accepting the case, the police discovered she didn’t have a sister.
Qin Mu insisted she truly had a twin sister, a Beta. Their family custom considered the birth of twin girls inauspicious, so her mother had hidden her sister’s existence since childhood. The sister grew up with her, and sometimes they would switch identities to go to school. Besides their mother, no one could tell them apart. But a few days ago, her sister left home and never returned.
The police were skeptical of her statement because, apart from Qin Mu’s own words, no one could prove the existence of a living twin sister named Qin Chao. And the mother Qin Mu claimed could testify had already passed away from illness four years ago.
The police officer handling the case suspected Qin Mu might have a mental illness, possibly dissociative identity disorder or delusional disorder, leading her to create a non-existent sister in her memory. Qin Mu persistently returned to the station, but the Alpha officer handling the case, Li Rui, had no time for her. He received a report that workers at a garbage disposal plant had found a black suitcase containing a man’s body.
Identity investigation revealed the deceased was a thug. The cause of death was asphyxiation; he was strangled with a rope, the marks clearly visible on his neck. He had nothing on him besides his clothes, except for a black braided hair tie worn on his wrist.
Qin Mu continued to show up at the station, rain or shine. Li Rui initially didn’t want to deal with her, but a sudden glance revealed Qin Mu’s hair tie, identical to the one on the thug’s wrist. It wasn’t a common style. Li Rui and his subordinate took the hair tie to several boutiques and wholesale stores, but the owners all said they had never sold such a unique style; it was likely handmade.
Li Rui immediately questioned Qin Mu. Qin Mu confirmed the hair tie was hers, made for her by Qin Chao. The thug frequented the area where she lived and often harassed her. He had taken the hair tie from her. Upon learning of the thug’s death, Qin Mu appeared bewildered and shocked, saying the thug’s behavior had earned him many enemies.
At the end of the questioning, she suggested the killer might be her sister, Qin Chao, because Qin Chao hated him and, having lived in hiding since childhood, had a very twisted personality, prone to extreme actions.
Li Rui remained doubtful about Qin Chao’s existence. He considered the possibility that Qin Mu had schizophrenia or that she herself could be the perpetrator. Although Qin Mu was a delicate Omega and unlikely to have the strength to strangle a male Beta, one could never be sure.
Qin Mu was taken for a psychological evaluation. During this time, Li Rui investigated the thug’s social connections. He found a frequently contacted number. The person who registered the number claimed they only did it for someone else and identified that person: a middle-aged nurse at a hospital.
When questioned by the police, the nurse feigned ignorance, claiming she didn’t know the thug and hadn’t received any calls.
Li Rui presented the evidence. Faced with proof, the nurse had to admit that the thug was attracted to her looks and money and constantly harassed her. Fearing he would cause trouble at her workplace, she gave him her number and had to constantly deal with his pestering and extortion.
The nurse’s story seemed plausible, and the case stalled again. Li Rui had no choice but to continue investigating. But the very next day, the nurse was found dead in her home. It looked like a robbery gone wrong. The neighbor reported it; the scene was extremely bloody.
Li Rui was furious. His intuition told him this wasn’t a simple random crime. At this moment, Qin Mu’s evaluation report came back: her mental state was very stable, meaning she did not have schizophrenia.
Li Rui began to wonder: did the so-called Qin Chao really exist?
In the nurse’s home, Li Rui found two well-hidden items: a thin gold chain and a yellowed piece of paper with a phone number written on it.
The gold chain didn’t look new. Li Rui inquired at a jewelry store, and they said it was an old style from several years ago. The phone number had long been deactivated, but Li Rui found it strangely familiar.
Li Rui didn’t know yet if these items were related to the nurse’s death, but at the police station entrance, he saw Qin Mu again, persistently reporting her sister missing.
If Qin Chao truly existed in this world, how could they find her, a person without identification, wandering like a ghost in this city with its massive transient population?
Unsure of his own motives, Li Rui showed Qin Mu the photo of the thin gold chain. Qin Mu said it should belong to Qin Chao. It was a gift from their mother the year she started university, given to both her and Qin Chao. Her own chain was at home, but she hadn’t seen Qin Chao’s in a long time.
It seemed like a huge mystery, pulling this strange girl into some kind of vortex through two deaths, along with her ghost-like sister whose existence was uncertain.
At home, Li Rui sorted through the clues, repeatedly thinking about the phone number he found familiar. He was sure he had seen it somewhere before but couldn’t recall where. An old classmate was coming over. After dinner, drinks, and reminiscing about the past with his friend, Li Rui also thought about the goddess he had a crush on long ago, whose pursuit ended fruitlessly. After his classmate left, he couldn’t help but rummage through old belongings to reminisce.
It was then that he saw the string of numbers. It was a number he himself had written down long ago—his adoptive father’s number. As another murder case broke out, intertwined with Qin Chao and Qin Mu, the vortex grew larger, even implicating Li Rui’s adoptive father. Piece by piece, buried pasts gradually surfaced.
With three murder cases and Li Rui making little progress, a new detective was transferred to the second team to assist Li Rui with the investigation.
…………
Li Chu spent the entire afternoon reading the script. After finishing, she was even more certain of her decision.
Act! She must act in this!
It wasn’t just that Li Chu felt this drama could become popular if filmed; she was genuinely interested in the story. Just reading it made her uncontrollably excited.
The female lead of this drama was Qin Mu, and the male lead was Li Rui. However, Qin Mu’s romantic storyline wasn’t with Li Rui, but with the second female lead, the Alpha detective transferred to the second team, Xi Yiyun.
The serial killer in this drama had actually been revealed early on, even blatantly written in the title.
【Die at Dawn and Dusk】 (死于朝暮 – Sǐ Yú Zhāo Mù).
There was no Qin Chao (秦朝 – Qín Cháo). Chao (朝 – morning/dawn) and Mu (暮 – dusk/evening) were the same person. This was all a setup orchestrated by Qin Mu targeting Li Rui and his adoptive father, a plan she had prepared for seven years. Xi Yiyun’s arrival caught her somewhat off guard.
This powerful, calm, and sharp Alpha could potentially ruin all her efforts. For an Omega with ulterior motives, the quickest way to get close to and interfere with an Alpha was, of course, only one.
— Officer, I think it was love at first sight.
Shoutout and huge thanks to Wojo for picking up the complete EPUB book on the Ko-fi shop! Really appreciate the support!
If you’d like to read ahead and support me, you can request extra chapters or get the full novel as an EPUB.
the plot is interesting