Chapter 86: The Northern Pavilion Meeting

Chen Tianyu threw all his questions into the detective group chat in one go, seeking help from his team.

There were several people in the group: Chen Tianyu, Li Yiting, Liu Zichen, Shen Mingyue, Wang Yongkun, Kuang Suo, and Xu Jingnan—totaling seven guns.

The police had already initiated comprehensive investigations into Dynasty Media, Heyi, and Eagle Detective Agency, leaving only Universe Media untouched.

As for Universe Media, Chen Tianyu's plan was to leave it to the few members in Beiting and avoid alerting the enemy for now. Little did he know that Shi Yu was already suspicious; fortunately, Shi Yu merely regarded Beiting as a civilian outfit.

He was eager to hear everyone's opinions. After all, the available information was extremely limited, and he had wasted a great deal of energy on Yun Ji. Although he ultimately managed to see through Eagle Detective Agency's tricks, he remained utterly helpless against Yun Ji and could only put that matter aside for the time being. In other words, his previous efforts had all been in vain.

True to form, the first to reply was Li Yiting. This fellow seemed to be online 24/7.

Li Yiting kicked things off with a joke: "Are you still alive, man?"

Chen Tianyu sent him three bloody kitchen knives in response.

Li Yiting replied with a few bitter, self-deprecating emojis, followed by some internal structural diagrams of Dynasty Films and a brief summary of his investigation over the past few days.

To be honest, he had been agonizing over things himself lately, so holding an impromptu meeting was indeed necessary.

Beiting was an organization that detested meetings; mountains of paperwork and endless conferences simply did not exist here. Their operations were relatively loose, and they only gathered for a huddle at crucial milestones like this.

The second to reply was Shen Mingyue. She was also online quite frequently. Working in the media herself, she naturally kept a close eye on the group's activity.

She chimed in with some teasing: "The two old fossils leave us women to charge at the front lines while you two hide in the back enjoying yourselves? One is turtling up at home, and the other plays dead to scam money. Tell me, do you two have any morals left?"

Chen Tianyu and Li Yiting simultaneously sent two "crying rivers" emojis.

Li Yiting: Salutations to all the heroines.
Chen Tianyu: Bring me a bottle of Erguotou.

Shen Mingyue rolled her eyes repeatedly: Are you guys actually going to discuss anything, or is today just a chat room for the detective group?

Chen Tianyu: Correct answer, that was precisely the intention.

Li Yiting: State your business if you have any, otherwise retreat with the tide. He actually made a typo, prompting wild laughter from Chen Tianyu and Shen Mingyue.

The screen full of smiling faces finally drew out the others. Liu Zichen sent a hilarious image, while Wang Yongkun registered his shock with a "vomiting blood" sticker: The wind direction feels a bit off today.

Kuang Suo suddenly dropped a kneeling sticker with the caption "Thank you, boss," sending three of them in a row.

Chen Tianyu feigned anger: Are you going stir-crazy? Kneel again and I'll kick you out of the group.

Kuang Suo put on an innocent face: Boss, is today a holiday?

Liu Zichen chimed in: Jiudao, is this the first time you've ever applied for a day off in all these years?

Kuang Suo: I really can't take it anymore. Watching the crowds coming in and out of Universe Media every day feels just like staring at surveillance footage. Tell me, can we swap someone else in?

Li Yiting asked curiously: Didn't you swap jobs with Yongkun?

Liu Zichen explained: He's too ugly. I told the guards he was my brother, and they refused to let him through the door.

Shen Mingyue sent another string of laughing emojis, cooperating seamlessly.

Kuang Suo: Who says that? Weren't you guys running around making guest appearances everywhere lately? I only need to be responsible for protecting your safety outside. With security inside the company being so tight, what could possibly happen?

Shen Mingyue sneered: Forgot about the time Sister Zichen almost got into trouble?

Liu Zichen quickly said: I was just faking it.

Wang Yongkun suddenly interjected: The legendary female flying hero lives up to her reputation.

Li Yiting: I heard from Qianya that even she wouldn't have been able to pull off Guna's sudden lunge.

Chen Tianyu: Since when did Qianya learn to be modest? Back in the day, she wouldn't bow to anyone.

Liu Zichen: Qianya was too far away from me, so she naturally couldn't make it in time.

Shen Mingyue: It's a pity I wasn't there; otherwise, I would have risked my life to save Sister Zichen.

Wang Yongkun scoffed dismissively: You? Even Qianya, a ninja, couldn't do it, and you're as fragile as paper.

Shen Mingyue rolled her eyes a hundred times consecutively, filling the entire screen.

Kuang Suo: Glad you're all safe. You sound almost disappointed that Zichen didn't run into trouble.

Liu Zichen: I'm used to it by now.

Shen Mingyue: What I admire most is the scene where Sister Zichen leaped into the Black Dragon Pool in the dead of winter. Tell me, which of you big men could pull that off?

The rest of them successively sent "admiration" stickers.

Liu Zichen: If you guys keep buttering each other up, I'm quitting the group.

"Who's buttering anyone up?" A newcomer suddenly popped into the group—it was Xu Jingnan.

Xu Jingnan: The group suddenly hit 99+, and I thought something major happened. I looked in and saw this—truly a first since the dawn of creation.

Chen Tianyu: We're having a meeting.
Li Yiting: Yeah, a venting session.
Xu Jingnan: This old folks' home of a group finally has some life in it. You have no idea how bored I've been.

He proposed: Will someone please drop a red envelope?

Absolute silence in the group.

Wang Yongkun: The group owner.
Kuang Suo suddenly asked: Who is the group owner? Why don't I remember?

Chen Tianyu: There are only seven of us in total, what group owner do we need? Everyone's got issues lately.
Li Yiting: The one who just spoke is the group owner.
Wang Yongkun: Group owner, send out red envelopes!

A bunch of people followed suit by spamming the screen, and Kuang Suo sent another batch of "Thank you, boss" stickers.

Chen Tianyu ignored them: Thanked too early, I've got no money.

A bright, shiny red envelope appeared in the group chat. Everyone scrambled to grab it, profusely thanking the group owner.

Shen Mingyue rolled her eyes three times: Hey, hey, look closely! This was sent by Sister Zichen. What are you thanking the group pig for?

Chen Tianyu: That figures, I told you I had no money.

He sighed helplessly: Are we going to hold this meeting or not?

Li Yiting: Hold what meeting? Absolutely no leads.
Shen Mingyue: That doesn't sound like our President Li's style at all. Did the sun rise from the west today? Let me crawl out and take a look, wait for me.
Wang Yongkun: Crawl? Let me visualize that.
Xu Jingnan: I don't have any new leads on my end either. This is seriously brain-melting.
Kuang Suo: Then why did you chime in? Go investigate if you have no leads. Forensic doctors shouldn't disrupt our chatting convention. This is unscientific! I'm out of here. The rest is all up to you—we plan to chat idly for three days.
Xu Jingnan: I've been wanting to join the chat forever, but none of you ever reply to me, old man Kuang!
Kuang Suo: Oh, I forgot you're a full zodiac cycle younger than me.

Shen Mingyue laughed wildly: I vote for a three-day chat session.

The others echoed the sentiment, triggering another round of sticker spam.

Chen Tianyu put a stop to it: I see you lot have made some cash and are so merry you've forgotten the main task.

Shen Mingyue sent a few question marks: What main task? Isn't our mission to infiltrate the entertainment industry? There's money everywhere here, it'd be a waste not to make some.
Li Yiting: Truth.
Xu Jingnan suddenly chimed in: You big shots should take me along to see the sights sometime. I've lived this long and never even stepped inside a film studio. Is walking the red carpet fun?
Liu Zichen: Next time I go out for a gig, I'll take you with me.
Xu Jingnan: Thank you, Sister Zichen, I love you most.
Shen Mingyue: Don't you love me anymore?
Xu Jingnan: Love you too, love you too.
Shen Mingyue: You heartless playboy. Sorry, you're not handsome enough, you're not qualified to pursue this young lady.
Chen Tianyu: Stop, stop, stop.

He intervened: This is not a matchmaking event. Please, we are wildly off-topic.

Li Yiting: This has been a victorious meeting, a fruitful meeting, a united meeting, and a necessary meeting. Aha, today's meeting is adjourned, to be continued tomorrow.
Chen Tianyu: Agreed.
Xu Jingnan bitterly complained: I wanted to chat a bit longer, we're ending just like this? We barely get to gather once every few years.
Chen Tianyu: Meeting over. Task assignments.

Absolute silence in the group. After a moment—

Wang Yongkun: Understood.
Kuang Suo: Understood +1.
Shen Mingyue: Understood +1.
Xu Jingnan: Understood +1.
Li Yiting: Understood +1.
Liu Zichen: Understood +1.

Chen Tianyu: I will go meet Xiao Xue and see if she has anything else to tell me. Zichen, approach Guna again to find out more about Universe Media's internal situation. Yongkun, continue tailing Shi Yu and report any developments. Mingyue, make a trip to Huama Street, can you spare the time? Yiting, go to the reconstruction site of Huwenyi's office; you must figure out how Huwenyi managed to slip away from Dynasty. Jingnan, go to Lijiang—I feel there is more to Xiao Su's death than meets the eye. Jiudao, keep following Xiaoli's lead; we might have underestimated this woman.

Shen Mingyue: I'm a supreme idler, I can leave anytime.
Li Yiting suddenly asked: What about Qianya and Yiruo? Are we leaving them idle?
Chen Tianyu thought for a moment: Have Qianya get closer to the upper management. As for Yiruo, let her make a few more friends at the grassroots level; the wisdom of the masses is boundless too.
Li Yiting: That works.
Chen Tianyu: Everyone report to the group at 18:00 daily for a one-hour chat session. That's it.
Xu Jingnan: Oh yeah! Thumbs up.