I Asked You To Simulate A Crime, And You Pulled Off The Perfect Crime? - Chapter 36

“Cough, cough, Xiao Zhang, what’s up?” Wu Hong’s slightly awkward voice came through.

“It’s nothing much, just that earlier, you said we needed to find a way to stop Chen Shu from committing the perfect crime, but now…”

Before Zhang Sheng could finish, Wu Hong interrupted, “Oh, oh, you’re talking about that? I’ve been busy today and didn’t watch the live stream… If I remember correctly, today’s the finale, right? Well, you handle it however you see fit. I have things to do, so I’m hanging up now.”

Beep, beep, beep.

He hung up in an instant.

“Tsk, now you realize you’re out of moves, huh?” Zhang Sheng muttered under his breath. But suddenly, he realized something terrible. The investigation team hadn’t found the body!

Which meant they had to apologize to the villagers’ ancestors!

Sure enough. Inside the ancestral hall, when Wang Zheng and his team failed to find the body, the village chief, leaning on his cane, stormed over aggressively.

“I told you, young Chen Shu couldn’t possibly be a bad person. Now look! You disturbed our ancestors, scattered all these candles all over the place. What exactly are you trying to do?”

“Are you planning to tear down our entire village too?”

“Surround them!”

As soon as the chief finished speaking, dozens of villagers encircled Wang Zheng’s team. Then, the old village chief continued, “Today, you must properly apologize to our ancestors. Otherwise, don’t think you can leave easily!”

“Ahhh, I give up, Chen Shu really played Wang Zheng’s team like a fiddle.”

“Yeah, he deliberately used the villagers’ reverence for their ancestors, left clues on purpose, and lured them to search the ancestral hall.”

“Wow, Wang Zheng and his team are so unlucky. Not only did they lose the show, but now they have to apologize to the villagers too.”

“Honestly, apologizing is fair. They really did disturb the ancestors’ peace. It’s only right.”

“Apologizing is the easy way out. In our village, if someone dares to mess with the ancestral hall, the whole village would beat them up and break their legs!”

Amidst the audience’s discussions, Wang Zheng and his team of over ten people stood at the entrance of the ancestral hall. Holding incense sticks, they bowed deeply toward the ancestral tablets on the table.

“Sorry for disturbing you!” Wang Zheng spoke first.

The others quickly followed, “Sorry for disturbing you!”

Inside the director’s room, Zhang Sheng watched this scene, his face flushed red. Damn it, this was so humiliating, completely played by Chen Shu!

Bzzzt.

At that moment, chaotic noises came through his earpiece.

Zhang Bingbing, “Director, we’re in trouble! The closing speech is coming up, but all the lines I prepared assumed the investigation team would win. What do we do now?”

Zhang Sheng sighed, “As a host, you don’t even have basic professionalism?”

Zhang Bingbing was speechless, “No, Director, the criminal won. If you want me to promote positive values, I can talk for hundreds of words. But right now, do you want me to glorify a criminal?”

“Uh… No need for that,” Zhang Sheng thought for a moment. “Alright, just focus on recapping the highlights of this episode. Of course, before ending, you still have to throw in some positive messaging. Otherwise, the show will get shut down!!”

Zhang Bingbing, “Understood, Director!”

Zhang Sheng was about to take off his headset when the music team’s voice came through.

“Director, we have a problem!”

“Now what?” Zhang Sheng asked.

“We assumed Chen Shu would lose and the investigation team would win, so we prepared an intense and triumphant background music for the finale. But now, the investigation team is sitting on the ground, completely defeated, while the music is blasting victory fanfare, it’s way too awkward.”

Zhang Sheng, “Cut the music immediately!”

Then, the cinematography team chimed in, “Director, all our cameras are at Jinfu Village. We originally planned to focus on the investigation team, but now, we don’t have enough time to rush to Chen Shu’s house.”

“Damn it, you’re all a mess!” Zhang Sheng gritted his teeth but wasn’t too angry. After all, this was partly his fault too. He had believed Wu Hong’s nonsense.

“Alright, everyone calm down. Switch the main camera to Zhang Bingbing.”

“Zhang Bingbing, wrap up by interviewing Chen Shu and Su Xiaoxiao.”

The livestream cut to Zhang Bingbing. Her sweet smile, dimples and all, appeared on-screen.

“Good evening, viewers! I’m Bingbing.”

“After fifteen days, our program has finally come to an end. I’m sure everyone had a great time watching!”

“Great time indeed! This is the peak of reality shows.”

“It really was different without a script. A real surprise!”

“Seriously, has any other reality show in our country ever ended with the criminal winning?”

“And now, let’s welcome the winners of this season. Chen Shu and Su Xiaoxiao!”

As Zhang Bingbing spoke, the camera zoomed out to a wide shot. Chen Shu and Su Xiaoxiao walked forward one after the other.

“Now, we begin the closing segment with an interview of our program’s ‘criminals’!”

Zhang Bingbing first looked at Su Xiaoxiao and asked, “Xiaoxiao, in this program, you were the main character of the case. Over these fifteen days, how has your mental state changed?”

“Hmm…” Su Xiaoxiao thought for a moment. “When I first got into character, I was really scared. I thought my life was over because I killed someone. But slowly, with my brother’s help, I began to see hope.”

“But…” She paused and smiled awkwardly. “When I finally turned myself in, my feelings were really complicated, both relieved and guilty toward my brother.”

Hearing this, Zhang Bingbing quickly jumped on the opportunity,

“Yes! When people commit crimes, their conscience torments them. They can’t sleep, they lose their appetite. So everyone, never break the law!”

Inside the livestream chat.

“Hahaha, the production team is really trying to cover their bases.”

“Bingbing is hilarious, she’s afraid the show will get investigated.”

“Protect the show at all costs!”

“Protect!”

“Now, Xiaoxiao, after enduring these fifteen days, do you have anything to say to the audience?” Zhang Bingbing winked at her. The message was clear, say something positive.

“Hmm…”

“Over these fifteen days, I’ve had one very strong realization.” Su Xiaoxiao said.

“What is it?”

“It’s…” Su Xiaoxiao glanced at Chen Shu. “Having an older brother is amazing! They say ‘eldest brother is like a father,’ and it couldn’t be more true.”

“Anything else?” Zhang Bingbing prompted.

“Nope.”

“Alright, alright, it’s clear that Chen Shu’s acting skills are incredible to make you feel so attached.”

Zhang Bingbing, being a professional host, smoothly shifted the focus to Chen Shu. “Now, let’s interview him.”

The live chat exploded.

“Chen Shu, forever the GOAT!”

“Chen Shu is a legend!”

“Let’s all shout: Crime Master!”

“Good thing Su Xiaoxiao walked into the wrong room!”

“Liang Wei: Watching Conan is pointless, I should study under Chen Shu instead.”

“Liang Wei: Come on, guys, stop roasting me!”

Watching the stream, Liang Wei slammed his desk, “Damn it!”

“Chen Shu, everyone knows you accidentally entered this program. So I’m curious, when you first saw Su Xiaoxiao covered in blood, what was your reaction?”

Zhang Bingbing asked her first question. Chen Shu grinned. Honestly, when he first transmigrated, he was freaked out. But he couldn’t say that, so he replied, “Well, I had seen the show before, so I figured Su Xiaoxiao must have come to the wrong place. So, I played along.”

Zhang Bingbing followed up, “You used so many clever tricks to create the perfect crime. Your techniques were so natural. Have you studied criminal tactics?”

Chen Shu shrugged, “Nope, just practice makes perfect.”

Zhang Bingbing was stunned. “Huh?”

Chen Shu smirked, “Just kidding.”

“Oh, okay.” She sighed in relief. Then she moved to the next segment, “Now, let’s see what the viewers want to ask!”

As she scrolled through her electronic tablet, her eyes widened.

“Wow, the first question is really sharp!”

“Viewer ID ‘TigerTonight’ asks, ‘Chen Shu, where exactly did you hide Liu Liang’s body?’“