Fourteen thousand and fourteen

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Shen Xingyan was very angry. He looked coldly at Shen Xiaotang, who stood at the door with her head lowered, apologizing after giving some explanation, and snorted coldly. “Shouldn’t your uncle be thanking you?”

Shen Xiaotang shook her head frantically. “No, no, that’s not necessary.”

At that moment, she was inwardly wailing in agony.

The divination didn’t include himself.

So tonight, Shen Xiaotang had foreseen everything—except this turn of events.

Of course, Miao Ke also felt bad afterward, since she had caused the matter to escalate. The authorities had to spend effort calming things down and cleaning up, which would certainly affect Miao Ke’s performance evaluation for the quarter.

While Shen Xiaotang was grumbling inwardly about these things, she suddenly heard Shen Xingyan roar like a lion. He bellowed, “I shouldn’t have brought you on this show in the first place!”

This brat was really bold!

Wherever there were dead people, she would run there, and this time she even locked herself in a room ahead of time!

As for the door being unusually stuck and impossible to open, even if Shen Xiaotang had learned some magic, Shen Xingyan thought she was too young to be that formidable.

He pressed his thin lips together, his eyes glaring fiercely, and sneered coldly, “Go back to your room and pack your things immediately. We’re going home!”

The show was definitely impossible to continue filming. Two murders had just occurred upstairs, allegedly caused by some malevolent spirit. He didn’t want to stay there with Shen Xiaotang for another moment.

Shen Xiaotang didn’t dare argue and quickly ran back to her room to pack.

Shen Xingyan also needed to pack his things, but before that, he had to inform the production team.

Speaking of which, here comes the messenger.

“Knock knock knock...” The knocking sounded at the door.

Director Sun stood hesitantly by the open door. “Mr. Shen, are you available now? I have a favor to ask.”

“Director Sun, please go ahead.” Shen Xingyan invited him in and closed the door behind him.

At first, Shen Xingyan thought Sun was here about tonight’s incident.

But Sun Qiang began, “It’s my brother’s crew... The originally planned male lead, Mr. Lin, had an accident. He’s still in the hospital, and his agent came by to say they can’t continue filming.”

Sun Qiang and his brother Sun Jian were renowned directors in the entertainment industry. Sun Jian was more experienced in TV dramas and had produced many famous hits and won numerous awards over the years.

The crew that had the accident was filming the newly started big-budget Xianxia period romance drama “Wenxi,” which had only been shooting for less than half a month.

Sun Qiang was vague about the “accident.”

It was truly strange and horrifying, and to avoid speculation and unnecessary trouble, the crew had been on high alert these days. Moreover, Sun Qiang had witnessed the scene himself tonight, and with Shen Xingyan’s spiritual expertise, it was impossible for him not to sense something.

And indeed, Shen Xingyan sensed nothing.

He misunderstood and said, “I’m honored that Director Sun considered me, but as you know, this is sudden. I need to check with Sister Ya about whether the filming schedule for the next few months can be adjusted.”

Sun Qiang understood immediately—it was about the payment and wanting the male lead role.

He began to think seriously. Appearance-wise, Shen Xingyan was very suitable for the male lead in this Xianxia drama. His popularity was unquestionable, and while his acting wasn’t exceptional, it was above average.

However, this project wasn’t Sun Qiang’s responsibility, so he used this as an excuse to back off and planned to discuss it with his brother Sun Jian later.

Thus, despite the misunderstanding, they surprisingly reached a preliminary agreement.

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...

After Sun Qiang left, Shen Xiaotang appeared again at Shen Xingyan’s door, poking out her small head, hesitating. “Uncle, can I take it home and keep it?”

As soon as she spoke, the little black kitten in her arms meowed at him.

Shen Xingyan’s heart was cold and hard. “No!”

Though he said no, he still sent the male assistant, Yu Xiaopang, to talk to Sun Qiang.

The show’s cats were rented from a nearby pet store and were supposed to be returned after filming, but since the pet store was in the pet business, they could be purchased if one paid.

However, as it was late at night, it was not appropriate to disturb the pet store owner, so Shen Xingyan instructed Yu Xiaopang to stay and wait until daytime to complete the purchase, then take the cat home.

He then took Shen Xiaotang on the nearest flight back to City A.

*

Shen Xiaotang slept until late morning the next day, only to be woken by voices downstairs.

Zhou Ya had come to discuss with Shen Xingyan his taking over the male lead role in “Wenxi.”

This Xianxia period romance drama was a big-budget S+ production. Although it was a female-centric story, the male lead character was extremely popular and had ranked first on the ancient romance paper male lead charts for ten consecutive years.

“This is double good news for you!” Zhou Ya couldn’t help but exclaim.

Filming for the ongoing show was suspended, and the production team also needed to provide the public with a reasonable explanation. Thus, an apology statement was released early this morning.

The real reason couldn’t be disclosed, but two deaths was a major incident, and a reasonable explanation was necessary.

One couldn’t help but admire how swiftly Master Miao Guangming and his disciples acted to dispel the ghostly unrest.

The authorities released a case report early today, ruling the deaths of Yu Xia and Zhu Fang as accidental, caused by self-harm during a psychotic episode.

They also published numerous pieces of evidence uncovered during the investigation.

For instance, Yu Xia grew up oppressed in her family and suffered from manic disorder to the point she needed medication to control it.

People with such illness often lose control of their temper and harm those or things around them. During a manic episode, Yu Xia’s mood would become elevated, and she would beat, bite, chase, or drive away cats, enjoying the extreme terror the cats felt when trapped and helpless.

The first cat Yu Xia owned died from stress after such abuse.

Subsequently, Yu Xia became increasingly obsessed with this emotional comfort. But she was adept at hiding her true nature. To avoid detection, she began rescuing stray cats as a cover and even posted many videos of rescuing strays online.

These videos, misunderstood by the public, were widely liked and promoted, bringing Yu Xia more traffic and fans... Then, Yu Xia formed a team and became a viral pet influencer.

Everyone in this team was involved in years of cat abuse, with some members sharing the same abusive tendencies and acting on them.

The authorities also released videos of Yu Xia and her team abusing cats, including the initial rescue videos that had won public sympathy.

The so-called rescue videos were selectively edited by the team. Privately, whenever a cat misbehaved, they would beat or starve them.

Moreover, numerous harmful bait substances and sprays for cats were found in Yu Xia’s team.

The official report enraged the public!

Even though the perpetrators Yu Xia and Zhu Fang were dead, countless people still cursed them bitterly.

“I never expected Yu Xia to be such a person,” Zhou Ya said with disdain, turning to Shen Xingyan and clicking her tongue. “You really benefited from misfortune.”

Shen Xingyan’s performance on the show yesterday was indeed terrible.

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Attending a cute pet show, he had no interaction with the animals throughout, and even showed obvious rejection toward the staff most appealing to the pets.

Hence, many marketing accounts and netizens had criticized and scolded Shen Xingyan online yesterday.

Now that Yu Xia’s crimes were exposed, public opinion instantly reversed. Many who had scolded Shen Xingyan yesterday were praising him today.

Everyone said Shen Xingyan must have known Yu Xia’s true nature from the start, which explained his undisguised dislike of her during filming... Such sincerity was a rare breath of fresh air in the corrupt entertainment industry!

“Don’t let me accept any more variety shows in the future,” Shen Xingyan frowned, showing no joy. “Sister Ya, please contact the tutors we hired for Xiaotang before. Have them come for classes this afternoon.”

“So soon?” Zhou Ya was shocked. “Why not let Xiaotang rest another half day?”

No one knew if the child was frightened by last night’s events!

Shen Xingyan sneered coldly. “She doesn’t need to.”

After this show filming, Shen Xingyan deeply understood one thing: children must not be spoiled. They should do age-appropriate things.

So when Shen Xiaotang was eating her sixth bowl of rice at noon, she learned she had to attend make-up classes that afternoon.

This indeed affected her appetite. She had planned to stop eating but turned her sadness into appetite and ate two more big bowls of rice.

Shen Xingyan was in a good mood for a moment.

But it didn’t last long.

The next second, he furrowed his brows and glared. “Why are you here again?”

Indeed, after sending someone to investigate in Lan County, City Y, and confirming the paternity test done by the Civil Affairs Bureau was genuine, Shen Xiaotang was confirmed to be the daughter of Shen Xinyi, who had been lost, and thus the biological granddaughter of Shen Wensheng.

So Shen Wensheng came again, this time bringing Yang Peiwen and two live-in maids, each carrying numerous gifts prepared for Shen Xiaotang.

“Xiaotang, I am your grandmother,” Yang Peiwen said, feigning kindness despite her inner resentment.

As soon as Shen Xiaotang came downstairs, Yang Peiwen showed her the gifts one by one.

“These were treasured gifts kept by your aunt and uncle. They begged your grandfather to buy them back then...”

Yang Peiwen naturally didn’t want Shen Xiaotang to be taken away, but she never played the villain openly. So she used her usual tactic.

She briefly mentioned the gifts Shen Wensheng had specially bought for Shen Xiaotang, but introduced the gifts from Shen Xingyuan and Shen Xinyuan in great detail, as always.

Shen Wensheng, eager for family harmony, never thought this was problematic. On the contrary, he thought Yang Peiwen was tactful and that the twins were very sensible.

But children were sensitive and could easily sense the hidden boasting, which could provoke their temper.

Shen Xingyan was always at a disadvantage in these matters and never changed his temper.

However, just as Shen Xingyan was about to lose his temper and drive them away as usual, Shen Xiaotang gathered her spiritual power in her eyes, looked at Shen Wensheng with tears, and spread out her small palm pitifully.

Shen Wensheng was stunned. “Xiaotang?”

“I’m jealous.”

Shen Xiaotang spoke plainly and confidently, “I’ve never heard of these things before, but I don’t want to use things that others have used. So Grandpa, give me money. I want to buy new ones.”