Lin Muci held the invitation, thinking of Yang Lanyan's blackening value nearing its critical point, and felt a bit of a headache.
"Can he guess it's Ling Qianhe?"
The system rolled its eyes.
"Host, isn't that a redundant question? He can definitely guess it's the kiss mark left by Ling Qianhe, who else could it be?"
Lin Muci's headache worsened.
"What if Yang Lanyan deals with Ling Qianhe?"
The system suddenly perked up.
"Dogs biting dogs, fur flying."
"Isn't that a good thing? What are you afraid of?"
"Let them fight, and you can watch the show."
Lin Muci considered it. It seemed to make sense.
As the world's number one villain, Ling Qianhe shouldn't lose.
...
Mrs. Lin Cuiping was busy going to the company to handle business affairs the next day.
Her ambition was exploding, and Lin Muci found it inspiring.
She had no tasks today and was lying in bed scrolling through her phone. The fifty points from the Best Newcomer Award mission had arrived. She toyed with the invitation Yang Lanyan had given her yesterday, looking at the beautiful cursive English on it.
After a moment's thought.
She got up, changed into a fresh student outfit, and went to find Zhou Yuan'an.
A coffee shop outside the school.
The young man, who had rushed over from the sports field, looked at Lin Muci and gave a simple, honest smile.
"Xiao Ci, what's up?"
"Um... I haven't finished memorizing my vocabulary words yet."
Lin Muci didn't expect him to have finished memorizing them. She asked him.
"I'm very curious about your father's affairs. Can you tell me more? Including what cargo your father was transporting when he boarded that ship, I really want to understand it."
The young man shook his head.
"I really don't know... my mother was stimulated back then, and the police didn't acknowledge her statement. My father has been missing for a long time, and the police only treated the case as a missing person."
Lin Muci felt a bit of a headache.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Yuan'an suddenly seemed to recall something.
"Oh, right, Xiao Ci, I do remember something else."
Lin Muci looked at Zhou Yuan'an.
"What is it?"
The young man opposite her scratched his head honestly.
"A while ago, a young police officer came to find us. He asked some questions about my father. He said he wanted to investigate this case and suspected that our father did indeed board that cruise ship back then. It's related to a smuggling case. He also gave us a phone number."
"He intended to continue investigating. Unfortunately, I never saw him again after that."
"The phone number is..."
Zhou Yuan'an seriously recalled the phone number.
Lin Muci felt that the keyword "smuggling case" triggered a wave of memories.
"So, was that police officer named Bai Jian?"
Zhou Yuan'an's eyes widened in surprise.
"How did you know, Xiao Ci?"
Lin Muci gave a wry smile. Of course, she knew—it was Bai Jian!
The reason Bai Jian didn't come to find Zhou Yuan'an again was probably because he himself had gotten into trouble and was framed and imprisoned.
Even though she knew the phone number might not connect, Lin Muci still dialed it.
Then, a low voice came to her ears.
"Hello? May I ask who you are..."
"I'm looking for Officer Bai Jian."
The person on the other end of the line paused.
"Officer... Officer Bai? He's not here. Um, Officer Bai has been dismissed from his police duties due to some incidents. All his cases have been handed over to us. May I ask what you need him for?"
Lin Muci replied softly that she had nothing and hung up.
It was as she expected.
The case Bai Jian was investigating was related to Zhou Yuan'an's father's disappearance.
In that case, these men were all intricately linked.
She felt a bit of a headache, while Zhou Yuan'an opposite her scratched his head, looking quite surprised.
"Officer Bai was arrested? I thought he was quite polite, it shouldn't be like this."
"What did he do, gambling, prostitution, or drugs?"
Lin Muci stood up.
"Let's go, accompany me somewhere."
Zhou Yuan'an looked bewildered.
"Go where?"
"To visit Officer Bai."
...
Lin Muci wanted to visit Bai Jian, but her request was denied.
The police station said he was a key prisoner and did not accept visits from strangers other than family.
However, Bai Jian also seemed to be an orphan.
So, it was equivalent to cutting off the path for outsiders to visit him.
Lin Muci had no way to do so for the time being; her influence didn't extend that far.
However, her heart was heavy with melancholy.
If Bai Jian had indeed taken Ling Qianhe's fate, suffering various abuses in prison,
She felt that not saving him was unbearable and she would feel guilty.
The system consoled her, telling her to be more optimistic.
"Host, there's nothing that can be done. If it's not Bai Jian, it would be some other person."
"It's much better than Ling Qianhe being disfigured and abused to the point of complete blackening."
Lin Muci, however, questioned the system coldly.
"Does that mean Bai Jian won't blacken?"
The system paused, coughed, and suddenly felt a headache.
"Saying it like that... it seems Bai Jian really did blacken later..."
"After he was released from prison, his psychological state underwent a huge transformation. Moreover, as he was from the police force and skilled in psychology, forensics, and various other methods... he is indeed very troublesome."
"So, Host, you want to save this blackening little police officer?"
"But how do you plan to save him, Host?"
The system found it very troublesome.
"You can't even see him now."
This was indeed a problem.
Moreover, she didn't know how serious Bai Jian's crime was... not being able to see him now made it even more impossible to find a lawyer to bail him out.
Was there no way at all?
She lowered her head, and the system gave her a bad idea.
"Host, wait, you can pretend to be his girlfriend and go visit him."
"A girlfriend is considered family, right?"
"You can forge a marriage certificate. Yes! A fiancée. That way, no one can stop you from visiting him. They just don't allow visits from strangers; they didn't say girlfriends or fiancées can't visit him."
Lin Muci thought it was a good idea.
"Okay."
"However, there are many reporters watching my every move. If I submit a visitation request, what if they find out?"
She wasn't afraid of public opinion or anti-fans.
She had been smeared all the way here anyway.
But if Ling Qianhe, that crazy obsessive, found out.
That she wanted to be someone else's fiancée, he would surely go crazy!
But she was doing this to clean up his mess!
No matter what, she had to see Bai Jian first.
Moreover, this kind of visitation wouldn't be public, so not many people would know.
"Is Bai Jian's blackening value high now?"
The system secretly checked for her.
"It's quite high..."
"Around fifty percent. Of course, this is just the beginning. If you let him stay in there for a few years, he'll truly become a psychological pervert!"
"His problem is that no one is helping him."
"He's taking the blame for his superiors, and none of his colleagues are willing to speak up for him, which is why he's so miserable."
"He has evidence. If you go in and help him, he can be released early."
Lin Muci pursed her lips.
Then she could only... impersonate the little police officer's girlfriend.
Brother Qianhe, he definitely wouldn't know!
The system looked like it was enjoying the show.
"Logically speaking, if you don't say it and I don't say it, Qianhe definitely won't know."
"But if he does find out, Host, you might be heading for another fiery confrontation!"
The little system said meaningfully.
It almost looked forward to that scene.