Translated by: Syeki
Edited by: Vanilla Muse
Chapter 32
Such a question was obviously a trap, and was deeply offensive to boot.
At his long silence, the reporter grew embarra.s.sed and hastily backtracked: "Of course, Mr. Mu has the right not to answer—"
"Yes, it was me."
After a moment"s struggle to completely adapt to his new body, Su Shi cheerfully interrupted the other party and did not hesitate to reply.
His voice had not been loud, but the young man standing by the side immediately turned to gaze at him with ill concealed surprise, breathing out softly in relief.
Su Shi had an inkling of what the situation was about.
This was a parallel world that was similar to the real world. The body he was inhabiting was originally called Mu Jinchu, and had been a very popular actor. But just one month ago, the Film Emperor Lin brought him to attend a party, and on the way back they were involved in a car accident.
[Syeki: Film Emperor Lin is referring to Lin Jing]
Lin Jing did not suffer any serious injuries, but received a few cuts to the cheek and forehead from the windshield fragments. This made it necessary for him to wear a facemask in public.
In contrast, Mu Jinchu looked whole and unscathed, and naturally became the target of the media.
Mu Jinchu was only good at playing brooding characters. Although he was considered popular and somewhat famous, he was in no way comparable to the rising star Lin Jing. Lin Jing walked the promising path of television, song and film, and had tens of thousands of Weibo fans. With this in mind, it was not difficult to imagine what kind of treatment they would receive.
[Syeki: Weibo is a Chinese microblogging website.]
It seems like there were plenty of people who would be quick to pin the blame on him. Su Shi"s heart felt much lighter.
Not expecting him to look so happy, the reporter was silent for a moment. Then he boldly pushed the microphone forward: "Then—could you tell us more about what happened at that time?"
Su Shi nodded lightly and calmly pulled up the character"s plot details. He froze in disbelief.
At this critical moment, the system"s record of that part of the story was actually a complete blank.
The only plausible explanation for this was that Mu Jinchu wasn"t clear on what had happened either.
He did not speak, Lin Jing remained mute, and the atmosphere fell into profound silence. Only the camera continued to run, faithfully recording, as every pa.s.sing second seemed to hold a deeper meaning.
They couldn"t stay deadlocked forever. Su Shi withdrew his urgent gaze from the unreliable Lin Jing, and spoke in a low voice.
"On that day, we had some pressing issues…."
"We had been drinking a lot of wine—"
The two men spoke and stopped at the same time.
Lin Jing looked at him, his eyes were full of fear and anxiety, apparently already confused and frightened.
Su Shi"s eyes narrowed, he finally understood the implications of the whole thing.
Driving under influence was a punishable offense. Not just a fine, one would also be detained for fifteen days. For a popular idol, it would be a fatal blow to their images.
To preserve the idol"s popularity, to maximize the sympathy of the fans, shouldering this blame was obviously the way to go.
His only cause for complaint was that this Film Emperor was really worthy of being called an Emperor. Even when pinning the blame on someone else, the accused has to be the one to tar himself.
[Syeki: Basically saying that the emperor doesn"t lift a finger. Servants can just slap their own faces.]
"…We all drank, and were in a hurry."
Su Shi gave him a look, took a deep breath, and calmly adjusted his story.
"It was just a short distance away, I didn"t think anything could happen, and so I didn"t ask anyone to pick us up. This incident has had a negative impact on Mr. Lin"s reputation. I"m deeply sorry, and am willing to take full responsibility and accept any punishment for this."
Determinedly confessing in one go, he left no opening for interruptions.
The reporters were shocked by the blunt admission, and forgot to pursue with follow-up questions. They also lagged behind and gave the two an opportunity to get away, accompanied by a.s.sistants into the side lane.
This body was not as well as it seemed on the surface, the wound on his leg was aching dully. Su Shi"s steps were unhurried. He took the chance to review the contents of his system"s tasks.
The protagonist of this world was not Lin Jing, but his brother Lin Feng.
His own role in this plot was as a supporting character in the lives of the brothers. As long as he was falsely accused of causing a drunken car accident, chose to go overseas to escape the intensifying cyber bullying, and die in an ill-fated plane crash, he would be able to successfully complete the mission.
In accordance to the plot, the truth of this incident would be accidentally exposed after his death, which would lead to a series of fatal blows to the Lin family. People will pay countless apologies and tributes to him, but it all has nothing to do with him.
Sure enough, it was much less difficult than the last world.
Lin Jing had been watching him all this while, but he didn"t approach him to talk. When the two talents drew near to the exit, several men dressed in casual clothes greeted them and presented some doc.u.ments to him: “Mr. Mu, can you please cooperate with us for the investigation?”