I Am Your Natural Enemy

It really did look like just an unfortunate accident, at least Wen Yan didn’t find anything suspicious.

The only odd thing was that this employee, and the boss of Starshine Entertainment, died on the same day, and not far apart in time.

Looking further into the boss of Starshine Entertainment, it seemed nothing was extraordinary either. He started out making money from real estate speculation, and stopped two years ago. Earlier this year, he bought Starshine Entertainment, became both boss and director himself.

In his hands, Starshine Entertainment didn’t seem to aim for its former glory anymore. Of the currently signed artists, apart from trainees, most are just bit-part actors in some dramas, or simply decorative roles.

There were also a few newcomers, who went off to shoot short videos. Just last month, they released a hit short drama—a low-budget project costing two hundred thousand, shot in five days, online for a week, and made eight million in profit.

If it wasn’t for piracy being so rampant, the earnings might’ve been even higher.

Wen Yan looked closely at the data. While it couldn’t compare to Starshine’s peak, at least now it was turning a profit.

This boss, with his background in property speculation, had always treated money lightly. He spent big with an uninhibited style, and after earning dozens of times return so easily recently, he was spending purely for his own pleasure.

That did match the style of firing someone and paying compensation on the same day without hesitation.

As for that employee, the file only showed he was a minor leader in HR, not a particularly important figure.

The person who signed Chen Qimo as a student was him.

Other than that, there was nothing special.

Wen Yan looked again and again, thought about it for a long while. Apart from the sheer coincidence of two people dying on the same day, there really wasn’t any other suspicious point.

He examined the records further: a few months ago, the company even went through a tax repayment procedure.

According to the record, this was during a period when a celebrity and another entertainment company were famously caught for tax evasion.

The boss didn’t seem very daring either. When they received the tax department’s notice at that time, he obediently paid some back taxes for last year. At that point, he hadn’t bought Starshine Entertainment yet.

Looked at this way, combined with his big spending style, it made sense to casually fire someone and pay compensation without a fuss.

Wen Yan sighed inwardly, and put away his phone.

The Scorching Sun Department had already checked—indeed, nothing problematic had come up.

If there was a chance, he’d go over to that seaside and see if he could summon the boss’s soul.

For now, he could only make a note of it.

...

In Central Plains County, in a private restaurant, there were just two people in the private room.

One was a man with a little mustache; the other, appearing to be in his thirties, with a bit of tattoo showing on his neck.

The tattooed man stood up, raised his glass with both hands, and offered a toast.

”Thank you so much for this time. I’ll drink first, as a gesture of respect.”

Little Mustache didn’t raise his glass, and shook his head.

”I’ve warned you, don’t be too ambitious. And even if you are, don’t stretch your hand towards Nanwu County.

I could save you this time only because things happened to line up right.

Next time, I might not be able to save you.”

The tattooed man stayed silent, still polite and respectful, toasting again and again, and after three glasses, Little Mustache stood up, put on his hat and wrapped his scarf tightly, looking just like a classical artist.

”I’m leaving. Take care of yourself. What happens next—I really have no idea.”

”Eat something before you go. I ordered this especially, it’s really unique.”

”Forget it, I have more important matters. If someone saw me meeting you, it’d just be trouble again.”

The tattooed man dared not stop him, and could only respectfully see him out.

Watching Little Mustache disappear, the tattooed man let out a deep breath.

He was one of the very few people to have met this man in person—a kind of mysterious figure, almost like a prophet who knew every detail clearly.

Those who didn’t believe him, in the end, their life paths always matched his predictions—down to the tiniest detail.

He got involved with these things thanks to an act of kindness in the past, and was guided into this by that person.

As for exactly what that kindness was, he actually didn’t know clearly. Since the man said so, he just believed it.

If it weren’t for him, he wouldn’t be living so well now—there was even that time, following a tip from him, when he escaped death.

The tattooed man sat alone in the private room, sighing deeply.

On the other side, Little Mustache—wearing a beret, wrapped in a big scarf, clad in a plaid cashmere coat—walked down the street, looking at the flashing streetlamps and the snowflakes drifting from midair. He sighed quietly to himself.

”Truly terrifying...”

Fortunately, two days ago, he left an anchor point behind. Only then could he return from half a month in the future.

Otherwise, if he couldn’t go back to the starting point, he would have been powerless.

This time, he’d really witnessed Wen Yan’s terrifying speed of progress, and his frightening sharpness.

Everything started simply with his little sister’s classmate getting recruited to Starshine Entertainment, then being kicked out, then getting compensated according to contract.

It involved a minor, and the straightforward compensation—wasn’t that totally reasonable?

Yet even this tiny, entirely legal and justified move was seized on by Wen Yan, who wouldn’t let go once on the trail.

Then, somehow, he dug up issues with Starshine Entertainment’s boss.

After that, he traced the threads all the way to the Central Plains County entertainment company without any clear path.