Halo effect

  Jiang Yan had a miscarriage.

  I had a vague idea of what was happening when she fainted in my arms, but I still felt shocked and terrified when the doctor came out of the operating room to explain. Suddenly, countless feelings of guilt surged up in my heart.

  If it weren't for Jiang Yan, I might have been kicked in the shin and fallen to the ground in the theater, and now I would be lying in the hospital. But also because she risked danger to pull me up from the crowd, this tragedy occurred.

  "Accidents are uncontrollable, no need to take all the responsibility." The calm advice came from Gao Cheng, who was sitting in a chair beside me. I leaned lightly against the wall, "No need to comfort me." Got his cold snort: "Where do you need comfort? I'm telling the truth, the root cause of the incident is that she didn't know she was pregnant and used extreme measures for publicity, leading to a series of subsequent events. The responsibility naturally falls on her own shoulders."

  She looked at him with her head down, her expressionless face without any ripples. If it wasn't for him just now, she might still be trapped in that theater. Soon after Jiang Yan fainted, someone outside passed on the message that the crowd was gradually dispersing, as if there was something more attractive outside the theater. So, decisively, the director carried Jiang Yan out from the side door, and during this process, I heard someone shouting: "Quickly, Hero Yan has posted a new update."

  Just as I sat in the car on the way to the hospital, I received a text message from Gao Cheng: Don't move, wait until the crowd disperses before coming out.

  I immediately realized that something was fishy, and asked him what had happened in the past. His answer was brief: The reputation of Yan's return is very good, using the spear to attack the shield, simple and straightforward.

  No need to ask again, the one who posted with the name "Yan Gui Lai" is Gao Cheng.

  Can't help but admire his cleverness, in that chaotic situation, this move was even more effective than mobilizing police to maintain order. In fact, the police hadn't arrived yet when we left.

  "Can you always be so rational and emotionless when looking at something?"

  He raised an eyebrow and remained silent.

  I smiled slightly and said in a low voice, "Firstly, the director and screenwriter borrowed the east wind of Yan's return without her knowledge; secondly, no matter what, she is just a woman. When the child flowed out of her body at that moment, no one could understand her feelings. Do you understand?"

  Gao Cheng Dun looked at me and said lightly: "I don't understand, I'm not a woman."

  I shifted my gaze, recalling Jiang Yan's last weak and sorrowful expression, and felt a sense of oppression in my heart. Ah, he wasn't a woman, so he couldn't understand the kind of torment and pain that came from watching something slip away before one's eyes. I wonder how Jiang Yan would feel when she woke up to find out that this unknown child had already left?

  Jiang Yan was pushed out of the operating room, her face as pale as paper, especially those desperate eyes, which made my heart sink. As I approached the hospital bed, words of comfort were stuck in my throat, because no matter what I said, it was hard to reduce a bit of her sorrow at this moment.

  The last thing she said was a nervous question: "Are you okay?"

  Jiang Yan turned her gaze over, the corner of her mouth stiffly twitching, "I'm fine. Xia Zhu, it has nothing to do with you, it's just me..." She said, then choked back a sob. My heart ached at that moment, I grasped her hand, but it was icy cold to the touch. Originally, my hands and feet were already cold in winter, but Jiang Yan's hand was even colder than mine.

  As I watched Jiang Yan's tears fall from the corners of her eyes, I remained silent. Perhaps at this moment, silence was the best accompaniment.

  When I saw her emotions gradually calm down, I handed over the tissue and asked softly: "Do you need me to contact him for you?" The hand held in my palm trembled heavily, those eyes that had just been washed by tears showed a moment of horror, then firmly grasped my hand: "No, don't notify him, I can't let him know."

  When Jiang Yan finally fell asleep, exhausted, looking at the tears on her face, I couldn't help but feel sad. No one had heard that she was married, and now that something had happened, she didn't want to tell her partner, some answers were already obvious. Behind the glamour, there was still bitterness in her heart.

  I walked out of the ward and was slightly stunned, "Why are you still here?"

  Gao Cheng raised his eyes and glanced at me lightly, asking: "Can we go now?"

  I lightly closed the door and then asked, "Were you waiting for me?" His response was a light hum, and he walked over to pull my hand out into the corridor. As we stepped out of the building, I saw police cars waiting there. Xu Jianglun strode over, "Xia Zhu, are you okay? Didn't get hurt?" Seeing me shake my head, he immediately shifted his gaze to Gao: "Gao sir, the website has been temporarily shut down. What's the next step?"

  "Since the halo effect is so strong, then suppress this reputation. You've been guarding that forum for so long, do you still need me to teach?"

  Xu Jianglun scratched his head, with a puzzled expression on his face, clearly not understanding what he meant.

  Sighing in my heart, it's quite difficult for ordinary people to keep up with this person's thinking. I spoke out to remind: "His meaning should be: if one swallow can bring such a big reaction, what if there are two or more?"

  Xu Jianglun's eyes suddenly lit up, and he exclaimed: "Awesome! It's really awesome! When the real Yan returns, it will make many netizens think it's a fake one, right? I'll go apply for an account immediately, and apply for a dozen or so."

  Watching Xu Jianglun rush to the police car in surprise, then run back, saying breathlessly: "Right, I forgot something. Xia Zhu, your gallery is best not opened temporarily, this incident may implicate you, wait until the wind passes and see. Now get in my car, first take you over to pack up things."

  It wasn't a coincidence, we hadn't even reached the apartment building when we received Xiaotong's call. Only, it wasn't for me.

  Gao Cheng put down his phone and turned to me, saying, "No need to go, a group of media reporters have arrived at the gallery waiting for you." I asked curiously, "Who told you?" He replied, "Xiao Tong." Then I fell silent, staring at him fixedly.

  He also let me see, with a light cloud and gentle breeze. The front seat transmitted Xu Jianglun's dry cough, I shifted my gaze, and found that the car had stopped, while the other two detectives in the car were also silently watching us.

  After getting off the car, I heard Xu Jianglun shouting: "Xia Zhu, wait for us at the painting gallery and we'll call you after we drive these people away."

  It's just like this, watching the police car stop outside the gallery from afar. Suddenly, a cool voice came from beside me: "You've learned to misinterpret my meaning." I pursed my lips and replied lightly: "Xu Jianglun humbly sought your guidance, but you weren't willing to explain clearly, so I had to use my own thinking to dispel my doubts." It's really gotten used to his mind jumping all over the place, after he spoke up with such a sentence, I realized he was referring to the idea I gave Xu Jianglun earlier.

  "Hmph, you think you understand just a bit of the surface and start showing off. Your method can be broken with just one move from Yan's Return."

  "What's wrong?"

  "A more striking case, or when a dominant hand whips up a storm."

  "A shock ran through his heart: 'Are you saying that it will make a move, possibly even use another case to attract the crowd, or even take matters into its own hands?'"

  Gao Cheng slightly curved the corners of his lips and said in a soft voice: "Wait with bated breath."

  He gave a perfunctory answer, feeling helpless. Generally, when he didn't want to talk, it was hard to pry anything out of him. Before long, Xu Jianglun's phone call came in. Hurrying towards the gallery, I saw Xiaotong waiting at the entrance. When she saw us, her eyes lit up and she ran over: "Sister Xia, Brother Cheng, you're back! I don't know what happened, but suddenly a lot of people rushed in. Those reporters were taking pictures and asking me questions nonstop. I followed your instructions, Brother Cheng, and played dumb until Officer Xu came and finally dispersed the crowd."

  Hearing this, I couldn't help but ask: "When did he tell you all these things?"

  The little boy went to see Gao Cheng with an uneasy look, and asked in a low voice: "Gao Ge, can I say something?" He hummed as a response, then the little boy looked down like a child admitting his mistake and said: "Xia Jie, I saw that Gao Ge hadn't come for two days in a row, so I called him. After that, we've been in touch all along. Then Gao Ge told me you were mad at him and asked me not to tell you. Just yesterday, Gao Ge said on the phone that if anyone came to find you today, just ignore them."

  The child's rebellion I no longer have the energy to pursue, but "Did you expect this situation to happen today?" I asked Gao Cheng. He glanced at me lightly, "Isn't it strange? You lost your mind that night when I analyzed it for you."

  My body was slightly stiff, and indeed the event was not unpredictable. When Xing Guang She made a surprise appearance at the forum that night, I became a hidden danger for creating promotional illustrations for this stage play, and now the hidden danger has become an open one.

  Xu Jianglun walked out of the gallery, his face gloomy and solemn, his eyes fixed on Gao: "Gao sir, just received a report, a burnt-out Audi was found on Tiger Cliff Mountain, with a female corpse inside."

  "What does it have to do with me?"

  Xu Jianglun was taken aback and stuttered, "Didn't Director say that he wanted to hire you as a special consultant for our Qingcheng branch? Just now Director called over the phone wanting..."

  The words were cut off by Gao Cheng: "My promise only goes until the end of Wu Yan's serial case, and any subsequent cases have nothing to do with me."

  "But..." Xu Jianglun wanted to continue, but was suddenly interrupted by a shrill cry from the little girl. Our eyes all turned to her, and we saw that she was holding her phone with a pale face, looking shocked and disbelieving, muttering: "Impossible, it can't be, there must be some mistake."

  I stepped forward and grabbed her arm, asking: "What's wrong? What happened?"

  She burst into tears: "Sister Xia, just now my mom called to say... that the police found my sister's ID next to a burnt-out car on Ya Mountain."

  "What's your sister's name?" Xu Jianglun asked hastily as he approached in big strides.

  And Xiao Tong was already trembling with fear: "She... she's called... Tong Ziqi."

  My heart sank, and I had already gotten the answer from Xu Jianglun's face. The deceased he mentioned earlier was indeed Xiaotong's sister.