Clouds Gathering in Secret
"As expected, they're still suspicious."
Chen Ling stood on the second floor of the Jinghong Theater, resting both hands on the handrail. His gaze leisurely looked out at the Casino and the Cabaret on the same street. Although in the eyes of an Ordinary Person, these two shops were still the same as usual, but in the eyes of a discerning person like Chen Ling, he could still see the difference.
Overnight, a few more homeless people, rickshaws, and cursing passersby had appeared around the Great World Cabaret. Although quite a few people went in to spend money, most of them were probably Plainclothes Officers... Li Ruohong had no experience in this area, so he probably couldn't see any anomalies and still didn't know his Cabaret had already been slapped with the "Suspected Dusk Society Stronghold" label.
Chen Ling could even be certain that the people from [Floating Life Painting] had also started monitoring the Cabaret by now. This meant he could no longer enter the Cabaret as casually as yesterday, nor could he presumptuously direct a grand play right under people's noses.
However, this wasn't really a problem for Chen Ling. He also didn't want to use the same method twice. Even without entering the Cabaret, he still had means to continue "packaging" the Cabaret.
"Frequent accidents and continuous exaggerated Performances will only make the people from [Floating Life Painting] suspicious, producing the opposite of the desired result... It's better to let nature take its course these next few days."
"Yesterday, I left a few easter eggs in the Cabaret. At this stage, letting them explore on their own might be more effective than my active intervention."
"Not to mention there are those two spies from the Wuji Domain in the Cabaret. It can achieve a great program effect without needing too much intervention from me at all..."
Chen Ling narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Did they notice this Theater House... It's normal. After all, there's been a conflict here with the Cabaret recently, so it would inevitably draw some attention."
"However, my origins cannot be reasonably explained for the time being. If they really start investigating me, the situation won't be too good..."
Chen Ling pondered as he turned and went downstairs.
As soon as Chen Ling reached the first floor, he saw Kong Baosheng trotting in from outside carrying a stack of things. The two "Door Gods" at the entrance were still staring viciously at him, but Kong Baosheng seemed to be used to it by now and completely ignored them.
"Mr. Lin, I've bought the newspapers you asked for."
"Alright, put them down."
Chen Ling returned to the rocking chair and sat down, gripping the stack of newspapers in his hand. While eating the fruit Kong Baosheng had cut up, he began to flip through them one by one.
These were the newspapers of the Red Dust Main City for the past half year, perfectly connecting in time with when Chen Ling was last here. Moreover, with the lesson from last time, Chen Ling only asked Kong Baosheng to buy non-entertainment newspapers this time, filtering out most of the useless information.
Seeing this, Kong Baosheng didn't step forward to disturb him, but instead took the ingredients he had bought along the way out of the bag on his own and went into the Kitchen to start cooking.
The rhythmic clacking sound of the Kitchen Knife hitting the cutting board mixed with the occasional sound of newspaper pages turning, fermenting in the warm sunlight. The entire Theater House was enveloped in a leisurely and free slow-paced rhythm.
"Hello, can I watch a play inside here?" A passerby walking past the Theater House entrance asked cautiously.
"Watch your fucking mother! Get lost!!"
The two Door Gods glared, and the passerby was so scared they fled in a panic.
This was the second guest they had scared away today. Although not many people watched operas in this era, there were still some. No matter how low-profile the newly opened Jinghong Theater was, with the customer flow on this street, there would still occasionally be people coming to inquire.
After scaring away another guest, the young man holding the baseball bat wasn't in a good mood. He looked back at the tranquil Theater House, and for some reason, he had the feeling that he had become a watchdog macaque...
"No, we're ruining his business this much, is he really not angry at all?" He asked in confusion.
"I don't know, his emotions are too stable, he was even smiling at us just now."
"He's pretending... He must be pretending!"
"I think so too. In fact, he's already furious inside, just not showing it... Ultimately, he's just a soft target putting on an act."
The two whispered to each other, occasionally glancing at Chen Ling inside the room, not knowing whether they were truly mocking Chen Ling or just trying hard to find psychological comfort for themselves.
Chen Ling casually put a newspaper back on the table, picked up the latest one, saw the headline on it, and suddenly raised his brows.
"The Chairman of the Beidou Consortium, Mu Chunsheng, is holding a birthday banquet... Those two spies also seemed to have mentioned this."
Chen Ling's gaze turned to the main text. The scale of this birthday banquet seemed to be huge. Not only did it invite a large number of stars, Female Leads, and famous performers from the Red Dust Main City, but also a large group of well-known figures from the political and business circles. Chen Ling found most of the names very familiar.
"Chairwoman of the Whale Shark Consortium Su Xiaohong, Chairman of the Paradise Consortium Pang Shan, Chairman of the Dinglu Consortium Lu Yuanzheng, Chairwoman of the Huang Consortium Huang Suyue... Hmm??"
Seeing the last name, Chen Ling froze for a moment.
Chen Ling had a deep impression of this Huang Suyue. The first time he entered the Red Dust Main City, he had even scammed her out of 500,000. The then-desolate young lady of the Huang Consortium had actually transformed half a year later to become the chairwoman of one of the new five major consortia.
Chen Ling carefully flipped through the relevant newspapers and only then discovered that on the day he left the Red Dust Main City half a year ago, the Chairman of the Flower Capital Consortium, Zong Wen, had been flayed and killed. The already tottering Flower Capital Consortium completely collapsed, and the Huang Consortium reacted the fastest, annexing the Flower Capital Consortium's industries and foundation at all costs, developing into a newly risen power in the Red Dust Main City in just half a year.
It seemed that the reminder he left her before leaving still played a role.
"However... who killed Zong Wen?" Chen Ling thought to himself.
Someone who could use such cruel methods to kill Zong Wen was probably an enemy with a deep-seated hatred? But how did the other party break through the Flower Capital Consortium's security measures, silently get close to Zong Wen, and carry out such a lengthy killing process?
Chen Ling pondered for a long time, temporarily put this newspaper aside, and his attention returned to the news of Mu Chunsheng's birthday banquet.
"If nothing unexpected happens, Li Ruohong will definitely go to this birthday banquet, and he will secretly bring those two spies along with him... A seemingly lively and joyful birthday banquet on the surface, but secretly involving a conspiracy showdown between two major Realms. The waters here are really deep..."
"But that's also good. The deeper the water, the more suitable it is for me to fish in troubled waters... If things go smoothly, not only can I resolve the Casino's predicament, but I can also take care of those two Wuji Domain spies, and at the same time allow myself to gain a firm foothold in the Red Dust Main City."
"It's just, in this birthday banquet, what kind of Role should I play..."
Chen Ling rubbed his chin with one hand, falling into deep thought.