Ye Fang goes on to tell them how it took her a long time to realise Gao Wu was dead, and afterwards she was so shocked that it took someone else approaching for her to finally cry for help.
"It's just so awful, how could this have happened?" she sobs, wiping her face with her forearms.
"Did it look like he died from natural causes or, something else?" Xin Hulei asks, keeping his voice low.
That's also a possibility. Yao Shen barely had the time to grapple with Gao Wu's death, let alone consider the circumstances in which it happened.
Ye Fang's eyes widen, the possibility hasn't crossed her mind either. "No...I....I don't know. I didn't see any blood, but that doesn't mean..." Her face goes suddenly bloodless. "Wu-ge was so young, it's very odd for him to die so suddenly. Maybe, maybe someone..."
Tan Liansi shushes and rubs her back, oddly caring. "We don't know that. Let's leave the investigation to the police."
She shoots Xin Hulei a warning look, which he gives no sign of noticing.
"It's late, maybe you should go back to your room and rest," Yao Shen tells Ye Fang. He wants to have a word alone with Xin Hulei and Ye Fang and it would be better if she wasn't there.
She panics immediately. "I don't want to be alone, please I'm too scared," she says, clinging to Tan Liansi's arm. "Can I stay here tonight, jiejie? I promise I won't bother."
It might be his imagination but Yao Shen is fairly certain he sees a fain blush colouring Tan Liansi's earlobes.
"Sure, uh, I'll show you the bedroom."
She helps Ye Fang off the sofa and leads her towards the bedroom, closing the the partition doors behind them.
---
Yao Shen waits in silence with Xin Hulei for Tan Liansi to return, afraid that anything they say can be overheard by Ye Fang in the room.
She closes the doors to the bedroom behind her and nods towards the balcony glass doors.
They all step outside. Xin Hulei immediately lights up a cigarette. For a moment Yao Shen considers bumping one off him. Xin Hulei must see the temptation in his eyes because he shakes his head.
"This is really fucked up," Tan Liansi says, leaning against the railing.
Xin Hulei takes a deep drag of his cigarette. "The timing is suspicious."
"Maybe he had some disease no one knew about," Yao Shen says, trying to steer the conversation back towards the possibility of natural causes. Since both Xin Hulei and Tan Liansi seem to have decided that isn't what happened.
"Maybe, but we need to consider all angles," she says, and then steals the cigarette off Xin Hulei's fingers and takes a drag herself.
"We can't do anything now," Yao Shen says with a sigh. "We'll just have to wait for the autopsy report."
Xin Hulei hums. "If his death is ruled a homicide we'll definitely hear about it, because we'll be suspects and the police will want to talk with us."
That's something Yao Shen hasn't considered. Xin Hulei's grim words kill any conversation as the three of them stay silent. Tan Liansi and Xin Hulei pass a single cigarette back and forth between the two of them until finally Xin Hulei stubs it out, the waning moon as the only source of light in their square of balcony.
---
Back in Xin Hulei's apartment, Yao Shen is too restless to fall asleep, and too disturbed to pick up where he and Xin Hulei left off before Tan Liansi's call.
So instead he tosses and turns in bed, probably annoying the hell out of Xin Hulei.
This hypothesis is confirmed when Xin Hulei throws one arm over his waist and pins him in place. "Go to sleep," he whispers into the back of Yao Shen's neck. "We'll handle this tomorrow."
"I just want to know more about what happened. It's bizarre." He tries to turn around to face Xin Hulei but the arm around his waist keeps him in place. "What is his death is connected to the families of the business men who've been arrested? What if it's connected to Si Wang? We should be prepared."
Behind him, Xin Hulei hums. "I'll make some calls to tomorrow, see what I can find," he says, dropping a kiss to the first vertebra of Yao Shen's spine.
Yao Shen is still too anxious. He wants to something to help them stay one step ahead of the police investigation, if nothing else. They're bound not to be their biggest fans, since he, Xin Hulei and Tan Liansi decided to go public with a crime which happened on their jurisdiction. To pressure not only local police but the courts to find the suspects guilty instead of falling to the lure of exorbitant bribes.
At least one officer in the Hengdian police station is bound to be really resentful that he couldn't accept those bribes.
Time passes, and sleep remains elusive.
Suddenly, on the verge of succumbing to exhaustion Yao Shen remembers something. Or rather, someone, and his mind is once again alert.
He slides from under Xin Hulei's arm, trying not to disturb him and goes back to the living room where he left his mobile.
[Little Menace: can we talk? it's urgent. I need to know if you've seen Gao Wu lately]
Suddenly, a hand warps around his hipbone, almost startling Yao Shen into bumping into the coffee table.
Xin Hulei steadies him against his chest. "Who are you texting, in the middle of the night?"
Yao Shen is mildly amused by the idea of Xin Hulei being jealous, but he can't really commit to the suspense.
"Just a little ghost."
---
Xin Hulei convinces him not to stay up all night waiting for Jia Hao's reply. It's almost dawn when Yao Shen falls asleep, but thanks to the sleep Upgrade, even that small amount of sleep is enough to leave him refreshed in the morning.
Oddly, he doesn't hear back from Jia Hao.
There are several reasons why Jia Hao might not have replied. He's a ghost after all, and one from the 90's at that. The only reason he wanted a phone in the first place was to talk with Gao Wu.
He tells this to Xin Hulei over breakfast, who proposes something. "Let's go to Gao Wu's hotel room during lunch break, see what we can find before the police get there."
Xin Hulei drops Yao Shen at his empty hotel room, so that he can wait for Bi Jialu to come pick him up.
It becomes obvious as soon as he arrives on set, that several people know about Gao Wu's death already. All around the cast and crew are sombre faces, and hushed conversations happening in corners.
It's hard to tell if Gao Wu was close to any of them, but a death is always a shocking event, especially if it happens to someone you knew, if only in passing, if only by name.
Of course, there's also more pragmatic considerations -- a lot of people must be wondering how this will affect the drama, and how can they replace Gao Wu in such short notice with so much of the show already shot?
The effect it has on everyone is obvious, and the general mood is a lot more subdued.
Director Chen prefaces the first scene of the day by saying:
"I'm sure most of you have heard already. Gao laoshi's passing is a tragedy, and he will be sorely missed. We still aren't clear how to proceed from here, so, for the time being, all scenes involving him will be postponed until further notice."
Yao Shen goes through the first scene of the day without issue, although he thinks his performance was a little lackluster. Director Chen doesn't offer any feedback, more eager to wrap up and move on to the next scene.
He must be counting yuan in his mind, and wondering if the production will have enough money to either reshoot, or handle a possible delay of the outdoors scenes if the weather really turns for the worse.
He's probably asking himself what happened to the star-studded, big budget drama he signed into.
---
By the time lunch comes around, everyone is too busy with their own thoughts and conspiracy theories to notice Xin Hulei and Yao Shen's conspicuous absences.
They meet in Yao Shen's trailer.
"Have you heard back from the ghost?" Xin Hulei saks.
"Nothing."
Yao Shen isn't sure if it's cause for concern, after all, Jiao Hao is already dead. What more can happen to him? It's still weird, though.
"We'll look for Gao Wu's mobile in his hotel room, if we're lucky he left it behind and the police doesn't have it yet."
Yao Shen nods, gritting his teeth to hide his trepidation. The last time he got involved in the investigation of a crime things almost flew out of control. In fact, he can't be sure that same investigation isn't the whole reason why he and Xin Hulei are sneaking into Gao Wu's room now.