Late at night, in a secluded meeting room within the manor.
The clock on the wall silently reached 10 o’clock as five figures gathered once again around the large round conference table, sitting under the dim lighting.
The five workers convened, but compared to last time, the atmosphere was much more somber.
“What do you make of this?”
Li Yuan tossed a photo onto the table and asked coldly.
Tension instantly filled the air, and everyone lowered their heads in silence.
A pale, slender hand reached out, picked up the photo, and held it before their eyes.
The photo showed a red-haired woman dressed in a blue and white maid outfit, holding a tray of exquisite small cakes.
Her back was turned to the camera, her cheeks puffed out slightly, and faint crumbs clung to the corner of her mouth.
Yet that didn’t hide her bright, lively eyes, which occasionally flickered with a glimmer of happiness—like a cute little hamster hoarding food, evoking a smile and the urge to feed her a little more.
The man in white frowned slightly.
“There was no warning at all. She didn’t prepare anything; it was like a sudden whim. Remember, this is an island, not the mainland. Even if she ran, where could she possibly escape to? And according to the psychological model I built, people like her would never run without absolute certainty.”
As he spoke, the man in white rubbed his chin, his eyes flashing with an unexplainable light.
“What interests me now is when she realized the flaw in this whole charade and managed to devise a plan—a nonexistent plan that turned out to be even better than a real one—completely catching us off guard.”
In fact, not just them, Xu Yinsheng herself was equally baffled.
She didn’t even know what had happened. She just wanted to get some fresh air.
Who would have thought a momentary impulse would trigger such a chain reaction?
Li Yuan raised his hand to cut him off, his brows knitting slightly.
“I’m not asking you to analyze why she ran. Right now, I need you to speculate where on the island she might be hiding.”
“Difficult.”
The man in white shook his head.
“The psychological model isn’t foolproof. Predicting human actions from it alone involves too many uncertainties and variables.”
“That’s why I need you to find a way.”
Li Yuan shot him a cold glance.
“Or you can go alone and try to bring our mad boss back to his senses.”
The thought of Zhao Yicheng in his deranged state—terrifying combat power, wealth, influence, and guns, plus mental instability—made the man in white shiver.
“Ahem, I think there are other methods,” the man in white smiled awkwardly.
“For example, we could learn from The Truman Show…”
“What do you mean? Just say it.”
Li Yuan interrupted impatiently.
There was no time for nonsense at this hour.
The man in white’s expression turned serious.
“Mobilize all the extras for a thorough search. Search building by building, floor by floor, office by office. Every place must be searched. The searchers should pay special attention to potential blind spots—cabinets, trash bins, sewers, trees, and bushes.”
“Right now, the boss has taken sleeping pills and won’t wake anytime soon. We only have this chance to find him and patch things up.”
Hearing this, Li Yuan thought for a moment, then nodded slightly.
“Good. I’ll notify the teams immediately. You should also assign more people and fully cooperate with the operation.”
He scanned the others.
“Any objections?”
No one shook their head.
After all, what he said was true.
The arrow was already on the string.
Hesitation now could only make things worse—when Zhao Yicheng woke up and found his people gone again, who would calm him down in his deranged state?
Seeing no opposition, Li Yuan slammed the table.
“Since there are no objections, notify your teams to act exactly as he said.”
A brightly lit building, originally a hotel for ordinary tourists, now served as a resting room for the many extras.
Outside the manor, the “lights ablaze, cars streaming” scene was their handiwork.
“Sigh, work’s been so tough lately.”
A man complained as he stepped out of the makeup room, rubbing his head in frustration as he looked at the busy staff around him.
“Can’t help it, the economy’s down, work’s hard to come by.”
“Tell me about it!”
“I heard the lead actress ran off.”
“Really?”
“Otherwise, what do you think?”
“We’ve been told we have to do a full search later.”
“Sigh, the life of wage slaves.”
***
Among these extras, some were fresh graduates, still naive about the entertainment world.
Others were veterans, worldly and unbothered by the lead actress running off—some even found it entertaining.
“Hey, where do you think the lead actress ran off to?”
“Who knows? Probably realized she was just the caged canary in this big show and got fed up with everything.”
“Caged canary? We’re just NPCs.”
“Right, we’re all just NPCs.”
The extras laughed and chatted, oblivious that someone was crouched not far behind them, quietly eating a boxed meal and listening in.
“Why is there one less boxed meal?” suddenly a female voice rang out, laced with curiosity and confusion.
“I didn’t see it on the table just now!”
“Could someone have come by and taken it from the table?” another female voice chimed in.
“Maybe.”
A staff member tried to smooth things over.
“Anyway, it’s just pre-made dishes and canned food. Heating another one in the microwave won’t take long.”
“Earning a living now, living to earn later,” a grumbling voice sounded from somewhere.
“Stop complaining. This is an island, not the mainland. Having food at all is a blessing.”
Another female voice responded.
***
The group debated, some already reaching for the microwave to heat their pre-made meals.
Yet they didn’t notice a woman wearing an oversized baseball cap silently toss her finished boxed meal into a trash bin behind them.
She pressed down on the cap’s brim and quietly returned to the second floor.
Lowering her hat, she subtly scanned the surroundings, making sure there were no cameras.
Taking the opportunity, the woman in the cap entered a room. Inside, a woman was changing clothes and froze upon seeing her.
“Who are you? How did you get here?!”
The woman in the cap said nothing, silently removing her sunglasses.
She looked at the woman undressing and whispered.
“Now, I want to know everything.”
In an instant, the entire room was flooded with crimson…