Chapter 366: Turns Out She’s a Minor Internet Celebrity

Chen Shi suggested they check the place where the construction site disposed of its waste. They followed the dump truck in their car.

When they arrived at Huoshen Temple and saw the dumping ground, Lin Dongxue was stunned. “This place is huge! Even if we had the entire Second Team here, it would take days to dig through.”

“Then we won’t dig. Let’s leave this heavy work for the Third Team. Finding the body isn’t as important as investigating Mr. Li.”

“I hate to be a downer, but are you sure the killer is someone familiar with the victim?”

“Yes, otherwise how would they know where the victim lived and hang her head on the door?”

“True.”

Xu Xiaodong was absorbed in his phone. Chen Shi asked, “What are you looking at?”

“Li Mengran’s Weibo. People are mourning her after hearing the news. I’m leaving a comment too.”

“Let me see.” Chen Shi took the phone. “Li Mengran was popular? How does she have over 20,000 followers?”

“Probably bought them? No way a high school student is that popular.”

Chen Shi scrolled through her posts. Despite the high-pressure academic environment, she often posted pictures of stray cats, wildflowers, or meals out.

Chen Shi asked, “Xiaodong, do you think Li Mengran liked to show off?”

“Doesn’t seem like it. Her family has a car and a house, and she wears branded clothes, but she rarely flaunted any of it.”

Chen Shi quickly browsed through her followers. They didn’t seem like fake accounts. He was puzzled. Li Mengran hadn’t posted anything particularly attention-grabbing, so why was she somewhat famous?

Chen Shi said, “I’m going to talk to Mr. Li again.”

Lin Dongxue replied, “I’ll head back to the station and check on Captain Peng’s progress. I’ll start by investigating Li Mengran’s social circle.”

“No, investigate Mr. Li’s social circle. The killer’s actions seem more like revenge against him.”

“Alright.”

Back in the city, they split up. Chen Shi didn’t go to Li Mengran’s home immediately. He walked around the neighborhood, drawing lines on a hand-drawn map. If Li Mengran intended to spend the night at an internet cafe, her route intersected with the dump truck’s route.

The entire Third Team was investigating Li Mengran’s school relationships. Gao Xiang, who had attempted to assault her, was already brought in for questioning. Chen Shi’s solo investigation seemed isolated, but his long-term experience gave him sharp instincts. He felt the killer was nearby.

It might even be someone he had passed by in the last few days.

When Chen Shi arrived at Li Mengran’s home, Mr. Li was still not at work. Chen Shi noticed a few more gray hairs at his temples.

Mr. Li was looking at photos of Li Mengran from childhood, crying as he reminisced. He saw Chen Shi and asked, “Officer, how is the case progressing?”

“We’re still investigating. No breakthroughs yet,” Chen Shi admitted.

“Sigh!”

“I came to see if I could learn more about Li Mengran.”

“Six groups of police have already been here. I’ve told them everything. Why is this case taking so long?” Mr. Li complained.

“May I look at these albums?”

“Go ahead.”

Chen Shi flipped through the photos. Mr. Li explained each one: this was Li Mengran as a baby, this was when she learned to walk. He smiled at the memories, then cried again.

Chen Shi noticed a photo of a ten-year-old Li Mengran standing in front of a mountain with a short, dark-skinned boy. He asked, “Is this a relative?”

“No, just a boy we met while vacationing in the countryside.”

Chen Shi felt a letter inside the photo. It read, “Feifei, how is your father’s health? It’s been raining all month in Long’an. Staying home during the summer is so boring. I want to come to your place to catch crickets…”

Chen Shi asked, “What’s this letter about?”

“Let me see.” Mr. Li put on his glasses and read it. “Oh, I remember! When Mengran was little, she participated in a TV show where city kids experience rural life, and rural kids experience city life.”

“Family exchange?”

“Something like that. They filmed for three days. A friend from the TV station said Mengran had the charisma to be a star, so we participated. The filming was different from what I expected—everything was scripted. It was just a small episode in Mengran’s life.”

Chen Shi held up the letter. “Li Mengran wrote to this boy? They must have been close. Do you know his name?”

Mr. Li smiled wryly. “You don’t think he’s the killer, do you? Impossible. They never contacted each other after that. Although Mengran wrote to him, I threw away all the letters, fearing it would distract her from her studies. I don’t know how this one survived.”

Chen Shi became interested. “Is there a recording of the show?”

“You can find it online.”

Mr. Li brought out a laptop and found the episode. Seeing the adorable ten-year-old Mengran on screen made him cry again. When the rural boy appeared, he wanted to fast-forward, but Chen Shi stopped him. “Let me watch the whole thing.”

“These scenes are staged!” Mr. Li said. “Mengran was never this spoiled. The crew made her break dishes and run away for dramatic effect. It was all fake!”

The program introduced both families and the two children. The rural boy, Xiaofei, was the same age as Li Mengran but looked younger due to poor nutrition.

Li Mengran, a pampered city princess, struggled with the rural life and soon started crying to go home.

“Was that real?” Chen Shi asked.

“Scripted,” Mr. Li replied. “She didn’t actually sleep in that shabby school. They just filmed her there for effect. We slept in the crew’s van and returned to the school in the morning for more shots. But the village was genuinely poor. I was there. It was the poorest village for miles, and Xiaofei’s family was the poorest in the village. The crew chose it on purpose. Surrounding villages had developed.”

They watched the show in silence. Mr. Li, overwhelmed by memories, eventually excused himself to cry in the bathroom.

Chen Shi thought, no wonder Li Mengran had so many Weibo followers—she was a minor internet celebrity.