026

Jasmine vaguely remembers reading Andrew Yan's book "Witness" four years ago. At that time, she was just casually flipping through it when she had some free time, not reading it carefully. Over the long time that has passed, her memory has become quite fuzzy, but she vaguely recalls that it was a novel with a major twist. The title of the book, "Witness," was pronounced as "Murderer."

After reading it, she thought the author was quite talented. However, after reading two more of his books, Jasmine didn't like him as much.

The reason, as mentioned earlier, was that while Andrew Yan was indeed a good writer, he didn't seem to portray female empowerment in his books, giving the impression of being a biased writer against women.

Of course, this is just an unverified intuitive feeling.

In short, Jasmine didn't like him. If she truly admired a writer, why would she want to tease him?

But this was Andrew Yan, and she was quite willing.

Jasmine asked Ben to dial a number and made a call in the car. The call lasted quite a while, about ten to fifteen minutes in total. As expected, there was no thank -- no magic gift this time; after all, the other party didn't show much gratitude towards her either.

Ben was curious, listening in on the conversation. Jasmine asked something, and although he couldn't hear the other side, she eventually stopped asking questions and only responded with "Mm," "Ah," "I see," "Wish you happiness at under world,"...

Ben's curiosity got the better of him, and after she hung up, he asked, "How was it? Was it the homeowner on the other end? Who was it?"

Jasmine scolded him, "You'll know in a bit anyway, do you want me to repeat myself?"

"Then let's go in!"

Before reaching for the door handle, Jasmine glanced at him, saying, "Bring out your acting skills. Even though Mr. Yan is not a detective, as a mystery writer, his observational skills should be sharp, right? Don't let him see through you at a glance."

Ben felt a bit indignant, "Why are you only targeting me? Can't you do it yourself?"

"Of course not, acting is my specialty."

"...As a non-professional who has only filmed three movies?"

Jasmine shot him a sharp look, "After we're done here, I'll call your grandmother and chat with her about all your well-known scandals like the campus belle Ceca, internet celebrity Youzi, model Su. What do you think?"

...

...

"I'm sorry, boss."

The two joked around as they walked towards the direction of the small building. When they reached the front steps, they both fell silent. Ben's father was the investor in the project, so naturally, he had to take the lead at this moment. Jasmine followed slightly behind, observing the many ivies climbing the walls of the old house, giving it a historical look.

According to the lady Jasmine spoke to on the phone earlier, the original owner of the house was a socialite during the Republic of China era. It changed hands twice after that, and she and her husband bought it in the early 1940s.

It was meant to be their new home, but her husband, a scholar, soon got the opportunity to study abroad and left on his own.

She thought he would return in a few years, but he never did.

When he left, she was already pregnant and gave birth to a daughter a few months later. At that time, there was a strong inclination towards Western culture in the country, and the daughter grew up in that environment, yearning to meet her father abroad. Eventually, she got the chance to go overseas as well, leaving the old lady to live alone until her passing.

She had a tough life, as neither her husband nor daughter returned after leaving.

They only sent money and letters.

When Jasmine felt the lady had shared enough, she asked if she knew someone named Andrew Yan.

The lady fell silent for a moment and asked why she was asking.

Jasmine hinted at some things.

The old lady said, "That might be the descendant of my daughter."

...

Originally, Jasmine had some bias against this strict author, but after listening to the old lady chatter, her bias deepened. This husband and daughter were indeed the trash of the world, how good could their descendants be?

With these thoughts in mind, Jasmine walked into the old lady's small villa.

Inside, she found everything surprisingly neat and orderly.

Objects in the room spanned several eras, from antique clocks and gramophones to items with a 1920s flair. She glanced around and noticed a wooden staircase leading upstairs. As she thought of going up to explore, she was stopped by Actor A who was sitting on the sofa contemplating.

Actor A was surprised to see her there.

"Come and meet Andrew Yan with Benny."

"So... what do you think about the previous resident here?"

Jasmine noticed someone coming down from upstairs, seemingly addressed as "teacher," imagining it was the disrespectful descendant of the old lady who was talented but looked down on women!

So she pretend circled around, saying, "I think it was a woman, probably living alone, she stayed here for a long time, and kept a cat for company when bored."

Before Actor A could respond, a man who had come down from upstairs spoke, "Why?"

When Jasmine heard this voice, she was very surprised.

She remembered that Andrew Yan became famous when she was about thirteen or fourteen, at least eight years ago. He was a mystery novel writer, and writers must have rich knowledge and life experience, right?

A writer and teacher should be in their thirties or forties, but he looked young, perhaps only twenty-five?

He was tall, thin, and quite handsome.

If she had met such a person in the entertainment industry before, Jasmine would have taken a second look.

But now...

Thinking about the scumbags No.1\2\3 she had worked with before, including Yu Yang from the drama "Seeking Immortality," who was considered a god-like beauty by his fans, whatever stupid things he done people can forgive him. 

After all, he was so handsome. ꒰ᐢ⸝⸝•༝•⸝⸝ᐢ꒱ ​​

Jasmine was now immune to handsome men, even if this strict author was not a middle-aged beer-bellied man, but instead had unique mixed features that were oddly intriguing, she did not waver and continued to review the scheming ways of his family in her mind.

When she finished her review, she pointed to the threads left on the sofa, "There are traces of cat scratches here, what's wrong with me saying she had a cat? Just by looking at the furnishings, you can tell that a woman lived here, a short woman, as the placement of things is uncomfortable for men. Just like you, would you put things in low, inconvenient places? Gender aside, just go to the bedroom and you can confirm it."

The Yan· "trash" · Teacher seemed became interested.

He asked her, "How did you determine that she had lived here for a long time?"

"This house must have been expensive in the past or present. Wouldn't the person who could afford it rearrange the decorations according to their preferences? Even if major items like the sofa were not changed, what about the smaller things? As a buyer, would you keep all the items left by the previous owner? Even if you moved into a house provided by your parents, as long as you plan to stay long, you would pack away some of the original items and get your own set of living supplies.

The range of household items here spans too many years, from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, all popular items, and they harmoniously blend together because the buyer's taste has remained consistent. Many items are outdated, but the owner is sentimental, and as long as they are not completely broken, she keeps them, reluctant to throw them away."

Yan· "trash" · Teacher was extremely surprised, "What else did you notice?"

"Do you want me to continue? After I finish, how will they answer?"

"If you can get everything right, I'll make you the protagonist..." Just as this was said, a bright voice nearby immediately exclaimed, "No!"

The sweaty middle-aged man was in a hurry and said, "No way! Teacher Yan, have you forgotten? We are supposed to make a movie based on your already published works."

Andrew Yan disagreed, "Didn't you say that making some changes could surprise the audience? It would be boring if everything is the same as the book."

"....You can't even change the gender of the male lead! Everything else can be altered, but his 'little rooster', promise me not to change that."

Jasmine laughed, "You see, you can't make the final decision, right?"

Andrew Yan stared at Jasmine for a while, then looked at the middle-aged man, preparing to say something.

The middle-aged man ignored him.

"How about having her cross-dress?"

"I would rather not make this movie than have a sweet girl who is only 1.7 meters tall cross-dress. The male lead needs to be this tall, I would have to cut off a piece of the male supporting actor's legs to highlight the main character's aura. Teacher Yan, be kind to me, don't come up with such outrageous ideas. Miss Jasmine herself doesn't have any neutral feeling in her appearance, cross-dressing is absolutely impossible."

Now that the words were out, it couldn't be undone.

Especially Andrew Yan, Jasmine had speculated before that he might look down on girls, but it wasn't accurate. He looked down on everyone except himself, fundamentally an arrogant guy.

When Andrew Yan wrote books, he would insert himself as the main character, except for opponents who clashed with the main character, everyone else easily became tools or fools.

As for always having girls as survivors or hostages, that was an editor's suggestion, he often didn't have any ambiguous scenes in his initial drafts, adding those was just a compromise for commercial purposes.

After all, novels without any romantic plot lines don't sell that well, no matter the genre.

The plan for the male lead's 'rooster' failed.

The plan to have Jasmine cross-dress as the main character also failed.

Andrew Yan's mind was racing, thinking about how to salvage the situation, then he came up with an idea -- 

"I want to write a story about a female detective and have you as the main character."

"Did you ask me? Just because you want to, I have to?"

Andrew Yan smiled for the first time. He said, "If you weren't interested in my novels, you wouldn't have come here. Since you're here, you won't refuse."

"You are mistaken, I came here to see what kind of great writer always portrays women as mere decorations or burdened victims, I've seen it. I also want to tell you, I am not a character to be manipulated in your book, please speak more politely."

Ben couldn't believe it, he stepped aside for a moment, and the lady had a confrontation with the famous author.

He never expected that the famous author was just like 'M'.

When others flattered him, he didn't care; but when someone confronted him, he felt comfortable.

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Ben: Ugh, what a hypocrite!