A week later.
Nan Chen was attending the opening ceremony for the film I Am You.
After the ceremony was over, all the staff and crew members gathered around for dinner and refreshments.
Nan Chen excused himself as he had something else to take care of. Being the lead actress, however, Ning Ran had to be present.
At first, she was somewhat worried that she would be ostracized due to the negative rumors about her.
She soon discovered that her concerns were unnecessary, as everyone, including the production team, came to greet her and congratulate her.
There wasn’t a single mention of the negative rumors whatsoever.
Of course, the one that was most excited to see her was none other than Tang Jing.
Ouyang Qing was the one who arranged for Tang Jing to be a part of the film. She was to play the part of Ning Ran’s colleague in a lab, a character responsible for what happened to Ning Ran’s child in the plot.
Tang Jing was very satisfied with her role as it suited the highly educated vibes she gave off.
Ning Ran’s popularity had shot up ever since Sound of Thunder 2 became a huge hit, but that wasn’t the case for Tang Jing.
The audience found Ning Ran’s character to be a lot better than Tang Jing’s as the latter’s acting came off as being too forced.
As frustrated as Tang Jing was, she couldn’t do a thing about it.
That was simply the norm in the entertainment industry where only a few were famous.
Now that she had Ouyang Qing to back her up, Tang Jing was determined to make a name for herself.
Although she wasn’t sure how much it cost Ouyang Qing to get her a role in the film, she knew for sure that it was only possible because of Ouyang Qing.
In return, she had promised to do Ouyang Qing a little favor.
Ning Ran soon found herself overwhelmed by the number of toasts she was receiving from everyone.
I’ll get wasted if I keep drinking like this, and I don’t want that! The shooting starts tomorrow, and it’d be humiliating if I were to show up late on the first day!
Tang Jing stood up and helped receive some of the toasts on her behalf. “Please go easy on Ding with the toasts, guys. She won’t be able to attend the shoot tomorrow if she gets drunk, you know?”
“How about you drink it for her, then? You guys worked on a show before, so you should help her out!”
“All right… I’m not really good at holding my liquor, but I’ll do it for Ding! She’s the star of the show, after all!”
With that, Tang Jing downed the entire glass in one go.
“Wohoo! Yeah!” The crowd cheered in response.
Ning Ran didn’t want Tang Jing to keep taking shots for her either. “Hey, I think we should stop drinking for today. We’ve got to work tomorrow.”
There were over a dozen departments in the production team, and staff members from each and every one of them kept coming over to deliver their toasts.
Of course, they weren’t intentionally trying to get her drunk or anything. They simply wanted to get closer to her as she was rumored to be dating Nan Chen, the man who invested a huge fortune in this film just for her.
To them, Ning Ran was someone closely associated with the Nan family, and they all wanted to get behind that ridiculously strong source of support.
Even by only taking tiny sips for each toast, Ning Ran still found herself getting tipsy as there were simply too many of them.
I shouldn’t drink any more… I have to stay alert… Ning Ran reminded herself.
“I’m sorry, everyone. I told my kids that I’d be going home earlier tonight, so I have to leave now. Have fun!” Ning Ran said as she prepared to leave the scene.
Naturally, no one dared stop her from doing so.
The weather was a little cold, and she buttoned up her coat when she stepped out of the hotel.
A car then pulled up outside, and Ning Ran got in after the driver opened the door for her.
The car was driving towards the Red Maple City villa when it ran into a roadblock a few kilometers down the road.
It was mandatory for all vehicles passing by to be inspected, so Ning Ran had no choice but to sit through the traffic jam.
A police officer walked up to them, produced his identification, and ordered them to get out of the car for an inspection.
The driver wasn’t worried as he hadn’t been drinking at all.
“Open the bag,” the policeman ordered Ning Ran.
Having nothing but her phone and some essentials for women, Ning Ran did as told and handed her bag over to the policeman.
The policeman then retrieved each item from the bag in front of his Bodycam and paused when he found a white bottle of pills.
“What is this?” The policeman asked.
Ning Ran was confused. What is that? I don’t remember having that in my bag… Could it be some painkillers that I left in there a long time ago?
“I’m not sure, it could be vitamins or painkillers.” Ning Ran replied.
The policeman opened the bottle and frowned after taking a sniff from it.
He then poured the pills onto the palm of his hand and took a closer look at it.
“These are ecstasy pills! She’s doing drugs! Arrest her and get her tested at the hospital!”
The policeman waved at a few other officers in plainclothes who rushed over and pinned Ning Ran down on the car.
Being a bodyguard, the driver was about to fight back when he saw Ning Ran getting arrested, but Ning Ran stopped him.
“No, don’t resist arrest! I’m innocent, so let’s just cooperate with them.”
Hearing that, the driver placed his hands above his head and knelt down beside her.
Ning Ran was then escorted into a police car and taken to a hospital.
She was a little buzzed at first, but the sudden commotion had her completely sobered up.
I was wondering if I had left that bottle of pills in my bag when the police first found it, but the sight of the ecstasy pills confirms that my suspicions were wrong. I’m absolutely certain that I have never seen, let alone consumed such brightly colored pills my entire life! From what I’ve heard on set, a lot of artistes love taking those as it would lead to hallucinations and give them an inexplicable high. It’s often secretly distributed to people at parties, but I’ve never been to such parties, so how did that end up in my handbag?
Ning Ran kept thinking long and hard about it, but she couldn’t figure it out at all.
“You know, I’ve been watching your shows. You’re such an amazing actress, so why’d you end up doing drugs?” The female officer next to her whispered.
“I didn’t. I don’t know what’s going on either.” Ning Ran said.
“So you’re not on these pills? Were you carrying them for someone else, then?”
“No, I’m not doing drugs, nor am I carrying them for anyone. I don’t even know how that ended up in my handbag.”
“Well, the tests will show us if you’re truly innocent.” The female officer said.
“Thank you, officer. I really am innocent.” Ning Ran said.
