The Movie Queen's Beloved Crybaby Alpha - Chapter 45

As evening fell, looking at the finally completed collection of stamps, Ye Qinglan closed the booklet and turned to the camera.

“Thank you all for your hard work, accompanying us to so many places.”

-No problem at all, we loved watching!
-Don’t worry about it! You guys worked harder.
-Qinglan is so gentle!

Ye Qinglan smiled and looked at Ning Yunshu: “Let’s go, we should head to the meeting point.”

“Alright.” Ning Yunshu nodded.

On the way back, the two took a sightseeing cart. When they arrived at the gathering spot, apart from the production crew, no one else was there.

“You’ve worked hard, Teacher Ye, President Ning. Here’s some water.” The host handed them two bottles.

“Thank you.” They expressed their gratitude and sat down to drink while waiting for the others.

As the meeting time approached, people gradually returned. Wei Youning, sweating profusely and panting, said, “I’m exhausted! Chasing your progress was so tiring!”

“How did it go? Did you finish?” Ye Qinglan asked with a smile.

“No, we fell short. We skipped a few spots to catch up with you, but then ran out of time.” Wei Youning sighed.

“Looks like we ran into professionals.”

Ye Qinglan chuckled. “We just got lucky this time.”

“Ah, I wonder how the others did.” Wei Youning and her partner also grabbed some water and sat across from them.

“No idea.” Ye Qinglan shook her head.

Soon after, Jiang Can and his partner returned. Ning Yunshu greeted them, “Teacher Jiang, how did you do?”

“Ah!” Jiang Can scratched his head sheepishly. “We only finished half.”

His girlfriend, however, said cheerfully, “Well, we’re here for vacation anyway, so we took our time.”

“Ugh! Compared to you, we look like fools for rushing around!” Wei Youning groaned, making everyone laugh.

Ye Qinglan glanced around. “Only Bai Qian hasn’t returned yet, right?”

“Yeah, she’s alone. No idea where she is now.” Jiang Can nodded.

“Let’s wait a bit longer. Otherwise, we can ask the crew to pick her up,” Wei Youning suggested.

Though they weren’t fond of her, they couldn’t just ignore her on camera.

After waiting for a while with no sign of Bai Qian, Ye Qinglan was about to ask the crew to search for her when Bai Qian limped into view.

Everyone was shocked. The production team rushed to help, and the others gathered around.

“What happened?” the host asked urgently.

Tears welled in Bai Qian’s eyes as she put on a pitiful expression. “I twisted my ankle a little. It’s nothing serious.”

Hearing this, they quickly helped her sit down to rest. The host sent a crew member to buy ointment for her. By the time everything was settled, it was already late.

“Now, let me announce today’s results. Out of twelve attractions, Teacher Ye Qinglan’s team completed all of them. Teacher Wei Youning’s team finished nine, Teacher Jiang Can’s team seven, and Teacher Bai Qian’s team, four.”

It was evident that even the host was at a loss for words when announcing Bai Qian’s completion rate.

To divert the awkwardness, the host immediately smiled and said to Ye Qinglan, “Let’s congratulate Team Ye Qinglan for taking first place!”

“Congratulations!” Everyone applauded with smiles, except for Bai Qian, who forced a strained smile.

The host announced cheerfully, “Now, I declare that the first-place prize is—”

At this point, the host deliberately paused for dramatic effect, heightening everyone’s anticipation.

“For the next day, you’ll have priority selection rights in all activities,” the host proclaimed.

The two blinked, and Ning Yunshu asked, “Does that mean the upcoming activities will have varying difficulty levels?”

The host nodded with a smile. “Yes, there will be four different difficulty tiers.”

Ye Qinglan chuckled. “Well, that’s unfortunate, another advantage for me.”

“Ugh, so jealous,” Wei Youning muttered gloomily.

Ye Qinglan grinned. “Come on, Sister Wei, you can do it!”

“Too old, not up to it anymore,” Wei Youning sighed dramatically, drawing laughter from the group.

As it was getting late, everyone prepared to return to the homestay. Since it was so late, the production team made an exception and allowed them to order takeout.

On the way back, Ning Yunshu placed their food order so it would arrive by the time they finished freshening up.

However, when they arrived at the homestay, they found it pitch-black inside, with no lights on. Remembering that Bai Qian’s mother was still inside, they grew concerned.

They hurried in and turned on the lights, but no one was in the living room. Bai Qian quickly went to her room.

“Mom? Are you here?”

“Stop shouting, I’m here,” Bai Qian’s mother replied, her tone noticeably irritated.

Hearing her voice, the others sighed in relief.

“Let’s go back to our rooms and clean up first,” Ye Qinglan suggested, glancing at the group.

“Sure.”

After a long day, everyone was dusty and disheveled, so they headed to their rooms to freshen up before coming back down.

Once in her room, Ye Qinglan checked the door lock carefully and relaxed when she saw it was intact.

She didn’t mind assuming the worst about people, but she hoped no one actually harbored ill intentions.

Turning on the lights, she confirmed nothing was amiss before she and Ning Yunshu took turns washing up.

“Ah!” Suddenly, a scream came from Wei Youning’s room, it was Xu Youyou.

The two exchanged a glance and rushed out, knocking on Wei Youning’s door.

“Sister Wei, Youyou, what happened?” Ye Qinglan asked urgently.

The commotion soon drew Jiang Can and her girlfriend upstairs as well.

“What’s going on?”

Wei Youning opened the door, her expression grim. “You’d better come in and see.”

Puzzled, they entered and saw two suitcases in front of Xu Youyou, their contents in complete disarray.

“What happened?” Ye Qinglan asked.

Xu Youyou’s voice trembled. “I opened them, and they were like this, I definitely packed them neatly before!”

Wei Youning nodded. “Mine too. Everything was tossed around. Qinglan, what about yours?”

Ye Qinglan’s expression darkened instantly. Without a word, Ning Yunshu turned and went back to their room, only to find their suitcases equally chaotic.

Their faces turned grim.

Ye Qingran rushed over and paled at the sight. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I’ll contact the production team. Xiaoshu, call the police.”

“Got it,” Ning Yunshu responded immediately.

The incident quickly escalated. The production team arrived promptly, but since it was being live-streamed, the news had already spread across the internet. Even shutting down the stream wouldn’t help now.

“Holy crap, what’s this? Someone broke in and ransacked their luggage? That’s straight-up burglary!”

“They even closed the suitcases and put them back after going through them. Half-assed cleanup job, what an amateur thief!”

“That’s not the point! This is a show with high-profile guests, and someone dared to steal? Talk about bold!”

“Wait, who could’ve done this? Did someone sneak in?”

“Did you forget Bai Qian’s mom was in the guesthouse the whole time? If someone came in, wouldn’t she have noticed? I’m leaning toward an inside job.”

“Hey, don’t drag Qianqian’s mom into this! She said she wasn’t feeling well. Our Qianqian’s already been ostracized all day, give her a break!”

“I do suspect Bai Qian’s mom. Remember how she specifically went into Ye Qingran’s room when they were out shopping?”

“Damn, that’s chilling. Was she really sick, though?”

“I saw it on Qianqian’s stream her mom was clearly unwell. Stop spreading rumors!”

“Everyone chill. Let’s see what the production team says. Anyway, CEO Ning already called the cops.”

Faced with the chaotic scene, the production team was stunned. After immediately cutting the live stream, they questioned Bai Qian’s mother, the only person who had been in the guesthouse at the time.

To their surprise, she exploded at the first question.

“What are you implying?! That I did this?! Where’s your proof?!”

The staff quickly tried to calm her. “No, ma’am, we just wanted to ask if you’d seen anyone else come in.”

“How would I know? I was resting all afternoon!”

Her reaction was volatile and utterly uncooperative.

Meanwhile, Ning Yunshu spoke with another staff member.

“Surely there are security cameras in the guesthouse. Can we check the footage?” she asked.

The staff member hesitated. “When we left, the live stream here was turned off. Due to the broadcast setup, all the cameras were switched to streaming mode, so there’s no recorded footage.”

Ning Yunshu frowned. “What about outdoor cameras?”

“Those we have!” the staff member replied hastily. “We’ll check right away for any entries or exits.”

“Good. Go,” Ning Yunshu said, her expression softening slightly.

“I told you I don’t know! Stop bothering me!” Another shrill outburst drew everyone’s attention.

“Ma’am, could you please keep your voice down?” Ning Yunshu’s icy gaze swept over her.

Perhaps intimidated by Ning Yunshu’s piercing stare, Bai Qian’s mother actually took a step back.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! My mom’s just upset. Please don’t be angry, CEO Ning,” Bai Qian interjected quickly.

Ning Yunshu’s tone remained frosty. “I understand how you feel, but catching the thief is our priority now. I expect your full cooperation.”

“I… I understand,” Bai Qian’s mother murmured in response.

The sound of police sirens echoed outside, and soon a team of officers entered.

“Did you report a home invasion?”

“Yes,” Ning Yunshu replied, turning to the officers.

“We discovered someone had maliciously rummaged through our luggage, potentially causing significant financial loss. We kindly ask the police to help us uncover the truth.”

Support The Movie Queen’s Beloved Crybaby Alpha