"Where is Han Dai? Tell me!" the woman demanded urgently.
Immediately, a hint of suspicion crept into her eyes. "Why would you take the initiative to tell me all this?"
"I'm short on cash. It's easy to give birth to children, but raising them costs a lot of money. I'm in need of cash to buy baby formula." I stuffed the stack of red bills the woman had placed on the table into the pocket of my apron. "Who wouldn't want to make extra money when raising a little four-legged gold-eater? Ms. Hu, you're a celebrity after all. How can you offer so little?"
"You... you... you know I..." Hu Jiao was startled, nervously touching her sunglasses, her face turning pale.
I raised my eyebrows and sat down opposite Hu Jiao. "Don't be afraid, I'm your fan. I won't expose your father's identity. I recognize you because I like and admire your acting and looks."
Hu Jiao's complexion did not improve much; my words were too nonsensical.
Fans become so fanatical that they'd give their lives for their idols. How could they possibly blackmail like I did?
As for me, I didn't need to hide anything.
It was just an offhand way to fend her off. If Hu Jiao had any emotional intelligence, she wouldn't dwell on it.
She fell silent for a while, then pulled a wallet out of her bag with a gloomy expression and took out half of the bills. "There's at least three thousand here. For a waitress like you, that's enough for a piece of information."
"Thank you, Ms. Hu, for the reward. Han Dai is my boss's cousin and has gone back to Xiangshan to act." I counted the money gleefully, sniffed the metallic scent on the bills, and then carefully pocketed it like a treasure.
Hu Jiao watched my every move with a cold gaze, the wariness in her eyes gradually fading to be replaced by mockery and disdain. "How is that possible? Han Dai is pregnant; how can she possibly go back to Xiangshan to shoot? You've taken the money, don't deliberately give me the wrong information."
"You can call Xiangshan and ask the director if you don't believe it. I remember..." I pretended to ponder, after a moment's heat, I smiled and said, "The show she's in, you're the second female lead, right? Why aren't you in Xiangshan?"
That question was rhetorical; the reason Hu Jiao wasn't in Xiangshan was because the main actress had taken a leave of absence.
As the best friend of the main character in the drama, she didn't have much to shoot.
The production team stopped working and waited for Han Dai. However, Han Dai had offered to compensate for the delay, so Xiangshan was waiting for her, with no one really blaming her for anything.
"Hey, is this the assistant director? Has Sister Han Dai returned to Xiangshan?" Hu Jiao made the call in front of me. The assistant director on the phone happened to invite Hu Jiao to come back since Han Dai had been shooting for two days and it was now Hu Jiao's turn for her scenes.
Hearing this, Hu Jiao's face turned green. "So she really went back to Xiangshan, but she... she was clearly pregnant... How could the director possibly let her shoot with such a big belly!"
I sat in my chair, indifferently watching Hu Jiao fall into disarray.
She had forgotten about my presence and dialed her phone again, "Han Dai has already been in Xiangshan for two days! I paid you to tail her, and what the hell have you been shooting? You didn't even figure out her basic whereabouts and were completely in the dark for two days."
The person on the other end was stunned, then remembered the voice of Duan Hong, the paparazzo from Southern Entertainment. "Impossible! I've been staked out near Chen's Restaurant with Li Xing since I got out of detention. Otherwise, you wouldn't have seen the pregnancy photos we took."
"I don't want to hear your excuses, this bitch who stole my leading role, I won't let her get away with it," Hu Jiao angrily spat out, then glanced at me as if she just remembered I was there. There was a terrifying glint of murderous intent in her eyes as she said coldly and deliberately, "Come and pick me up immediately, I'm at Chen's Restaurant."