Mei Tan couldn't hold it in anymore: "What do you mean by this?" He laughed coldly, "Just because I didn't go downstairs right away, you suspect me? The poisoner didn't go down right away either."
But no matter how he defended himself, Officer Liu's radar had already been activated. The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.
Jian Jing said, "If it was the poisoner, he could have just pretended to be asleep without hearing anything. Why did he wake up first and then go upstairs? The kitchen is very close to the back door, so the chances of being attacked are not small."
Mei Tan was at a loss for words, but still argued, "No one said you have to watch the commotion just because there is one, right? I don't like watching commotions or meddling in other people's business, is that not allowed?"
"You don't like meddling in other people's business?" Jian Jing laughed. "Then why did you secretly throw away the tape from the scene somewhere else?"
Mei Tan panicked and instinctively defended, "When did I?"
Jian Jing swiftly unlocked the screen, clicked into the platform, and randomly searched: "Recently, transparent wall videos have been very popular on your platform, and Old Cat's fans have been asking him to make one. I saw transparent tape on the shopping receipt, so Old Cat was going to make this video, right?"
The so-called pet obstacle course is to wrap a transparent wall with transparent tape in a passageway, and let cats and dogs overcome it.
Since cats have better jumping abilities, indoor ceilings are limited, and in order to capture more amazing effects, outdoor locations are usually chosen.
The corridor is a suitable position, two meters narrow, high enough, whether it's a cat or a dog, they can try jumps over one meter high.
"If I'm not wrong, you and Old Cat talked about the afternoon filming plan while cooking. And you bought the drugs long ago, perhaps you hadn't decided who to deal with before, or perhaps you were targeting Old Cat from the beginning...it doesn't matter, anyway you chose to be bold and kill two birds with one stone, a steady profit, right?" Jian Jing asked.
Without waiting for Mei Tan to answer, Sister Xuan's cheerful voice came from the toy room: "Found it."
She came out holding a sealed bag and showed Officer Liu the bloodstains and fingerprints on the side of the tape, saying, "There are obvious bloodstains and fingerprints here."
Officer Liu smiled, "Hurry up and get it tested."
He glanced at Mei Tan and said, "If the blood on it is the victim's, and the fingerprints are yours, how are you going to explain it?"
Mei Tan regretted it in secret. He picked up the tape because he was afraid the police would find out that he knew about Old Cat's filming plans. Many people came and went while cooking, who knows who might have overheard it.
He didn't expect that being smart had backfired.
But he wouldn't give up until he saw the coffin, and stubbornly said, "I just happened to see it and picked it up casually, I didn't know Old Cat took it at all. Can you convict me just based on this?"
Officer Liu calmly said, "Convicting is the court's business. Now we are going to search your room."
"Go ahead and search as you like."
Don't confront the police when searching for evidence. Officer Liu immediately said, "Also, go to the Traffic Bureau to check the street surveillance footage to trace his route in the afternoon to see if he threw anything away. Garbage collection time hasn't arrived yet."
Mei Tan: "..." He threw away the drug powder in the outdoor trash can.
Damn it, he thought it wouldn't be discovered!
He knew when to give up. He directly changed his tone: "I didn't know Old Cat would go downstairs! I just wanted Courage to get a little hurt. Everyone was upstairs, talking about shooting videos in the afternoon while eating, I didn't think it would turn out like this..."
No one there believed him.
Brother Xi was so angry he almost died. Even if Courage was drugged, since it had already injured someone, there was an 80-90% chance it wouldn't live. This not only cut off his source of income, but also killed his dog.
"You bastard!" He didn't say anything else before throwing a punch.
Mei Tan didn't dodge in time and took an old fist.
Sister Xuan felt bad for her parrot, and was even more afraid of becoming Old Cat's second victim, so she didn't show mercy either. Her long nails, done with manicures, fiercely scratched the other's face.
Mei Tan let out a miserable cry.
Officer Liu leisurely advised them to stop fighting and pull them apart.
It took five minutes to rescue the bruised and battered Mei Tan.
After being handcuffed, he was taken away.
Officer Liu looked at his watch. He received the alarm at 1:15 pm, arrived at 1:30 pm, and now it was 3:40 pm. The case was already solved.
"Thanks to Teacher Jian." He shook hands vigorously, with a warm smile, "I will definitely report this as heroic behavior."
Jian Jing declined: "It was nothing, no need for that."
"I must, I must." Officer Liu didn't wait for her to refuse, got in the car and drove away with his performance.
She was helpless. The award for heroic behavior had already passed, and another would just be redundant. Besides, the system had already given 10 courage points as a reward.
Yes, the system was becoming more and more cold now. For simple cases, there were no mission prompts even after solving them, just 10 points as encouragement.
"Teacher Jian--" Jiang BaiYan held a cat in one hand and a dog leash in the other, and asked faintly, "Are we going back?"
Jian Jing exclaimed, "Oh!"
She had completely forgotten about this person, cat and dog.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll take you home right away." She apologized.
Jiang BaiYan slowly followed her to the car, speaking lazily: "It's just me, watching the dog and waiting for you for hours. I'm so good to you, aren't I?"
Jian Jing: "I'll treat you to dinner."
"I have plans tonight," he said. "You can just take me to the company. We can have dinner another day."
Jian Jing felt guilty and had to agree to the dinner appointment in advance.
She dropped Jiang BaiYan off at the company. Seeing it was dinner time, and she had a dog but not many good restaurants to eat at, she simply went to the Kang's house to eat and get familiar with the place.
Kang Mu Cheng was surprised to see her at the door. "Did something happen?"
"Let me introduce my godson to you." Jian Jing pulled the leash, and Knight jumped down from the car seat and squatted majestically at her feet. "Knight, say hi to uncle."
Knight: "Woof!"
Kang Mu Cheng was surprised and amused. "Where did you get the dog from?"
Jian Jing inevitably explained Knight's bumpy life experience, and took the opportunity to ask, "In the future when I go out, can I leave him here?"
Before he could reply, Auntie Wang had already agreed, "No problem at all, feel free to bring him here. Having a dog at home makes me feel much more at ease."
Of course Kang Mu Cheng didn't object. He would be overjoyed if Jian Jing could do things that were less dangerous.
Later in the evening, Kang President returned from some social event. Seeing there was an extra dog at home, she amused herself by playing with it for a while.
Kang Mu Cheng urged her to come to dinner three times: "Mom, time to eat."
Only then did Kang President reluctantly sit down at the table, and said, "When you were little, I wanted to get you a dog, but you didn't show any interest at all, sigh!"
Kang Mu Cheng was speechless. When he was little, Golden Crow was still a small workshop. His mother treated the factory as home, and he boarded year-round. Where would a dog be kept?
"You can raise one after you retire." He said.
Kang President pretended to be angry: "Are you calling me old?"
As her son, Kang Mu Cheng thought, you are indeed not young anymore. It's not unreasonable to have you stay home and retire, but drinking with people until midnight every few days... Please consider your heart, liver, spleen, lungs, stomach and intestines.
"Teacher Jian, do you think I'm old?" Kang President looked for support.
Jian Jing decisively said, "Not old at all!"
Kang President's face lit up with joy: "See!"
Kang Mu Cheng sighed in defeat.
Dinner ended in a harmonious atmosphere.
Jian Jing took Knight home happily after getting familiar with the place.
Kang Mu Cheng saw her off to the car, and when he turned around, he heard his mother say, "I think Jian Jing did the right thing."
The son raised an eyebrow.
The mother said, "Although she suffered a bit, she resolved the worrying matter, so her days will be more carefree from now on. She wasn't this cheerful before."
Kang Mu Cheng was silent.
With his familiarity with Jian Jing, how could he not notice this. After Wang Shi's death, her whole person had lightened up a lot. In the past, for safety reasons, she would never have thought of raising a pet.
The current her seemed to have transformed back into her 14-year-old self.
Beneath the quiet and shy exterior, the keen pure glow flickered.
Very good.
Really very good.
He let out a breath, and his nose tip suddenly felt cold.
"Achoo!" Kang President sneezed and wrapped her shawl tighter. "It's snowing early this year."
Under the dim yellow light of the streetlamps, flurries of snowflakes drifted down, like dancing butterflies swirling.
*
"It’s snowing." Stuck in rush hour traffic, Jian Jing enjoyed the rare snow scene in the car.
Knight cooperatively barked once, as if in response.
A smile played at the corners of her mouth. "Clever boy. Behave from now on, you hear?"
The knight barked, "Woof!"
Jian Jing drove the knight home, half thrilled and half apprehensive.
The floor heating was on at home. She could take off her coat as soon as she got in. With the touch of a button, the electric curtains swept open, revealing the snowy nightscape outside.
She instructed the knight, "This is your bed, your food bowl, your blanket, your toys. Don't chew on anything else." She showed him the toilet. "This is your potty. Do your business here and only here. If you make a mess elsewhere..."
Jian Jing crouched down, looking the knight in the eye. "You know the consequences?"
The knight tucked his tail between his legs and wagged furiously.
"Good!" Jian Jing patted his head, sincerely hoping this German Shepherd wasn't an idiot.
The knight didn't let her down.
He only chewed his toys, never scratched the sofa, didn't even bite cables. He wouldn't enter the bedroom if forbidden, even when the door was open. At most he'd give a couple of whimpers at the door.
He disliked teeth brushing, but at her call he'd trot over reluctantly and endure the brushing with a wronged expression.
Jian Jing was greatly surprised to find the knight so well trained. She couldn't help boasting about it to Jiang BaiYan for half a day.
She: [The knight doesn't chew furniture or cables. He never makes a mess. He's so well behaved!]
Jiang BaiYan: [...]
She: [He's the best behaved dog in the world!]
Jiang BaiYan: [Any dog becomes well behaved in your hands...]
At first glance Jian Jing thought he was just flattering her. On second read she realized something was off. [What do you mean?]
Jiang BaiYan: [The knight saw you crush the Tibetan Mastiff. How could he not obey?]
Her: "..."
Jiang BaiYan: [Even my poodle has airplane ears now QAQ, doesn't dare sleep alone at night.]
Jian Jing was at a loss for words. She silently looked to the knight.
The knight, gazing out the window, sensed her gaze and hurried over, ingratiatingly nuzzling her hand and tucking his tail between his legs.
Jian Jing hugged him. She had to explain, "Knight, I'm not that fierce."
Knight: "Whine."
"That was just an accident."
Knight: "Whine."
"Yu was just knocked out, not dead."
Unable to speak, the knight just tilted his head under her petting, unable to say whether he believed her or not.
Jian Jing gave up and released him. "Go play."
The knight nuzzled her hand obediently and retreated to his bedding, continuing to watch the snow.
Jian Jing yawned and strolled into her study to write.
She already had a rough outline for Demon 3, and was using the new writing method again. She had no choice - sequels were hard to write, and series sequels were doubly difficult. Maintaining the original quality wasn't enough - she had to innovate.
Fittingly, the Demon series carried the fates of two "Jian Jings", so bringing Wang Shi's case to a close within it would provide a satisfying resolution.
Jian Jing opened the document and began writing the prologue for Demon 3.
The warmth of an indoor winter night was perfect for working. Her thoughts flowed smoothly. Before she knew it she'd written 5000 words. She gave it a read-through and felt quite satisfied.
Looking at the time, it was already 4am.
Perhaps she'd had too much coffee - Jian Jing didn't feel tired at all. She decided to cook some instant noodles first before sleeping.
On the gas stove, the pot boiled. She added noodles and soup base, cracked an egg, tossed in some ham and garnishes. The savory aroma quickly filled the air.
The knight crawled out of his bed, clutching his food bowl in his mouth. He set it on the kitchen floor and begged for food.
Jian Jing threw him a couple jerky sticks and some small biscuits to gnaw on.
Dawn was nearing in the misty night.
In the distance, a police siren wailed.
A new day began in the peaceful city of Kang Mu Cheng.
