On the first day back at school, Jian Jing didn't have a great day.
She called her friend Zuo Xin to complain: "We just met and barely talked, yet he decided to ask me out already? Isn't that too rash?"
Jian Jing recalled how Cheng Jia You courted her back in the day - he took his time, chatted with her first, then subtly hinted at his interest, handling it very tactfully without being off-putting.
But Li Classmate... sigh!
Zuo Xin, Jian Jing's college classmate and former member of the detective club, now a honorable Chinese teacher after graduation, cut straight to the point: "He's not being rash, he just likes you and wants to make his move quickly."
"I didn't sense it was love at first sight though," Jian Jing rolled her eyes. If it had really been love at first sight, she would have noticed Li Classmate's intentions, but she didn't.
He skipped all the preliminaries and abruptly asked her out, completely out of the blue.
"Who said anything about love at first sight," Zuo Xin spoke bluntly, which sounded unpleasant about herself yet pleasing to others. "He thinks you're pretty and rich, dating you would save him twenty years of struggle."
Jian Jing took a deep breath as her blood pressure rose.
"We're in grad school now," Zuo Xin said meaningfully. "Everyone is looking out for themselves, partner selection is very pragmatic."
Jian Jing sensed something unusual: "Did you get a boyfriend?"
"No, but since I became a teacher, there's been a constant stream of matchmakers coming to me. They think a teacher's job is stable with good benefits, perfect for marriage." Zuo Xin started complaining too: "So I became a teacher to make it convenient for men to pick a wife?"
Her sarcastic remark hit the nail on the head, making Jian Jing laugh.
The two girls found solace in each other's grievances, further cementing their beliefs: men aren't that important, they should focus on making money while still young.
Jian Jing sighed sentimentally, then opened her document to start earning.
Today's writing felt a little stuck. To find inspiration, Jian Jing logged into the school's internal website.
On the homepage, a new announcement flashed in red.
She clicked in casually, and it turned out to be a missing person case.
The missing person was Wan Yuan, the associate dean of the Faculty of Literature at Peace University. He had been missing for 3 days since December 3rd.
Today was December 7th early morning. As a dean from her own faculty, Jian Jing couldn't help but be curious.
She read the police bulletin carefully: On the afternoon of the 3rd, Wan Yuan's colleagues saw him drive away from school, saying he had a cold and was going to the hospital.
At the time, his wife was overseas. But after not being able to reach him for several days, she grew worried and rushed back. When she got home, there was no sign of her husband. According to the property management's surveillance, Wan Yuan had not returned home in the past three days.
He had vanished.
The police investigated street surveillance and confirmed Wan Yuan drove to a mall after leaving school. He parked in the underground garage, entered the mall, and disappeared without a trace afterwards.
Note that his cellphone, wallet, and ID were all left in the car.
His credit cards also had no transactions in recent days.
The police hoped anyone with information would come forward, and major clues would be rewarded 10,000 RMB.
After reading the report, Jian Jing found it very strange.
First, it was rare for an adult to suddenly disappear without ransom demands from kidnappers - most cases were voluntary disappearance.
Especially without taking his cellphone. Nowadays people even bring their phones to the bathroom, so it seemed illogical that Wan Yuan would leave his behind no matter where he went.
But if he disappeared voluntarily, why didn't he bring his ID? Air travel and high-speed rail all required real name registration nowadays, so one couldn't get far without an ID.
Quite bizarre.
Jian Jing then checked the school forum.
The school had also issued a missing person notice, asking students for clues.
Comments were disabled on the post, so students started a new thread digging up gossip about the dean.
A: "Whoa, a man in his forties can just go missing like that?"
B: "Kidnappers wouldn't target old Wan either, there are so many richer businessmen."
C: "Old Wan must have a couple million savings though!"
D: "Did he elope with his young aunt?"
Other comments were largely similar - in summary, Wan Yuan was an average teacher and researcher, but extremely skilled at making money.
The Faculty of Literature got relatively small funding compared to the sciences, mostly just tens or hundreds of thousands. But Dean Wan drove a Benz and lived in a villa, sending his kids abroad for school - one had to admit he was loaded.
Apparently some young lecturers resented this and wanted to report him, but it always petered out.
From the comments, people generally sympathized with Wan Yuan's wife. She was a housewife, accompanying their daughter studying abroad.
Now with her husband missing, she had no job, so life must be difficult.
Jian Jing agreed with their views, and shamelessly guessed that the money Dean Wan embezzled never made it home to his wife. That's why the wife had no choice but to report him missing to the police.
"Woof!" Knight suddenly sat up and put his paws on her knees.
Jian Jing looked down.
Knight pattered over to the buzzer panel and pressed the "Want Water" button with his paw.
Jian Jing glanced at the water dispenser, and as expected it was empty. She hurried to refill it and praised, "Well done." She gave him a snack as a reward.
Knight was extremely satisfied.
Jian Jing was also quite happy.
She had bought sound buzzers and trained Knight to recognize sounds for "Want Water", "Want Food", "Want Toilet", "Want Walk" etc. He just needed to press the buzzer for what he wanted, much easier than deciphering his barks.
The training had proven very effective so far. Her ambition was starting to grow.
"Knight," Jian Jing stroked his head and smiled. "Let's learn some new skills."
Knight: "Woof?"
*
The next day, Jian Jing visited the Wans again.
As a student from the Faculty of Literature visiting the dean was nothing unusual. Mrs. Wan did not suspect anything.
Jian Jing consoled her for a bit, then asked about the circumstances in detail. Her account was consistent with the bulletin. Jian Jing then asked, "Did the dean show any unusual behavior beforehand?"
She didn't directly suggest he had absconded, but hinted indirectly: "Was work too stressful, did he want to take a breather abroad to relax?"
But Mrs. Wan said: "No, everything was normal. He even said next month is our daughter's birthday, and we'll celebrate as a family. How could he just disappear when things were going so well?" She sighed, "Where could he have gone?"
From her words and behavior, Jian Jing believed she was telling the truth - Wan Yuan indeed showed no signs of leaving. But that sigh of lament at the end didn't sound fully sincere.
With limited clues here, Jian Jing took her leave and headed straight to the mall where Wan Yuan disappeared.
She obtained the surveillance footage from the police station and traced Wan Yuan's car based on the maps.
The car was still there.
Jian Jing first confirmed the camera blind spots, then crouched by the car window and shone her flashlight in, squinting hard to discern the interior.
It was an average middle-aged man's car, decently appointed and branded, with leather seats and a safety talisman hanging from the rearview mirror. There was a thermos cup, a box of tissues, and a pack of cigarettes with a lighter.
The storage compartments weren't fully closed. Through the gaps she could see a wallet and cell phone stuffed inside.
Jian Jing glanced at the messy tissue box and tilted leather seat - everything indicated the owner was not obsessive about tidiness and keeping items neatly arranged.
In that case, there were only two reasons to properly stow away the phone: either leaving for an extended period, afraid it might get stolen if left visible; or intentionally not bringing personal items to cleanly disappear.
Scanning the seats, Jian Jing noticed a faint lipstick mark near the headrest.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
"Knight, time for you to shine." She pulled out a man's jacket obtained from Mrs. Wan. "Follow this scent."
Knight gave an excited "Woof", thoroughly sniffing the jacket's smell, then looking at her blankly.
Jian Jing instructed: "Follow the scent."
Knight tilted his head, circling around the car, not understanding.
Jian Jing patiently repeated herself twice before he grasped her meaning, then started leading the way up front.
As a new trainee, his tracking skills were unpolished. He went in circles at times, or got intensely distracted by other cars' tires.
Left with no choice, Jian Jing first had him outline the general route, while she herself sniffed the jacket periodically as they went.
Right direction meant a snack reward. Wrong turn earned a reprimand.
After much trial and error, they traced out Wan Yuan's path: after leaving the parking garage, he took the stairwell up to the mall entrance, crossed the atrium into the restroom. Then he left via a side door next to the restroom, disappearing without a trace in a small alley beside the mall.
It was time to get on the vehicle.
Jian Jing looked around her surroundings and noticed a small shop nearby with security cameras installed at the entrance.
She spent 200 yuan to borrow and watch their security footage.
Within the calculated timeframe, a total of three people got on vehicles here.
The first was a couple, hand in hand as they got into a taxi.
The second was a middle-aged man with a suitcase, who got into a black sedan.
The third was a woman with brown, wavy hair, also a taxi.
Jian Jing took photos of the security footage, and went into a milk tea shop where she drank hot milk tea while patting Knight's head, "Do you know who our Dean is?"
Knight: "Woof?"
Jian Jing felt very melancholy.
At this moment, she understood a little why Sherlock Holmes valued Watson so much.
If she had a Watson too, she could now say, "Watson, what do you think?"
Watson would judge without hesitation, "That middle-aged man kept looking left and right, and hid his face with a scarf. His behavior is suspicious, so he is the most suspicious. His suitcase probably contains his belongings, and he has already fled the country."
She would then rebut, "He was looking around to find the vehicle picking him up. The tag on the suitcase hasn't been removed yet, still hanging from the handle, so the suitcase must be newly bought from the mall."
Watson would feel she made sense, and say, "Then it must be that couple! Wan Yuan and his lover arranged to meet up and abscond with the money."
She would shake her head firmly again: "Acting mysteriously in the vehicle but leaving behind his phone and ID, yet openly leaving with his lover, there is contradiction. Also, the Dean himself uses Hermes belts, while the woman's backpack is a light luxury entry-level brand worth a few hundred yuan. What woman would be willing to be with him - this kind of man would be stingy and directly buy counterfeits."
Watson would suddenly understand: "You're right, so it must be that woman? He disguised himself as a woman?"
She would nod: "This is the only way to explain why the lipstick mark was on the inside rather than outside of the passenger seat. It was not left by a female passenger, but accidentally touched when the driver himself turned his head."
Knowing the time and taxi license plate number, investigating would be easy.
Jian Jing asked Officer Liu, who happened to be in charge of this district, to help investigate. Very quickly, the trajectory of the taxi ride was found.
The answer was mind-blowing.
At that time, Dean Wan went to a bar in the city.
Jian Jing felt a sense of foreboding.
"Let's go, Knight." She hurriedly took the dog onto the car, rushing straight to the destination.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the neon lights were bright, the scenes illusory.
The bar was called 2077, with no clear meaning. It was one of the most famous nightclubs in the city. Ladies free entry, men 200 yuan entry fee, average spending even higher per head.
Jian Jing left Knight in the car and went in alone to investigate.
The bouncer at the door eyed her several times, seemingly wanting to say something but held back. Girls coming to party, even if they wrapped up in fur coats outside, inside would be little skirts or cheongsams, the more eye-catching the better.
But Jian Jing had come to investigate, wearing a sweater, jeans, and a loose hoodie, with sneakers.
Her outfit was completely out of place, instantly attracting the attention of many people in the club: Wow, here comes a innocent-looking student girl, clearly her first time coming to this kind of place, here to broaden her horizons.
What are you waiting for, go for it!
