In Dream Traveling Girl, Jian Jing added two female characters, a policewoman and a female prosecutor. But for the sake of dramatic conflict (she did it on purpose, in fact), she made them out to be mutually antagonistic sisters.
Regarding the emphasis on the case, she also had a different tendency this time.
The setting of The Devil Doctor was already leaning towards the metaphysical, and was not rigorous from the perspective of reasoning. The Rose Gold focused more on decryption, investigation, and adventure.
So for this Dream Traveling Girl, she intended to have some real reasoning, with the twists and turns of the case as the main thread.
But to win with ingenuity, polishing the case itself was essential. Jian Jing spent most of July at home conceiving the content.
However, one afternoon, she suddenly received a call from Si Yingjie.
"Jingjing, are you home?" Si Yingjie's tone was unusually serious, rarely seen.
"Yes." Jian Jing wondered, "Looking for me?"
Si Yingjie said, "I'm in trouble, you have to help your brother out."
Jian Jing was on alert at once: "If it's about getting dumped by your girlfriend and wanting me to help you save face, that's absolutely out of the question."
"No." Probably because the situation was really urgent, even Si Yingjie couldn't bother with joking, and said solemnly, "My sister's son has been kidnapped. The kidnappers won't let us call the police. I don't feel at ease."
This gave Jian Jing a shock. She immediately said, "Come pick me up."
Si Yingjie: "I'll be at your house in ten minutes."
Jian Jing hurriedly tidied up a bit, and also sent a text to Kang Mu Cheng, asking him to help take care of her dog for a couple of days.
Just as she finished, Si Yingjie arrived with a ticket.
Jian Jing got in the car with him and cut to the chase: "What happened?"
"This was yesterday's matter." Si Yingjie spoke very quickly, and quickly explained from the beginning.
Si Yingjie's second sister married the son of a tycoon. The couple was quite capable, taking over the family business, and was considered a fairly affluent family.
They had only one child, nicknamed Cong Cong, six years old this year, and still in kindergarten. Every day he was picked up and dropped off by a chauffeur and nanny. On weekends, the nanny would take him to amusement parks or parks to play.
Yesterday, Saturday, Cong Cong pestered to go play skateboarding - he had recently become obsessed with it - although Si Second Sister didn't approve of her son playing such a dangerous sport, his dad loved him and secretly agreed.
The nanny had no choice but to take him to the skate park.
Of course, for the sake of the young master's safety, helmets, knee pads and all that were provided. And there were coaches there to supervise, so the nanny wasn't really worried either.
But something just had to happen.
The nanny went to the bathroom, gone no more than ten minutes. When she came back, Cong Cong was missing, and the coach was nowhere to be seen either.
She thought the coach had taken Cong Cong somewhere else to train, but a few minutes later when the coach came back, he said his girlfriend had come to find him and he'd been away for a few minutes.
At that time, the two had not yet realized the severity of the matter, because the skate park was not an open-air facility, but an indoor training hall, outsiders could not get in.
But then they looked around several places and couldn't find anyone, and became worried, hurriedly checking the surveillance footage.
The surveillance showed a ten-twelve year old boy coming into the hall holding a skateboard, saying a few words to Cong Cong, then the two leaving together.
Checking the corridor footage further, the two children, one big one small, walked to the door chatting and laughing. Then the teenager turned back, Cong Cong ran outside, and got into a black sedan.
The nanny knew it was bad and immediately notified the parents.
Cong Cong's parents had wanted to call the police right away, but soon received a call claiming the child was in his hands, demanding they not call the police.
Si Second Sister and her husband had an argument. Her husband thought they should report to the police as soon as possible to seek help in finding their son, but Si Second Sister was afraid of provoking the kidnappers and refused to call the police. Instead, she wanted to find experienced professionals to rescue the child when the captors' guard was down.
Si Yingjie happened to be in Heping City these past two days. Hearing about his sister's troubles, he immediately thought of Jian Jing.
He persuaded his sister and brother-in-law like this: "The kidnappers must have watched Cong Cong for a period of time, and certainly know your family well. Whether it's the police or the security companies you mentioned, at one look you can tell they aren't ordinary people, right? If the kidnappers have people monitoring you, or there are moles in the house, it would be disastrous!"
Si Second Sister hesitated: "That girl you mentioned will do?"
"Do you think she looks suspicious? The kidnappers will think she looks suspicious?" Si Yingjie argued eloquently, "I've seen with my own eyes her crack many cases. If you don't believe in her, don't you believe in me?"
Si Second Sister still knew her little brother well, and knew he wasn't one to boast idly. She finally nodded.
And when Jian Jing heard the cause and events, the first thing she asked was, "Why did that boy call Cong Cong out? Had he seen the kidnappers before?"
"He said the other party asked him to help call someone in, saying it was Cong Cong's auntie who had brought him snacks. " Si Yingjie replied.
Jian Jing nodded. This kind of obvious trick could only fool little kids, and it was precisely because the messenger was a half-grown child that the other people at the venue did not get suspicious.
"Was he a regular?"
Si Yingjie nodded: "My sister checked - he's the son of a small business owner and has been learning skateboarding for years."
Jian Jing asked again: "What demands did the kidnappers make?"
"Fifty million in cash." Si Yingjie said.
Jian Jing was puzzled: "How much money is that? Can a truck carry it?"
"About 750 kg." Si Yingjie said. "Definitely fishy."
Of course a truck could carry fifty million, but who would flee with a truck full of cash? The kidnappers' demand completely defied reality.
Why did they do that then? One possibility was that they had never done this before and thought, like in gangster films, that tens of millions would fit in a briefcase. Another possibility was that this was just a test, to gauge the obedience of the family, and they would surely change the terms later.
Jian Jing inclined towards the latter.
"Let's see first." She said.
When they arrived at Si Second Sister's villa, Jian Jing met Si Yingjie's second sister. The siblings looked very much alike, but compared to her casual and relaxed younger brother, Si Second Sister was a typical woman in power.
She got straight to the point: "Yingjie must've told you all the ins and outs already, what are your thoughts now?"
"Do you have any guesses about the kidnappers' identity?" Jian Jing also didn't bother with pleasantries, and immediately raised questions.
Si Second Sister replied: "Either business competitors who want to strike at and get back at our family, or they saw our family has a bit of money and want to make a fortune."
Jian Jing asked: "Any specific names?"
The couple both shook their heads.
"Did you investigate the license plate?"
Sister's husband said: "I had a friend help check it, [plate number], the car turned onto a road without surveillance and never came out after, probably switched cars."
Jian Jing pondered for a moment, then asked again: "In your understanding, who could trick your child into following them without any doubts?"
The couple revealed a helpless look.
Exchanging a glance, Si Second Sister finally answered: "Many people."
Jian Jing: "?"
They didn't want to say it, but Si Yingjie didn't care and stated bluntly: "My nephew has never gone out by himself before, or been home alone either. He's always had driver and nanny around, sometimes my sister and brother-in-law will also send assistants and secretaries to pick him up. He's not afraid of strangers."
Jian Jing sighed, and finally said: "Do you have recordings of the calls? Let me listen."
"Recorded, recorded."
The recording was very short, just over ten seconds. The kidnapper used an electronic voice, enunciating word by word in a strange tone: "Your son is in my hands. If you want to protect his life, prepare fifty million in cash. Do not call the police, or you will never see your son again."
Si Second Sister asked: "Who are you? What proof do you have that my son is in your hands?"
The other end of the call did not answer and directly hung up.
After that, Si Second Sister received a text message with a photo attached.
The photo showed the sleeping Cong Cong, wearing the clothes he had on when he disappeared.
Si Second Sister said: "I asked the nanny, the clothes were newly bought, worn for the first time. The photo is real."
Jian Jing enlarged the image to study the details.
Nothing could be gleaned from the child's clothing. The background was also very sparse, only a sofa and white wall could be seen, also ordinary objects without anything special.
Under these circumstances, there was only one thing left she could do.
"I'd like to chat with your family's nanny."
Second Sister Si sneered coldly, “Call the police? If we anger the kidnappers, Cong Cong may get hurt. What should we do then?” She turned to Jian Jing, “Ask whatever you want to ask. Let Ying Jie take you. Saving my son is the most important thing, no matter what.”
With the mistress’ support, Jian Jing’s questioning became much smoother.
First, she sorted out the people around little Cong Cong: a driver responsible for picking up and dropping off the boy, a nanny taking care of his meals and daily life, and a tutor teaching him elementary knowledge.
Jian Jing asked the driver first.
He was the family driver, mainly picking up and dropping off the young master to and from school, picking up and dropping off the tutor who came to teach, and sometimes picking up and dropping off guests if they came to visit. He was not dedicated to serving just one person.
Jian Jing asked him, “Have you noticed anyone following you recently?”
The driver thought carefully for a while before saying, “It seems so. Probably half a month ago, I passed a Volvo and noticed it. At the time I didn’t pay much attention, but thinking back, I seemed to have seen it twice more, so it left an impression.”
“Do you remember the license plate?”
He smiled wryly and shook his head, “Volvos are all over the place. If it wasn’t for that scratch I got on it that day, I wouldn’t have noticed it.”
Jian Jing nodded and did not press him, but changed the subject, “Is your job usually smooth sailing?”
“It’s alright. Not too much work, and the boss and madam are quite generous,” the driver answered evasively.
“What about your colleagues?”
“We get along fine.”
“How long have you all been working here?”
“Yuan Sister has been here over four years I think. Zeng has only been here half a year. I’m just short of three years. I’m not familiar with the others, so I’m not too sure.”
“Do Yuan the nanny and Teacher Zeng get along well with the little one?”
The driver nodded.
Having gotten a general sense, Jian Jing finally asked about his schedule on the day of the kidnapping.
The driver said, “I dropped off Yuan Sister and Cong Cong, then went back. The madam asked me to pick up Master Si, so I brought him here. When I went to pick them up again, that’s when I found out what happened.”
“I see. Thank you for your cooperation,” Jian Jing closed her notebook.
The second person was Teacher Zeng.
She was twenty-six years old, a graduate of a prestigious university, working full-time as a private tutor for wealthy families. She was quite presentable in looks and speech.
Jian Jing asked her similar questions as the driver.
Teacher Zeng said frankly that although she had only been working for half a year, she got along fine with the little one.
“Cong Cong is very clever, but since his parents spoil him too much, he can be quite self-centered and mischievous,” she critiqued candidly. “On my first day of work, he threw bugs into my cup. When I asked him why he did that, he suddenly burst into tears and caused me great embarrassment.”
Jian Jing: “What about now?”
“After I spoke with his parents, they also understood my work, and it has improved a lot recently. At least he doesn’t prank the servants anymore.”
Jian Jing raised her brows, “He bullied the servants?”
Teacher Zeng was very tactful, indirectly acknowledging, “Yes, he was indeed naughty before.”
Jian Jing also asked her opinion of the family.
Teacher Zeng said, “A typical strict mother, kind father family. The mother is stern and the child fears her the most, listening to her the most as well. The father dotes on him a bit more, feeling that as long as the child is healthy and happy, nothing else matters much, and he can be taught slowly.”
“So the child likes the father more?”
“Of course, the father and son are very close.”
Jian Jing then asked about her whereabouts on the day of the incident.
Teacher Zeng said, “I work Monday to Friday. I was resting at home on Saturday and Sunday.”
“Recently, have you been preoccupied with anything?”
Teacher Zeng thought for a while, then slowly nodded, “Yes.”
