The chat with Fei Na was very enlightening.
Jian Jing got a preliminary understanding of the people at the observation point, but that was not enough. Next she went to talk to Mrs. Lao.
As a middle-aged widow, Mrs. Lao was naturally not in a good mood. Kang President was accompanying her, chatting about this and that, and discussing life going forward.
"I've invested so much money, I have to think of a way to make it work." Kang Lei's business mind was cool and objective. "It's not easy to find someone to take this place over, you need to think it through."
Mrs. Lao smiled bitterly. "I didn't expect to make money anyway. Lao's work was very difficult, we didn't always get funding, and the government support was a drop in the bucket. I just wanted to support his work a little."
Kang Lei said, "Lao's work was very meaningful, money can't measure that."
"Yes, that's what I thought too. I was moved by his persistence at the time..." Mrs. Lao took a sip of champagne and said, "Although we also had disputes, I... I never thought he would leave me like this."
Kang nodded sympathetically. "This is too unfortunate."
"I really wish this nightmare wouldn't end," Mrs. Lao said, holding her temples. After hesitating for a while, she asked, "Lei, tell me the truth, is Miss Jian telling the truth?"
Kang Lei asked: “The murderer is among us?”
"That’s too scary,” Mrs. Lao murmured. “Who would want to kill him?”
Outside the door, Jian Jing knocked. “Can I come in?”
“Please do.”
She came in with hot milk, cookies and some candy, borrowing flowers to present the Buddha. "You don't seem to have eaten dinner, have some sugar first."
"You came right on time." Kang President’s hand hovered between the cookies and milk for a while, but didn’t dare eat the high calorie stuff in the end. She chose the hot milk. “Jingjing, chat with us. Do you really think the professor's death was murder?”
"I don't rule out that possibility." Jian Jing sat down and joined the conversation. "But to be honest, I can't figure out who would want to kill him either. Mrs. Lao, did the professor have conflicts with anyone?"
Mrs. Lao hesitated. "I don't think so."
Jian Jing pretended to ponder: “In the past two days, I was probably the only one who conflicted with the professor. He didn't care much about others, except that he was rather cold to Zha Doctor—what do you think?"
"Yes, Lao was very concerned about Cha Li,” Mrs. Lao admitted. “Cha Li is my good friend, we have so much in common, watching song and dance performances, visiting exhibitions, talking about international politics, Lao wasn’t interested in those things at all. He always thought Cha Li had ulterior motives.”
Kang lazily said, “A man's guts are much smaller than a woman's.”
“That's a trait of male animals. Only with possessiveness can they ensure their genes are passed on to the next generation,” Mrs. Lao, wife of the zoologist, commented sharply. “When you're with him, he ignores you. When you’re with another man, he gets nervous right away.”
Kang raised her eyes and glanced at Jian Jing, asking casually, "So, yes or no?"
Jian Jing: "???"
"Just once."
"Did the professor know about this?"
"If he knew, with his temper, he would never have allowed Cha Li to come over." Mrs. Lao said.
Jian Jing interjected, “Then what was Zha Doctor's attitude towards Professor Lao?”
Mrs. Lao was stunned, then helpless. “They weren't friends and didn't have much interaction.”
“So?” Jian Jing was even more confused now.
“You have to forgive a young girl's ignorance, vanilla,” Kang laughed. “We’ve all been like this before. Jingjing, vanilla means men don't care.”
Jian Jing looked pensive. “You mean Zha Doctor didn't love you?”
"Oh no,” Mrs. Lao laughed. “He's an anti-marriage advocate. I never thought about being with him either. I’ve always loved Lao."
Jian Jing: "......"
Kang patted her shoulder affectionately and said, "Most of a man's infidelity stems from desire, but a woman's affair may not necessarily mean she has fallen for someone else. It could be boredom, depression, retaliation, everthing."
Jian Jing was stunned for a moment.
“Jingjing, in your works love is always very pure. You only cheat when you fall out of love. When love is extreme and unattainable, you’d even kill for love — life and death clarifies everything, separating the clear from the muddy. But the norm of love is chaos, good and bad, noble and despicable, all mixed up together."
Although Kang hadn’t been an editor for many years, she was after all the woman who founded Jinwu. She could still see through every writer's state of mind at a glance.
"Works are a reflection of life. When readers read your works, they are not only accepting your confessions, but also examining themselves. Extreme life and death has a sense of distance from ordinary people that makes it easier to handle. But you can't settle for that if you want to achieve higher literary accomplishments, you still have to work harder."
After Kang finished speaking, she laughed again: “Don't tell Mucheng what I said. He thinks you’re still young and trying to write something more profound and complex may make things worse. I agree with him, but you should know, there's still a long way to go ahead. Don't relax.”
Jian Jing couldn't help nodding.
“Alright, went off topic,” Kang changed the subject. She asked outright, “Vanilla, do you think Cha Li has reason to kill the professor?”
"Uh..." Jian Jing almost choked.
The president is too aggressive.
Mrs. Lao retorted, “He wouldn’t even give up his anti-marriage stance for me, why would he kill for me?”
“...Last question,” Jian Jing said. “Why did Zha Doctor resign?”
Jian Jing ran into Zhen outside Zha’s room. The two seemed to be arguing, but stopped fighting when they saw her coming.
"What are you talking about?" She asked curiously.
Zha Doctor: "Nothing."
Jian Jing looked at Zhen, but he refused to answer too and walked away.
“Doctor,” Jian Jing didn't chase Zhen. Instead, she took the opportunity to stop Zha. “What do you think about the professor's death?”
Zha Doctor: “He died from gunshot wounds, I don't know anything else.”
Jian Jing pretended to be surprised and tricked him. “But I heard you two had a heated argument.”
“Who said that? No such thing,” he replied coldly.
How could Jian Jing be stumped by these questions? She continued the offensive. “Because of Mrs. Lao.”
Zha's expression changed subtly.
“We didn't argue. We just said a couple of words,” Zha said. “This is not the first time anyway. He was always making mountains out of molehills.”
“Was it just making mountains out of molehills? I think he got real evidence.” Jian Jing lowered her voice. “This isn’t good news for you.”
Zha pushed his glasses up and asked sharply, “Are you implying that I killed Lao?”
Jian Jing: “Obviously you deny this.”
"Of course I didn't kill him," Zha said firmly.
Jian Jing asked: “What were you doing after 8pm yesterday?”
“Are you interrogating me?” He angrily accused, “Listen, you have no right to interrogate me. I have the right not to answer your questions.”
Jian Jing shrugged. “Doctor, you don't have to emphasize things everyone knows. In fact, I'm just suspicious for personal reasons and want to verify my own judgment. And your performance...was pretty terrible, I have to say.”
Zha's brow furrowed deeply, and the corners of his mouth were pressed tightly together. Clearly his master was trying hard to restrain his anger.
“Let's talk calmly,” Jian Jing played the trust card. “The deceased was a professor of some renown. The police will surely investigate thoroughly. You don’t want to become a suspect now, Doctor.”
Zha gave a cold laugh. “Are you threatening me?”
“We just met yesterday. How does threatening you benefit me?” Jian Jing laughed. “I want the truth, and what you want, Doctor, is a job offer from an overseas university. We don't conflict.”
She learned from Mrs. Lao that the reason for Zha’s resignation was that the subject he studied was very unpopular. The university refused to give him more funding and told him to either change his research direction or raise money himself.
Furious, Zha resigned. But he did not want to give up his research. He sent resumes to overseas universities researching the same subject and was currently waiting for a response.
If he became a suspect in a murder case, the offer he had been dreaming of would likely slip away.
Zha was silent.
After a while, he said, "I stayed in my room writing papers all the time, I didn't go out."
"Is there any way to prove it?"
"You can ask the guy living next door to me," Cha Li said. "He can see into my room from his side."
The one living next door was Li Journalist.
His tent was close to the outermost cabin of the wooden houses. If the curtains weren't drawn, he could indeed see part of the doctor's room.
It was now 9:40 at night, very close to the time the incident occurred last night.
Jian Jing worked up her courage and headed straight to Li Journalist's room.
He was startled by the guest's visit. His expression was ambiguous: "Miss Jian? It's so late, do you need something?"
Jian Jing got straight to the point: "Zha Doctor has run into some trouble. He wants to know if you can confirm that he stayed in his room all of last night."
Li Journalist was shocked. It took him a long time to say: "How could I possibly do that?"
"Your room can see into his, right?" Jian Jing peeked inside.
Although the tents had adjustable curtains, the view wasn't very clear. But as long as the inner shade curtains weren't drawn, one could still vaguely see the inside of the wooden houses.
However, Li Journalist regretfully said: "I didn't pay any attention to that side. I was very tired last night and went to bed early."
"You didn't see anything at all?" she asked.
Li Journalist spread his hands helplessly. "I'm afraid not."
Jian Jing said disappointedly: "That's too bad."
"No way. Just because I didn't see anything, Zha Doctor would be considered the murderer?" Li Journalist looked skeptical. "Miss Jian, do you really think the murderer is one of us?"
Jian Jing asked: "Don't you think so?"
Li Journalist said: "Why would any of us have a grudge against the professor? You came here on vacation. Mrs. Kang and the professor are longtime good friends. I came to take photos and hardly knew the professor. Zha Doctor is Mrs. Lao's friend. Chen has worked here for many years. I can't think of a single reason at all."
On the contrary, he advised Jian Jing: "Miss Jian, I heard you're a writer. I know writers have rich imaginations, but novels are novels and reality is reality."
"So you think the murderer was an outside criminal?" Jian Jing asked back.
Li Journalist shrugged. "That seems like a more obvious answer."
Jian Jing nodded without arguing further with him. She glanced around his room and said, "Routine questioning - you were in your room all last night, correct?"
"Yes, I was very tired and went to bed early." Li Journalist sighed helplessly, "If you need my alibi, I'm afraid I don't have one either."
"Thank you for your cooperation."
Jian Jing turned around and left.
