The phenomenon of a new book becoming an instant hit is like this: the first time, you're nervous and sleepless; the second time, you're encouraged and joyful; the third time, you're confident and composed.
The fourth time... you can't be bothered to look anymore.
After breaking the million mark, Jian Jing stopped checking sales figures and only occasionally glanced at comments to see readers' feedback.
Most of the reviews were positive.
"From 'The Sleepwalking Girl', we can see that Jian Jing's writing is becoming increasingly mature: the mystery plot, narrative style, and emotional depth are all well-balanced, each scoring above 8 points. If she continues to write, she'll definitely make her mark in the history of detective fiction."
"I love Jian Jing! Some mystery novels have brilliant plots but terrible narration, making you abandon them before the reveal. But Jian Jing's works are impossible to put down! Honestly, a novel being enjoyable is the most important thing."
"What touched me most about the new book was the delicate portrayal of emotions. Both feature teenagers, but while 'Hide and Seek' almost depressed me, 'The Sleepwalking Girl' is much more vibrant. I bet five cents there's a romance subplot coming up, childhood sweethearts for the win!"
"Ah, the innocent and hazy youngsters... For the first 10 pages, I thought it was a teen romance, but then I was proven wrong. Jian, are you really committed to only writing mysteries and murders? Have you considered writing romance?"
"Kudos to Jian Jing's outline. The case length is just right - not too short to be full of plot holes, nor too long to be tedious. The trick isn't overly complex or showy, but rather ingenious, giving you that 'aha' moment. Her writing has truly matured, definitely worth getting into."
"Jian Jing keeps getting better!"
"Consistently good performance, worth purchasing."
There were also more critical readers.
"As a seasoned mystery reader, I'm a bit disappointed. While 'The Sleepwalking Girl' doesn't have many logical errors, it lacks a dazzling, heart-stopping twist. It doesn't leave you gasping after finishing. I'd give it 4 stars; it falls short of 5."
"No significant improvement, but no regression either. Just average."
"It's okay. No problem becoming a bestseller, but far from a classic."
Of course, even the best works have readers who dislike them, and this part is unavoidable.
"Pretentious youth literature, just dressed up as a mystery to seem sophisticated. Actually, it's nonsense."
"Mediocre, not enjoyable at all."
"Gave up after 3 pages."
...
Overall, the response was quite good, with the rating on Book Worm website steady between 8.5-8.9.
One day, Jian Jing was at home packing her new books, preparing to ship them.
The book she promised Jiang BaiYan had come from the printers three days ago, and he had already come to collect it himself. He even went so far as to post a review (full of praise) before the official release, irritating Jian Jing's fans who accused him of showing off.
For others, she still had to pack and mail them out.
For example, Lei Ao, Fei Na, Wataru Kojima, Doreen, scattered around the world, and many domestic recipients like Zuo Xin, Liang Yi, Zhu Yanan, as well as close contacts like Xu Scriptwriter, Director Huang, Director Ding, and so on.
Previously, Kang Mu Cheng (or rather, his secretary) had been doing this, but now that she had made so many random friends, of course she had to do it herself.
Oh right, she hadn't forgotten Ji Yunyun.
She had gone to the capital for university and missed the New Year's release, but Jian Jing had promised to send her a signed hardcover edition as thanks for her past help.
Jian Jing: [Yunyun, should I send the book to your school or home?]
Ji Yunyun: [Thank you, Jian. I've already bought and finished the paperback, I want to keep the one you're sending me as a collectible]
Ji Yunyun: [There's no one to receive packages at home, and the doorman will leave it in a mess. Could you give it to my brother?]
Jian Jing: [...Alright then]
Ji Yunyun: [Grateful.JPG]
However, Jian Jing didn't want to go find him again.
How many times had this happened? She dialed the number directly, deciding to have Ji Feng come pick it up himself.
It took a while for the call to connect.
"Jian, what's up?" he asked.
Jian Jing: "If I call you without a reason, will your phone explode?"
Ji Feng: "...I didn't do anything to offend you."
"When are you free to come pick up Yunyun's book? She doesn't trust courier services," she said, not bothering with small talk.
Ji Feng said: "Tch, tell her to come get it herself during the holidays. I'm busy."
Jian Jing narrowed her eyes.
"Anything else? If not, I'm hanging up," he asked.
Jian Jing: "Don't you want your money?"
Ji Feng paused, and after a moment, seemingly having moved to a quieter place, said: "I'm not in Peace City."
He finally said something sensible, so Jian Jing decided to chat a bit more: "Where did you go?"
"Somewhere far away," he said, "I watched your award ceremony. Everything okay?"
Jian Jing: "Mm-hmm."
After the award ceremony, there was a celebration party. Director Marlon had probed indirectly, asking if she knew something, why she had stayed in Korea.
She said, 3Q Group was after the championship of "King of Reasoning".
"They kept saying the victory should belong to Korea, and that I stole their fruits of labor," Jian Jing pretended to be confused, her words barely concealing her anger, "I won fair and square, but they accused me of cheating. So I let them confront whoever they wanted, but they couldn't find anyone, so they had to let me go."
Then she turned the tables, pressing Marlon: "Why should the victory belong to Korea? Did you reach some agreement with them?"
Marlon became flustered and changed the subject with some vague excuses.
"Don't go to Korea for the next couple of years," Ji Feng said, "And be careful. This kind of thing is harder to deal with than violent criminals."
Jian Jing was greatly surprised and couldn't help but look at the call screen again.
That's right, it was Ji Feng, not Kang.
"Did you take the wrong medicine?"
"I haven't eaten," he said, "I'm hanging up. Don't worry about the money, I'm not that petty."
Then before Jian Jing could react, there was only a busy tone on the other end.
To be honest, at that moment, she felt a certain unease, but Ji Feng was so irritating that it made her very upset, so she didn't think about it too deeply.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Ji Yunyun called, saying: "Jian, do you know where my brother went?"
Jian Jing: "I don't know."
"I've been trying to call him for two days, but can't get through," the sister was very worried, "I don't have his colleagues' numbers, do you?"
Jian Jing gave her Lao Gao's number.
Half an hour later, Ji Yunyun called back, saying: "Officer Gao said my brother went on a business trip, seems like he went somewhere remote, might not have signal."
She was quite embarrassed: "I'm sorry, Jian, for bothering you."
"It's okay, it's not your fault," Jian Jing quickly reassured her.
Ji Yunyun apologized a few more times before hanging up.
Jian Jing immediately called Lao Gao.
"Hey, Jian?" Lao Gao's voice was as hearty as ever, "What's up? Run into a case, or found a body?"
Jian Jing got straight to the point: "Where's Ji Feng?"
"He went on a business trip," Lao Gao pretended to complain, "He didn't tell you? Geez, this guy is getting worse and worse. I'll scold him when he's back."
She said: "On January 3rd, you posted photos of you and your daughter at Disneyland on social media. He was already out that day. Are you two not partners anymore?"
Lao Gao: "Right, I couldn't get away, so of course the unmarried one goes on business trips."
"Officer Gao, I don't have the right to demand an explanation from you," Jian Jing said, "But we're all friends here. Aren't you worried something might happen to him?"
Lao Gao laughed: "When is our job not dangerous?"
Jian Jing: "Then I'll investigate on my own."
The breathing on the other end suddenly stopped, and after a while, Lao Gao said: "Actually, I haven't been able to reach him either, but I also don't know where he is."
Jian Jing said: "What is he investigating?"
Lao Gao: "I'm not sure, he didn't tell me anything."
"I see."
Jian Jing hung up the phone, thought for a moment, and decided to go out. She put on her wool coat, scarf, and hat, and drove to the police station.
Lao Gao happened to be there and was very nervous when he saw her: "Jian, I really can't tell you."
"I'm here to pick up something," Jian Jing said, "I left some things here before, you haven't thrown them away, right?"
It took Lao Gao a moment to remember it was from the nightclub case. At that time, Jian Jing was waiting for the suspect to speak, observing them take statements, and had brought a bunch of things that she left behind, all dumped on Ji Feng's desk.
He hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, it's all there. Feel free to look."
Jian Jing began to rummage through Ji Feng's desk.
A cheap, ordinary table and chairs. Most of the table was covered with blue folders, and the computer model was somewhat outdated.
Lao Gao whispered, "We can't look at work-related stuff, and he definitely wouldn't put it there anyway."
Jian Jing grunted in response and pulled open a drawer.
The first layer contained stationery like pens, clips, and draft paper, along with some snacks - biscuits, sausages, instant noodles, instant coffee, candy, and cigarettes.
The second layer held a box, pink with hearts, looking at first glance like a gift from a girlfriend. The side of the box read "A Hundred Years of Happiness," but it was actually a wedding favor box, probably from a colleague's wedding.
Opening it revealed the things she had left behind - some fancy pens, sticky notes, stress relief toys, and a shiny hair tie that seemed to be hers, though she had no memory of it.
The cabinet below contained a blanket and a coat.
Jian Jing sat down in the chair, staring at the box for a while before suddenly picking up one of the stress relief toys.
It was a puzzle toy she had bought, with a smooth wooden exterior. You could see the seams, but no amount of twisting or pulling could open it.
She shook the box next to her ear, listening to the steel balls rolling inside. Three turns left, three turns right, shake it downwards, hear a faint click, then suddenly slap the top layer.
With a "pop," the wooden box fell apart, revealing an inner box nestled inside.
The box should have been empty, but now a key lay there, as if it had been waiting for a long time.
Jian Jing picked up the old key, gritting her teeth.
"I'm going to kill you," she muttered, abruptly pushing back the chair and turning to leave.
Lao Gao, who had been watching, was speechless.
Xiao Li, confused, asked, "Uncle Gao, why is Brother Ji so upset?"
"Ah." Lao Gao sighed deeply, his tone quite complex. "You're still young, you wouldn't understand."
*
Small snowflakes drifted from the sky.
Jian Jing sat in her car with the heater on, pondering: Ji Feng had left her a key, but where would the lock be?
It wouldn't be at home; he'd be afraid of involving Ji Yunyun, so he definitely wouldn't put sensitive things there. But other places... he didn't really have anywhere he liked to go.
Jian Jing frowned in concern.
She realized that although she had known Ji Feng for several years, he rarely revealed his true self.
This was too strange - police officers were people too, after all.
Lao Gao liked to show off his daughter, his social media always reposting home-cooked recipes. Liang Yi loved gaming and shopping, sometimes sharing coupons in the group chat just to get a measly three-yuan red packet.
Ji Feng's social media... only had police announcements and press releases, clearly meeting the precinct's task quotas.
He didn't seem to have any hobbies.
After pondering for a while, Jian Jing finally called Zhu Yanan.
Zhu Yanan: "Teacher Jian?"
"Yanan, weren't you and Ji Feng high school classmates?" she asked directly.
"Yes, why?" Zhu Yanan joked, "Want me to sell you some dirt on him?"
Jian Jing asked, "Which class were you in?"
"Class One." Zhu Yanan was puzzled. "Why are you asking this?"
"Just something I need to know," she said vaguely. "Are you free for dinner today?"
Zhu Yanan glanced at her current work, then replied cheerfully, "Sure, you pick the place. I'll come right after work."
