Peace City Affiliated Middle School.
It was an ordinary day. Boarding students had finished their morning exercises and were preparing for self-study. Day students were hurriedly cycling through the school gates. Teachers arrived for work, some driving cars, others riding electric scooters.
The security guard at the gate greeted the teachers as usual: "Wang Teacher. Teacher Li. Teacher Zhao." Then his eyes lit up, and his tone became noticeably more eager, "Teacher Jian."
Jian Jing walked lazily through the school gates.
Although her rented apartment was only a ten-minute walk from the school, less than 1000 meters away, she was still tired.
After not working for several years, getting up early to clock in again made her feel utterly hopeless.
Hearing someone call her name, she merely smiled, not wanting to speak at all.
The security guard didn't mind and concernedly said, "Teacher Jian, did you not sleep well? Do you have classes this morning?"
"Yes."
"Then try to take a nap before class starts."
She ambled away slowly.
The security guard turned to his colleague and said, "Teacher Jian seems to be in a bad mood today?"
"Ah, it must be because of Teacher Jin's situation," the other guard replied with a gossipy look. "It's caused such a commotion..."
The two exchanged knowing glances.
Jian Jing was lost in thought all the way, constantly pondering who might want to kill her. As she entered the office and met her colleagues' gazes, she suddenly had her first suspect.
"Teacher Jian," a friendly female teacher asked with concern, "you don't look well. Did you not sleep well?"
She nodded.
The female teacher glanced at the male teacher sitting in the far corner and hesitantly asked, "So, you and Teacher Jin..."
Jian Jing smiled, surveying the young man who was tidying up his teaching materials.
She had graduated with a degree in Chinese literature and taught Chinese. Everyone in the office was a Chinese teacher. Teacher Jin was one of only two male teachers in the high school Chinese department. He was refined and fair-skinned, with parents who were a civil servant and a retired state-owned enterprise employee, respectively. His family was well-off.
A man with such credentials was highly sought after in the marriage market.
Since the first half of last year, Teacher Jin had been introduced to many excellent young women. After being picky for a long time, he finally found a girl who met his requirements.
In the second half of the year, Jian Jing signed on at this school.
Compared to her parallel universe counterpart who was a bestselling author, Jian Jing as an ordinary teacher was undoubtedly more... how should one put it, attainable in the eyes of men.
Her family background was ordinary, her origins unremarkable. Apart from a pretty face, she wasn't particularly outstanding in any other way.
As a result, many men had their eyes on her.
Teacher Jin was one of them.
His girlfriend had good credentials - she had studied abroad and her father was also a civil servant. The only drawback was that she wasn't very pretty. And men, being the creatures they are, want both a father-in-law who can save them ten years of hard work and a beautiful girl.
Teacher Jin himself had decent qualifications and supportive parents, so he wasn't particularly desperate for a father-in-law's advancement. Therefore, between a capable but not-so-pretty girlfriend and the beautiful but ordinary Jian Jing, he chose the latter.
Well, if that were all, it might have been fine. But the problem was that he didn't break up with his girlfriend before pursuing Jian Jing. Instead, he was maintaining a relationship with his girlfriend while also flirting with Jian Jing.
The Jian Jing of that time was... rather "gentle".
She had no interest in Teacher Jin, but out of consideration for maintaining a cordial work relationship, she would always respond with a word or two whenever he spoke to her.
In his girlfriend's eyes, this looked like mutual affection!
She became furious and stormed into the school, causing a scene.
Everyone found out about it.
Could the girlfriend... be the one who wanted to kill her?
Jian Jing glanced at Teacher Jin and smiled slightly, "Teacher Jin, my phone is out of battery. Could I borrow yours? I need to make a call."
After falling out with his girlfriend, Teacher Jin had been planning to pursue Jian Jing anyway. Hearing this request, how could he refuse? He coolly handed over his latest iPhone model, saying, "I'll go check on my class."
Jian Jing took the phone and pretended to dial a number.
But as soon as he left, she immediately found his girlfriend's number.
The other party answered, fuming, "Jin, don't even think about me forgiving you. I want to break up."
Jian Jing said, "Hello, Miss Chen, this is Jian Jing."
Miss Chen became cautious, "What do you mean by this?"
"Nothing much," she replied. "I just wanted to tell you that I've never been interested in Teacher Jin. This man, he might look refined and proper, but as a teacher, he doesn't act like one at all. He's only willing to speak to students from well-off families, completely ignoring those from poorer backgrounds. He follows a bunch of internet celebrities online, and they call him 'brother'. Who knows if there's anything inappropriate going on."
The office fell silent.
Jian Jing continued, "Your visit yesterday really helped me out. When I tell him 'I'm not free,' he never seems to understand. Now it's much better. I should really thank you. How about I treat you to dinner tonight?"
On the other end of the line, Miss Chen struggled to speak for a while before saying, "That's not necessary -- you really have nothing going on with him?"
"Teacher Jin is right in front of me now," Jian Jing said, looking at the man standing at the office door with an incredulous expression. She smiled slightly and said, "Would I dare to say such things if I was going to contradict myself? Isn't that right, Teacher Jin? After my sincere words, you won't bother me anymore, will you?"
Teacher Jin's face turned ashen, "Who's throwing themselves at who is yet to be seen. Who do you think you are?"
Jian Jing said to the person on the phone, "Did you hear that?"
Miss Chen remained silent.
"With a man like this, I don't even have the interest to toy with his feelings," Jian Jing said. "I'm hanging up now."
She ended the call and tossed the phone back.
Her aim wasn't great as the screen lock wasn't on. It hit the desk with a dull thud.
"Oops, my mistake," Jian Jing shrugged, turned on her computer, and tried hard to remember what she was supposed to teach today.
Teacher Jin's face alternated between shades of green and white.
"Teacher Jian, how could you say such things about Teacher Jin!" The man himself didn't speak up, intent on maintaining his image, but it didn't matter. In one breath, two smart individuals immediately seized upon the opportunity, using her as a sacrificial pawn.
A female teacher from the neighboring English department office stood up indignantly, "That's such nasty talk. Don't be so excessive!"
"Teacher Wang, have you set your sights on Teacher Jin now?" Jian Jing asked curiously, unfazed. "What about that PE teacher... Teacher Zhang? No luck there?"
Teacher Wang was at a loss for words.
Her family wasn't well-off, so she wanted to find a husband within the system, preferably from a wealthy family. The PE teacher, Teacher Zhang, came from money, and she had been pursuing him before. But that was new money from relocation compensation, not as "noble" as Teacher Jin's family background.
Teacher Jin's face darkened even more.
Jian Jing looked at him and asked, "Teacher Jin, am I being excessive?" She leaned back in her office chair and asked nonchalantly, "Do you want to kill me?"
"You're crazy," Teacher Jin cursed.
Jian Jing said, "Indeed, you don't have the guts for that."
Miss Chen didn't seem likely either.
When she had called to test the waters earlier, Miss Chen's immediate response was about "breaking up," not "cut ties with that woman," proving that she clearly understood the root of the problem was the man himself, not Jian Jing.
She also didn't say things like "you're a shameless homewrecker" or "you vixen." Even when she came to the school to make a scene yesterday, she mainly slapped Teacher Jin and only indirectly criticized Jian Jing with a few words.
Even at the height of her anger, she didn't redirect her fury towards Jian Jing, so it was unlikely she would resort to murder afterwards.
But now that she was just an ordinary teacher, if it wasn't about romantic entanglements, what reason could there be for someone to want her dead?
Who wants to kill me?
Who dares to kill me?
Who can kill me?
She pondered these questions for an entire class period. For the second period, she had to work.
"Sigh, I hate working," Jian Jing complained to her friendly female colleague. "I really hate going to work."
The female teacher handed her a piece of chocolate: "Have something sweet, it'll cheer you up."
Jian Jing ate the chocolate made with cocoa butter substitute and dejectedly went off to her job.
After she left, the female teacher immediately said to another colleague, "Don't you think there's something different about Teacher Jian?"
"Did she get cosmetic work done?" the female colleague asked. "I wonder which clinic, I'd like to go too."
The female teacher replied, "No, it's just... she feels completely different."
To be fair, except for teachers like Wang who saw Jian Jing as competition in the marriage market, most people had a good impression of Jian Jing.
She wasn't vain, petty, or boastful, and she didn't take advantage of others. Her conduct clearly showed she was a decent person, so her beauty didn't provoke resentment. In fact, the older teachers were even enthusiastic about setting her up on blind dates.
The female teacher, who also teaches Chinese literature, is quite artistic and fond of using metaphors: "Let me put it this way, Teacher Jian's aura used to be like jade - smooth and soothing, very comfortable. Now it's like a diamond - beautiful but sharp enough to cut."
The female colleague chuckled and winked: "Not cut, more like scratch the face."
As Jian Jing said, no matter how good Teacher Jin's conditions are, if there's a flaw in his character, people will look down on him to some extent, as long as they're not trying to take advantage.
Meanwhile, Jian Jing walked into the classroom.
"Teacher Jian." The students warmly welcomed the beautiful teacher, with a hint of gossip in the air.
Jian Jing said, "We're watching a movie today."
The unit was supposed to cover "Lin Daiyu Enters the Jia Mansion," but she wasn't in the mood to teach, so she directly put on the 1989 TV series version, freeing her hands to browse her phone.
Most murders are revenge killings or crimes of passion. For the former, there really were no suspects, but for crimes of passion... she truly couldn't be sure.
Teacher Jin wasn't an isolated case. Before him, she had already encountered many bizarre incidents. For instance, during college, there was a male student. They were in the same club, often going out together and participating in activities.
The boy thought they were dating.
Jian Jing was shocked: How come she didn't know about this?
The boy said, "I asked you out, and you always agreed."
Jian Jing replied, "Those were all club activities OR class activities."
The boy continued, "I bought you milk tea, and you didn't refuse."
Jian Jing: "Didn't you buy it for everyone?"
The boy: "I bought it for friends because of you, didn't I?"
Jian Jing: "Is there a difference between you buying 5 yuan milk tea and the class monitor buying 7 yuan water?"
The boy: "The class monitor is rich, you're just after money."
Jian Jing: "..."
In comparison, the little Jing Jing next door who became famous at a young age indeed had fewer troubles.
Getting off track here, anyway, Jian Jing couldn't guarantee that there wasn't some deranged man she had rejected who might decide to kill after failing to win her love.
It was now just past 9 in the morning, and several chat records had already appeared on WeChat.
Mr. A: [Are you free this weekend? I'd like to invite you to watch a movie]
Scrolling through the records, they were mostly daily invitations - movies, board games, meals. Jian Jing had refused all the movie and dinner invitations, only attending a few board game sessions.
She tried to recall his identity, seemingly a teacher from another school.
Glancing at his Moments, his daily life seemed quite rich.
Mr. B: [There's a company cocktail party tonight, want to come and join the fun?]
Jian Jing pondered. This man had the best conditions among all her suitors - a second-generation rich, his family definitely worth hundreds of millions. He was also capable himself, having started an internet company after returning from studying abroad.
His pursuit of Jian Jing was quite serious; it was clear he was looking for a girlfriend, not just a fling. After all, a young and beautiful female teacher, working in the system, with a clean background and simple personality, was very suitable for a serious relationship.
Jian Jing never thought that her former self was so "wife material."
She had no desire to attend any cocktail party and was about to refuse when another message popped up.
Mr. B: [There will be celebrities too]
Jian Jing pondered.
She remembered attending last time; they had invited a currently popular young actor. Her colleagues and friends all hoped she could bring back an autograph.
In this unclear situation, maintaining the status quo might be the best choice.
So she replied: [Alright then]
