The man who approached her was wearing trendy brands. He seemed interested in Jian Jing and asked, "You came with Zhou Zisheng, but you're not staying with him. And when Lawyer Zhao tried to talk to you, you ignored him."
The implication was clear: Are you trying to use Zhou to catch a rich man, but then playing hard to get when one actually approaches you? What game are you playing?
Jian Jing had a mature strategy for dealing with this kind of situation. She simply replied, "How is that any of your business?"
"Just trying to chat," the trendy man said, unfazed by her coldness. "Don't let Zhou Zisheng fool you. He probably told you he's self-made and still needs loans for his business, right? Tsk tsk, his family is actually quite well-off."
Seeing that Jian Jing still showed little interest, he started talking about the investor: "You may not have heard his name, but you've definitely heard of the companies he's invested in."
He then rattled off the names of several big enterprises.
"He has good relationships with many big bosses," he continued, dropping several names commonly seen in financial magazines.
Jian Jing's curiosity was piqued for a moment. "Do you know Kang Mu Cheng?" she asked.
"You mean Mr. Kang from Golden Crow? You're aiming high, aren't you?" The trendy man looked at her with newfound respect. Then he shared a piece of information that shocked her, "When I arrived, I saw his car. He should be in the hall upstairs. It's not easy to catch this busy man, you're quite lucky today..."
He hinted meaningfully.
Jian Jing smiled too.
She thought this man was quite capable, able to talk about all the big shots as if they were his friends. Although he misunderstood her intentions, he could be a good breakthrough point at the moment.
"I was just asking," Jian Jing said. She didn't actually want to meet Kang Mu Cheng. If her mission succeeded, everything would be fine; if it failed, what was the point of another meeting? Instead, she asked, "Tell me about the others. Who's that guy in the checkered shirt?"
The trendy man replied, "That's Zhou Zisheng's cousin. He's just here to have fun, but his family background should be quite good too. Otherwise, Zhou Zisheng wouldn't have brought him."
Jian Jing asked, "You seem to know a lot about Zhou Zisheng?"
"My cousin and he are childhood friends, so I've seen him quite often," the trendy man said. "He's quite a celebrity in our social circle."
Jian Jing assumed a posture of attentive listening.
The trendy man continued, "He has family background, ability, and he's successful on his own. Any parent would be thrilled to have a son like him - it's like their ancestral graves are smoking with good fortune. But he has one flaw - he doesn't like the blind dates arranged by his family. He prefers to chase women on his own... Let me be frank, girls from families of equal status might not be willing to put up with his temper. Those below his status are more likely to submit and play small. You should be careful-- Oops, too late, he's coming over."
He raised his glass in greeting, then turned and slipped away, leaving Jian Jing to face Zhou Zisheng.
Zhou Zisheng approached with a hint of anger.
He had brought Jian Jing here with the intention of impressing her: a high-end party, mingling elites, talks of stocks and investments... This was a world completely out of reach for an ordinary high school teacher. Most people would be intimidated by the material desires and dazzling luxury, developing a mix of longing and fear.
Of course, on the other hand, he also wanted to use Jian Jing's beauty to gain some face for himself.
Internet celebrities and socialites were beautiful too, but how could they compare to a girl from a respectable family? Zhou Zisheng prided himself on being a man of taste, looking down on those packaged women.
However, Jian Jing's behavior was a slap in the face.
She seemed interested in other people too.
"Having fun?" Zhou Zisheng smiled.
"No, not really," she said. "I don't want to see the celebrity anymore. Xue Zhe..."
Jian Jing had searched for photos and now remembered who he was - wasn't he the boy hugging a cat at the hot spring inn? Poor kid, with Xie Wei and Jiang BaiYan at the inn back then, he really didn't leave much of an impression.
"He's not someone I absolutely must meet," she said, scanning the other people present with a bored expression, not catching sight of anyone suspicious. Feeling annoyed, she said, "You've been drinking, so you don't need to send me home. I'll just take a taxi."
Zhou Zisheng was caught off guard by her words. He repeatedly confirmed, "You want to leave now?"
"Yes," she said. "I've seen some people leaving already."
After all, this was just a social gathering. Those who wanted to network stayed, those who didn't left after making an appearance. It wasn't a big deal.
Zhou Zisheng stared at her for a long moment, then sneered, "Fine, then go."
His pride hurt, he naturally wouldn't stoop to begging her to stay. He turned and left with a lingering anger on his face, making it clear to onlookers that they had quarreled.
The trendy man reappeared with a knowing smile. "I told you so," he said, then invited her, "Want me to introduce you to some other people?" This was clearly his intention for approaching her in the first place.
"I'm tired," Jian Jing waved him off. "Goodbye."
She left.
The last time, she had also left around this time: because the party was too boring, too out of place for her. Whatever Zhou Zisheng's intentions were, Jian Jing felt uncomfortable staying and made an excuse about having a headache.
He was equally angry then, and they parted on bad terms.
However, based on her observations and the trendy man's hints, Zhou Zisheng didn't seem like someone who would commit murder.
It wasn't worth it.
Jian Jing had more than one fish in her pond, and the women Zhou associated with surely weren't limited to just her.
It didn't make sense.
Jian Jing was troubled. When she first received the mission, she had been quite confident. Although all her cards were disabled, the thinking and experience she had honed wouldn't disappear.
She was confident she could find the killer.
But now, she didn't even have a single suspect.
Peace City was too peaceful [doge]
She took the elevator down. After a while, someone else entered.
It was Kang Mu Cheng.
Jian Jing hadn't expected to see him in this world and glanced at him curiously.
Kang Mu Cheng had been drinking, his breathing a bit heavier than usual. His jacket was draped over his arm, and his expression was very serious. He glanced at Jian Jing once, then took out his phone only to put it back.
Jian Jing didn't speak to him either, but the corners of her lips curved slightly, her eyes revealing a hint of joy.
Ding dong, their time in the elevator passed in the blink of an eye.
The elevator doors opened to reveal dazzling white light.
Jian Jing was stunned for a moment, then remembered that Kang Mu Cheng had pressed F1 earlier. Out of habit, she had followed him, forgetting to press her own floor. Now she had directly arrived at the parking lot.
Since she was already here, going back up would seem like she was deliberately following him, which would be weird.
She took a few steps towards the exit. The glaring white lights, the newly painted floor, the rows of luxury cars - a memory suddenly flooded back.
What a coincidence, it was the same path last time.
The entrance to this five-star hotel was on the second floor, so F1 wasn't actually the first floor, but the first basement level. The real first floor housed the swimming pool and gym, inaccessible from the outside elevator - you had to go through the back from the guest rooms.
So when she left last time, unaware of the situation, she had pressed F1 and ended up directly in the basement.
The underground space was empty and echoing.
Jian Jing walked slowly towards the exit. As she turned a corner, she suddenly saw someone.
The man in the checkered shirt.
"Uh, you're..." The man in the checkered shirt recognized her and spoke first, "Why are you alone?"
Jian Jing glanced at his open car trunk and smiled slightly, "I found it boring, so I left early. You are...?"
She put on a very confused expression.
He wiped his palms and said shyly, "Zhou Zisheng is my cousin... Should I give you a ride home?"
Jian Jing hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, "No need, I'll just take a taxi. It's fine."
The young man didn't insist further.
Jian Jing walked out of the parking lot, turned the corner to the street, and hailed a taxi home.
She was in quite a good mood.
If she wasn't mistaken, the anomaly in the cousin's trunk was blood.
Back home, she took a shower and checked the notice about the unidentified female corpse again. There was a pixelated photo, but she could vaguely make out that there were no external injuries.
The clothing photos released by the police also showed no blood stains.
Based on the norm in this world, it was likely either a drowning or a suicide by drowning. Murder was rare.
Would the man in the checkered shirt decide to kill her just because she saw the blood today?
Jian Jing pondered for a moment, slowly getting a sense of the situation. She went to bed feeling satisfied.
The next day, Saturday, she woke up early and went to visit her parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Jian were startled, not knowing why she had come so early. "Is something wrong?" they asked.
"I'm here for lunch," Jian Jing said, curled up on the sofa, casually scrolling through Weibo and her social media feeds.
Jian's mother breathed a sigh of relief and picked up her shopping basket to buy some good food. Jian's father, not yet retired, had gone to check on things at his workplace that morning and had just returned home.
During lunch, the couple brought up old topics again.
"You're not getting any younger," Jian's mother said. "How did it go with the ones we introduced you to earlier?"
Jian Jing replied bluntly, "I blocked them all."
Jian's mother became anxious, "What are you doing?"
"Didn't like them," she said. "From now on, don't introduce me to unattractive men. They just irritate me to look at."
Jian's father tried to persuade her, "For men, looks aren't the most important thing. You should focus on their abilities."
Having experienced death once, Jian Jing's attitude towards her parents had completely changed. She said affectionately yet firmly, "Come on, I don't want to force myself. As for men, if one doesn't work out, another will come along eventually. If you have no patience at all, what's the point of even trying?"
Jian's mother was shocked, "Young lady, what are you saying? What do you mean by 'trying'? Marriage is a lifelong commitment."
"To be honest," she said calmly, "stop pushing me, and stop trying to set me up. It's useless."
Jian's parents exchanged a glance, both feeling a bit uneasy.
They tried to convince her again, "Jing Jing, we don't have any other expectations for you. We just want you to live a safe and peaceful life. Now, while your father and I can still help, it's better if you get married and have children soon. We can still assist in taking care of them."
Jian Jing smiled and continued eating.
Her parents persisted, "It's okay if you didn't like the ones we introduced before. We're not trying to force you..."
As they were talking, a new message suddenly popped up on her phone.
Jian Jing opened it. It was a group message from a female teacher: [Have you heard? They found severed hands and feet near Nanhua Residential Area...]
It was followed by a blurry video showing police yellow tape cordoning off an area, with a large crowd of onlookers gathered around.
Here it comes.
If it were just bloodstains, there wouldn't be a need to kill someone, as that would make it easier to get caught.
But what if the day after stumbling upon something, a dismemberment case occurred?
Interesting. This world even has dismemberment cases.
Jian Jing bit her chopsticks and smiled, saying, "I'm full. I'm leaving."
Her parents, who were about to suggest another blind date—after all, wasn't it a waste not to have one on the weekend?—hurriedly asked, "Where are you going?"
"Busy," Jian Jing said as she changed her shoes at the door. For some reason, she suddenly paused, turned her head and said, "Dad, Mom."
The couple responded, "Yes?"
"I'll take good care of myself. Don't worry about me," she said. "I know what I'm doing and what I want to do."
Jian Jing looked at her parents, at her strange yet familiar home, and smiled slightly, repeating, "Don't worry about me."
Then, without waiting for their response, she left without looking back.
