The next day, the weather was clear and the temperature dropped to twenty degrees Celsius.
Jian Jing got up at seven o'clock, did some sit-ups and push-ups indoors to finish her morning exercise before going downstairs to have breakfast.
In the dining room there was only Kang Mu Cheng, who sat at the wooden long table, sipping coffee and checking emails at the same time.
Jian Jing wondered, "Aren't you sleepy getting up so early?"
"There is toast in the fridge, toast it yourself," Kang Mu Cheng typed on the keyboard. "It's not early, it's already half past seven."
She unwrapped the toast and put it in the toaster, "You went to bed after two last night, and it's only been a few hours?"
"Did I disturb you?"
Jian Jing was busy making coffee and casually said, "Oh no, I just thought you wouldn't come back."
Kang Mu Cheng's movements stopped and he turned to ask her, "What are you thinking about?"
Jian Jing silently mouthed "painter".
He fell silent, then turned his head as if nothing had happened, "Don't talk nonsense."
Jian Jing shrugged, "You're questioning my observation skills."
She held up her fingers and listed the evidence one by one: "At dinner last night, she handed you seasoning and touched your hand; poured you wine, revealing cleavage; and when chatting with you, she kept playing with her hair very frequently... Should I go on?"
Kang Mu Cheng looked very awkward, both embarrassed at being seen through, and a little helpless: "What are you worrying about this for?"
"I just happened to remember it." She hummed lightly, "Who told you to say I was talking nonsense, otherwise I would have completely forgotten about this."
"Forget about it now." Kang Mu Cheng continued to focus on his work, "It's not a good thing anyway."
Jian Jing slowly drank her hot coffee, "It seems you don't like this unexpected blessing."
Kang Mu Cheng hit enter, closed his laptop, and interlocked his fingers, "Are you very interested in this topic?"
"Just chatting," she said.
Kang Mu Cheng said, "This is my personal matter."
Jian Jing was slightly stunned, feeling somewhat caught off guard and embarrassed. And this expression, as it fell into Kang Mu Cheng's eyes, also made him realize immediately that he had said the wrong thing, and he tried to remedy it: "I didn't mean to blame you."
She nodded, "I know."
However, the atmosphere was still weird.
Kang Mu Cheng weighed his words, wanted to say something more, but at that moment, a brisk footsteps came from outside. Xia Tianxin's figure appeared in the morning light, greeted them cheerfully, "You guys are up so early?"
"You're up early too." Jian Jing smiled.
"I wanted to go to the mountains early in the morning." Xia Tianxin invited, "Are you going? Let's go together."
Jian Jing agreed very quickly: "Sure, I wanted to go yesterday."
"Me too." Xia Tianxin looked delighted to meet a kindred spirit. She casually took some food, "Let's set off after breakfast, how about it?"
Jian Jing didn't even glance at Kang Mu Cheng, just smiled and said, "Couldn't be better."
The two girls quickly formed an alliance. They hastily finished breakfast and went back to their rooms to change into casual clothes. Together with their guide Xiao Tian, they went into the mountains to have fun.
The autumn sky was clear and the trees in the mountains were full of vibrant colors. Before they even reached the reservoir, the girls' phones were already full of photos.
Not only was Xiao Tian good at painting, her photography skills were also quite good. Under her guidance, the photos were no longer common portraits. Silhouettes, spots of light, ponds were all good props to use, and each photo looked like it could be in a gallery.
The girls were immersed in the joy of taking pictures until they were ravenously hungry, and it was already noon.
Xiao Tian exclaimed, "The teacher must be up by now. I have to hurry back."
Jian Jing and Xia Tianxin were both a little embarrassed and quickly agreed. The three of them rushed back, arriving at around 12:20 pm.
They ran straight into Xiao Lu.
He asked, "Did Teacher go out with Eddie today?"
"No?" Xiao Tian was puzzled. "Teacher drank so much last night, she must have just gotten up."
"I just went to knock on Teacher's door to ask what's for lunch, but she didn't answer me." Xiao Lu said awkwardly, "Maybe you can go take a look?"
He was a boy so it wasn't proper for him to enter the female teacher's room. He could only ask Xiao Tian.
Xiao Tian naturally agreed and hurried upstairs.
A few minutes later, she leaned over the stairs and shouted, "The door is locked, so Teacher should still be asleep."
In a flash, one of Jian Jing's radars was triggered: "Did you call out to her?"
"I called her."
"Louder, if no one answers then call her." She came up with excuses more and more smoothly. "Vomiting while drunk is dangerous."
Xiao Tian looked hesitant. The painter had great prestige, and calling her made Xiao Tian not dare to disturb her casually: "Teacher often gets drunk, and nothing has ever happened before. If we wake her up, she will be very angry."
Jian Jing frowned.
She was certain the painter would not be angry, because, she could no longer be angry.
[System: New mission released]
[Mission name: The mysterious death of the painter]
[Mission description: In the scenic mountain resort, the beautiful and wealthy female painter suddenly died. Was it an accident after drinking, or a premeditated murder? Please find out the truth.]
[Mission Reward/Punishment: Success rewards 30 courage points. Failure has no punishment.]
Jian Jing thought, "Has the painter ever skipped lunch before?"
"Very rarely. Teacher has a bad stomach and saw a doctor who told her to eat on time every day." Xiao Lu hesitated, "Or should we just call her?"
"Okay then." Xiao Tian knocked on the door again.
There was still no sound inside.
Jian Jing asked again, "Is there a key?"
Xiao Tian and Xiao Lu both shook their heads.
Insisting on entering the room seemed a bit strange, so Jian Jing didn't push it further: "When everyone is here later, ask again if anyone has seen the painter. Maybe she went out."
This was obviously a more acceptable choice, and no one else objected. They discussed what to have for lunch.
The resort had abundant stock. Xiao Tian cooked a pot of noodle soup with side dishes and snacks, which made for a decent lunch.
During the meal, Tao Zong and Kang Mu Cheng both came over to eat and asked if anyone had seen the painter. The answers were all no.
Kang Mu Cheng also said, "I saw Eddie leave in his car this morning, alone."
Jian Jing had already fully switched to investigation mode, and sensitively asked, "Is he leaving? Where did he go? Did he say when he'd be back?"
Kang Mu Cheng stared at her for two seconds before saying, "I didn't ask."
She suddenly frowned.
However, around 2:30 in the afternoon, Eddie came back.
On the contrary, Wu Writer had packed up and said he had something at home, preparing to go back today. Jian Jing was thinking about how to find an excuse to keep people here, when Eddie said, "There was a very serious car accident on the highway, it’s blocked and you can’t get through for now."
This place was remote, and the only road connecting it to the outside was the highway. With the highway jammed, it was impossible to get to the nearby high-speed rail station or airport.
Wu Writer's face was ugly as he opened his phone to search for news. As Eddie said, the local WeChat official account had already released related messages, asking town residents not to go on the highway for the time being, to avoid congestion.
Jian Jing thought: This is great.
She said, "No one has seen the painter, is she still in the room?"
"Let me go see." Eddie went upstairs and knocked on the door, but didn't get a response for a long time. He felt something was wrong: "Lisa would never sleep until the afternoon."
Jian Jing had already observed the terrain: "Go over from the next room?"
The resort was only two and a half floors. The second floor all had balconies that you could climb over from the adjacent rooms. Eddie was tall with long legs and easily climbed over to the balcony next door, opened the connecting door and went in.
Jian Jing didn't want to let him enter the scene alone, so she followed along.
There was no one on the bed, and the bathroom door was open. The two of them entered the bathroom one after the other, and at a glance saw the painter slumped over in the bathtub.
"Lisa?" Eddie rushed over, trying to grasp her shoulders and call out to her.
But before his hand reached out, Jian Jing quickly slapped it away.
He was surprised: "What are you doing?"
"She's been dead for a while, don't touch her." Jian Jing was mentally prepared and spoke calmly. "Be careful not to contaminate the scene, call the police."
Eddie still hadn't reacted, dazed for a good while before murmuring, "How is this possible, Lisa is dead?" He looked around. There was no blood or other traces. "How did she die?"
Jian Jing said, "The coroner will know when they get here."
He fell silent, face pale as he went out to open the door and notify everyone of this terrible news: "Something happened to Lisa."
Everyone was shocked and crowded to the bathroom door to see what was going on.
Jian Jing reacted quickly and immediately half closed the door.
Wu Writer had resented her for a long time and would pick on her at every opportunity, let alone now: "What are you doing?"
"Men stay back." Jian Jing didn't budge an inch.
Kang Mu Cheng and Tao Zong reacted very quickly and immediately stepped back outside the door, asking her: "What's going on? Did you faint or slip? Do you need to call an ambulance?"
Jian Jing's eyes lingered on everyone's faces. She said slowly, "The painter is dead."
"What?"
"Really?"
"What happened?"
Everyone expressed their shock to varying degrees, but Xiao Tian and Xiao Lu reacted even more strongly, with disbelief written all over their faces: "How could Teacher have... Good heavens!"
They were extremely upset: "What should we do?"
"Wait for the police to come," Jian Jing repeated.
She didn't want to start investigating right away, but the people involved in this incident were rather special. Half of them were her seniors whom she was not close with, so it would be difficult to convince them to let her take over the case.
Therefore, waiting for the police to arrive and assisting with the investigation as a helper was the most reliable plan.
Forty minutes later, the police arrived.
Although there was only one officer, the speed was already very impressive.
"My surname is Liang. You can call me Officer Liang," said the newcomer who looked to be in her early twenties. She had delicate features and sharp eyes, and was a dashing young woman. "There was a series of chain collisions in town, and we're short on manpower. I'm the only one who could be sent over for now. The rest will arrive in a few hours. Does anyone have a problem with that?"
Tao Zong closed his mouth that had fallen open. He did want to ask why there was only one officer, and a woman at that, but the way his question had been preemptively answered made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Wu Writer was more direct: "I have a very important event to attend. When can I leave?"
"None of you can leave until I finish the investigation," Officer Liang said decisively. "Now tell me your names, ID numbers, and why you are here."
She looked around at the few people sitting in the living room, and singled out Wu Writer, "You start."
Wu Writer was impatient, but Officer Liang deliberately touched the gun on her waist, so he obediently responded: "Wu Xing. I'm Old Yang's friend. The painter said he wanted to host a private exhibition, so I came to support my buddy."
Officer Liang quickly looked up the relevant information on her tablet and took notes at lightning speed with her stylus.
"Tao Ling. I'm the editor-in-chief of Morning Star Publishing House, also here for the exhibition."
"Xia Xing. I came with Editor Tao."
"Tian Yi. I'm the teacher's student, have been here all along."
"Lu Yuan. I'm also the teacher's student."
"Ai Di. I'm Lisa's friend and often stay here."
...
Everyone reported their identities and reasons for being there. When it was Jian Jing's turn, Officer Liang didn't say anything either, but her gaze lingered on her for a moment.
After everyone had registered, she finally said, "I'm going to examine the scene now. Please stay here and don't wander around. Miss Jian, please come with me. I need someone to help record."
Jian Jing was a little surprised but this was exactly what she wanted, so of course she wouldn't refuse: "Alright."
The two went upstairs and entered the bathroom.
Only then did Officer Liang say, "Miss Jian, according to regulations, there should be at least two officers responding to a call, but the situation is special today so I could only temporarily recruit assistance from people on the scene. You have a very high rating in the police's internal system and have helped the police apprehend suspects several times before, making you the most suitable candidate."
Jian Jing blinked. Internal system? They have something like that too?
"Also," Officer Liang revealed the first smile she had shown them, "I'm in the same class as Ji Feng. He's mentioned you a few times in our chat group. Can I trust you?"
