On May 20, after Jian Jing finished her fitness class and took a shower, she opened her locker and saw several missed calls on her phone, all from Kang Mucheng.
She was surprised and puzzled, and quickly dialed: "What do you want to talk to me about?"
"Yeah." Kang Mucheng's tone was brisk, and his joy could be felt even through the radio waves. "I have some news to tell you. Where is it?"
"Gym." She wondered, "What's the news?"
Kang Mucheng asked back: "Today is the 20th, what do you think?"
"520?" Jian Jing was even more puzzled. "Valentine's Day?"
"…" Kang Mucheng had no choice but to reveal the answer himself, "Today is the awards ceremony of the film festival, and Hide and Seek won the Grand Jury Prize."
Jian Jing said "Oh", "That's great."
Kang Mucheng was silent, and then asked: "Don't you know what this award is?"
Jian Jing: "Big prize."
"This is a very important award. We are very lucky. This year is a small year, and the most favorable competitor encountered some sensitive issues. In the end, it fell to Hide and Seek. Tsk, I thought it was impossible. Who would have thought that when luck comes, it is unstoppable." Kang Mucheng was very excited and talked much more than usual. "Although the movie won the award, it is also good for you."
"… Yeah." Jian Jing was not unhappy, but she was less excited and more regretful. She regretted that the other self had not waited until this day.
But she hid it well: "When will it be released in China?"
"It was originally scheduled for the 5th slot, but Director Ding pushed it back because he wanted to take a gamble, and he made the right bet." Kang Mucheng said, "Don't worry, you will definitely be invited to the premiere."
Jian Jing couldn't help but smile: "I'm already looking forward to it."
"Let's wait for good news together." Kang Mucheng said.
As he said, by 7 or 8 in the evening, the Internet was already flooded with news. The main force was naturally the production company, and all major entertainment accounts released relevant news.
Director Ding has his own Weibo account, where he wrote an 800-word essay, describing his mental journey, thanking the producer and friends for their support, praising the actor's acting skills, and being humble by the way. He also did not forget to mention Jian Jing. It can be said that he took everything into consideration and is quite a good person.
Jinwu naturally would not miss this opportunity. He posted a nine-square grid of "Kids Playing Hide and Seek". If you forward it, you will get a book for free, and it also comes with purchase links from major book websites.
Jian Jing curiously clicked on the shopping website and witnessed with her own eyes that the monthly sales volume soared from 300 copies to more than 5,000, and was still growing.
You know, this is an old book from three years ago.
Everything changed overnight.
It would be too false to say that Jian Jing did not get carried away by this, and the half bottle of red wine she drank was the best proof. However, no matter how successful "Hide and Seek" was, it was also another success of Jian Jing. Even if the two were different reflections of the same soul in the mirror, there would always be subtle differences.
She is happy for "herself", but does not consider this as her success.
This subtle sense of difference helped her regain her composure quickly and not be overwhelmed by joy.
Besides, she had something even more to be happy about.
When "Kids Playing Hide and Seek" became a hot search, a new prompt appeared on the system.
[System: The host's fame has increased significantly, reaching the standard for opening a limited lottery pool, and a new card pool is open]
[System: The limited card draw pool will be opened based on the host's fame. At this stage, it is "slightly famous" and can be drawn once every 3 months.]
[System: Do you want to draw a limited card?]
Jian Jing didn't expect there would be a new card draw pool, so she couldn't help but be curious: "Draw."
[Limited card draw]
[Extraction completed]
[Name: Status Card: Stamina +30%]
[Content description: Your concentration increases by 30%, allowing you to remain calm in the face of various crises]
[Note: The status card can be opened or cancelled at any time]
It’s amazing, there is such a thing
She immediately used the new card, and the character panel that she had previously ignored underwent new changes.
Name: Jian Jing
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Reputation: Slightly famous (maybe one or two passers-by know who you are)
Status: Concentration +30%
Physical fitness: 5 (the consequence of staying up late all year round)
Strength: 5 (never arm wrestle with others)
Agility: 7 (You are slightly more agile than an average person)
Explosion: 5 (You will regret it when it comes to life and death)
Stamina: 5 (Your stamina is clearly not that great)
Talent: Literary Creation (locked)
Knowledge: Trace Forensics (elementary), Cryptography (elementary)
Skills: Observation (Basic)
Props: Recovery Candy (2/5), Black Technology Glasses (Main Part + Night Vision Goggles)
Initial points: 20 points of courage, 10 points of special contribution
She tried using the new state, and it worked quite well. Her brain, which still had some residual warmth, immediately returned to normal, and she began to think about what impact hide-and-seek would have on her.
The answer is that the sales of old books will increase, and new books may bring about a wave and have a more important status.
And then nothing happened.
The ones who made the most money were the production companies, the directors and actors reaped the fame and fortune, and she, the original creator, had nothing to do.
So why get excited? Just go to bed.
She was calm and continued to do her job until Kang Mucheng told her that the premiere of "Kids Playing Hide and Seek" would be on June 1 and she needed to attend.
The premiere was at seven o'clock in the evening. Kang Mucheng called her and said that he had a meeting that afternoon and could not spare the time to pick her up, so he asked the company driver to do it for her.
Although it was very common for the company's driver to pick her up, Jian Jing didn't want to go through so much trouble and preferred to drive herself. On the way, she encountered the evening rush hour after work, and the traffic was stuck for a while. When she arrived at the premiere, it was nearly 6:40.
The venue was already about 80% full, with some film critics, some media people, and some unfamiliar faces she was not familiar with.
Jian Jing had no intention of chatting with anyone. She found a seat, sat down, and waited for the show to start.
At this moment, a familiar voice came from the front: "Ms. Jane, long time no see." At the same time, a beautiful and calm face appeared.
Mrs. Qin.
No, perhaps it should be corrected to Ms. Liu Baofeng at this time.
"Qin... No, Liu..." Jian Jing was startled and couldn't find the right word for a moment.
"It's just a title, Miss Jane, please feel free to do as you please." Liu Baofeng's attitude was gentle, and she didn't look like the murderer that was imagined.
Jian Jing activated her "compassion" state and calmed down instantly. She chose a meaningful name: "Ms. Liu, I didn't expect to meet you here."
Liu Baofeng smiled and said, "Although I don't know much about movies, the producer is my friend, so it's not difficult to get an invitation."
Jian Jing noticed that she said "yes", so she asked, "Are you interested in this movie?"
"I'm more interested in Miss Jian." Liu Baofeng said softly, "I want to read your story."
Jian Jing sat down and smoothed the hem of her skirt: "People who came today are either here for the director or the actors. I'm really flattered that you came all the way for me."
Liu Baofeng smiled slightly but did not answer.
As people started to move to other seats nearby, it became less suitable for conversation, so the two of them stopped talking and said no more.
The movie begins.
A gray sky appeared on the huge movie screen. The island in the distance looked like a dark shadow in the deep sea. A faint mist was diffused, and the tone was gray and gloomy.
The camera turned, and a drunk man who was cursing and a haggard woman with disheveled hair appeared in the room.
The man complained about not making money, and blamed the woman for being stupid and bringing a burden. The woman was submissive, and the food on the table was simple and shabby.
Bottles of low-quality wine fell one after another. The man was drunk. The woman poured the remaining food into a basin, walked through the narrow kitchen, opened the cramped storage room, and handed the food in: "Eat."
A child's hand stretched out from the storage room, skinny and bony.
The woman said nothing and hurried upstairs. In the bedroom upstairs, the baby was crying loudly.
The monologue begins: "I was born on a remote island. My biological father died very early, leaving me and my mother. When I was four years old, my mother remarried and married a drunkard. He hated me and wished I would die immediately. He also hated my mother. I don't understand why..."
The scene changes, the baby in the cradle grows up slowly, the relationship between the man and the woman also eases, and sometimes you can see some tenderness. Only the child who is monologue is always outside the camera, like an outsider.
"My younger brother has grown up. Mom and he both like him, but I hate him. He is so mean."
The camera captured some of the younger brother's pranks, such as deliberately defecating in his older brother's bowl, spitting at him, and lying to adults that his older brother bullied him... The little actor is very handsome and has innocent eyes. He is not a demon, he just thinks it's fun.
Natural evil, ignorant evil, and the purity and cuteness of children are combined together in perfect harmony.
"In 2000, it was a foggy day. My parents were out, and my younger brother insisted that I play hide-and-seek with him. I didn't want to, but if I didn't agree, he would complain to my father, so I played this game with him anyway."
"But at that time, I didn't expect that this hide-and-seek game would last my whole life."
The narration ends and the movie gets to the point.
And what happens next is the plot of "The Kids Playing Hide and Seek".
The two brothers played a game of hide-and-seek. The younger brother hid and the older brother sought. But after counting to 100, the older brother searched all over the house but couldn't find his younger brother.
My younger brother is missing.
His brother, parents, and neighbors searched the entire island but couldn't find him. His father beat his brother half to death, but he survived only because his mother pleaded for him.
He had a high fever and was unconscious. In his daze, someone seemed to say to him, "Don't be afraid, everything will be fine."
My brother didn’t know who this person was and fell asleep in a daze.
A few days later, the body of the younger brother floated in the sea, gnawed beyond recognition by fish. There was only one police station on the island, no doctor, and the police force at the time was very limited, so the case was finally closed as an accidental fall into the water.
No one was suspicious, except my brother.
Only he knew that his brother was pushed down the stairs by him and died instantly. He was very scared and hid his brother in the warehouse in the basement.
Why did his body appear in the sea
He spent ten years with this question in mind. In 2010, on another foggy day, a classmate disappeared and there was no news of him.
The news of his last appearance in clothes spread through the streets and awakened his brother's dormant memory.
He had seen this man on the day his brother died.
Met someone ten years later.
It turns out that on this island, on special foggy days, an abnormal phenomenon of time and space interweaving will occur. When the fog dissipates, everything will return to the starting point.
The brother in 2010 traveled back to 2000 to help him destroy the body. The black shadow he saw in 2000 was actually himself ten years later.
When the body was being dumped, it was discovered by a classmate who accidentally traveled through time. The brother kept making excuses to cover it up and almost succeeded. Unexpectedly, the classmate suddenly remembered the disappearance case ten years ago and realized that he was the murderer.
The brother had no choice but to kill his classmate and buried the body behind a grove until 2010.
The police did not suspect him since he had little contact with his classmates. However, a heavy rain exposed the body buried in the woods.
In 2010, it was not difficult to confirm identity through DNA, and perhaps soon the police would find something unusual. To make matters worse, he lost his student ID in 2000.
If the police find him, they will definitely be suspicious.
He searched in the woods and ran into a female classmate who had a crush on him. She chatted with him, but she didn't know that the boy had already made up his mind to kill him.
The brother asked the girl to meet him at the beach, took the opportunity to push her into the sea, and forged evidence and testimony in an attempt to draw the police's attention to the other party.
However, after he killed the girl, the time and space bug was activated again and the girl's body disappeared.
In this way, the designed testimony became very strange and aroused suspicion among the police.
One lie requires countless lies to make up for it, one mistake requires three lives to make up for it.
However, a mistake is a mistake. The hero traveled through time and space several times to make up for his mistakes, but he always made another mistake. Many things could not be changed even if time went back.
Playing hide-and-seek with yourself will never lead to any results.
Finally, he decided to commit suicide to end this long game.