"Knock knock knock", there was a knock on the study door.
Jian Jing looked up and saw Xia Tianxin bringing in a bowl of dumplings. She smiled and said, "Are you hungry? Xiaotian and I cooked dumplings. Come and try some."
After hearing this, Jian Jing felt hungry. She looked at her watch and it was already six o'clock in the evening.
"Thank you." He took the dumplings and ate them quickly while they were still warm. Quickly frozen dumplings were not tasty, but he was not thinking about eating them, he was just trying to fill his stomach.
Xia Tianxin didn't understand and asked curiously, "Are you helping Officer Liang find clues?"
This couldn't be concealed for long, Jian Jing readily nodded and admitted it.
"Eh." Xia Tianxin uttered a meaningless interjection, and asked with curiosity and a little envy, "So, you write fantasy novels because you like fantasy very much?"
Jian Jing was stunned for a moment, then said: "I think so." No matter who they are, they all have a passion for promotion, which is why they choose the path they are on today.
"That's great." Xia Tianxin sat down and propped her head up with her arms. "I'm lucky to be able to write what I want to write."
Jian Jing was surprised: "Aren't you? Chenxing can't be a composition with a given topic."
"Publishers don't have to set specific titles, but they have to consider the readers' tastes." Xia Tianxin spread her hands, "If this book sells well, the editor will review and analyze with you where it hits the market. If it doesn't sell well, the editor will also collect various book reviews to analyze why readers don't like it, so that you can avoid it next time."
He lowered his voice and said, "Morning Star's concept is 'Readers are the king'. Whoever can win the favor of readers can occupy a place. We also have a joint writing activity every year. Readers vote for the plot they want to see the most, and everyone writes a joint article to celebrate the New Year."
Jian Jing was amazed and couldn't help asking, "Don't you like writing romance novels?"
"I like it." Xia Tianxin smiled, and said in a mature manner, "I just don't believe in love."
"If the story can't convince itself, how can it convince the readers?" Jian Jing was even more puzzled.
Xia Tianxin blinked: "Readers don't want to be convinced by me. I made up a dream, and we had a dream. We all know that the things in the dream are fake, but it's still very happy to have a beautiful dream."
Jian Jing was stunned.
Xia Tianxin asked back: "I read your novels and it seems that there is very little love. Do you believe in love?"
Jian Jing nodded: "I haven't encountered it, so I can believe it, just like I believe that aliens do exist."
Xia Tianxin was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.
We all felt much closer to each other.
Jian Jing was trying hard to eat dumplings. Xia Tianxin looked around and finally her eyes fell on the letter she was reading.
"This is a letter from Mr. Yangguan, right?" He leaned in to take a closer look. "Is this about Writer Wu? Could the rumors be true?"
Jian Jing suddenly became alert: "What rumors?"
"Haven't you heard about that? Yang Guan and Writer Wu used to have a good relationship, but they suddenly became distant for a while. Writer Wu said behind his back that he abandoned his wife and children and that his character was worrying." Xia Tianxin is lively and outgoing. She knows a lot of gossip and can't wait to share it. "Later, we all said that he wasn't much better. Fortunately, his wife died early, otherwise he would have harassed girls all day long, which would have made us so angry that we would have died."
Jian Jing raised her eyebrows: "Why did Writer Wu want to throw dirty water on Yangguan?"
"Writer Wu is a man who knows how to judge people. The girls he harassed were either prostitutes or newly graduated workers. It's unlikely that he would offend Yang Guan." Xia Tianxin supported her face with her hands, pretending to recall. "No, I think I heard someone say that Writer Wu has a book... The writing style is very similar to Yang Guan's."
Jian Jing was surprised: "What do you mean?"
Xia Tianxin made a silent gesture, her eyes hinting: "It's just hearsay, it's not the same. They are all old writers from several decades ago, and we don't know a lot of things."
Jian Jing nodded: "I understand."
He had no appetite for dinner and immediately went to Kang Mucheng for confirmation.
Kang Mucheng seemed to have heard it: "You are talking about the book "Lost Yumen"."
"you know?"
"I know. Writer Wu is from Shu, and Yangguan's hometown is in the north. The writing styles of both of them have obvious regional characteristics. The book Yumen is a novel written by Writer Wu after he stayed in the north for two years. The industry has given it very good reviews, but in terms of details..." Kang Mucheng chose his words carefully, "slightly controversial."
Jian Jing went straight to the point: "What do you think?"
"It's hard to say." This is Kang Mucheng's professional judgment.
I understand.
Jian Jing quickly found Officer Liang and explained the clues she had obtained to him.
Officer Liang also made some progress: "I just discovered a problem. Eddie said that he went to see the painter at around 12:00, but neither Tao nor Kang mentioned this matter."
Jian Jing thought about it for a moment and understood the key point: "There are other stairs."
"There is a side ladder at the back door." Officer Liang led the inspection.
It turned out that there was a hidden small staircase at the back door. It was narrow and only wide enough for one person to pass through, and it led directly to the study on the first floor.
"Eddie went out the back door, so they didn't see him." Officer Liang's eyes flickered. "The person who quarreled with Painter Chang might not be Xiaotian or Xiaolu, but someone else."
It is normal for people to quarrel, but since the quarrel happened just a few hours before Painter Chang's death, it is crucial to find out the whole story.
Jian Jing pondered: "Didn't the two students hear anything?"
"We have to interrogate them again." Officer Liang said coldly, "I suspect someone is lying."
He asked Tian and Lu again and asked some more questions.
Officer Liang: "Xiaotian, I heard that the painter criticized you for your painting yesterday. Did you go to see him last night? Did he say anything to you?"
Xiaotian bit his lip and said, "No, the teacher didn't look for me."
"So, you've been painting downstairs?"
"right."
Officer Liang's tone gradually became colder: "But your studio is just downstairs from the painter. Everyone sitting in the living room heard you arguing with someone. Didn't you hear anything?"
Oda pursed his lips and looked at the path.
Xiaolu touched his nose and said unexpectedly: "Actually... we two will go out halfway."
"What were you doing? Why did you lie at the beginning?" Officer Liang pressed.
Xiaotian seemed to be about to cry, his face was pale: "It's because, I forgot... I forgot to give the teacher medicine. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
The girl seemed to be under great mental pressure, and her emotions broke down, revealing everything: "Originally, I was going to give medicine to the teacher, but today the teacher said something very mean to me. I sat in front of the drawing board and felt that I had failed. I learned from the teacher for three years, and he kept scolding me, saying that I didn't work hard enough and that the things I drew were useless."
She sobbed and vented her long-standing resentment to them: "You treated me like a babysitter, ordering me around. Every day you assigned me a lot of homework, which I could never finish. You said I had no talent at all and that I should give up as soon as possible and that being an ordinary painter would be the best I could do."
Xiaolu couldn't bear it, so he put his hand on her shoulder and consoled her: "Teacher, this is for our own good. Look, you promised to help us publish our art album, and you're holding this exhibition for us."
"You believe what I said?" Xiaotian sneered and said resentfully, "I just want me to give up. Of course, I treat you better than me, maybe I really want to recommend you."
Xiaolu was embarrassed for a moment and changed the subject: "In the evening, Xiaotian and I went out to relax and didn't come back until after 12:00. So I didn't hear the teacher arguing with others."
Officer Liang stared at Xiao Tian and pressed him, "What about the medicine you just mentioned?"
Xiaolu quickly explained: "The teacher's lungs are not in good condition. He smoked too much. After seeing the doctor, he has been taking Chinese medicine for a while."
"You didn't deliver medicine to me today?" Officer Liang asked Xiaotian.
"I, I forgot. I really didn't mean it." Oda defended, muttering, "I was just angry. Being angry is not good for me. I was in trouble and didn't notice the time."
"I know, I believe you." Jian Jing calmed down and changed the subject, "Did you see anything unusual when you came back?"
Xiaotian hesitated and said, "We came back around 12:00, and Xiaolu went straight back to his room. But I thought if I didn't finish today's task, the teacher would scold me tomorrow, so I came back to draw something. When I looked over here, I seemed to see someone."
"Do you recognize him?" asked Officer Liang.
"I didn't see his face clearly, but Mr. Kang and Eddie are tall, Mr. Tao is fat, and that guy is a bit strong. He's definitely not Writer Xia or Writer Jian." Xiaotian said, "I think it's Writer Wu."
Officer Liang and Jian Jing looked at each other. Writer Wu came back to his room drunk at around 9 o'clock, and went out again at around 12 o'clock? Considering the conflict between Writer Wu and Yang Guan, his suspicion increased sharply.
When Jian Jing and Officer Liang were looking for the door, Writer Wu was swiping his phone impatiently. He used the telescope to glance at the other party's page and found a map navigation with "Unexpected road conditions, impassable" clearly written on the top.
"Wu Xing, there are some things I need to check with you again." Officer Liang said.
Writer Wu raised his head, frowned, and asked, "What do you mean by that? Do you think I'm a suspect? Which station are you from? Why did you ask your leader to come and talk to me?"
Officer Liang was also stubborn, and immediately said, "Our leader is investigating a serial arson case. Mr. Wu wants to see my leader. Is there something more serious to report?"
Writer Wu was so angry that his face turned blue: "Why don't you speak?"
"Mr. Wu, I now ask you to cooperate with the police investigation." Officer Liang stared at him, "Did you see the deceased after 8 o'clock last night?"
Writer Wu was impatient: "Didn't I tell you everything? You didn't write it down? How do you work?!"
Officer Liang's face turned cold: "Mr. Wu, please cooperate with us, otherwise I can only ask you to come to the bureau and let our leaders ask you for advice on work."
After contradicting the other party twice in a row, writer Wu finally realized that the woman in front of him was not as easy to bully as an ordinary girl.
He softened: "I didn't see it."
"Someone saw you looking for me around 12:00." Officer Liang pressed on. "How do you explain it?"
Writer Wu said, "He said he really went there when he saw me? I said he was mistaken."
He was so strong that Officer Liang couldn't do anything to him. He just threatened: "I will write down every word you say. If I find out, you can go to hell..."
"Go ahead and investigate. Come back to me when you find out." Writer Wu was really worried. When he saw that Officer Liang couldn't produce any solid evidence, he immediately became angry.
Jian Jing had no choice but to speak up: "Since you are so frank, why don't you open the box and let Officer Liang check it."
Writer Wu was like a dog whose foot had been stepped on. He flew into a rage, "Why?"
"A bet." Jian Jing took out her phone, clicked on the saved picture and took a photo in front of him. "If I can't find anything, I'll delete this photo."
Writer Wu said contemptuously: "It's just a photo. If you have the guts, go ahead and do it."
There was something in the box. Jian Jing didn't want to gamble with him, she just cheated him: "The photo will affect your reputation to some extent, you are not willing to do business without any cost. It seems that the price you paid is much heavier than the photo."
Officer Liang didn't know what the photo was, but he didn't stop him from explaining and cooperating: "Mr. Wu, I have to take a look at your box."
As he spoke, he wanted to open writer Wu’s suitcase.
Writer Wu finally couldn't sit still anymore.