At dusk, Mu Cheng Kang eyed his son and wondered sincerely, "Mu Cheng, did you go out with Si Yingjie and get assimilated by him? Why are you so hesitant? Jian Jing has made up her mind, you should support her."
Before Mu Cheng Kang could finish, Kang President interrupted him, "Let me ask you, if today, Jian Jing wanted to write the most obscure topic, what would you do?"
Mu Cheng Kang: "Two different things."
As Jian Jing's literary agent, responsible editor, no matter how much he disapproved of her writing ideas, he would never force anything. The uniqueness of a literary work stems precisely from the author's own soulful expression.
Works may not pass review or lose money, but they must not be prevented from being born.
"No, it's the same thing," Kang President said calmly. "Your hesitation is simply because you've switched roles and are trying to stop her from doing foolish things as a friend, relative or whatever. But as her mother, I remind you not to do such stupid things."
The woman in her fifties said meaningfully, "Differences of opinion are normal, but forcing others to act according to your will, even if you win, is useless - you should know that there are no relationships in this world that cannot be dissolved, authors and editors, bosses and employees, husbands and wives, they are all the same."
Mu Cheng Kang stopped and then fell silent.
"I know your feelings for Jian Jing run deep. She was the first contracted writer you brought out and took care of for so many years, but she is no longer a child and does not need a guardian." Kang President patted her son on the shoulder, "Treat this as her new work, trust her a little more."
Mu Cheng Kang was silent.
The summer night breeze blew by, cool and gentle. In the distance, the scent of night-blooming jasmine drifted over. From some unknown villa, someone was practicing the piano, tinkling, fleeting, seeking but not finding.
He sighed softly and heard himself say, "I understand."
The next day.
Jian Jing got up at ten o'clock and was shocked to see Mu Cheng Kang watering the flowers in the yard.
She was shocked.
Why, today is Tuesday, a workday, and the workaholic is still not at work at ten o'clock?? Heavens, have aliens attacked Earth, or are the streets full of zombies already??
"What's with that look?" Mu Cheng Kang frowned, "Hurry up and eat breakfast, I have something to tell you after you're done."
Jian Jing: "Oh."
She ate a exquisite Chinese breakfast, then strongly demanded an extra cup of iced coffee to take with her into Mu Cheng Kang's study.
He was always quick and decisive. Having decided to tell her everything last night, he had organized all the information neatly this morning. He motioned for her to sit down, ready to have a long talk, "Night breeds strange dreams. Since you've made up your mind, I'll tell you everything I know."
Jian Jing focused her mind and listened attentively.
Mu Cheng Kang thought for a while and found an appropriate starting point: "It happened in August 2014 when you were in 8th grade, during summer vacation. On August 2nd, Qixi Festival, at your house..." A homicide happened."
Jian Jing was immediately horrified, with goosebumps all over: "You mean..."
"Your parents were also killed by him," Mu Cheng Kang said heavily, choosing his words carefully. "The day before, I had agreed with you to come over at 10am the next day to pick up the White Cat manuscript, but no one answered the door when I knocked. There was a strong smell of blood coming from inside, so I called the police. After the door was opened, your parents' bodies were discovered."
He paused here, deliberately glancing at her expression - as long as she showed any discomfort, he would not say another word - however, Jian Jing's parents were alive and well in another world, so she showed no fear, only shock and anger.
"What happened next?" she asked. "Where was I?"
Mu Cheng Kang said, "You were not there."
"The police told me that based on his methods, they determined that he was a serial killer who specifically chose holidays to target happy families. Your family was the fourth case, and the three families before had all been killed, with no survivors." He went on slowly, "You were the first and only survivor."
Jian Jing gasped, utterly shocked.
"Although everyone thought you were as good as dead at the time, who would have thought that three months later, you would appear in your own home in an extremely abnormal mental state," Mu Cheng Kang described. "No matter who talked to you, you didn't respond, but sometimes you would do some shocking things."
"Like what?"
Mu Cheng Kang considered and said, "You would say some strange things, like 'If life is painful, it would be better to just die', 'Human reverence for life is too ridiculous, death is where meaning lies', and so on."
Jian Jing clutched her temples: How emo.
"The situation was very worrying. Psychologists believed that you had been severely hypnotically conditioned and had a strong death worship, making you extremely likely to harm yourself or others," he said. "I heard about St. Angelica and decided to send you there. About a year later, after successful treatment, you forgot about those things."
Jian Jing nodded, having sorted out the origins of St. Angelica.
But she still had questions: "What happened while I was missing?"
"I don't know, no one knows," Mu Cheng Kang said. "The police really wanted to get clues from you, but there was no way. Fortunately, for some unknown reason, he did not commit another crime after 2014. The relevant case files were sealed up. "
"What did the psychologists say?"
He pondered: "The doctors in China only said that you had suffered severe mental trauma, nothing else. Perhaps St. Angelica's doctors knew something, but they wouldn't tell anyone to protect the patient, especially since I wasn't your guardian. They didn't say a word."
"If I ask the doctor myself, will he tell me?" Jian Jing immediately proposed.
Mu Cheng Kang shook his head and regretfully informed her: "If I remember correctly, the doctor who treated you has passed away. He was a very famous expert in psychology, I saw his obituary."
That unlucky?
Jian Jing pursed her lips: "So the only way for me to know about the treatment is through my medical records?"
"Yes." Mu Cheng Kang asked instead, "Don't you remember?"
She answered with a long sigh, her frustration obvious.
Going around in circles, she still had to find the password.
However, with the mysteries sorted out so far, most of it had been uncovered, and Mu Cheng Kang's attitude, which bothered her the most, also had a reasonable explanation.
It would be much easier from now on. Let Ji Feng apply to review the case files for details of the case. The important information about the scarred man was probably hidden in the medical records.
Jian Jing made up her mind, picked up the coffee, and drank it all up: "I'm done eating, I still have to go to the hospital, I'm leaving."
Watching her determined back, Mu Cheng Kang's brows relaxed unconsciously, and a familiar helpless yet indulgent smile appeared at the corners of his lips.
Today, Ji Feng was fed light Cantonese food for lunch.
Just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks, the auntie in the next bed praised appreciatively, "Your daughter's cooking skills are pretty good. Ji Feng, you have to work harder too."
Ji Feng almost spit out his mouthful of fish porridge.
What was the auntie looking at? The logo on the takeout box was so big, from the city's famous Cantonese restaurant, how could she think it was made by Jian Jing?
One look at Jian Jing and you know she can't cook.
He imagined her becoming a virtuous wife and good mother, cooking up a storm, and instantly got the chills.
Jian Jing was still cuter as she was now.
He shook off the stray thoughts in his mind and hurriedly finished the large takeout porridge box, going to the garden they chatted in yesterday under the guise of aiding digestion when it was actually an after-meal treat of discussing the case.
"The porridge was pretty good," he praised first, then said, "As I guessed, you and him had very close interactions. He didn't kill you because he had deeper spiritual demands."
Jian Jing said, "I want to see the case file. No matter what method you use, I have to see it."
This time, Ji Feng did not evade her, nodded solemnly: "I will find a way. Do you have any ideas about the password?"
She sighed, "Try them one by one, what else can I do?"
"That can't be right. You must have set the account and password after you recovered. It makes no sense to forget them together." Ji Feng was not like Mu Cheng Kang, treating her as a fragile glass doll, instinctively afraid of poking her sensitive psyche. He was blunt, "Right?"
Jian Jing coolly: "I said I forgot so I forgot, okay?"
Ji Feng keenly asked: "Is there any hidden story I don't know about?"
Her: "Let's talk again when I see the case file."
Ji Feng covered his chest, his face full of pain, his voice faint: "I got this injury for you, shouldn't you show me more sincerity?"
Jian Jing was speechless.
She felt quite sorry about Ji Feng's injury, but when he said it himself, it changed the flavor.
"Comrade policeman, you are serving the people." She said solemnly. "I'll send you a scroll of honor later, don't be shy, you deserve it."
Ji Feng leaned back to relieve the pain from moving his wound, still smiling: "That works too. Make it look good, I rely on this for promotion and raise."
Jian Jing: "..." He was shameless beyond compare.
"Time to go back, patients wandering around all day, be careful or the nurse will beat you up."
Ji Feng chuckled, changing the subject: "Any updates on your Weibo post?"
Jian Jing's expression was hard to describe: "'He' didn't show up."
She posted on Weibo yesterday just to let the scarred man know he had the wrong person, so Ji Feng wouldn't be attacked again by accident. At the same time, she also wanted to provoke him, mock him, and force him to reveal more flaws.
However, there are pros and cons to everything.
Public channels are the fastest and most convenient way to be heard, but also the least useful.
Her private messages were all asking who was the original character and what was his relationship with her. Many also thought the story of Rose Gold was her personal experience, comforting her to live on bravely.
Jian Jing's mood was quite complicated.
Blood Rose represented the sworn vengeance and was the killer who murdered the girl's parents. When she wrote this plot, she didn't associate it with herself.
However, while the memories were lost, the subconscious buried deep in her mind had subtly hinted at the truth.
The spiritual connection between the author and her work was truly profound and marvelous.
Perhaps she should take another good look at her own work - there may be more clues hidden in Rose Gold... No, that's not it.
The key was not there.
Rose Gold was written by her. There might be clues but definitely not many. She was very clear where the inspirations for this work came from: Blood Rose was from the signing event, the gold was from the robbery, and the killer was her own salvation and encounter with Xie Wei.
The work that truly held the key was... White Cat.
The last few volumes of White Cat Detective.