Considering Jiang BaiYan's special identity, the police came in plainclothes to check the surveillance around the community.
It was confirmed that Jiang BaiYan did go to the supermarket and stayed there for half an hour before leaving with an eco bag. Then he took a quiet park trail home.
There, he was ambushed.
Two brawny men, dressed casually, came up to him as if nothing had happened and started a conversation.
Then, they grabbed Jiang BaiYan one on each side and bundled him into a car, vanishing without a trace.
Qiu Lin was shocked and confused - what era was this that people still kidnapped stars? If they wanted to coerce him, couldn't they just ask nicely? Or was it people sent by rivals, trying to create trouble?
She asked: "Can you get the license plate number?"
That was no problem, the police quickly gave her the answer - "It's a car registered to Jiang Shui Group."
Qiu Lin understood.
She withdrew the case and had someone get the phone number of the secretary to Jiang Shui Group's Chairman.
The secretary very officially informed: "I'm sorry, Jiang Xun is not our company's employee, and I do not know of his whereabouts."
Qiu Lin cut straight to the chase: "I know he was taken by Jiang Shui Group. If you don't give me an explanation, be careful or I'll blow this matter up so that no one comes out looking good."
The secretary said: "I really do not know about this matter."
"Hmph," Qiu Lin gave a cold laugh, "Connect me to Jiang Lian, she's part of your group right?"
The secretary replied: "I'm afraid Ms. Lian is away on a business trip."
"What about the Chairman? Is he away too?"
The secretary said: "The Chairman is not available for meetings recently. If you have any matters, I can help relay the message."
Qiu Lin was exasperated. Secretaries at huge conglomerates like this gave meaningless, vague replies just like some customer service agents - they won as long as they annoyed you into not pursuing the matter further.
She gave a cold laugh: "Fine, just tell your Chairman that although Jiang Shui Group is huge, we are not to be trifled with. If you detain our artist we will definitely fight back."
Having said her piece, she aggressively ended the call, as if that could vent her anger.
Sister Chen was anxious: "Sis Qiu, can our company step in?"
"Of course not." Qiu Lin rolled her eyes. "Xiao Bai is our artiste, but also the Chairman's son. If it comes down to it, they'll just say it's a family affair and we'll gain nothing by interfering."
Sister Chen was shocked: "Then what can we do?"
Qiu Lin thought for a while before saying: "Let me make a call first."
She called Jian Jing.
Jian Jing was at home trying to write, deep in an author's inevitable slump - thoughts halted, brain stalled, feeling lethargic and uninspired, unable to write even 1000 words a day.
At times like these, she was extra irritable and sensitive to noise.
Knight didn't even dare go near the study anymore, only pacing around the door a couple of times, definitely not daring to step in.
When Qiu Lin's call came in, she was in a bad mood and curt: "Who's this?"
"Ms. Jian, this is Qiu Lin." Qiu Lin politely introduced herself. "Do you still remember me? I'm Jiang BaiYan's manager."
Jian Jing asked: "I remember, what's the matter?"
"Are you home now? I wanted to come discuss something with you in person, would it be convenient?"
Jian Jing was stuck while writing and welcomed the chance to think about something else. "Sure, come on over."
"Sorry to bother you." Qiu Lin said before hanging up.
Compared to her previous casual visit to catch the sasaeng fan, her attitude this time was much more cautious. She specially bought a bouquet and desserts to bring as gifts when paying the visit.
Jian Jing was a little surprised - there's a saying "courtesy rules apply between scholar and martial artist", if Qiu Lin was making such a formal visit she must have an important request.
"Ms. Jian," Qiu Lin sat down and got straight to the point, "we've run into some trouble."
Jian Jing: "You all?"
"Xiao Bai was taken away by people sent by his father." Qiu Lin concisely explained the story, and added: "I withdrew the police report, we can't let the police investigate this or it'll become a huge mess once news leaks."
Jian Jing looked thoughtful: "So you want me to help investigate?"
Qiu Lin nodded: "I know this isn't Ms. Jian's area of expertise, but everyone can see your capabilities."
"You flatter me."
"I'm not flattering you." Qiu Lin laughed and said, "I asked the police, they all said you write well and are great at solving cases too."
Jian Jing cleared her throat and said: "Solving cases and finding people are two different things. You already know who did it, you just want to track their location. Professionals are better at that."
"We have concerns." Qiu Lin hesitated, "Although we can sign NDAs, Xiao Bai might not want others knowing about his family background."
That was true. Jian Jing considered and agreed: "I can help look into it, but no guarantees I can find anything."
"It would be best if you're willing to help look into it. We'll keep contacting Jiang Shui Group too." Qiu Lin finished speaking and took her leave. "I won't disturb you further, I'll update you if there's any news."
"Sure."
After Qiu Lin left, Jian Jing went to Jiang Shui Group's website to gather intel.
Jiang Shui Group's Chairman was called Jiang Guangze. He had three children with his first wife - eldest daughter Jiang Lian, second son Jiang Qi, youngest son Jiang Ou. She had met the youngest during the audition - he was Coco's boyfriend.
Currently, Jiang Guangze was remarried, wife's name unknown.
That was the official situation with Jiang's family.
Jian Jing chewed on her pen thinking about where to start, when a WeChat notification for a new Moment post popped up.
It was from Jiang BaiYan.
Huh? Wasn't he in trouble?
She opened it, it was a scenic photograph bursting with spring colors and peach blossoms. The caption read: [Beautiful weather]
She called him but his phone was still switched off.
She tried voice call, but no one picked up even as it rang and rang.
This brat, surely he hadn't actually been kidnapped?
She saved the picture and sent it to her computer to analyze in detail.
There were mountains and water in the shot, no particularly prominent high peaks, and the mountains in the distance weren't of high altitude. Combined with the peach blossoms already blooming in early March, it should be a warm area.
Sunlight shone on the trees, casting a shadow to the side.
As we know, March 21st is when the sun shines directly over the equator. Travelling abroad would leave entry and exit records, and Jiang BaiYan likely remained in China. This time of the year, shadows fall northwards for most of China.
So the orientation of the picture could be deduced - shot facing east.
A plane was visible in the corner of the sky. Based on the size, it was near the ground - not taking off or landing.
In other words - there must be an airport nearby.
Jian Jing used specialized software to enhance the blurry plane, making it slightly clearer.
Then she searched for a post introducing domestic plane models, and painstakingly compared them one by one.
Argh - they all looked way too similar!
The differences made her eyes hurt. Jian Jing removed her glasses, dripped some eyedrops, and wore a warm eye mask to take a break.
After some rest her eyes did feel much better. Now she finally spotted key differences.
The nose of this plane seemed a little bigger than the others.
Boeing 747? With a red painted tail?
She pulled up a table of domestic passenger airlines, circling the companies that matched. Then she checked which flights had departed around that timeframe - of course, this was based on the assumption that Jiang BaiYan posted the picture right after snapping it.
Jian Jing guessed he only had the phone briefly, having time to just post a quick Moment update before it got switched off again. So she boldly deduced the posting time as the shooting time.
She methodically filtered until she found three matching flights.
Next she circled the airports on a map, gauging latitude.
The first flight departed a high latitude region for overseas, she tentatively eliminated that. The second flew from a lower latitude eastwards to the west, matching the evidence. The third flew from low latitude towards high latitude, also matching.
But the third flight's destination airport was near an urban area. The rural scenery seemed to clash with the picture's. To double check, she looked up Google Street View of the area and judged the odds to be low.
That left the second flight.
Both departure and destination airports were in low altitude regions where peach blossoms could plausibly bloom.
The shooting time was very near the plane's takeoff time - so it should be close to the originating airport. With the picture's orientation aligned with the plane's direction, the spot could be deduced as southeast of the airport.
Being a distance from the city center, yet with mountains and water, and the other party limiting his freedoms, it was unlikely to be a homestay or inn.
Likely a private residence.
Conveniently, there was a housing development in that location.
Jian Jing loaded up the city's property site, inputted the estate name, pulling up marketing pictures the developers shot on location.
Indeed, there were striking similarities.
Jian Jing opened her phone, bought the earliest available flight, packed her luggage, and called Kang Mu Cheng at the same time: "I have something to do and need to leave for a few days. Can you help me take care of my dog?"
Kang Mu Cheng asked: "Where are you going?"
"I'm not telling you," she said. "Just pretend I'm delayed in writing my manuscript."
Kang Mu Cheng: "..."
"I'm joking," Jian Jing said. "I have some things to take care of and will tell you when I get back."
"Got it," Kang Mu Cheng agreed. "I'll pick him up after I get off work."
"Great, thanks for your help," Jian Jing hung up the phone and stroked her dog Knight's head. "I'll be gone for a few days. Be good and listen to Mr. Kang. No causing trouble."
Knight: "Whine~~"
Carrying her luggage, she went out the door and headed straight for the airport.
It didn't take long for a short domestic flight. By early evening, she had arrived at her destination.
As far as the eye could see, the peach blossoms had bloomed, the evening glow shone on the water's surface, emitting an orange-red brilliance. There were no tall buildings to be seen, only hills and valleys covered in green.
It was indeed a famous tourist city.
It was easy to grab a taxi from the airport. As soon as she got in, the driver asked, "Here for vacation, miss?"
"I guess you could say that."
"Then you've come at the perfect time. The weather here is just right now, not too hot or cold, and the flowers have bloomed." The driver was very chatty.
Jian Jing smiled but didn't say anything.
The driver wanted to chat some more, so he could brag to his friends later. But unfortunately, their destination wasn't far from the airport, and they arrived in twenty minutes.
Jian Jing asked to be dropped off some distance away and walked along the path by herself.
The driver kindly reminded her, "There are only private villas up ahead."
"My friend lives there," she said.
The villa area had a very luxurious and imposing gate, with two security guards stationed in a pavilion. She walked up and asked, "Is this a park? I want to go in and take pictures."
"Sorry, this is private property. No outsiders allowed."
She asked, "Then where can I take photos of that peach blossom forest?"
"You went the wrong way," the guard helpfully gave directions. "Keep going down that road, there's a small park up ahead."
Jian Jing pretended to be disappointed and reluctantly left, glancing back every few steps.
Once they were out of sight around the bend, she immediately crouched down and crawled into the vegetation lining the sides, feeling her way along the enclosure wall hidden among the lush trees.
There were security cameras installed on the wall, but the dense foliage created ample blind spots. She estimated a roughly approximate position, took a running start, leaped up, and nimbly climbed over in one smooth movement.
She was in.
The tricky part was figuring out the exact location.
Luckily she had binoculars. She found a lush peach tree to climb up and started meticulously surveilling house by house with her high-tech gear.
While it was a somewhat silly method, it worked perfectly.
Wealthy people who bought vacation homes in tourist cities almost never actually lived there. At most they would stay for a few days here and there during certain months, leaving them empty for most of the year. There were very few houses that showed signs of regular habitation.
She soon identified one house that saw notably frequent use.
As she drew near, the scenery looked extremely familiar.
This was the one.
Knock knock knock, she rapped on the door.
"Coming!" the maid responded to the doorbell and came to open it. Seeing Jian Jing through the video intercom, she asked, "Hello, who is it?"
Jian Jing smiled. "I'm here to see Mr. Jiang."
"Oh, you must be Lawyer Li!" Recognizing her, the maid opened the door. "Mr. Jiang and the others have been waiting for you!"
Jian Jing raised an eyebrow, instantly shifting into character. She came inside, changed into guest slippers, and swiftly scanned the entryway. The shoe cabinet was already filled with at least seven or eight pairs of shoes from other visitors.
"Has everyone else arrived?" she asked.
"Yes," the maid sighed heavily, clearly wanting to say more but holding back.
Jian Jing gave her an "I understand" look and calmly proceeded into the living room.
The spacious living room was packed with people. Hearing footsteps, one of them said, "She's here, Dad's will—" He broke off when he turned around, suddenly looking doubtful. "Who are you? Aren't you Lawyer Li?"
Jian Jing's gaze swept over everyone, lingering slightly on the figure by the window, before she smiled brightly. "Good evening, everyone."