May 20th, Jian Jing finished her workout class, took a shower and opened her locker, only to find several missed calls on her phone, all from Kang Mu Cheng.
She was surprised and puzzled, so she called back immediately: "Did you need me for something?"
"Yeah." Kang Mu Cheng sounded cheerful, even through the phone she could feel his delight, "I have some news to tell you, where are you?"
"At the gym." She was confused, "What news?"
Kang Mu Cheng asked back: "Today is the 20th, so what do you think?"
"520?" Jian Jing was even more puzzled, "Valentine's Day?"
"......" Kang Mu Cheng had to reveal the answer himself, "Today is the award ceremony for the Film Festival, Hide and Seek won the Jury Grand Prize."
Jian Jing simply responded: "Oh, that's great."
Kang Mu Cheng fell silent, then asked: "Do you not know what kind of award this is?"
Jian Jing: "A grand prize."
"This is a very prestigious award. We got really lucky that it's an off year and our strongest competitors ran into some sensitive issues. In the end it fell onto Hide and Seek. Huh, I didn't think we had a chance, but luck came and couldn't be stopped." Kang Mu Cheng was very excited, talking much more than usual, "Although it's the film that won the award, it also benefits you."
"......Mm." Jian Jing wasn't unhappy, she just lacked excitement, and felt more regret. Regret that her other self didn't get to see this day.
But she concealed it very well: "When will it be released domestically?"
"It was originally scheduled for the May 1st slot, but Director Ding pushed back the date, wanting to take a gamble, and it paid off for him." Kang Mu Cheng said, "Don't worry, you'll definitely get an invite to the premiere."
Jian Jing couldn't help but smile: "I'm already looking forward to it."
"Let's wait for more good news together." Kang Mu Cheng said.
And just as he said, by seven or eight o'clock at night, online was flooded with related news. The main force was naturally the production company, all major entertainment outlets had published updates.
Director Ding himself had a Weibo account, and wrote a rambling 800 character mini-essay, talking about his journey, thanking the producer and friends for their support, praising the lead actor's performance, and humbly giving himself some credit, not forgetting to mention Jian Jing, covering all bases.
Jin Wu certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity, posting a 3x3 grid of Hide and Seek, reposting giveaways, plus links to purchase the book on major e-commerce sites.
Jian Jing clicked into the shopping site out of curiosity, and witnessed monthly sales shooting up from 300 copies to over 5000, and it was still growing.
This was a 3 year old book.
Overnight, earth-shaking changes.
If Jian Jing said she wasn't excited about this, she'd be lying. The half bottle of red wine she drank was the best proof. However, no matter how successful Hide and Seek became, it was still another Jian Jing's success. Even if the two were reflections of the same soul in parallel mirrors, there were still subtle differences.
She was happy for "herself", but didn't feel like this was her own success.
This subtle sense of difference allowed her to quickly calm down again, without getting carried away by joy.
Furthermore, she had something even more worth celebrating.
When Hide and Seek trended on hot search, the system prompted a new update.
[System: Host's fame has greatly increased, meeting the criteria to unlock the limited lottery pool. New card pool unlocked.]
[System: The limited lottery pool opens based on the host's fame. Currently at "somewhat known", can draw 1 time every 3 months.]
[System: Draw from the limited card pool?]
Jian Jing didn't expect there to be a new lottery pool, and was curious: "Draw."
[Limited card draw in progress]
[Draw complete]
[Name: Status Card - Composure +30%]
[Description: Composure increased by 30%, allowing you to remain calm in crises]
[Note: Status cards can be activated OR deactivated anytime]
How interesting, there's this kind of function?
She immediately used the new card, and so, the character panel she had previously ignored now had new changes.
Name: Jian Jing
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Reputation: Somewhat known (Maybe a passerby or two knows who you are)
Status: Composure +30%
Physique: 5 (The result of long nights)
Strength: 5 (Never arm wrestle anyone)
Agility: 7 (You're a little more agile than the average person)
Burst: 5 (You'll regret this at the crux of life and death)
Endurance: 5 (Your stamina is clearly not great)
Talent: Fiction writing (Locked)
Knowledge: Forensics (Basic), Cryptography (Basic)
Skills: Observation (Basic)
Inventory: Recovery candy (2/5), High tech glasses (night vision)
Current points: Bravery 20, Special Contribution 10
She tested out the new status, it worked well. Her previously somewhat heated mind instantly calmed down and she started thinking about what impact Hide and Seek would have on herself.
The answer was, old book sales would increase, possibly bringing new books along, and her position would carry more weight.
And that was it.
The ones profiting most would be the production company, the director and actors basking in fame and fortune. As the original author, she didn't have much going on.
So what was there to get excited about, just wash up and sleep.
She remained nonchalant, doing her own thing, until Kang Mu Cheng told her the Hide and Seek premiere would be on June 1st, and she would need to attend.
*
The premiere time was 7pm. Kang Mu Cheng called her saying he had a meeting that afternoon and couldn't make it to pick her up, so he asked the company driver to take her instead.
Although company drivers picking up and dropping off authors was very common, Jian Jing didn't want to trouble them, and preferred driving herself. She hit rush hour traffic on the way, and arrived at the premiere venue around 6:40pm.
The venue was already around 80% filled, with some film critics, media personnel, and some unfamiliar faces she didn't recognize.
Jian Jing had no intention of small talk with others, and found her seat to quietly wait for the opening.
But right then, a familiar voice came from the front: "Ms. Jian, long time no see." Along with it appeared a graceful, tranquil face.
Mrs. Qin.
Or perhaps she should be addressed as Ms. Liu Baofeng now.
"Qin...no, Liu..." Jian Jing was startled, and for a moment couldn't find the right words.
"Just a form of address, Ms. Jian can be at ease." Liu Baofeng's attitude was mild, nothing like the suspected murderer imagined.
Jian Jing activated "Composure" state, instantly calming down. She chose a meaningful form of address: "Ms. Liu, I didn't expect to run into you here."
Liu Baofeng smiled faintly: "Although I don't understand films, the producer is my friend. Asking for an invite wasn't difficult."
Jian Jing noticed she said "ask for", and so asked: "You're very interested in this film?"
"I'm more interested in Ms. Jian." Liu Baofeng said gently, "I want to see your story."
Jian Jing sat down and smoothed her skirt: "The ones who came today are either for the director or the actors. You coming specially for me, I'm quite flattered."
Liu Baofeng smiled slightly, and didn't reply.
The surrounding seats gradually filled up, no longer suitable for conversation, so the two stopped there and didn't say more.
The film began.
On the huge movie screen appeared a grey, foggy sky. The island in the distance was like a shadow in the deep sea amidst the mist, the tones grey and gloomy.
The camera turned, showing a room with a drunken man cursing, and a disheveled, haggard woman.
The man complained about not making money, blamed the woman for being stupid, and for being a burden. The woman agreed deferentially. The food on the table was simple and poor.
Bottles of cheap liquor poured down as the man got drunk. The woman put the leftovers into a bowl, went through the cramped kitchen into a narrow storage room, and passed the food in: "Eat."
A child's hand reached out from the storage room, bones protruding.
The woman hurried upstairs without another word. Upstairs in the bedroom, a baby wailed loudly.
The voiceover began: "I was born on a remote island. My biological father died very early, leaving me and my mother. When I was four, my mother remarried, to a drunkard. He hated me, wishing I would die immediately, and also hated my mother, I didn't understand why..."
The scene changed, the swaddled baby slowly grew up, and the relationship between the man and woman also gradually improved, occasionally showing warmth. Only the narrating child remained outside the frame, like a bystander.
"My younger brother grew up, and my mother liked him too. But I hated him, he was too bad."
The camera captured some of the younger brother's mischief, purposefully soiling his brother's bowl with poop, spitting at him, lying to the adults that his brother was bullying him...The child actor was very cute, with innocent eyes. He wasn't a demon, just found it fun.
Natural evil, ignorant evil, combined with a child's innocence and cuteness, in perfect harmony.
"In 2000, on a foggy day, dad and mom were both out. My brother insisted on playing hide and seek with me. I didn't want to, but if I didn't agree, he would tattle to dad, so I played this game with him."
"I just didn't realize then that this game of hide and seek would last my whole life."
The narration ended, and the film entered the main story.
What followed was the plot of Hide and Seek.
The two brothers started playing hide and seek. The younger brother hid while the elder sought. After counting to 100, the elder brother looked all over the house but couldn't find a trace of his brother.
The younger brother had disappeared.
The elder brother, parents, neighbors all searched the entire island, but couldn't find him. The father beat the elder brother half to death, barely surviving thanks to the mother's pleas.
He developed a high fever, delirious and unconscious. In his daze, it seemed someone told him: "Don't be afraid, you'll be fine."
The elder brother didn't know who this person was, and fell into blurred sleep.
A few days later, the younger brother's corpse floated up in the sea, eaten beyond recognition by fish. The small island only had a local police station, no forensic examiner. With the limited police force then, it was ruled as accidental drowning.
No one was suspicious, except the elder brother.
Only he knew that he had pushed his younger brother down the stairs, killing him on the spot. He was very scared, so he hid his brother's corpse in the basement storeroom.
Why did his corpse appear in the sea?
With this doubt, he spent ten years. In 2010, on another foggy day, a classmate went missing without a trace.
The classmate's last known outfit spread throughout the streets and alleyways, awakening the brother's sleeping memories.
On the day his younger brother died, he had seen this person before.
Seen someone from ten years in the future.
It turned out that on the island's special foggy days, abnormal spacetime crossing phenomena would occur. And when the fog dispersed, everything would return to the original point.
The 2010 brother traveled back to the year 2000, helping himself destroy the corpse and evidence. The shadow that the 2000 him saw was actually his future self from ten years later.
But when disposing of the corpse, the classmate who accidentally traveled through time discovered it. The brother kept making excuses to cover it up, almost succeeding. Who knew the classmate would recall the disappearance case from ten years ago and realize he was the murderer.
The brother had no choice but to kill the classmate and bury the corpse behind a small grove, then return to 2010.
The police had no suspicion of him, someone who barely interacted with the classmate. But a storm exposed the corpse buried in the grove.
In 2010, identifying the corpse by DNA was no longer difficult. Soon, the police would probably discover the anomaly. Even worse, he had lost his student ID in 2000.
If the police found it, they would definitely be suspicious.
He returned to the grove to search for it, but ran into a female classmate who had a secret crush on him. She struck up a conversation with him, not knowing the boy had already intended to kill.
The brother asked the girl to meet him by the seaside, and took the chance to push her into the sea, fabricating evidence and testimony to shift the police's suspicion onto her.
However, after he killed the girl, the spacetime loophole opened up again, and the girl's corpse disappeared.
As a result, the carefully designed testimony became very strange, arousing the police's doubt instead.
One lie had to be compensated by countless other lies, one mistake by the lives of three people.
But a mistake was still a mistake. The protagonist went back in time several times to remedy his errors, but would always make another mistake. Many things could not be changed even if time flowed backward.
Playing hide and seek with himself, there was never a result.
In the end, he decided to commit suicide to end this endless game.