"Teacher Jian," Jiang BaiYan waved his hand to get her attention, poking his head out from under a decorative plant screen. He was wearing a duck bill cap.
Jian Jing looked around for the source of the voice and saw he had picked a good spot - an L-shaped seat tucked away behind the greenery, facing the garden in the center.
Many cats were dozing on the floor, cat trees, and swings. Time passed peacefully.
"Sorry I'm late," Jian Jing said to Jiang BaiYan, though her eyes were fixed on the cat carrier beside him.
Jiang BaiYan smiled and said, "No, I'm early. I brought Dingding for a bath before coming straight here." He opened the carrier door and deftly took out an orange cat. "Does Teacher Jian want to hold him? Our Dingding is very friendly, he won't scratch."
Jian Jing was overjoyed. She immediately took the chubby orange cat into her arms. As advertised, he was too lazy to move and just adjusted into a comfortable position in her arms and continued napping.
"I didn't know you had a cat!" she said as she stroked the cat's head, reveling in the joy of holding a cat.
"I adopted him from this cafe," he said. "What would you like to drink, Teacher? This cafe's affogato is delicious."
Jian Jing was adventurous. "I'll try that then."
"Okay." Jiang BaiYan smoothly placed an order on his phone, then put it down and earnestly said, "Thank you for agreeing to meet me, Teacher Jian. I'm really happy."
Jian Jing couldn't help but smile. She understood why Jiang BaiYan was so successful - not only was he sweet-talking and perceptive, but more importantly, he was diligent.
Everyone liked diligent people because they were reliable.
"You're welcome, you've helped me a lot too," Jian Jing said. She took a book out of her canvas bag. "This is for you, an intro book on cryptography. The show's codes actually all fall into common categories. Once you grasp the patterns, they become easy to crack. Truly difficult codes require computers to decipher."
Jiang BaiYan quickly accepted it and swore, "I'll study this carefully!"
"Don't stress yourself out. It's just a show after all," Jian Jing said. "It'll be more fun to treat it like a game."
Jiang BaiYan nodded rapidly.
Jian Jing explained some letter and phonetic cryptography methods to him, eliciting exclamations of surprise.
After half an hour, the private tutoring session ended.
Mostly because Jiang BaiYan was so attentive that Jian Jing had inadvertently gone overboard and treated it like a real lesson. Fortunately she caught herself in time - this was supposed to be afternoon tea, not home tutoring.
"I don't think a coffee is enough payment for the lesson," Jiang BaiYan said. "I'll have to properly treat you to a meal, Teacher."
Jian Jing laughed. "That's too much."
"It's my sincerity. Don't stand on ceremony, Teacher." Before she could make an excuse, Jiang BaiYan suddenly became serious. "Actually, there's something else I wanted to ask you about, if that's okay."
No one could refuse a request from such a handsome youth, Jian Jing included.
As she scratched Dingding's chin, she asked, "What do you want to know?"
"They've started casting for Demon Doctor," he said directly. "Did you know, Teacher?"
"I heard about it," Jian Jing said. With a little thought, she asked, "You want to audition?"
"Mm, but I'm not here to ask you to make an introduction," Jiang BaiYan admitted honestly. "I already spoke with Director Huang, but he said I'm not suitable for the role. Playing the demon would be too similar to my image in Hide and Seek."
Jian Jing considered this and nodded. "That's true."
The demon's age wasn't important - the key was his moral ambiguity and detached nature. This would be repetitive with the male lead's characterization in Hide and Seek, which wouldn't benefit the drama or Jiang BaiYan.
Jiang BaiYan continued, "So I went for a supporting role instead. Director Huang said he'd consider it. But my agent wasn't too happy about the limited screentime."
The role he mentioned was the culprit behind one of the cases, outwardly respectable but actually a prolific killer, the biggest villain in the first installment.
The characterization was good, but the screentime was indeed too brief.
"That role..." Jian Jing chose her words carefully. "Doesn't have much potential for development."
"Because he's just a scumbag?" Jiang BaiYan asked.
"Yes." Jian Jing hesitated, then revealed, "Did Director Huang mention anything about a new role in the second installment?"
Jiang BaiYan's eyes lit up instantly.
Jiang BaiYan stared at the tiny phone screen intently. "Let me read for a bit first, Teacher Jian."
"Take your time," Jian Jing said, refilling her coffee and buying a pack of chicken jerky to feed the obedient Dingding in her arms.
Dingding instantly transformed from a chill cat loaf into a clingy factory flower, forcefully pinning down her hand with his paws to lick the chicken jerky in her palm.
Jian Jing lavished money and love, wholeheartedly throwing herself into the great cause of cat pampering - scritch scrotch here, belly rubs there, tail flicks and scratches, utterly content.
Jiang BaiYan read quickly, grasping the gist of the story in an hour.
"Is the role Teacher Jian mentioned the Hunter?" He took off his glasses, hand on his chin in thought. "He seems to have a complex backstory."
The Demon Hunter had only made a brief appearance during the murder case in the mansion, showing up as a helper to give an alibi for one of the suspects. He left the impression of an upbeat, righteous youth, but the meaningful eye contact with the Demon hinted at a hidden connection.
Sure enough, after the case's conclusion when the Hunter went to get medicine at the hospital, he crossed paths with the Demon again.
The Demon said, "Nice to meet you, Hunter."
And the first story ended.
Jian Jing explained, "The Hunter's ancestors released the Demon, cursing his entire family line. Only by killing the Demon can he break the curse and live a normal life."
Jiang BaiYan asked curiously, "What kind of curse is it?"
"At certain times, the Hunter loses his senses and turns into a monster," she said.
The Hunter was a handsome young man, upright, brave, kind and just. He bought medicine for an elderly neighbor but didn't take a delivery fee. He helped people find their lost cats. He rushed sick patients to the hospital.
But this righteous, beautiful person shouldered a terrible curse.
Under specific conditions, he would lose his human rationality and turn into a bloodthirsty killer, a true monster. His father had killed his mother because of this curse. And one day, he too might end up killing his beloved.
He hated the Demon, determined to kill him.
He also hated himself, the inner monster eating away at his sanity.
The Demon was detached from the world, not comprehending good and evil.
The Hunter struggled in the world, unable to transcend.
This was a role as compelling as the Demon's.
Jiang BaiYan asked, "Teacher, do you think I'm suitable?"
Jian Jing nodded.
After some contemplation, he broke into a dazzling smile. "I understand now. Thank you, Teacher Jian. I really don't know how to repay you."
Jian Jing said, "...Don't call me Teacher."
"Why not?" Jiang BaiYan's eyes widened adorably.
She smiled. "When you call me Teacher, I slip into teaching mode too easily."
"Now that you mention it, Teacher Jian really does have a teacher-like vibe," Jiang BaiYan said earnestly.
Jian Jing paused, then asked, "Very teacher-like?"
Jiang BaiYan nodded sincerely.
Jian Jing looked off into the distance of time and space. "If I wasn't a writer, maybe I would have been a teacher."
Jiang BaiYan said, "You'd definitely be a really patient and gentle teacher."
Jian Jing couldn't help chuckling. Patient and gentle? Oh no.
Not knowing what she found funny, Jiang BaiYan scratched his cheek and laughed along.
The sunset spilled over the western sky.
*
The case was inspired by The Haunted Hotel, where a patient suddenly has an episode in the hospital, claiming to be buried under the floorboards of a hotel and begging to be saved.
All the doctors and nurses thought he was mentally ill, but after the patient woke up and underwent examinations, nothing was wrong. When others talked about this incident, he looked terrified and said that he was a donkey friend who had once taken shelter from the rain at such an old hotel.
This aroused the devil's interest, and he began to investigate the case.
So did the hunter.
Jian Jing didn't want them to meet too early. The two went down two lines to unfold the story. Readers could piece together the ins and outs of the case from the two perspectives, which would be more complete than the pure devil's perspective in the first part.
At the same time, the hunter's and the devil's ideas were different, so the solutions were naturally worlds apart.
The hunter advocated legal punishment, focusing more on collecting evidence. The devil didn't care. He put all his energy into tracking down the real culprit.
Jian Jing thought about it for a long time before deciding how to arrange the ending. In the end, because she hated Qi Tian's cruelty so much, she let the devil catch the murderer and eat his heart out.
The second part was over.
She sent the draft to Kang Mu Cheng.
Kang Mu Cheng read it but didn't give any suggestions for revision. He asked her to continue writing first and make overall adjustments after completing it.
Jian Jing said, "I don't have any inspiration for the third story yet."
The case of the gold robber was quite interesting, but it focused too much on adventure. She hadn't decided whether to use it or not.
"Don't worry, write slowly," Kang Mu Cheng seemed to be prepared. "By the way, I have something to do here. Why don't you take two days off for yourself?"
Jian Jing was wary. "What's the matter?" It wouldn't be a blind date, would it?!
"Visiting a senior."
The answer was unexpected.
The thing was, Kang's friend, who used to paint, had published some famous landscape albums. As he grew older, he no longer traveled around to sketch everywhere like he did in the past. Instead, he settled down and opened a studio.
Unexpectedly, because the studio was built very beautifully amidst picturesque scenery, it attracted a lot of compliments from friends. Everyone felt it was nice to come and stay for a while when free, so they funded a small resort hotel. When they had nothing to do, they would come to stay for a few days and relax.
Not long ago, the painter informed Kang that he was going to hold a small exhibition and invite old friends to participate, while introducing some of his disciples.
Since Kang was busy, the matter fell to Kang Mu Cheng.
Kang Mu Cheng thought that since the other party was recommending his juniors, he should also bring his own people.
Jian Jing was unenthusiastic. "Do I have to go?"
In the past, Kang Mu Cheng would not have forced her, but Jiayou Cheng's recent incident made him very concerned. He categorically said, "Unless you have a reason not to go."
Jian Jing couldn't come up with an excuse, so she had no choice but to reluctantly agree.