"Tuk-tuk-tuk", there was a knock on the study door.

Jian Jing looked up and saw that it was Xia Tianxin who came in with a bowl of dumplings. She smiled and said, "Are you hungry? Xiaotian and I cooked dumplings. Come and try them."

As soon as she said that, Jian Jing felt hungry. She looked at her watch and saw that it was already six o'clock in the evening.

"Thank you." She took the dumplings and ate them while they were still warm. The frozen dumplings were not delicious, but she was not thinking about them at all. She just wanted to satisfy her stomach.

Xia Tianxin did not leave and asked curiously, "Are you helping Officer Liang find clues?"

This secret could not be kept for long. Jian Jing nodded and admitted it.

"Eh." Xia Tianxin uttered a meaningless interjection, and she asked curiously and somewhat enviously, "So, you write mystery novels because you like reasoning?"

Jian Jing was stunned for a moment, and then said, "I think so." No matter who she is, she has a passion for reasoning, which is why she chose the path she is on today.

"That's great." Xia Tianxin sat down, supporting her head 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 topic-based composition."

"Of course the publishing house won't stipulate the topic, but it has to consider the readers' tastes." Xia Tianxin spread her hands, "If the book sells well, the editor will review and analyze with you which part hits the market. If it doesn't sell well, the editor will also collect various book reviews to analyze the reasons why readers don't like it, so as to avoid it next time."

She lowered her voice: "Morning Star's philosophy is 'readers are God'. Whoever can win the favor of readers can have a place. We also have a joint writing activity every year. Readers vote for the plot they most want to see, and everyone writes a New Year story together."

Jian Jing was amazed and asked, "Don't you like writing romance novels?"

"I like it." Xia Tianxin smiled, and said in a connoisseur-like 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: "The readers don't want to be convinced by me. I made up a dream, and they 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 her in return: "I have 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 believe in it, just like I believe that aliens do exist."

Xia Tianxin was stunned for a moment, and laughed out loud.

They both felt closer to each other.

Jian Jing tried hard to eat dumplings, and Xia Tianxin looked around, and finally her eyes fell on the letter she was reading.

"This is a letter from Mr. Yang Guan, right?" She leaned in to take a closer look. "Is this about Writer Wu? Is the rumor true?"

Jian Jing suddenly became alert: "What rumor?"

"Haven't you heard about it? Yang Guan and Writer Wu used to have a good relationship, but there was a period of time when they suddenly became distant. Writer Wu said behind his back that he abandoned his wife and children and had a questionable character." Xia Tianxin was lively and outgoing, and knew a lot of gossip, and couldn't wait to share it. "Then we all said that he was not much better. Fortunately, his wife died early, otherwise he would harass girls all day long, and he would be so angry that he would die."

Jian Jing raised her eyebrows: "Why did Writer Wu throw dirty water on Yang Guan?"

"Writer Wu is a man who knows how to judge people by their style. The girls he harassed were either newcomers or newly graduated employees. Logically, it's unlikely that he would offend Yang Guan." Xia Tianxin held her face with her hands, pretending to reminisce. "But, I seem to have heard someone say that writer Wu has a book... His writing style is very similar to Yang Guan's."

Jian Jing was surprised: "What do you mean?"

Xia Tianxin made a gesture of silence, her eyes hinting: "It's hearsay, not necessarily. They are old writers from more than ten years ago, and there are many things we don't know." Jian

Jing nodded: "I see."

She had no appetite for dinner and immediately went to Kang Mucheng to verify.

Kang Mucheng seemed to have heard something: "You are talking about the book "Lost Yumen", right?"

"You know it?"

"I know. Writer Wu is from Shu, and Yangguan's hometown is in the northwest. The writing styles of both of them have very obvious regional characteristics. The book "Yumen" is a novel written by writer Wu after he stayed in the northwest for two years. It has received good reviews from the industry, but in terms of details..." Kang Mucheng chose his words carefully, "There are some controversies." Jian Jing

went straight to the point: "What do you think?"

"It's hard to say." This is Kang Mucheng's professional judgment.

She understood.

Jian Jing quickly found Officer Liang and explained the new clues to her.

Coincidentally, Officer Liang also gained something: "I just found a problem. Eddie said that he went to see the painter at around ten o'clock, but neither Tao nor Kang mentioned this."

Jian Jing thought about it for a while and understood the key: "There is another staircase."

"There is a side staircase at the back door." Officer Liang took her to investigate.

It turned out that there was a hidden small staircase at the back door. It was narrow and only allowed one person to walk. It could go directly to the study upstairs.

"Eddie went up from the back door, so they didn't see it." Officer Liang's eyes flashed, "The person who quarreled with Chang Huajia may not be Xiaotian or Xiaolu, but someone else."

Quarrel is human nature, but it is crucial to find out the whole story when the quarrel broke out a few hours before Chang Huajia's death.

Jian Jing thought: "Didn't the two students hear anything?"

"We have to check them again." Officer Liang said coldly, "I suspect someone is lying." He

questioned Tian and Lu again, and indeed asked some more questions.

Officer Liang: "Xiaotian, I heard that the painter criticized your painting yesterday. Did you go to her at night? Did she say anything to you?"

Xiaotian bit her lip: "No, the teacher didn't look for me."

"So, you have been painting downstairs?"

"Yes."

Officer Liang's tone gradually became colder: "But your studio is downstairs from the painter. Everyone sitting in the living room heard her arguing with others, but you didn't hear anything?"

Xiaotian pursed his lips and looked at Xiaolu.

Xiaolu touched his nose and said unexpectedly, "Actually... we went out halfway."

"What did you go do? Why did you lie at the beginning?" Officer Liang said aggressively.

Xiaotian seemed to be about to cry, his face pale: "It's because, I forgot... I forgot to give the teacher medicine. Sorry, I didn't mean it."

The girl seemed to be under great mental pressure, and her emotions broke down. She confessed everything: "I was originally going to deliver medicine to the teacher, but today the teacher said something very harsh to me. I sat in front of the drawing board and felt that I was such a failure. I studied with the teacher for three years, and she kept scolding me, saying that I didn't work hard enough and the things I drew were useless."

She sobbed and vented her long-standing resentment to them: "She ordered me around like a nanny, and assigned a lot of homework every day, which I couldn't finish. She said I had no talent at all, and I should give up as soon as possible. Being an ordinary painter would be the end of the world."

Xiaolu couldn't bear it, so he put his hand on her shoulder and comforted her: "The teacher is doing this for our own good. Look, she promised to help us publish a picture album, and this time she held the exhibition for us."

"You believe what she said?" Xiaotian sneered and said resentfully, "She just wants me to give up. Of course, she treats you better than me, maybe she really wants 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 ten o'clock. So we didn't hear the teacher arguing with anyone."

Officer Liang stared at Xiaotian and asked, "What about the medicine you just mentioned?"

Xiaolu hurriedly explained: "The teacher's lungs are not very good. She smokes too much. After seeing a doctor, she has been drinking Chinese medicine recently."

"Didn't you give her medicine today?" Officer Liang asked Xiaotian.

"I, I forgot, I really didn't mean it." Xiaotian defended himself, muttering, "I was just too angry, angry that she treated me badly, I was so sad that I didn't notice the time."

"I know, I believe you." Jian Jing calmed her emotions and changed the subject, "Did you see anything unusual when you came back?"

Xiaotian hesitated and said, "We came back around ten o'clock, and Xiaolu went straight back to the room. But I thought that if I didn't complete today's task, the teacher would scold me tomorrow, so I came back to paint for a while. When I walked here, I seemed to see a person."

"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. It's definitely not Writer Xia and 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 nine o'clock, but went out again around ten o'clock? Thinking of the conflict between Writer Wu and Yang Guan, his suspicion suddenly increased.

When Jian Jing and Officer Liang came to the door, Writer Wu was swiping his phone impatiently. She glanced at the other party's page with the telescope function and found that it was a map navigation with "Sudden road conditions, impassable" clearly written on it.

"Wu Xing, there are some things I need to verify with you again." Officer Liang said.

Writer Wu raised his head and frowned, "What do you mean? Do you think I'm a suspect? Which police station are you from? Ask your leader to come and talk to me."

Officer Liang was also stubborn and said, "Our leader is investigating a serial arson case. Mr. Wu wants to see my leader. Do you have something more serious to tell me?"

Writer Wu was so angry that his face turned blue: "Can you talk?"

"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? Didn't you write it down? How do you work?!"

Officer Liang's face turned cold: "Mr. Wu, please cooperate with our work, otherwise I can only ask you to come to the bureau and let our leaders ask you for advice on work."

She bumped into the other party twice in a row, and finally made Writer Wu realize that the woman in front of him was not as easy to control and bully as an ordinary girl.

He softened: "I haven't seen her."

"Someone saw you go to see her around ten o'clock." Officer Liang was aggressive, "How do you explain it?"

Writer Wu was timid: "You said you saw me and really went? I said he saw it wrong."

He was so strong that Officer Liang couldn't do anything to him. She was just threatening him: "I will write down everything you say. If I find out that you have been there..."

"Go ahead and find out. Come back to me when you find out." Writer Wu had been fed up with it for so many years. Seeing that Officer Liang could not produce any substantial evidence, he immediately became more angry.

Jian Jing had no choice but to speak up: "Since you are so frank, why don't you open the box for Officer Liang to check."

Writer Wu was like a dog whose feet had been stepped on, and he flew into a rage: "What for?"

"A bet." Jian Jing took out her cell phone, clicked on the saved picture and took a photo in front of him. "If I can't find anything, I will delete this photo."

Writer Wu said contemptuously: "It's just a photo. If you have the guts, post it."

There was indeed something in the box. Jian Jing certainly didn't want to gamble with him, she just wanted to trick him: "The photo will affect your reputation to some extent, but you are unwilling to do a business without cost. It seems that the price you paid is much heavier than the photo."

Officer Liang didn't know what the photo was, but it didn't prevent her from understanding and cooperating: "Mr. Wu, I must take a look at your suitcase."

As she spoke, she wanted to open the suitcase of Writer Wu.

Writer Wu finally couldn't sit still anymore.