The Novelist Forced to Become Famous

Chapter 42

Time: 12:00-16:00

Location: Lakeside Park

Content: Orienteering + BBQ party

Prize: Mysterious "Treasure"

Zuo Xin said, "Is this robbery case real?"

"Yes, it makes it more immersive," Cheng Jia You asked, "What do you think, want to come?"

After the reasoning club disbanded, Zuo Xin's club activities had been blank. Hearing this, she was inevitably tempted: "Are you going, Jian Jing?"

With no classes at school, she couldn't just stay home to study or write every day. Jian Jing readily agreed: "Sure."

"Thanks for coming, you two." Cheng Jia You was very happy, "Let's make a group chat. I'll update everyone on there."

They joined the group chat. Cheng Jia You chatted with them about hiking for a while before leaving.

As soon as he left, Zuo Xin couldn't wait to say, "He seems to be interested in you."

Jian Jing: "???"

"He keeps looking at you and asking you questions." Zuo Xin argued, "I know what you're going to say. He's just asking about the treasure hunt clues, not necessarily flirting with you, right?"

Jian Jing retorted: "Isn't that it?"

"You don't understand this. Guys are very strange creatures. When girls ask them questions, they feel it's only natural because they are so awesome. But for them to take the initiative to ask girls questions? Difficult! They definitely won't ask you if they can avoid it." She asked three soul-searching questions in a row, each one piercing the heart.

Jian Jing was speechless.

Zuo Xin looked smug. At times like these, girls' perceptiveness was not on par with Sherlock Holmes: "That being said, Cheng Jia You is pretty good. Good grades, student council vice president, and also from a rich family. Did you see his shoes? AJ co-branded edition, with original retail price over 5,000 yuan, now sold for over 8,000 yuan on the resale market."

"How do you know so clearly?" Jian Jing asked curiously.

"After all, I'm also a mystery enthusiast." Zuo Xin pushed up her glasses and said seriously, "Fine, actually I was curious whether these showoffs really have money or were just pretending, so I did a little research."

Jian Jing couldn't help laughing: "You're so cute."

"It's quite fun. Some people show off designer bags on social media, but have to use other people's shampoo." Zuo Xin had a much more exciting daily life compared to Jian Jing, "Next time I see one, I'll tell you all about it—so what do you think of Cheng Jia You?"

"I just met him, how could I have an impression?" She was puzzled.

Zuo Xin said, "I'm pretty sure he'll come looking for you again if I'm not wrong."

She was spot on.

In the next few days, every time Jian Jing posted on social media, Cheng Jia You would definitely like and comment, and occasionally share film reviews from public accounts—all high-brow films.

To be fair, his actions were very appropriate. He chatted with her casually, shared interesting daily occurrences, without overly eager implications, which showed his interest yet wasn't too aggressive.

Jian Jing didn't exactly dislike him, of course she wasn't attracted either, she just felt it was quite novel and was a bit curious.

After chatting like this for a dozen days or so, it was the day of the orienteering activity.

The day before, Cheng Jia You specifically asked her: [Lakeside Park is quite far, want me to give you a ride there?]

To avoid seeming deliberate, he added: [I'm giving rides to several people anyway, so I can take you along if it's on the way]

Jian Jing was originally going to drive herself and pick up Zuo Xin on the way. But as soon as Zuo Xin found out, she said she would take a cab there with some friends, and told Jian Jing to get a ride from him.

[You have to give him a chance, give him a chance, give him a chance!]

Zuo Xin, single dog dating expert, urged her like this.

Jian Jing took her friend's advice and agreed.

That day, Cheng Jia You came to pick her up. As he said, he didn't only bring her. Both the passenger and back seats were occupied.

The passenger seat was taken by a guy. Seeing Jian Jing come over, he immediately said, "This community you live in is pretty expensive, isn't it? Writers make so much money?"

"It's alright." Jian Jing smiled and didn't argue with him. She went straight to the back seat.

Sitting in the back was a girl, wearing professional sportswear and light makeup. She smiled politely at Jian Jing and gestured that she was busy with her phone: "Mm-hmm, I know, please tell the teacher I'm done with the report and sent it to her email... It's okay, President Wang knows about this matter. Yes, he told me personally..."

She spoke like this for a long time before hanging up, complaining, "Our department really doesn't have it together. We didn't recruit any decent people this term. We have to prioritize ourselves in recruitment in a couple days."

Cheng Jia You introduced them to Jian Jing: "Zhao Xuan from External Affairs, and Liu Kai from Publicity."

Jian Jing said, "Jian Jing from Chinese Literature."

"You're quite famous." Zhao Xuan smiled, "I didn't expect you would join our orienteering event. I heard writers are usually very busy."

Jian Jing gave the usual vague answer: "It's alright."

"Ahem." Cheng Jia You cleared his throat and said, "The preparations at Lakeside are all done, right?"

"Done long ago." Zhao Xuan said, "Things you specifically asked me to handle, when have I ever slipped up?"

Her words were meaningful. Jian Jing raised her eyebrows.

Cheng Jia You quickly said, "I know you're capable, just confirming."

"As long as you know. By the way, forget what I said about recruitment. We still have to organize a basketball tournament next month. Last year's event went quite well, if we talk to them again this year, we might even get sponsorship." Zhao Xuan seemed to be very career-driven, and didn't forget to discuss student council affairs even on the way there.

Cheng Jia You chatted with her about the work, and took the opportunity to ask Jian Jing if she "wanted water", "needed the window lowered for some breeze", or "got carsick, did you bring medicine for it" and so on.

Jian Jing answered "no need" to everything.

In the subtle atmosphere, they soon arrived at Lakeside Park.

Zuo Xin immediately came to meet up with her and winked: "How was it?"

Jian Jing pursed her lips, trying not to laugh: "Kind of funny."

She told Zuo Xin about what happened in the car, and the two of them laughed together.

"They were obviously trying to shut you out by talking about things you can't join in on purpose. If Cheng Jia You didn't make a little effort, he could be ruled out just based on that." Zuo Xin analyzed it thoroughly, "How would you rate him?"

Jian Jing spread her hands.

Zuo Xin sighed, and lowered her voice, "In my opinion, Cheng Jia You is still quite interested in you."

"Just because he came to pick me up?"

"No no, look at how he's dressed today. His T-shirt and pants are trendy brands, several thousand yuan in total, not as flashy as luxury brands, but with the shoes it's over 10,000 yuan already. You can tell his financial status at a glance." Zuo Xin counted off on her fingers to explain to her, "The key is his socks, Corgi brand, over 100 yuan a pair. Guys who like showing off only know to buy expensive shoes, but won't buy socks over 20 yuan a pair."

Jian Jing gasped. She sincerely said, "Your knowledge is impressive."

"That's not the point." Zuo Xin went straight to the heart of the matter, "The point is his hair is blow dried and his shoes are very clean. He must have cleaned up before coming. You should know some guys don't even wash their hair before going on dates. Cheng Jia You has already shown quite a bit of sincerity."

She spoke so convincingly that she almost persuaded Jian Jing.

"Jian Jing, Zuo Xin, come get your name tags." The person in question called them.

The two girls contained their laughter and went to collect the stamped armbands to wear.

Cheng Jia You explained very clearly: "You need to get a stamp at each checkpoint, and find the clue to the next location. The first one to complete it can get the 'Treasure'. Total time is around 2-3 hours, very ample time. You can rest a bit if you get tired. Here's the park map."

"OK." Zuo Xin was very familiar with this, "When do we start?"

"You can start now." That was what Cheng Jia You said, but his eyes hinted at something else, "Or wait, I'll go with you."

Zuo Xin smiled and said, "My roommate and I have been here before, we came just to compete for the treasure this time. This is Jian Jing's first time playing, why don't you guide her?"

Jian Jing was surprised: "You're not even taking me but want to compete for the treasure?"

"Why not, how gutsy." Zuo Xin laughed loudly, made a gesture and said, "For that line, I'm definitely going to compete with you today. See you later!"

After saying that, she dashed off, looking very confident.

And so Jian Jing was righteously abandoned by her.

"It's fine, I'll take you around." Cheng Jia You told Liu Kai and then tied his shoelaces. "Let's go, we can catch up to them."

He smiled at her like this, and even the sunshine seemed a little more radiant.

In late September, most of the summer heat had faded, leaving just a bit of warmth that was shaded by the lush trees in the park. Jian Jing walked in the shade wearing a sun hat, breathing air filtered clean by the plants, fresh and mildly fragrant, comforting to the body and soul.

She gradually relaxed and sensed some enjoyment in hiking.

"Quite nice, isn't it?" Cheng Jia You read her expression and saw her relaxing, so he pressed on, "Sometimes when I have too many worries, I like going for walks everywhere."

Jian Jing asked, "By yourself?"

"If it's not club activities, then yes, by myself." He shrugged. "No one to go with me anyway."

The subtext was probably: Single and available, with good intentions.

"What about you?" Cheng Jia You brought up a topic. "What do you usually do? Write?"

"Mostly, yes." Jian Jing said, "When I have inspiration, I'm working all day and night."

Cheng Jia You was curious: "What about when you don't have inspiration?"

She smiled: "Look for inspiration."

"Sounds quite tough." Cheng Jia You hesitated a little before asking, "Actually I'm very curious, why did you choose to write mystery novels? Most girls write romance more often—don't get me wrong, I'm not saying girls can't write mysteries, just purely curious."

This question really stumped Jian Jing.

She and her parallel universe self inexplicably wrote stories about the white cat. Why?

"I guess because solving mysteries is fun," she mused. "The satisfaction from unraveling puzzles is hard to replace with anything else."

Cheng Jia You laughed. "I see. We're quite alike in this way, valuing spiritual fulfillment over material." Frankly, physical pleasures come and go quickly. It's because they both weren't lacking in material things."

"It's because those who lack materials need more spiritual pursuits," Cheng Jia You argued.

Jian Jing's eyebrows furrowed slightly. She didn't agree with his words but didn't want to turn their casual chat into a debate. So she changed the subject, pointing to the stone bridge in the distance, "Isn't that the first checkpoint?"

"Oh right," Cheng Jia You also realized he shouldn't argue with her and played along, "We're here."

The stone bridge was the first checkpoint. The task was extremely simple too. Put together the flat geometric shapes into a 3D model and you could see the location name written on the edges: campsite.

After getting back on the road, Cheng Jia You timely switched topics. "Don't you think the tasks are too easy? Doesn't seem to have stumped anyone..." He noticed Jian Jing was spacing out, her gaze drifting over the other end of the bridge.

"Hm?" She turned back, puzzled.

"What are you looking at?" he asked. "See someone you know?"

"I'm checking the route," Jian Jing didn't answer his question directly. She picked up the map in her hands and examined it. "We have to go around, right?"

Cheng Jia You misunderstood her meaning. "You want to go to the other side of the bridge? We can circle back from there on the way back."

"Sure, that works," Jian Jing just went along without telling him she did see someone familiar.

Just now, Ji Feng was at the other end of the bridge, speaking in low voices with a young woman.

The distance was a bit far but she could easily make out his face. Plus she was familiar with the way he carried himself, making him easy to recognize.

After thinking for a bit, she sent him a WeChat: [At the lakeside park?]

Ji Feng replied swiftly: [You saw me? Don't come over, busy]

As expected, he was on some undercover mission. Jian Jing sent an "OK" and was about to put her phone away when it rang.

She made an "excuse me" gesture to Cheng Jia You and walked some distance away to take the call: "What's up?"

"You're at the park?" Ji Feng had spotted her location without even glancing her way. "Oh, on a date with your boyfriend?"

"School hiking event," Jian Jing said. "Do you need something?"

Ji Feng said, "Hiking huh, pretty nice, though a bit boring, no?"

She: "Get to the point."

"Help me keep an eye out for suspicious people while you hike, 'kay?" Though it was a request, his tone was quite certain, as if knowing she wouldn't refuse.