We don't/can't know at the moment because the novel is still ongoing.
In the lastest volumes there seems to be hint at concrete romantic developpement but I'm one volume behind so I can't confirm 100%
As the story is not really focused on the romance we have no way of knowing if they'll end up together at the moment, though I would like them to ! ^-^
Spoilers ahead
If you read the novel and are caught up it’s pretty clear that jinshi wants mao mao to be his wife he states it multiple times lol.
Is maomao starting to get interested in him at that point?
She grows flustered over Jinshi in that working as prostitute scene and that cave scene, frog-san lmao. Proves that she's interested already but not in a way where she's into him, she already cares about him. This story mainly focused on investigation, so story is possibly very slow burn. Though high possibility that there will be romance, though it's a sub-genre since again, that's not what the story is focusing on. Does that make sense?
There are signs that they have feelings for each others HOWEVER the story is not completed yet and the author actually doesn't like Jinshi and probably doesnt like the idea of romance between maomao and him. If the author goes for readers wishes, we'll see their romance, if not, the author will skip it.
Hopefully author-san will hear the readers request
Whaaat why doesnt the author like Jinshi??
I'm confused. If the author doesn't like Jinshi, why make him a prominent supporting character for like 90% of the series? That's kinda like going out of your way to hang out with someone you don't like. Maybe it's because he's such a fan favorite? But even then, there's no reason to write that he clearly has romantic feelings for her, and offer no romantic alternatives for either of them if they're not going to be end game.
She starts to get flustered and confused with how she feels when kinship does stuff like hold her hand. They have a lot of moments coming up but the manga has a long way to go.
I think it's better for her to not to listen to the audience. Follow what she deems best for the story. Remember Painter of The Night? It's supposed to be like Killing Stalking, but because of the audience, the genre shifted from psychological horror to romance which I find it disappointing because I was rooting for justice for the innocent ML.
no idea, and i read that the author's family really like Jinshi.
I read from a comment that it maomao and Jinshi aren't end game in the novel? Is that really true and can someone explain why and how?