Chapter 7

"Jiaozǐ, you're lying," Qiao Jiajin said coldly.

"Hmph, I knew you would say that, but do you have any evidence to prove I'm lying? Just because someone attacked me?"

"Of course not." Qiao Jiajin smiled slightly, "Although I don't know the reason, all the stories told by everyone before have some connection. There are many shared characters in these stories. If we ignore the geographical location, everyone's story is reasonable."

"So what?"

"The problem lies here." Qiao Jiajin pointed at the lawyer Zhang Chenze, "There is a common character in your story and the lawyer's story, that is, the 'fraudster who swindled two million.' However, your stories are contradictory, which means one of you is lying."

Officer Li paused and asked, "Where is the contradiction?"

Qiao Jiajin shook his head and said to Officer Li, "The lawyer is preparing for the trial, which means in her story, the 'suspect has been caught.' But in your story, you are still on stakeout, which means the 'suspect has not been caught yet.' Isn't that a contradiction?"

Officer Li thought for a moment and said, "I have to admit, what you said makes some sense, but I think you've been influenced by this 'game.' First, you need to understand a major premise: all the people who told stories before are not in the same city. In other words, even if our experiences are similar, they can't possibly be the same event. Since they are different events, they naturally have different outcomes."

Qi Xia watched the two people arguing without interrupting.

Yes, argue, the more intense the better.

As long as either of them votes for the other, the liar wins.

After all, the rules are absolute. If anyone other than the liar votes incorrectly, everyone else will suffer the consequences.

Although Officer Li had given an explanation, Qiao Jiajin's words still lingered in everyone's minds.

After all, this was the first time they had noticed contradictions in two people's stories.

Qi Xia didn't...

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...help but look at this thug, Qiao Jiajin, with a bit more respect.

Although he looked unruly, he was smarter than expected.

"Um... it's my turn..." a girl said.

Everyone then put aside their thoughts and looked at her.

This girl had screamed loudly when the first person died.

Now she seemed to have calmed down, but she still dared not look around.

"Hello everyone, my name is Lin Qin, and I am a psychological counselor."

Qi Xia paused for a moment because the name "Lin Qin" was interesting.

Before the Tang Dynasty, "Lin Qin" meant "apple."

These two characters were poetic and memorable.

Perhaps this Miss Lin's parents wanted her to have a unique name, but this name would clearly be a disadvantage here.

Among the people present were a writer, a teacher, a lawyer, a doctor, and a police officer, any of whom might know the meaning of "Lin Qin."

As long as this name was kept in mind, Lin Qin's story would be memorable.

Seeing no reaction from the others, Lin Qin covered her mouth and nose and continued, "I am from Ningxia. Before I came here, I was waiting for a client, who was a kindergarten teacher."

Everyone glanced at the kindergarten teacher, Xiao Ran, without surprise. This story had a connection.

"According to her, the kindergarten teaching profession is very difficult now. You can't hit or scold the children. Parents treat kindergarten teachers like nannies, and children treat them like servants. Every classroom is equipped with surveillance, and parents monitor in real-time. If your tone is slightly strict, the parents will call the principal."

"But don't parents send their children to kindergarten to help them develop their values?"

"If teachers can't teach strictly, how can children recognize their mistakes?"

"She felt that she had been in a state of confusion and depression for a long time."

"So I prepared a treatment plan for her, which would last about a month."

"But for some reason, the client never showed up, so I kept waiting in my studio."

"The earthquake came, and I had no chance to escape. After all, my studio is on the 26th floor."

"The higher the floor, the stronger the shaking. I felt the entire building shaking."

"I never knew Ningxia could have earthquakes before. This time, I experienced it."

"Later, I vaguely remember the ceiling collapsing, and then everything went black."

After hearing Lin Qin's story, everyone seemed to have some thoughts.

Qiao Jiajin spoke first, "I have two questions."

"Go ahead," Lin Qin said, covering her mouth and nose.

"You said every classroom is equipped with 'surveillance.' What do you mean by that?"

No one expected Qiao Jiajin to focus on this point, but Lin Qin, being a psychological counselor, answered patiently, "I think the 'surveillance' is installed so that parents can see the classroom from anywhere."

"So it's 'closed-circuit television'... a private kindergarten, I see..." Qiao Jiajin muttered to himself and then asked, "Is the kindergarten teacher you were meeting the one next to you, Xiao Ran?"

"I don't know." Lin Qin shook her head, "I only added her on WeChat. We were supposed to discuss the details in person."

"WeChat?" Qiao Jiajin was puzzled.

Officer Li interrupted, "Thug, you're at it again. Xiao Ran is in Yunnan, and this Lin Qin is in Ningxia. Who would travel such a long distance to see a psychological counselor?"

Qiao Jiajin was not to be outdone, "I just think there's a point of suspicion. This is the first time someone's story has mentioned another participant."

Doctor Zhao found Qiao Jiajin's point reasonable and nodded, asking, "Xiao Ran, is the reason you sought a psychological counselor the same as what Lin Qin described?"

"Um..." Xiao Ran hesitated, "Not exactly... I was depressed because I was constantly criticized by a parent..."

"That proves it's just a coincidence." Doctor Zhao nodded, "After all, these are events from different regions, so we don't need to force a connection."

At this point, everyone was silent, but Lawyer Zhang suddenly spoke, "Miss Lin, half of your story is about the 'kindergarten teacher.' Isn't that against the rules?"

"Ah?" Lin Qin was slightly stunned, "I mentioned the kindergarten teacher to help you better understand my work..."

"Don't misunderstand, I don't mean anything by it." Zhang Chenze smiled, "What I mean is, if the kindergarten teacher's experience is fabricated, it will naturally contradict Xiao Ran's story, proving that you are lying."

"You...!" Lin Qin didn't expect the woman to be so aggressive and could only defend herself, "Doctor Zhao and Officer Li both said that our provinces are different, so it's just a coincidence!"

"A coincidence, is it?" Zhang Chenze crossed her arms and continued, "Think about it carefully. Why were we nine people specifically gathered here? Don't forget, we are nine strangers. If we are to find the flaw in each other's stories, we must be given some clues. This 'clue' is that all our stories are connected. After hearing everyone's stories, I feel that we were deliberately chosen. This way, we can smoothly find the flaw in everyone's stories and identify the liar. Otherwise, this game would be too absurd, as the 'liar' would have too much of an advantage."