"Officer, you're lying," Qiao Jiajing said coldly.
"Hmph, I knew you would say that, but what evidence do you have to prove I'm lying? Just because someone attacked me?"
"Of course not." Qiao Jiajing smiled faintly. "Although I don't know the reason, all the stories told by everyone have some connections. Many characters in these stories overlap, and if we set aside geographical locations, everyone's accounts are reasonable."
"So what?"
"The problem lies here." Qiao Jiajing pointed at the lawyer, Zhang Chenzhe. "You and the lawyer's stories have a common character, which is 'the scammer who swindled two million.' However, your stories contradict each other, which means one of you is lying."
Officer Li paused and asked, "Where's the contradiction?"
Qiao Jiajing shook his head and looked at Officer Li. "Lawyer Zhang is preparing for court, which means in her story, 'the suspect has already been caught.' Yet you are still on guard, indicating that in your story, 'the suspect is still at large.' Isn't that a contradiction?"
Officer Li pondered for a moment and said, "I have to admit that you have a point, but I think you are influenced by this 'game.' First, you must understand a crucial premise: all the storytellers were in different cities. In other words, even if our experiences are similar, we cannot be talking about the same event. Since these are different events, there will naturally be different outcomes."
Qi Xia quietly watched the two who were constantly debating, not intervening.
Yes, let them argue; the more heated the debate, the better.
As long as either of them casts a vote against the other, the liar wins.
After all, the rules are absolute. If anyone other than the liar votes incorrectly, it will lead to the downfall of the remaining people.
Although Officer Li had provided an explanation, Qiao Jiajing's words still lingered in everyone's minds.
After all, this was the first time they had discovered a contradiction in the stories of the two individuals.
Qi Xia couldn't help but look at the thug named Qiao Jiajing with a newfound respect.
Although he appeared carefree and reckless, he was smarter than she had imagined.
"Well... it's my turn now..." a girl said.
Everyone turned their attention to her, pulling their thoughts back to the present.
This girl had screamed loudly when the first victim was discovered.
Now, she seemed to have calmed down, though her gaze never dared to look around her.
"Hello everyone, my name is Lin Qing, and I am a psychological counselor."
Qi Xia paused slightly, as the name "Lin Qing" was quite interesting.
Before the Tang Dynasty, "Lin Qing" meant "apple."
The characters are poetic and leave a lasting impression.
Perhaps Miss Lin's parents wanted their daughter to have a unique name, but clearly, this name could be detrimental to her here.
Among those present were writers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, and police officers, all of whom might know the meaning of "Lin Qing."
Just repeating this name in their minds a few times would make the story she told memorable.
Lin Qing noticed that the crowd had little reaction, so she covered her mouth and nose with her hand and continued, "I am from Ningxia. Before coming here, I was waiting for a client, who is a kindergarten teacher."
The crowd glanced at the kindergarten teacher named Xiao Ran without surprise; this story connected once again.
"According to her, the current kindergarten industry is very difficult. You can't hit or scold the children. Parents treat kindergarten teachers like babysitters, and the children see the teachers as servants. Every classroom is equipped with surveillance cameras, and parents monitor in real-time. If your tone is even slightly stern, parents will call the principal immediately."
"But aren't parents sending their children to kindergarten to help them establish their values?"
"If teachers can't discipline sternly, how will the children realize their mistakes?"
"She feels that for a long time, she has been in a state of confusion and oppression."
"So I organized a treatment plan for her that lasted about a month."
"But for some reason, that client never showed up for the appointment, and I just kept waiting in the studio."
"When the earthquake struck, I had no chance to escape. After all, my studio is on the twenty-sixth floor."
"The higher the floor, the stronger the tremors. I felt the entire building shaking."
"I never knew that Ningxia could experience earthquakes; this time, I felt it."
"Later, I vaguely remember the ceiling collapsing. Everything went dark, and then I lost consciousness."
After listening to Lin Qing's story, everyone seemed to have something else on their minds.
Qiao Jiajing was the first to speak up: "I have two questions."
"Go ahead," Lin Qing asked, covering her mouth and nose.
"You mentioned that every classroom is equipped with 'surveillance cameras.' What does that mean?"
The crowd didn't expect Qiao Jiajing to focus on this point, but Lin Qing, being a psychological counselor, patiently replied, "I think the reason for installing 'surveillance cameras' is so that parents can see what's happening in the classroom from anywhere."
"So it was 'closed-circuit television'... Is it an elite kindergarten?" Qiao Jiajing muttered to himself, then asked, "So the kindergarten teacher you were supposed to meet is this Xiao Ran next to you?"
"I don't know," Lin Qing shook her head. "I only added her on WeChat, and we planned to discuss other details in person."
"WeChat?" Qiao Jiajing paused for a moment, seemingly confused.
Officer Li interrupted the two, saying, "Thug, here you go again. Xiao Ran is in Yunnan, and this Lin Qing is in Ningxia. Who would travel such a long distance to see a psychological counselor?"
Qiao Jiajing was unyielding: "I just think there are doubts. This is the first time someone's story has mentioned another participant."
Doctor Zhao found Qiao Jiajing's point reasonable this time and nodded in agreement, asking, "Xiao Ran, is your reason for seeking a psychological counselor the same as what Lin Qing described?"
"Um..." Xiao Ran hesitated for a moment and said, "It's not quite the same... I became a bit depressed because I was constantly criticized by a parent..."
"Then that just proves it's a coincidence," Doctor Zhao nodded. "After all, these are matters from two different regions, and there's no need for us to force a connection."
At this point, everyone fell silent, but Lawyer Zhang suddenly spoke up: "Ms. Lin, half of the story you told is that of the 'kindergarten teacher.' Isn't that against the rules?"
"Ah?" Lin Qing was slightly taken aback. "I mentioned that kindergarten teacher to help you better understand my work..."
"Don't get me wrong; I don't mean anything by it," Zhang Chenze smiled. "What I'm saying is, if the kindergarten teacher's experiences are fabricated by you, then naturally there will be discrepancies with Xiao Ran's story, which would prove that you are lying."
"You...!" Lin Qing didn't expect the woman in front of her to be so aggressive and could only defend herself, "Doctor Zhao and Officer Li both said that we are from different provinces; it's all just a coincidence!"
"A coincidence, is it?" Zhang Chenze crossed her arms and continued, "Think about it carefully: why were we specifically chosen to gather here among these nine people? Don't forget, we are all strangers. If we are to detect inconsistencies in each other's stories, we need some clues. And that 'clue' is that everyone's stories are interconnected. After hearing each person's story, I feel like we are people who were deliberately selected. This way, we can smoothly find inconsistencies in the stories of the group and identify the liar; otherwise, this game would be absurd, because the odds for the 'liar' would be too great."