Chapter 65

Xu Gui had told Qiao Qiao's grandmother before that although the bag was still with her niece, the bracelet inside was gone.

Grandma Qiao looked at the bracelet in her hand and asked, "What about this bracelet?"

“It’s fake,” Xu Gui said, immediately recognizing the difference. “It’s gold-wrapped silver.”

Is it a fake?

Unaware of the background, Yao Yao asked Grandma Qiao Qiao, "Auntie, could it be that when you bought it, you bought a fake gold-plated silver one?"

Grandma Qiao said, "Impossible. Your sister-in-law bought this for me, and it's from a big brand store. How could it be fake?"

"...But..." Yao Yao was even more confused. Pointing at the bracelet, she looked at Xu Gui and said, "This sister said that this is gold-plated silver, and it's a fake."

Xu Gui smiled and said, "What I mean is, the bag originally contained a real gold bracelet, but it has been switched with this gold-plated silver one."

Yao Yao: ?!

"No, it wasn't me!" She quickly raised her hand and waved it. "I didn't do it. I didn't even know there was this thing in the bag!"

If she had known there were such valuable things in that bag, she would have already given it to Grandma Qiaoqiao. She wouldn't have kept the bag so carelessly, stuffing it in a corner next to the cabinet, where it's covered in so much dust.

Grandma Qiao looked at her, remembering what Xu Gui had said before, and tentatively asked, "Yao Yao, do you think it's possible that your roommate replaced her?"

"...No, really?" Yao Yao glanced subconsciously at her only roommate who was still in the dormitory.

My roommates were eating and didn't hear what they were saying, only occasionally glancing over at them out of curiosity.

Yao Yao looked away and whispered, "My three roommates are all very nice. They don't seem like the kind of people who would do something like this. Is there some misunderstanding?" She still found it hard to believe.

Xu Gui presented the facts and said, "After Grandma Qiao Qiao got the bracelet, she put it directly into this bag. Later, you took this bag back to school and left it in your dormitory without moving it."

The bag's route was very simple: it was either at Qiaoqiao's grandma's house or in this dormitory. If it were gone, it could be said to have been lost, but it was deliberately switched, so it must have been done on purpose.

The only people who could have done this, besides Qiaoqiao's grandmother's family, are Yaoyao and the others in her dormitory, and obviously, the latter are more likely.

Xu Gui's words were reasonable and well-founded, but Yao Yao still couldn't believe them. After all, the four of them had been roommates for two years and had always gotten along very well. She really didn't want to assume anything malicious about them.

Yao Yao was devastated.

Since their other two roommates hadn't returned yet, Xu Gui and the others could only wait in the dormitory before speaking up. The atmosphere on their side was somewhat silent, and Yao Yao's expression also seemed a little off.

Her roommate, who was still in the dorm, couldn't help but whisper, "Yaoyao, what happened? You don't look well."

Yao Yao turned to look at the other person, revealing a smile that was more like a grimace, and said, "Something did happen... Let's talk about it when Nan Nan and the others come back, then you'll know."

Her roommate was puzzled. She really wanted to ask what was going on and why she had to wait for the other two to come back before she could tell them.

However, seeing that Yao Yao's expression was really not good, she swallowed her question and instead tagged the other two people in the group chat, asking them to come back quickly.

Qingqing: [We're already on our way back. What happened? What's wrong?]

Nan Nan: [Xiao Xiao, would you like some cold noodles? We'll bring you a bowl.]

Xiao Xiao: [Yao Yao's aunt is here! It seems like something happened. Yao Yao doesn't seem to be in a good mood, and her aunt and the others also look troubled. Please come back soon.]

Nan Nan: [Did they have a fight?]

Qingqing: [Hiss, is the atmosphere in the dorm really awkward right now? Maybe we shouldn't come back?]

Xiaoxiao: [It doesn't seem like they argued. Anyway, I don't know what happened. I asked Yaoyao, but she wouldn't say. She said she'd have to wait until you guys get back to tell me. I don't understand either.]

Qingqing: [?]

"What is it that we have to go back to talk about?" Qingqing looked at Nannan beside her with some confusion. "Besides, this should be Yaoyao and her aunt's business, what does it have to do with us? Right, Nannan?"

Nan Nan didn't say anything.

Qingqing looked at her in confusion, then called out again, "Nannan?"

"...Wh-what's wrong?" Nan Nan seemed to have just come to her senses, looking at her in a panic.

Qingqing frowned and said, "I should be asking you, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? If you are, let's go back to the dorm and rest now."

Nan Nan said with a forced expression, "No, I'm fine."

No, you look like you have something on your mind.

Qingqing muttered to herself.

Then she noticed that Nan Nan seemed suddenly reluctant to go back to the dormitory, especially after the two of them dragged their way to the dormitory. Nan Nan seemed even more resistant.

Qingqing couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.

"I... my stomach feels a little sore, you go upstairs first!"

When they reached the first floor of the dormitory, Nan Nan suddenly stopped, said something, and then hurriedly went into the public restroom on the first floor, leaving Qing Qing standing alone at the top of the stairs, looking rather bewildered.

"But we're almost at our dorm..." she said slowly, wondering if her dorm's bathroom was any better than the public ones.

Qingqing returned to the dormitory looking completely bewildered. Upon seeing her return, all four of the roommates turned to look at her with unanimous gazes, their heavy eyes fixed on her.

Qingqing: "..." For some reason, she suddenly felt a lot of pressure.

When she came in, Xiaoxiao glanced behind her and asked, "Where's Nannan? Why are you all alone?"

Qingqing smiled politely at Xu Gui and Grandma Qiaoqiao, then answered Xiaoxiao's question: "She's still on the first floor. When she was going upstairs, she suddenly said her stomach hurt, so she ran to the bathroom..."

"Why don't you come back to the dorm to study?" Yao Yao suddenly asked.

Qingqing: "Who knows... Oh right, Xiaoxiao told us to come back quickly, saying you had something to tell us. What is it?"

Yao Yao subconsciously looked at Grandma Qiao Qiao, who sighed and said, "Let me explain!"

The old lady couldn't bear to see her niece in such a predicament, so she stood up and said, "This matter is actually related to me as well. I gave Yao Yao a bag before, and inside the bag was a gold bracelet worth about 80,000 yuan! But when I came to look for it today, I found that the bracelet had been switched. The original pure gold bracelet has now been replaced with a fake gold-plated silver bracelet."

Qingqing's mind worked quickly. Her expression changed after hearing this, and she said in a deep voice, "What do you mean? You don't think we switched the bracelet, do you?" She felt insulted and angry.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but widen her eyes. She first glanced at Grandma Qiao Qiao, then looked at Yao Yao, her eyes filled with questions.

Yao Yao was a little lost and whispered, "I don't know what happened. I didn't even know the bracelet was in this bag. I only found out today that it had been switched."

Qingqing said, "Even so, you shouldn't doubt us. Don't you know who we are?"

“If we could, we wouldn’t want to suspect you either,” Xu Gui interjected. “But the fact is, it’s most likely that someone from your dorm committed the crime, and I actually already know who did it.”

"Where's your other roommate?" she suddenly asked. "It's been seven or eight minutes, isn't she coming up yet?"

Everyone sensed a certain directional implication in Xu Gui's words.

Qingqing was initially very angry, but upon hearing Xu Gui's words, her feverish head suddenly felt as if it had been doused with cold water, and gradually cooled down. She suddenly remembered the strange behavior of Nannan on the way back.

Qingqing looked at her other roommate, Xiaoxiao, who seemed to have thought of something as well. The two exchanged glances and communicated with each other.

"I'll ask Nan Nan now..." Xiao Xiao picked up her phone and said, "I'll ask her why she hasn't come up yet."

She was sending messages to Nan Nan, and as for the others, they seemed to have no desire to speak at this moment. Everyone was silent for a while, which caused the dormitory to suddenly become quiet.

It wasn't until more than ten minutes later that their last roommate, a girl named Nan Nan, finally returned.

Her face was wet and pale, as if she had just washed it. Upon seeing Grandma Qiaoqiao, she obediently called out, "Aunt Yang..."

Qiaoqiao's grandma's surname is Yang. She used to visit Yaoyao at school often, so Yaoyao's roommates all know her and call her Aunt Yang.

Hearing Nan Nan greet her, Grandma Qiao responded, "Hey, Nan Nan..."

She looked at Nan Nan with a complicated expression, still unable to believe that the other person was the one who switched the bracelets.

In Grandma Qiao's memory, Nan Nan was always the most well-behaved and sensible one in the dormitory, and also very diligent. Every time Grandma Qiao came over, she was the one with the sweetest words and the most thoughtful way of greeting her.

So how could that be? How could it be Nan Nan?

Grandma Qiaoqiao was shocked and puzzled.

However, what Xu Gui calculated couldn't be false...

"Aunt Yang, why do you look at me like that?"