Searching for fake people (2)
Jian Tanxi quickly searched everywhere and found both children in the kitchen. The kitchen was a mess; eggs were broken all over the floor, one child had crawled into the big pot to scoop porridge to drink, and hadn't even taken off his shoes; the other child was playing with flour, which was all over himself.
Jian Tanxi found it both funny and surprising, and at the same time felt a sense of panic and helplessness. Thankfully, this wasn't her child.
She quickly called out to the child's parents to come down.
Upon hearing this, the child's parents came downstairs.
Jian Tanxi was plotting how to plead for the two children, knowing their parents would be furious.
Surprisingly, their parents were not angry or said anything. They simply pulled the two children out of the kitchen and took them to the bathroom to wash.
Moreover, they were really just cleaning the child; they didn't scold or hit the child.
Jian Tanxi was surprised and inwardly marveled at how stable the couple's emotions were.
Suddenly, something occurred to her: Could this couple be imposters?
They saw that their child had caused such a big mess, yet they weren't angry at all. One could say they were very tolerant, but they didn't frown or smile.
This shows that they were neither annoyed nor amused.
They're like two NPCs; when they see the child is dirty, the task is automatically triggered: to clean the child.
Jian Tanxi thought about it more and more and it seemed very possible.
She made a mental note of the couple: Li Zhicheng and his wife.
However, she couldn't just take out a pen and paper to write it down, lest she attract attention, so she repeated it in her mind several times.
After washing the children, Li Zhicheng and his wife changed them into clean clothes.
Jian Tanxi thought they would give the child a few words of advice, but to her surprise, they didn't even do that.
They went about their business, leaving the child to play on the first floor, but they locked the kitchen door.
Jian Tanxi was surprised and became even more suspicious that the couple were imposters.
So she said goodbye to this family and went to the next one.
The second household she visited had only one person, an elderly woman in her seventies living alone, whose surname was Qian.
Grandma Qian's house was very clean and tidy, with no clutter. Everything was neatly arranged, and there were flowers on the windowsill.
After entering, Jian Tanxi felt refreshed.
Grandma Qian was very happy to have someone visit her. She chatted with Jian Tanxi for a while and then took some food out of the refrigerator for Jian Tanxi.
She brought out things like cola, yogurt, apricots, and milk. Jian Tanxi wasn't hungry and declined, saying, "Thank you, Grandma Qian, but I don't want any."
Grandma Qian said, "There are still some things in the refrigerator. Take whatever you want."
Jian Tanxi refused, but seeing a book on the bookshelf, she picked it up and started reading.
After reading a few pages, she lost interest and wanted to look at something else.
However, there weren't many books on the bookshelf, and most of them were things that Jian Tanxi wasn't interested in, so she started watching TV.
She felt that she needed to spend enough time in each household to determine whether the person was a fake.
As things stand, there's nothing unusual about Old Lady Qian, so it seems I can leave in a few minutes.
After watching TV for a few minutes, Jian Tanxi got up to say goodbye.
Grandma Qian handed Jian Tanxi milk, cola, chocolate, small cakes and other food, so that she could take them with her on the way.
Jian Tanxi couldn't refuse, so she said, "Grandma Qian, please get me a bag to pack this up, otherwise I can't carry all of it."
Grandma Qian said, "I don't have any extra bags. How about this, you can put it in your bag."
"My bag is full of important things, I can't put food in it. How about this, I'll take this chocolate, and I don't need the rest."
"Okay, whatever you want. You must come when you have time."
"Yes, definitely."
After taking a few steps, Jian Tanxi suddenly felt something was wrong.
Isn't it a bit strange that an old lady doesn't hoard anything, an old lady who doesn't even have extra plastic bags?
Moreover, it's quite strange for a man in his seventies to have so many things like cola, chocolate, and small cakes in his home.
For a normal elderly person, what they take out of the refrigerator should be leftovers.
So Jian Tanxi turned back.
Grandma Qian was overjoyed to see Jian Tanxi again and asked, "Girl, will you still play at my house?"
Jian Tanxi said, "Hmm, let me see what's in your refrigerator."
Grandma Qian said happily, "Okay, take whatever you like."
Judging from Grandma Qian's reaction, it seemed that she did not realize that something was wrong with her.
The referee was right; the imposter couldn't tell he was an imposter.
Jian Tanxi returned to Grandma Qian's house and opened her refrigerator.
The refrigerator was clean and tidy, with not much stuff inside. Other elderly people would stuff their refrigerators full, but Grandma Qian's refrigerator was filled with fresh snacks, drinks, fruits, and vegetables, and in small quantities, with no leftovers.
Seeing this refrigerator further confirmed Jian Tanxi's suspicions.
Jian Tanxi asked Grandma Qian, "Grandma Qian, has your refrigerator always been like this?"
Grandma Qian said, "I don't remember much about what happened before."
"Did you buy these Coke, milk, and chocolate yourself?"
"Yes."
Why did you buy these? Do you like to eat them?
“I saw a lot of people buying these, so I bought some too.”
Jian Tanxi was very excited, but she didn't show it on her face and just closed the refrigerator door.
An old lady who has lived for decades but doesn't have her own shopping habits and instead imitates others in buying things is 99% a fake person.
Jian Tanxi then asked, "Did you tidy up this house yourself?"
"yes."
Why do you have so few things in your house?
"I'm not quite sure either. Maybe I threw away some odds and ends while tidying up."
"Okay. Grandma, I'm going now."
Through her conversation with Grandma Qian, Jian Tanxi also understood one thing: a fake person doesn't know that they are a fake person, but a fake person doesn't lie, doesn't pretend, and says what they mean.
Next, Jian Tanxi arrived at the third household.
This family seemed normal; three generations lived together, and there was quite a bit of clutter in their home. The daughter-in-law looked exhausted, the mother-in-law kept muttering to herself, and the little grandson was running around, very mischievous.
Jian Tanxi stayed at this family's house for a while and helped them with some chores. They insisted that Jian Tanxi stay for dinner, but Jian Tanxi said that she had already eaten and could watch TV instead.
They then turned on the television for Jian Tanxi.
At the dinner table, the child was scolded by his mother for being a picky eater. The grandmother, protecting her grandson, rushed to the kitchen to prepare his favorite dishes. Meanwhile, the father stared at his phone, silent, occasionally taking a bite.
Like many ordinary families.
There shouldn't be any flaws in this household.
At this moment, the daughter-in-law went to get something from the refrigerator, only to find that the refrigerator had lost power and some of the food inside had spoiled.
She asked who had unplugged the refrigerator, and her mother-in-law said she had unplugged it herself, saying that the refrigerator didn't need to be on 24 hours a day and that it was wasting too much electricity.
The daughter-in-law looked unhappy, but because there were guests present, she didn't say anything.
Jian Tanxi became even more certain of one thing: that old lady Qian from before definitely had a problem. Most elderly women are very frugal and reluctant to turn on appliances, whether it's air conditioning, washing machines, fans, or refrigerators; they'd rather not use them if they could.
However, when Jian Tanxi was at Grandma Qian's house, she noticed that the lights were on in several rooms, even when no one was home. The refrigerator and air conditioner were also constantly powered on, and Grandma Qian seemed completely unconcerned.
Jian Tanxi silently noted in her heart: Old Mrs. Qian, 100% a hypocrite.
Jian Tanxi left the third house and entered the fourth house.
The fourth household was an elderly couple who were having dinner.
Jian Tanxi noticed that there was only one dish on their table: stir-fried shredded potatoes.
Jian Tanxi asked, "Aren't you going to cook more dishes?"
The elderly couple said, "We just eat simple meals. We'll cook more when the children come back."
Jian Tanxi nodded. The elderly couple's behavior was also quite normal.
Jian Tanxi observed them for a while and felt that they were fine.
Next, Jian Tanxi visited the other households she was responsible for. Most of the households were quite normal, but a few people behaved strangely, and Jian Tanxi made a note of them.
These include:
Wu Zhi, a father who forbids his child from watching television, and who throws a tantrum whenever the child does.
Zhu Lianyi, a mother who forbids her child from making friends and slanders all of her child's friends at home;
Grandpa Sun, who always stares blankly at a peach tree.
Meanwhile, Qin Man also took Qu Chen to visit other people's homes.
There were no problems with the first few households, but when Qin Man arrived at the fifth household, she discovered something strange.
This family is an elderly couple, and their grandson happened to come to visit them today.
The grandson left after finishing his meal, and the grandmother wanted to give him something.
The grandson said it wasn't necessary, so the grandmother really didn't see him off and just told him to leave.
Qin Man found it a bit strange, because usually grandmothers would fill their grandsons' cars with food, and still not feel it was enough.
However, the grandmother didn't give her grandson any gifts and let him leave.
Qin Man suspected the old woman might be a fraud, so she asked her name under some pretext. The old woman's surname was Du, and everyone called her Grandma Du.
Qin Man continued her visits and saw a housewife in one of the households using an unusually large amount of oil when cooking.
Although this is illogical, some people just use a lot of oil when cooking, and we can't judge them as hypocrites just because of that.
Qin Man only remembered the housewife's name: Gu Qian.
She then visited several other households but found nothing unusual.
When she visited the 20th household, she discovered that the woman of the house had four children, all of whom were quite young.
However, the woman was slender, like a young girl, unlike other women who had broad shoulders and thick waists.
Qin Man asked around and found out that the woman of the house had taken care of all four children herself.
However, the woman's posture was perfectly fine; she was not hunched over, her belly was not protruding, and even her arms were not thick.
Qin Man has seen many new mothers, some fat and some thin. However, if a thin new mother takes care of her child herself, her arms will be very thick, which is disproportionate to her figure.
This was the first time Qin Man had ever seen a woman who had given birth to several children, yet it was impossible to tell from her appearance.
So, Qin Man remembered this woman's name: Sun Weiran.
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