The Vanished Wife (20)
“That’s right. He’s the one who had the old butler take us to the cemetery, and Xiao Chen was the one who first discovered those two blank tombstones. Although he’s just a kid, our team really can’t do without him.”
Qin Man was a little excited and said to Qu Chen, "Xiao Chen, you're amazing!"
Qu Chen didn't know why Qin Man was so agitated. He broke free from her hand and ran around the room.
Xie Wei said, "No wonder the bookshelves in the study are all dusty... The real Jin Mingyue must have left home many years ago. The Jin family only has the old butler, who doesn't bother to clean the bookshelves. And the other group of players hasn't been here long, so they haven't had time to clean everything. They've only been busy with the layout and haven't been reading, so the bookshelves are all dusty."
Jian Tanxi said, "That's right. And in these days, the fake Mr. Liang has watched several movies because it wasn't his wife who went missing, so he didn't have to worry and had the leisure to watch movies."
The walk-in closet in the Jin family bedroom was full of rather old-fashioned clothes and old jewelry, because those clothes and jewelry were originally worn by the real Jin Mingyue decades ago, and of course they are outdated now.
The old concert ticket that Professor Pan found was probably bought by Jin Mingyue herself, who put it in a drawer after the concert. Because it was in a relatively remote location, the other group of players didn't see it and didn't clean it up, so the ticket ended up in our hands.
The rules prohibit us from contacting the residents of City B for the first three days because if we ask the residents of City B, we will find out that Ms. Jin's disappearance occurred decades ago and that Mr. Liang, who reported the case back then, has already passed away.
If we don't know this, we will get the wrong results in the first three days, allowing another group of players to win.
This game is fair to both groups of players. As long as our group can last until three days later, instead of being fooled by the fake Jin Mingyue, we have a chance to discover the truth.
Xie Wei said, "I have a question. Why does the fake Jin Mingyue hide so well? She only needs to appear directly in front of us and pretend to bump into us, and we will mistake her for Jin Mingyue. However, she sets up many obstacles. She buys fake android corpses to make us think that Jin Mingyue is dead; she also uses a powerful disguise rouge to change her appearance, making it difficult for us to discover her."
What if we don't follow her planned approach?
Jian Tanxi said, "Their group made the false truth so complicated so that we would think that the 'truth' we discovered after so many twists and turns was the final truth. That way, we wouldn't think about whether there was a deeper conspiracy behind the truth."
If there weren't so many obstacles, we would have easily found the fake Jin Mingyue, and we would have suspected that the game was too easy.
Moreover, even if we don't reach the final step, it won't have much impact on them.
First, if we fail to find the fake Jin Mingyue and the android corpse in the wine cellar, and five days pass, our mission will fail, and the other group of players will succeed.
Secondly, if we discover the android corpse in the wine cellar and mistakenly believe that Jin Mingyue is dead, then our conclusion will be wrong, and they will win again.
Finally, thinking we had overcome all obstacles and found 'Jin Mingyue' disguised as Wu Yaoyao, we thought we had succeeded. But if we had called for the referee then, we would have lost again, and they would have won once more.
Furthermore, I speculate that the real Jin Mingyue didn't have a classmate named Yu Antai, nor a nanny named Wu Yaoyao. These players deliberately fabricated two identities: Yu Antai, Jin Mingyue's old classmate with a grudge, and Wu Yaoyao, Jin Mingyue's former nanny with a grudge, all to mislead us.
If we believe that Yu Antai or Wu Yaoyao killed Jin Mingyue without concrete evidence, we lose.
Following this logic, the real Jin Mingyue probably never bought a 10 million yuan insurance policy; the beneficiary was her younger sister, Jin Meigui. Another group of players fabricated this fact to increase suspicion about the 'fake Jin Meigui.' We might also suspect, because of this fake insurance policy, that Jin Meigui killed her own sister.
No matter which direction we doubt, they will ultimately win.
Unless we discover that they are all fake.
Professor Pan sighed, "The other group of players is really cunning; I'm almost out of brain cells."
Xie Wei said, "That's normal, all the players are geniuses. When those two groups of geniuses are competing, it's very difficult for one side to break the other's strategy. However, it's obvious that our group is even more talented."
Everyone else laughed.
Qin Man asked, "What should we do next? Go find the real Jin Mingyue, the nursing home director?"
Jian Tanxi: "We definitely need to go find her, but we can only send one or two people, and we have to keep it a secret from the fake Mr. Liang and the others."
Qin Man volunteered: "I'll go with Xiao Chen this time. I'll just say I'm taking Xiao Chen to buy clothes, and they shouldn't suspect anything. Should I bring Professor Pan's audio recording leaf with me?"
Professor Pan said, "I'll give you the audio recording leaf, but I'm wondering, what if the real Jin Mingyue refuses to tell me what's happened to her all these years?"
"Probably not. Telling us won't affect her at all... We're leaving the instance soon, she can still hide in the nursing home."
"But how do you get her to trust you? You say you won't tell anyone about her, but she has no way of making sure you will."
Qin Man couldn't think of a solution for the time being either.
At this moment, Xie Wei suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "Bring the old butler along! With the old butler by Qin Man's side, Jin Mingyue should be able to trust Qin Man."
Qin Man nodded and said, "That's a good idea... But, is the old butler being controlled by another group of players? If I take the old butler away directly, will the other group of players notice?"
Jian Tanxi said, "We can't rule out that possibility... Let's think of another way."
However, after brainstorming, they couldn't come up with a good solution. After all, they had nothing to give Jin Mingyue, nor anything to blackmail her with.
At this point, Xie Wei said, "Why don't we go find Jin Mingyue first and see if she's willing to cooperate? If she is, then we'll be all happy and won't have to worry anymore; if she's not, then we'll think of another idea."
Qin Man said, "Okay. But what if we go to see her once and she becomes suspicious and hides somewhere else?"
Xie Wei said, "How about this, I'll go with you. You can openly talk to her, and I'll keep an eye on her from the shadows. If Jin Mingyue refuses to cooperate and tries to escape, I can follow her and see where she ends up."
Qin Man: "Yes, that's for the best."
It's only the third day, and players still can't communicate with other people in City B. Everyone is unsure whether the old director of the nursing home falls under the category of "others," so to save time and energy, Qin Man decides to wait until tomorrow morning to go find the old director.
If I go to see the former dean today but can't communicate with him, then I'll have wasted my time.
————
Early the next morning, Qin Man, Qu Chen, and Xie Wei walked out of the guest room together.
Outside, Han's mother and Zhang's mother were cleaning.
Qin Man suddenly realized that the two nannies were not very efficient at their work, and it was clear that they had not done much housework before.
However, Qin Man did not notice this in the past two days.
Now that she knows the two nannies are fake and their real identities are those of another group of players, everything becomes clear, and there are more flaws in the two nannies' behavior.
For example, the nanny uniforms they were wearing didn't fit very well, which means that the uniforms weren't custom-made to their figures, but rather found in the Kim family's wardrobe.
Qin Man deliberately said, "I still have some B City currency on me. I want to buy some clothes for my son. I'll go out first."
Xie Wei said, "I can give you some advice. When it comes to spending money, I'm an expert."
Qin Man asked, "Really? Then do you know how to pick out children's clothes?"
"Of course. Let's go shopping together."
Qin Man and Xie Wei led Qu Chen outside, while the two nannies continued to sweep the floor diligently.
After Qin Man and the other two had completely left, the two "nannies" exchanged a glance before continuing their work.
As Han Ma swept the floor, she walked towards Zhang Ma and whispered, "Did they really go shopping for clothes?"
"Aunt Zhang" said, "Probably, since they thought they had found Jin Mingyue and were relaxed, so of course they wanted to go out and have fun."
"But why don't they hand in their missions and instead choose to stay here?"
"Perhaps they're being overly cautious. Or maybe they simply don't want to enter the next instance."
After they finished talking, the two continued working.
On the other side, Qin Man led Qu Chen into the nursing home.
The dean wasn't there, and several elderly people asked Qin Man, "Are you here to visit your family?"
Qin Man said, "No. I want to send my elderly relatives to a nursing home, but I need to check out the environment of the nursing home first."
An old man said, "It's a very nice place. There are many other elderly people to keep me company. I eat well and sleep well."
Another elderly person added, "Yes, and the director takes good care of us too."
Qin Man asked, "Can I speak with the dean alone?"
"The dean is in the office up ahead; you can go find her."
Qin Man took Qu Chen's hand and led him to the dean's office.
The door was open, and an elegant old woman was sitting inside reading a newspaper.
Qin Man knocked on the door, and the old dean looked up and smiled, "Hello, how can I help you?"
Qin Man said, "I would like to inquire about the cost and accommodation arrangements at the nursing home. May I talk to you about it?"
"Yes, please come in."
Qin Man went inside and closed the door behind her.
Just as the old director was about to introduce the nursing home to Qin Man, Qin Man said, "Ms. Jin Mingyue, it's a pleasure to meet you."
The old dean asked in surprise, "Who are you calling? My name is not Jin Mingyue, my name is He Xin, and this is my business card."
As he spoke, the old dean handed over his business card.
Qin Man took it and saw that it indeed read: "He Xin, Director of Xiyanghong Nursing Home".
Qin Man felt that Jin Mingyue was unwilling to admit her identity, so she smiled and said, "Ms. Jin, you don't need to be nervous. I won't expose your identity. No matter why you are living in seclusion here and using a false identity, it has nothing to do with me."
Actually, I'm an outsider who accidentally entered City B. Only by finding the real Jin Mingyue and obtaining your recording, which clearly states where you went and what you did during your disappearance, can I leave.
I brought all my recording equipment with me, including this leaf. I promise that your recording will only be used for my departure and nothing else. Please consider this an act of kindness; my son and I can't survive in this unfamiliar city, and we need to return to our hometown.
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