Chapter 192 I now suspect this is how they screen their targets...
Guan Xia then realized that although she and Meng Lan came from the same orphanage, Meng Lan's life since childhood was not as peaceful as she thought.
Perhaps it was because the mother who raised Meng Lan had a different personality. Compared to Mother Chen, Mother Geng was not as patient and gentle. She was stricter and more focused on results rather than process. So, including Meng Lan, she lived under the same roof from childhood to adulthood. With more than 20 brothers and sisters who kept leaving and joining, their interactions were always full of competition and rivalry.
It is not only to gain attention, but also to gain resources to make your life better.
Listening to Meng Lan's narration, Guan Xia was also reminded of her memories. In fact, during her time with Meng Lan, and at the door she passed by every day, she had heard some quarrels and crying, but she was fully focused on her own future efforts and plans at the time and did not care, or perhaps she subconsciously ignored it.
After all, in her opinion, a mother has so many children to take care of, and the peak number of people at the same time can be as many as ten. Even if the area of each house is not small, more than 90 square meters, with more than ten people living at the same time, friction and quarrels are inevitable. What she didn't expect was that the competition that Meng Lan experienced since childhood actually had human factors in it.
Guan Xia listened to Meng Lan with a serious expression. "Among the many children Mother Geng raised, I remember two or three who would frequently send letters and other things back. They could be as small as a pencil or as large as a pair of shoes or a coat. I still remember a short girl with a bad temper who got first place in the grade on a final exam. An older sister sent her 50 yuan. That was 50 yuan! It was the first time I'd ever seen so much money. Along with the money came a letter. I don't know the details. The girl refused to show us or tell us. But I clearly remember that evening after dinner, while we were weeding the vegetable patch, she said that when she grew up, she, too, would go find her biological parents. By then, she'd have tons of money, countless 50-yuan bills."
Guan Xia paused, then turned to look at Meng Lan and asked, "Were those letters, things, and money sent to one of you individually, rather than directly to Mother Geng?"
Meng Lan nodded. "Yes, I forgot when it started, but I remember when I was a kid, every one or two years, someone would come back to see Mother Geng and chat with us younger siblings. After the chat, some of the children would receive letters or gifts on their own. I received one, but only one. I even replied seriously, but for some reason, that sister never sent me another."
Guan Xia subconsciously looked at Xu Nian and saw suspicion in each other's eyes.
Guan Xia asked, "Do you still remember the contents of that letter?"
Meng Lan recalled carefully, then shook her head and said, "It was too long ago, when I was eight or nine years old. I still vaguely remember a few sentences, but I can't remember the rest."
Guan Xia asked again, "Do you still have the letter?"
Meng Lan shook her head again. "Not long after that, I don't know who tore up the letter secretly. I guess it was out of jealousy. It was torn into pieces. I couldn't put it back together no matter how hard I tried. I remember I cried several times at that time."
Meng Lan thought of something as she spoke, and looked at Guan Xia and said, "Oh, I remember I told you that when the letter came, I told you that I cried to you after it was torn up. Do you remember?"
After Meng Lan mentioned this, Guan Xia tried hard to recall and vaguely remembered a scene.
Then the next second the system interface was successfully triggered. This time there was no text, but just like last time, there were only three videos spliced together.
Judging from the background of the first video, it should be early morning. She is walking behind a group of children, and Mother Chen can be seen in front. Mother Chen is holding a child in each hand and looks back from time to time, as if to confirm the safety of the children and whether anyone is left behind.
Meng Lan walked beside Guan Xia, very close to her, jumping happily as she walked, and whispering in her ear.
In the video, Meng Lan practically leaned over to Guan Xia's ear and whispered, "Guan Xia, Guan Xia, let me tell you, I received a letter yesterday. It was from a sister. She also sent me a pink scrunchie. I put it on. Look, doesn't it look great?"
Meng Lan spoke softly at the beginning, but became more and more excited as she spoke later. She couldn't help but tilt her head to reveal the pink bunny hairband tied in her high ponytail.
Guan Xia heard her own childish and perfunctory voice in the video, "It looks good, it looks good."
Meng Lan seemed to be used to it and didn't care. She was still jumping happily. After a few seconds, she leaned close to Guan Xia's ear and whispered, "I've decided. When I grow up, I'm going to go find my parents. I'm going to buy a lot of hair bands, red, green, and yellow. I'm going to change one every day, so it's different every day. Hehe, I'm also going to buy lots of beautiful little dresses. I want princess dresses and suspender dresses. They must be more and prettier than my sister's."
The little Guan Xia in the video finally realized something was wrong and asked in surprise, "Sister? What sister?"
Meng Lan still answered heartlessly and happily, "It's my sister, the one who has grown up and is working. She told me in the letter that she found her parents and they treat her very well. She also has a younger sister and brother. Now they live together every day and are so happy. I want to be like this in the future."
Xiao Guanxia in the video asked, "Letter? What letter?"
Little Menglan first glanced around like a thief, then covered her mouth with her hand and answered in a very low voice, "An older sister wrote me a letter. She praised me for being smart and pretty, and said that if my biological parents saw how pretty and smart I am, they would definitely like me very much. I think so too, hehe."
Little Guan Xia in the video wanted to ask more, but when they arrived at the school gate, Meng Lan ran away laughing and waved her hands vigorously to ask her to catch up, but little Guan Xia in the video obviously didn't want to run, so in the end she just watched Meng Lan and her classmates running farther and farther away.
After the first video finished playing, the screen flashed to the second one. Judging from the background, it should be evening this time. The surrounding environment was very cramped, as if hiding in the bushes. The only way to see the sunlight dyeing all the scenery golden was through the gaps between the branches and leaves.
Meng Lan was still with Xiao Guan Xia, holding her tightly. She looked like she had been crying for a long time. Her eyes were swollen like walnuts, and she was still sobbing. Her mouth was raised stubbornly with a look of grievance, and she wiped away her tears from time to time while crying.
In the video, Guan Xia tried to comfort the little girl, but Meng Lan didn't respond and started crying again, almost howling. She cried and said, "It's too broken, it can't be put together. I tried to put it together, but it can't be put together."
Little Menglan looked very sad, crying loudly, and kept repeating these few words. No matter how hard little Guanxia in the video tried to comfort her, she wouldn't respond.
The second video ends here, followed by the third. It is still evening, but the environment is not a bush, but a room. Guan Xia in the video is sitting at the table, trying to piece together a pile of debris. It is indeed debris, not shredded paper, because it is too broken, it looks like someone tore it apart and then picked up each fragment and tore it into countless pieces again. Little Guan Xia tried several times, but had no idea where to start, and finally had to give up.
But among those fragments, there would be a few complete words from time to time, some of which were marked with obvious red frames by the system. Guan Xia identified them one by one and found that they were: relatives, parents, home, joy, skirt, shoes, and envy.
The third video ends here. The system interface stays for a few seconds and then disappears quickly.
Guan Xia subconsciously fell into deep thought. She combined some of the words that Xiao Menglan said in the previous video. Although the letter was torn into pieces and most of the words marked in red boxes by the system were single words, she still figured out some things relatively easily.
Perhaps because the letter was addressed to a child, it was written very straightforwardly. The circled words seemed ordinary, but if you think about it carefully, they were words that could easily arouse a child's emotions and desires. No wonder when Guan Xia recalled her childhood, she always thought of Meng Lan repeatedly mentioning in her ear that she wanted to find her biological parents. It turned out that Meng Lan's instinct was part of the reason, and the bigger reason was that someone kept reminding her, repeatedly deepening and expanding her desire.
Guan Xia sighed deeply. In fact, there were clues from the very beginning, but at that time she didn't know that she had traveled to a world that was a fusion of criminal investigation and literature, so she never thought about it or explored it.
Guan Xia never hides her emotions in front of her own people, so her reaction immediately made everyone understand what was going on.
Pang Le was the first to ask, "Do you really remember?"
Meng Lan was interrupted by Pang Le and waited for Guan Xia's answer even more nervously.
Guan Xia first glanced at Pang Le, then at Meng Lan, and then nodded and said, "Yes, I remember now. I also recalled the contents of the letter that Meng Lan once told me. Although it was only a few sentences, it was still a gain."
Guan Xia did not intend to hide anything about the orphanage, so she described in great detail some of the information she had just seen in the video.
Even though Meng Lan was prepared, she couldn't help but be a little surprised. "So, I wasn't really targeted seven or eight years ago, but when I was eight or nine?"
The more Meng Lan thought about it, the deeper she thought about it. When she thought about it, her face turned almost pale. Then she instinctively leaned towards Guan Xia, sitting almost completely close to her. It seemed that this gave her a sense of security, and her face finally didn't look so ugly anymore.
Guan Xia also habitually put her arm around Meng Lan's shoulders and whispered, "Don't be afraid. I just analyzed it carefully. In fact, it can't be said that you have been targeted since you were eight or nine years old. Based on the information we have now, I think they are still casting a wide net. You are just one of the targets they are testing and observing. They will really notice you after you find your biological parents."
Meng Lan calmed down and thought for a few minutes before saying, "That's indeed a possibility. I thought hard about it. Compared to me, the other kids I grew up with received more letters and gifts. Especially that girl I just mentioned, the short one with a bad temper. She had excellent grades, the best among all of us kids. She was always in the top three in every exam, so she received the most letters and gifts, as well as pocket money."
Zhong Xiaoyu suddenly asked, "What was that child's name? Do you remember? And what about Mother Geng? How did she react to all this? Did she never ask or interfere? You said there were a few people who came back to see her often. What were their expressions and what they said back then? Do you have any recollection of them?"
Zhong Xiaoyu asked a series of questions. Meng Lan pondered for several minutes before hesitantly shaking her head and saying, "As far as I can remember, they didn't come back very often. I can't remember exactly how many people there were. I just remember that they all had long hair and loved wearing dresses and high heels. They were always glamorous and brought gifts for Mother Geng. As for Mother Geng...she always looked very happy and was always busy cooking. Anyway, I remember that every time someone came to see Mother Geng, we would always have something delicious to eat that night. But Mother Geng never cared about those letters and gifts."
Meng Lan paused for a moment before continuing, "I remember that Mother Geng didn't just ignore it, she seemed quite supportive. Every time a child received a letter, Mother Geng would praise them. I was praised once, but it was just a pat on the face and a comment like, 'You're amazing!' That was all she did."
Xu Nian then asked a few more questions.
Guan Xia listened carefully and tried hard to recall the long hair and dress that Meng Lan mentioned just now. She vaguely remembered that she seemed to have seen such a figure before.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the system was successfully triggered again. This time, there was no text, only a video, and it was only a few seconds long.
Judging from the changes in perspective in the video, Guan Xia should be going upstairs. When she reached the third floor, she happened to see a child who looked to be about ten years old opening the door with two bags of garbage. Through the gap in the door opened by the child, she could see a tall and thin figure with black slightly curly hair, a light green dress, fair and delicate skin, and slender eyes. She was talking to someone but her smile formed a crescent shape, giving people a feeling of intimacy but with a certain distance.
But Guan Xia didn't feel any familiarity when watching the video, because there was a very obvious red frame marked by the system on the young woman's head, which clearly showed that there was something wrong with this woman.
Guan Xia didn't have time to talk. She rushed into the study, found a new sketchbook, flipped to a blank page and started drawing.
Guan Xia's movements were abrupt yet skilled. Except for Meng Lan who was a little surprised, everyone else was used to it. After looking at each other subconsciously, they stopped discussing and stood up and followed him into the study.
Several people gathered around Guan Xia and watched her busy work. As Guan Xia's figure's features were clearly drawn, Meng Lan said in surprise again: "This person... I think I have seen him before."
Meng Lan only said one sentence, and Pang Le immediately made a gesture to keep quiet.
Meng Lan had no choice but to swallow the words that were on the tip of her tongue and waited patiently with Pang Le and the others for Guan Xia to finish painting.
A few months passed, and Guan Xia had become a skilled worker. Before Meng Lan even felt tired from standing, Guan Xia had already put down her brush, handed her the sketchbook, and said, "Look, is she among the people you met when you were a child?"
As soon as Guan Xia finished speaking, Meng Lan nodded enthusiastically and said, "Yes, yes, yes. I recognized her as soon as you drew her face. I did see her when I was a child. I definitely couldn't describe her if you asked me to, but she looks very familiar to me when you drew her. But I'm not sure if she's the one who wrote to me because I only received one letter and never received another."
Speaking of this, Zhong Xiaoyu asked curiously, "Did you write to her again later? Or did you write one letter, but she didn't reply and you stopped writing again."
Meng Lan nodded confidently. "I did. I still remember it clearly. I wrote three letters in total. I even asked in them why you didn't reply to me, but unfortunately, all three letters fell into oblivion."
Pang Le and Zhong Xiaoyu both subconsciously showed confused expressions, but Guan Xia seemed to be thinking about something, vaguely thinking of something.
Noticing her expression, Pang Le asked directly, "Have you figured it out? Then tell me, why didn't that person reply to Meng Lan? Is it because she wasn't as good as that girl in terms of grades?"
Guan Xia pondered for a few seconds and shook her head, "I don't think so, because Meng Lan said that girl, in addition to having good grades, has another distinct characteristic, which is a bad temper."
After these two analyses, Guan Xia immediately turned to Meng Lan and asked, "When your letter was torn up, besides crying to me and trying to piece it together yourself, did you later try to find the person who tore up your letter and take revenge?"
Meng Lan also thought of something and answered in confusion, "No, I wanted to ask Geng's mother to help me seek justice, but she asked all the children and none of them admitted it. I really wanted to find the person who tore up my letter, but I didn't dare to rummage through other people's things. After asking several people in a row and they refused to admit it and even scolded me, I didn't pursue it further."
"So," Pang Le finally figured it out, "Meng Lan didn't receive the second letter because she wasn't brave enough and didn't take risks enough?"
Guan Xia nodded, "I now suspect this is one of their criteria for screening targets."
Guan Xia also figured out why she was also under observation but was never targeted by the criminal organization like Meng Lan. On the one hand, it was because Mother Chen was so kind, patient and gentle. Although she also had many children, Mother Chen would do her best to take care of each of them, so there was no major friction in her family.
Another point is that Guan Xia is calm and steady enough because her soul is that of an adult. She has planned her future from the very beginning and has made every effort to achieve it. This makes her instinctively ignore all the provocations and disputes around her. Perhaps in the eyes of that criminal organization, she is too weak and too bloodless, so she is not worth winning over or using.
Guan Xia also recalled that seven or eight years ago, Meng Lan received news about her biological parents. She was also in college when she received similar news.
But no matter how Guan Xia recalled, there was nothing. She was not sure before, but now that even the system interface was not triggered, it was clear that there was nothing.
Guan Xia felt that half of the reason was due to the personality she had always shown to the outside world, and part of the reason was the system.
She did not forget that if the system had not disguised her, her soul would be like a signal receiver to those criminals. The system played an indispensable role in her growing up safely.
Guan Xia decided to never call it artificial idiocy again.
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