He spoke of "you," but his gaze lingered on Shekh and Shijinzhe.
Shi Jinzhe picked up a piece of stewed meat with his chopsticks and put it to Shehe's mouth. Only after she swallowed it did he turn his head back to face her.
Instead of answering Sherman's question, he asked, "Who were you looking for information with today?"
"It's me..."
Li Jiaoyang answered immediately, but when she noticed Xie Man looking over, she swallowed the rest of her words.
"Just the two of you?" Shi Jinzhe glanced at Xu Jialu without making a sound, and found that she had no intention of speaking.
He recalled the scene when he went upstairs last night. Xu Jialu left through his door, and when she pushed the door open, the person inside was Xie Man.
By using her unreasonable and argumentative nature, she got her way on the issue of room assignments and ended up living with the experienced Sherman.
If that's the case, then where did Xu Jialu go? Why didn't she stick with Xie Man to go together?
Shekh shook his hand and whispered the numbers "1, 2, 5".
At school, because she was kept in human form, she couldn't tell who was who from a distance. Now, sitting at the dining table, the scents from her memories gradually came together to identify the people.
Among these smells is the person who said a lot of strange things to her at the door last night, which is really affecting her sleep.
Upon hearing "125," Shi Jinzhe instantly understood. The feeding hadn't affected his internal thinking; he was sitting in the fifth seat, so "125" referred to the person opposite him.
He looked over and saw that the three seats were occupied by Chen Shu, Qi Yin, and Xu Jialu.
Schech's suggestion came at just the right time.
They went to the charity school, and Sherman inquired about the volunteer teachers.
Xu Jialu was probably lured away by Xie Man's empty promises, but she wasn't very smart and was led astray by Qi Yin, causing Xie Man's strategy of casting a wide net to fail in one aspect, and she didn't find any useful information for Xie Man.
As expected of a seasoned veteran who has played the game four or five times, he knows better how to take advantage of newbies.
Shi Jinzhe did not intend to join their discussion. For puzzle-solving games, clues were of paramount importance; any misinformation could lead to incorrect judgments.
The Chinese language is profound and complex; even a change in word order can convey two different meanings in a single sentence. If she were to rearrange the true information or unintentionally convey incorrect information, his deductions would be flawed from one step to the next.
If he also takes precautions, then all the time spent exchanging a bunch of false information among the various parties will be a complete waste.
Shi Jinzhe made eye contact with Meng Chengxi while picking up food, and seeing his disapproving look, he rejected Xie Man's suggestion.
Sherman's smile froze, and all she received was a polite refusal.
She adjusted her mindset and said it was nothing, but she was inwardly annoyed. This person was really difficult to deal with. She was probably tricked by someone, which was why she was so wary and didn't trust anyone.
After finishing his meal, Shi Jinzhe helped Shehe upstairs. He would inquire about Shao Dong and the female student tomorrow. He needed to rest after walking such a long way today.
In the bathroom, he washed his face and pondered in front of the mirror, wondering if anyone was spying on him from behind it.
Sheh sat quietly on the bed and asked Shi Jinzhe in the bathroom, "We've finished eating, when can I start?"
"After the lights are turned off, everyone will be resting, and no one will bother you. I'll go with you."
"No need, it's in the way."
"..." Of course he knew he couldn't help, but the problem was that if he stayed here, he would be in danger.
That ghost came yesterday. What if she comes to kill him as soon as Sheh leaves?
"I can help you trick them into opening the door."
"eventful."
"Then I'll keep watch for you."
"Say it again and you'll die."
"OK."
Shi Jinzhe gave up struggling, walked out of the bathroom, focused only on the small spot where he could put his foot down, and quietly returned to the bed to lie down.
The noise outside the door gradually subsided, and most people had already returned to their rooms.
Xie Man led Li Jiaoyang upstairs last, stopping at the door of the third room on the right.
She affectionately put her arm around Li Jiaoyang's shoulder and said softly, "Did you remember what Aunt Xie just told you?"
Li Jiaoyang nodded, gave a soft "hmm," opened the door, and went inside.
Chen Shu, sitting in a chair inside the house, saw Xie Man standing at the door and smiled, saying, "She's young, so please take good care of her."
Chen Shu did not answer. If Xie Man really wanted to take care of Li Jiaoyang, how could she feel at ease putting an eighteen-year-old girl in the same room as a thirty-year-old man like herself?
Besides, he was a complete newbie with nothing to his name, so what could he possibly take care of? He hugged his pillow, lay down on the table, and prepared to sleep.
Li Jiaoyang sat on the edge of the bed, her mind filled with Xie Man's instructions on how to extract information from Chen Shu. She didn't dare to look Chen Shu in the eye, feeling as if she were taking advantage of someone else's work for free, and hesitated to speak.
As the night grew quieter, all the lights snapped off. Li Jiaoyang's heart skipped a beat, and her thoughts wandered in the darkness, uncontrollably recalling what Shekh had said that morning.
He was looking at him.
The thought of that sentence gave her goosebumps. To bolster her courage, she started silently reciting mathematical formulas in her mind, and before she knew it, she was reciting them aloud, making a sound like a mosquito chanting.
Chen Shu opened his eyes, startled by the noise. "Don't believe everything people say here, no matter how kind they seem."
Li Jiaoyang was startled by his sudden voice. She stopped chanting and said, "Actually, I can tell that Aunt Xie is using me, but no one is willing to take me with them, so this is the only way."
"What did she ask you to ask me?"
Li Jiaoyang came in looking preoccupied; Xie Man must have given her a task.
"...She asked me to trick you into asking what you found in the left building of the school today."
Chen Shu was speechless. This little girl was so easy to fool; she answered every question.
The room fell silent. From Chen Shu's silence, Li Jiaoyang sensed a kind of speechless frustration. "Are you thinking to yourself that I'm stupid...?"
"No."
Li Jiaoyang wanted to say something more, but suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the corridor.
It was the sound of a hard object scraping against the tiles, very faint, occasionally hitting the wall, as if some large reptile was scurrying around in the corridor, making one's scalp tingle.
The darkness amplified his fear. Chen Shu sat up straight and looked through the small window in the door. Outside, everything was a chaotic blur, even darker than yesterday. He dared not breathe.
Li Jiaoyang took out the dried corn kernels hidden under her school uniform. These were the props she had grabbed when she slipped and fell, instinctively pulling at a string of dried corn kernels hanging from the eaves.
The effect was that hitting the target would cause a small-scale explosion. Hearing that sound, she was so nervous that her nails dug into her palms.
She didn’t know if it was because she was too scared, but she felt the room suddenly get very cold, and a cold wind swept over the back of her neck, as if someone was squatting behind her breathing.
The breathing grew closer and closer, and Li Jiaoyang bit her lower lip, forcing back her tears.
Just then, a knock sounded on the door in the quiet corridor.
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