Chapter 54: Sleeping Soundly, Mr. Chen
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“At that time, you just casually mentioned that your way of making money was something he wouldn’t dare try.”
“But what you didn’t know was that Old Ji had embezzled fifty thousand yuan in company funds and given it to someone he met online. A few days later, the company found out. If you hadn’t invited him to dinner tonight, he would have ended his life this very evening.”
“After drinking, he confided in you about everything, begging you to help him make money together. You exchanged a glance with Xiao Su, and your interest was piqued.”
“Old Ji has an older sister whose husband was abusive and an alcoholic. After their divorce, his sister suffered some mental issues, and she has a young daughter still in elementary school.”
“Ever since the divorce, the little girl, who strongly resembles her father, has been frequently beaten black and blue by her mother.”
“Old Ji thought, since the girl would only continue to suffer if she stayed with her mother, why not send her to a better family? After some back and forth, you both finalized the plan.”
Lin Ze kept reading, sighing inwardly. The plot was just as he had suspected.
“On Saturday night, you disguised yourself as a beggar and waited along the route Guoguo and her mother took to the county to shop. You begged for money, drawing a crowd. Guoguo’s mother also stopped to watch.”
“At that moment, Old Ji quietly approached Guoguo’s mother and took Guoguo away. Since she knew him, Guoguo didn’t cry out.”
“After the child went missing, her mother desperately searched for her. Old Ji, who brought Guoguo back to his own home, became frightened. But with debt looming over him, he hardened his heart and asked a friend who ran a restaurant to hide Guoguo for a while.”
“Kind-hearted Old Zhao, upon hearing that the girl’s mother was always beating her and that giving her back would only mean more abuse, decided to hide her in his restaurant.”
“After hiding her for two days, Old Zhao didn’t expect the police to get involved. He contacted Old Ji, who in turn hurriedly reached out to you.”
“Having just finished negotiating with the buyer and returned to Tong County, you, fearing the police, instructed Old Ji to hide the girl in a trash bin by the riverbank.”
“You claimed to be a friend of Guoguo’s uncle, treated her to a few good meals, took her out for fun, then set off with her all the way to Tai County.”
[What the hell...]
[Child traffickers deserve to die!]
[Lin Ze is truly wicked!]
[Wait, what does this have to do with Brother Lin?]
The four of them finished reading their scripts and now had a general understanding of what had happened.
At the bottom of this page was a line of text:
“Mission: 1. Conceal your identity and shift the blame onto others.”
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“2. Mislead others in their reasoning and prevent them from uncovering the truth.”
“All right, everyone, you have fifteen minutes for discussion in this round. Please begin!”
“Actually, everyone, this ending isn’t all that bad, is it?” Lin Chunshui was the first to speak.
“Guoguo’s mother couldn’t accept the divorce and beat Guoguo. Although we sent her back to the mountain village, at least she’s spared her mother’s abuse while growing up.”
Zhao Funing nodded. “Exactly. With a mother like that, it would’ve been very bad for her.”
Lin Ze observed their expressions.
Why did Pei Xue and Zhao Funing look as though they didn’t know anything the whole time?
So only the buyer and seller groups knew the truth?
It seemed Zhao Funing and Pei Xue’s mission was to uncover the truth.
“Wait, hold on,” Pei Xue said, glancing down at her script, then at the three people before her.
“According to the secret missions, Xiao Lin, Ji Chen, you two must be connected.”
“People don’t just sing for no reason—on the first day, both of you had secret tasks, so you must both have something to do with Guoguo. That means…”
“You two seem an awful lot like child abductors to me.” Pei Xue frowned at them. “And as for the last day, Teacher Chen, you weren’t the buyers, were you?”
“What? We’re the child’s grandparents,” Chen Weiguo replied, a little exasperated. “Her father’s unreliable, her mother’s unreliable, so we could only take the child back to our hometown ourselves.”
“Who would hide a child with you for two days if you were traffickers?” Lin Ze waved his hand. “Guoguo’s grandparents weren’t around; otherwise, we’d have sent her away on the very first day.”
Pei Xue frowned. “That doesn’t add up. My information says Old Ji met a woman online. At first things were fine, but one day, after coming to drink with me, he confessed he’d used company money—fifty thousand yuan—on her, and then she disappeared.”
“After that, Old Ji kept drinking for several days, repeatedly saying he couldn’t go on. In that state, why would he suddenly decide to help his niece escape her mother?”
“He wanted to do one good thing before dying,” Lin Ze sighed. “My buddy risked breaking the law to help, hoping to awaken Guoguo’s motherly love. But it didn’t work, did it?”
[Run, sister-in-law! Brother Lin lies so smoothly—one day he might sell you and you’d never know!]
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[Aunt Xue! Don’t trust them! Except for Ji Chen, you can’t believe a word from these men!]
[Ji Chen: ?]
“No, I saw you up close. You crossed your legs and wore pants in a way that made it look like you had no legs at all, you…”
“Oh, Xue, stop!” Su Zitan cut Pei Xue off. “The begging was our own idea, it had nothing to do with the plot. Our family are professional beggars.”
“Remember that guy who offered us a lot of money? He was sent by the show’s production team. We didn’t dare accept it.”
“Huh?”
Pei Xue was a bit dazed, unable to tell if they were telling the truth or not.
“Really. Old Ji owed a lot of money, so we said we’d help him gather some. Later, Guoguo’s grandparents—well, we’re the ones who helped find them.”
“Exactly.” Ji Chen nodded eagerly. “We see each other all the time—how could we ask you for money?”
“…”
Pei Xue looked suspiciously at Ji Chen.
[The ruse is working; they’re almost fooled.]
[From what I see, all three of their missions are to hide the truth.]
[Teacher Chen can just sit back and relax now—he’s a sunny, cheerful young man.]
“What are you talking about? We just came from our hometown with some local goods to sell. Xiao Lin and the others finally got in touch with us and brought Guoguo over,” Chen Weiguo said.
“I’m getting more and more suspicious of you. Why are you three suddenly all on the same side?” Zhao Funing glanced around at the three of them.
“All right, time’s up. Ten minutes are over. Old Zhao’s group, please now reconstruct the truth of what happened.”