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Xiao Zhao's introduction... was practically the same as saying nothing. It sounded full and substantial, yet contained no actual information. It was technically quite impressive.

This "honest man" did not seem as honest as he appeared.

Professor Lu, strikingly handsome, sat across from Xiao Zhao with vacant eyes. While Second-generation Zhao gave his introduction, Professor Lu never once lowered his head to take notes. It was unclear whether he had already predicted that Xiao Zhao's words would be devoid of substance, or whether he was still immersed in his role. In any case, Professor Lu's gaze did not seem to be focused on this case at all. He spent more time looking at the bananas hanging in the kitchen than at any of the suspects present.

Yes, in the semi-open kitchen, there was now a bunch of bananas hanging there for some unknown reason. Golden yellow, curved, smooth-skinned—in short, a bunch of very presentable-looking bananas.

When it was Professor Lu's turn to introduce himself, the most concise version yet was born.

"Professor Lu, thirty-five, university professor. I was classmates with everyone here in middle school, but we weren't close.

"I ate from nine to eleven, returned to my room to shower at eleven, came out once afterward for something, then slept until I was awakened by the commotion.

"I hate the deceased."

Basketball Qiao was blunt by nature. He did not seem particularly old in reality, and he asked in surprise, "That's it?"

That was it.

Professor Lu could not even be bothered to continue the conversation with him.

Honestly, someone who refused to communicate like that was a bit like being AFK—not exactly good gameplay. Yet Zhen Liu noticed something different: Professor Lu had clearly stated his timeline, what he did at what time and when it ended. At the very least, he was far clearer than Second-generation Zhao, who had seemed quite sincere.

Second-generation Zhao's timeline had been vague from beginning to end, as though he were laying the groundwork to fabricate one later. For example, he said he had played until late, but two in the morning was late, and four in the morning was late too.

This was a game of liars acting for one another. No one would tell the truth from the very beginning.

Uh, except Basketball Qiao.

Basketball Qiao's face carried a childish air that completely failed to match his status as the tallest and most powerfully built person in the room. He had a lollipop in his mouth that had appeared from nowhere. From the moment it was his turn to speak, his emotions had been extremely full, and he had been incredibly talkative.

"My name is Basketball Qiao, thirty-four. I used to be a basketball player and played for the provincial team. I almost got called up to the national team, but then some accidents happened, causing my whole life to go drastically off course. Well, maybe not off course. My family wasn't well-off when I was younger, and I always wanted to work hard so my mother could have a good life. I had an older brother, but he supposedly got lost when he was little, and after that, my mom's mental state wasn't very good. I wanted to ease her burden, but I wasn't good at studying. The only thing I had going for me was athletic talent, so I got into a good school as a sports student and became classmates with all of you. But after graduation, my career path didn't go well, and in the end, I still failed. I never made anything of myself. Instead, I made my mother run around everywhere even in her old age..."

Basketball Qiao formed a stark contrast with Professor Lu. He went on and on, to the point where it no longer sounded like a self-introduction but like he was reciting a personal character biography.

For now, though, everything he said sounded like useless information.

Yet Basketball Qiao had no awareness of that. The more he spoke, the more worked up he became. He seemed genuinely immersed in his emotions. "Sigh, really, this role is actually pretty similar to some of my past experiences. That personality test was really accurate. I always wanted to make my mom happy too, worked hard just for her..."

Second-generation Zhao had no choice but to interrupt the child who was about to sink into his personal memories. "You don't need to go into that much detail."

Xiao Zhao had already put it quite tactfully. Anyone with a shorter temper would have directly said, "We're not interested in your past. Can we talk about what's in the script?"

"Oh, okay, okay. Then I'll talk about the timeline." Though Basketball Qiao could talk a lot, he could also take advice. Most of his temper came from others looking down on him. When people spoke to him normally, he was actually quite easy to communicate with. At least, he was not that self-righteous. "Last night, I was probably... uh, wait a second, let me check."

It looked like Basketball Qiao had gone to consult his character biography. After a while, he began again.

"Last night, I was late because of traffic. And I didn't bring an umbrella, so I could only run through the wind and rain carrying my milk tea. Luckily, I ran into Second-generation Zhao on the road, so I got in his car and we arrived at the villa together. We got there at around eight-thirty.

"When I arrived, only Ying De and Lawyer Jin were in the villa. Then Ying De said Doctor Shen..."

"Doctor Zhen." Lawyer Jin rarely spoke, yet he interrupted Basketball Qiao to make an entirely unnecessary correction.

Zhen Liu's name was often called incorrectly, and he had gotten used to it. He himself had not even voiced any objection, but Lawyer Jin had already taken offense on his behalf.

"Ah, your surname is Zhen? That's so strange. Is that even a surname?" Basketball Qiao had displayed the most personality traits so far: impulsive, talkative, young and unsettled. Now another label could be added—his thoughts tended to wander, and he had trouble focusing. He had clearly forgotten to continue explaining the timeline, devoting all his attention to studying Zhen Liu's unusual surname.

Second-generation Zhao had no choice but to play nanny again. "Can we talk about the timeline first? We can slowly discuss everything else later."

Only then did Basketball Qiao continue. He scratched his head and tried hard to remember, but his memory did not seem very good either. "Where was I? Right, right. Ying De said that Second-generation Zhao and I were the last to arrive, that all of you were upstairs, and then we began preparing. Lawyer Jin went upstairs later too. At around nine, you all came downstairs, and the banquet began.

"At the banquet, I remember everyone seemed to have interacted with the deceased. The seating arrangement was basically meaningless. Either we went up to interact with the deceased, or the deceased came over to us.

"The banquet ended at eleven. Doctor Zhen went upstairs first, Professor Lu followed him, the deceased kept me behind to clean up the tableware, and Lawyer Jin kept me company. I don't remember where Second Generation went."