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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 impressively skillful, really.

This "honest man" did not seem nearly 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 lowered his head to take notes. It was hard to tell 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. He spent longer looking at the bananas hanging in the kitchen than he did looking 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, they were a very presentable bunch of 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 I wasn't close to any of them.

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

"I hate the deceased."

Basketball Qiao was blunt by nature. He did not seem very old in real life, and he immediately 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 this seemed a little like they were AFK, which was not great gameplay. But Zhen Liu noticed something different: Professor Lu had clearly laid out his timeline, specifying what he did at what time and when it ended. At the very least, he was far clearer than the seemingly sincere Second-generation Zhao.

Second-generation Zhao's entire timeline was vague, as if he were preparing to fabricate one later. Like saying he had played until late—two in the morning was late, and so was four in the morning.

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

Uh, except for Basketball Qiao.

Basketball Qiao had a childish look on his face that utterly failed to match his status as the tallest and most heavily built person in the room. He had a lollipop in his mouth that had appeared from who knew where. From the moment it was his turn to speak, he had been brimming with emotion—and incredibly talkative.

"My name is Basketball Qiao, I'm thirty-four, and I used to be a basketball player. I played for the provincial team and nearly got called up to the national team, but then some accidents happened, and my whole life took a huge turn. Well, maybe it wasn't really a turn. 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 apparently he got lost when we were children, and after that, my mom wasn't quite right mentally. I wanted to ease her burden, but I wasn't good at studying. The only thing I had going for me was my athletic ability, so I got into a good school as a sports student and became classmates with all of you. But after graduation, my career didn't go well, and I ultimately failed. I never made anything of myself. Instead, I made my mother run around everywhere even in her old age..."

Basketball Qiao and Professor Lu made for a stark contrast. He went on and on, saying so much that it no longer sounded like a self-introduction, but rather a full personal biography.

The problem was that, for now, all of it sounded like useless information.

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

Second-generation Zhao had no choice but to interrupt the child who was about to sink into personal memories. "You don't need to be so detailed."

Xiao Zhao had already put it very tactfully. If it had been someone with a shorter temper, they would have simply 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." Basketball Qiao could talk a lot, but he could also take advice. Most of his irritability came from other people 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 think... uh, hold on, let me check."

Basketball Qiao appeared to be flipping through his character biography. After a while, he began again.

"Last night, I was late because of traffic. I didn't bring an umbrella either, 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, but he interrupted Basketball Qiao to make a completely unnecessary correction.

Zhen Liu's name was often called incorrectly, and he had long gotten used to it. He had not even voiced any objection himself, yet Lawyer Jin was already standing up for him.

"Ah, your surname is Zhen? That's so strange. Is there really a surname like that?" Basketball Qiao had displayed the most personality traits so far: impulsive, talkative, young and unstable. Now another trait could be added—his thoughts were scattered, and he had trouble focusing. He had clearly forgotten to continue explaining the timeline and devoted himself entirely to studying Zhen Liu's unusual surname.

Second-generation Zhao had no choice but to act like a babysitter again. "Let's talk about the timeline first, shall we? We can slowly discuss everything else later."

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

"At the banquet, I remember that everyone seemed to have interacted with the deceased. The seating arrangement did not mean anything, really. Either we approached the deceased, or the deceased came over to us.

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