Newbie Scenario: Class Reunion (8)

Professor Lu nodded. "Other than the different threats, everything else was pretty much the same."

That raised another question. Everyone had already been threatened, so why had the victim gone out of their way to slip them these little notes? More importantly, "There wasn't a specific meeting time on any of these notes."

In other words, if the notes had truly been slipped to them by the victim, then they would normally have waited in their rooms for the victim to come to them. That also matched what Basketball Qiao had said earlier about waiting in his room until very late for the victim. But that meant there was currently no clear proof for anyone's timeline. The murderer could lie about the actual order in which they had met the victim.

That made things rather difficult.

When Zhen Liu and Professor Lu came out of Basketball Qiao's room, they happened to see Lawyer Jin emerging from the victim's room. Zhen Liu had thought they would simply pass each other by, but Lawyer Jin stopped them and took the initiative. "Shall we go upstairs and take a look together?"

Even though everyone had given Lawyer Jin time to tidy up the living room, he still seemed extremely concerned about it. With Zhen Liu and Professor Lu's backgrounds unclear, he had even adopted a strategy of keeping them under close watch.

Zhen Liu did not refuse. He did not particularly care either way.

Professor Lu's expression, however, darkened considerably. He did not object, since Zhen Liu had already agreed, but he clearly did not like someone inserting himself into his pleasant two-person outing with Zhen Liu.

Zhen Liu silently praised him. Professor Lu was taking his role-playing very seriously. He looked completely absorbed in it, even making his jealousy seem so genuine. And he was so handsome—why had he not become an actor? Good actors made a lot of money. If Zhen Liu's circumstances had not been unusual, he would have entered the industry long ago and made a fortune.

Their group was relatively slow-moving. By the time they went upstairs, Basketball Qiao had already come down, looking like he was saying, "This is so boring. There's nothing up there."

When he saw the three of them, Basketball Qiao cheerfully greeted them, looking utterly carefree.

"Why aren't you with Second Generation?" Without Second-generation Zhao around, Lawyer Jin could only ask the questions himself. Neither Zhen Liu nor Professor Lu looked like someone who enjoyed talking.

"He's still upstairs doing who knows what. Probably hiding his clues. I told him we had an agreement and wouldn't mess with him, but he doesn't seem to believe it." Basketball Qiao shrugged, acting like a complete newbie from beginning to end. "Oh, right, hehe. Are you done with the living room? I'm going over there."

Lawyer Jin's expression stiffened. He had probably rarely encountered someone so blunt. Although everyone knew what he had been doing in the living room, Basketball Qiao was currently the only one to ask him about it outright.

But a veteran player was still a veteran player. Having weathered plenty of storms, Lawyer Jin quickly recovered and nodded. "Yes. You can go."

It seemed Lawyer Jin was very confident in his ability to hide things. At the very least, he believed Basketball Qiao would not find them.

Basketball Qiao was also far too open-hearted. As he passed Lawyer Jin, he gave him a quick, homie-style punch to the chest. "Don't worry. Even if I find something, I won't deliberately look at it. We have an agreement, after all." With that, Basketball Qiao sauntered happily toward the living room, as though he truly believed in the sincerity between people.

Lawyer Jin took off his glasses with a headache and rubbed his temples. He was actually not very good at dealing with someone with that sort of personality. He preferred the hypocritical politeness between adults.

The second floor contained Lawyer Jin and Second-generation Zhao's rooms, as well as a large entertainment room.

Lawyer Jin was quite the character himself. For some reason, he deliberately pushed open Second-generation Zhao's door first and, sure enough, caught the brief flash of panic on his face. He returned the embarrassment Basketball Qiao had caused him, intact, to Second-generation Zhao. "You're not done hiding things yet? Then we'll check my room first. Let us know when you're finished."

Second-generation Zhao: "..."

A gleam of delight flashed through Lawyer Jin's eyes.

Zhen Liu added a label to Lawyer Jin's true personality—he really liked getting even.

Then Zhen Liu and Professor Lu began searching Lawyer Jin's room right in front of him. During their evidence searches in the previous two rooms, the pair had quickly developed a tacit understanding. They were well-practiced, efficient, and quiet without making things awkward. Instead, Lawyer Jin, the bystander, was the one becoming unable to bear the strange atmosphere.

Had these two been searching for evidence like this earlier? Were they playing a murder mystery game, or filming Silent Hill?

Professor Lu was highly sensitive to other people's gazes. He precisely caught Lawyer Jin looking at him and stared back with obvious disdain, just short of saying it outright—if you weren't here, we'd be having a lot more fun.

For no apparent reason, Lawyer Jin suddenly wanted to change his surname to Electric—the "electric" in "lightbulb."

Newbie Scenario: Class Reunion (8)

If Basketball Qiao, who completely failed to read the room and dared to say anything that came to mind, was already enough to give Lawyer Jin a headache, then Second-generation Zhao, who looked like the easiest person to order around, was no less troublesome.

After tidying up his room, he actually came knocking in earnest. "It's ready. Come search for evidence."

Lawyer Jin: "???"

Professor Lu burst out laughing. His already striking face took on a hint of casual condescension with that smile. He seemed not to care at all whether this would offend Lawyer Jin, like a great beast watching little animals frolic within its territory. There was no one here worth fearing.

No, Zhen Liu thought. A more fitting comparison would be a human looking at animals in a protected wildlife reserve. Professor Lu did not think he was the same species as them.

Lawyer Jin could no longer save face. But if he lost his temper, he would have no justification for it. Under the gaze of countless viewers in the livestream, who could he blame? Could he blame Basketball Qiao for trusting people too easily? Or Second-generation Zhao for being too obedient? Or criticize Professor Lu for laughing? In the end, he could only maintain his composure and grace. He! Endured! It!