How to win

"Cop, you're lying," Qiao Jia Jin said coldly.

"Humph, I knew you would say that, but what evidence do you have to prove I'm lying? Just because someone attacked me?" Officer Li asked.

"Of course not," Qiao Jia Jin smiled slightly, "For some unknown reason, the stories everyone has told so far have been connected in some way. There are many shared characters in these stories. If we don't talk about the geographical location, everyone's narrative is reasonable."

"So what?" Officer Li questioned.

"The problem lies here," Qiao Jia Jin pointed to the lawyer, Zhang Chenze, "In your and the lawyer's stories, there is a common character, the 'fraudster who swindled two million yuan.' However, your stories contradict each other, which means one of you is lying."

Officer Li paused for a moment and then asked, "Where is the contradiction?"

Qiao Jia Jin shook his head and looked at Officer Li, "Lawyer Zhang is already preparing for the trial, which means in her story, the 'suspect has already been caught.' Yet in your story, you are still staking out, which means 'the suspect has not been arrested' in your narrative. Isn't that a contradiction?"

Officer Li pondered for a moment and then said, "I have to admit, what you said makes some sense, but I think you've been influenced by this 'game.' First, you must understand a major premise, which is that all the people who have told stories before are not in the same city as each other. In other words, no matter how similar our experiences are, we can't be talking about the same incident. Since it's a different incident, naturally, there will be different outcomes."

Qi Xia quietly watched the two people who were always arguing, without interrupting.

Yes, argue, the more fiercely the better.

As long as either of them casts a vote for the other, the liar wins.

After all, the rules are absolute. If anyone other than the liar votes incorrectly, it will lead to the burial of the remaining people.

Although Officer Li had already given an explanation, Qiao Jia Jin's words still left an impression on everyone's mind.

After all, this was the first time everyone found a contradiction in the stories of two people.

Qi Xia couldn't help but look at the ruffian named Qiao Jia Jin with newfound respect.

He may seem unrestrained, but he is smarter than expected.

"Hmm, it's my turn..." a girl said.

Only then did everyone put away their thoughts and turn to look at her.

This girl had let out a loud scream when the person died at the beginning.

At this time, she seemed to have calmed down, but her gaze never dared to look to the side.

"Hello everyone, my name is Lin Go, and I am a psychological counselor."

Qi Xia paused slightly because the name "Lin Go" was quite interesting.

"Before the Tang dynasty, the character (lin) meant 'apple'."

These two characters are full of poetic charm and are quite memorable.

Perhaps Miss Lin's parents wanted to give their daughter a unique name, but this name will clearly lead to her downfall here.

There are writers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, and police officers present; all of them might know the meaning of "Lin Go."

As long as one ponders this name a few times in their heart, the story Lin tells will become impressive.

Lin Go noticed that everyone had no reaction, so she continued, covering her nose and mouth with her hand, "I am from Ningxia, and before I came here, I was waiting for a consultee, who is a preschool teacher."

Everyone glanced at the preschool teacher named Xiao Ran, unsurprised that this story was connected as well.

According to her, being a preschool teacher is very difficult these days; you can't hit or scold the children. Parents treat preschool teachers as nannies, and children treat them as servants. Every classroom is equipped with surveillance cameras, and parents monitor in real-time. If your tone is a bit harsh, the parents will call the principal immediately.

"But when parents send their children to kindergarten, isn't it for the children to establish their moral values?"

"If teachers cannot teach strictly, how can children recognize their mistakes?"

"She felt that for a long time, she had been in a state of confusion and depression."

"So, I prepared a treatment plan for her that would last about a month."

"But for some reason, the consultee never came to the appointment, and I kept waiting in the studio."

"The earthquake struck, and I had no chance to escape. After all, my studio is on the twenty-sixth floor."

"The higher the floor, the more intense the shaking feels. I felt the whole building was swaying."

"I never knew that there would be an earthquake in Ningxia before, but this time I experienced it."

"Then I vaguely remember the ceiling collapsed, and everything went black before my eyes, and I knew no more."

After everyone heard Lin Go's story, it seemed they thought of something else.

Qiao Jia Jin spoke up first, "I have two questions."

"You may ask," Lin Go said, still covering her nose and mouth.

"You mentioned that there are 'surveillance cameras' in every classroom, what does that mean?"

No one expected that Qiao Jia Jin would focus on this point, but Lin Go, as a psychologist, patiently explained, "I think the reason for installing 'surveillance' is to allow parents to see the classroom at any location, wherever they are."

"It was 'closed-circuit television'... Is it an aristocratic kindergarten?" Qiao Jia Jin muttered to himself before asking, "And the preschool teacher you were supposed to meet, is it this Xiao Ran here?"

"I don't know," Lin Go shook her head, "I only added her on WeChat, and we planned to discuss the rest when we met in person."

"WeChat?" Qiao Jia Jin was taken aback, seemingly not understanding.

Officer Li interrupted them, saying, "You're at it again, ruffian. Xiao Ran is in Yunnan, and this Lin is in Ningxia. Who would cross such a long geographical distance to find a psychological counselor?"

Qiao Jia Jin was undeterred: "I just think there's something suspicious. This is the first time someone's story has mentioned another participant."

Dr. Zhao, for once, agreed with Qiao Jia Jin and nodded, asking, "Xiao Ran, is the reason you sought a psychological counselor the same as what this Miss Lin described?"

"Well..." Xiao Ran hesitated, "It's not quite the same... I was feeling depressed due to long-term accusations from a parent..."

"So that proves it's just a coincidence," Dr. Zhao nodded, "After all, it's a matter concerning two different regions. We don't need to force a connection."

At this moment, everyone fell silent for a moment, but then Lawyer Zhang suddenly spoke up: "Miss Lin, half of the story you told was about that 'preschool teacher.' Isn't that against the rules?"

"Ah?" Lin was taken aback, "I mentioned the preschool teacher to help you all better understand the content of my work..."

"Don't misunderstand, I have no other intentions." Zhang Chenze smiled, "What I mean is, if the preschool teacher's experiences were made up by you, they would naturally differ from Xiao Ran's story, which would prove that you lied."

"You...!" Lin Go didn't expect the woman in front of her to be so forceful and could only defend herself, "Just now, Dr. Zhao and Officer Li said that our provinces are different, and it's all just a coincidence!"

"A coincidence, is it?" Zhang Chenze, with her arms crossed, continued, "You all should think carefully. Why were we nine people specifically chosen to gather here? Don't forget, we are nine strangers. To find flaws in each other's stories, we must be given some clues. And this 'clue' is that everyone's stories are connected. After hearing everyone's story, I feel that we were deliberately selected. Only in this way can we smoothly find the flaws in the stories, identify the liar, otherwise, this game would be too absurd, because the 'liar's' chances of winning would be too great."