Reborn in 1993, Dark Sea

"Don't move, it'll be over soon!"

In the living room, Mai Xiaoyu was carefully helping An Xiaohai with her makeup.

An Xiaohai's nationwide arrest warrant has been broadcast on major television stations. The scars on his face are too conspicuous. If he were to appear in front of the public like this, it would be easy for people to make connections.

The scar was quite large and raised, and no foundation could cover it. Mai Xiaoyu could only cover it with a thin silicone sheet, but this made her face asymmetrical and looked very strange.

There was no other way, so Mai Xiaoyu had to apply silicone implants to An Xiaohai's other cheek as well. While this made things look more harmonious, it created a new problem:

The silicone covering too large an area would make the expression look very unnatural, and the edges where the silicone was attached to the skin would be easily noticeable. In order to cover up these flaws, Mai Xiaoyu also attached a beard to An Xiaohai.

Just as An Xiaohai's makeup was finished, Dr. Yu, who had been sitting on the side watching curiously, suddenly showed a look of horror. He made an excuse and fled back to his room.

While Mai Xiaoyu was scratching her head in confusion, An Xiaohai picked up a mirror.

The person in the mirror looked unfamiliar; he had a square face, a full beard, and looked to be around 30 years old, a stark contrast to the An Xiaohai he knew.

"So, this is what you pretended to be back then?..." An Xiaohai let out a deep breath. The only reason Dr. Yu was so afraid was that he looked too much like that person.

"Secretary Xiaoyu, this look is fine, it's settled. Could you please change it for me?"

"A new look? Does it need to be a bigger change?"

"No need, just give me some blond hair and make him look a bit sinister."

"Are you going to disguise yourself as Xu Tianyou?" Mai Xiaoyu immediately realized.

"That's right, let's impersonate him. If this guy can impersonate me and cause trouble, why can't I impersonate him? It's a matter of returning the favor!"

"That's very difficult!" Mai Xiaoyu thought for a moment and then shook her head slightly. "Think about it carefully, you and Xu Tianyou are actually very similar, it's just that your temperaments are quite different."

If your face weren't injured, I could make a few minor adjustments and it would look completely natural. But now that you have an injury, if I add anything to your face, it will definitely change your face shape. It's too difficult..."

"Then don't even think about covering up the wounds. You can help me add a few more wounds, or enlarge the existing ones. Anyway, Xu Tianyou has been with me the whole time, and he was seriously injured as well. It's perfectly normal for him to have a scar on his face."

"Oh, right!" Mai Xiaoyu's eyes lit up. "You're so cunning!"

"Speaking ill of the boss in front of him will result in a 200 yuan deduction from your salary this month!"

"..."

Mai Xiaoyu started applying makeup to An Xiaohai again. This time it was very quick. Twenty minutes later, a Xu Tianyou with a severely injured face appeared vividly in front of everyone, startling Yeren and Acha.

"The biggest difference between you and Xu Tianyou is your eyebrows, the corners of your eyes, and your mouth. Your eyebrows are straighter, while Xu Tianyou's eyebrows have a slightly steeper slope."

The same goes for the corners of the eyes; and the mouth... it's actually quite similar too, but there's one feature I don't know if you've noticed?"

"What are its characteristics?"

"You two have very different smiles."

When you smile, both corners of your mouth turn up at the same time. When Xu Tianyou smiles, the left corner of his mouth turns up first, and then both corners turn up together. That's why Xu Tianyou looks much more wicked than you.

"You mean like this when you laugh?" An Xiaohai laughed like Xu Tianyou, which startled even Mai Xiaoyu.

"Hey, you know what! I suddenly realized you two really look alike! Could you be long-lost brothers?"

"Yes, Secretary Xiaoyu, you guessed right, but we're not blood brothers, we're father and son. I'm his father!"

"Tch~" Mai Xiaoyu rolled her eyes so hard they almost reached the sky: "Tell me, who are you trying to trick by getting all this messed up?"

"Who else could we possibly scheme against?" An Xiaohai stood up and, mimicking Xu Tianyou, took a few steps with his body feeling weak. "Didn't we already say? Yin against Yin, Yang against Yang."

How can I scheme against him if I don't impersonate Xu Tianyou?

"You mean... you're going to impersonate Xu Tianyou and wipe out Master Hai's influence?"

"clever."

"This isn't right! You went to so much trouble to make everyone believe that Xu Tianyou had died at sea, and now you're disguising yourself as him and causing trouble. Wouldn't all that effort have been wasted?"

"is that so?"

"I think so!"

"Think about it again carefully."

"No matter how carefully I think about it, that's the case!"

"No, that's how most people think. He wouldn't think that way!" An Xiaohai took a deep breath and said, "Now put yourself in his shoes. If you were him, would you believe Xu Tianyou is really dead?"

"If I were him..." Mai Xiaoyu frowned and thought for a long time, "I would only believe half of it. Although I can't find any flaws, I would still only believe half of it."

"That's right. If you only believe half of it, then he will only believe 30% at most."

Okay, let's assume he only believed 30%. Now, An Xiaohai has disappeared, and Xu Tianyou has suddenly reappeared in Haixi Province and started a massacre against the Haifoye organization. If you knew this, what would you think?

"My first reaction would be that this Xu Tianyou is An Xiaohai in disguise! ...No, no, if I think about it carefully, I would think that it is not necessarily, but very likely, that he is Xu Tianyou himself."

Yes, that's possible, because I don't entirely believe Xu Tianyou is dead.

"Okay, continue thinking. In this situation, what action would you take next?"

"I'll find a way to confirm."

"Right, he'll try to confirm it, but how? Should he have someone else confirm it?"

"I understand!" Mai Xiaoyu's eyes lit up. "He might come to confirm it himself!"

"Yes, although the possibility isn't very high, it is indeed a possibility!" An Xiaohai once again flashed a smile reminiscent of Xu Tianyou:

"Let's assume two possibilities. One is that he comes in person. That's great. If he dares to come, we'll make sure he can never go back!"

Another possibility is that if he doesn't come in person, he will definitely have someone he trusts take a clear photo of Xu Tianyou and show it to him.

That would be even better. If we can find the person who took the photo and keep a close eye on him, we might be able to trace him back to the source! If we don't keep an eye on this person, and he successfully takes my photo and escapes our pursuit, and eventually shows the photo to him...

Do you think he'll be able to recognize that Xu Tianyou in the photo is actually An Xiaohai in makeup?

"I think with his insight and understanding of you, he'll most likely be able to recognize you, after all, he's also an expert in makeup."

"Alright, if he recognizes that it was me, Xu Tianyou, in disguise causing trouble in Haixi Province, what will he think then?"

"He'll conclude that Xu Tianyou is truly dead, otherwise you probably wouldn't have done this!"

"Yes, if Xu Tianyou faked his death, then I should use An Xiaohai's identity as much as possible to do this, instead of shifting the suspicion onto Xu Tianyou."

The reason I dared to impersonate Xu Tianyou and do these things so brazenly was to make him believe that Xu Tianyou was not dead.

Of course, this trick might not fool him; he might also see through Xu Tianyou's deception. I did this to lure him into believing that Xu Tianyou was dead.

"...

"Wait! Wait a minute, let me sort this out..." Mai Xiaoyu's eyebrows were almost twisted together.

"Isn't it messy?"

"It's a bit of a mess, the deeper I think about it, the more confusing it gets. Wait a minute, let me think about it from the beginning..."

"Don't bother thinking about it," An Xiaohai smiled slightly. "It's a psychological trap, and the smarter you are, the easier it is for you to fall into it."

In fact, once you step outside this trap and look at the essence of the problem, everything becomes very simple.

Whether Xu Tianyou is dead or alive is essentially a choice between two options; there's no need to overcomplicate it.

Once they start trying to read people's minds, they'll fall into the trap I've set. At the same time, they'll likely overlook a more important question: why am I carrying out this massacre against the Buddha's organization?

"...

But he should be able to react quickly.

"Yes, he will definitely be able to react quickly."

However, I assure you, the moment he hesitates, it will be too late for him to react. That's exactly what I want—his hesitation. The success or failure of this operation hinges on his hesitation.

Do you understand now?

"Hmm," Mai Xiaoyu nodded, "What are we having for dinner tonight?"

"..."