The package has assigned me way too many objects.

"Why did you bring someone else's fruit platter with you?"

"Aunt Minagawa said she didn't eat it, so she asked me to bring it over."

Chu Yinan was blatantly lying, but since Minagawa Izumi didn't refuse or ask him to leave the fruit plate, it must be considered tacit consent.

No problem.

The wealthy aunt turned slightly towards Chu Yinan, shifting her ample legs under the table to a different position, and asked Chu Yinan in a voice just loud enough for Rotfal to hear:

"Yi Nan, I heard you like riddles. Do you have any ideas for the story riddles above?"

"There is a bit of that, but the reward the Minagawa family offered for solving the mystery was just going for a cup of tea. Is it some kind of incredible opportunity?"

"It's mainly about showing off. Besides, the Minagawa family was one of the first noble families when Eiko Island was first established. Although the whole family is laid-back, they still have some influence when it comes to words. Drinking tea can be seen as an opportunity to build connections."

Morgan gave Chu Yinan a brief explanation, but he couldn't help but wonder, how come this little guy seems to know nothing, yet he knows Minagawa Izumi and they seem to have a pretty good relationship?

After listening to the explanation, Chu Yinan remained unmoved. He had no interest whatsoever in these matters of cultivating relationships with this family or easing tensions with that family.

As long as the other person is a kind-hearted and beautiful woman, it's worth getting to know her.

He eagerly continued, "Then, Morgan's mother, when can we answer the questions? I'd like to see if I can seize the opportunity to have some tea."

Others haven't even finished reading the questions, and the emcee is still describing the scenes in the comic book, and you're already trying to answer?

"Wait a little longer. If I answer wrong while rushing, I'll embarrass myself."

Rotfal didn't know whether Morgan and the young man named Yan Yinan were having a serious conversation or were deliberately putting on a show to put pressure on him.

Even if Morgan's intention was the latter, Rotfal would still have to accept it.

This kind of surprise is held every year at the Island Day dinner, but it's rarely a riddle; it's more often something like tasting fine wines.

The family responsible for preparing the Easter eggs cannot make them too perfunctory, but they also cannot make them too difficult, otherwise no one can complete them, which would be disrespectful to other families.

The Minagawa family is an exception that doesn't follow the unspoken rules. They really don't need to give face to others. The family members live a very laid-back life with few demands, but their wealth and resources are considerable.

Rotfal patiently listened to the emcee's description, repeatedly glancing at the comic book, a large question mark appearing on his tightly furrowed brow.

Not just him, but most people, after reading the description, had the same thought in their minds: What is this thing?

"This is like presenting a ghost story as a riddle and then asking the audience what the reason is?!"

Rotfar looked at his son, a top student who graduated from a prestigious university with a degree in finance and ranked among the top 5000 in the world in intelligence tests.

However, both father and son could sense a hint of awkwardness in each other's gazes.

But don't worry, we can quietly post an urgent bounty now, offer a generous reward, and the person who provides the answer will appear soon!

......

The Bonaparte family was close to the family in charge of the Island Day banquet and got the riddle a long time ago. However, the version provided by the Minagawa family was incomplete, saying that it only had a skeleton and needed to be revised.

Veronica wanted to use this opportunity to promote her son, Rana.

She knew that her son wasn't particularly outstanding in terms of personal ability, but in this world, excellence encompasses many elements, and having a good family is also a manifestation of "excellence."

Rana doesn't need to be outstanding herself; as long as she, as his mother, can accumulate enough advantages for her son to get excellent employees to do things for him, there's essentially no difference.

In most cases, connections and reputation are more useful than personal worth.

Unfortunately, after knowing the main points of the question in advance, Veronica sought answers from various sources, and even showed the question to Chu Yinan when she was investigating him last time.

The little boy who was talked about in such a mysterious way was ultimately confused and had no idea what to do with it.

However, he was no simple man; after hearing the question, he could assert that the given conditions for the riddle were incomplete and therefore unsolvable.

This confidence is no small feat!

Chapter 143 Who doesn't know you've been sexually harassed?

After searching everywhere for answers to her question, Veronica only found a few plausible ones.

“Rana, memorize these answers. Your chance to shine will come later. I’ve bribed the emcee and some other insignificant people. They’ll give you the wrong answers first to lower the atmosphere, and then even if you answer incorrectly, there won’t be any problems.”

First, bribe the atmosphere team to make the puzzle-solving process easier, ideally giving people the feeling that "this is an open-ended question, as long as the answer is reasonable."

In this way, the answers she prepared for Lana were enough to overwhelm the unprepared crowd and impress the families on Glory Island.

Although it may not bring any substantial benefits, in many cases, a person's talent and brilliance begin to shine through in these small things.

Moreover, although the stage on Glory Island is small, its significance is immense!

Rana smoothed his bangs, took out a pair of AI glasses, and said that he could upload the answers his mother had prepared and just read them aloud, so there was no need to memorize them so hard.

"Mom, what are we going to do about the Lefie family! They clearly came here on purpose to humiliate me and make me lose face, even though I ordered things in advance!"

“I’ve inquired, and Morgan’s appearance there was an accident. Don’t get involved with their family, and don’t deliberately cause trouble. Just live your own life well!” Veronica warned very seriously. “How you play around with women is your own business. Just forget about it after you’re done, as long as it doesn’t affect your future marriages with other families.”

The blond young man paid no attention; his gaze lingered on the beautiful girls in evening gowns, his thoughts already wandering outside to indulge in revelry.

"I've heard this so many times, I'm sick of it."

Veronica was used to her son's attitude. Sometimes she was really disappointed in him, but after complaining in her heart, she still had to accept the fact that he was her son.

The blonde, long-legged woman said with a stern face:

"If you had really listened, I wouldn't have said it so many times. Do you see the Minagawa family's seats? If you're really capable, seize the opportunity presented by the mystery to make contact with her. If you can take them, that would be even better!"

......

Chu Yinan listened to the emcee rambling on for a long time and thought to himself that the person on the other end was quite dedicated.

That makes sense, really. If you're getting paid to do something, especially if you're getting paid by a nobleman, you're bound to be criticized if you don't do it carefully.

Several comic strips sketched scenes and the movement of characters, complementing each other with accompanying text. The emcee, afraid of missing any information, meticulously interpreted each drawing and text.

Interpretation is not analysis; it merely describes the information already given, leaving the listener to guess the rest.

After the interpretation was finished, the emcee even volunteered to give a ridiculously wrong answer. Then a few business travelers in suits came and gave similarly outrageous guesses, such as: this child A was dreaming, or this child A took hallucinogenic drugs and woke up after leaving the alley, and everything before was fake.

However, the female monster probably didn't reveal the answer, and even the emcee couldn't confirm who was normal on the spot. It's likely that she will be the one to explain the answer later.

"The atmosphere team did a great job, but Aunt Minagawa might get so angry about that answer that she'd have a hormonal imbalance," Chu Yinan said softly.

Morgan had no intention of getting involved, but the emcee explained it in such detail that she had at least heard the gist of what had happened.

She didn't have a specific idea, because based on the information she had, she felt that this was a ghost story, but from the perspective of the question setter, the Minagawa family would definitely not play such a trick to fool people's feelings.

The problem most likely lies with the hotel building. Morgan's guess stopped there. After a brief moment of thought, she also wanted to know the answer, so she said to Chu Yinan:

"If you have any ideas, you can say them now. If you answer incorrectly, remember to mention Heinrich's name."

That's going too far. What if I get into trouble when I get back?

Chu Yinan stood up, ready to participate in this corny quiz segment with prizes, while Lana, on the other side, also happened to stand up, seemingly preparing to answer questions.

The emcee was in a dilemma. In normal situations, he could simply use a joking tone to call on who to answer first and have the other person sit down. But the people in this situation were of a higher status and rank, so he couldn't just call on anyone randomly.

He did receive money from Bonaparte's family, but the cooperation involved exchanging information about projects in advance and he had already helped create a buzz.

If the emcee allowed the Leffe family members to sit down first, he would be punished later. Similarly, the situation was the same with the Bonaparte family; the emcee had no room for improvisation.

The emcee regained her composure and used her adult-like skill of passing the buck: "Ms. Minagawa, who would you like to answer first?"

Chu Yinan had already taken his seat. Minagawa Izumi had just told him to go back to the Lefie family's seat to avoid suspicion, so he probably wouldn't be called first.

Otherwise, it would be too deliberate to let him answer first.

Because he was very close to the Tominagawa family's seats, Chu Yinan overheard the female demon instructing the waiter: "Relay my words to the master of ceremonies, and let the little guy from the Lefie family speak first. I'm in a hurry and don't want to hear so much absurd flattery and contemplation."

Although she didn't shout into a microphone, Minagawa Izumi's words were definitely heard by people nearby, and such things naturally spread by word of mouth at a very fast pace.

Chu Yinan's face stiffened upon hearing this. If others found out, wouldn't they mistakenly think that he had just gone to the female monster to get the answer? How would they misunderstand our relationship?

As expected, Rotfar looked at "Yan Yinan" with a hint of surprise, and whispered to the old man next to him:

"Where did this pretty boy come from? The Minagawa family is planning to promote him. They just happened to have him sit with Minagawa Izumi before the mystery started, most likely to get the answer!"

“I just had someone inquire, and there is no such person. The maids in the manor have never seen Morgan lead that pretty boy back home.”

After receiving a message from Minagawa Izumi through a waiter, the emcee smoothly changed his wording: "The lady from the Minagawa family said she is not feeling well tonight and wants to go home to rest early. She prefers the one from the Lefie family, so she asked him to come up first."

Rana sat down angrily. He was almost the first to stand up after the atmosphere group finished their performance, but he was interrupted by someone else, and it was that guy he met at the exhibition!

Chu Yinan stepped forward, originally intending to proudly show off his ideas, but now he didn't know how much persuasive power his words still held, or if he would be seen as a gigolo who had secretly obtained the answers from the female monster.

"This problem is similar to a puzzle I encountered while traveling before, which I couldn't solve at the time. Today, after seeing the complete problem and pondering it relentlessly, I finally solved the mystery that had been troubling me..."

By this time, the news had already spread. Even if people didn't know what Minagawa Izumi's original words were, many families knew that "the Minagawa family favored this pretty boy from the Lefie family."

Upon hearing Yan Yinan's cryptic opening remarks, everyone exchanged knowing glances that said, "We all understand, little brother, there's no need to hide it."

Being fawned over and subjected to unspoken rules is nothing, but if you continue to act like this, that's going too far. Just tell me the answer.

Chapter 144 Where Did They Go?

Here it comes, this is what a PPT presentation for the company's annual meeting should look like.

It was difficult to explain clearly just by talking, so Chu Yinan had to bring a stylus and draw on the control screen at the emcee's end to explain:

"First, let's clarify the assumption: let's assume that this story has nothing to do with ghost encounters, but that such a suspected ghost encounter actually happened. Based on this objective reality, let's continue to think and summarize the characters' routes in the comic strip."

"First, when boy A entered the alley, there were no signs. The boy could only recognize the box by the coffee shop and trash can next to the alley entrance. Moreover, the alley was not one that could be seen at a glance; it was an alley with a steep angle."

"Second, when the boy enters the alley, there is a panel depicting him observing the small advertisements on the right wall of the road just inside the alley. These are the basis for the boy, and also for us readers, to identify the alley."

"Third, after witnessing the murder, the boy went to hide in a hotel on the right side of the alley. After going upstairs, he followed the signs in the enclosed corridor to the front desk. However, pay attention to this comic strip before he went upstairs. Although it is a simple sketch, you can see from it that the buildings on both sides of the alley are not separate, but connected by an aerial walkway."

"The little boy wouldn't notice the existence of this connecting corridor inside the hotel. He would only feel that he had gone around several corners because the interior of the building was enclosed and there were no windows for him to observe the changes in the outside landmarks."

This section of the overhead view can be imagined as the shape of the letter "H". The two vertical lines represent the buildings on both sides of the alley, and the horizontal line in the middle is the sky bridge that connects the buildings on both sides.

"Fourth, the boy who entered the hotel from the right entrance wandered around the corridor inside the building and actually arrived at the building on the left side of the alley, but he was unaware of this and thought he was in the building on the right. After going downstairs, he returned the way he came and left the alley, but in reality, he went in the opposite direction and hurriedly left the alley in the opposite direction."

"Fifth, after leaving the alley, the boy felt that he had left in the direction he came from, but when he turned around, he found that the coffee shop and trash can that were originally at the entrance of the alley were gone. He tried to go into the alley to take a look and found that the very conspicuous small advertisements were also gone. He felt that the alley he had entered at the beginning had disappeared."

The core trick of this short suspense story lies in the change of reference points and the use of maze-like illusions in enclosed buildings. It may seem complicated, but it is actually just that.

Chu Yinan's experience at the scenic area was roughly the same. There were actually two hot spring houses there, one of which was abandoned and the other was used by Minagawa Izumi.

The dim light of the night impaired his ability to observe his surroundings, and he stumbled upon the lair of the reclusive female demon, Minagawa Izumi.

Later, when she couldn't be found during the day, it was probably because there was something wrong with the forest. Minagawa Izumi had hidden the path leading to her house, and the local elders also denied her existence, making it seem like she was truly haunted.