An hour later, looking at the completely cleaned room, Qin Hao said to Liu Fang:
“Tiantian said you’re as diligent and capable as ever.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Fang’s eyes immediately reddened. Tiantian had truly praised her for being diligent and capable in the past.
Seeing this scene, Chen Shengnan and Wang Ling outside the door remained utterly astonished. They had watched Liu Fang personally clean the entire room under Qin Hao’s direction, and throughout the process, Liu Fang obeyed nearly everything Qin Hao said.
If they had not known for certain that she was the four-star prisoner Liu Fang, they might even have thought she was a part-time maid Qin Hao had hired.
They were already astonished enough, but the other guards were even more dumbfounded. Liu Fang, whom all of them together had been unable to restrain, was as docile as a meek wife in front of Qin Hao.
How was this possible?
Some people thought Qin Hao was a super expert, which was why he could subdue Liu Fang.
However, when they opened the records and saw Qin Hao’s blank credentials and his “towering” half-star overall strength, they all fell into a daze!
What was happening to this world?
Why could a half-star weakling command a four-star expert so easily?
Could they be dreaming?
“All right, that’s enough for today. You should go back first. Tiantian is very weak and needs to rest.” Qin Hao said to her.
“Mm-hmm. Then I’ll come again tomorrow.” Liu Fang looked at Qin Hao and said meekly, even adding at the end, “Is that all right?”
Such extreme caution once again left everyone staring with their mouths wide open.
You’re a four-star expert! Did you really need to humble yourself so much before a half-star fellow?
“That’s fine, but don’t come too early. I want to sleep in.” Qin Hao nodded.
“All right. Then I won’t disturb you.” Liu Fang nodded and left the room.
Everyone was stunned by this scene. “Don’t come too early. I want to sleep in”—was that something a half-star weakling was supposed to say?
“Don’t forget to apologize to the people you hurt.” Qin Hao added another reminder.
Liu Fang nodded and actually apologized to the guards she had injured moments earlier.
For a while, everyone was both astonished and flustered, causing quite a commotion.
Wang Ling glanced at Liu Fang’s departing figure, then led Chen Shengnan into the room.
“Greetings, Officers.” Qin Hao smiled and greeted them.
“I need an explanation.” Wang Ling looked at him as she spoke.
“Here, I recorded everything that happened just now. You can watch it yourselves.” Qin Hao handed her the display terminal.
The two of them immediately opened it to review the footage, but afterward, they were incredibly surprised.
“How did you recognize her? You shouldn’t have met before.” Wang Ling asked with a frown.
Qin Hao smiled. “Captain Chen should know. Didn’t I browse through the prisoner records before?”
Chen Shengnan was shocked. “What? You—you remembered it after seeing it only once?”
Qin Hao nodded.
Wang Ling’s heart stirred as she recalled Qin Hao telling her that he could remember the appearances of the hundreds of people he met for the first time.
She had not paid it much attention then, but now it seemed that he had been telling the truth.
This fellow’s memory was absurdly powerful.
“Then how did you know what clothes her daughter was wearing and that the toy in her hand was a birthday gift? Could you really see souls?” Chen Shengnan asked with widened eyes.
Qin Hao smiled ambiguously. “I merely saw a photograph of Tiantian in her records.”
Chen Shengnan hurriedly opened Liu Fang’s records, and sure enough, there was a photograph.
What surprised them was that the photograph only showed Tiantian hugging a rabbit plush toy. There was no element related to a birthday at all.
Then how had Qin Hao known that the rabbit plush toy was a birthday gift from Liu Fang?
As if he had seen through their confusion, Qin Hao smiled and said:
“Actually, it’s very simple. Did you notice the angle of the shadows?”
The two of them froze and shook their heads in unison.
“The angle of a shadow can be used to estimate the approximate time at the moment. Generally speaking, once you measure the angle between the shadow and the due-south or due-north direction, multiplying it by four gives the time difference between then and noon.” Qin Hao explained.
Both women stared at him in astonishment. Clearly, they had not understood.
Qin Hao smiled and said, “All right. In any case, my conclusion is that when this photograph was taken, it was probably around three in the afternoon.”
“What does that prove?” Chen Shengnan asked blankly.
“You can check her daughter’s birth time.”
The two women hurriedly searched through the records and discovered that Tiantian had been born at 2:58 p.m.
“But judging from that alone that the toy was Tiantian’s birthday gift seems a little too presumptuous.” Wang Ling frowned.
Qin Hao smiled. “That’s only the first point. Second, take a look at the rabbit’s ears. What do you see?”
Upon hearing this, Chen Shengnan immediately enlarged the photograph. After searching for quite some time, she finally said uncertainly:
“You mean this little point sticking out?”
Wang Ling looked at the small white tip and a flash of understanding crossed her eyes.
“I understand. This is the plastic thread connecting the hang tag. Generally speaking, after buying a plush toy, people remove it together with the hang tag; otherwise, it could prick their hands. Unless…”
“Unless there wasn’t enough time to clean it off properly!” Chen Shengnan added, her eyes lighting up.
Wang Ling sighed. “It was a new Gift, and there wasn’t enough time to remove the hang tag completely. They had to take the photograph at a special moment. No wonder you deduced that it was a birthday gift.”
Qin Hao chuckled. “Third, didn’t you notice that Tiantian is standing on a piece of paper?”
Chen Shengnan hurriedly enlarged the image and saw the edge of a piece of paper.
“This is…” she murmured thoughtfully.
Wang Ling glanced at it, then stared straight at Qin Hao. “That’s colored paper sprayed from a handheld confetti popper, commonly used at birthdays, weddings, and other festive occasions.”
Chen Shengnan looked at Qin Hao, her eyes filled with disbelief. “From such a brief glance, you could see all that?”
Qin Hao smiled. “It was just a coincidence.”
Chen Shengnan was momentarily speechless. A coincidence? Who would believe that?
Wang Ling looked at him. “But you were only deceiving her.”
Qin Hao shook his head. “No. I was saving her.”
Wang Ling fell silent at his words. Indeed, if things had continued according to the previous situation, Liu Fang’s only possible ending would have been death.
She would either have died in a frenzy, been shot dead, or rashly broken out of the prison area, triggering the prisoner chip and being reduced to ashes.
“But what if she discovers the truth one day?” Chen Shengnan asked.
Wang Ling shook her head. “She won’t. As long as he doesn’t personally tell her that it’s a lie, even if the whole world tells her it’s false, she’ll still choose to believe it. Because this is the final glimmer of light in her heart, her last trace of hope. Her subconscious has decided that it is real—that Tiantian is still alive.”
“Qin Hao saw through the flaw in her heart, broke through it, and used it. In the end, he made her believe it completely and willingly change because of it.”
Chen Shengnan glanced at Qin Hao, her eyes filled with shock. Qin Hao’s understanding and grasp of the human heart exceeded her imagination.
Wang Ling looked deeply at Qin Hao and said, “You did well this time. You saved Liu Fang and indirectly saved quite a few guards as well. I’ll record merit points for you.”
Qin Hao smiled. “How many merit points will I get?”
“Ten.”
“Mm, not bad.” Qin Hao nodded. “I wonder if I can receive some additional rewards?”
“What do you want?”
“A set of tables and chairs, a tea set, a leather sofa, and a bed. Preferably one with a spring mattress. Then bring me some books as well.” Qin Hao said.
Wang Ling glanced at him and turned to leave. “I’ll have them delivered shortly.”
Watching her departing back, Chen Shengnan suddenly whispered to Qin Hao, “I think you’ve offended her.”
“Hmm? Why?”
“Because here, she’s the only one with a leather sofa and a spring mattress.”
Qin Hao: …