She first searched through the shoe cabinet beneath the wardrobe.
It was filled with children's shoes of all kinds: cloth shoes, walking shoes, low-heeled shoes, platform shoes, and more.
“This child's shoes number several times more than mine.”
An inexplicable ache filled her heart. She closed the shoe cabinet and looked toward the wardrobe above.
When children hide things, they usually put them deep inside. The cleverer ones cover them with something.
Following that logic, if she pressed around deep inside the wardrobe and felt around without finding anything, then there was probably nothing there.
How naïve!
Aside from that method, there was another: hiding things in the pockets of clothes one rarely wore, or even disliked! She had loved hiding things that way when she was little. Sometimes she would forget about them, and when she put the clothes on and poked her hand into the pocket, she would be as delighted as if she had discovered treasure.
She had been estimating the clothes' sizes earlier, but at the same time, she had also been feeling around inside their pockets.
She studied the wardrobe and rubbed her chin.
Wen Shaoqiao had probably left during the summer. The wardrobe was basically filled with summer clothes, but toward the back in the middle sat a large coat. It was made of woolen fabric and was sleeveless, but was clearly intended for autumn or winter.
She took the garment down. It was quite heavy.
She first felt inside the two large outer pockets but found nothing, then searched the inner pocket. Inner pockets were not very common, so she only ran her hand through it casually, yet felt a faint protrusion.
She took the object out.
It was a rod-shaped object, about the length of her middle finger and as thick as her thumb. It was thinner in the middle and slightly thicker at both ends. One end bore obvious traces of adhesive, while the other was smooth but had faint scuff marks.
She stared at it for a long time, still unable to figure out what it was, when her phone suddenly vibrated.
【MN】Congratulations, you have obtained clue 4 and earned 100 points.
Yang Chaoyu was delighted, then sighed in relief.
Now that she had earned points, she should be able to leave this place, right?
With that thought, her whole body relaxed. She sat down beside the wardrobe and examined the object in her hand. Although she had obtained it, its shape...
Yang Chaoyu racked her brains, then froze.
This seemed to be the heel of a pair of high-heeled shoes.
She crouched down and searched through the shoe cabinet.
It was filled entirely with children's shoes. Even the low-heeled shoes were children's styles. Then whose shoe had this heel, which she had hidden away, belonged to...?
No.
She remembered that clue 2 was the instruction manual for a “growth-inhibiting injection.”
If no one had received the injection, why would there be an instruction manual for it? Comparing the son and daughter, it was obvious that Wen Shaoqiao was the one who had been injected. According to the baseball cap's account, Wen Shaoqiao's parents had forced her to film illegal videos for profit. But shouldn't they have let Wen Shaoqiao grow up and develop before filming her? Wouldn't that have made more money?
Why was there also an inhibitor? Was Wen Shaoqiao unwilling to grow up because she did not want to film those scenes? Or was it...?
The heel clearly exceeded five centimeters, making it unsuitable for children to wear.
Then why had Wen Shaoqiao kept it?
“Did you find a clue?” someone asked.
Yang Chaoyu jumped and aimed her phone's flashlight at the other person.
It was Zou Qing. She raised a hand to block the light. Yang Chaoyu moved the beam away.
“Oh, it's you.”
“Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.”
Yang Chaoyu asked hesitantly, “Are you all right now?”
“I'm sorry. I got a little too worked up earlier.” She smiled pale and wanly. “I frightened you all. And I'm sorry for taking your clue earlier.”
Yang Chaoyu was still quite angry and ignored her.
Zou Qing continued, “I already apologized to Ke Xingyun. He said it was fine.”
Yang Chaoyu rolled her eyes inwardly.
She really could not tell whether Ke Xingyun was a complete idiot or what.
Although the clue had originally been given to Ke Xingyun by her, if he had not found it and this woman had taken it, Ke Xingyun might have died.
This woman had indirectly committed murder.
And she thought one sentence was enough to brush it all aside?
Ke Xingyun might be willing to forgive her, but Yang Chaoyu was not.
Zou Qing looked remorseful. She stepped closer and said, “How about I help you search?”
“Don't trouble yourself. I'll do it myself.”
She had just touched the heel when MN sent her a message. Apparently, when certain clues were touched by the first person, the points belonged to that person.
Something like the diary, which had to be opened, was rarer.
As for why she was certain the diary was a clue, she only had to recall what Zou Qing had said earlier. Zou Qing had already confirmed for Yang Chaoyu that the diary was a clue.
Thinking of this, Yang Chaoyu grew irritated.
If the circumstances had not been so unfavorable, and if the other person had not been a girl, she would have loved to have a proper tussle with her.
But she quickly adjusted her mindset. In this supernatural phenomenon-filled game, what was the point of having such a strong desire to win? All she needed was to stay alive and leave this place.
Zou Qing stood there like stakes as she watched Yang Chaoyu search back and forth.
Probably feeling that standing around like this was inappropriate, Zou Qing took the initiative to speak.
“I know a little about Wen Shaoqiao's situation.”
“What do you know?” Yang Chaoyu did not even raise her head.
“When she was fifteen and it was exposed that she had filmed indecent art photos, I... rode on her popularity.”
Yang Chaoyu paused at those words.
Zou Qing had put it very tactfully. But judging from Wen Shaoqiao's reputation and the comments online at the time, her so-called “riding on the popularity” was probably not helping Wen Shaoqiao by speaking well of her, but putting her down to elevate herself.
Yang Chaoyu thought of something and asked, “When she was fifteen, did she still look about ten years old?”
Zou Qing nodded. “Her parents publicly claimed that she had some kind of deformity and could not grow up.”
Yang Chaoyu thought: Then it clearly was not an illness. She had been injected.
She squeezed the high-heeled shoe in her hand.
The baseball cap had said that clue 1 was Wen Shaoqiao's child star trophy.
So was it possible that Wen Shaoqiao's parents had seen the shadow of a cash cow in her? To ensure that she could keep making money, they had given her growth-inhibiting injections, while Wen Shaoqiao herself had always wanted to grow up?
A child's bones were still developing. Children could not wear high-heeled shoes.
Actually, Yang Chaoyu did not particularly like high-heeled shoes.
They caused uneven pressure on the feet and created strain, and wearing them for long periods was even worse. But it was undeniable that many girls believed high-heeled shoes enhanced feminine charm and were a symbol of maturity and sensuality.
She put the heel back into the wardrobe, hoping that in another world, Wen Shaoqiao could wear the high-heeled shoes she liked.
When Zou Qing saw that she did not respond for a long time, she asked, “Did you discover something else?”
Yang Chaoyu looked toward the bed piled high with miscellaneous items.
“You've been a streamer for a long time, haven't you?”
“Yes, five or six years.”
“Then you should know quite a bit about the unspoken rules of Livestreaming, right?”
Zou Qing was silent for a moment before asking, “What do you want to know?”
“For a minor to livestream, a legal guardian has to confirm it, right?”
“Generally, yes,” Zou Qing said. “But a few years ago, because the review system wasn't very perfect, some children registered using adults' identities, while others forged certificates. That was on the more legitimate livestreaming platforms. There were also platforms registered overseas that weren't afraid of domestic inspections at all. Some even specifically recruited minors to livestream, and their content was quite explicit.”
Yang Chaoyu: I really am too ignorant.
“I've heard that although those platforms have a limited audience, their profits are astonishingly high.”
Yang Chaoyu: Naturally, the reason they weren't afraid of breaking the law was that they made so much money.
“Why did you suddenly ask about this?” Zou Qing asked.
Yang Chaoyu was just about to say it was because of those clues, but quickly realized it. The baseball cap had probably never shared the clues with Zou Qing.
So she said, “Nothing. I was just curious.”
Zou Qing looked somewhat suspicious and asked, “Is this about Wen Shaoqiao secretly Livestreaming without her parents knowing?”
“You know about it?”
Yang Chaoyu was struggling to move a large chest and nearly threw out her back when she heard this.
She really did not exercise enough!
“Rumors about it were everywhere back then. After she died, her parents even came forward and asked everyone to stop discussing it. The two elderly persons looked much more haggard, crying and saying that no matter what she had done wrong, once she was dead, everything should be left to dust and ashes.”
Yang Chaoyu wavered at once.
So, in the end, had Wen Shaoqiao started Livestreaming on her own, or had her parents forced her? She had originally thought it was coercion, but after hearing Zou Qing...
She asked, “Do you think Wen Shaoqiao committed suicide?”
Zou Qing snorted. “After doing so many shameful things, how could she still have had the face to go on living?”
Yang Chaoyu set the chest down. She was about to ask something else when Zou Qing said, “Don't you feel a little cold?”
“The temperature probably dropped sharply at night.”
Yang Chaoyu had a suspicion, but she could not say it aloud.
Seeing her moving things around, Zou Qing added, “Didn't that young man already search this place? Why are you searching again?”
Yang Chaoyu: “Even a little that slips through the fingers of a big shot is enough for us to live on.”
Zou Qing nodded. “That's true.”
Yang Chaoyu was speechless: It was just something I said offhand. Don't actually believe it.
Seeing that Zou Qing acknowledged the baseball cap as a big shot, Yang Chaoyu's damned desire to win, which had been suppressed, surged up again. She knew perfectly well that this feeling was wrong. But if everyone could control themselves, there would be far fewer criminals in the world.
Besides... if you can't control it, you can learn.
For instance, she had gradually begun to notice that certain things were very wrong...