Chapter 20: You Should Be More Mindful

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The castle lord’s son announced, “I’m Lu Mucheng. Everyone, please gather at the second-floor stairwell!”

[Wow! The actor Lu is so quick to react! As soon as he took off his blindfold, he called everyone together! Such leadership!]
[And not only that, the actor Lu set the meeting point at the stairwell instead of a room! This avoids everyone accidentally entering the dark room and being captured by the minions all at once!]
[Hahaha, did you see the group chat’s name? “A Loving Family!”]
[No way! Is the group name really that down-to-earth?!]
[The key point is, the minions are also in this group! Calling it that is just too creepy!]
[In the story’s context, everyone is fighting over an inheritance. About that group name, I suggest changing it to “A Family of Mutual Hostility!”]

Xie Yixing came out of his room and headed toward the stairwell on the second floor, where he bumped into Jiang Yue.
Jiang Yue looked at him with a face full of delight.
He raised his hand, pointing westward, “A Xing, did you get the message? Let’s go together!”
Xie Yixing strode over, “Let’s go, let’s go! Together!”
The door signs indicated the floors, and the two were currently in the west side of the first-floor hall, while the stairwells were located at both ends of the corridor.
Walking side by side, as they neared the stairwell, Jiang Yue suddenly grabbed Xie Yixing.
“A Xing, I think I lost my keychain! Come back with me to look for it!”
Xie Yixing was startled by the sudden grab. Before he could pull away, Jiang Yue said this.
He asked, puzzled, “What keychain?”
Jiang Yue’s other hand tightened slightly as he smiled, “It’s the birthday gift you gave me last year! I really like it, so I wear it all the time. Didn’t you forget?”
Hearing this, Xie Yixing recalled it.
Seeing that Xie seemed to remember, Jiang Yue continued, “It might have fallen in the room we just left. Come with me to find it!”
Xie Yixing trusted him, “Okay! But we have to be quick; we can’t keep everyone waiting!”
The two turned back.
As they approached the room Jiang Yue indicated, Jiang Yue grabbed Xie Yixing again.
“A Xing, my microphone seems broken! I’ll go find the crew to get a replacement. You go look for the keychain first!”
Xie Yixing saw that Jiang Yue had pulled out the mic wire and felt uneasy, “No way!”
Jiang Yue thought he had been found out but composed himself and asked feigning innocence, “What’s wrong?”
Xie Yixing glanced around, searching for crew members, and replied without stopping his search, “If your mic is broken, the live audience won’t hear you. I’ll go with you to change it so everyone knows what’s happening!”

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Jiang Yue, sure that Xie hadn’t caught on to his odd behavior, relaxed but dared not make another move.
He gratefully said, “A Xing, I really owe you! Otherwise, I’d have no idea what to do!”
The live chat was scrolling rapidly.
[Jiang Yue said his mic was broken, and I didn’t even notice anything wrong!]
[The minions immediately tried to stab someone—such decisiveness, even more than actor Lu!]
[So, Jiang Yue wants to trick Xiao Xie into that room and then take him out? But why say his mic was broken?]
[My guess is Jiang Yue wants an alibi!]
[What a great “brother”! Ready to stab you in the back when it’s convenient!]
[Xiao Xie, be more alert!]
[Haha, it was Xiao Xie’s naive kindness that saved him!]
The crew didn’t expose Jiang Yue but instead handed him a new microphone.
Seeing that too much time was lost, Xie Yixing asked the staff to help look for the keychain while he and Jiang Yue rushed to the stairwell on the second floor.
When they reached the stairwell, everyone else was already there.
Uncle Liu saw their late arrival; his honest face was full of suspicion. “Why did you take so long? It wasn’t the minions, was it?”
Xie Yixing was stunned but quickly explained, “I’m not a minion! We were late because Jiang Yue’s mic broke, and I went with him to get it fixed!”
Uncle Liu didn’t believe him. “Who knows if you two were plotting something just now!”
Xie Yixing scratched his head, unsure how to respond.
Besides the live audience, no one could vouch for him and Jiang Yue. The phones provided by the crew didn’t display the live stream.
Just as the situation grew tense, Jiang Yun Yao spoke up.
“Even if the minions were plotting, it shouldn’t be just the two of them! Didn’t they say there were three minions?”
Ran Yinuo was the first to support her. “Sister is right!”
Others nodded in agreement with Jiang Yun Yao’s reasoning.
Only Uncle Liu remained doubtful and even gave his reasoning.
“There are eight people total. We have five here, plus those two, that makes seven. Where’s the eighth person? They must be plotting something, right?!”
The other seven: “???”
The live audience: [???]

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Isn’t it 6 + 2? Who did you leave out?!
Lu Mucheng, who had been absorbed in making plans, instinctively followed Uncle Liu’s logic, but upon hearing this, realized something was wrong.
“Uncle Liu, there are six of us here.”
“Six?!” Uncle Liu couldn’t believe it and counted heads one by one, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Where’s six?!”
Jiang Yun Yao: “...You forgot to count yourself!”
Others: “...”
Uncle Liu refused to believe it and counted again. This time he got it right.
An embarrassed expression crossed his honest face. He was flustered and quickly apologized to Xie Yixing and Jiang Yue.
“Sorry, this is my first time on a variety show. I got a little excited and wasn’t thinking straight—I even forgot how to count!”
Xie Yixing and Jiang Yue, both amateurs, understood and reassured him it was okay.
The live audience, with an omniscient perspective, saw the situation more clearly than the guests.
[Hahaha, this is hilarious! If I didn’t know Uncle Liu was a minion, I’d have been fooled!]
[An experienced actor forgetting to count himself and claiming he can’t count! The newest joke in the entertainment industry!]
[Honestly, it’s Uncle Liu’s honest face that’s so deceptive no one suspects him!]
[Aya! Yun Yao was the first to stand up and speak for Xiao Xie!]
[Wait, Jiang Yue is a minion too! Uncle Liu’s accusation against Xiao Xie and Jiang Yue is actually hurting his own teammate!]
[True, but by doing so, he clears suspicion from himself!]
[What a perfect example of “If the enemy won’t die, then I must!”]
With the misunderstanding cleared, everyone returned to the main topic and began discussing their next move.
Lu Mucheng already had a rough plan outline.
“We can split into pairs. That way, if something happens to one, their partner will be suspected. We can quickly narrow down the suspects and identify the minions!”
Jiang Yun Yao pondered and found his idea reasonable.
She immediately agreed, “Partners can also watch each other. If anyone acts suspiciously, they can report it immediately in the group!”
No one objected, and the next step was to form the pairs.