A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

Ni Xiang jogged forward and skipped over to take the candied hawthorn from Ni Dayong's hand.

"Who are you?" Ni Dayong's eyes showed some wariness.

Wu Liang's gaze first fell on Ni Dayong's eyes, then he looked at Ni Xiang, who was beaming with joy, and frowned.

Then I looked at the transparent bag in his left hand, where the medicine box was clearly visible.

Olanzapine and a box of quetiapine fumarate are both antipsychotic drugs.

After Ni Xiang returned to her mother with the candied hawthorn, Zhao Anmin stepped forward, took out his police ID from his pocket, and showed it to Ni Dayong behind the little girl's back.

"Ni Dayong, we're from the criminal investigation team. We need to ask you about something."

Ni Dayong's expression didn't change much. He nodded and turned to his daughter.

"Xiangxiang, take your mother inside. Dad and a few uncles have something to discuss."

Ni Xiang glanced at her father, then at Wu Liang and the other two, and obediently responded. She walked to Jiang Cuilan's side, took her mother's arm, and said softly, "Mom, let's go inside."

Jiang Cuilan was helped up by her daughter. Her gaze swept blankly over the people in the yard, finally settling on Ni Dayong. Then she obediently followed her daughter into the house.

Only four people remained in the courtyard.

Without wasting any words, Zhao Anmin pulled out a photo of Sha Yuanbao from his pocket.

"Ni Dayong, do you know this person?"

Wu Liang's gaze was completely fixed on Ni Dayong, fully prepared to observe his subconscious actions if he might lie.

however.

"Yes, I know him."

what?

Please, bro, you're admitting it already? I haven't even had a chance to show off yet!

Wu Liang was a bit dumbfounded, and Zhao Anmin and the other man's expressions also changed.

Ni Dayong seemed oblivious to the three people's reactions and continued to speak in a leisurely manner.

……

Seventeen years ago, Sha Yuanbao brought a woman to Shiqiao Village, saying he came to Tongcheng to work and wanted to find a marriage for his sister, entrusting her to an honest man.

When Ni Dayong saw him, he knew that this guy was doing that kind of thing. It wasn't unusual at the time; several wives in the village had come from that kind of family.

A large crowd quickly gathered. Ni Dayong originally didn't want to get involved in this kind of thing. Although he didn't have a wife, he despised this kind of behavior of trafficking women.

But as the asking price kept rising, Ni Dayong became curious, because some people were even offering two thousand yuan, which was a price that was usually not available for buying a wife in the village. So he went up to see what kind of woman could be sold for such a price.

……

"As you all know, Cuilan's condition..."

Ni Dayong gave a wry smile, as if he had come to some relief.

Wu Liang and the other two listened silently, none of them expecting Ni Dayong to admit it so readily.

"I don't know what I was thinking at the time. I just saw Wang Mazi pry her mouth open, and her eyes suddenly moved, and she glanced in my direction."

Ni Dayong lowered his head and rubbed his rough palms.

"Just one glance. She didn't say anything. But I always felt like she was looking at me."

This was the first time Zhao Anmin had seriously looked at the man.

Did this person contact you again?

Ni Dayong nodded.

"I've looked for it, and I've come here three or four times."

"What are you doing here?"

"I need money," Ni Dayong said bluntly. "He said he sold it too cheaply and asked me to make up the difference. I gave him the first two times, three hundred and five hundred each time. It wasn't much, just to get rid of him."

"Why didn't you call the police?"

Ni Dayong's voice was full of helplessness.

"Officer, twenty years ago, what would have happened if someone in Cuilan's situation had reported it to the police?"

"The police will take Cuilan away and check where she's from. If she has a home, they'll send her back; if not, they'll send her to a shelter. With her mental state, what will happen if she goes to a shelter? She can't even remember how to eat by herself."

"He stopped coming after a few times, probably because he felt I couldn't squeeze any more money out of him," Ni Dayong concluded, looking at Zhao Anmin with a puzzled expression. "Was this guy arrested?"

Zhao Anmin did not answer, but immediately asked:

Was he the only one who came?

"There was another younger brother, but I can't quite remember."

Zhao Anmin nodded. What Old Liu said matched up. It seemed the key lay with Ding Hu.

"That's all for today. Thank you for your cooperation. We may need to contact you again to understand the situation. Please do not leave Tongcheng in the near future."

"Of course, if you can find Cuilan's family, please let me know immediately." Ni Dayong straightened up. "I only have one request."

"you say."

"Don't ask in front of my daughter; she doesn't know anything."

Zhao Anmin glanced at him a couple more times and nodded.

……

The three of them left Ni Dayong's house and walked along the village road toward the village entrance.

Fang Lue walked at the front, his steps light and his expression thoughtful. After walking for a while, he suddenly clicked his tongue.

"It seems that Ni Dayong is actually a good person."

Wu Liang lagged half a step behind, his hands in his pockets, his gaze fixed on the back of Zhao Anmin's head.

From the moment Ni Dayong said, "Yes, I know him," Wu Liang realized he had just made a mistake.

He focused all his attention on whether Ni Dayong would lie, pre-setting a scenario where "the suspect would inevitably conceal the truth".

Ni Dayong's narrative, however, breaks this structure.

But now, Wu Liang is still certain—

He's lying.

"Lying?" Fang Lue scratched the back of his head. "But he sounded quite honest, even admitting to buying a wife. How can that be called lying?"

Wu Liang did not answer directly.

"His micro-expressions didn't change. It's difficult for an untrained ordinary person to lie so naturally."

Zhao Anmin frowned as he looked at Wu Liang. Based on his old policeman's intuition, although he always had doubts about Ni Dayong, he never connected the key points.

Just as Wu Liang was about to speak, his stomach suddenly let out a long rumble.

There was a moment of silence on the village road, and Wu Liang felt a little awkward.

"...Attorney Wu, haven't you eaten?" Fang Lue asked.

"I just ate a boiled egg for lunch."

Fang Lue glanced at him and suddenly grinned.

"There's a noodle shop at the village entrance, my treat. After we eat, I'll give you a ride back to the city; I drove here."

Wu Liang raised an eyebrow: "A police car?"

"It's mine." Fang Lue patted his pocket. "It's a Santana. The air conditioning isn't very good, but it's better than a bus."

Wu Liang sighed inwardly.

That's great, I don't even have a car yet.

The noodle shop at the village entrance wasn't big, and the owner, a plump woman, greeted Fang Lue with a smile as he entered: "You're here again? Beef noodles again?"

"Three bowls, with meat." Fang Lue held up three fingers, then turned to look at Zhao Anmin. "Team Leader Zhao, can the team reimburse us?"

Zhao Anmin found a seat, picked up the teapot on the table, and poured himself a cup of tea.

"Pay it yourself."

Fang Lue's expression crumbled.

The noodles arrived quickly. The steaming hot beef noodles had a rich broth, chewy noodles, and several large chunks of beef piled on top, generously sprinkled with chopped scallions and cilantro. Wu Liang picked up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks, blew on it, and slurped it into his mouth, his eyes immediately lighting up.

"This side is fine."

"Absolutely," Fang Lue said proudly. "I found this store while I was staking it out. It's much better than those chain stores in the city."

Zhao Anmin ate his noodles quietly, not participating in their conversation.

After finishing his meal, Wu Liang put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a tissue.

"Gentlemen, let's get back to our previous topic."

Fang Lue immediately sat up straight, and even Zhao Anmin put down his chopsticks.

"Gentlemen, think about what Ni Dayong just said. Which statement was the most truthful?"

Fang Lue thought for a moment: "It's about why he wanted to buy Jiang Cuilan. He explained it in great detail, it doesn't seem like he made it up."

"So, which statement do you think is most likely to be false?"

"...No. It all sounds very real to me."

Wu Liang sighed softly. This child is good in every way, except that he's a bit too honest.

"You're right, everything Ni Dayong said is true."

Fang Lue blinked.

"But he still lied."

Fang Lue's expression froze completely.

If every word is true, how can it be called lying?

Wu Liang gestured with his hand.

"Officer Fang, imagine you're watching a movie. The first shot is a man raising a gun, the next shot is a woman falling down. What happened?"

Fang Lue replied without hesitation: "The man shot and killed the woman."

"Yes, but think about it, if one of these two shots doesn't turn out well during filming, can't we reshoot it?"

"Of course."

"In a real-world timeline, is it possible for a scene to be filmed showing the woman falling down first, and then three days later, showing the man raising a gun?"

Fang Lue was stunned.

Zhao Anmin paused slightly in his teacup, his gaze falling on Wu Liang's face, much more serious than before.

"But in the movie theater, you see a man pointing a gun and a woman falling. Your brain automatically connects these two shots and concludes that 'the man shot and killed the woman.' No one tells you that there were three days in between, and no one tells you that these two shots might not have been filmed on the same day at all."

"And this is the technique that Ni Dayong just used."

The noodle shop quieted down. The plump woman was in the kitchen, scrolling through fast-paced music, and corny love songs drifted out.

Fang Lue's mouth opened slightly, his eyes widened, and his expression changed from confusion to a state close to sudden realization, but not quite there yet.

"He presented all the facts to you in a specific order. Sha Yuanbao sold people, and he bought people. Sha Yuanbao wanted money, and he gave him money. Sha Yuanbao stopped coming. Everything was true, and every detail could be verified."

"When he tells you these true stories in this order, your brain automatically fills in the missing parts to form a complete narrative. Then you will draw a conclusion—"

Wu Liang's gaze shifted from Fang Lue's face to Zhao Anmin's.

"This person is telling the truth."

Zhao Anmin put down his teacup.

He hadn't paid much attention to this unscrupulous lawyer before. Just a small-time lawyer who took on bizarre cases, who was just a bit quick-witted and a bit daring, nothing more.

But those words just now cleared up the jumbled feelings in his mind. He still felt that something was off about Ni Dayong's story, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Now he knows.

It's not a problem with the content, it's a problem with the structure.

"But if you take each of his sentences out of context and strip away all the parts that resonate with you emotionally," Wu Liang chuckled, each word steady and clear, "you'll discover something very interesting."

Fang Lue unconsciously leaned forward.

"What happened after Sha Yuanbao's last visit to Shiqiao Village—"

He didn't mention it at all.

Zhao Anmin picked up his teacup, drank the rest of the cold tea in one gulp, and looked at Wu Liang over the rim of the cup.

Fang Lue was even more shocked. He looked at Wu Liang and then at Zhao Anmin. His lips moved for a long time, but he could only manage to utter two words.

Holy crap.

Wu Liang leaned back in his chair, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"This is called a montage lie."