Deceitful Game

Chapter 83 Self-Punishment

Just by listening to his tone and accent, Mingpo knew that this was Ai Shiping.

It was the real Ai Shiping he knew—not the "troublemaker" who had just been introduced into the story.

But that "master" didn't seem to have changed much.

He just stood in front of the trunk, occasionally frowning as he looked at them and fiddling with his pile of stuff.

"Feed".

Ai Shiping leaned closer and whispered, "Why didn't you change your face?"

Because at this moment, Mingpo was not using the mask he had used before—but his own real face.

"Your mask is gone now, isn't it?"

Mingpo countered, "Why don't you wear it?"

"Hey, whatever. It seems like it's just the two of us this time, so whether we wear them or not is up to us."

Ai Shiping waved his hand, a hint of anticipation in his eyes: "Is this a haunted house adventure? Or an escape room?"

Glancing at the master, Mingpo countered, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I woke up a few minutes earlier than you; I tested the waters."

Ai Shiping nodded.

He lowered his voice and speculated seriously, "I think if there are three of us, the third person would likely use the identity of 'the master.' This could be a game that starts with one person and ends with three—"

I'm 1P, and you're 2P.

"Are you playing Contra here?!"

Mingpo complained.

No wonder----

He thought to himself.

When Mingpo opened the door this time, he specifically looked back at the television. But this time, the television did not respond at all.

At that moment, Mingpo was wondering if there would only be two people in this instance?

Now that I see it, it's indeed true.

One of the reasons he didn't wear a mask was precisely because he had this possibility in mind.

As for the other possibility—

Ai Shiping had already guessed it.

Perhaps it was out of guilt.

When Mingpo heard about his cause of death, her first reaction was to ask him, "Didn't you answer my call?"

He understood Mingpo's expression then. It was a mixture of anger and guilt.

At that time, Ai Shiping guessed that Mingpo had probably tried to use the Time Chip to go back in time and change the cause of her death. And the reason for doing so was very likely because Mingpo had revealed her real name.

That's not surprising.

Mingpo has always been someone who hates trouble.

He harbored a subtle "brotherly malice" towards himself—a kind of mischievous mentality.

After all, Mingpo was quite handsome. He was cultured, had a refined air, was tall, and most importantly, was rich. When he was flirted with by beautiful women, he would often leave them with Ai Shiping's WeChat, phone number, and name.

Mingpo calls this "showing off anonymously".

—Ai Shiping certainly knew about this. He hadn't deleted any of his friends, and in fact, he usually helped maintain a good relationship with Mingpo. He was just waiting for Mingpo to find out, at which point she would be completely stunned.

Unfortunately, they both died before this foreshadowing could be revealed.

Ai Shiping didn't blame Mingpo for doing this—after all, when they first joined the game, no one knew what the power of time chips could achieve.

However, given Mingpo's personality, it's impossible for him not to feel guilty.

He would definitely consider it his responsibility—even though Ai Shiping himself didn't care about it. Even if Ai Shiping emphasized that he didn't care, Mingpo would still keep it in mind.

When they played a cooperative prison escape game before, Ai Shiping made about 80% of the mistakes, while Mingpo made 20%. But even those 20% of mistakes, Mingpo couldn't forgive herself for—Mingpo was always worried that her mistakes would implicate him, so she would get very irritable and unhappy every time she made a mistake.

Whenever this happens, Mingper tries to use similar methods to "punish himself".

He revealed his true colors and deliberately put himself in dangerous situations in order to punish himself.

Although Mingpu guessed that they might be playing a game for two, it was also possible that they weren't. In this ambiguous situation, Mingpu wasn't as cautious as usual, but instead chose to be bold—he was punishing his carelessness in a way he could explain.

Therefore, Ai Shiping didn't say much, just smiled and pretended that the topic had been brushed aside.

At this point, the dizziness gradually subsided.

The motion sickness felt as if it had never happened; it disappeared completely.

No longer needing Ai Shiping's help, Mingpo slowly straightened up and took out her equipment from the trunk.

A three-axis gimbal, a router, a power bank — and a white Canon camera.

This equipment is quite professional.

At least Mingbo wasn't very familiar with how to combine them.

"Why."

While Mingpo was debugging the equipment, the master quietly approached.

He glanced at Mingpo with some suspicion and asked in a low voice, "Don't you think—his accent has changed a bit?"

"Is there?"

Mingpo's heart stirred, and a mischievous thought popped into her head.

He smiled slightly and said in Mandarin, "How come I didn't recognize it?"

When the master saw that Mingpo's tone no longer carried any regional accent, his pupils contracted.

He noticed that Mingpo's handling of those things became clumsy and awkward, and for a moment she seemed a little flustered, packing up the things in her hands much faster.

Suddenly, he walked over to Ai Shiping and asked, "What time do we need to finish?"

Ai Shiping glanced at him and said casually, "It'll take at least an hour. This resort is really big; it'll take about this long to walk around it."

"It'll take another two hours on the road, it'll be past 2 a.m. by then."

The master's tone quickened: "That's not what we said back then!"

"What did we say back then?"

Ai Shiping asked.

"We agreed that we could get back before midnight!" the master retorted, seemingly angrily.

"Isn't it supposed to be back before midnight?" Ai Shiping said dismissively.

"This is not the same thing—this won't do, the price is different before and after midnight. You're giving me the price for before midnight, but you want me to do the work after midnight? This won't do, I have to go back—"

The master began to consider retiring.

"Even if you go back now, you still won't get home until after midnight."

Ai Shiping's smile vanished abruptly, and he said bluntly, "Can you do it or not? Give me a straight answer."

""

"cannot."

The master shrank his neck and shook his head, quite decisively: "I won't do it, it's not that price."

"Then you'll have to pay a penalty for breach of contract, fifty thousand yuan."

Ai Shiping said slowly, "Your promotional photos have already been sent out; they're in the contract."

Based on Mingpo's understanding of Ai Shiping, he was probably just pretending.

Ai Shiping obviously didn't know whether they had signed a contract or not, but he was betting that the other party definitely hadn't read the contract.

—

The "master" immediately became anxious.

He pointed a trembling finger at Ai Shiping, repeatedly saying, "There's no way you can do this! Aren't you afraid of retribution?"

"Then how about this," Ai Shiping reached out and pressed the finger pointing at him, slowly pulling it back, his tone full of temptation, "I'll add money."

It's not about money.

"How about adding another 50,000 yuan?"

"—It's not about money—"

"Add another 100,000, is that enough?"

Ai Shiping's voice turned serious: "I'm asking you to work an extra hour, and I'm offering you 100,000 yuan in overtime pay. Where are you going to get that much money?"

"You don't understand, it's not like that at all—"

The master muttered to himself, his imposing manner noticeably diminishing.

Although he hasn't verbally admitted defeat or agreed, he has clearly tacitly consented.

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