Chapter 22: Why Did You Put Laxatives in It?

[Page 1/3]

[Wait, bruises on his back? Xiao Xie is way too delicate!]
[To the person above, I suspect that woman Jiang Yunyao just has too much strength...]
[Holy cow! You guys are making this sound so suggestive! Good thing I know what actually happened, or I’d be letting my imagination run wild!]

Jiang Yunyao simply couldn't take him anymore, and feeling a genuine pang of guilt, she finally gave in.

"Fine, fine, fine! I’ll let you do it just this once! But it’s agreed, just once! The next time it’s time to output, it’s back to me!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than she saw the person in front of her look up. The grievances on his face had vanished, replaced by sheer, beaming delight!

Xie Yixing accepted the deal happily. "No problem!"

Watching that grin, Jiang Yunyao suppressed the urge to punch him and steered the conversation back to the "Escape the Castle" game.

"You say you aren't a minion, and I say I’m not a minion, but we need to work together to find clues, and we can’t cooperate effectively without enough trust."

She paced back and forth, rubbing her chin. "We have to find a way to verify our identities once and for all!"

Xie Yixing didn't think this was a problem. "That’s easy! We’ll make a bet—whoever tells a lie is a puppy!"

"A puppy?" Jiang Yunyao didn't think that would work. "That has zero deterrent! If I were a minion, I could lie to you eight hundred times a day!"

Hearing her speak so bluntly, Xie Yixing felt his heart sting.

He sat in silence for a moment, then suddenly remembered what A-Zhao had once said: one of the best ways to get closer to someone is to exchange secrets!

"Then how about we exchange secrets? If one of us lies, the other gets to reveal that person's secret!"

Jiang Yunyao stopped in her tracks.

Secrets? Now, that was a viable strategy!

Jiang and Xie turned off their microphones and began to exchange their secrets.

Xie Yixing insisted on going first. "Last year, my dad had a stomach ache. It wasn't because he ate something bad; it was because I put laxatives in his food!"

Jiang Yunyao almost didn't process what he had said. "Does your dad know about this?"

What kind of "devoted son" behavior was this? That was too filial!

"No! Otherwise, it wouldn't be a secret!" Xie Yixing added, "But my mom, my brother, and my sister know, and they promised to keep it quiet!"

Jiang Yunyao couldn't follow his logic. "Why would you put laxatives in his food?"

"I didn't know it was dinner for my dad. He usually doesn't have my mom send him food, but that day our dog was constipated, and I thought it was food for the dog, so I added the laxatives!"

Jiang Yunyao: "..."

[Page 2/3]

She was speechless!

Xie Yixing reached out and poked her. "I’m done with mine. What’s your secret?"

Jiang Yunyao had plenty of secrets—the system, the novel world, the protagonists—but none of those were really things she could say.

After much deliberation, she thought of the contract that Sister Man had mentioned yesterday.

"My secret is that I have the highest profit-sharing ratio in our company: nine to one. I get nine, the company gets one."

Xie Yixing was shocked. "Weren't you scammed by your company?! How could any normal company sign such an unprofitable contract?"

Although he didn't run the family business, he knew a thing or two about these matters.

With her current level of fame, the company making only ten percent meant they weren't making any money at all. He was more worried that she had been swindled into signing a fake contract!

Jiang Yunyao shook her head, denying his suspicion, her expression complicated.

"I had a lawyer verify it; the contract is real. As for why they gave me such a high share... it might be because I beat up my boss!"

Xie Yixing let out an "Ah."

He didn't understand, but he was thoroughly stunned!

Jiang Yunyao recalled the details carefully to ensure she hadn't missed anything.

That night, she had attended a business dinner and had quite a bit to drink. After leaving the restaurant, she was waiting for the company car to pick her up.

While waiting, she heard a woman nearby say, "Let go of me." Thinking the woman was being harassed, and with the alcohol clouding her judgment, she rushed over and beat the man up!

Only after it was over did she realize the man was her boss!

In that instant, she sobered up! She thought she was surely going to lose her job!

She had even cried to her father about it in embarrassment when he called her!

But the next day, not only did the boss not fire her, but he also upgraded her contract!

Forget about her—even Sister Man was completely baffled!

After hearing Jiang Yunyao finish the story, Xie Yixing fell silent.

As for the contract upgrade, besides the reason that she had beaten up her boss, nothing else made sense!

[What on earth are they talking about! Why can't I hear it too!]
[To the person above, consider Xiao Xie's background; this might be a wealthy family scandal! Maybe we shouldn't listen!]
[Aaaah, A-Yao and Xiao Xie are trading secrets! They have their own little secret now!]

[Page 3/3]

[This method is so smart! If everyone exchanges secrets, wouldn't that expose the minions?!]
[To the one above, that doesn't really work. Some guests aren't familiar with each other, so it's not appropriate to swap secrets.]
[Agreed! If the secret is too big, people are afraid to hear it; if it's too small, it has no deterrent power!]

Having confirmed each other's identity, Jiang and Xie took turns guarding the door to prevent a minion from locking them in, while the other searched the room for clues.

There were too many books in the library to check one by one, so Jiang Yunyao only scanned the covers for more obvious clues.

Finally, behind the books on the second shelf of the third bookcase, she found a palm-sized red box.

Jiang Yunyao showed the box to Xie Yixing. "There’s a lock on it, and it can't be forced open. It seems we need another clue."

Xie Yixing stared at the lock for a few seconds and suddenly said, "It can be opened!"

Before Jiang Yunyao could ask, he explained.

"My brother's company once developed a type of smart lock that looks just like this one, but it wasn't fireproof. It would automatically unlock when exposed to heat, so it was eventually discontinued!"

"Not fireproof?" Jiang Yunyao mused. "I remember Jiang Yue saying there’s a kitchen on the first floor. Let’s go check if they have a gas stove later!"

After Jiang Yunyao finished searching the bookshelves, Xie Yixing searched the small round table and the sofa.

Under one corner of the sofa, a book was being used as a wedge. Xie Yixing retrieved a note from inside the book that read: "Flying Pig."

He flipped through the book again, but there were no other clues related to the note.

Jiang Yunyao: "Then let's head to the kitchen first and get this little box open!"

After finding the clues in the library, Jiang and Xie were just about to report their progress to the group chat and change floors when they noticed two unread messages.

The Castle Owner’s Daughter-in-law (Lin Wanwan): "I found a green key in the third-floor utility room and opened the green lock."

The other message was a photo showing that the green lock on the castle gate had been opened.

Jiang Yunyao thought of the female lead's "lucky charm" nature. She tapped her phone screen and typed a message to the group.

The Castle Owner’s Daughter (Jiang Yunyao): "Wanwan, how did you find the key?"

Some viewers in the live stream were only watching one camera feed and were also curious, but those watching the main feed quickly provided the answer.

[Wanwan's luck is just too good! She picked up a random box, and the key just fell out by itself!]
[I really like this one comment: Huh?]