Of the entire traveling party, who was the simplest yet most difficult breakthrough? Without a doubt, the children.
Children were the apple of their parent's eyes. Even for ordinary families, strangers approaching the children would arouse vigilance, let alone for a family like this. But children didn't know how to disguise themselves, and it was extremely easy to extract information from them.
Now that things had come to this, Jian Jing decided to take the risk.
She quietly paid attention to the actions of the two children: the older sister was eleven or twelve years old, wearing a little flowered dress and Mary Jane shoes. Her medium length curly black hair cascaded down, obediently hanging on both sides. She wore a pair of cool pink Mickey Mouse patterned sunglasses and was playing with Legos in the children's area.
Her younger brother was four or five years old. After previously playing on the slide, he had now started jumping on the trampoline.
He had made two new friends, the children of Western celebrities, communicating in English and occasionally shouting out. Their nannies were nearby watching them, to make sure they didn't get into any danger.
To be honest, Jian Jing had only paid attention to the children at first, wanting to see if the nannies were imposters in disguise. But the young boy was very intimate with his nanny, and the nanny's complexion didn't seem like someone who was always traveling outside. So she hadn't paid them any more attention afterward.
But now, looking back, she couldn't help but feel puzzled.
The plane had been delayed three or four hours already, yet their parents hadn't come out to check on them even once, nor had they brought the children inside to rest.
Could it be that the assassin had impersonated their father's identity?
Jian Jing decided to try to extract information about their fathers from the children's mouths.
However, ahem, just like Tang Chuan, she also didn't like dealing with children either - they acted on impulse, completely illogically. When they were kind, they were little angels, but when they were nasty, they were just brats. Yet one couldn't bully children no matter how annoying they were - how frustrating!
Of the two, she considered it and chose the older little girl.
Older children had stronger language expression abilities - they were a species that could communicate.
She went to the children's area and took away a box of Legos.
This wasn't just a child's toy, it was also an adult's game. Her being young and beautiful while enjoying Legos was very normal. The bodyguard on duty glanced at her, but didn't get suspicious.
And Jian Jing wouldn't go over like a weird aunt to strike up a conversation either.
She went straight to the corner, sat cross-legged on the soft cushion, swept away the picture books and writing brushes that were in the way, and piled all the Legos up on the table.
Crackle crackle, the crisp pouring sound attracted the little girl's attention.
Jian Jing activated her acting skills card and started assembling the Legos.
Her goal was to build Jurassic Park's Tyrannosaurus Rex.
The little girl looked over at her several times, then slowly sidled over, staring at her actions.
Jian Jing glanced at her fiercely, "You can look but don't touch."
"I can build better than you," the little girl said.
Jian Jing raised her head to look. As if she had just noticed the Frozen castle that the girl had built.
She asked, "Do you like Anna or Elsa more?"
"Elsa."
"Why?"
"Elsa is more powerful," the little girl asked back, "Why do you like Jurassic Park?"
"Dinosaurs are so cute," Jian Jing said.
The little girl tilted her head. "I heard you're a writer."
Jian Jing was surprised. "How did you know?"
"I heard the police ask you just now," the little girl laughed. "You saw that person get sick, and weren't scared at all. You're so powerful."
"He didn't die, he just got sick," Jian Jing turned her eyes back, concentrating on assembling the dinosaur.
The little girl picked up a Lego block, pestering her to chat. "Are you Chinese?"
"Yes."
"I haven't been to your country yet," she said curiously. "Is it fun?"
Jian Jing said, "Of course it's fun."
The little girl volunteered, "But my dad can't go."
"Why not?"
The little girl shrugged, making a "I don't know either" gesture, extremely cute and lifelike.
Jian Jing looked at her, a trace of doubt surfaced in her eyes, hesitating over whether to speak.
As expected, the little girl couldn't hold back and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"It's nothing," she concealed it.
The little girl rolled her eyes, and actually took the initiative to say, "Is it because my brother and I don't look alike?"
Jian Jing was instantly embarrassed, and perfunctorily said, "Looking like the mother or looking like the father is very normal, don't overthink it."
"My brother and I don't have the same mother," the little girl was very open about it. "I've always hoped I could look more like Mom - you've seen her before, right?"
Jian Jing nodded, "Her dress is so beautiful, it seems to be custom-made by some designer."
"Your clothes are also very beautiful. Oh, you're also very pretty." At the right time, the little girl was curious, "Why are you always alone, don't you have a boyfriend?"
Jian Jing was rendered speechless, "...Is it that strange?"
"It's rare for tourists to travel alone," the little girl crossed her arms authoritatively, like an old man. "Did you get dumped?"
Jian Jing said, "That question is very rude."
She laughed merrily, not minding at all, and asked again, "You're a writer, what books have you written?"
"Not suitable for children."
The little girl was frank, "Could it be you haven't published any books yet?"
Jian Jing: "......"
"I'm right?" Her tone lifted up.
"To be honest, I'm a little disappointed," Jian Jing pressed her lips together. "I thought I would have some fame in Asia, you really don't recognize me?"
Now it was the little girl's turn to be rendered speechless.
"Alright, come with me," Jian Jing seemed angry, getting up and putting her arm around the girl's shoulder. "I'll prove it to you."
The little girl hesitated for a moment, but couldn't restrain her curiosity and followed her out.
The bodyguard came over to stop them right away.
"You can come along," Jian Jing was completely unperturbed. "We're just going to the front."
The bodyguard immediately followed.
Jian Jing didn't actually lie or deceive. After leaving the VIP lounge, they entered the airport bookstore. She took down a copy of Demon Doctor 2 translated into Thai.
She flipped open the front page and showed the little girl the author's photo, "Look familiar?"
The little girl immediately laughed, "It really is you, Jian Jing."
"Want me to sign for you?" she generously offered.
The little girl thought about it and nodded.
Jian Jing bought the book. She took her back to the lounge and asked the server to borrow a ballpoint pen, "What's your name?"
"Lai Lai," the little girl said.
Jian Jing let out a "huh" sound and handed her the pen, "I can't write in Thai, can you write it yourself?"
The little girl took the pen and clumsily wrote out the four letters "lala".
Jian Jing smiled and signed her name in cursive, then handed the book to her, "For you."
"Thank you," the little girl hugged the book and left.
Jian Jing said to the server, "Get me a glass of water."
Zong Ye turned around.
She said, "It's her."
He nodded, and his palm brushed over the tabletop, deftly slipping the ballpoint pen into a plastic bag.
Jian Jing softly exhaled.
At first, she really hadn't noticed anything abnormal about Lai Lai. No matter how amazing observation skills were, like a camera, it had to focus first before it could take a picture.
If rough glances could obtain large amounts of information all at once, that would be AI, not the human brain.
The brain would explode.
But she wanted to draw Lai Lai into conversation, and coincidentally started observing her, noticing something off, so that was how it naturally progressed.
Although Lai Lai's disguise was extremely meticulous, with makeup applied to the exposed skin to conceal sun-darkened complexion, some details couldn't withstand scrutiny.
First was her walking posture.
Although she had tried her best to pretend to be an ordinary little girl, unfortunately, she was too ordinary.
Viewing her alone, it wasn't very noticeable, but the mother had a graceful bearing, the Western celebrity also had a daughter, and their gaits were elegant and casual. Compared to them, Lai Lai's seemed too unrefined.
Her back wasn't straight enough, her shoulders not relaxed enough. It was clear she hadn't taken deportment classes before.
With a military commander father and a princess aunt as mother, such inferior manners - how did she get into the palace to mingle?
Also, the mother had a bruise on her knee, but she didn't.
Don't get the wrong idea, the bruised knee wasn't some jarringly out of place element. It was just that in their country, meeting the royals required performing a kneeling courtesy that could take up to half a day.
Of course, perhaps the mother had gone to the palace while the child hadn't, so it wasn't a decisive factor.
What further aroused Jian Jing's suspicions were her hands.
Lai Lai's hands and arms matched her face in color, nothing out of the ordinary, but her finger joints were far thicker than an average child's, slightly deformed.
When she talked, her teeth could vaguely be seen growing in neat rows - they were all permanent teeth, clearly having gone through the tooth replacement period. But there was distinct excessive overbite.
It should be known that childhood is the most suitable period for orthodontic treatment. With Lai Lai's family background, and her mother's attentiveness to fashion, why didn't she get braces for her child?
In summary, Lai Lai's appearance and background did not match.
Jian Jing became suspicious.
Especially when others had been verified, even the slightest anomaly was crucial.
Then, Lai Lai deliberately struck up a conversation with her. At first listen, she seemed to be just an ill-mannered little girl, but on careful consideration, it was not difficult to discover that she was fishing for information.
She was wary of Jian Jing's arrival and when she clearly noticed the difference in appearance, she took the initiative to say that she and her brother were not biological siblings, to dispel others' doubts.
All of this was too unusual.
Jian Jing decided to confirm it thoroughly.
The first confirmation, grabbing her shoulder, the little girl's body stiffened, which could be explained as not being used to contact with strangers; the second confirmation, through the height difference, glanced at her eyes, there were fine white lines, which were completely traces of caking powder.
The third confirmation, the five senses card opened, and various smells rushed up.
The smells of perfume, qigong, soap, and gunpowder.
She must have washed her hair and used a strong smelling shampoo, but the distance was too close, and Jian Jing also used the five senses card, and had been exposed to guns many times, so she was very familiar with the smell of gunpowder, and was certain it was gunpowder.
If she hadn't guessed wrong, she had crawled behind a bunker, crawled and fired her gun, which led to traces of gunpowder splashing onto her head.
Confirmation complete, the next step was to draw the snake out of its hole.
Lai Lai wanted to verify her identity, thinking that she had control, and when she learned that she really was a public figure, she would inevitably relax her vigilance. At the same time, this was the pit she had dug, so she would not have too many doubts.
When Jian Jing said she wanted to give an autograph, she would most likely readily accept it to cover up her actions.
The name was definitely fake, and the handwriting must also have been disguised, but fingerprints could not be faked.
The truth was about to surface.
Twenty minutes later.
The rain outside had clearly diminished a lot, Jian Jing glanced at the weather forecast, the typhoon had veered off course, and the flight should be about to take off soon.
She was anxious and urged: "Are the results out yet? Is it her?"
Zong Ye nodded.
But Jian Jing still did not relax, frowning and asking: "Her physique would be hard to mimic, right?"
Zong Ye's original plan was to deal with A, then substitute B for A and return home together. After the plane landed, he would immediately disappear without a trace.
That way, even if the target was furious, there was no way to get A back, after all, customs records showed that she had returned home.
As a result, the plan could not keep up with the changes. Lai Lai was clearly a patient with dwarfism, her body was smaller than normal people, unless Zong Ye had practiced shrinking bone kung fu, otherwise he probably wouldn't be able to transform from an (average height) adult male into a little girl.
"Yeah." Zong Ye's tone also sounded very helpless.
"Then what should we do?" She was half worried and half curious.
He said: "Plan B."
The author has something to say: Some readers guessed it right from the beginning of this case... Did I become stupid from being in isolation too long?
Why was it so easy to guess...