Just from listening to that tone and accent, Ming Po knew this was Ai Shiping.
It was the real Ai Shiping, the one he was familiar with—not the "livestreaming clown" who had just been introduced into the plot.
However, the "Master" did not seem to have changed much.
He just stood by the trunk, occasionally frowning at them as he fiddled with his pile of equipnt.
"Hey."
Ai Shiping leaned over and whispered, "Why didn't you change your face?"
This was because Ming Po was not currently using the painted skin mask he had worn previously—instead, he was using his own true face.
"Isn't your mask gone too?"
Ming Po retorted. "Why aren't you wearing it?"
"Ah, it doesn't matter. It seems like it's just the two of us this ti, so whether we wear them or not—"
Ai Shiping waved a hand, a hint of anticipation in his eyes. "Is this a haunted house exploration? Or an escape room?"
Glancing at the Master, Ming Po asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I woke up a few minutes before you and tested the waters."
Ai Shiping nodded.
Lowering his voice, he deduced seriously, "I think if there were three of us, the third person would have taken the identity of that 'Master'. This might be a ga that supports anywhere from one to three players—I'm Player 1, and you're Player 2."
"Are you playing Contra or sothing?"
Ming Po scoffed.
'No wonder,' he murmured inwardly.
When Ming Po opened the door this ti, he had specifically looked back at the television. However, the TV had shown no reaction at all.
At the ti, Ming Po had wondered if there were only two people in this instance.
Now that he looked at it, his suspicion was correct.
One of the reasons he hadn't worn the mask was precisely because he had considered this possibility.
As for the other possibility—
Ai Shiping had already guessed it.
Perhaps it was out of guilt.
Earlier, when Ming Po heard the cause of his death, his first reaction was to ask, "Did you not receive my call?"
At that mont, he had read Ming Po's expression. It was a kind of anger mixed with a tinge of guilt.
Back then, Ai Shiping had guessed it—Ming Po must have tried using Ti Chips to go back and change his cause of death. And the reason for doing so was highly likely because Ming Po had leaked his real na.
—This wasn't surprising.
Ming Po had always been soone who hated trouble.
And he harbored a subtle "brotherly malice" toward him—a mindset akin to a practical joke.
After all, Ming Po was very handso. He was educated, classy, tall, and most importantly, wealthy. When beautiful won hit on him outside, he would often give them Ai Shiping's WeChat, phone number, and na.
Ming Po called this "showing off without leaving a na."
—Of course, Ai Shiping knew about this. He hadn't deleted any of those contacts and even helped Ming Po maintain those relationships on a regular basis. He was just waiting for the day Ming Po found out, at which point he would definitely be blown away.
Unfortunately, before this setup could be revealed, both of them had perished.
And Ai Shiping didn't bla Ming Po for doing that—after all, when they first joined the ga, no one knew the extent of what Ti Chips could do.
However, given Ming Po's personality, it was impossible for him not to feel guilty.
He would definitely view it as his own responsibility—even though Ai Shiping himself didn't care about it. Even if Ai Shiping emphasized that he didn't care, Ming Po would still take it to heart.
Once, when they were playing a cooperative prison break ga, Ai Shiping made about eighty percent of the mistakes, while Ming Po made twenty percent. But even for that twenty percent, Ming Po couldn't forgive himself—Ming Po always worried that his mistakes would drag Ai Shiping down, so every ti he ssed up, he would get very irritable and upset.
Whenever this happened, Ming Po would try to use similar thods to "punish himself."
He revealed his true face and deliberately placed himself in a dangerous situation just to penalize himself.
Although Ming Po guessed that this might be a two-player ga, it also might not be. In this ambiguous scenario, instead of being cautious as usual, Ming Po chose to be bold—using a thod he could justify to punish his own carelessness.
Therefore, Ai Shiping didn't say much. He just smiled and pretended the topic had been glossed over.
By this ti, the dizzy sensation had finally begun to fade.
The feeling of motion sickness vanished cleanly, as if it had never existed in the first place.
No longer needing Ai Shiping's support, Ming Po slowly stood up straight and took his equipnt out of the trunk.
A three-axis gimbal, a cellular bonding router, a power bank—and a white Canon cara.
This equipnt was quite professional.
At least, Ming Po wasn't very familiar with how to assemble them.
"Hey."
While Ming Po was adjusting the equipnt, the Master quietly crept over.
He cast a sowhat wary glance at Ming Po and asked in a low voice, "Don't you think—his accent has changed a bit?"
"Has it?"
Ming Po's heart stirred, and a mischievous thought popped into his head.
He smiled faintly and replied in standard Mandarin, "Why didn't I notice?"
Seeing that Ming Po's tone had also lost its regional flavor, the Master's pupils contracted.
He noticed that the way Ming Po handled the equipnt was stiff and clumsy. Appearing sowhat flustered, the Master sped up his pace of packing his own things.
Suddenly, he walked over to Ai Shiping and asked, "How late are we going to be doing this?"
Ai Shiping gave him a look and replied casually, "It'll take at least an hour or so. This resort is so big, a quick tour will take about that long."
"Then we'll have another two hours on the road back; wouldn't that make it 2:00 AM?"
The Master's speech quickened. "That's not what we agreed on!"
"What did we agree on?"
Ai Shiping countered.
"We said we'd be back before midnight!" the Master argued with feigned indignation.
"We are going back before midnight," Ai Shiping dismissed it nonchalantly.
"That's not the sa thing—this won't do. The price before midnight and after midnight is different. You're paying the before-midnight rate but making do after-midnight work? This won't work, I need to head back—"
The Master showed signs of wanting to back out.
"Even if you head back right now, you'll still get ho after midnight."
The smile on Ai Shiping's face vanished instantly, turning entirely rciless. "Are you going to do this or not? Give a straight answer."
"..."
"No."
The Master shrank his neck and shook his head decisively. "I won't do it—not for that price."
"Then you'll have to pay the breach of contract penalty, fifty thousand bucks,"
Ai Shiping said unhurriedly. "The promotional photos featuring you have already been sent out; it's in the contract."
Based on Ming Po's understanding of Ai Shiping, he was purely bluffing.
Ai Shiping obviously didn't know if they had actually signed a contract or not, but he was betting that the other party hadn't read it.
"—"
The "Master" imdiately grew anxious.
He pointed a trembling finger at Ai Shiping, jabbing the air repeatedly. "You can't do this! Aren't you afraid of retribution?"
"Tell you what," Ai Shiping reached out, pressed down the finger pointing at him, and slowly pushed it back, his tone full of temptation, "I'll add more money."
"It's not about the money..."
"An extra fifty thousand, how about that?"
"—It's, it's just not about the money—"
"An extra hundred thousand, is that enough?"
Ai Shiping's voice turned slightly stern. "Making you work one extra hour of overti and giving you a hundred thousand bucks in overti pay—where else are you going to get this kind of money, I'd like to ask?"
"You don't understand, it's just not like that—"
The Master muttered, his montum clearly deflating.
Although he hadn't verbally surrendered or agreed, he had obviously tacitly consented.
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