I became the Counterpart of the Winner in a Period Novel-Chapter 289 - 278: Clues Cut Off

Jiang Mingyue and Jiang Ming’an exchanged a glance, both tacitly thinking of a reason.

Maybe someone is secretly looking for that thing.

Jiang Ming’an sighed, "It’s been too long. At that time, Nanxi City was under military control. Such a big event happened but wasn’t recorded. I guess someone behind the scenes bribed the government."

Jiang Mingyue chimed in, "Or perhaps it’s the government staging the whole thing."

Xie Yunhai stroked his chin in thought, "That also doesn’t add up. If the military was after the Taotie Pocket Watch, they wouldn’t need to be so high-profile. Wouldn’t it be better to do it secretly?"

Jiang Ming’an: "How is it high-profile? They even disguised themselves as mountain bandits."

Xie Yunhai: "...That’s true."

Jiang Mingyue pondered for a moment, "Brother Xie, what did you offer that beggar you guys met?"

Xie Yunhai’s expression turned a bit strange, and Jiang Ming’an couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Your Brother Xie thought those beggars would be easy to handle, so he bought flour and meat and asked Grandma Xu to help make them. Dozens of bags of meat buns that smelled delicious, but it turned out all those beggars listened to Yang the Sixth. You wouldn’t believe it..."

"Yang the Sixth didn’t care for those buns?"

"Not really, they’re just a bit greedy. A group of beggars occupied the temple. They don’t worry about where to live, and they can wander to the back mountain to find food and often catch prey."

Jiang Mingyue could only think of one possibility: "Could it be they want Brother Xie to get them clothes?"

Xie Yunhai couldn’t help but laugh too.

"Exactly, you should see their clothes. Tsk, tsk, calling them beggars is giving them too much credit."

"In these times, buying cloth requires cloth coupons. They’re beggars; where would they get cloth coupons? But they have to wear something. That Yang the Sixth is not bad."

Xie Yunhai glared: "He extorted your brother, and you’re praising him?"

Jiang Mingyue smiled brightly, providing a calming effect: "I praise him for his insight in realizing that Brother Xie, with his soft heart, would agree."

Xie Yunhai: "..." Is she complimenting him or mocking him?

Jiang Ming’an added fuel to the fire: "He really has an eye. I was with your Brother Xie, but he didn’t look at me."

Xie Yunhai: "..." He was sure just now Yueyue was mocking him. What to do? It felt like two against one.

"Big brother, I want to meet Yang the Sixth."

Jiang Ming’an thought for a moment and nodded, "Sure, I’ll go with you."

"Tomorrow might not work; I have to go to the Southern Institute first."

"I also have something in the morning, let’s see in the afternoon. We’ll talk then."

The next morning, Jiang Mingyue arrived at the Southern Institute on time but didn’t see An Jian. She saw the Southern Institute’s office half-open and messy, with no one inside or cleaning. After thinking it over, she pushed open the door to help tidy up the office.

An Jian came in with a bun in his mouth, almost moved to tears seeing her cleaning. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Brother, you’re too kind to me!"

Jiang Mingyue was puzzled by the unrelated remark and got suspicious: "Did Gan Institute ask you to come clean?"

An Jian: "...Brother, you’re too clever!"

Jiang Mingyue was speechless: "It’s you who has smugness written all over your face."

Afraid of missing out, An Jian quickly changed the subject: "Brother, the two people sent to Yun Dian are dead."

Jiang Mingyue paused before remembering who he was talking about, the two who almost drowned her uncle during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

"How did they die? It wasn’t a fire at their place, was it?"

An Jian gave her a thumbs up: "You’re extraordinary! But they found diesel traces at the corner of the walls over at Yun Dian. It’s suspected that they were silenced by a killer. Ha! People at Yun Dian are truly useless."

Jiang Mingyue also pondered over this, "Yun Dian has the strongest garrison in the entire province, to be infiltrated... no, the perpetrator wouldn’t be so overt. Is there an inside mole?"

If it weren’t the wrong setting, An Jian would have clapped.

"Brother, you should follow me daily on cases. You’re amazing!"

Jiang Mingyue didn’t explain. She was still drawing on her experience, remembering when Liu Chu hired someone to burn her uncle alive. The perpetrator was caught red-handed by her and tied up, but the two were burned to death while detained.

It was still Liu Chu, the same tactics, never changing. It’s hard to say if he’s overconfident or just too arrogant.

These events are recorded, An Jian should know.

"What about that mole? Anything extracted from them?"

"That’s classified, but you can ask Gan Institute."

Jiang Mingyue smirked at him: "So you don’t know either, but want me to beg Gan Institute for intel?"

An Jian wasn’t awkward after being exposed: "Brother, Gan Institute won’t tell me. If you go, Gan Institute values you and might not hide it from you."

"Knock it off!"

"Come on, brother. Are you going to treat me like that?"

"First, we’re not brothers. Second, do I look stupid to you?"

An Jian rubbed his nose, finally feeling a bit sheepish.

There you go, this guy thought she was a pushover to exploit.

Jiang Mingyue thought the roast chicken she had at Mid-Autumn was wasted.