Chapter 171: An Offer

Yan Liqiang didn’t expect to run into this kind of question after being summoned by the Patrol Inspector.

At this point in time, Yan Liqiang wasn’t thinking about that screen at the entrance. He was thinking about the intention behind Sun Bingchen’s question.

It was very obvious that the Patrol Inspector wanted to personally verify if he indeed possessed highly retentive memory and vision as these were the key factors which enabled him to see through the Shatu man’s disguise that night.

If he truly had such capability, then everything which transpired during the incident that night would make sense and no one would be able to find any flaws with it. However, if the Patrol Inspector didn’t believe that he possessed such ability, then what would he think of the incident from that night? If Yan Liqiang were in the Patrol Inspector’s shoes, how would he think of it?

Without a doubt, if he were in the Patrol Inspector’s shoes and discovered that he didn’t possess such vision and ability, he would definitely suspect that he was trying to stir up trouble in Pingxi Prefecture under someone’s instigation or perhaps he had some other motives…

The asymmetric information made it impossible for Yan Liqiang to predict what the Patrol Inspector would think or what kind of judgment he would make if Yan Liqiang were unable to exhibit his expected abilities. But he knew one thing for sure — if he couldn’t answer this question, the Pingxi Prefectural Governor would most likely know everything that happened in this drawing room in just the blink of an eye.

In the eyes of someone like Sun Bingcheng, he was nothing but an insignificant individual. For someone his caliber, he wouldn’t bother with Yan Liqiang. However, if Ye Tiancheng felt everything he had done that night was set up by someone else, then things could turn ugly. Based on Yan Liqiang’s understanding of Ye Tiancheng, he was definitely someone who would kill a thousand innocent people rather than let one person get away. He’d definitely not let him off the hook that easily. This was exactly what Yan Liqiang needed to prevent at all costs right now.

Over these few days after the incident, Ye Tiancheng never summoned the three of them. One of the possibilities was that Ye Tiancheng was busy cleaning up the mess in Pingxi City while thinking about how to deal with the aftermath by making the Wang Clan serve as a scapegoat. The other possibility was that Ye Tiancheng was thinking of settling the score after the incident had died down. Judging from the patience of people like them, the second possibility was probably higher.

While Shen Teng and Shi Dafeng were still racking their brains over the scenery on the screen at the entrance, Yan Liqiang’s thoughts were racing before he finally understood what was going on. At that instant, cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

F*ck, he thought he was only here to meet the Patrol Inspector out of courtesy. Little did he expect a question during their conversation to turn out to be this dangerous.

Watching Sun Bingcheng’s smiling face made Yan Liqiang feel as though he was being watched by a demonic old fox through its squinted eyes. As expected, none of these officers who managed to achieve this position was a simpleton. Many people’s fates were decided during the course of this chat. If he was indeed a tool used by someone else, he’d definitely have no choice but to reveal himself at this moment.

“What’s wrong? You can’t recall, Yan Liqiang? Hoho, nevermind about it if you can’t recall. It was merely a random question, you don’t need to feel bothered. It’s indeed not easy to remember so many details on the screen with just a glimpse when you came in!” The Patrol Inspector lightly dismissed it.

“It’s not that I can’t recall. I was just caught slightly off-guard because I didn’t expect such a strange question from you, Sir!” Yan Liqiang smiled. He had to answer the Patrol Inspector’s question at all costs. Otherwise, he might get Shen Teng and Shi Dafeng into trouble too and Yan Liqiang absolutely didn’t wish to see that.

“Oh…?” The Patrol Inspector’s interest toward Yan Liqiang seemed to be piqued. He looked at Yan Liqiang with anticipation while Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng looked at Yan Liqiang in amazement from the side, rather unconvinced that Yan Liqiang could really remember the content on that screen after a single glance.

Yan Liqiang shut his eyes, and the scene he saw upon his entry emerged in his mind like a photograph. Every little detail on the screen was present before him. This was all thanks to the terrifying photographic memory he possessed ever since he imprinted the Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Manual in his mind. His memory was so highly retentive that he could store everything in his brain like photographs after taking a single glance at them. Yan Liqiang had heard of this type of memory in his previous life. However, he didn’t expect that he would actually possess such an ability in his current life.

After shutting his eyes for only a few seconds, Yan Liqiang opened his eyes again as his face broke into a calm smile. “On the screen at the entrance, there are a total of 137 peonies of different colors, though I am unsure if some should be counted as flowers or as buds. There are also seventeen goldfish of different sizes in the pond, thirteen bees, and seven birds on the painting!”

Shi Dafeng stared at Yan Liqiang. The dumbstruck expression on his face could be translated into a single sentence —’Liqiang, tell me you are only bluffing right now and making wild guesses.’

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The Patrol Inspector was smiling. “I took a quick glance when I entered just now too. I recall that there aren’t that many peonies on the screen. The number of goldfish in the pond seems to be incorrect too as there are only fifteen of them, and there are only eleven bees. However, the number of birds sounds about right…”

“Some peonies on the screen are already in full bloom but some are still buds. 114 of them are already in full bloom while twenty-three are still budding. When I said there are a total of 137 peonies of different colors, it includes those which are still budding. There may seem to be only fifteen goldfish in the pond on the surface, but there are actually another two which are more well-hidden. They are hiding under a lotus leaf in the pond, showing only their two little tails. Therefore, the total number of goldfish is seventeen, not fifteen. The same goes for the bees too; it may seem like there’s only thirteen of them on the surface, but another two are hidden among the peonies. One only has its semi-transparent wings visible in the painting while the other bee’s antennae are visible among the petals…”

Upon hearing Yan Liqiang’s explanation, Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng’s jaws dropped to the extent that entire fists could fit inside their open mouths. Both of them simply couldn’t believe Yan Liqiang managed to actually remember every detail on the screen after taking only a glance at it when he entered this place with them together. Furthermore, the entrance was quite poorly lit because only two rather dim lanterns were hanging at the corners of the entrance.

“Someone, bring that screen here…!”

At the order of the Patrol Inspector, the attendant who led Yan Liqiang and the rest inside here just now immediately carried the screen into the drawing room, allowing everyone to take a closer look under the light.

“One, two, three…” Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng could no longer hold themselves back as they started counting.

Including the flower buds, the total number of different colored peonies on the screen was indeed 137.

When both of them realized that the number of peonies was exactly the same as the figure Yan Liqiang said, both of them looked at him differently now.

Next, both of them also noticed the two little goldfish tails under the lotus leaf at the bottom right corner of the screen.

“Ah, where are those two bees?” Shi Dafeng couldn’t help but ask a question when he still couldn’t find those two bees after searching for them everywhere.

“One of them is behind the fourth petal to the left of that biggest pale yellow peony on the upper left corner. There’s a pair of semi-transparent wings there. Since the color of the bee’s wings is very similar to the flower, you won’t spot them unless you look carefully. The other bee is in the middle of that red peony at the center. You can’t see its body except for the pair of antennae poking out among the petals. If you look carefully, you will notice that its antennae are the same as the other bees…”

“Oh, you’re right!” Shi Dafeng suddenly exclaimed after taking a closer look.

At this moment, Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng were both completely convinced by Yan Liqiang. If word about this got out, who would believe such a marvelous ability actually existed?

Patrol Inspector Sun Bingchen clapped his hands, then laughed heartily. He looked at Yan Liqiang with an impressed gaze as he exclaimed his admiration, “I didn’t expect to find someone like you in Gan Province’s Pingxi Prefecture. No wonder those criminals couldn’t pull the wool over your eyes. You are indeed a promising youth…!”

Even the attendant who had carried the screen in took a few serious glances at Yan Liqiang as a strange look flashed across his eyes.

“You are flattering me, Sir!”

“As a Patrol Inspector that has roamed everywhere to observe the condition of people and looked out for any treacheries, I still lack a quick-witted personal attendant. Would you be willing to work for the nation and agree to serve me by my side, Liqiang?”

As soon as Sun Bingchen’s question came out from his mouth, the drawing room grew silent again. Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng were shocked by Sun Bingchen’s words before they could even snap back to reality…