Mystery Novel: ℬ𝓁𝒾𝓏𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒹 ℳ𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇 EP6

All seven of them had arrived. But there were eight wine glasses on the coffee table. He didn't make a fuss, just quietly noted it down. During dinner, Zhang Zhenyu raised his glass and gave a toast, saying things like "academic exchange" and "cross-disciplinary dialogue." The others responded politely, the atmosphere stiff but generally peaceful. Chen Mo sat opposite Lin Jing and noticed she barely touched her food, constantly writing something in her notebook. "What are you writing?" he asked. Lin Jing looked up and closed her notebook. "Habit. Observing and recording." "Observing whom?" "Everyone." She smiled slightly. "Including you, Chen Mo. Since you came in, you've looked at the clock four times, the window three times, the ceiling twice, and the wine glasses once. You're calculating escape routes, aren't you?" Chen Mo didn't deny it. After dinner, everyone returned to their rooms. Chen Mo's room was at the end of the second-floor hallway, his window facing the rock face behind the manor. He checked the door lock, window latch, and under the bed, then sat on the edge of the bed, comparing the names on the list with their words and actions during dinner. Fang Guodong spoke the least, but his jaw muscles tightened whenever someone mentioned the word "safety." Shen Yuehua was overly enthusiastic, constantly asking about everyone's childhood experiences, as if conducting some kind of diagnosis. Xu Ziqian stared at everyone's micro-expressions the entire time, occasionally typing a few keys on his laptop, as if scoring each person. And Zhang Zhenyu— (To be continued)