Chapter 838 -837: Schemes and Traps
Huang Shengjie explained, “From the details of the scene layout, it seems that Gong Zheng lived in an era slightly earlier than ours, but not by much.
“At that time, many things were becoming standardized, so impersonating someone to get into a university was actually difficult to execute.
“If someone wanted to impersonate an unrelated person, their family would certainly need a strong background, but Gong Zheng’s family clearly didn’t have those conditions.
“So… the most likely possibility is impersonating a brother.
“Or perhaps even twins.
“Because the two would look very similar, it’s possible to pass off without being detected; since both are aware, the person whose identity was impersonated wouldn’t notify or make a fuss.
“Only in this way could the deception last for ten or even more years.”
Zhou Wanlin was a bit surprised, “Wait, if they’re brothers, why are their parents different? Logically, they should have the same parents, right?”
Huang Shengjie shook his head, “No, no, no, if they had the same parents, it would be even harder to swap identities like this.
“I guess they’re real brothers, but with adoption or foster care involved.
“That is to say, in Uncle Zheng’s Setting Book, the Gong Zheng seen by the county school teacher is the younger brother, and the father seen is actually not the biological father but the adoptive father from the foster family.
“Of course, I have no idea how the impersonation was specifically done, likely exploiting loopholes in household or identity management back then, or some special operation unknown to us.
“Moreover, in subsequent performances, the Actors frequently mentioned ‘family issues.’
“For example, Gong Zheng’s Supervisor advised him to handle family issues as best as he could, and Gong Zheng’s Mother told him to aid his brother as much as possible without going too far.
“Additionally, the Mediator mentioned Gong Zheng faced issues with his house purchase qualification, a major issue he couldn’t handle.
“What could the problem be? Illegal activities? Then compared to the house, Gong Zheng should worry about himself first. Hence, it must be that the household registry was found with false information, leading to its cancellation.”
Qin Cheng nodded and added, “Actually, illegal activities generally do not lead to household deregistration.
“I had some vague suspicions before; however, to be safe, I decided to inquire Li Kan and further confirm the information.
“Li Kan said the problem with Gong Zheng’s house purchase qualification was because his household registry was canceled, confirming my suspicion.
“Household cancellation typically involves two common situations: change in identity status, such as death, enlistment, change of nationality, etc., which obviously don’t apply; the second is cancellation due to household management issues, like duplicate registration, false registration, relocation, prolonged unavailability, etc.
“The issue Gong Zheng encountered was clearly due to false information on the registry.
“Therefore, it must be that the matter of impersonating someone to get into college was exposed.
“Gong Zheng, or rather, the brother who took on Gong Zheng’s name, was able to buy a house because he first earned a degree from a prestigious university, then found a decent job leveraging the degree, finally gaining residency and house purchase eligibility through his job.
“Once the academic qualification doesn’t hold, everything else also collapses.
“That’s the Mediator’s real unsolvable major issue.
“And the reason why Gong Zheng’s Mother said to help the brother as much as possible is not because she favored the younger brother or was exploiting the elder brother.
“In fact, Mother was completely partial to the elder brother.
“She was asking the elder brother to pay simply because she realized the younger brother might choose a desperate path, hence wanted the elder brother to pay to settle matters.
“But unfortunately, she likely didn’t succeed in the end.”
Zhou Wanlin realized, “I see… So this is why those communities raised such questions.
“They basically picked the most perplexing questions from their Setting Books.
“Community 11’s question was whether, after marriage, Gong Zheng’s Lover was truly willing to lower their quality of life for him.
“If unaware of the truth, one might falsely believe Gong Zheng’s financial situation is dire, and that the lover, who cares a lot about lifestyle quality, would not be willing to downgrade.
“But now it seems that Gong Zheng’s economic condition isn’t that bad, and Bai Zilan, the Lover she portrays, pursues material conditions within a normal range.
“So the correct answer to this question is ‘Yes.’
“Community 12’s question was whether the Mediator had any fault.
“Because at the time just after Gong Zheng graduated, it indeed was a booming period for real estate, and soaring housing prices were a fact. So the Mediator didn’t lie, even if there were slight rhetorical techniques involved, it doesn’t amount to serious fault.
“Community 17’s question was whether Gong Zheng’s Supervisor could prevent issues with Gong Zheng’s property through compliant procedures.
“Without knowing the truth, one might think Gong Zheng’s Supervisor could help Gong Zheng acquire residency and house purchase eligibility early through operations. But in reality, the problem with Gong Zheng’s property was due to his academic qualification.
“Therefore, Gong Zheng’s Supervisor couldn’t prevent this from happening, and the answer is ‘No.’
“The most crucial question comes from Community 5: At the latest known time, after Gong Zheng has started working, does his Mother, Zhang Lijuan, love him?
“The emphasis on this timeframe isn’t for the reason they stated at all.
“The real reason is that the Gong Zheng before the college entrance exam and the one after are not the same person; before was the younger brother, afterward it was the elder brother.
“Therefore, if asked if the Mother loves the younger brother, the answer is likely ‘No.’ This question asks if she loves the elder brother, and the answer is evidently ‘Yes.’
Zhou Wanlin then realized all these questions are connected, and once the truth is guessed, these questions’ answers become clear.
Huang Shengjie nodded, “I also realized that these questions posed by the communities are intentional and misleading.
“However, these questions can actually inversely reveal the communities’ ‘biggest winning questions,’ somewhat outlining the truth.
“My earliest suspicion was when Community 5 deliberately emphasized this timeframe. Although my initial thought process was wrong, I corrected it afterward.”
Zhou Wanlin suddenly realized a fact, “Odd, isn’t it?
“It seems only we and Community 10 are kept in the dark?
“Do all the other communities know the truth?”
Qin Cheng explained, “Actually, the communities with two ‘Special Players’ have been setting up a situation, and it’s directed at us and Community 10.
“But precisely because of their actions, I guessed the truth of the script quicker.”
Zhou Wanlin was puzzled, “Setting up a situation? How? Using the call function?
“However… if the two ‘Special Players’ were to set up a situation, they would first have to recognize each other as ‘Special Players’ after the first act’s performance.
“Even if Community 5 exposed itself early, causing the other ‘Special Player’ community to contact them, these two communities still need to communicate and determine strategies during the first act’s intermission.
“Only in the second act’s intermission could they contact the other two normal communities, excluding us and Community 10, to scheme a deception.
“But by then, the first and second acts’ performances would have ended, would it still be timely?”