Chapter 187

Chapter 187

Of course, Qin Weiyi wasn’t really going to come to such an absurd conclusion just because of Qin Nan.

He had only been making an offhand joke.

After he finished speaking, he turned his head and continued examining the greenhouse.

The problem should lie with the greenhouse itself, not with the entrance.

As Qin Nan had said, this greenhouse was as large as a sports field. But when viewed from the upper floors of the villa, it looked much smaller than what they were seeing now. And both exits of the greenhouse led to the same place. From that, Qin Weiyi inferred that there was some kind of setting in this greenhouse that went beyond reality.

As for what that setting was, at least for now, he still had no idea.

After Jian Fan swept his gaze around outside, he also returned to the greenhouse.

“Let’s split up,” Jian Fan said.

Qin Weiyi had no objections.

The group of six quickly separated, each taking a different area.

Previously, they had only walked back and forth along the path in the middle. This time, they went straight into the flower beds to see if there were any clues.

The place was not exactly small, but once it was divided into six sections, the workload was manageable enough.

Yellow Hair pushed through the clusters of flowers. Aside from flowers, there was only soil here. There was nothing strange at all. After circling around his assigned area, Yellow Hair spoke up. “I didn’t find anything on my side.”

Qin Nan also straightened up and replied, “Nothing here either.”

“Doesn’t look like there’s anything here either,” Lu Jing added.

“…”

Everyone began reporting their findings, and the result was the same. Even Jian Fan, looking over the flower beds, truly could not see what problem there might be beyond the fact that they were flowers.

But there had to be something wrong with the greenhouse, and the largest area here was the sea of flowers.

Jian Fan could not give up just like that.

“Switch areas,” Jian Fan said.

Although no one had gained anything, no one questioned Jian Fan’s order. They immediately swapped areas in pairs.

A long while later-

“Nothing.”

“Nothing.”

“…”

Still, there was no discovery at all.

Jian Fan said nothing. He stared at the sea of flowers and sank into thought.

Inside the greenhouse, there was only the sea of flowers and that walkway. They had already walked the path and found no problem. Besides those, the only things left were the potted plants placed around the area. He had swept his eyes over them a few times as well, but nothing seemed unusual.

Then where exactly was the problem?

Qin Nan looked at Jian Fan. Seeing that he remained silent, apparently caught in a difficult puzzle, Qin Nan took the initiative and said, “Let’s keep searching.”

There had to be something wrong with the greenhouse. If they had not found a clue, then the problem lay with them.

No one objected, and they switched areas again.

Jian Fan also snapped back to himself and threw himself back into the sea of flowers, searching for clues.

However, the third round still turned up nothing.

Just as Qin Nan was about to suggest they continue searching a fourth time, Jian Fan suddenly said, “Forget it.”

“Huh?” Qin Nan was a little surprised, then asked, “We’re not searching anymore?”

“The problem probably isn’t here,” Jian Fan replied. Then he added, “Or rather, the clue has been right in front of us this whole time. We just haven’t noticed it.”

Right in front of them?

Everyone’s gaze once again began searching all over the greenhouse.

There really was nothing that stood out about this greenhouse. Looking it over once, then again, still yielded no discoveries.

But Qin Nan-

“Could it be that it isn’t visual?” Qin Nan suddenly murmured.

Qin Weiyi and Jian Fan immediately turned toward Qin Nan.
Qin Nan had only made an offhand remark, so when the two Big Shot figures suddenly fixed their eyes on him, he jumped in fright. “Wh-why are you looking at me like that?”

“Keep going,” Jian Fan said.

Qin Nan’s words had loosened something in Jian Fan’s thinking, but he was still just short of the answer. He hoped Qin Nan could offer a little more.

Qin Weiyi was also full of expectation as he looked at Qin Nan. “Other than that, what else did you think of?”

Qin Nan swallowed. “Don’t you think you’re putting a little too much faith in me?”

Qin Weiyi smiled. “Experience has taught us that this is the truth. We’re willing to believe in you.”

“Heh.” Qin Nan let out a few dry laughs. “Then I really have to thank you for thinking so highly of me.”

“Why would you say that?” Jian Fan pulled the conversation back on track and asked.

The moment Jian Fan questioned him, Qin Nan immediately straightened his attitude. He didn’t know what was so significant about what he’d said, nor could he think of anything else, so he could only give the two of them a simple rundown of his thoughts.

“You said the clue was right in front of us, but we didn’t notice it. So I thought maybe this clue isn’t something we can discover by looking. Maybe it’s something else, like hearing? Smell, touch, that sort of thing. You see it all the time in novels and TV shows these days, right? Have you watched those mystery dramas? Sometimes their eyes can’t find any clues at all, but the protagonist has a really sharp nose. They just stand there and can sniff out a clue.” Qin Nan grew more animated as he spoke.

Jian Fan’s expression was grave, but then, as if he had heard something, he suddenly laughed.

“Smell,” Jian Fan said. Then he turned and looked at the sea of flowers before them.

Qin Nan still hadn’t realized he’d said anything important. Instead, he asked in confusion, “What’s wrong with smell? It’s not like any of us have a nose as sharp as a novel protagonist’s.”

“Haven’t you noticed anything off?” Jian Fan asked, then pointed at his nose. “Smell.”

“What’s off?” Qin Nan didn’t understand. He even sniffed. Nothing seemed wrong.

Qin Weiyi had already realized it by now. The corner of his mouth twitched as he said, “There is no floral scent in this sea of flowers.”

“Maybe that’s because…” Qin Nan began instinctively, then abruptly froze. He took several hard sniffs, and just as Qin Weiyi had said, there were so many flowers planted in this greenhouse, yet there wasn’t the slightest trace of fragrance.

Some flowers might not have a strong scent, but with such a large cluster of them gathered together, there should have been at least a little.

“Could these be fake flowers?” Qin Nan asked.

He said it, but as Qin Nan looked at the sea of flowers before him, he felt that his question was a little stupid. They clearly didn’t look like fake flowers. But if they weren’t fake, why was there no fragrance?

“The scent is gone,” Jian Fan said.

Qin Nan both understood and didn’t understand what Jian Fan meant.

There should have been a scent here, but now there wasn’t. In other words, the scent was gone. But could a scent really run off on its own?

After Jian Fan’s gaze swept over the sea of flowers, he looked back at Qin Nan and asked, “What is scent usually used for?”

Jian Fan didn’t have any particularly clear thoughts on this point. He actually wanted to hear Qin Nan’s ideas.

Qin Nan’s mind did not work as quickly as theirs, but he had a broader range of interests than they did. Sometimes his subconscious would connect certain clues, and he would casually say them aloud without even realizing it himself.

Thinking of Qin Nan’s profession, Jian Fan had some ideas now.