"I..." Shen Qi stood frozen as if struck by lightning. Although the phone really wasn't hers, she couldn't produce any so-called evidence! Shen Qi suddenly realized she had nothing to say!
Liu Yi was frantic, but she didn't know how to explain either. Liu Yi scanned the crowd, and suddenly her gaze locked onto a staff member. Liu Yi pointed at that person and shouted, "Just now on the bus, that person fell, and Shen Qi went over to help her up!"
The staff member immediately looked baffled and cried out, "Yeah, I did fall, and Shen Qi did help me, but what does that have to do with anything?"
Liu Yi said urgently, "We haven't had any contact with outsiders these past few days. Only you got close to Shen Qi!"
The staff member spread her hands: "And then? You're going to pin this phone on me? Just because I fell? Is it my fault?"
Shen Qi grabbed Liu Yi: "Stop talking! If someone wants to frame me, they've done their homework. Last time it didn't work, so this time they wouldn't leave any loose ends! Someone this determined to destroy me, how could they give us a chance to clear things up? I've never touched this phone. I suggest sealing it and sending it for testing to see whose fingerprints are on it! Whoever has fingerprints is more suspicious, right?"
Some people around nodded in agreement with Shen Qi.
Cui Yuelan spoke up again: "Ha, you brought up fingerprints yourself. Who can guarantee you didn't wipe them off after using it, then hide it away, and take the chance during this competition to get rid of the evidence without anyone noticing?"
"You..." Shen Qi felt like Cui Yuelan was driving her crazy today.
Just then, a contestant in the crowd suddenly said, "Even though this phone was found in Shen Qi's bag, that doesn't prove it's hers. I suggest we all check our bags publicly. Who knows, maybe someone is deliberately framing her. To prove my innocence, I'll go first!"
With that, the contestant immediately opened her bag and dumped everything out.
Others, wanting to prove their innocence too, followed suit, opening their bags and spilling their contents.
Cui Yuelan glanced disdainfully at the others and said, "How childish! Fine, since you're all checking, I'll play along too!"
Cui Yuelan flicked open the clasp with one hand, tipped her bag, and dumped out a pile of items.
Just then, the contestant who first suggested checking everyone's bags suddenly pointed sharply at a white object and said, "Hey? Why do you have a phone in your bag too?"
Swish, swish, swish... All eyes in the room turned to Cui Yuelan!
Shen Qi was stunned. This plot twist was... too unbelievable!
Cui Yuelan was also stunned. She crouched down, pushed aside her things, and there lay a small white smartphone, silent and still.
Cui Yuelan stood frozen like a wooden chicken.
"No, impossible! How could I have this?" Cui Yuelan stammered incoherently: "This is completely impossible! It's not mine! It really isn't mine!"
The situation took a dramatic turn. The one who had been endlessly explaining shifted from Shen Qi to Cui Yuelan.
Shen Qi stood there, truly at a loss for words. Because even she couldn't make sense of this.
Just then, the white phone suddenly vibrated. This phone had a SIM card!
The contestant who had spoken up for Shen Qi suddenly lunged forward. Before Cui Yuelan could react, she answered the call on speakerphone. A mysterious voice came through: "Miss Cui, everything you asked me to do is done. When are you settling the remaining payment?"
Hearing this inexplicable voice, Cui Yuelan shrieked, "Who are you? What payment? What task? I never hired you! What are you talking about! This phone isn't mine!"
The organizing committee head, judges, and other contestants all stared at Cui Yuelan.
Cui Yuelan screamed, "Why are you all looking at me like that? I've never touched this phone! You can check the fingerprints—there won't be any of mine on it!"
The organizing committee head said solemnly, "But Miss Cui, as you just said, fingerprints can be wiped off, and phones can be thrown away!"
Cui Yuelan was choked silent. What did it mean to shoot yourself in the foot? What did it mean to taste the bitter fruit of your own actions? Cui Yuelan learned it today!
Shen Qi, who had been the prime suspect, now stood there, overlooked. Because that call to Cui Yuelan indirectly confirmed her violation of the rules.
Cui Yuelan instinctively glanced at that staff member, her gaze fierce and icy. The staff member shook her head repeatedly, her face slightly pale, but said nothing.
Cui Yuelan bit her lip hard. There were things she couldn't say here! She couldn't say them even if it killed her!
Cui Yuelan immediately pointed at Shen Qi and snarled, "What about her? Doesn't she have a phone too? Why are you all only targeting me and not her?"
Shen Qi stood there calmly and said steadily, "I am innocent. This phone really isn't mine. My phone brand is a Hanmac special edition. This model is only used by He Yining, no one else. He Yining can vouch for me."
As Shen Qi's words fell, the whole room erupted! A Hanmac special edition! Anyone who could afford a special edition phone was definitely loaded! But who would dare go to He Yining to verify the truth? Who was He Yining? Someone these people could just meet?
Cui Yuelan, of course, didn't miss the chance to step on Shen Qi. She snorted, "You say it is, so it is? Just because you use a Hanmac special edition doesn't mean you can't use another brand. Since it's something you'd use once or twice and toss, of course you'd pick a common brand!"
Shen Qi glanced at Cui Yuelan: "Miss Cui, you haven't even come over to look at this phone. How do you know it's a common brand?"
Cui Yuelan was instantly speechless!
"I... I was just guessing!" Cui Yuelan's eyes flickered with panic. "I don't know anything! Isn't your phone a common brand? Could it be a Hanmac special edition?"
Shen Qi gave Cui Yuelan a meaningful look: "I think Miss Cui probably hasn't seen a Hanmac special edition. Otherwise, why are you so sure this phone isn't one?"
Cui Yuelan felt a bit dizzy from Shen Qi's words and blurted out, "That goes without saying! A Hanmac special edition isn't something just anyone can get. That custom model was made by He Yining exclusively with Hanmac. Such an expensive phone, would you be willing to throw it away? Of course you'd only choose a common brand!"
At that moment, the contestant who had spoken for Shen Qi delivered a perfect assist: "Miss Cui, you're so insistent that phone is a common brand and not a Hanmac special edition. So what brand is it?"
"It's an Oppo phone, of course it's not a Hanmac special edition," Cui Yuelan blurted out under the barrage from Shen Qi and that contestant.
"Then, Miss Cui, from so far away, how did you see so clearly that it was an Oppo?" The other contestant struck again.
"I..." Cui Yuelan was choked again. She couldn't explain herself either.
At this point, the organizing committee head picked up the phone from Shen Qi's hand. It was indeed the latest Oppo model.
Cui Yuelan's face turned deathly pale. She seemed to have miscalculated something again.
Cui Yuelan turned and glared fiercely at the contestant who had helped Shen Qi. The other woman just smiled slightly, then turned to the organizing committee head and said, "I think the facts are clear. This is a setup against Shen Qi, and the culprit is none other than Cui Yuelan! I hope the committee will handle this fairly and ensure nothing like this happens again!"
Other contestants chimed in agreement. If they could frame Shen Qi today, they could frame anyone tomorrow! United in shared concern, everyone felt Shen Qi was truly unlucky. She barely made it into the competition and got framed twice in a row. How unlucky could one person be?
Seeing everyone siding with Shen Qi, Cui Yuelan panicked and shouted, "Fine, even if I'm wrong, is Shen Qi really innocent? If you're going to punish, punish us both! Otherwise, I won't accept it!"
Just as Cui Yuelan finished, a staff member came running over with a camera, shouting, "Oh no! I forgot to turn off the camera on the bus! It's probably been recording the whole way, and the battery's almost dead! I need to charge it!"
The organizing committee head immediately called out, "Wait! What did you say? The camera was on the whole time on the bus?"
The staff member nodded in confusion: "Yeah, I thought I turned it off, but it seems it was recording the whole way!"
The committee head waved him over: "Come on, since it was recording, let's see what it captured!"
At those words, the staff member Shen Qi had helped earlier suddenly turned pale and instinctively looked at Cui Yuelan. Cui Yuelan's face was already ashen.
The staff member opened the camera and started playing back the footage. After a while, the scene Liu Yi had described appeared on screen. A staff member stumbled and fell while walking. Shen Qi saw it and went over to help. Because the other woman had twisted her ankle and couldn't walk, Shen Qi supported her arm and slowly guided her to a sofa. In the footage, the staff member quietly pulled a red phone from her pocket and slipped it into Shen Qi's bag. Shen Qi was completely unaware.
Seeing this, the truth was laid bare! Shen Qi's innocence was instantly proven! And Cui Yuelan... She had no evidence to clear herself.