“I noticed something else,” Jiang Yao said. “The person’s body stiffened for a second when the waiter handed them the coffee on the table. The hand beneath the table shifted. He was about to drink coffee when he averted his sight. For a long time, his eyes were fixed on the other person at the table. He was watching how other people sipped their coffee. Therefore, that guy had most likely never encountered such an occasion before today. He was nervous because he had not seen much of the world. He was nervous as I passed by him. I was nervous as well when the waiter brought me coffee. Finally, he decided not to touch the coffee. He was probably terrified of making a mistake and being caught out, or of being mocked by others.”
“Can you guess what that person does for a living? It should not be easy to guess, right?” Colonel Lin replied.
“It is not difficult to figure that out.” Jiang Yao shook her head. “While he was drinking coffee, that painter wiped his mouth with a tissue and nonchalantly discarded it onto the ground. That person’s demeanor changed, and he scowled as if he was disappointed. Then he knelt and picked up the paper, but he said nothing. He just sat there, motionless. I guess he is a sanitation worker. Picking up the paper on the ground is out of an occupational habit, and because of his occupation, he is naturally displeased with people who litter.”
After analyzing the occupation of the sanitation worker, it was easy to recall the person’s initial silent behavior. When the table was full of people chatting and talking, he was quiet not because of his stable character but because he lived in a different circle. He could not fit in with those topics and did not know what to say to those people.
Jiang Yao felt that the person had an inferiority complex, so when he sat there, he always looked at other people’s words and actions. He was afraid of saying the wrong words or doing the wrong thing.
“The last one is even easier.” When Jiang Yao said that, she laughed softly. “The boy is about 18 to 19 years old, and he is the youngest among the men at the table. He was sitting next to the sanitation worker. The two of them look somewhat similar just from their appearance. You should ask me to guess which of those two are father and son.”
“But your answer is obviously not,” Colonel Lin said. “Tell me.”
“Not only are they not father and son, but they have never met before, so the two of them did not even make eye contact when they sat together. That boy was very cheerful. He was very familiar with the movements of coffee, so he must have drunk it often. I noticed that he made eye contact with the waiters who passed by them many times, and there was a grimace on his face. He has also communicated with the cashier at the bar a few times using lip reading. I can see that he is very familiar with the people in this coffee shop, so he should be a waiter here.” After Jiang Yao said that, she looked at Colonel Lin. “I’m done with my analysis.”
“Why don’t you think he’s a customer who comes here for coffee?” Colonel Lin asked, puzzled.
“The communication and responses between colleagues and friends are different from the communication and response between regular customers and familiar waiters. If he’s just a regular customer, those waiters should smile at his grimace, and that cashier shouldn’t give him a disdainful look.” Jiang Yao was confident that the young man was not a regular customer in that coffee shop. He was a staff there.
