There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Chapter 47.2

Almost as soon as Qin Ke finished speaking, an announcement suddenly rang out —

“[Performer] task failed, July eliminated.”

Everyone was stunned.

July, looking dejected, also dropped his previous scared expression. “My task was different from yours. My task was actually to [Conceal the Truth], and now I’ve failed.”

After saying this, July looked at Qin Ke with a complex expression.

“But how did you guess,” he put on an innocent and pitiful expression, “I thought my acting was pretty good.”

“It was indeed quite good,” Qin Ke nodded frankly, “From the moment you appeared, you used the cross-dressing aspect to directly divert our attention.”

July: “But you still figured it out.”

Qin Ke smiled.

“But you were too eager to complete your task.”

“Huh??”

“Before we came to the scene, and when we first entered the scene, you were intentionally and unintentionally trying hard to push us towards the misconception of [Murder] — If your first emphasis on [Murder] in the main hall only made me instinctively suspicious, then when you mentioned it a second time after we entered this room — I felt that something was indeed not quite right.”

“…”

Before being taken away by the production team’s black and white impermanence, July gave Qin Ke a deep look, sighed, and left a final message.

“You’re too frightening. Remember to apply for the police academy in the future, we can’t let our motherland lose such a talent like you.”

Qin Ke smiled gently.

After July left, the production team also announced that the case was completely solved.

The final step: go to the [Performer]’s room to find the last truth of the case.

****

What happened afterwards was quite simple.

Qin Ke and the other three guests who hadn’t been eliminated went to the [Performer] maid’s room together, where they easily found something like a diary.

However, this diary was incomplete and fragmented, with only a few torn pages that could be vaguely discerned.

The format of the content recorded on it was the same as the letter Qin Ke had found in the room earlier — all in classical Chinese, so Qin Ke naturally took on the responsibility of translation:

**

A/N: (The following is the translated version) 

(After all, the author can’t write a diary in classical Chinese)

**

[Year 1 of Shunhe, February 19] 

A new storyteller has arrived at the teahouse. The neighbor says he’s a romantic scholar, but I don’t believe it. What proper scholar would become a storyteller?

[Year 1 of Shunhe, February 24] 

Today, Qian’er insisted on taking me along. Hmm, he knows so much.

[Year 1 of Shunhe, March 7] 

I came alone again. If Qian’er finds out, she’ll surely scold me. But today, the waiter brought me a pot of tea, saying it was from him. Hmph… he must have used this trick to win the hearts of many girls. I won’t fall for it.

[Year 1 of Shunhe, May 18] 

Mother says that eloquent scholars are the most fickle and unfaithful. Is he… is he that kind of person too? Nevermind… it doesn’t matter to me anyway.

[Year 1 of Shunhe, June 3] 

He didn’t come today.

[Year 1 of Shunhe, June 4] 

It turns out the one always sitting next to me is the magistrate’s only daughter. The teahouse is buzzing with news that she’s going to marry him. Future glory and wealth, a meteoric rise… since we’ve known each other, should I congratulate him in person?

[Year 1 of Shunhe, June 6] 

He’s such a fool! Even if he had to refuse, how could he embarrass her like that! Look at how he’s been beaten by the magistrate’s servants… he’s all black and blue, yet he can still smile!

[Year 1 of Shunhe, July 29] 

I can’t believe I’ve done something as serious as committing myself. I’ll have to tell Mother about this eventually. I wonder if she can forgive me.

[Year 1 of Shunhe, August 10] 

Mother lied to me! She never considered my feelings at all. She’s been secretly arranging for me to become a concubine in the Hu family! She’s locked me up. How could she do this to me?

[Year 1 of Shunhe, August 21] 

Today he tried to sneak in to see me but was caught by Mother. Mother ordered the servants to beat him until he was covered in blood, yet he still forced a smile at me. He’s really wasted all those years studying the classics… He said he was going to take the imperial exams this year… It’s not worth it for me…

[Year 1 of Shunhe, September 6] 

Mother has finally accepted the betrothal gifts from the Hu family. She said if I try anything else, next time she’ll have his hands broken, so he can never write again… His handwriting is the most beautiful… I guess this is where my fate with Qi Lang ends. So let me marry into the Hu family. The sooner the better. I won’t hold him back anymore.

[Year 1 of Shunhe, November 11] 

I can’t believe I saw him.

Separated by thousands of miles,

How did he find his way here! But what use is it for him to come? I’ve already become a concubine in the Hu family…I’m no longer worthy to see him.

[Year 1 of Shunhe, November 13] 

He must be crazy! How dare he say such things! But I… I must be crazy too, to be swayed by his words

[Year 1 of Shunhe, November 15]

I actually agreed to him.

Can we succeed?

[Year 1 of Shunhe, November 19] 

The Madam had known all along! She deliberately waited until the night we planned to escape to expose me! I’ve already hurt Qi Lang once, I can’t hurt him a second time… But no matter how I kneel and beg her, she won’t let me leave… Qi Lang…

[20th] 

He’s dead.

We are all sinners.

Qi Lang

Wait for me to atone for my sins

…

The diary abruptly ended here.

Everyone’s expressions were complex, and for a moment, no one spoke.

Finally, Ling Shuang pursed her lips and turned to look at the camera.

“Leaders, next time before such a horror conspiracy plot suddenly turns into a tragic love story, could you give us a little warning?”

The production team, of course, turned a deaf ear.

Qin Ke stood still holding the “diary,” her brow slightly furrowed.

She felt like she had missed something.

Just then, the announcement sounded again—

“The case is closed, all guests have successfully completed their tasks. Next, each guest will be taken to their respective Chinese exam venues to complete their answer sheets.”

Ling Shuang: “Huh? Is this going to be a live version of a Chinese reading comprehension test?”

Even Gu Yuncheng couldn’t help but speak up. “So you still remember this is a Chinese exam.”

“…” Production team: “Before answering, each guest has one chance to reasonably question the examining teacher.”

After this abrupt statement, the announcement speaker suddenly went silent.

The remaining four guests, including Qin Ke, were simultaneously stunned.

But before they could exchange thoughts or opinions on this sudden announcement, they were forcibly separated by the production team’s staff and each taken to a sealed room.

Perhaps because the previous two production team guys had been defeated in front of Qin Ke.

This time, the person assigned to Qin Ke’s room was a middle-aged woman who looked stern — on par with Huo Jun’s villa housekeeper Gu Qin and Qiande High School’s teaching director.

Qin Ke had barely looked at her for two seconds, not yet having decided on a greeting, when she heard the woman say sternly without a smile.

“You can only ask me one question. After that, you will begin answering the exam paper.”

“I…”

“Note: The question cannot be about the exam paper content or answers, only about matters related to this case. You have thirty seconds to consider. If you don’t ask within the time limit, it will be considered as forfeiting your chance.”

“…”

Qin Ke didn’t try to argue or waste time.

She lowered her head, her mind racing — when the ticking stopwatch counted down to the last 5 seconds, Qin Ke finally grasped the doubt that had flashed through her mind earlier.

She looked up at the middle-aged woman.

“I have a question.”

“Please ask.”

Qin Ke: “How did the storyteller Qi Lang die?”

“…”

The middle-aged woman’s expression suddenly froze.

Almost simultaneously, Qin Ke judged that she had caught the most accurate blind spot.

Throughout the entire “case” she had experienced, this was the only thing that had made her feel uncomfortable and confused from beginning to end.

She had a vague intuition: this question was directly related to the exam paper and the answers.

After the pause, the middle-aged woman had regained her composure. Her expression returned to calm.

“On the night of the 19th of the 11th month in the first year of Shunhe, a sudden flood occurred. A scholar surnamed Qi refused to escape and drowned under a broken bridge in the city.”

Qin Ke’s gaze paused.

However, without giving her time to react, the middle-aged woman spoke. “Alright, your chance is used up. The exam begins now.”

As soon as she finished speaking, an exam paper was placed on the desk in front of Qin Ke.

Qin Ke looked down.

A second later, even she couldn’t help but be stunned.

The exam paper was blank.

There was nothing but a white sheet.

“This… is the exam paper?”

Qin Ke looked up at the middle-aged woman in surprise.

The middle-aged woman looked at her watch, her authority reminiscent of Qiande High School’s teaching director—

“The exam officially begins now. You have five minutes to answer. Turn in your paper after five minutes.”

Qin Ke didn’t delay any further.

She frowned as she picked up the pen beside her, staring intently at the exam paper.

At the same time, the girl’s mind began to race.

Hint 1: The subject is Chinese Language. 

Hint 2: Answer time is 5 minutes, calculating at 40 characters per minute, the word count should be less than 200. 

Hint 3: Concubine, scholar, died under a broken bridge. 

Hint 4: …

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Qin Ke’s mind.

The next second, her lips curved into a slight smile as she quickly began to write.