After the filming of the show ended, the production team specially arranged for a meal to be filmed. Everyone had been filming for a few hours and were already hungry. Originally, they wanted to have a meal together in a private restaurant after work. Since the production team had already made arrangements, they ate happily together.
"Hotpot!" Shang Sirui shook his body happily as soon as he sat down. "The cameraman is so pitiful. Have you guys eaten? Oh, if you have, then I won't feel sorry for you guys."
Xia Xiqing sat on his right. "Feel sorry for yourself, silly Sansan."
Zhou Ziheng sat down next to Xia Xiqing and massaged his shoulders for a while. Pei Tingsong sat on Shang Sirui's left. Fang Juexia also sat down. Zhai Ying, who was the last to enter, walked to Zhou Ziheng's side. When everyone arrived, they began to order.
"Xiao Pei grew up overseas. Can't eat spicy food?" Xia Xiqing asked.
Pei Tingsong was pouring water. "I can eat spicy food." Then, he suddenly thought of something. "But Fang Juexia can't eat spicy food. If it's okay, I'll order half chili oil and half tomato soup."
Fang Juexia was still setting the tableware in front of him when he was suddenly cued. He raised his head and looked at Pei Tingsong.
Pei Tingsong found it very funny. He tried to hold back his laughter. "Do you want to eat spicy food? Handsome boy."
Fang Juexia immediately shook his head and said to everyone, "I can't eat spicy food at all. I used to think that I could eat spicy food. Then, Ling Yi took me to eat Sichuan cuisine. I realized that the spicy food in Guangdong and Sichuan are not on the same level. "
Everyone laughed unrestrainedly.
"Okay, half tomato and half chili oil."
"Let's order some alcohol. Everyone was so nervous just now. Drink some to relax."
Pei Tingsong immediately said, "Fang Juexia can't drink."
Xia Xiqing laughed, "How do you know everything?"
"It's okay, I can drink it." Fang Juexia looked over. "Brother Xiqing, you can order it."
"You don't know whether you can drink it or not." Pei Tingsong sighed. "Anyway, you're not allowed to drink it later. Otherwise, you won't be able to go back."
"Then I'll order a juice for Juexia."
The six of them ordered the dishes and chatted while waiting for the dishes to be served. Xia Xiqing knocked on the edge of the table with her chopsticks. "It's true. The crew of Escape is the most scheming crew I've ever seen. It's so hard for me!"
Zhou Zihang heavily nodded his head twice.
It was rare for Zhai Ying to continue the conversation. "When I went on this show, I knew it would be difficult. I felt that I was mentally prepared, but I didn't expect it to be this difficult."
"It's mainly the script." Pei Tingsong said, "When I was collecting clues and restoring the script, I really couldn't help but sigh in my heart."
Fang Juexia also agreed. He had deviated from the track several times and became another story. Fortunately, he was pulled back by the clues.
"Speaking of the script," Shang Sirui sighed heavily. "Chen Chen, Brother Chen, Screenwriter Xu, let us go. If this goes on, my brain can only be used for hotpot."
Everyone laughed along with him.
"I want to vent my anger while he's not here." Shang Sirui held his drink bottle. "I really want to lock our lovely Screenwriter Xu in a secret room. Oh, no, there's also a family member who provides him with all kinds of puzzles. The two of them will open and close the secret room separately. Then I'll watch it on the monitor, I'll see …"
"Hello, you ordered tofu." A waiter came over and placed the plate in front of Shang Sirui.
"Thank you, thank you." Shang Sirui did not even raise his head and wanted to continue. "What did I just say? Yes, lock them up …"
Unexpectedly, the waiter did not leave. Instead, he asked, "Lock who up?"
"Our screenwriter." Shang Sirui blurted out. Then, he realized that something was wrong. When he looked up, he saw the waiter take off his hat and smile at him.
"Chen Chen?!"
Zhou Ziheng laughed. "I saw you as soon as I opened the door. You were still foolishly talking to yourself."
"Eh, just you?" Xia Xiqing looked at the door. "Where's my mischievous nephew?"
Xu Qichen said, "Ah, he's working overtime. There's a new version of a game that will be released tomorrow. He'll probably have to stay up all night."
This was the first time Fang Juexia saw Screenwriter Xu in person. He looked more refined than he had seen on TV before. He was also very young and had a bookish aura. He looked like a college student who had not yet left the ivory tower.
As he was thinking, a pair of chopsticks suddenly appeared in front of him. Fang Juexia turned his head and saw the real college student Pei Tingsong. He put away his chopsticks and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Fang Juexia shook his head.
"Welcome Screenwriter Xu Qichen of 'Escape Runner 2' to the behind-the-scenes banquet." The director behind the camera said, "Everyone can review the footage while eating. We'll edit it into a special program and put it on the VIP channel."
"The director is so smart." Xu Qichen greeted everyone. He took off his waiter's jacket and sat next to Zhai Ying. "Let me tell you something first. I'm the narrator for this episode." After saying that, he laughed. "The voice changer is so fun."
Shang Sirui widened his eyes. "Ah! I knew it. He was mischievous from the beginning. It's completely different from the last season's narrator!"
"So that's how it is …" Fang Juexia belatedly realized. "I've been thinking about why the rules are still the same as last season's version. After that mischievous scene, I wasn't so nervous anymore."
Pei Tingsong had just thrown a piece of tripe into the bowl and didn't even have time to rinse it. When he saw Fang Juexia looking at Xu Qichen, he unconsciously stared at him.
"Xiao Pei, your tripe is old. You're too disrespectful." Shang Sirui helped him take out the tripe and put it into his mouth.
Xu Qichen smiled and said, "I'm begging Sister Yin to let me participate in the recording of the show. I want to watch it."
"Let me make one thing clear to the audience. In this episode, the amount of information that each player initializes is the same. In other words, everyone only knows that they are an ordinary player, a knight, or a killer. No one has a script or many plots. All the plots are gradually restored in the process of solving puzzles."
"Next, I'll talk about the plot line of this episode. In fact, the core clue and the only clue that reflects reality is the news in the old newspaper. There is only one main character, and his name is Tan Ji. When he was young, he was sexually assaulted by his neighbor. The trauma caused him to suffer from delusions and multiple personality disorder. He fantasized that he was the best psychiatrist in the city, Dr. Tian, and not a patient, Tan Ji, who was being treated. At the same time, he split his most painful childhood memories and became Zao Zao's personality."
"Similarly, all players are his sub-personalities. However, Zao Zao's personality suffered too much and was on the verge of collapse. She was also suppressed and controlled by the main personality, which was the doctor. Hence, she asked for help from the other personalities. There was a phone recording that recorded her entire plea for help. It was the recording pen that Juexia found. However, the main personality found out about her resistance, so he hypnotized Zao Zao and made her choose to commit suicide. The hypnotic note was an acrostic poem, hinting that the doctor killed Zao Zao. However, before Zao Zao could finish writing her suicide note, she was killed by the doctor's personality."
"So it's such a story." Shang Sirui sighed. "Really, the plot is completely different with one less link. But why Tan Ji?"
Xiao Pei said, "Actually, when the appointment list came out and I saw Teacher Yan, Zao Zao, Xiaoxi, I thought of the spelling. The word 'Tan' is obviously a surname. Since there is a surname, there must be a first name. I looked at each room with the intention of finding the name. It was like playing a puzzle."
"Obviously, Zoe and the detective don't have Chinese names, so the puzzle pieces must not be their names. They must be related to them. Zoe's band is called together, which means' together '. The book in the detective's room only has one word on the cover,' north ', which means' north '. North plus Doctor Tian's field, plus' together ', it means' Ji '."
"Your sensitivity to words is amazing." Xia Xiqing was not stingy with her praise.
"Just like how Xiqing is naturally sensitive to paintings, Xiao Pei is also sensitive to words," Xu Qichen reminded them. "You guys didn't realize that all the clues that Xiao Pei collected were word games."
Fang Juexia realized that almost all the word puzzles in this episode were found by Pei Tingsong, whether it was the hypnotic question at the beginning, the name puzzle, or the most important news clue.
Even the nonsense that seemed to be gagging on the show was just a word game with hints and puns.
Shang Sirui suddenly clapped his hands. "I remember now. When Xiao Pei and I were chatting in the dark room, he kept reading that book. Later, he even turned the book upside down on the table, especially exposing the cover. You did it on purpose, didn't you?"
Pei Tingsong nodded. "Yes, I wanted to show it to Juexia Ge, but then I thought that since I had almost all the clues, I might as well gather them and give them to him directly."
As soon as he finished speaking, Pei Tingsong saw Fang Juexia accidentally eat spicy beef. He was anxious to drink water, so he grabbed his wine glass. He quickly grabbed Fang Juexia's hand and whispered, "This is my glass."
"I saw wrong." Fang Juexia pulled his hand away and poured himself a glass of Sprite.
Xu Qichen continued, "There are still many details in the middle, so let's talk about it slowly. Everyone's performance today was too exciting. The script is actually just the skeleton. What really makes the entire episode full is the performance of each guest. Different players will have different styles of play."
Xia Xiqing ordered some wine and poured herself a glass. "Really, this episode was the best I've ever played. Although I didn't win in the end, at this level, winning or losing really doesn't matter at all."
"Hahaha, you probably didn't expect that one day you would be tricked by the fancy self-destructing maneuver." Shang Sirui ate a large piece of tripe. "But to be honest, low-level players look at the results, while high-level players look at the process. This time, even a low-level player like me felt good."
"I'll punish myself with a glass of wine for my empiricism." Zhou Ziheng clinked his glass with Xia Xiqing's before drinking and downing it in one gulp. "But I'm curious. Xiao Pei, when did you find out that Juexia was a Knight?"
Pei Tingsong tried to recall. "It's a long story. At the time, we were in the consultation room together. Our heads were covered at the time. I reached out and touched some metal blocks. There was actually a piece of paper under one of the metal blocks. I subconsciously felt that something was wrong, so I secretly took the paper out and put it on my body. Then I went to restore the metal blocks and broke Juexia Ge's hood."
Fang Juexia was eating his vermicelli, but when he heard Pei Tingsong's words, his eyes lit up. He swallowed the vermicelli and said vaguely, "So you got my medical record at that time!"
"You're quite good at guessing." Pei Tingsong laughed. "After the hood was removed, the first thing I saw was the paper. It was indeed Teacher Yan's medical record. It said that he had bipolar disorder, which is also known as bipolar disorder. I immediately realized that Fang Juexia was probably the Double-Faced Knight that the show had arranged. I knew that he might choose to be the Black Knight, so I had to hide his medical record at that time. Otherwise, if Brother Xiqing saw it, Juexia's identity as a knight would be exposed."
Xia Xiqing clicked her tongue. "Xiao Pei, you've put a lot of thought into this."
Unexpectedly, Shang Sirui suddenly exclaimed, "So bipolar disorder is bipolar disorder!"
Fang Juexia took a bite of the frozen tofu in the tomato pot and stuck his tongue out. "I guessed that Shixiong didn't know, so I gave him Teacher Yan's medical record in the end."
"Ah! Juexia, you!"
"It's too late even if he knew." Xia Xiqing interrupted and asked Fang Juexia, "Actually, at that time, you had already sorted out all the evidence and obtained the complete plot, right?"
"Yes." Fang Juexia looked at Pei Tingsong. "The most important clue was found by Xiao Pei, but he hid it."
Zhou Ziheng was a little puzzled. "I was there when he went. How did I …" Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly remembered something. "I know, when you were playing the guitar!"
Xu Qichen laughed first. "I almost died of laughter when I saw it on the monitor. Ziheng actually asked a few key questions."
Zhou Ziheng was puzzled. "Really?" But as soon as this question left his mouth, he thought of something else. Then, he slapped his forehead in annoyance. "Ah, I was so stupid. I even asked you what kind of guitar it was."
Pei Tingsong's smile was a little childish. "Yes, when you asked me, I even told you that it was a hollow guitar. You could reach in and touch the newspaper stuck to the inner wall."
"The news was about the real protagonist, Mr. Tan. It said that he had delusions and multiple personality disorder. When he committed the crime, he was wearing a white coat. It was obvious that he was delusional enough to think that he was a psychiatrist. His surname was Tian, and he was the best psychiatrist in the city. The other players were all his sub-personalities."
"Is the detective also his sub-personality?" Shang Sirui couldn't figure it out.
"Yes." Zhou Ziheng said, "I later sorted it out in the background. The detective's personality is very likely a new split. That letter should have hinted that she was on the verge of collapse and there was no way to save her. The detective was a new personality that she split off because she desperately wanted to be saved. The letter wrote that he was looking for the fugitive, but it was actually a reflection of Tan Ji's reality. He was the fugitive who killed the murderer. Is that right, Zichen?"
Xu Qichen gave him a thumbs up. "Amazing. Actually, there are multiple personalities that know each other, and there are also personalities that don't know each other. In this script, Tan Ji imagined that he was Doctor Tian. As the main personality, the way he controlled the other personalities was through psychological counseling. So, each personality was his patient, and they all received his treatment and even hypnosis. However, the detective's personality was newly born. It could be seen as the protector of the earlier personalities, and it also reflected reality to the greatest extent."
"Now that we look at the news, almost every personality can find a trace of reality. The lead singer of the band might represent some of Tan Ji's childhood dreams because she represented his childhood. He liked Zoe very much … "Zhai Ying was a little surprised, which was rare for him." It's too strong. There's even something hidden in the guitar … No wonder the production team went out of their way to find a hollow guitar. It's too detailed."
Xu Qichen asked, "Did Xiao Pei notice the newspaper when he was playing the guitar? When I was watching the surveillance footage, I heard you specifically say that the sound was not bad."
Pei Tingsong nodded. "When I started playing, I noticed that the sound of the guitar was not right. After all, I've played for so many years, and I still know how to play the guitar. At that moment, I guessed that there was something in it. When Brother Heng carried it over, I reached out and took the string out."
Shang Sirui sighed. "It's really … Who can reach into the guitar if they don't know how to play the instrument? The props team is too strong."
Fang Juexia couldn't help but say, "There are many unreasonable details. It seems like the production team did it on purpose. Teacher Yan's consultation time is 5: 52 am. Why would anyone see a doctor in the early hours of the morning? This is a hint that all of this is fake. The doctor is fake, and so is the patient. There's also a small hint from the styling team. I don't know if anyone noticed, but although we're playing different characters, we're all wearing the same shirt."
Shang Sirui looked down at his flowery shirt, then looked up at the others. "Amazing. So, we're actually the same person."
"The production team is really good." Xia Xiqing took stock of the hints from the props. "Think about it. Other than the consultation room, every room actually has an item that represents the character. For example, the guitar in Sirui's room corresponds to the ukulele in the consultation room. The textbooks in Ziheng's bag correspond to the astronomy books on the bookshelf in the consultation room. The art tools and paintings in Long Zao's room correspond to the paintings in the consultation room."
"There's also a magnifying glass that represents the detective," Pei Tingsong added.
"Yes." Xia Xiqing nodded. "Actually, this is a hint that all the rooms are just one of the main characters' personalities. Only the consultation room is the main character, and it contains all the items that represent the main character. It's just that I didn't pay attention at first. I had a preconceived notion that Long Zao was the main character.
"Including the painting 'Marat's Death'. Actually, that was also a core clue. Chen Chen even opened a back door for me, but I was eager to prove my point at the time and neglected the second meaning of the painting, which is to invert it. The painting is inverted, so the roles of the assassin and the assassin in the painting must also be inverted. Similarly, the diary in the painting must also be inverted."
However, Xu Qichen said, "When you finally realized that something was wrong, your reaction at that part shocked me. In just half a minute, you overturned all the views that you had established on the plot and pulled back to the correct plot. Very strong."
He put away his chopsticks. "This time, I took advantage of Xi Qing's habitual fighting style. I knew that Xi Qing would definitely jump to the knight's position even if he was a normal player, so I deliberately gave him the identity of a normal player and let him muddy the waters. If Xi Qing was a real knight, the effect of the show might not be so good."
After saying that, he looked at Pei Tingsong. "The facts prove that this is indeed the case. If Xi Qing was really a knight and Xiao Pei was a killer, one would self-destruct and the other would commit suicide …"
Everyone laughed, but Pei Tingsong leaned back in his chair and said with a smile, "No, I chose to commit suicide when I confirmed that the black knight was definitely Fang Juexia."
Fang Juexia's chopsticks paused.
Was this sentence hinting at something else?
The others began to jeer, led by Xia Xiqing. "Aiya, so you made all the preparations and handed over your belongings before you generously died?"
What did he mean by relics?
"Then how did you know that Juexia was definitely a black knight? Even if you had his medical records, he could still be a white knight, right?" Shang Sirui asked.
Pei Tingsong laughed. "That's impossible. Xi Qing jumped out and said that he was a knight to trick Juexia's identity. I jumped against him for two purposes. On one hand, I wanted to make the seniors suspicious of Xi Qing so that Xi Qing wouldn't be able to sit firmly on the knight's position. On the other hand, I wanted to trick Juexia Ge's camp.
"Think about it, two fake knights jumped against each other, and their statements before the referendum were also contradictory. As long as a real knight is a white knight, he would definitely not give up his identity as a knight so easily. For the sake of the victory of the good players, he would definitely stand up. "He looked confident." Especially Fang Juexia."
"That's right, or else this white knight would be the scapegoat."
Fang Juexia lowered his head and listened to Pei Tingsong's words with certainty. However, he was thinking about the scene not long ago when Pei Tingsong stuffed the note in front of his shirt.
"I'm very curious, Juexia." Xu Qichen asked, "I didn't see when you finished the handover in the surveillance footage. How did you know that he hid the clue in Ukri's pocket?"
Fang Juexia raised his head. "At the time, Pei Tingsong was teasing me at the display wall. He kept messing with me, but he also likes to joke around and tease me, so I didn't take it seriously. Later, when he was about to leave, he patted my chest. At that time, I heard a sound in the front pocket of my shirt. It was the sound of a piece of paper being clipped, so I reacted. However, I pretended not to know and waited for the right time to look."
"I see …" Xu Qichen nodded. "You guys know, Juexia is actually a little beyond my expectations. At first, I thought that he was very suitable for playing the reverse hook and hiding his identity, so I gave him the role. However, in reality, his strengths are not only in mathematics and calmness, but also in finding the right time."
Xia Xiqing also understood this point. "Yes, yes, I was just about to say that this little prude is too good at distracting people. When I think about it, I really underestimated my opponent. At the beginning, he deliberately went easy on me, and in the end, didn't Ziheng get voted out? At the time, I thought that I was about to win, but then, Juexia deliberately told me the password to the handkerchief on the cabinet and asked me to decipher it."
Juexia was a little embarrassed and nodded. "At the time, I really needed time to find Ukri, but Brother Xiqing was too smart. If I had just left, I would have exposed myself. So, I could only use the chessboard password on the door to distract him."
"And the reason you used was very strong." Xu Qichen laughed. "You said that you were going to look for your medical records. Actually, if you didn't say this, it would have made Xiqing suspicious."
Xia Xiqing nodded. "Yes, because you were the only one who didn't have a medical record. This is a problem that I've been struggling with. Although your speech was very positive and you didn't do anything underhanded, the medical record has always stuck in my heart."
"As long as you're a shady character, you would naturally hide the medical record. However, you openly revealed it and even said that you were going to look for it. My suspicions immediately disappeared and I focused on deciphering the chessboard password."
Zhai Ying shook her head. "Maybe it's because Juexia Ge looks too kind, so no one would be suspicious. When I got the draft paper, my first reaction was to look for Juexia Ge." She looked at Fang Juexia. "Actually, at that time, you realized the problem, didn't you?"
"No." Fang Juexia smiled and shook his head. "At that time, I was also controlled by inertia and was only focused on solving the double integral. In fact, in addition to the math problem, the set also hinted at a problem."
Xi Qing nodded heavily and regretted his actions. "Sigh, at that time, I was only focused on the battle with Zhou Ziheng. When everyone gathered the clues, I only checked the answer for the double integral and didn't notice the set. Later, when I entered the final answer wrong, I went back to the sofa and saw the draft paper. That was when I finally discovered the set."
Zhai Ying asked curiously, "What's wrong with the set?"
Fang Juexia explained, "In set theory, a set can't have repeated elements. However, each of the sets on that piece of paper had a repeating element. In the generalization of set theory, there is a concept called multiple sets. The number of times a certain element is repeated is called the multiplicity or the degree of repetition. All the sets on the draft paper have a degree of repetition of six."
Shang Sirui was shocked. "Gosh, even the set on the draft paper implies that there are six personalities."
"Xi Qing was just a little late," Xu Qichen said with a smile. "Because Xi Qing is a person who is very good at defending his own views, he can find all kinds of clues to support his views. That's why he fell into the strange cycle of the plot."
Xia Xiqing agreed with this point. "That's why I said that I didn't lose at all. Everyone played this game well. In the end, I sat on the sofa and all the details that I couldn't match before were poured into my mind. That feeling was so good that I'll remember it for the rest of my life."
"Stop talking." Zhou Ziheng couldn't stop laughing. "You guys don't know. Didn't I die? After he died, I went to look at the surveillance camera and met Xiao Pei. At that time, I complained to him. I was done talking. Xi Qing's trick worked again. He's using Killer to such an extent, but there are still people following him."
Pei Tingsong was laughing so hard that he leaned back. Fang Juexia was a little worried. He was afraid that he would fall over and subconsciously wanted to protect the back of his chair.
"Can you imagine how funny it was?" Zhou Ziheng was also laughing. "I said, 'I'm so angry. Xi Qing played Killer so dirty. I was going to carry him.' Then Xiao Pei patted me on the shoulder."
He imitated Xiao Pei's actions. "'Senior, I'm actually Killer.' Do you know, I almost died on the spot."
"Hahahahaha!"
Zhou Ziheng was still sighing. "I play Werewolf Killer. It's very common to play with a knife. But escaping is different from Werewolf Killer. Werewolves can kill other werewolves, but Killer is dead. The only chance to kill someone is with your own body. This is true. Not many people dare to do this. Moreover, you're a newcomer. You're too brave."
Pei Tingsong let out a long sigh of relief. "I'm considered a loyal fan of the show, and I'm familiar with the way Brother Xi and Brother Xi Qing play. That's why when I saw that I was playing the killer card, I had to plan ahead before the show provided any clues."
"When I tricked Juexia into being Black Knight, I knew that the only way for me to win was to pit Senior and Brother Xi Qing against each other."
He then looked at Zhou Ziheng. "So I had to jump to Black Knight and commit suicide. That way, Senior would be more suspicious of Brother Xi Qing. Only when they were at each other's throats would Juexia have a chance to survive."
Xia Xiqing couldn't help but clap for him. "True love. I finally understand what they mean by 'As long as the alliance is not broken, I'm your Knight.' Team, Director, remember this. Make sure to edit the trailer, okay? It's the biggest spoiler."
With his reminder, Fang Juexia finally understood the meaning of this sentence. He was momentarily lost in thought. It turned out that what he thought was a joke was actually Pei Tingsong's hint.
"I also wanted to say that Xiao Pei has been slacking with me the whole time." Shang Sirui picked up a piece of beef and placed it on his plate. "And he's the first to die. He'll definitely be laughed at by his fans. You guys don't know this, but Xiao Pei was famous for being a black hole in the game."
The director couldn't help but interrupt. "He's slacking because he's looking for clues. You're slacking for real."
"Don't be like that, Director. Even if I'm slacking, I'm still a high-level slacker, okay?"
"Indeed," Zhai Ying analyzed. "If we didn't pit Brother Ziheng and Brother Xiqing against each other, it would've been difficult to win this game. These two gods represent two completely different playstyles. It's difficult to trust each other, and it's easy to kill each other.
"Once the two logicians oppose each other, we can only passively choose to listen to one of them. We won't even think that there's a third set of logic hidden underneath. At that time, I had already locked down Killer's identity as one of these two people."
Xu Qichen smiled and said, "Juexia is actually quite kind. When he saw Ziheng and Xiqing tearing each other apart, he even reminded them that your logic was very correct. But don't forget that Killer's identity is still linked to the plot. He told you not to be stubborn and to look for the plot first."
After saying that, he couldn't help but praise, "Ziheng's speech is really the best in the game. His logic is interlocked and there are no flaws at all. If it weren't for Xiqing, Ziheng would've been able to find out Juexia's identity."
Zhou Ziheng sighed. "Who would've thought that the youngest player in the game would take advantage of Xiqing's uncertainty and my logical thinking to sow discord between us?"
Pei Tingsong's lips curled up. "It's precisely because Senior and Brother Xiqing are strong enough that my suicide plan worked. Neither of them can be missing from this plan. If my opponent wasn't so strong, I wouldn't have used this kind of unorthodox method."
After saying that, he looked at Fang Juexia. "Of course, there's also my knight. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't have committed suicide. The only person who could've done this was Fang Juexia. "Fang Juexia was the only one who could've done this. He had to collect clues in secret and meet with me. He had to be able to control the voting pattern perfectly every time he cast a ballot."
Fang Juexia couldn't lie to himself. During the few hours they were trapped in the secret room, even though they weren't together all the time, there seemed to be an invisible string that bound them together. Hidden under the deception was Pei Tingsong's unconditional trust in him.
He looked up and smiled back at Pei Tingsong.
Fang Juexia said, "Actually, we were very lucky to win this time. At first, I was wavering between Xiao Pei and Brother Xiqing. Even though Xiao Pei kept hinting to me, I was still conflicted about whether Brother Xiqing was my partner or not. So when I found the recording, I invited Brother Xiqing. But he rejected me. This made me completely give up on the idea that he was Killer."
Zhai Ying asked again, "But you can't control the vote type, right? What if Xiqing or Xiao Pei left in the first round? It would be chaotic later."
"I can't control the vote type, but I can calculate it." Fang Juexia smiled and said to her, "Before the first round of voting, I didn't know who Killer was, so neither of them could leave. At that time, you were Senior Brother and doubted Brother Xiqing's motives, but Senior Brother is experienced. He knows that he can't use conventional logic when dealing with Brother Xiqing. Plus, he has always been cautious when voting, so there's an 80% chance that he will abstain from voting."
"Zhai Ying, your speech was biased towards Brother Xiqing, so I spoke last and encouraged everyone to vote. I believe that you will vote for Brother Xiqing. Zi Heng's logic is very stable. He only believes in himself and doesn't believe that one of them will be Knight, so it's very likely that he will vote for someone else. Brother Xiqing and Xiao Pei will vote for each other. So now it's two votes for Xiqing and one vote for Xiao Pei. My vote is for Xiao Pei."
Shang Sirui was amazed by this set of assumptions. "I did abstain from voting at that time. You're too good. Who would've thought that the Black Knight would vote for Killer in the first round? "
Fang Juexia looked at Zhou Ziheng. "You voted for me in the first round, right?"
Zhou Ziheng admitted generously, "You guessed right. I chose you in the first round, but you hid it too well. If Xiao Pei hadn't died, I wouldn't have focused all my attention on Xiqing."
"That's right. Xiao Pei protected me and disturbed you." Fang Juexia smiled and nodded. "I voted for Xiqing because I wanted to eliminate Zi Heng in the second round. Firstly, Xiqing trusted me a little. Secondly, Zi Heng was the one who discovered the chessboard password with me. It's very difficult to divert a person's attention with something they already know."
Xu Qichen couldn't help but praise, "I watched your interview at first and really liked your attitude and speaking style, so I asked Sister Yin to invite you on the show. But you really exceeded my expectations. That silent tacit understanding is really amazing."
Everyone ate and chatted and began to discuss the prediction of the next episode until the director said, "Everyone is almost done eating. I'll say a few words."
"For this episode, we will donate the proceeds to the Children's Protection Association. We are also very grateful to the companies and sponsors who have provided support for us. We very much hope that through this episode, we can attract everyone's attention to the protection of the youth and pay attention to children's anti-sexual assault. Because protecting children is protecting our future. "
"That's great!"
"Well then, everyone has worked hard today. The first episode of the second season of 'Escape' is officially over!"
Everyone ate and drank well and added each other on WeChat. Xia Xiqing created a group and changed the name of the group to [Also Fighting a Battle of Wits and Courage with the Program Team Today]. Everyone packed up and prepared to go home.
Zhai Ying's manager personally came to pick him up. When he saw Fang Juexia at the back door of the restaurant, he recognized him.
"… Juexia?" The middle-aged man looked a little embarrassed. "How have you been recently?"
Fang Juexia was expressionless. He nodded and said, "Very good."
Zhai Ying sized up the two of them, then pulled his manager away. After getting into the car, he rolled down the window and said goodbye to Fang Juexia with a smile.
Fang Juexia waved at her and watched as Zhai Ying's car drove away. He felt a little conflicted. After all, before he could put his hand down, a person wrapped around his neck from behind. "I'm so dizzy, Juexia Ge."
Even now, Fang Juexia was still not used to Pei Tingsong calling him Big Brother, but he seemed to enjoy it a little.
"You stopped me from drinking, but you drank so much yourself." Fang Juexia pulled him away. Xiao Wen drove over and flashed her headlights at them.
After helping Pei Tingsong into the car, Xiao Wen was still very excited. "I've been watching this episode on the monitor. It's so good. It's going to be a hit. It's going to be a hot search!"
Fang Juexia was as calm as ever and did not say much. His mind was still thinking about everything that happened in the secret room.
Pei Tingsong seemed to have drunk a lot. His neck was red and he spoke slowly. However, he seemed to be sober. His alcohol tolerance and tolerance were much better than Fang Juexia's.
"By the way," Xiao Wen suddenly remembered something. "I forgot to tell you that you might have to stay outside today. Qiang Ge asked me to take you to the hotel."
"Why?" Fang Juexia was puzzled. "What's wrong with the dormitory?"
"Sigh, the electronic lock of the dormitory was suddenly attacked today. Fortunately, none of you were there. The company suspects that you guys are popular and that you might have illegitimate fans or something. They're still trying to fix it and have to change the lock. Qiang Ge even quarreled with the property management because of this. He said that someone bribed the property management. Anyway, they're dealing with an emergency now, so we won't be going back tonight. We'll find a hotel near the company and make do for the night. "
There was nothing they could do about it.
Fang Juexia was about to respond, but Pei Tingsong beat him to it. "I'm not staying in a hotel."
"Then what do you want, Young Master?"
"If I'm really an illegitimate fan, the hotel is even less safe." Pei Tingsong looked at the night view outside the car window. "Let's go to my previous apartment."
Fang Juexia turned his head to look at him.
The half-drunk Pei Tingsong grinned and knocked Fang Juexia with his forehead. "Why, are you scared?"
Fang Juexia covered his forehead and stared at Pei Tingsong with his eyes wide open. The colorful neon lights outside the glass window projected on the handsome face in front of him. He was still smiling and leaning against the other side of the car window. His deep eyes reflected his own face.
"I almost killed myself for you, Black Knight."