Chapter 346

Chapter 346

“Looking through these items, almost all of them affect the variety shows and increase Popularity. The only strange one is this book,” Qin Weiyi said.

Everyone agreed with his assessment.

“Since this book appears here, there must be a reason for it. It’s probably an important item,” Qin Nan added.

After saying that, he asked, “Who’s redeeming it?”

Since the item was important, they definitely had to redeem it. The question was, whose Points would they spend?

Previously, none of them had wanted to spend Points. Now, however, they might fight for the chance.

“Jian Fan or Lu Jing,” Qin Weiyi said. Then he paused and looked at Yang Zhen. He did not speak, but his meaning was obvious.

Yang Zhen did not mind. Without saying anything, she chose to redeem it. Then she turned her palm over, and a book appeared out of thin air.

No one had expected Yang Zhen to act so decisively.

Since Yang Zhen had redeemed the item, she naturally flipped through it herself first.

She did indeed read through the book, but she still could not understand its significance.

“It’s the autobiography of someone named Qi Xu. What does this have to do with our task?” Yang Zhen said as she passed the book over.

She did not know, but the five people who had experienced Escape Room were all shocked when they heard that name.

Qi Xu, the eighteen-year-old who had jumped from the hospital roof–and this book was actually Qi Xu’s autobiography?

There was clearly something very wrong here!

Qin Nan took the book directly from Yang Zhen, then immediately passed it to Jian Fan.

Jian Fan did not stand on ceremony. He opened it and began flipping through it rapidly. Qin Nan leaned in to read beside him, and Qin Weiyi naturally refused to be left behind.

All three read very quickly.

The more they read and the more they learned about its contents, the stranger their expressions became.

“What’s wrong with all of you? Is there something unusual about this Qi Xu?” Yang Zhen asked in confusion.

Mu Xin did not yet know what was inside the book, but that did not stop her from answering the question. “Our first episode took place in a hospital instance. In the backstory, someone named Qi Xu jumped from the hospital and became a ghost.”

At this point, Mu Xin paused, hesitation appearing on her face. “Now that I think about it, although it was called the backstory, Qi Xu didn’t seem to have much connection to our Escape Room at all.”

Whether they knew that backstory, or whether it even existed, was completely unimportant.

In the show, they had been trapped inside the hospital because it was haunted. All they had to do was leave. There was nothing else to it.

They had only heard the female ghost in red mention Qi Xu in passing. After that, nothing else happened.

They had not even seen Qi Xu.

Mu Xin was puzzled, but when she saw Jian Fan and the other two still reading, she did not speak again.

Yang Zhen had already begun trying to analyze it. “Perhaps this book also helps you solve the escape room?”

“But that was an episode we’ve already completed. Surely the next two episodes won’t still take place in the hospital and involve him? That would be boring,” Mu Xin said.

Just then, Qin Nan suddenly spoke.

“Maybe next time, Qi Xu will be a background character in your Love Connection,” Qin Nan joked with a smile.

Yellow Hair and the others all froze.

“Isn’t Qi Xu already dead? How could he join a dating show?” Yellow Hair found the idea inconceivable.

“During Escape Room, the female ghost told us Qi Xu killed himself at eighteen and became an evil ghost. But according to this autobiography, that isn’t what happened,” Qin Nan said.
Jian Fan had grasped the general contents, so he passed the book to Mu Xin.

Lin Junruo immediately moved closer.

The autobiography began with Qi Xu’s childhood.

Just as the female ghost in red had said, Qi Xu had a miserable childhood.

He was abducted, abused, and fell ill.

In Escape Room’s backstory, Qi Xu was beaten down and ultimately killed himself at the hospital. He then became a vengeful ghost and killed his adoptive parents to avenge himself. In the book, however, Qi Xu did climb onto the hospital roof, but as he stood high above and looked down upon the countless people below, he suddenly regretted it.

It was not that he feared death. He simply felt it was not worth it.

And so, Qi Xu left the rooftop.

He did not kill himself, so naturally, he did not die.

With no money, he approached his school and negotiated a partnership.

Qi Xu had excellent grades and the potential to become the top scorer in the national college entrance examination. He used this as leverage, telling the school that he needed an advance of several thousand yuan for treatment. In return, after taking the exam, he would advertise the school.

Of course, he did not put it quite so bluntly.

From the school’s perspective, even if Qi Xu did not place first, strong grades would still let it advertise that it had sponsored a student. Thus, the school quickly agreed to Qi Xu’s proposal.

Qi Xu’s illness was not especially serious. It only made him somewhat more prone to getting sick.

The money carried him through the immediate crisis. He then took the national college entrance examination and successfully became the top scorer in his province. His partnership with the school benefited both sides, and he received a bonus from the school. On the day his university acceptance letter arrived, he left that city immediately. His adoptive parents did not even know what score he had earned.

By the time publicity about Qi Xu spread everywhere, his adoptive parents had long since lost all trace of him.

Using the school’s bonus, Qi Xu moved to the city where his university was located and used the money as capital for a small business.

Qi Xu was highly intelligent, and that intelligence manifested not only in his studies but also in his ability to make money.

Qi Xu began earning money for living expenses before university even started. He continued after enrolling, and before he had even graduated, he had become a small business owner worth millions.

Then he gathered several classmates, formed a makeshift team, and launched a startup. Three years after graduation, he became a rising star in the business world. Five years after that, he took his company public.

“That’s pretty damn impressive, but what does it have to do with our dating show?” Yellow Hair asked.

Mu Xin had just reached that part. “Qi Xu is a sponsor of Love Connection.”

Yellow Hair was baffled.

“Qi Xu runs a technology company, but after becoming wealthy, he also entered the entertainment industry. Love Connection is one of the variety shows he invested in,” Qin Nan added.

Yellow Hair found it difficult to believe.

“In Escape Room, Qi Xu died at eighteen. But in reality, he didn’t die and even became the sponsor of our dating show? Then are the other two variety shows connected to him too?” Yellow Hair asked.

Qin Weiyi nodded. “They are.”

“How?” Zhou Jingying pressed.

“The inn where the slow-paced variety show is filmed belongs to Qi Xu,” Qin Weiyi said. Then he continued, “As for the parenting show, Qi Xu invested in that one too.”

Zhou Jingying frowned slightly. “In other words, all four variety shows are connected to Qi Xu.”

“That part doesn’t strike me as especially strange. What I really can’t understand is why he was already dead in Escape Room,” Mu Xin said, raising the central question.