The earlier invigilators were basically all from the army so people like Chu Yue are actually very good at enduring. Unless they were deliberately exaggerating as a joke, something as minor of this wasn't a problem.
But if she said she felt uncomfortable, then she must be feeling very uncomfortable.
So how hungry must she be???
You Huo at first was a little doubtful but he didn't expect that he would resonate with her less than half an hour later.
The so-called resonate was in a physical sense —– Chu Yue's stomach would protest and his stomach was similarly sing out afterwards. This duet almost made Qin Jiu burst out laughing.
"My chest is burning, and I feel a little dizzy." Chu Yue circled around the sofa, unable to sit down due to her hunger.
You Huo on the other hand was silent. He sat on the sofa with his legs crossed and had changed into low-energy mode.
Chu Yue circled and circled and once again couldn't help but turn towards the kitchen.
"Oh, that's right. Where did those onions go?"
You Huo and Qin Jiu looked at her in shock.
"No, I mean. What's with that look of yours? I don't plan to eat it alone. It's just that if I find something else, I might be able to make something with it."
This lady had become so hungry, she started to have delusions.
"Forget it. The two of you probably don't know either. I'll take another look and see if I can find something to eat." She was reluctant to give up, "Even if it's a chili, I can stir fry it. If there are three or five of them, I could even turn it into a dish of fried chili peppers."
"But there's no vinegar here. Otherwise it could be made into sweet and sour fried chili peppers."
She was rather masochistic. Despite feeling so hungry her chest was about to stick against her back, she still tortured herself by talking about topics like this. Her stomach sounded more loudly than ever.
As the stomach sounds moved away from them, the back of the sofa in which You Huo sat in sank a little.
He turned to look and saw Qin Jiu with his elbow pressed into it. Qin Jiu lowered his head and asked, "Feeling uncomfortable?"
"Average." You Huo subconsciously made it sound less severe than it really was.
After saying that, he paused for a moment and added, "Similar to what Chu Yue said. Just looking at you right now makes me want to bite you."
Somehow that last line sounded a little strange.
Qin Jiu lowered an arm and brought it in front of You Huo, "It's not like you didn't bite me last night. Look at our Big Invigilator's teeth marks."
You Huo: "...…"
Did he really have to bring up something like this right now?
Just as he wanted to turn away, he saw that there weren't any teeth marks on his arm.
Another joke?
Under You Huo's cold stare, Qin Jiu rubbed You Huo's face with his hand, "Just kidding."
"Just before your brother entered the bathroom, I tried to make the mirror move a little. He should have noticed it."
You Huo thought of Yu Wen's reaction and asked, "Scared to death?"
Qin Jiu, "It's okay. He recovered."
"Are you sure he understands what you mean?"
"Probably. Depends on your brother's deduction abilities."
You Huo looked over at the tall mirror.
Sure enough, on the other side of the mirror, Yu Wen rushed straight to the sofa after leaving the bathroom.
While shaking off the water from his hand, he shouted into the distance, "Old Yu! The mirror moved a little just now! It must be my brother calling me."
Qin Jiu raised his eyebrow and happily accepted the title of 'my brother'.
"What is it? What is it?" Old Yu jogged over to the sofa.
"He must be urging me to let them out."
This time, Yu Wen's deduction ability was pretty good. He managed to accurately understand their intentions.
The others returned to the living room one after another.
"Just randomly write a wrong answer." Yang Shu said.
She still didn't look to be in a very good state, but it wasn't as bad as before. Clearly Shu Xue and Wu Li's comforting helped.
"Are you all ready?" Yu Wen asked as he picked up the marker.
He just needed to write a wrong answer and then cross it out. Anything that can reflect objects in this building would become killing weapons so they will have to ensure their own safety until You Huo, Qin Jiu and Chu Yue comes out.
Wu Li rubbed her stomach and said, "My stomach hurts a little. It's probably because of hunger. If something happens later, just try and save yourselves."
"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you." Yang Shu turned and said to Yu Wen, "Go ahead."
Yu Wen clutched the marker as everyone tensed up.
Inside the mirror, Chu Yue had stopped being delusional and had returned to the sofa waiting to be let out.
"I remember discussing with sister that the answer should be 1...." Yu Wen muttered to himself.
At most how many Shirley's can there be?
If the Shirley in the mirrors are all fake, then there could only be one Shirley.
As Yu Wen said this, he moved to write a 0 under the second question.
Just as he started writing, You Huo said, "Wait."
But unfortunately, Yu Wen who was outside the mirror couldn't see him let alone hear him.
Fortunately, someone else outside stopped him.
"Wait." The one who spoke was Yang Shu.
Yu Wen had only drawn a small arc. He stopped halfway and didn't dare move.
"We have exchanged some information inside the mirror before. From the looks of Shirley's and her parent's diaries, she may have....already been replaced by the person inside the mirror." Yang Shu said, "I'm sure you've watched horror movies. Most tropes are like this."
Yu Wen hadn't entered the mirror, nor did he have the change to read the diaries.
When he heard this, he was startled. He asked hesitantly: "Then the answer is...0?"
Wu Li said, "Actually we're not sure. The question is a little vague. If Shirley really was replaced and the person inside the mirror is considered a fake regardless of whether they can or cannot come out, the answer should be 0. If what's in the mirror is considered fake and anything that can be touched is considered real, the answer should be 1. But if none of that mattered, the answer should be infinity."
"Now that infinity is ruled out, 0 or 1 is still uncertain."
Yu Wen thought about it, "Then to be safe I won't write 0 or 1."
As he said that, he continued that arc and changed it into a 3.
Sali and Shirley had recovered from yesterday's traumatic experience. Holding hands, they opened the door and walked out to the basketball court across the street while bouncing their balls. The 'thud, thud' sounds of the balls slowly moved further away.
The people in the room watched Shirley's back. The atmosphere in the room was tense. Nobody spoke.
Shortly after the pair of siblings left, red writing slowly appeared on the paper. A tick appeared behind the 3 and there was a +12 points written too.
????
Yu Wen's mind was filled with question marks.
When accidentally guessing the correct answer, that was called being lucky.
When confidently writing the wrong answer but instead accidentally getting it right, that wasn't called being lucky. That was called being a joke.
— Being made a joke.
— You Huo, Qin Jiu and Chu Yue unable to get out.
— Three Shirleys.
It was hard to say which of those three things was more shocking.
In any case, all three things made the people outside the mirror feel despaired.
You Huo and the others were hungry whereas Yu Wen and the others were shocked.
The thud, thud, thud of the ball travelled from across the street into the house. The giggles of the two children echoed across the street, breaking the dead silence in the house.
"Three Shirleys? How can there be three Shirleys? There are only two children in total." Old Yu stuck his head out and looked outside.
But what he saw made his hair stand on end.
For a moment, if the hair length was overlooked, those two children looked too similar….
It was really too similar, almost exactly the same.
Inside the mirror, You Huo patted Qin Jiu: "Didn't you memorise Shirley's diary? Recite it again."
Qin Jiu: "...…."
Reciting it to joke with You Huo was fine but it was rather scary reciting it seriously in the presence of other people.
Qin Jiu said: "I know what you want to hear. It's the information about Sali, right?"
Chu Yue also sat up: "Yeah, I also felt that something was strange when I read the diary. Now that we have touched on this topic, I remember that every time Shirley mentions her parents, she would also talk about the mother rewarding her with this and that and her father rewarding her with this and that...Her parents...don't seem to give anything to Sali?"
This time Qin Jiu didn't need to recite the diary. You Huo could also remember that entry very clearly.
Shirley had written in one of them that she and Sali had made a bet. Since she had won, Sali should give her a candy but Sali didn't have any...…because their mother never gives him candy.
You Huo turned through Shirley's parent's diary and noticed that they have never mentioned Sali.
It was as if this 'son' of theirs had never existed and that they only have one daughter.
"Also, when Shirley lost a tooth, Sali also lost a tooth." Chu Yue said, "At first it didn't seem like anything but at that time I felt....Or at least I subconsciously felt....that the tooth they lost was probably from identical places."
In addition to all that, this pair of "siblings" would often speak in unison.
Even if they had agreed on it before hand, even if they're twins, it wasn't possible for them to be in sync all the time.
The people inside and outside the mirror instantly thought of a possibility——
Sali is Shirley.
"Wait!" Old Yu suddenly remembered something and rushed straight over to the guest room.
The others hastily followed after him.
"What is it?"
Seeing old Yu lifting the mattress, everyone was a little confused.
"Wasn't I stuck inside the mirror earlier? I tried to see if I could find any clues in the guest room at that time." Old Yu called Yu Wen over to give him a hand and together they moved the mattress aside. He reached his hand in and said, "Isn't there a small gap by the side of the bed? Back then I saw something that resembled a book but wasn't able to get it out."
A book under the guest room bed. If it wasn't accidentally left there by someone, it was probably hidden there deliberately.
Old Yu felt that the latter seemed more likely.
Finally able to take it out, Old Yu blew off the dust from the cover and spread it open on coffee table.
At the same time, an identical book had appeared before You Huo and the others. The pages turned to the same page the others outside was looking at.
This was also a diary.
From the clumsy writing, it was still Shirley's but it was dated earlier than the entries Qin Jiu had memorised.
February 19th.
I have an older brother. I will call him Sali.
Mum said that I was originally supposed to have a brother and dad even got a bunk bed but unfortunately it didn't happen.
What does she mean by originally?
February 22nd.
I have a brother! I'm so happy!
He was in my room, sleeping under me.
I told my mother about this. She was cutting cabbage when I told her. She was so happy; she dropped her knife.
February 24th.
Mum and dad likes to hug me lately. They would always do it when I'm sick.
But I'm not sick.
It's nice having a brother. Sali plays ball with me every day.
February 25th.
I asked my mother if Sali and I are twins. Mum didn't seem very happy.
She's so strange. She doesn't seem to like Sali.
March 5th.
Sali finally wore something different from me. I helped cut his hair.
Now the two of us are different.
He no longer cries when I cry and will even make me laugh.
March 7th.
Mum bought me lots of candy. I'm so happy.
When dad was reading to me, he asked me why I have a brother.
It's because I made a wish. I would always make a wish in front of the mirror before going to bed.
But I didn't tell him that.
Sali said that it's a secret between us.
April 2nd.
When we took a photo today, I asked Sali to join in. Mum agreed.
We took a lot of pictures.
I can put them on the stove or let dad hang them up.
April 15th.
Mum and ad still don't seem to like Sali.
What a pity.
...…
Although this diary made peoples hair stand on end, it was clearly much gentler than the previous one.
After everyone read the contents, they could vaguely understand what had happened.
The family originally living here was a family of three; the male and female owner and their daughter Shirley.
Shirley would face the mirror and make a wish every day and, one day, the mirror copied her. That was Sali.
At first, Sali looked just like Shirley. From their appearance to their expressions, it was exactly the same. At some point in time, Sali had cut his hair and changed his clothes and no longer looked exactly the same as Shirley.
It had started to become real…..
After half a year passed, the mirror started to take action again. This time, the whole family noticed that something wasn't right.
It should have copied another Shirley but this time, instead of simply playing with her, it had replaced her.
Perhaps it was out of jealousy or competitiveness? Or perhaps it was due to some other reasons.
That was probably why the tone in the second diary changed so much.
***
On the court, the pair of siblings bounced their balls very happily.
The onlookers however found it very terrifying.
If those two are "Shirley", then where is the third one?
With both questions answered correctly, You Huo and the others were forced to stay in there a little longer.
Yu Wen even ran over to the mirror to repent, "Brother, I accidentally answered the question correctly and I can't cross it out anymore. We can only wait for the question to refresh at night to let you out. Please bear with it a little longer."
Chu Yue licked her teeth, "No, I can't bear it any longer. I think I'll lock myself in the room for now. Just looking at this kid makes me think that his meat must be fresh and tender and very delicious. You two should also stay away from me. I'll come out again in the evening."
She finished saying this and ran off.
The door to the guest room slammed shut and no more movements were heard.
You Huo rubbed his eyes. His gaze fell onto Qin Jiu's neck.
He could keenly sense the flow of blood rushing through the veins on his neck with each heartbeat.
....
He was also very hungry.
Qin Jiu leaned forward and looked into his eyes, "There's still a few more hours. Can you endure it?"
You Huo quickly returned to his senses.
He licked his lips and looked away, "Barely. So, I'm going to go sleep. You....don't get too close to me. I'm afraid of waking up to a pile of bones."
Qin Jiu was very obedient...….as if.
***
That afternoon was a very long and arduous one, in various senses.
When it was time for a nap in the evening, the hungry and the restless all calmed down. Everyone in the building had fallen asleep. Even the Shirley "siblings" were in buried in their beds letting out soft snores.
They had a hard time sleeping. It was because the examinees got the questions right and it was also because of some...other changes.
At 8pm exactly, the paper in the living room refreshed with a new question:.
One Shirley would not speak, two Shirleys would chatter happily. Shirley always likes to play small games such as hiding somewhere and waiting for her parents or the guest to find her. But now that there are three Shirleys, this game has been troubling her.
Shirley's favourite hiding place is the cabinet under the bed in the master bedroom. A small and thin one was enough to hide two Shirleys inside, or even another Shirley along with a ball, or even two balls.
Shirley always like to hold onto her ball while hiding. How many cabinets would the three Shirleys need?
KK has something to say:
What?! Three Shirleys??