DTBS - Chapter 170

Chapter 170: Parenting Show 22: Kitty is the Comforting Jacket

"Say that again," Qin Qingshang looked at her. "What happened between me and your fiancée?"

"..." Tao Qiuyun was silent for a moment, then carefully considered before replying, "Miss Qin, that's not the point. What happened in the past is no longer important."

"No, it's very important," Qin Qingshang wasn't going to let this go easily. "You married me because I look exactly like your deceased fiancée, right? You're treating me as her stand-in?"

"Not a stand-in," Tao Qiuyun pursed her lips, trying hard to convince herself she was maintaining her game persona and being responsible to the viewers watching the livestream. She forced herself to say, "It's... a spiritual anchor..."

"Tao Qiuyun," the cat slammed down her pen. "Then tell me, what is your purpose in kidnapping me now? What is your purpose in kidnapping Qinqin? What secret does this island hold?"

"...After I left Destiny Island, the island seemed to disappear. I couldn't find my way back," Tao Qiuyun slowly recounted her backstory. "Just recently, I suddenly heard there was an anomaly in the sky, a small island appeared out of nowhere. I checked the satellite images and confirmed this was the Destiny Island that had vanished back then. It just so happened that the President's spies hadn't reported back, so I fabricated intelligence. I originally wanted to volunteer and take you and Qinqin to the island myself, but I didn't expect the agency to send so many people to the island at once."

"After so many years," Lu Fangting looked at Tao Qiuyun. "You've started a family and career, why suddenly think of returning to the island? And why did you land on the island this way? Aren't you the Young Commander?"

"My fiancée died, and I was immersed in the grief of losing her... back then," Tao Qiuyun endured Qin Qingshang's slightly threatening gaze with every word, but her character demanded it. You have to love the job you do. She was determined to see her script persona through to the end, striving for a good immersive experience for the audience: "I only thought of escaping. Later, I met Miss Qin, treated her as a spiritual anchor, had a daughter with her, and gradually forgot everything about the island."

"But Destiny Island reappeared, stirring up my long-buried memories. Only then did I analyze Ayin's death from a rational perspective—cough, Ayin is my deceased fiancée." She looked at Qin Qingshang.

"Hmph!" The cat ignored her.

"Her death was very strange," Tao Qiuyun lowered her eyes, her gentle voice continuing: "I know there's a training facility on Destiny Island. Children aren't allowed to leave until they reach adulthood. As the island master's daughter, I was told from a young age that after I came of age, I would go to the world above ground and succeed Destiny Island as the island master."

"In the years I was away from the island, I learned a lot from the outside world. And after so many years, the island residents might not remember me. So this time, I wanted to enter the island as an outsider and secretly investigate the truth of Ayin's death."

"Your purpose is just to find out the truth about your fiancée's death?" Ming Siwen didn't believe her.

"Indeed." Tao Qiuyun nodded.

Of course, this was just a small part of her purpose, but hiding it... doesn't count as lying, right?

"Do you have any leads now?" Mu Kaitai asked curiously.

"Today's victim's symptoms of death are exactly the same as Ayin's back then."

Tao Qiuyun turned to look at the "audience seats" and continued, "So I suspect that Old Man White Beard is closely related to Ayin's death back then. It's just a pity that I didn't have time to investigate further before I was caught."

"Stop acting, CEO Tao, your acting might fool them, but you can't fool me," Qin Qingshang stood up and walked in front of her, looking down at the woman sitting in the chair: "Tell the truth, you must be hiding something else. Also, why did you capture me? Don't try to avoid the main point. You could have continued to pretend and investigate with me. Why did you suddenly turn on me?"

"This is your last chance. I'll count to three."

"Destiny Island actually has a legend," Tao Qiuyun decisively followed her inner thoughts. "Under the altar in the Witch Shrine, there's a secret technique hidden that can resurrect the dead. After Ayin died, I went looking for this secret technique. However, the conditions for resurrection are extremely harsh, because the opening chapter states that if you want to resurrect the dead, you must find a living person who looks exactly like the deceased and sacrifice their body so that the deceased's soul can possess, possess... possess... Qingshang, don't look at me like that, I, I also..."

"You also what?" Qin Qingshang took a deep breath. "Tao Qiuyun, you really know how to talk! So actually, you orchestrated all of this, and you said I was your spiritual anchor after Ayin died, and you said your memories were buried. You're really good at shifting focus and playing to your strengths while avoiding your weaknesses. The truth is, you planned from the beginning to sacrifice me to resurrect your Ayin, which is why you approached me, married me, and even used a child to tie me down. While you were being fake with me, you never gave up searching for a way back to Destiny Island. Resurrecting Ayin was your only goal and belief in life, wasn't it?"

Tao Qiuyun was speechless. After all, that's exactly what the script said:

[You saw her. This girl actually looks exactly like your Ayin. You immediately wanted to take her back to the island for Ayin's resurrection ritual. However, after leaving Destiny Island, fate seemed to abandon you, and you could no longer find your way home. But she was your only connection to Ayin, and you decided you couldn't give up easily. So you approached her, dated her, married her, and even used a child to tie her down. While you were being fake with her, you didn't give up searching for a way back to Destiny Island. Resurrecting Ayin was your only goal and belief in life.]

Good heavens, when she read the script, she didn't even dare to glance in Qin Qingshang's direction. The version of herself in this script was simply a scumbag! She had thought it would be fine, that maybe she wouldn't even need this confession if she hid it well, but the result was...

"And now that Destiny Island has appeared, you feel your chance has come. Entering the island with a hidden identity to investigate the truth of the deaths is one thing, but using us openly as cover is the real reason!" Qin Qingshang exposed her mercilessly: "Just look at how the islanders viewed residents who left Destiny Island before. And you're still their Young Commander. If you came back, you'd probably be drowned in their spit, which is why you didn't dare to step forward."

"...But," Mu Kaitai felt that she had been too naive to believe Tao Qiuyun just now. It turns out that slightly hiding some background information completely changed the situation. "Didn't CEO Tao also command the men in black?"

Being able to command the men in black was entirely because Lu Xiaokui had the staff give her a secret signal, and she went along with it to test the production team. But she definitely couldn't say something like that casually on camera.

Tao Qiuyun organized her words, trying hard to smooth over the plot for the production team: "Because I resemble the deceased island master somewhat, and the leader with the rabbit mask grew up with me since childhood and is my guard, he could recognize me."

She paused, and before the cat could speak, she said, "The order to capture Qinqin initially wasn't given by me. I was revisiting the old place, missing Ayin late at night, so, hiss! So I came to the training facility to take a look, wanting to reminisce about the past with her. Who knew I would happen to run into Qinqin escaping."

The cat used her claws to pinch her waist hard.

"Good heavens," Dai Congxu in the observation room applauded. "She actually managed to smooth it over."

Although the whole premise had been exposed, at least the plot was complete... Sob sob sob, if the pace of development hadn't been interrupted, how satisfying would it have been to reveal it later!

He hated it!

He wouldn't do live broadcasts anymore. No wonder after Lu Xiaokui's 《Super High-Speed Heartbeat》 became popular, few variety shows dared to use the live broadcast mode. It was too uncontrollable.

Tao Qiuyun looked at Qin Qingshang with some grievance: "Qingshang, the men in black were many, and they recognized me first. I was just trying to..."

"Stop pretending!" The cat interrupted her, twisting her arm again, and said angrily, "You captured me to sacrifice me! And you even said you were going to the Witch Shrine to interrogate the Great Witch. You were doing it on purpose! You just wanted to take the secret technique during the chaos, right? As long as you got the secret technique and kept a close eye on me, you could directly resurrect Ayin."

Tao Qiuyun: "..." Okay, she did think that at first.

But, she couldn't admit it. She absolutely couldn't admit it now!

"You misunderstood," the woman's expression was sincere. Although she was cursing herself for being shameless, she had to save face for her wife. "Actually, after spending so many years with you, I already... Hmm?"

Qin Qingshang reached out and covered her mouth: "Stop lying, CEO Tao. I'm not love-struck. You're being so obviously a scumbag. If I don't kick you out now, I'd be a real fool. Tao Qiuyun, you just wait. I'll let you know that scumbags don't have good endings! As a member of the Detective Club, I will take you back and let you face justice!"

So angry, so angry! After this, she was going to have a good talk with the production team's scriptwriter.

Of course, she wouldn't let off Qiuqiu, who had lied to her so badly!

Tao Qiuyun tilted her head slightly and said seriously, "Qingshang, I am sincere towards you. Even if I initially wanted you to be Ayin's vessel, I am now married to you and even have a daughter. Please believe me, okay? I truly want to live our lives together and never thought of sacrificing you."

"Then why did you capture me?"

"Lying to me is an added crime! You just wait when we get back!" The fired-up Qin Qingshang couldn't help but mention some out-of-game information.

"It's not like that," Tao Qiuyun no longer cared what the script said. No matter what the original program script was, she had to make up lies now to soothe the cat's ruffled fur. "Qinqin and the others being captured made me realize that after the island master was gone, the training facility was still operating. There must be a mastermind above the island master. Qingshang, I was actually protecting you. In the training facility, the men in black are responsible for taking good care of the children as they grow up. So the training facility is the safest place on the island. I was afraid someone would harm you."

"Do I look like I'm easily fooled?"

"I don't know who the mastermind is," Tao Qiuyun didn't give up struggling. "When I left the island, the island master was already near death. It's been ten years since I left, and it's impossible to train a new island master. This is the rule of the Destiny Training Facility. Everyone's origin is already decided. Fate cannot be defied... As things stand, I won't hide it from you anymore. There was a reason I had the men in black leave just now. This is an island that should be buried by history. It shouldn't exist. Qingshang, let's destroy it together, okay?"

"Although I know you're making up lies to deceive me," Qin Qingshang crossed her arms. "But I really like your suggestion. It's not impossible to consider."

"...This is my heartfelt wish."

Yes, she desperately wished this was the intended route of her script. So why did she have to be the bad guy? Did she look like a villain?

Even if she was a villain, acting first and reporting later would clearly be much better than the current awkward situation. If the men in black hadn't captured Qin Qingshang, she wouldn't have been exposed so early. Then she could have maintained her disguise, and when the cat wasn't paying attention, she could have struck at the vital point and won the game.

Even if her wife punished her afterward, she could beg for mercy, saying she was temporarily blinded by the desire to win, and that it was also to follow the program's character setting and enhance the livestream effect. The cat was so kind, she would at most make her sleep in the study for two months and then forgive her. But! Now all her intentions were laid bare...

Not to mention Qin Qingshang had warned her before not to lie. Tao Aiqin's garlic breath had practically forced her onto a "dead end"! It was so difficult, hell mode.

Other people's daughters were like warm cotton jackets; hers was practically a refrigeration suit made of ice, the kind that could send someone away on the spot.

If Tao Aiqin could hear her thoughts, she would definitely say: Ah, yes, yes, I did it on purpose. Also, Mama Qiuqiu, in this novel, you are the villain!

Qinqin's garlic made CEO Tao suspicious to Qin Cat. If she hadn't been suspicious, she could have won the game relatively safely. This is fate (cat sighs).

CEO Tao: Thanks, I won't go on variety shows anymore.

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