The Baffling Show / A Setup
Starting tonight, she can conduct a more intensive search; no corner of Kawamori will escape her eyes until the shepherd is finally found. And after that, another thing she can do for the little girl is to avenge her mother.
"Okay, Miko, Sister Jianzi."
The little girl waved goodbye to the gentle older sister, then looked at her phone's points again and couldn't help but sigh.
"Let's go back, Dad."
Amamiya Xingqiu didn't say much, and took her hand as they walked towards the Amamiya Family mansion.
"Is it all over?"
"It's all over, my game is over."
Sanae said dejectedly,
"I'm not going to make it to the next round, let's go home."
"He couldn't even pass the first round?"
This left Xingqiu speechless. He took out his phone, feeling somewhat puzzled.
Although his father meant for him to leave with his daughter after the competition, he didn't want to leave now. He didn't really care, and he knew the old man was eager for him to leave, but didn't he want to see his granddaughter a few more days?
"Hey--you're in charge of the competition, right?"
Before Amamiya Tengo could react, he continued speaking.
"Sanae said she couldn't even get past the first round. Does that mean your competition only recruits geniuses?"
He didn't go in to see for himself and didn't know what was going on. But once he sat down in the audience, he should have understood what this so-called competition was really like.
"..."
The old man on the other end sighed. Although he was one of the organizers, the actual work was still handled by Amamiya Shinro.
Amamiya Shinro also told him some things about the competition.
"Don't worry, this child will be able to continue participating in the competition."
Tengo paused, too embarrassed to reveal the details of the competition, and simply gave a perfunctory reply before hanging up the phone.
It was also because he cared about his reputation that he realized what kind of trap the president of the Calligraphy Association had set for him after hearing Shen Lang's explanation.
Before this competition, he never imagined things could turn out this way.
The phone call ended, and as soon as Xingqiu put down the phone, the girl's cell phone rang.
This is a new email; the content is very simple.
"Congratulations, Ms. Ten'gu Sanae, on qualifying for the second round of the competition. Here is your entry number... Please..."
At the end, her "fame" score remained largely unchanged.
The same emails were not sent to some of the contestants until 6 p. m.
Yotsuya Miko was originally planning to go out, stared intently at the qualification on her phone, sensing something eerie.
"This... is impossible..."
She was about to leave after dinner when this email left her in a stalemate.
What happened?
After leaving the stadium, she used her Spiritual Sense to view the scores of several contestants. After a rough estimate, she concluded that her score was already destined to prevent her from advancing to the next round.
But... what has happened now?
"Miko, what's wrong? Did you... receive an email?"
Chuan Chuan Xun looked at her with confusion and worry. After a moment of shock, Yotsuya Miko finally recovered.
She gave a forced smile, a smile that was neither quite a smile nor quite a cry, but in short, very innocent.
"I think I... went too far?"
To be honest, she wanted to cry.
Chapter 135 A Bizarre Program
What happened?
Yotsuya Miko was completely baffled until Chuan Chuan Xun turned on the TV.
"Well, maybe there are some Miko of the competition that were overlooked."
Because the emotional build-up Miko was quite effective, Chuan Chuan Xun wasn't particularly surprised to see her expression of utter disbelief at her success in the competition.
After tidying up the table, Xun went to the television and turned it on.
"By the way, the competition broadcast starts tonight, want to come and watch? To be honest, I also want to see what Miko's handwriting is like."
"Huh? The TV..."
She sorted out her thoughts, and it seemed there really was such a thing; it was probably what the host said that evening.
"Let's watch some TV together, maybe then we'll understand why you were able to pass the competition."
Having said all that, Miko Zi's intentions had been compromised, he had no choice but to cancel tonight's plans.
"Then I shall respectfully comply."
Moreover, she genuinely wanted to understand what had happened that she had no idea about.
A few minutes past the hour, the channel's program began.
The familiar-sounding host appeared on stage, accompanied by several older-looking men dressed very elegantly.
"I'm sure you've all heard about the first Kawami Calligraphy Competition, but let me give you a brief introduction first. The Kawami Calligraphy Competition is a grand event jointly organized by the Kawamori Calligraphy Association and the renowned calligrapher Mr. Amamiya Tengo, with the assistance of the Kawami government. The Kawami City Government also plans to include the competition in its regular operations."
"The first round of the competition has now been completed, and I believe the participants have already learned the results and may have many questions about the competition. For example—"
The host suddenly changed his tone.
"Why bother with these so-called points for fame?!"
"Can't the competition just stop with these weird things?"
After saying that, he switched back to his original tone.
"We fully understand these kinds of emotions and confusions. However, the competition is not that simple. Mr. Amamiya Shinro, what are your thoughts on the performance of these contestants?"
As he spoke, after a joke, he steered the conversation to a middle-aged man beside him.
"Me? To be honest, I'm very disappointed."
"Is that so? So that's what Mr. Shinro was hoping for..."
The host paused slightly, glancing at Amamiya Shinro as if he had heard something strange.
"Mr. Shenlang, what are you saying?"
"Very disappointed."
"... And what about Mr. Nishikawa Rakuyitsu?"
"Equal disappointment."
"Then delete zero^Qiwo(? two) temple stop(four)? Chun..."
"The answer is disappointment, utter disappointment."
A comedic scene unfolded, but it was clearly not a mistake on the part of the program. As the host asked the guests one by one, their names and identities were displayed in the upper left corner. These guests, who expressed their disappointment with the contestants' performances, were all renowned calligraphers.
Disappointed?
The host returned to his original position dejectedly, then picked up the microphone.
"Ahem, although everyone isn't entirely satisfied with the contestants' performances, I personally think some of them were truly outstanding. Like this contestant—"
The scene then shifts to a shot of a contestant's calligraphy, and the "fame" value gradually increases until the calligraphy work is fully displayed, at which point the "fame" value finally stops increasing.
Looking at the "fame" on the screen, Miko realized something was wrong. This contestant was, unsurprisingly, the one who had accumulated the most "fame" in the four rounds of the competition, because his calligraphy was truly unique, always playing with some very eye-catching tricks.
"His calligraphy works were highly praised by the audience and judges; even I couldn't help but think..."
"All that's outwardly attractive, but completely lacking in spirit."
Amamiya Shinro suddenly spoke, turning his gaze to the person beside him.
"Mr. Kyōan, I remember you seem to be a master of this school. What do you think?"
"That's terrible."
The man addressed as Mr. Kyōan shook his head.
"He completely missed the mark. Look here... the handling here is terrible."
As he spoke, he stood up and pointed out various flaws in the calligraphy practice sheets on the screen.
Even Yotsuya Miko from outside the screen, couldn't figure out whether these people were there to cause trouble or what.
However, Chuan Chuan Xun beside her nodded.
"Yes, although the handwriting is interesting, it doesn't show much skill at all."
"Oh? Aunt Xun, you know calligraphy too?"
Miko suddenly glanced at her, somewhat surprised. The latter simply nodded, then shook her head.
"Actually, I know a little bit, but not much. But when it comes to calligraphy, even an ordinary person understands the difference between good-looking and bad-looking, right?"
The show continued, and as the host hurriedly switched to another contestant's work, a new round of criticism began.
Then came the third and fourth guests. These guests were indeed well-versed in the principles of calligraphy, criticizing the contestants' questions without hesitation and showing no mercy whatsoever. Miko glanced back and forth between Chuan Chuan Xun and the program, and she was surprised to find that the woman seemed to agree with whatever the guests said.
If she's not mistaken, "fame" is a scoring system used by judges and the audience, which means contestants with higher "fame" are more favored by the audience. No matter how much criticism a favored contestant receives, they probably won't be happy, right?
Miko began to feel strange, especially since even at the time, the judges seemed to have a better opinion of these contestants. Wait... what about what the judges said?
She watched the program and then took out her phone to search for information about the competition.
Some people shared her confusion, while others began discussing the usefulness of "fame." Some contestants lamented their high "fame" but were still eliminated, followed by replies that were basically just echoing the comments from guests on television. In short, it was a chaotic situation.
The show continued, and the guests didn't just criticize; they also gave some contestants very positive feedback, including her calligraphy, though it was rather vague.
But now, she no longer understands what the show is trying to achieve.
After commenting on many contestants, the host finally regained his composure and stopped responding to the guests' criticisms. His initial panic turned into an "Oh, I see" expression, indicating that he had probably given up.
"While the experts' comments were insightful, since the competition is based on reputation for advancement, these comments weren't particularly helpful for advancing. I can only express my deepest regret about this."
As he was saying this, a staff member suddenly walked up to him and handed him a note.
"Um?"
The host, bewildered, opened the note and read its contents aloud.
"We will select the two finalists based on fame and other factors... wait, what are those other factors?"
He said this with a puzzled look, then patted his head.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce you all. The calligraphers next to me are the judges for the second, third, and final rounds. So... are the other factors based on the approval of the second-round judges?!"
The host's exaggerated acting didn't make Yotsuya Miko laugh; she simply held her phone and sensed that people's joys and sorrows were not the same.
Won't this ruin the show?
She felt confused, while Chuan Chuan Xun beside her looked as if he had suddenly realized something.
"I see. So there's such a rule for advancing in the competition. I initially thought relying on audience votes was quite unreliable, but now I feel relieved."
Miko was deeply puzzled. However, she couldn't be bothered to care about the outcome of the competition; she only knew that she had probably failed and would have to participate in the competition for two more days.
It's best to stop at the second option.
Chapter 136 A Scheme
Yotsuya Miko wasn't the only one confused; Yuria, watching television in her room, also felt something strange.
"I no longer understand this kind of performance."
After contacting Divine Gate in the Kawamori region, they learned about the calligraphy competition. According to Divine Gate, this calligraphy competition was organized to facilitate the mobilization of funds and personnel, and to attract the attention of the people of Kawamori while conducting searches in Kawamori.
Such searches also became a pretext for the out-of-town Divine Gate to intervene in Kawamori's affairs. Just like Okita Qishen's so-called search for the mole, other Divine Gate also sent their own people with their own agendas.