Basketball Qiao

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Basketball Qiao (乔篮球)
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Second-generation Zhao's brother and recurring partner 19 29
Occupation/Role	Former provincial basketball player; later a basketball coach 10 19
First Appearance	Class Reunion scenario 7

Background / History

Basketball Qiao's scenario identity is a thirty-four-year-old former provincial player who nearly reached the national team. Raised in poverty, he pursued basketball to support his mother after his older brother disappeared and her mental health deteriorated. His career collapsed after match-fixing, leaving him coaching children for a modest income. 10 19

His mother was later killed in a hit-and-run caused by Brother Hao's second-in-command. Qiao sought justice while away playing basketball, but the driver escaped meaningful consequences after Lawyer Jin helped conceal the case. Qiao's failed attempts to pursue the matter contributed to his own downfall. 26

Qiao is eventually identified as Second-generation Zhao's biological brother. Their shared connection to their mother's death drives their hostility toward Lawyer Jin and shapes their actions throughout the scenario. 19 26 29

Appearance

Basketball Qiao is an exceptionally tall and heavily built man—nearly 2.1 meters—whose childish face sharply contrasts with his intimidating physique. 8 10

• Hulking, burly build; described as a “Barbie Hercules.” 8 11
• Baby-faced and youthful-looking despite being thirty-four. 10 11
• Frequently carries or eats a lollipop. 10
• His room is cluttered with scattered belongings, luggage, and student files, reflecting that he has been living at the villa rather than merely visiting. 14 19

Personality

Qiao is outspoken, emotional, easily distracted, and unusually poor at reading the room. He provides excessively detailed testimony, becomes absorbed in the role's painful memories, and repeatedly exposes secrets that the other players intended to conceal. 10 12

He has a short temper when humiliated or insulted, nearly fighting Ying De after being mocked for his lack of success. However, he responds well to ordinary conversation and is readily redirected when treated respectfully. 8 10

Behind his naïve presentation, Qiao is more calculating than he initially appears. He plants recording equipment, uses apparently careless remarks to pressure Lawyer Jin, bargains with information about the secret chamber, and repeatedly steers suspicion toward his chosen target. 24 31 33

His strongest trait is loyalty to Zhao. That loyalty becomes inseparable from grief and revenge, leading Qiao to prioritize Lawyer Jin's death over identifying Ying De's actual killer. 32 39

Skills

Athletic Strength

Qiao's former basketball career and massive physique make him one of the physically strongest people in the villa.

• Nearly attacks Ying De after repeated provocation. 8
• Fits the physical profile for smothering a weakened victim with a pillow. 29
• Uses direct, practical action rather than subtle social maneuvering. 37

Evidence Manipulation

Though he presents himself as inexperienced, Qiao can prepare and use evidence strategically.

• Secretly plants a recording device in the living room before the group discussion. 24
• Uses the recording to obtain footage of Lawyer Jin destroying evidence. 24 26
• Trades the secret chamber's location for support against Lawyer Jin once he realizes its discovery is inevitable. 31 33
• Helps create false evidence around Ying De's body, including moving it and covering its face with a pillow. 37

Blunt Deduction

Qiao often reaches useful conclusions through instinct or partial information rather than clear reasoning.

• Exposes the shared blackmail situation by openly stating that Ying De had compromising information on everyone. 12
• Identifies Professor Lu as a possible killer connected to Doctor Zhen's former bullies. 28
• Correctly recognizes the potential relevance of manipulated clocks after Zhao suggests the theory, though he frames it through detective-fiction logic. 30

Equipment / Items

• Living-room recording device — secretly planted to obtain incriminating footage against Lawyer Jin. 24
• Milk tea — purchased before arriving at the villa; its payment and queue records support part of his alibi. 10 21
• Phone — uses a photograph of his mother as its lock screen. 21
• Threatening notes — the notes supposedly from Ying De are later linked to Qiao's handwriting, exposing that he wrote them himself. 37

Relationships

• Second-generation Zhao — Biological brother, closest ally, and fellow participant in the plan to eliminate Lawyer Jin. Each repeatedly protects the other and acts from shared grief over their mother. 19 29 32 37
• Ying De — Former classmate and victim. Qiao initially describes himself as Ying De's errand runner and resident in the villa through Ying De's favor; he later helps use Ying De's identity to manipulate Lawyer Jin. 12 20 37
• Lawyer Jin / Jin Zhuang — Primary target of Qiao's revenge because Jin helped cover up the hit-and-run that killed Qiao's mother. Qiao gathers recordings and repeatedly advocates voting him out. 24 26 32
• Zhen Liu / Doctor Zhen — Zhen challenges Qiao's revenge-driven logic and insists on finding the truth. He also exposes Qiao as the writer of the threatening notes through handwriting comparison. 24 32 37
• Professor Lu / Lucien — Qiao suspects Lu of murder and openly confronts him over the pattern of deaths connected to Doctor Zhen's former bullies. 28
• Brother Hao — Linked to the death of Qiao's mother through his second-in-command. Qiao initially believes Hao could be manipulated into killing Lawyer Jin. 26 32

Story Role / Major Arcs

Class Reunion Arrival and Testimony

Qiao arrives at the villa with Second-generation Zhao, bringing milk tea. Ying De immediately singles him out as the only unsuccessful former classmate, provoking Qiao into nearly starting a fight. 7 8

During the investigation, Qiao admits he has only played one previous scenario. He gives a lengthy, emotional account of his role's history and provides the timeline placing himself with Lawyer Jin after dinner, though his account later proves incomplete. 9 10 37

Breaking the Group's Secrecy

Qiao disrupts the players' temporary non-aggression pact by bluntly revealing that Ying De had blackmailed every attendee. He also exposes Ying De's confrontation with Lawyer Jin and continues asking about what played on the living-room television, threatening to reveal Jin's side quest. 12 13

After Zhao explains the group's one-point truce, Qiao enthusiastically agrees that the “good people” should cooperate and stops pursuing the television clue. 13

Revenge Against Lawyer Jin

Qiao's apparent innocence gradually gives way to deliberate hostility toward Lawyer Jin. He secretly records the living room, shares evidence of Jin destroying a news report, and presses Zhen Liu to support an early vote against him. 24 26

His motive is ultimately revealed as revenge for his mother. Qiao and Zhao believe Jin deserves death for his role in protecting the driver responsible for her fatal accident, even if Jin is not Ying De's murderer. 26 32

Secret Chamber and Staged Evidence

Qiao attempts to bargain with Zhen Liu, offering the secret chamber's location in exchange for help accusing Lawyer Jin. Zhen and Lu correctly infer that Qiao is trying to profit from information that Lawyer Jin was already close to uncovering. 31 33

Qiao later admits that he lied about waiting in his room. After finding Ying De and a knife in the secret chamber, he moved the body, disposed of the knife, and placed a pillow over the victim's face to create misleading evidence. 37

Earlier deductions suggested Qiao intended to take the blame for Zhao; the final explanation instead establishes that the brothers' original plan was to use Ying De's identity to make Ying De and Lawyer Jin destroy one another without directly committing murder themselves. 35 37

Repeating Loop and Final Cooperation

In previous loops of the scenario, Qiao and Zhao repeatedly choose to sacrifice Lawyer Jin to Brother Hao rather than solve the case. Their memories reset each time, trapping them in the same revenge-driven decision until the villa is burned down. 39 40

Qiao eventually acknowledges that handing Jin over without proof was wrong and views the group's deaths as karma. During the final confrontation with Brother Hao, he hides in the secret room and anxiously listens for signs that Zhen Liu is safe. 40 42