"It doesn't count, after all, the main show hasn't started yet."
"What are you going to do?"
"I heard Sonoko and the others said that the one named Akechi is a detective... Don't you think our play will be more exciting if there is a detective here!"
"But... what should I do about the phone line... Even if I can find a way to break it, the other party can still repair it..."
"This is simple, just add one more scene..."
…
"Chikako, it's time to eat!"
When Suzuki Ayako came to the door of the room where Chikako Ikeda was resting, she knocked on the door a little harder, but she seemed to be worried about disturbing the other person's rest, so she shouted in a low voice.
Soon, there was a sound in the room, and then Chikako Ikeda opened the door and appeared in front of it, saying with a slightly tired expression:
"I'm sorry, Ayako. I'm not feeling well, so I won't have dinner for now."
In this regard, looking at Chikako Ikeda's face, Suzuki Ayako couldn't help but asked worriedly:
"What's wrong? Chikako? Were you caught in the rain outside just now? Could it be that you caught a cold and got sick?"
"Well... I guess not."
With a wry smile, Chikako Ikeda waved her hand, "I just feel a little tired and want to take a good rest."
"Is that so?"
Hearing what the other party said, Suzuki Ayako still looked slightly worried.
"Oh, Ayako, it's okay with me."
Chikako Ikeda couldn't help but continue to comfort Suzuki Ayako, "I've just been a little busy recently, and it's hard to come here to relax, so I want to take more rest."
"That's right."
Hearing this, Suzuki Ayako's expression became slightly relieved, "Then I won't disturb you, and I will leave some dinner for you."
"Well, I'm sorry to trouble you."
As Chikako Ikeda said, she closed the door and walked back into the house.
So Suzuki Ayako had no choice but to go back downstairs, sat down at the dining table and couldn't help but blame herself and said:
"I...seem to have disturbed her rest..."
"What's wrong? Could it be that Chikako fell asleep?"
Hearing this, Kakutani Hiroki couldn't help but ask.
"She seemed very tired, so she didn't come for dinner."
"Really, it's not easy for everyone to get together. What kind of temper is she showing?"
In response, Ohta Katsu said with some disdain, "She probably just doesn't want to hang out with us!"
"Ota, are you thinking too much? I think Chikako is just too tired."
Kakutani Hiroki couldn't help but comfort him.
"snort."
Hearing what Kakutani Hiroki said, Ohta Katsu couldn't help but curl up the corner of his mouth and said in a disdainful tone:
"Kakutani, are you still speaking for her? Why, is it possible that you two are getting back together again?"
"Ah, no..."
Faced with Ohta Masaru's words, Hiroki Kakutani couldn't help but smile bitterly——
"Huh? Mr. Kakutani and Miss Chikako were once lovers?"
After hearing the conversation between the two, Sonoko couldn't help but feel curious, and whispered to Suzuki Ayako beside her for confirmation.
"Well... they were dating during college..."
After recalling it, Suzuki Ayako also replied in a low voice.
"Huh? I really can't tell..."
Xiaolan on the side couldn't help but also felt surprised.
"Kakutani, I advise you to give up on Chikako. Don't you still understand what kind of woman she is?"
At this time, Ota Masaru said to Kakutani Hiroki with an expression that seemed like someone who had come from before, as if he was being taught by an elder.
"Ota, what you say is going too far!"
Kakutani Hiroki couldn't help but said angrily.
"What, did I say something wrong?"
Ota Katsu said disdainfully, and then looked at Takahashi Ryoichi aside:
"Takahashi thinks so too."
As he said that, he saw Takahashi Ryoichi lowering his head involuntarily and said nothing more, so Ohta Masaru turned to Amamiya Atsuko:
"And Atsuko..."
"Okay Ota!"
Speaking of this, Amemiya Atsuko couldn't help interrupting Ohta Masaru's words, lowered her head, and whispered:
"After all, that's all in the past. And your habit of speaking ill of people behind their backs..."
"OK OK!"
Seeing that the atmosphere of everyone chatting was getting worse and worse, Suzuki Ayako couldn't help but say:
"What happened today? We finally got together, why can't we spend it happily? Let the troubles of the past go away!"
Hearing this, several people who were initially displeased by Ohta Masaru's words could not help but feel relieved and each ate the food in front of them. The culprit, Ohta Masaru, did not continue to talk.
"By the way, Mr. Akechi, that bottle of red wine you brought back, do you want to drink it now?"
At this time, seeing that the atmosphere of everyone's meal had become relaxed, Suzuki Ayako remembered that Gao Yuan had taken a bottle of "59-year-old" "Lafite" red wine from the warehouse, and couldn't help but ask Gao Yuan for suggestions.
"No, forget it, I don't feel like drinking today."
Gao Yuan couldn't help but smile and refuse - tonight might not be peaceful, and he didn't intend to drink and cause trouble.
The rest of the people didn't seem to have the desire to drink, so Suzuki Ayako's proposal to warm up the atmosphere came to nothing.
Looking at the harmonious atmosphere at the dining table, Gao Yuan couldn't help but be very interested in the topic Ohta Masaru had stirred up before. He always felt that something was going on here——
After all, in the original work, it was because Chikako Ikeda plagiarized Atsuko's novels that Chikako Ikeda won the Best Newcomer Award, which led to Atsuko's suicide. And the murderer in the original work planned the "Bandage Monster Incident" to avenge Atsuko and killed him.
To Chikako Ikeda.
Although Atsuko is still alive, these club members obviously have a lot of criticism towards Chikako Ikeda. It seems that Chikako Ikeda is not very popular among the club members.
If this "Bandage Man" incident was planned by someone, then perhaps this is the reason.
However, now that Suzuki Ayako has asked everyone to stop discussing this topic, Gao Yuan will naturally not be uninterested and deliberately raise this topic during meal time to continue to make the atmosphere that was finally harmonious continue to become tense.
"By the way, Miss Amamiya, I heard that you are a novelist, right?"
During the meal, Gao Yuan suddenly became curious and asked Amamiya Dunzi.
"That's right!"
Takahashi Ryoichi interrupted with a smile:
"Atsuko's novel was just published recently! She debuted under the pen name of 'Atsuko Tokumoto'!"
"Takahashi..."
Regarding Takahashi Ryoichi's explanation, Amamiya Atsuko said shyly.
"That's right! To tell you the truth, I really like reading novels!"
Gao Yuan couldn't help but said:
"I wonder what type of Amamiya-san's works are they?"
"It's... reasoning..."
Lowering her head, Amamiya Atsuko said with some embarrassment.
"It's true! In fact, my favorite thing to read is mystery novels! I will definitely read them when I have time in the future..."
When Gao Yuan was talking and wanted to know more about something, a burst of white light flashed outside the house. Suddenly, all the lights in the villa dimmed——
"Bang!"
A clear sound sounded——
It was the sound of broken glass. At this time, as the lights of the villa went out, it came from the second floor...