Jack gave Yi Wei an appreciative look and said, “You’re really impressive and talented. I look forward to seeing how you develop in the future.”
“Thank you for the compliment,” Yi Wei replied with a smile.
“It’s over now,” Jack said. “You can go and wait for the results.”
“No rush,” Yi Wei responded. “I still have two minutes left, so let me finish my final judgment.”
Jack looked at Yi Wei in confusion. “You haven’t finished yet?”
Without wasting time, Yi Wei continued, “Earlier, I mentioned your wife committing the crime in a fit of rage. Considering the height and weight differences between your wife and your son, it’s clear your wife couldn’t overpower both your son and Susan. So how could she have done it alone? There’s another possibility: you heard the commotion, rushed upstairs, and after learning what happened, you took the knife from your wife in a moment of anger and killed Susan yourself. Your son was unable to stop you, and Susan couldn’t overpower you, nor could she escape in time. So the real killer… is you.”
The evaluation room and the waiting hall fell silent. No one had expected such a twist.
Even the psychology expert sitting across from Yi Wei was stunned. He hadn’t anticipated his own guidance would fail. The three previous contestants had been led into thinking they had fully solved the case, but they had only gotten part of it right, missing the crucial details. It seemed that the expert had become overconfident after his earlier successes, but that was no excuse—he had lost.
Exactly at the thirty-minute mark, Yi Wei stood up and said, “Thank you for your time. I’ll go wait for the results now.”
After leaving the room, Yi Wei submitted his notes, which included his assessments of when the expert had been telling the truth and when he had been lying, along with the reasoning behind his judgments. These notes would also be used by the judges to help determine the final scores, and they would be made public later.
Entering the VIP room, Yi Wei called out, “Mom.”
“Well done,” Mi Xue said.
“It’s all thanks to your teachings. I found this kind of competition quite fun,” Yi Wei replied with a smile.
It was Mi Xue who had taught him that instead of blurting out everything he suspected all at once, it was better to start with a broadly correct but slightly flawed answer. By observing the other person’s reaction to this answer, Yi Wei could gauge whether they felt relieved or not. Only then would he reveal his true thoughts. Whether his assessment was right or wrong, there was always a fleeting moment of reaction, and that reaction was critical. The decision to change or stick with his answer had to be made in those few crucial seconds.
The results of the semifinals were announced. Yi Wei advanced to the finals from Group 1, while Qi Ran advanced from Group 2. The two would face off to determine the overall winner.
There was no extended break between rounds. After lunch, the final round began immediately.
The tight scheduling was deliberate—after competing in the morning, participants’ mental focus would naturally start to fatigue. After eating, digestion would make them even more tired, making it easier to reveal their true capabilities under stress.
Yi Wei and Qi Ran entered the room at the same time. Once the doors closed, they sat down facing each other.
Due to the potential for personal information to be revealed during the final, the match was not broadcast publicly. Only the judges, who had signed confidentiality agreements, were allowed to observe the entire process.
In the judging room, Jefferson clenched his fists. Qi Ran had to win this round—if he lost now, winning in the future would be even harder. More importantly, Qi Ran needed to maintain his reputation as a “genius.” If Yi Wei, who had only studied psychology for a little over a year and was competing for the first time, won, his reputation as a genius would immediately eclipse Qi Ran’s. Qi Ran’s own title of “genius” could be lost, and he might fade into obscurity. A rapid drop in attention would result in fewer opportunities for learning and development, limiting his future growth.
Meanwhile, in the VIP room, Mi Xue sipped her tea calmly and leisurely.
Pretending not to know each other, Yi Wei and Qi Ran began the questioning.
After exchanging basic information such as names, ages, and hobbies, they gradually moved into more serious topics, probing each other’s emotional defenses, trying to uncover their vulnerabilities.
Typically, this type of questioning was aimed at uncovering a person’s fears, sources of anger, childhood traumas, or anxieties about the future. Qi Ran had initially planned to exploit Yi Wei’s feelings about being switched at birth and not being valued as much as Yi Xuan by the Yi family. However, due to Yi Wei’s current attitude toward his family and knowledge of Gu Yueshan’s affair, Qi Ran decided to take a different approach. Instead of focusing on past traumas, he would target Yi Wei’s fears about the future.
“If that’s the case, then maybe your husband will divorce you and marry the woman outside. He definitely won’t give you custody of the child, and your chances of seeing the child might decrease,” Qi Ran said, confident that he had found Yi Wei’s weak spot.
“He won’t,” Yi Wei responded with a confident smile.
Qi Ran’s greatest vulnerability was likely related to his background and his mother’s status. But attacking Qi Ran on those points would likely cost Yi Wei points with the judges, as Qi Ran wasn’t a true criminal. So, Yi Wei chose to focus on Qi Ran’s feelings for Yi Bo instead.
“Deep down, you know that there’s no chance left between you and your ex-boyfriend, right?” Yi Wei asked, looking directly into Qi Ran’s eyes.
“Have you ever considered that maybe one day, you and your husband will also become hopeless? What I’m going through now could be your future,” Qi Ran shot back, staring into Yi Wei’s eyes.
Yi Wei slowly closed his eyes, and Qi Ran’s lips curled into a slightly smug smile. Yi Wei’s adoptive father, Berger Miller, had once been the world’s top hypnotist, and now Qi Ran had successfully hypnotized Berger Miller’s adoptive son. How would Berger feel if he were still alive? And how would Mi Xue feel once she found out?
Leaning forward, Qi Ran looked at the now hypnotized Yi Wei and asked, “Where are you right now?”
“Outside the room,” Yi Wei replied.
“Outside the room you share with your husband?”
“Yes.”
“Go inside. There are two people there. Have you seen them?”
“No, I only hear the baby crying,” Yi Wei said.
“Move closer and take a look. Someone is holding the baby, and beside them stands a man. That man is your husband, right? Have you seen him?” Qi Ran pressed.
“I see them. The person holding the baby… I’m sure I don’t know them. The man standing next to them… is Yi Bo,” Yi Wei said.
“What did you say?!” Qi Ran froze in shock.
“I saw clearly. The man standing there is Yi Bo. Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself.”
Suddenly, the environment around Qi Ran changed. He found himself standing in a room where Yi Bo was tenderly gazing at the person holding the baby.
“I remember now. Yi Bo got married and had his own child. The person holding the baby is his beloved wife. He’s even forgotten your name by now,” Yi Wei said.
“No, no! This isn’t real. It’s not real!” Qi Ran screamed in panic. “You’re counter-hypnotizing me! Wake me up, now!”
“If you don’t believe me, go call out to him,” Yi Wei suggested.
“…” Qi Ran didn’t respond, but his body moved closer.
“Who are you?” Yi Bo asked in confusion, glancing at Qi Ran.
“I… I’m Qi Ran,” Qi Ran heard himself answer, even though he hadn’t spoken aloud.
“Oh, it’s you,” Yi Bo said, his tone filled with disgust. “Didn’t I tell you not to show up in front of me again? Just seeing you makes me sick.”
Qi Ran moved even closer.
“Get away!” Yi Bo shouted, pushing Qi Ran to the ground. “You disgust me.”
Yi Bo’s last words echoed endlessly in Qi Ran’s ears. Clutching his head, Qi Ran screamed, “Stop saying that! Stop saying that!”
Yi Wei observed Qi Ran calmly and then raised his hand to lightly clap.
Qi Ran, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, suddenly jolted awake. His breathing was rapid as he slowly lifted his gaze toward Yi Wei.
Yi Wei leisurely sipped his tea and, after placing the cup down, said, “It’s over. Wipe your tears.”
Qi Ran raised his hand to his face, only to realize that it was wet with tears. This time, he had lost.
“My father… was Berger Miller,” Yi Wei said to Qi Ran before standing and walking away.
What Yi Wei meant was that even if Qi Ran’s psychological tactics were strong, his hypnosis skills would never surpass Yi Wei’s. Otherwise, it would be an embarrassment to his late father. Though Berger Miller had passed away, the skills he left behind would benefit Yi Wei for a lifetime.
Qi Ran thought that he had hypnotized Yi Wei and only then been counter-hypnotized. But in truth, Qi Ran had been the only one under hypnosis the entire time. Yi Wei had never been hypnotized by him. It didn’t matter if Qi Ran realized this now—Yi Wei had already won, and the judges had seen it all. When the results were announced, Qi Ran would know the truth
.
In the judges’ room, Jefferson’s expression was grim. He pounded the table in frustration. The other judges turned to look at him, feeling a twinge of sympathy. After so many years of trying to surpass Mi Xue Miller and failing, Jefferson had hoped that his student, Qi Ran, would finally succeed. Yet, Mi Xue’s student had won effortlessly.
The competition ended, and Yi Wei’s victory was decisive, with no room for dispute. The judges quickly announced the results, declaring Yi Wei the ultimate winner of the competition.
After the award ceremony, there was a banquet. Mi Xue wouldn’t be attending, but as the champion, Yi Wei at least needed to make an appearance. After today, his reputation would start to spread. For most people, a single victory wouldn’t necessarily boost their fame so quickly, but as Mi Xue’s student, Yi Wei’s starting point was much higher than most in the field of psychology.
At the banquet, Yi Wei didn’t see Qi Ran or Jefferson, assuming they had no mood to attend, which didn’t surprise him. He did catch a glimpse of Yi Xuan from afar, but Yi Xuan quickly turned and left after making brief eye contact with him.
As Yi Xuan walked out of the banquet hall, he couldn’t help but reflect on how he had hoped that by studying abroad, he could escape Yi Wei’s shadow and return home to prove to everyone that he was superior. But even after leaving the country, he couldn’t escape Yi Wei’s influence. And now, he wasn’t even qualified to stand on the same level as Yi Wei. Yi Wei had defeated Qi Ran—was it even possible for him to surpass Yi Wei now?
Yi Xuan looked up at the dark sky, feeling a deep sense of melancholy, as if he might burst into tears.
Yi Wei had intended to make a brief appearance at the banquet and leave, but more and more people kept coming up to greet him, making it difficult for him to slip away. Finally managing to escape, he hurried out, eager to leave the association and check into a hotel, as he missed Gu Yueshan and their child terribly. He planned to return home with his mother the next day.
Yi Wei first stopped by Mi Xue’s room to chat with her for a while before heading to the room that Deng Song had booked for him.
As soon as Yi Wei opened the door and stepped inside, he saw Gu Yueshan standing in the living room, holding their child. Overjoyed, Yi Wei exclaimed, “Hubby!”
🎄Christmas surprise ! : Not one, not 2… not 3.. but 5 PAGBWMH updates today for you !🎁🎁
Also, 2 updates for REI , BMN and BPTCMW ! Love you guys ! (♡ >ω< ♡)
Merry Christmas and happy holidays ! ☆*･゜ﾟ･(^O^)/･゜ﾟ･*☆
