Family Survival Guide 4

Suddenly, her younger brother was outside the door, bouncing and clapping his hands excitedly. "Mom, come quickly! Sister isn’t reading or doing her homework; she’s playing!"

She had already asked Xiao Xian to cover the hole near the door lock, so how could anyone outside still see what she was doing?

A chill crept up Xu Si’s scalp.

But there was no time to dwell on it. She quickly slid her chair back to the desk and pretended to read.

A shadow flickered beneath the gap at the bottom of the door—it turned out something was peeking through!

She opened her book, attempting to bluff her way out, only to find the pages filled with indecipherable scribbles, utterly incomprehensible.

If the next challenge required an exam, she was doomed. She decided she would need to cram knowledge after completing the level.

The shadow lingered for a moment, then footsteps receded down the hall.

“Phew,” Xu Si relaxed, letting out a long sigh. But she dared not move rashly and continued to feign reading.

It seemed someone at home was always secretly “watching” their daughter, and her bedroom was only relatively safe.

Could that clicking sound be a camera!?

Just as she was about to write in her diary, she suddenly recalled the fourth rule: [Do not tell the diary about yourself; it is a cunning “tattletale.”]

Did that mean she couldn’t write anything that might disrupt family harmony in the diary, because it would report it to her family, making them angry?

But there was no other paper here, and writing on the book’s pages might also be dangerous since the rules were incomplete.

Nor could she do anything besides reading or doing homework.

Xu Si pursed her lips, thinking, then gave Xiao Xian a look, signaling him to tear off a piece of cloth.

She took it and wrote: “There’s a camera in the room!”

Following her order, Xiao Xian immediately began searching. Meanwhile, she sat at the desk, continuing to pretend to read to get through this.

Xiao Xian searched every corner but found nothing—no cameras on the door, curtains, bed, or walls.

Suddenly, Xu Si had a bold idea: in the lamp!

Xiao Xian removed the lampshade, and sure enough, a pinhole camera with a blinking red light was pointed straight at the desk.

At least they hadn’t gone so far as to monitor her while she slept. But it was still a long time before dinner, and she didn’t want to sit still all that time, Xu Si thought silently.

She glanced behind her and saw a photo.

Of course! She could hold a photo up to the camera.

Quickly, she exchanged points on the platform for an instant camera.

Snap! Xiao Xian took a picture, which immediately printed out. He promptly stuck the photo over the camera lens.

Xu Si rummaged under the bed and found her daughter’s childhood diary, flipping through it:

December 18, clear sky, happy.

The little rabbit I secretly raised for a long time was discovered by Mom. She didn’t scold me but praised me and sent the little rabbit to a beautiful place.

Today I ate meat. The butcher wasn’t careful; the fur wasn’t fully removed! I told Mom not to buy meat from that shop again.

February 29, cloudy, happy.

I secretly raised a little hamster and was found out by Mom again. This time she still didn’t scold me.

She gave the hamster a parachute to jump out the window. I wish I could jump too; then, I think I would be happy!

The entries made sense individually but together felt very eerie, giving Xu Si a headache.

Why was that?