For the members of the Elite Live Room, shouldn't the answer be obvious?
Xingqiu, pen name Zhenyu. His novels were selling incredibly well in Inazuma.
[Diluc: Why do I have a bad feeling about this?]
[Sangonomiya Kokomi: I'm thinking the same thing.]
[Thoma: @Hu Tao, @Chongyun, you guys aren't restricted from speaking. Do you have any leaks for us?]
[Hu Tao: I know Xingqiu writes books, something about ghost stories? I was even planning to tell him some of the weird stuff I see on the job. We've had plenty of poetry battles; his literary talent is top-notch.]
[Eula: Director Hu Tao has such refined hobbies?]
[Hu Tao (hands on her hips): Of course! I'm an expert in poetry. I'll give you one right now! Ahem... When the sun is out, I bathe in the sun; when the moon is out, I bathe in the moon!]
[Kaeya: ...]
[Kamisato Ayaka: ...]
[Ningguang: ...]
[Hu Tao: Okay, how about this one! Silly-churl is sick, helpy-churl looks on; Big-churl picks the herbs, stirry-churl brews the tea; Ded-churl's gone away, carry-churl lifts the box!]
[Amber: What kind of song is that!]
[Hu Tao: The Hilitotian Dark Verse Poet—that's me.]
Everyone facepalmed collectively.
[Chongyun: I'm not great with words. Even though my handwriting is better than Xingqiu's, I had no idea he was publishing novels in Inazuma.]
[Xingqiu: It only started recently.]
[Arataki Itto: So what's the answer? It's a four-choice question; this young master wants to snatch it!]
[Sayu: Aren't there five options?]
[Arataki Itto: Are you slow? Yae Miko said his book is a hit in Inazuma, and his family owns a massive guild. That rules out Option 4 immediately. How could it be 'ignored'? My guess is Option 1 (massive hit) is out too, because his own friends don't know about it. So it's a three-choice question!]
[Kaeya (clapping): As expected of Arataki Itto. You've truly grown through the punishments.]
[Yanfei: The logic holds up. If it were a massive hit in Liyue, even if we don't read novels, we would have heard of it.]
[Kujou Sara: We don't need you to tell us that; everyone knows.]
With that, under normal logic, two options were eliminated, making it a rare three-choice mystery.
[Amber: Could it be that it just hasn't been sold there?]
The countdown was about to begin.
Baishi rushed back to the Jade Chamber: "Lady Ningguang! Choose 5! Choose 5! I was just at Wanwen Bookhouse. I asked Boss Jifang and her husband; they have absolutely no record or memory of any book by 'Xingqiu' or 'Zhenyu'!"
Meanwhile, on the other side...
"Lord Childe! Our Fatui members watching Wanwen Bookhouse say they asked, and there's nothing! The boss doesn't even recognize the name!"
Hmph hmph hmph—
「Ding—Ningguang and La Signora have snatched the slots.」
[Tartaglia: Dammit! I missed it! @Signora, trust me, the answer is 'Small Cold' (Shao Han).]
[La Signora: Is that so?]
Seeing so many people getting rewards, Signora naturally had a desire to win. This question didn't look hard. She was originally going to pick Option 3, which felt reasonable. But since Childe was so confident... surely one Harbinger wouldn't sabotage another?
[Yanfei: The Fatui actually think they know the answer.]
[Keqing: Selling beef offal! Come get it!]
[Ganyu: Since Lady Ningguang snatched it, Baifuh and the others must have found the answer.]
That's right! Everyone realized they could just ask the biggest bookstore in Liyue, Wanwen Bookhouse.
[Amber: Liyue has a huge geographical advantage this time.]
「Ningguang and La Signora have selected their answers.」
[Thoma: @Tartaglia, what is 'Small Cold'?]
[Kamisato Ayaka: It should be the fifth solar term of winter, meaning he's telling her to pick Option 5.]
[Ningguang: I also chose 5.]
[Chongyun: So Xingqiu really never wrote a novel in Liyue?]
[Xingqiu: ...That... well... I should apologize in advance.]
Xingqiu looked incredibly awkward.
[Lisa: What does that mean? Ho, interesting. So 5 is wrong?]
Many people in the Ordinary room chose 3 and were already beginning to suffer punishments. In the 50-person snatch, not even three got it right, moving the question to a second round.
「Ding—Ningguang and La Signora chose 5. Incorrect!」
Baishi: "Ah! Forgive me, Lady Ningguang!" Baishi knelt on the floor in shock.
[La Signora: TAR! TA! GLI! A!]
「Punishment for Ningguang and La Signora: One hundred high-power massage guns used simultaneously for ten minutes.」
[Amber: Massage? Is that even a punishment?]
[Fischl: What manner of weapon is a 'massage gun'?]
The screens showed Ningguang's room in the Jade Chamber and La Signora's private suite in the Grand Hotel. Suddenly, their bodies were paralyzed, and a hundred massage guns appeared out of thin air.
Then—the screens went black.
Ningguang: "Aaah—!"
La Signora: "Aaaaah—!"
The entire continent heard the screams of the two powerful women. The moment the massage guns appeared, the video feed cut off.
Ningguang: "Help me!"
La Signora: "Make it stop—Tartaglia! I'm going to kill you!!!!!"
With no visual, only the screams and shrieks of Ningguang and La Signora echoed through the broadcast.
「Ding—Due to the punishment being too terrifying to witness, the video feed has been automatically censored.」