At this moment, almost all the girls who had thoughts about cute creatures were thinking to themselves, how wonderful it would be if I had such a pet.
"Miss Nangong, only our two groups remain. I won't be polite - I'll pose the first question." Han Qin said with a smile, showing no intention of being courteous.
"Please." Third Miss said very calmly.
"The sun sets and fragrance fades, sweep away worldly desires with one stroke. The fire by the furnace dies out, one must firmly tie up the restless mind." Han Qin said, glancing at Xiaoyao with a very meaningful look.
"The sun sets..."
Third Miss pondered for a moment with a blank expression, but soon her face changed as she looked toward Xiaoyao, then at Han Qin, with a rare trace of anger in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Young Miss noticed something was off. From Third Miss's expression, she should know the answer, but why wasn't she saying it.
"Think about it carefully. This kind of answer, Third Sister would absolutely never say." Nangong Suxin looked at Han Qin coldly.
Han Qin's riddle appeared very refined on the surface, but the answer was very crude - it was cursing at someone, and at the same time, this answer was directed at cursing Xiaoyao.
Third Miss was the gentle, refined type of girl. She couldn't speak such words, and moreover, it would be cursing her own teammate. She would never do that, even if Xiaoyao was just a little servant.
Young Miss wasn't stupid either. After thinking carefully, she could guess the meaning of this answer, so she got angry: "Damn. What the hell does this mean. I'm going up there to beat her to death."
"Don't act rashly." Nangong Suxin tried to grab Young Miss, but unfortunately, how could she possibly stop Young Miss.
However, Young Miss was still stopped, not because of Nangong Suxin, but because a white furry ball flew over.
"Chi Chi..."
Young Miss caught this suddenly attacking furry ball - wasn't this Xiaoyao's Chi Chi?
Looking up, Xiaoyao waved his hand at Young Miss, signaling her not to act rashly.
Since Xiaoyao did this, it meant he already knew the situation. Third Miss couldn't say it, but he could.
So Young Miss and the others waited expectantly...
"Um, excuse me, what was that riddle just now?" Under everyone's expectant gazes, Xiaoyao uttered these words that left people stunned.
"Damn."
Immediately, everyone wanted to curse Xiaoyao. Even if you're just messing around, you should at least listen. You're quite something - too lazy to even listen.
"The sun sets and fragrance fades, sweep away worldly desires with one stroke. The fire by the furnace dies out, one must firmly tie up the restless mind. This is simple - isn't it 'bald donkey'? Damn, are you mocking me? I just shaved my head, I'm not a bald donkey. Please be clear - there's short hair on top." Xiaoyao took off his leather cap, and looking carefully, there was indeed some hair grown.
"..."
Although this guy was a bit slow to catch on, he seemed to have some cultural foundation, able to give the answer after hearing it once.
Third Miss and Nangong Suxin both understood and confirmed that Young Miss's previous answers had all come from Xiaoyao. Although Xiaoyao had been a bit lazy in the previous competitions, at least he could solve them.
"What are you looking at." Young Miss saw Nangong Suxin looking at her and replied very rudely, not feeling there was anything wrong with using a stand-in, nor having any awareness of being discovered.
At this moment, on the platform—
"Did you see that? Only around thirty and already having presbyopia..." Xiaoyao glanced at Han Qin disdainfully.
"Thirty? Presbyopia? Who's thirty? This young miss is eighteen years old, okay? You're the one with presbyopia." Han Qin was furious, having thrown her cultivation to the back of her mind because Xiaoyao's words were too damaging.
"Really? Fine, let's say you're eighteen. Then use your glasses to see clearly. If you want to mock me, at least find a good reason. You could laugh at me for being younger than you." Xiaoyao said casually.
"..."
Han Qin's forehead was full of black lines, while Young Miss and the others couldn't help laughing. How was this being mocked? This was clearly stimulating people.
"Third Miss, please pose a question." Han Qin held back from exploding because the other party was just a little servant. If she argued with him, wouldn't that lower her status.
"Third Miss, let me pose the question. Talking with this kind of person would pollute your pure beauty, and Young Miss would be unhappy." Xiaoyao said.
With this sentence, the anger Han Qin had suppressed flared up again.
"Good." Third Miss was stunned, then nodded. She didn't care about who won or lost the competition. Since Xiaoyao said to let him do it, she naturally wouldn't refuse.
"You little guy, what qualifications do you have to pose questions to us? Look at your status - you're just a little servant." Han Qin was angry, pointing at Xiaoyao and scolding loudly.
Except for those few who knew Xiaoyao, the people present didn't think Han Qin's words were excessive. Xiaoyao's status was indeed too lowly - he shouldn't volunteer and steal Third Miss's right.
Xiaoyao didn't care at all, just looked at Han Qin with a smile and said: "Head pointed, body thin, white as silver. By weight, not half a fraction. Eyes growing on the bottom, only recognizing clothes, not people."
"You're cursing me." Han Qin was even angrier. Xiaoyao actually dared to curse her in front of everyone, saying she had no substance, no vision, and was snobbish.
"No, I'm just posing a riddle. You're overthinking it." Xiaoyao said with a smile.
"..."
Was this really a lantern riddle? Why did it feel like he was just cursing people?
Almost everyone felt Xiaoyao was joking, and if it really was a lantern riddle, then they couldn't deny his intention to curse, but in that case, the cursed person couldn't refute and could only swallow this insult.
After all, Xiaoyao had just been pointed at and called a bald donkey by Han Qin.
"Yes, this is a lantern riddle." Third Miss nodded. She had already thought of the answer, and at the same time she could confirm that Xiaoyao was definitely using the topic to curse people - otherwise why would he pose such a simple lantern riddle.
"Needle, embroidery needle." After discussing with the first talented scholar, Han Qin answered this question.
"Clap clap..." Xiaoyao applauded. "Miss Han is indeed a talented woman. You can solve even this. It seems I need to work harder, or I'll be inferior to even Miss Han."
Inferior to even Miss Han...
"What do you mean by that." Miss Han gritted her teeth. She wanted to kill someone. Everyone could hear that Xiaoyao was treating her like an idiot for comparison.
"What? I mean I want to work hard with Miss Han as my goal. Miss Han, please pose a question." Xiaoyao said seriously.
"..."
Young Miss, Nangong Suxin and the others were laughing again. Looking at Xiaoyao's serious expression, they found these words too funny. This was naked face-slapping, and the other party couldn't even fight back. How depressing.
"Hmph." Han Qin gritted her teeth and said: "Listen carefully. Like a bird but not a bird, has wings but no feathers, an ugly face, loves to wander at night."
Saying I'm some kind of bird, feathers haven't grown, ugly, and a little thief...
As if I don't know.
Xiaoyao casually replied: "Bat. Can't you come up with something more difficult? Competing in riddles with you is really boring. Okay, I'll go. Hair above, hair below, a black grape in the middle. Hint: this is something you have on your body."
"Hmph, just eyes. Do you think I'm a three-year-old? Do I need your hint." Han Qin said angrily.
"Very smart, then continue." Xiaoyao smiled, letting them continue. His approach made people feel strange - why would Xiaoyao pose such simple ones that didn't even curse people? Compared to the previous one, this was completely child's play.
This wasn't logical.
Soon, after Xiaoyao easily answered one of Han Qin's difficult questions, he spoke up to pose another question—
"Hair above, hair below, in the middle a..."
"..." Everyone was silent, not understanding what Xiaoyao was trying to do, posing the same question again.
"Hey, you already asked this one." Han Qin said coldly.
"What? No, I haven't asked this before." Xiaoyao shook his head.
"You did ask it." Third Miss said softly, her voice only audible to Xiaoyao beside her, making people feel the two seemed a bit intimate.
Xiaoyao shook his head and said: "No. Before it was a black grape, now it's changed. Hair above, hair below, a little cherry in the middle." As he spoke, Xiaoyao looked at Han Qin with a lewd gaze, focusing on her lower body.
"..."
Almost everyone fell silent. They thought of an answer that would make people spit blood, especially with Xiaoyao's lewd gaze - the answer was obvious without asking.
"Shameless." Han Qin shouted angrily.
"Perverted." Nangong Suxin spat, glancing at Young Miss beside her disdainfully. "What kind of master, what kind of servant."
"Yes, this guy is really bold like me. Let's see if Han Qin dares to answer now." Young Miss nodded. From her meaning, she didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with Xiaoyao, and even seemed to praise him.
These master and servant were too much.
"You servant, how can you pose such questions? This insults literature." The first talented scholar was also angry.
"What's wrong with this? It's very normal. Do you want to answer? Although you don't have this thing on your body, you can still answer." Xiaoyao said with a grin.
This made people confirm that answer again. The first talented scholar, being a man, didn't have it, so it must be a woman's...
Many people thought Xiaoyao was shameless, but they also looked forward to the answer, especially hoping Han Qin would say it, which would give them certain psychological satisfaction.
"Pervert." The first talented scholar flicked his sleeve, glaring at Xiaoyao angrily. "As a man of letters, seeing you makes me feel sick and want to vomit."
"No way, then you must vomit every day when you look in the mirror." Xiaoyao looked surprised.
"..."
"Don't engage in verbal arguments. I can't answer such riddles. I don't want to answer, and I disdain to answer." Han Qin stated her position, very contemptuous of Xiaoyao.
"Well, since neither of you can answer, that means I win. So I'll go get the prize..." Xiaoyao smiled and ran to get the box on the table.
"Wait." Han Qin and the first talented scholar rushed ahead and blocked Xiaoyao.
(End of Chapter)