SFS Chapter 398 Shen Zhiqiu Wins the Championship
Chapter 398 Shen Zhiqiu Wins the Championship
Shen Zhiqiu was the last one to answer the questions and only got five correct.
What this means is that Shen Youyou basically can't let down her guard. After all, if there are more than three questions that she can't answer, she will fail.
Shopkeeper Qian asked the waiter to take down another lantern: "The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are in heavy mourning. Guess a catchphrase."
Shen Youyou whispered to him, and Shen Zhiqiu replied, "I don't have time."
Shopkeeper Qian laughed out loud: "That's right, this is the answer to the riddle. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are both in mourning, which means they have lost their father-in-law and husband! Congratulations to Mr. Shen for answering the sixth question correctly."
"My daughter is back home. Guess a place name."
“Changzhou!”
"Oh, right, my daughter is going back to her parents' home, isn't that Changzhou? The answer is Changzhou! Congratulations to Mr. Shen for answering correctly again."
"....." Then Shen Zhiqiu answered correctly in succession and caught up with Ning Yu.
Shopkeeper Qian took down another puzzle and said, "The difficulty will increase from now on. When answering the questions, you cannot give the answers directly. You must answer the puzzle with the same answer."
The witnesses were discussing: "Boss, you are such a scoundrel. There are only a few lamps left, and you have increased the difficulty. I don't think you can deliver this head of lamp."
Shopkeeper Qian listened to the complaints of the crowd and said cheerfully, "Everyone, please be patient. I think Master Ning, Master Wei, and Shopkeeper Shen all have great hope."
"The riddle is: An eighteen-year-old girl goes out for a trip."
Ning Yu: "Knock on the jade door in the west wing of the Golden Palace."
Shen Youyou thought to herself that this was bad, she didn't have an advantage in the following few questions. She had been able to win before because of her quick reaction, but now it was no use, it was not that others couldn't guess the answers, but that their brains were not as quick as hers.
But now, it was a riddle to a riddle, not a puzzle, and it was a bit too late for her to tell her father. As soon as she finished speaking and her father hadn't even started reading it, Ning Yu had already spoken.
This really taught her a lesson: don't rely on your cleverness and be careless.
Shen Zhiqiu also looked at his daughter and raised an eyebrow, his meaning was very clear: "What's the matter? Are you going to have too much fun?"
Fu Huaian saw the exchange of glances between the father and daughter, and the corners of his mouth curled up: "She is smart, but she is too young. She still needs to experience more."
However, Shen Zhiqiu was no pushover. He used his brain to get two questions, but Ning Yu took away one of them.
In other words, for the next three questions, both Ning Yu and Shen Zhiqiu will answer thirteen questions correctly. After that, one of them must get at least two questions right to become the champion today.
Now basically there is no hope for outsiders, with only the two of them fighting each other, and the atmosphere is becoming more and more tense. The people from the Nine Clans don't dare to talk, not even to breathe loudly.
Shopkeeper Qian asked again: "When drawing, it is round; when writing, it is square; in winter, it is short; in summer, it is long."
Shen Youyou's eyes lit up, and she whispered something in Shen Zhiqiu's ear. Shen Zhiqiu said, "There is a fish in the East China Sea, with no head or tail. Remove the spine, and you will get the answer."
This is a puzzle that Wang Anshi and his good friend Wang Jifu came up with when they were free, and Shen Youyou happened to have seen it.
Ning Yu was a little slow and therefore fell behind.
At this time, Wei Yichen had long forgotten the bet with Shen Youyou. After all, in his opinion, Shen Youyou only answered one question.
He clapped his hands excitedly: "Great, the answers are all Japanese characters."
It was only then that everyone reacted, and even cheers for Shen Zhiqiu could be heard from the crowd, especially from the nine clans.
But Qian the shopkeeper didn't play by the rules. He upgraded the second to last question again, and this time it was even more outrageous, requiring: "Compose a riddle couplet, with one character in each couplet, and together they must form a word."
Everyone gasped. Who could answer this question? Especially now that many onlookers have spoken out:
"Boss, are you deliberately making things difficult just to avoid sending me gifts?"
"I think that's the case. They just want to prevent me from getting the prize, so they make the questions so difficult."
Shopkeeper Qian laughed and said, "We should have some confidence in you two."
In fact, he was very pleased with himself. He had to know that he had paid a lot of money to ask someone to come up with these riddles, especially the last few ones. How could they be won so easily?
If he is defeated by any chance, he will not lose anything. He can just post the next two riddles, especially the last one. I believe that it will attract many scholars and literati to solve this couplet.
It is said that those who are either rich or noble are all shrewd people, especially those who are the heads of the family.
Shopkeeper Qian smiled and said the first line of the riddle: "It's not black, it's not white, it's not red or yellow, it's just like a fox, wolf, cat or dog."
Shen Youyou's eyes lit up, and she was about to tell him, but Shen Zhiqiu had already started the second line: "It's in the lyrics, it's in the poems, it's in the Analects, it's lost in the directions of east, south, west, and north."
Coincidentally, Shen Zhiqiu had also seen this couplet.
Ning Yu just thought for a moment, then bowed to Shen Zhiqiu: "Mr. Shen is very talented, this pair of words together just happens to be a riddle."
The onlookers were stunned. Who would have thought that this man called Mr. Shen could not only come up with the second line of the couplet, but also coincidentally form the word "guess the riddle". This was too appropriate for the occasion.
For a moment, everyone was congratulating him for answering all fifteen questions correctly, and the men from the nine clans were cheering even more.
Fu Huaian basically kept carefully observing the actions of Shen Zhiqiu and his daughter. Shen Zhiqiu was indeed a man of real talent and he regretted not recruiting him in the beginning.
Although Shopkeeper Qian had to give away the golden headgear, he had already obtained a good couplet. He was confident that as long as the couplet was posted, it would surely attract a lot of people to watch. Thinking of this, he looked up at the last, tallest hanging lantern.
"Mr. Shen, you are the master of the house. Actually, the Golden Osmanthus Reflecting the Moon headpiece is yours today. I wonder if you would like to try the last question. If you answer it correctly, I will add another headpiece. Of course, if you answer it incorrectly, the first headpiece is still yours."
However, he also frankly reminded: "This last lantern is the king of lanterns in my building this time. It is also a riddle couplet, but the answers to the upper and lower couplets are each about a solar term. And the answer must be a short couplet!"
To be honest, this time Shopkeeper Qian hoped that Shen Zhiqiu could come up with a matching couplet, because she felt that this couplet would surely become famous in Kyoto.
Even if he had to give away another headpiece, he would be willing to do it.
Nowadays, most of the literati and poets are people who are rich and have free time at home. When they heard about this, they came to take a look. After reading the couplet, I felt really good.
Maybe he could make a lot of money just by visiting the store.
But Shen Zhiqiu was really worried, and his second question was definitely a blind cat catching a dead mouse.
But Shen Youyou didn't want a second set of headgear at this moment. She was quite curious about the riddle couplet called the King of Lanterns.
In fact, Shen Youyou was not the only one who was curious, everyone was curious. However, at this time, except for the common people who were unaware of the situation and those with ulterior motives, everyone else kept guessing.
Those who had a bit of brains basically kept silent, because if they stopped at this point and didn't look at the last question, then Shen Zhiqiu would be the undisputed champion. But if they opened it and didn't get it right, then his title of champion would be discounted.
Some people even thought that if he really failed to answer the question, his reputation would surely spread far and wide.
There is no first in literature and no second in martial arts. It is normal for scholars to look down on each other. Who can willingly admit that they are not as good as others? Then, someone will say:
"This Shen Zhiqiu has some brains, but he doesn't know how to restrain himself and doesn't know how to advance or retreat. What do you think? He opened the last question but didn't answer it correctly."
Especially in the future, if someone ponders over this couplet day and night and finally figures it out,
At that time, no one would say, "Shen Zhiqiu didn't get it right because he didn't have enough time. The one who got it right must have spent many days and nights thinking about it."