124: Chapter 124 Cheating? You definitely cheated!

"Cheating! You absolutely cheated!"

"How is this possible! Hubby, did you see this riddle in some magazine before? You memorized the answer in advance, right?"

Tong Liya and Gulnazar finally recovered from their shock.

Both of them were exasperated, their little faces flushed red, firmly refusing to accept this cruel reality.

This must be a coincidence! It's a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse!

They had done their homework in advance, scouring the internet all afternoon for obscure riddles.

They thought they could catch Lin Chen off guard, but he didn't even need a second to think!

This made their carefully prepared cheating plan look like a joke!

"I told you already, the two of you don't have enough tricks up your sleeves to be worth looking at." Lin Chen put down his chopsticks and shrugged helplessly.

Tong Liya waved her little pink fist in defiance: "Don't get cocky! This is only the first question; what's there to show off about just guessing one right!"

Gulnazar also frantically tried to save face from the side: "Exactly! The marathon has just started; the one who laughs last is the winner! Don't be happy too soon!"

Lin Chen curled his lip, made a motion of zipping his mouth shut, and signaled for them to continue.

Tong Liya rolled her eyes, smiling craftily: "Hubby, we didn't agree on how much to drink if we lost before the game started. Since the rules weren't set in stone, surely taking a tiny sip to moisten our lips doesn't count as cheating, right?"

Lin Chen was amused by this shameless logic and waved his hand magnanimously: "Suit yourselves. Even if you just lick the rim of the cup, I'll accept it."

Tong Liya and Gulnazar exchanged a smile as if they had taken a huge advantage, picked up their glasses, and took a sip of liquor, smaller than cat pee, with extreme restraint.

"Here comes the second question! Prick up your ears and listen well!"

Putting down her glass, Tong Liya looked at Gulnazar with full confidence.

This time, they found a hell-difficulty character-splitting riddle, which would definitely stump this guy!

Lin Chen leaned back in his chair, his eyes lazy: "I'm all ears."

Tong Liya articulated clearly as she threw out the bombshell: "'Qingming before and after, cherishing the past.' Guess a character!"

Lin Chen didn't even think, blurting out: "The 'hu' from lake. The first half of the character 'Qing' ( clear) is the water radical ( 氵), and the second half of the character 'Ming' ( bright) is the moon ( moon). Add the character 'Gu' ( antiquity) to it, and it perfectly forms the character 'Hu' ( lake). Continue."

The dining room fell into an eerie silence once again.

Tong Liya and Gulnazar's jaws were about to drop to the table; they were completely petrified.

The silence lasted for a full ten seconds.

Suddenly, Gulnazar stood up abruptly as if electrocuted, circled the dining table, and rushed to Lin Chen's side.

Without saying a word, she started rummaging through his pockets, feeling his back, and didn't even spare the collar of his gown.

"Are you crazy? What kind of nerve are you having?" Lin Chen grabbed her wandering little hands and asked with a frown.

Gulnazar looked frantic: "You... you honestly confess, are you wearing an invisible Bluetooth earpiece? Is someone outside giving you the answers on Baidu?"

Lin Chen rolled his eyes, looking at her as if she were an idiot: "I'm only wearing pajamas and shorts. My phone is on the coffee table in the living room. What would I use to cheat?"

"Besides, I'm sitting right under your noses. If I really dared to cheat, could you two be blind enough not to see it?"

Gulnazar slumped back to her seat.

She looked up at Tong Liya, and both saw deep despair in each other's eyes.

The script was completely reversed!

According to their plan, it should have been Lin Chen who had downed two glasses and was so drunk he couldn't find north!

How did it turn out that the two of them lost two rounds in a row?

If the first question was a lucky guess, then being able to instantly answer such a high-difficulty character-splitting riddle for the second question could definitely not be explained by coincidence!

"The third question!"

To hide her inner panic, Tong Liya bit the bullet and took another sip from her glass.

This time, her voice no longer had the confidence of certain victory from before; it even carried a trace of imperceptible trembling.

"'Devising strategies within a command tent, winning battles a thousand miles away, I am not as good as Zifang.' Guess a rhetorical device!"

As soon as the riddle was out, Lin Chen frowned slightly, appearing to fall into deep thought.

In fact, he knew the answer the moment he heard it.

But his conscience suddenly struck, and he felt that if he won the game too overwhelmingly, it would completely lose its fun.

He had to give these two girls some sense of participation and go easy on them a little.

Seeing Lin Chen's furrowed brows and his hesitation to speak, Tong Liya and Gulnazar's eyes instantly lit up!

It worked!

They finally stumped him!

This was their ultimate trump card question!

"Hubby, you've hit a wall this time, haven't you? A bet is a bet. You're a big man; you can't just take a sip like us if you lose. You have to down the whole glass! This is..."

Tong Liya was preparing to press her advantage and beat a drowning dog.

"This riddle comes from the 'Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Emperor Gaozu.' It is the extremely high praise given by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, to the sage strategist Zhang Liang. Zhang Liang's courtesy name is Zifang."

Lin Chen spoke indifferently; his voice wasn't loud, but it struck the two of them like a heavy hammer against their hearts.

"The answer here uses a technique of dismantling and reinterpreting. 'I am not as good as Zifang,' understood in reverse, means 'praising Zhang Liang.' In short, 'Hyperbole' (Kua Zhang). Therefore, the answer to this riddle is the rhetorical device—hyperbole."

Tong Liya's arrogant declaration, which she hadn't finished yet, was stifled back into her stomach like a duck whose neck had been ruthlessly strangled.

She looked at Gulnazar for help, her eyes filled with a deep sense of helplessness.

"Sister Nazar, it's not that I'm not trying, it's just that this guy's level is too damn high!"

This is simply not a battle in the same dimension!

Forget it, I'm tired!

"Slap!"

Gulnazar, who had been silent, suddenly slammed the table, causing the plates and bowls on it to clatter.

She glared at Lin Chen, gritting her teeth, and declared aggressively: "I just don't believe in this bad luck! Let me come up with the question this round!"

"Listen well! This question will teach you a lesson! 'Lantern Festival before and after, gathering together.' Guess a character!" Gulnazar stood with her hands on her hips, her momentum like a rainbow.

"The character 'Qi' ( Expect). The beginning of 'Yuan' ( Yuan) and the end of 'Xiao' ( night) are 'Er' ( two) and 'Yue' ( moon) respectively. Adding the 'Gong' ( common) in the middle, it combines to form the 'Qi' ( Expect) of 'Date' (日 Expect). Continue."

Lin Chen didn't even lift his eyelids, reporting the answer in a flat tone while picking up food.

Afterward, he put down his chopsticks and suggested helplessly: "Wife, this game really has no challenge. How about we change things up?"

"No way! I just don't believe it!"

Gulnazar picked up her glass and gulped down a mouthful, her little face flushed red, "Keep going!"

Fifth question, instant kill.

Sixth question, instant kill.

Seventh question, instant kill.

...

Nineteenth question, instant kill.

Twentieth question, still an instant kill!

When Tong Liya and Gulnazar had completely emptied the top-secret question bank they had racked their brains to scour from the internet all afternoon, the decanter in front of them was clean and empty, not a drop left.