144: Chapter 144 My Genius Brother, Please Tutor Me Tonight

If those three possessive little vixens were allowed to continue showing off their affection for Lin Chen in public, Song Zuer, standing on the sidelines, would probably turn into a jealous green-eyed monster right then and there.

The Executive Director picked up his megaphone, grinning like a fox that had just stolen a snack: "Congratulations, your cumulative breath-holding time exceeded eighteen minutes, successfully earning you a perfect score of 100 points for the first round."

"However, please note. This is only the first stepping stone to the seaside villa. If you want to successfully move in, you must achieve another perfect score of 100 points in the next challenge."

"Stop beating around the bush! Whatever dirty tricks or devious plans you have, bring them on! We accept the challenge!"

"Exactly! With Teacher Lin here to hold the fort, we aren't afraid of any mountain of blades or sea of flames!"

"Brother Lin Chen is the best, bring it on!"

The members of the Divas Hit the Road Group were now in high spirits, their confidence soaring through the roof.

It was no wonder they were so inflated. The main reason was that they held Lin Chen, their super trump card, in their hands, giving them an overwhelming sense of security.

It felt like as long as Teacher Lin was there, even if the Production Team asked them to hand-craft a nuclear bomb, Teacher Lin would be able to handle it perfectly.

The Executive Director's lips curled into a mischievous smile: "The second challenge is called: Literacy."

As soon as he finished speaking, two staff members immediately stepped forward and ripped the black cloth off the second display board.

As the black cloth hit the ground, the entire scene fell instantly silent.

On the massive board, it was densely packed with all sorts of bizarre, obscure characters and four-character idioms.

"There are 50 obscure characters and idioms on here. The rules are simple: read out their correct pronunciations. As long as you get half right, which is 25, you pass with full marks. Below 25, one point will be deducted for every one you misread or miss."

The eight members of the Divas Hit the Road Group collectively leaned forward. When they saw the characters on the board clearly, everyone's expression froze.

demons and monsters、 Walking alone、 Enlightenment、 Tears streaming down his face、 Suddenly collapse、 old age、 Alone、 Colluding with each other、 Flames、 Watery Mist、 Lined up、 Opening and closing ...

"Director, are you messing with us? Is this even Chinese? Why does it look like alien script to me?"

"Don't tell me you just made up characters to fool us!"

"Director, this is a disguised insult to our intelligence! I strongly suspect you are implying we lack culture!"

"My god, I took a rough glance, and it seems I only recognize the few at the beginning that look somewhat familiar."

"Hey, I have a vague impression of this word; it looks familiar, but for the life of me, I can't remember how to pronounce it!"

"Director, let's make a deal. How about we go back to holding our breath? Even if I suffocate in the basin, it's better than being an illiterate here!"

...

The members of the Divas Hit the Road Group wailed; this challenge had precisely hit their Achilles' heel.

How many people in the entertainment industry are true scholars? Don't look at how they are packaged as highly talented individuals; in reality, most are fish that slipped through the net of nine-year compulsory education, and many don't even know which way the gate of a proper university opens.

Even if there are a few who are "legit," they came from art schools like film academies or drama colleges. To put it bluntly, they were art students in high school.

In China, who doesn't know what the academic performance level of art students is like? It's basically synonymous with being disastrous.

Therefore, asking this bunch of stars who rely on their faces and acting skills in front of the camera to challenge their literacy is simply a dimensionality reduction attack.

Moreover, even if you replaced them with a top-scoring science student, they wouldn't necessarily recognize all the obscure characters on there. After all, this stuff is never used in daily life; who would be bored enough to memorize the Modern Chinese Dictionary?

Not only was the Divas Hit the Road Group dumbfounded, but the surrounding fans and passersby were also completely confused. Everyone stared at each other, as if looking at a heavenly book. However, they were just enjoying the spectacle and were off to the side laughing and jeering.

In the livestream chat, however, the vibe was completely different. The comment section had turned into a large-scale Chinese language seminar.

Netizens were showing off their skills, frantically posting explanations of the pronunciations and meanings of these obscure characters in the comments. It wasn't that these netizens had off-the-charts IQs, but rather that they were the ones who contributed the question bank themselves.

This wicked "Literacy Challenge" today was collected by the Production Team from the vast number of silly netizens in the livestream room while the Divas Hit the Road Group was waiting for their flight in Beijing. Every single character on this board was the embodiment of the netizens' hard work in "persecuting" the stars.

"Hahahaha! A massive disaster! Brothers, isn't our move here a bit too inhumane?"

"If I weren't allowed to take out my phone and check Baidu, I bet I wouldn't even recognize a fraction of them."

"Teacher Lin, stop acting all profound over there, hurry up and come out to clear the field!"

"Hahaha, look at the confused little expressions on Shishi and Nazar, it's so adorable."

"As one of the people who set these exam questions, seeing this bunch of stars scratching their heads, I feel deeply gratified."

"I secretly slipped in four perversely difficult obscure idioms; I wonder if Teacher Lin finds out, will he come through the network cable to hack me?"

...

The members of the Divas Hit the Road Group complained, but their bodies were honest enough as they crowded in front of the board, racking their brains to identify the characters.

"Hey, hey, hey, I definitely know this word, I know what it means, but the pronunciation is stuck on the tip of my tongue and I just can't remember it!"

"What kind of gibberish is this? Which ancient tomb did the Production Team dig these characters out from?"

"This is so frustrating. I memorized this line when I was filming, what was it called..."

"Alright, alright, move aside. In a critical moment, you have to rely on your Brother Yue!"

Xiao Yueyue had been observing from the side for a long time; suddenly, he confidently pushed through the crowd and swaggered out.

He walked up to the board, stuck out a short, thick, fat finger pointing at the word " Opening and closing" (yī zhāng yī xī), and turned to show off to the Executive Director: "Director, I can recognize three of the characters in this word! 'One open, one what.' How about it, that should at least count as three-quarters of a point, right?"

The Executive Director rolled his eyes, too lazy to pay attention to him.

Lei Jiayin slapped Xiao Yueyue on the back of the head and laughed, cursing: "Hurry up and get lost to avoid embarrassing yourself. Didn't you see the look in the Director's eyes? He's looking at you like you're mentally disabled. This is a complete word; what's the point of recognizing three characters?"

"How is it useless? If we round up, doesn't that count as recognizing more than half? Director, give me a straight answer, will you?"

The Executive Director shook his head ruthlessly: "Jiayin is right; this counts as one unit. You must read the whole thing correctly to get points."

"Then it's over; I've exhausted everything I've learned in my life. I don't recognize the rest; you are clearly targeting a cultured Crosstalk actor like me." Xiao Yueyue spread his hands, completely giving up.

Everyone laughed at his antics. After laughing, they continued to struggle with the board, but the results were still disastrous. This stuff required hard-core knowledge; if you didn't know it, you didn't know it—it wasn't something you could understand just by staring hard and trying.

In the end, the eight of them pooled their wisdom, racking their brains, and only managed to identify four words. With this pathetic score, let alone getting a perfect 100 to stay in a seaside villa, they didn't even have enough for a passing grade to stay in a budget hotel.

"Husband?" "Brother Lin Chen~" "Teacher Lin?" When encountering such a desperate dead end, the members of the Divas Hit the Road Group thought of their anchor almost reflexively.

The gazes of the seven people focused on Lin Chen in a "swish," like seven baby birds waiting to be fed.

Lin Chen had been standing at the back with his arms crossed, like an outsider. Seeing everyone looking at him with eager eyes, he smiled helplessly, spread his hands, and shrugged.

Seeing his attitude of giving up, the Divas Hit the Road Group's hearts instantly went cold. They thought that even he, their all-powerful cheat code, didn't know it. They were just about to console themselves, thinking, "Forget it, at most we'll just go live in that leaky unfinished house; it can be considered experiencing life."

Unexpectedly, Lin Chen spoke slowly: "How come I feel like you seven are deliberately setting the stage for me to perform? Sigh, I originally wanted to keep a low profile and be a quiet, handsome man, but my overwhelming strength simply won't allow it."

"Husband! You know them all?!" Liu Shishi opened her eyes wide in surprise, her watery peach-blossom eyes filled with little stars of adoration. The other six people also gasped, looking at him with eyes full of anticipation.

At this moment, the livestream was instantly flooded with comments, so dense that not even a gap could be found.

"High-energy warning ahead! Everyone stand up! Teacher Lin is about to start showing off!"

"Hahahaha! After waiting so long, I've finally waited for Teacher Lin's moment to show off again; my big blade is already thirsty and impatient!"

"Nonsense, right? I don't believe that someone in the entertainment industry can recognize all these characters; even a Chinese professor would have to flip through a dictionary for this!"

"Teacher Lin is the eternal god! Waiting to see the face-slapping!"

"This show-off is too forced! If he can recognize 25, I'll livestream myself doing a handstand and eating sh*t!"

"To the brother ahead who's trying to get a free meal, my Labrador just laid a fresh one, and it's still steaming; do you need it shipped via SF Express?"

Under the gaze of everyone, whether admiring or suspicious, Lin Chen did not walk toward the board filled with obscure characters; instead, he turned around, strode with his long legs, and walked toward the group of fans screaming crazily outside the cordon.

"Ahhhh! Teacher Lin is coming over!" "Husband! Look at me!"

Seeing Lin Chen approach, the fan group instantly exploded like a pot of boiling water, pushing forward frantically.

Lin Chen nodded slightly in greeting, his gaze sweeping across the crowd, and finally landed on a boy who looked about seventeen or eighteen, carrying a folk guitar.

He stretched out his long, good-looking fingers and pointed at the boy: "Buddy, can I borrow the guitar on your back to play a little?"

The boy was stunned for a moment, then his face flushed with excitement. Amidst the envious, jealous, and hateful gazes of the surrounding fans, he hurriedly took off the guitar and handed it over, while also fumbling to take a black marker from his pocket, stammering:

"Te-Teacher Lin, can you sign the guitar for me? I'm your die-hard fan; I have your songs on repeat every day!"

Lin Chen nodded readily, taking the guitar and the marker. He signed his name with a flourish on the wooden soundboard of the guitar in a casual posture.

"Ahhhh! I'm officially jealous of that little brother!" "My god, this is too happy!" "Teacher Lin is not only handsome, but even his signature is so good-looking!" "This guitar is a family heirloom from now on; I wouldn't sell it even if I died!"

Amidst the deafening screams and expressions of envy, Lin Chen carried the folk guitar in one hand and walked back to the Divas Hit the Road Group's camp with a lazy stride.