Chapter 114: Clearing the Stage

Originally, he only wanted to take the gold stick in and find a corner to sit down and eat something. After the banquet was over, he would have completed his mission.

But now, with the sound of the gong, he couldn’t hide even if he wanted to.

“Young Master, please begin!”

At this moment, a female errand girl said to Lin An.

Lin An nodded in response. His expression became serious as he walked towards the wooden plaque covered with a red cloth.

Everyone was stunned when they saw Lin An approach.

“Eh? Why is he a youth in white? This person looks so unfamiliar. He doesn’t seem to be from the imperial city.”

“Look, he seems to be from the East City Academy. Could he be a student from the East City Academy? Do they have the guts to challenge Madam Li’s questions?”

“They really don’t know the immensity of heaven and earth. Where did the people from the East City Academy get the qualifications?”

“Could it be that they didn’t receive Madam Li’s invitation, so they came to challenge the questions?”

“Hahaha, that’s very possible!”

After a moment of shock, many people burst into laughter, thinking that this was a farce. A nameless junior just came out to impress the crowd.

Many people sighed with disappointment on their faces and shook their heads.

“What a pity. I had thought that some genius was preparing to pass the test.”

“It’s difficult. Even Young Master Zhao has failed. I’m afraid that no one in the imperial city will easily try again.”

“Indeed. After all, the risk and reward are not proportional. The reward for winning is of no use to us and, if we lose, we don’t know how long we will be laughed at.”

“If that’s the case, the dedication of this youth in white despite knowing that he can’t pass the challenge is really worth learning from, hahaha…”

A joyous atmosphere rose by the Daming Lake.

The weak scholar lowered his head even more. He really wanted to find a hole to hide in and didn’t dare to see anyone.

Lin An strode in front of the wooden plaque and raised his hand to pull the red cloth.

The red cloth was immediately lifted by him and flew high into the sky before slowly falling down.

After the red cloth was lifted, there were a few lines of golden words written on the wooden board.

Lin An looked at it and was a little stunned.

Was his mind racing?

He even looked at it and was amused.

This question was too simple.

The question was:

“It takes 15 minutes for one person to eat a bowl of rice, so how long does it take for eight people to eat eight bowls of rice?”

Thinking that the first question was to warm up, Lin An didn’t care and wrote down the answer:

“15 minutes.”

The second question was:

“After one exam, two people handed in the exact same exam paper. After the head examiner discovered it, he didn’t think that they cheated. What’s the reason?”

After reading this question, everyone was shocked.

They handed in the exact same exam paper, but the head examiner didn’t think that they cheated?

Was there even a need to think about it? The examiner must have been bribed!

However, before they could speak, Lin An had already written the answer:

“Because they handed in a blank test paper.”

The third question was…

“How to turn ice into water at the fastest speed.”

Once this question was written, everyone was stunned.

If ice turned into water, they naturally had to use fire element spells.

However, it was a little difficult to do it at the fastest speed. After all, everyone practiced different fire element spells.

“This question… is difficult!”

“There are too many factors to consider. There can’t be a standard answer to this question, right?”

“He’s going to fail this time. Last year, one of the four great scholars, Young Master Zhao, failed in this test.”

“Hehe, let’s see how he can solve this question now!”

“He can’t solve it. There’s no way to solve this question. Madam Li is extremely talented. Ever since she started to set this test, no one has been able to complete it. After all, it’s not that easy to become Madam Li’s guest.”

Everyone turned their heads to look at Lin An, their faces filled with ridicule and mockery.

Lin An wrote his answer:

“Remove two drops of water.”[1]

Only then did everyone hit their heads and suddenly understood. They sighed in their hearts. It was such a simple question. Why didn’t they think of it earlier?

“Hahaha, what a handsome young man. I’ve really broadened my horizons today!”

At this moment, a silver bell-like, charming and moving laughter rang out from the villa.

Madam Li slowly walked out. On her beautiful face, there was a seductive smile. Her eyes were always full of charm and her gaze was completely fixated on Lin An.

All the scholars present were instantly shocked,

Madam Li had actually been startled by this white-clothed young man and had personally made a move!

That white-clothed youth would definitely soar in the future. Since he was so valued by Madam Li, he definitely had a bright future ahead of him.

Instantly, many people revealed looks of envy mixed with jealousy.

“Young Master, since you’ve already passed the three questions, then let’s continue the next round. This time, it’s your turn to ask three questions. If no one answers correctly within ten breaths, then you’ll win.”

Madam Li spoke softly, her eyes shining as she smiled.

Lin An didn’t give up and asked the first question, “Everyone, what if you come to the banquet today and realize that the golden invitation has been dropped?”

Everyone was stunned when they heard this question. Then, everyone sneered in disdain.

“If the golden invitation is dropped, then you can only admit that you’re unlucky and go home.”

“No, the correct answer should be to ask Madam Li to get another one.”

“Wrong, the correct answer should be like what he did today, to pass the test!”

Everyone said all the answers in ten breaths and then looked at Lin An with a face full of ridicule.

Madam Li was also slightly stunned. She obviously didn’t expect Lin An to ask such a simple question but she vaguely felt that it wasn’t quite right.

Sure enough, Lin An announced his correct answer.

“I dropped the golden invitation. I’ll just pick it up.”

The entire venue fell silent.

No one had expected such an answer. It was really the same answer as Madam Li’s question.

The second question was…

“Aunt Wang’s neighbor is Dopey. Dopey went to work at Aunt Wang’s son’s place. Aunt Wang’s son asked where Dopey was living now, and Dopey was severely injured after answering. May I ask why?”

Many people were dumbfounded after hearing this.

The third question was…

“There is a part of the body. Some people are hard, some are soft. Adults are longer, children are shorter. Some people are hairy and some people are hairless. May I ask, which part of the body is this?”

All the scholars were dumbfounded.

…

“Young Master, three questions have been answered. From today onwards, you are my guest. Please come in!”

At this moment, Madam Li looked at Lin An and invited him into the villa.

The charming and seductive gaze in her eyes seemed to be intentionally or innately flirtatious towards Lin An at all times!

Lin An walked into the villa and passed through a tree-lined path. His eyes suddenly lit up and he was stunned by the decoration of the villa!

The courtyard in front of him was very spacious. The ground was paved with pebbles and the black and white colors formed a huge ink painting on the ground.

Lin An quickly arrived at the loft.

There was a huge curtain opposite the door, and behind the curtain was the hall. There were already many scholars in the hall, and they were all sitting on cushions, chatting happily.

After Lin An appeared, everyone’s gazes swept over. Seeing that he was a stranger, they didn’t pay much attention to him and continued to chat with their friends.

[1] Removing two short strokes from the character for ice makes it turn into a character for water.「冰」→「水」