Li Yi suddenly stopped. The little maid just wanted to catch up with him quickly, but she bumped into him unprepared.
He rubbed his chest in pain, and when he looked up, he found that my uncle had turned his head and looked in the direction of the crowd.
"One hundred taels?"
The number that Li Yi muttered in his mouth, if he heard correctly just now, the two people who were talking on the periphery of the crowd had just said these three words.
For the current Li Yi, anything related to money is a sensitive word, and it is impossible to escape his ears even from a distance of several feet.
Originally not intending to watch the excitement, he immediately walked quickly towards the crowd.
"I dare to ask you two brothers, I wonder what happened here, why are you all gathered here?" Li Yi first saluted the two people who just spoke as peers, and then asked with a smile.
The two of them were chatting happily and were interrupted by others. They were naturally unhappy. However, when they turned around and saw that the person standing in front of them seemed to be a scholar, the unhappy look on their faces immediately disappeared. One of them smiled and replied: "
Brother, I don’t know. Today, several poetry clubs in Qing’an Prefecture are competing in poetry and essays in this Zuixiang Tower. Only the winner will be able to participate in the Mid-Autumn Poetry Competition held tomorrow...I’m afraid it won’t be long.
Then good works will be spread."
No matter how you look at Li Yi's clothes, he looks like a scholar. Perhaps for this reason, the two men in Confucian shirts also have a warm attitude towards him.
Li Yi had no interest at all in poetry clubs and poetry associations. This dear friend talked for a long time, but still didn't get to the point. Li Yi decided to remind him a little.
With a smile on his face, he pretended to be casual and asked: "The one hundred taels of silver you two brothers just mentioned..."
"Oh, that one hundred taels of silver is the prize for this competition, and will be given to the winning poetry club in the end." The other person was stunned for a moment, and then explained.
For scholars like them, the focus should be on this poetry competition. Money is something external to the body, and this one hundred taels of silver is not the focus of their attention.
Scholars should regard money as dung.
However, as a pseudo-scholar, this is the focus of Li Yi's attention.
One hundred taels of silver, you can take it away if you win. In this way, will the rent of the shop be settled soon?
This one hundred taels of silver was clearly tailor-made for me.
"Thank you two brothers!" Li Yi smiled and bowed his hands to the two of them, then glanced at the little maid standing behind him: "Xiaohuan, let's go in!"
Xiaohuan nodded and followed Li Yi, as if I would be where my uncle is.
"Brother, stay!"
Li Yigang took two steps when a voice suddenly came from behind him.
He turned back and looked at the young scholar just now with confusion, "Brother, what else can you do?"
"I wonder if my brother has an invitation?"
"Invitation?"
The expression on Li Yi's face froze, "What invitation?"
The young scholar explained: "The Zuixiang Building has been booked today, and you can only enter with an invitation, so we will be turned away."
"So, we can't go in?" Li Yi said with a disappointed look on his face.
He seemed to see the hundred taels of silver he had received fly out of his arms again.
"That's not necessarily the case." The scholar pointed to the front and said, "You can go in without an invitation, but you just need to guess the lantern riddles they asked correctly."
Seeing the way this man spoke slowly, Li Yi felt a little depressed. Mother-in-law and mother-in-law are not like men. They finish their words quickly and only say half a sentence at a time. It is easy for others to misunderstand...
"In that case, let's guess the lantern riddles before going in."
Li Yi has been doing riddles since he was a child. He has more experience than these ancients and there is no need to cheat at all.
The two people looked at each other, smiled bitterly and said: "These lantern riddles are all unsolved puzzles during the Lantern Festival last year. If it were so easy to guess, we wouldn't have to wait outside the door."
"Whether you can guess it or not, you'll know in one try." Li Yi smiled, holding Xiaohuan's hand and walking to the front.
At the front of the crowd, everyone was arguing around a few big red lanterns. There were white cloth strips hanging from the bottom of the lanterns with riddles written on them.
"The white snake crosses the river, and a red sun appears above its head."
Li Yi looked at the cloth strip under the lantern, the expression on his face did not change, but he was already scolding in his heart.
What kind of puzzle is this? There are no hints, and it doesn't say whether it's a crossword puzzle or a guess. How can anyone guess it?
Isn’t this deliberately making things difficult for others?
Some people guessed that the answer to the riddle was "boat", while others guessed that it was "dan", but the boys standing nearby did not respond. Obviously, their guesses were not correct.
Li Yi originally wanted to rely on his intelligence to guess riddles, but now he couldn't count on it. Cheating honestly was the right way.
As soon as I thought about it, a thick collection of ancient and modern lantern riddles appeared in my mind.
Li Yi still didn't believe that this riddle was not included in this encyclopedia-sized encyclopedia of lantern riddles.
Search according to the first word, "white", "snake"..., "white snake crossing the river, with a red sun above its head", found it!
In just ten seconds, a smile appeared on Li Yi's face.
I waved to the boy, and when he came over, I smiled and said, "The white snake crosses the river, with a red sun above its head. The answer to this lantern riddle is 'oil lamp.'"
The crowd around him was stunned at first, and then immediately became uproar.
"What kind of oil lamp? Even if you are blind, you still have to cover it with an image."
"Yes, what does the white snake, the red sun, and the oil lamp have to do with each other?"
"If you are blinded, get out of the way quickly and don't block the road!"
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What some people said was very rude. They had racked their brains for so long and still couldn't guess correctly. Why would you, a newcomer, join in the fun?
"Young master, the answer to this lantern riddle is the oil lamp." The boy was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then a surprised expression appeared on his face, and he immediately bowed and said.
"What!"
"I guessed it right!"
"Why oil lamp?"
"I see!"
"The wick is the white snake, and the flame...isn't it the red sun!"
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The riddle of this lantern riddle is actually very common, but because there are no hints, the range of guesses is so wide that it would be difficult to think of putting up the oil lamp without a sudden inspiration.
And when Li Yi told the answer to the riddle, some people quickly figured out that the answer was actually so simple. Many people immediately beat their chests and sighed, sighing that the scholar was so lucky, but also very regretful, why they didn't think of this just now.
ring.
The two scholars who were talking to Li Yi just now looked at this scene with their mouths agape. It was unimaginable that he actually guessed it!
"Can I go in now?" Li Yi looked at the boy and asked.
"Master, please!"
The boy hurriedly stretched out his hand in an inviting gesture.
Li Yi waved to the girl behind him: "Xiaohuan, let's go in."
The little maid immediately nodded. My uncle is so amazing. He can even guess the lantern riddles that so many people can't guess. Xiaohuan sees the oil lamp every night and never thought about it!
A pleasant smile appeared on his face, and just as he was about to follow Li Yi in, the young man quickly caught up with him, stopped in front of the two of them, and said with a troubled face: "Sir, you can only go in alone."
"Why?" Li Yi looked at him and asked with a frown.
When Xiaohuan heard this, he immediately tightened his grip on Li Yi's clothes with some worry... Xiaohuan didn't want to be separated from her uncle.
"Because the young master has only solved one lantern riddle, according to our rules, you can only go in alone." The boy explained patiently.
