Chapter 26

Chapter 26

No one raised an objection.

“Good. Then, Mr. Liang Chen, please write down a noun now!” Tina said.

As she spoke, Tina walked over and handed him an iPad and stylus. Liang Chen turned his back to the others and wrote a noun on the screen.

It took him only ten seconds to write the word, but he deliberately waited several dozen seconds before turning around. He was trying to muddy the waters, making it harder for the others to judge how many Chinese characters the word contained or how complicated their strokes were.

Tina took the iPad and glanced at the screen. Once she knew the answer, she closed its protective cover.

“I now know which noun Mr. Liang Chen chose. Mr. Liang Chen, please take your seat on the stool in the center. The game officially begins, and Number One may ask his question!”

Number One was the old man, Liu Dashan. From his appearance and manner, he did not seem particularly well educated. Still, as the first person to ask, he faced the least pressure. After a moment’s thought, he posed the first question.

“Is it a person’s name?”

“No,” Liang Chen answered.

A red light came on at Podium One, and a large X appeared on the display at its front. At the same time, the room’s sound system emitted a shrill, piercing blast that made Liu Dashan and everyone else jump. The old man clutched his chest. The sudden noise had nearly frightened him into a heart attack.

“What the hell is this? Did you make it that loud just to ratchet up the tension?” Hong Long shouted.

“The organizers have ‘thoughtfully’ provided an alarm to remind everyone to think carefully and choose each question with caution. If several early questions fail to narrow the range effectively, then no matter how intelligent the later players may be, I’m afraid they still won’t identify the correct answer!”

Thoughtful, my ass, Chen Nuo thought. An alarm that made everyone’s heart leap out of their chest would only increase the tension. It was simply another way to make the game harder. Every battle of wits required the contestants to remain calm and relaxed. Startling them over and over would increase the pressure on everyone. Under that kind of strain, thinking and judging correctly became difficult, and wasting questions became all too easy.

“Now it’s Number Two’s turn,” Tina said.

Number Two was the man in the cap. He stammered slightly as he asked,

“I-is it a place name?”

“No,” Liang Chen answered.

The piercing noise filled the room again, striking the man like a physical blow. His podium also lit red, and a large X appeared.

Chen Nuo frowned. The two questions could have been combined. The first person could have asked, “Is it a person’s name or a place name?” If Liang Chen said no, they could eliminate two broad categories at once. If he said yes, the next person could ask about either one, and regardless of Liang Chen’s response, they would identify the broad category. Questioning him one category at a time was the stupid approach. They could burn through seven or eight questions without ever reaching the heart of the matter.

Was there a clever way to alert the people going next? Tina had only said no one else could “tell” or “suggest” what question a person should ask. She had never said they could not offer reminders or hints.

“When eliminating broad categories, do we really have to eliminate only one at a time?” Chen Nuo asked, feigning uncertainty while subtly alerting everyone to the problem.
Understanding dawned on many faces. Tina did not object either, suggesting that reminders would not count as a violation as long as no one overstepped and directly proposed a question for someone else.

“Next, Number Three may ask his question,” Tina said.

Lv Chao stood at Podium Three. Since Lu Qian’s death, he had been dazed, moving through the world in a trance. When Tina addressed him, he seemed not to hear. His face remained blank and unresponsive. The display at the front of each podium included a timer, and his sixty seconds were counting down. More than half the time passed. With only twenty-odd seconds left, Lv Chao still stared into space without asking anything.

The others grew anxious.

“Lv Chao, it’s your turn. What are you staring at?” Shu Yanjun said.

Lv Chao remained unresponsive, his expression vacant. Time continued to drain away until only a little over ten seconds remained.

Hong Long bellowed, “If you don’t ask, you forfeit your question! Are you trying to get us all killed? Ask something, damn it!”

The roar finally dragged Lv Chao’s wandering mind back into the room. “Oh,” he muttered, then asked Liang Chen, “Is it a cell phone?”

“No,” Liang Chen answered, unable to keep himself from smiling.

“What kind of fucking question was that?” Hong Long erupted. “We don’t even have a clue yet, and you make a wild guess like ‘cell phone’? At this rate, we wouldn’t get the answer with a thousand questions! Goddamn it! If I’m picked for random elimination later, I’ll beat you to death first!”

Lv Chao remained in the same lifeless stupor. He ignored Hong Long’s abuse and threats as if he no longer cared whether he lived or died.

Chen Nuo cursed inwardly too. Nineteen questions had never been many to begin with, and Lv Chao had just thrown one away. Three questions were now gone, yet just as Hong Long had said, they still had absolutely nothing. They had not even identified a general direction.

The corners of Liang Chen’s mouth quietly lifted. He knew perfectly well that the noun he had spent hours choosing would already be difficult for anyone to think of. He had never imagined someone would practically hand him the victory by wasting a question outright. Nor did the people at the front of the line seem especially bright. At this rate, no matter how clever the later contestants were, they would never guess the answer unless the early questions narrowed the possibilities first.

“Now it’s Number Four’s turn,” Tina said.

Number Four was Ruirui. Panic seized her immediately. Lv Chao’s self-destructive question, the three consecutive blasts of noise, and the three large Xs seemed to crush her under their combined pressure. She had never been especially clever or decisive. Whenever she was with Tang Ying, she followed her best friend’s lead and spared herself the trouble of thinking. Now that she had to reason independently, she had no idea what to do. All she could do was look anxiously across at Tang Ying and plead for help with her eyes.

Tang Ying held up three fingers on her left hand, then used her right hand to press them all down together. Her meaning could not have been clearer: eliminate three categories at once.

Ruirui understood and nodded. Liang Chen saw their small gestures too and protested.

“No one else is allowed to give advice! That’s a violation!”