Chapter 27

Chapter 27

“I didn’t suggest what question she should ask,” Tang Ying said.

“But you used gestures to prompt her…”

Before Liang Chen could finish, Tang Ying cut him off. “The rule says no one may tell or suggest to another person what question to ask. It doesn’t say everyone else is forbidden from speaking or moving. As long as we don’t explicitly signal a particular question, it shouldn’t count as a violation, should it?”

Tang Ying and Liang Chen both looked at Tina.

“No, this doesn’t count as a violation,” Tina said.

Liang Chen had no response. Ruirui’s podium now showed a little over thirty seconds remaining. She did not dare waste any more time.

“Is it an office supply, a school supply, or a daily necessity?”

Liang Chen considered the question. “No.”

He had only paused for two or three seconds, but those seconds gave Chen Nuo a clue. Previously, Liang Chen had answered without thinking. This time, he had needed several seconds, which suggested that although his noun did not belong to any of those three categories, it was probably some kind of item. Otherwise, if it were a living thing such as a plant or animal, he would have had no need to think and could have said no immediately.

Four questions had passed, all answered in the negative, but at least they finally had a lead. In all likelihood, Liang Chen had chosen an item. The problem was that the three categories in Ruirui’s question covered nearly every conventional item. Subdivided further, they included stationery, books, clothing, cosmetics, kitchenware, and medicine.

Yet Liang Chen had said no. What other categories of items were there? Surely it was not military equipment. That would be somewhat obscure. Could he guarantee that everyone present knew its name? Pistols, grenades, and machine guns were common knowledge, of course, but once the category was identified, something like that should be guessed quickly. So it probably was not military equipment. To be safe, Liang Chen would surely have chosen something that remained difficult to guess even after its broad category became clear.

As Chen Nuo thought, Tina prompted Number Five to ask his question. Number Five was the uncouth Hong Long. He appeared to have planned his question already and spoke without much hesitation.

“Is it a living thing?”

“No,” Liang Chen answered.

The piercing alarm filled the room once more.

“Damn it! Not that either? What the hell is it?” Hong Long swore.

They had now ruled out personal names, place names, office supplies, school supplies, daily necessities, and all living things, including animals, plants, and microorganisms. Military equipment seemed unlikely. What could it be? A vehicle? Yes, that did not belong to any of those categories, Chen Nuo thought.

“Number Six may ask his question now,” Tina said.

Number Six was the free-spirited “creative director,” Thomas Feng. He remained silent, thinking to himself. The timer on his display reached ten seconds, but he still had not spoken.

Shu Yanjun urged him on. “Ask something, young man! Anything is better than wasting the opportunity!”

“Is it a vehicle or a type of food?” Thomas Feng asked.

Liang Chen frowned slightly and answered with obvious reluctance, “Yes.”

A crisp chime sounded. Thomas Feng’s display turned green, and a large check mark appeared.

“Well done!” Shu Yanjun shouted. The others looked delighted too. It was the only affirmative answer among the first six questions, and the question had essentially identified the noun’s broad category.

“Number Seven is next,” Tina said.

Number Seven was Song Xue. Her question required almost no thought. She only needed to eliminate one of the two categories.

“Is it a vehicle?” Song Xue asked.

“No,” Liang Chen said.

After the alarm sounded, Chen Nuo spoke. “Wait. If it isn’t a vehicle, then it’s food. Why did you answer no when Ruirui asked whether it was a daily necessity? Your denial is exactly why food never occurred to me. Food is a daily necessity too. Tina, hasn’t he broken the rules?”
“Food is something you eat. Daily necessities are things you use. How can you lump them together?” Liang Chen argued. “Of course food isn’t a daily necessity!”

“‘Daily necessities’ means the various things people encounter in everyday life, doesn’t it? Food obviously falls within that category,” Chen Nuo said.

“That’s right, food counts as a daily necessity! Liang Chen, you’ve already broken the rules. This game is over!” Hong Long shouted.

“Are you deliberately twisting definitions just to win this game? In my entire life, I’ve never heard anyone call food a daily necessity! If I told someone, ‘I’m going to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities,’ they’d assume I meant things like basins, toothbrushes, and cups, wouldn’t they? Who would think I was going to buy food? In your daily lives, do you invite people over to eat ‘daily necessities’?” Smooth-tongued and quick-witted, Liang Chen argued his case vigorously.

“You’re the one switching definitions,” the tall, thin student said. “Food is one category of daily necessities, but naturally we’d invite someone to eat a particular food, not say, ‘Let me treat you to some daily necessities.’ If you were taking a plane, you wouldn’t tell people, ‘I’m taking a mode of transportation to Country T,’ would you?”

“Oh dear. It seems we’ve reached a dispute on this point,” Tina said. “How about I think of a way to determine whether food belongs among daily necessities? To be honest, the question really is ambiguous. I’m not entirely sure either.”

“Tina, food really doesn’t…”

“Mr. Liang Chen, please don’t interrupt. Let me think it through. I’ll make a fair ruling.”

“All right…” Liang Chen had no choice but to stop arguing. He looked extremely uneasy.

About a minute later, Tina struck one fist into her open palm and exclaimed happily, “I’ve got it!”

“What is it?” Liang Chen asked urgently.

“Mr. Liang Chen, Taobao is a major online shopping platform in your country, correct?”

“Yes.”

“If we open the Taobao app on a phone and type ‘daily necessities’ into the search bar, and none of the products on the first several pages are food, then we’ll rule that food is not a daily necessity. How does that sound?”

“What? But…”

Liang Chen had never tried such a search. Neither had anyone else. None of them knew what products or stores the system would return for the phrase “daily necessities.” People ordinarily searched for the specific item they wanted, not such a broad category.

“No objections from the rest of you, I hope?” Tina said. “Different people will interpret this question differently, so it would be very difficult to reach a fair answer. Let’s have an online shopping platform decide for us!”

“I don’t object, but this hotel must have a signal jammer installed. Can your phone access the internet?” Chen Nuo asked.

“I can’t get online either. But I can communicate with the organizers through my miniature transceiver. They have internet access!”

Tina pointed to a cute, heart-shaped “ornament” on her clothes. Only then did Chen Nuo realize it was a miniature transceiver, probably operating on the same principle as a two-way radio and therefore unaffected by a cell signal jammer. But devices like that usually had limited range.

Does that mean the K Organization’s people are somewhere near the hotel? Chen Nuo wondered.

Tina moved aside and used the transceiver to communicate with the organizers. The game paused.

Liang Chen was almost sick with nerves. He had majored in e-commerce at university.

Back then, one of his professors had told the class, “Your future will be closely tied to the development of online shopping platforms.”

The professor had been more right than Liang Chen could ever have imagined. His life was now in Taobao’s hands.