Chapter 28

Chapter 28

After two or three minutes that felt interminable, Tina spoke.

“The organizers searched Taobao, and we have the result!”

Liang Chen stared at Tina’s lips, waiting for her to announce whether he would live or die.

“Congratulations, Mr. Liang Chen! They typed ‘daily necessities’ into Taobao’s search bar, and none of the products displayed across the first several pages were food. So we’ll rule that food does not fall within the category of daily necessities. The game continues!”

Liang Chen let out a long breath. He had survived for now, though he still needed to win the game.

They had used seven questions, but at last they had established the category: food, Chen Nuo thought. Just as I expected, even knowing the category won’t make identifying the exact noun easy. Food is an enormous category. Can we really name the precise dish in only twelve more questions?

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

Number Eight was Xiang Meiling, a woman around forty who cooked regularly and knew all kinds of food. After a moment’s thought, she asked,

“Is it the name of a prepared dish?”

“Yes,” Liang Chen replied, giving them another affirmative answer.

Xiang Meiling nodded. “I understand. If it’s a dish, it certainly isn’t a type of snack.”

Her comment was obviously intended for the people going after her. Number Nine was one of the twin sisters. When the sisters first appeared, their identical clothes and hairstyles had made them difficult to distinguish. Today, they still wore matching outfits, but one had arranged her hair in a bun while the other wore a ponytail. It was almost the only difference between them.

The one with the ponytail spoke. “We haven’t introduced ourselves to everyone yet. I’m the older twin, and my name is Bie Shuiyin. I’ve known what I wanted to ask for ages. I don’t understand why no one asked it earlier. I thought it would be the very first question.”

After introducing herself, she asked Liang Chen, “Does your noun contain three or more Chinese characters?”

“Yes,” Liang Chen said.

The pleasant chime sounded again. Bie Shuiyin smiled. “I got a yes. That means the name of this dish contains either three or four Chinese characters! Menghan, you know what to ask, don’t you?”

“Mm-hm.” Number Ten was the younger twin, and she introduced herself too. “My name is Bie Menghan.”

Neither sister needed Tina to prompt her. Bie Menghan asked directly, “Does the name of the dish contain three Chinese characters?”

“No,” Liang Chen answered.

The piercing alarm sounded, her display turned red, and a large X appeared. Bie Menghan pouted unhappily.

“I got it wrong. That’s so annoying. I should have asked whether it had four characters.”

“What difference would that make?” The round-faced college student stood behind them and sounded puzzled. “If it isn’t three characters, then it has to be four. If you’re asking about the length, it doesn’t matter whether you ask about three or four, does it?”

“I know it doesn’t make a difference,” Bie Menghan said with a touch of petulance. “But I wanted a yes like my sister. Her display is green, and I wanted mine to be green too. We sisters want everything to match.”

“I see. You really are twins.” The round-faced student laughed.

“Hey, isn’t it your turn? Stop joking around and think of a question,” Shu Yanjun reminded him.

“I already know what I’m asking.” The round-faced student addressed Liang Chen. “Is it a Chinese dish?”

“Yes,” Liang Chen answered.

“A four-character Chinese dish! Eight people left to go. Victory feels close!” the round-faced student declared confidently.
“I agree. If we keep following this logic and narrowing the possibilities, we should close in on the answer soon.” The curly-haired student was Number Twelve. He asked, “Does the dish contain meat?”

“No,” Liang Chen answered, sweat gathering at his temples.

After the alarm, the curly-haired student said, “Got it. It’s a four-character vegetarian dish!”

“Number Thirteen is next. Only seven questions remain!” Tina announced.

Number Thirteen was the tall, thin student. Even with the possibilities narrowed this far, he found himself at a loss. He did not know how to reduce them any further. The seconds ticked past, but no question came to him. His two friends grew anxious.

“Come on, man, ask! You’ve only got a little over ten seconds!” the curly-haired student said.

“There are too many four-character vegetarian dishes. How am I supposed to know which one it is? Should I just guess something at random?” the tall, thin student asked anxiously.

Across from him, Tang Ying blew through pursed lips and fanned one hand. The gestures gave the tall, thin student a crucial hint. He understood immediately.

“Is it a cold dish?”

“Yes,” Liang Chen answered, one of his facial muscles twitching.

“Yes! You got one!” The round-faced student was even more excited than his tall friend. He walked over and hugged him. The tall student pressed a hand to his chest and exhaled in relief.

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

Number Fourteen was Saisi. She might have been skilled at divination, but she was no good at riddles and knew even less about cuisine. They had established that the answer was a four-character vegetarian cold dish, but she had no idea how to narrow the range further. A wild guess had almost no chance of being correct.

After hesitating for a long time, she asked, “Is it a dish from northern Chinese cuisine?”

Liang Chen raised his hand. “I’m sorry, but I need to explain. I don’t know whether to answer yes or no because I don’t know if this dish belongs to northern or southern Chinese cuisine. I don’t dare answer recklessly.”

“I see. Then we’ll count the question as invalid,” Tina said. “It was rather specialized, after all. Mr. Liang Chen isn’t a professional chef, so it’s understandable that he wouldn’t know.”

Saisi rolled her eyes in frustration. Hong Long slammed his fist against his podium.

“Damn it! We only had six questions left, and now we’ve wasted one!”

Idiot. This is part of my strategy, Liang Chen thought with a cold inward laugh. People eat this dish all across the country. It doesn’t belong specifically to northern or southern cuisine. But if you ask me that way, of course I’ll pretend I don’t know. Why would I tell you the truth? Now you won’t know which regional cuisine it belongs to, and your thinking will grow even more confused.

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

Number Fifteen was Shu Yanjun. After thinking with great care for half a minute, he asked, “Is this dish one of the dishes served in the hotel’s buffet restaurant?”

There it is. Finally! Liang Chen shouted inwardly. I’ve waited so long, and someone has finally asked the crucial question. The moment you ask it, you’ve already lost! I knew someone would ask eventually, and my answer will be a perfectly reasonable piece of misdirection!

“Yes,” Liang Chen replied, feigning calm.

“A vegetarian cold dish with a four-character Chinese name, served in the hotel restaurant… The restaurant serves different food at every meal, and the sheer variety is staggering. There must be dozens of cold and vegetarian dishes alone. How are we supposed to guess?” A wave of dizziness swept over Shu Yanjun.

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