Lantern Riddles Competition

“Take a look, take a look. All the fun games are here. Come and take a look…”

“Flower lanterns, colorful lanterns, in all shapes and sizes…”

“Osmanthus wine, freshly brewed osmanthus wine. It’s brewed from fresh osmanthus flowers. One sip makes you want another. You won’t get drunk after drinking this osmanthus wine…”

“Take a look, take a look at the fresh osmanthus pancakes. They are cheap and delicious.”

The county of Yonghai was more lively than ever on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival

“Mother, look, it’s a lion dance lantern.”

Zhuang Zhuang took Xiaoguo’s hand and gestured for her to look up.

Xiaoguo looked up at the majestic and domineering dance lion, which is vividly suspended in mid-air, creating a strong visual impact.

The lion’s mouth was open and it was facing directly at the group. Looking up at it was pretty scary.

Xiaoguo took a few steps back and had a good look at the lion. She then smiled and replied, “Wow… this lion looks so cool.”

“There are also rabbit lanterns!”

“Wow…”

Xiao Zhu and Yu Ling had never seen anything like this before. They jumped and hopped, hoping to touch the lanterns, but how could they touch it? The lanterns looked close visually due to their size, but in actual fact, they were quite far away.

The few of them strolled leisurely, making stops every now and then. Within a short time, everyone’s hands were filled with snacks and toys.

Ling Long, Fu’er, and Xiao Zhu and Yu Ling, who were about the same age, had warmed up to each other quite a while ago. They went around the fair holding hands while enjoying themselves.

With Ling Long and Fu’er around, Xiaoguo was not afraid that Xiao Zhu and Yu Ling would get lost. Without having to worry, she strolled leisurely behind them.

Zhuang Zhuang was wearing a mask and holding a lantern in his hand. He had won these items from solving lantern riddles.

Not only that, even the lantern in Xiaoguo’s hand was a gift from Zhuang Zhuang.

Uncle Xu shook the goldfish lantern he had won and said, “Zhuang Zhuang is amazing.”

“That’s right. I didn’t even have the answer to that lantern riddle just now.”

As Shu Botong spoke, it was not difficult to detect a trace of regret in his words.

”It’s too difficult. Who would have known that the answer to the riddle ‘Going in the wind and coming back, flying diagonally in front of the peak’ is ‘hibiscus flower’?”

Qin Anming shook his head and said regretfully. He was the one who had picked the lantern riddle just now. However, he couldn’t wrap his head around it and it was Zhuang Zhuang who solved it for him. In the end, the child generously gifted the lantern to him.

If not for Zhuang Zhuang, Qin Anming wouldn’t even have a lantern in his hands. If that happened, it wouldn’t just be awkwardness that he was feeling right now. He would be feeling ashamed as well.

Ruyi sighed. She wasn’t educated but she had at least three lanterns in her hands. However, they were all given to her by Zhuang Zhuang.

Actually, let’s rephrase that. Among the group, only Jiang Danhe, Xiaoguo, Zhuang Zhuang, Shu Botong, and Uncle Xu had answered the riddles themselves. The rest of the group were all holding lanterns that were won by Zhuang Zhuang for getting correct answers to the riddles.

The little guy was very kind. In order to make them accept his gifts without feeling bad, he told them that he was unable to carry all the lanterns by himself, and that he needed their help to hold some of them. That was how he managed to save their precarious dignity.

“Then how did Zhuang Zhuang guess that the mystery was ‘Hibiscus Flower’?”

Qin Anming ran to Zhuang Zhuang’s side and handed the lantern to Xiaoguo. He then picked Zhuang Zhuang up and gave him a shake. “Tell Uncle how you managed to solve the riddle.”

Zhuang Zhuang’s little face trembled under his shaking.

It’s actually easy to guess. Take out the ‘X’ from the character ‘wind’ and you get the character ‘Ji’. Put ‘you’ inside and you get the word ‘phoenix’. In front of ‘peak’ is the character ‘mountain’, and ‘flying diagonally in front of the peak’ forms the shape of a person. When you tilt the person-shaped character, it becomes the radical for ‘one person’, which is the first character in ‘immortal’. So, ‘Going in the wind and coming back, flying diagonally in front of the peak’ becomes ‘Feng Xian’1″

“So, the answer is Hibiscus Flower.”

Zhuang Zhuang’s eloquent explanation stunned everyone.

They had all guessed in the wrong direction and had not thought along that line.

“No, no. Let’s compete again.”

Coincidentally, they passed by a stall and Ruyi stopped the group indignantly.

The few of them had no objections. It was just a game anyway…

“This time, we’ll split into groups. The group that loses will have to prepare supper for everyone. How about that?”

“Sure!”

“I agree! I agree!”

“No problem.”

“How do we split ourselves up?”

As soon as she suggested competing again, everyone agreed. Even Xiao Zhu and Yuling, who were running around in front, turned back to join the group. It was obvious that they were very interested in her suggestion.

“Simple. Male and female will be split up into two groups.”

“There are only five of us, but there are seven of you. The numbers are not equal.”

Shu Botong snorted and said.

Ruyi extended a finger and shook it with a smirk. “No, no, no…”

“It’s the four of you against the three of us. Zhuang Zhuang, Ling Long, Fu’er, Xiao Zhu, and Yu Ling, belong to the children’s teams.”

“Then how does this work? Are we going to have three teams?”

“Of course not. There will be two teams. Brother-in-law, Brother Anming, Uncle Xu, and you will form a team of four,” Ruyi said as she pulled the four of them together. Then, she came to Xiaoguo’s side and continued, “Sister Xiaoguo, Xiaocui and I will form a team of three. In terms of numbers, you guys have an edge over us…”

“There’s also the children’s team. They’re all neutral parties. They can choose the group that they wish to join.”

Shu Botong’s head was spinning while he listened to her explanation. Then, he said helplessly, “In other words, it’s still the four of us pitting against the eight of you…”

“That’s not necessarily true…”

As soon as Ruyi finished speaking, the children went to stand beside Xiaoguo.

Ruyi nodded in satisfaction. Alright, it was settled this time.

Shu Botong was also a competitive person, although he was slightly dissatisfied, he realized that their group still had an edge over the other group. Therefore, he nodded and agreed with this arrangement.

Jiang Danhe looked at the two of them helplessly. They had actually decided on the grouping without asking anybody else for their opinions. He really wanted to be on the same team as his wife…

Before starting their discussion, they had already attracted a lot of attention from the passers-by. When those people saw that the competition was about to begin, they quickly surrounded the group. Even the stall owner was smiling at them and saying welcoming words to them incessantly.

He was extremely happy to see that the group had attracted so many people to crowd around his stall.

When he heard that they were going to compete, he immediately took out his best riddle lanterns. Each one was prettier and bigger than the last.

It seemed that the boss was an amiable person!

Amidst everyone’s cheers, the competition officially began.

It was not so easy to win those exquisite lanterns from the stall owner.

The boss took out a rather difficult riddle and placed it in the box. After some discussion, the men’s team started first.

While the men’s team was figuring out the answer, Xiao Zhu secretly tugged at the corner of Xiaoguo’s shirt.

“Sister Xiaoguo?”

“What’s wrong?”

Xiao Zhu stole a glance at the excited Ruyi and said softly, “I can’t solve any riddles. Do we still have a chance of winning?”

“Neither can I.”

“Us too…”

Xiao Zhu’s words elicited a response from everyone except Ruyi. The other girls admitted that they were not knowledgeable in this area and would be of no help to the team. They hoped that they would not become a burden during the game.

Xiaoguo smiled gently and said, “It’s okay. The act of participation is more important. It’s just a game. Besides, look at how confident your Sister Ruyi is!”

Although they didn’t quite understand where Ruyi’s confidence came from, they were still attracted by her calm and composed demeanor.

Sister Xiaoguo was right! Since they were going to lose, they might as well lose with dignity. The process of participation was more important!

Xiaoguo was about to comfort them when Ruyi seemed to have grown ears at the back of her head. She had already heard their conversation. She said, “Don’t worry, we still have Zhuang Zhuang. We’ll definitely win this time.”

As she spoke, she turned her head and blinked at them. Then, she lowered her head and rubbed Zhuang Zhuang’s head. “Good boy, Zhuang Zhuang. Help me win this game and I’ll treat you to a feast!”

Zhuang Zhuang’s eyes lit up when he heard the word ‘feast’. He quickly nodded and agreed. “I’ll do my best!”

Ruyi nodded in satisfaction. She had absolute confidence in Zhuang Zhuang!

Xiaoguo looked at the two of them whispering to each other and sighed helplessly.

“Zhuang Zhuang, take it easy. Your biological father and uncle are on the other team.”