Chương 566: Guessing Lantern Riddles

The boss approached with a sly smile, his face revealing a cunning businessman's nature.

"Sir, you have excellent taste! This is our shop's prized possession, a large, handmade rabbit lantern. The frame is made of Xiangfei bamboo, and the paper is the finest Xuan paper. It took three months to complete. Only twenty coins! It's incredibly sturdy and will last for years! Look at the frame, the paperwork, the ears—it's all genuine craftsmanship!"

Liu Ce's lips twitched, and he thought to himself: Twenty coins? This boss is really ripping people off!

Just as I was about to haggle, I said, "Boss, can you make it cheaper? Ten cents, okay?"

Liu Ran had already hugged his leg and started to act cute, rubbing her little face against his knee:

"Daddy~ I want this rabbit lamp~ It's so cute~ I want to hug it to sleep tonight~ Look how red its eyes are, just like my candied hawthorn~ Please let me buy it~" Liu Yi, who was standing next to him, also joined in the commotion, grabbing his other hand:

"Daddy! Daddy! I want that lotus lantern! One that floats on the water! I want to release it on the river and make a wish!"

Liu Ying: "I want a tiger lantern! The bigger the better!"

Liu Mei: "I want that spinning carousel! The little people on it spinning around are so much fun!"

As soon as the four children spoke, the remaining children, Liu Chen, Liu Heng, Liu Yao, Liu Sui, Liu Yong, Liu Nong, and Liu Yan, immediately surrounded them, chattering about the lanterns they wanted. Some wanted dragon lanterns, some wanted fish lanterns, and some wanted fairy lanterns, chattering like a flock of sparrows.

Eleven bright eyes were fixed on him, while the ladies beside him wore ambiguous smiles, their eyes clearly saying:

"You decide what to do."

Liu Ce took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, saying, "Buy! Buy them all! Boss, I want all eleven lamps! Wrap them up well! The lamps must be sturdy, the wires must be strong, and give me plenty of candles!"

The boss was all smiles, quickly instructing his apprentices to hand over the lamps one by one, and even gave them an extra pack of candles, muttering to himself:

"Sir, you're a very generous person! Please take these lights and be careful on the road!"

After paying, the eleven kids, each carrying a huge lantern, walked in a line down the street, looking like a string of little lantern spirits, attracting a hundred percent attention.

Passersby turned to look, some laughing and saying, "Whose children are these? They're so cute!"

"Eleven! These parents are incredibly prolific!"

Liu Ce followed at the very back, holding the long tail of the rabbit lantern for Liu Ran, muttering to himself:

"What a waste of money... Eleven lamps cost me two hundred and twenty coins... That's enough to buy ten bushels of rice... Enough to feed the whole family for several months..."

Cai Yan smiled and turned to look at him: "Husband, the way you mutter is just like Fang Xuanling. You're not henpecked."

Liu Ce rolled his eyes: "Who is Fang Xuanling? I don't know him."

...

As I walked along, I came across a large crowd of people, packed tightly together, three or four layers deep. It turned out to be a riddle-guessing stall.

The stall was filled with all kinds of lanterns, and each lantern had a slip of paper with a riddle written on it.

If you guess correctly, you'll get a free lantern and a prize.

The boss was a plump, middle-aged man in a red cotton-padded jacket, standing in the middle with a smile.

Zhang Ning's eyes lit up instantly, as if she had discovered a treasure, and she pulled Liu Ce to squeeze inside:

"Let's go! Let's guess some riddles! Winning is free! We can even get a free lantern! Perfect for winning back the money we just spent! Let's go!"

"Hey! Don't push! Don't push!"

"Slow down! You've stepped on my boots!"

The boss took a gong and banged it three times, making everyone's ears ring, and shouted:

"Look, everyone! Guess the lantern riddles and win big prizes! Guess one and get a string of candied hawthorns! Guess five and get an embroidered sachet! Guess ten and get a beautiful lantern! Guess twenty and get our shop's prized possession—the Aoshan Lantern! Honest and fair, suitable for all ages, prizes awarded on the spot! Come on, give it a try!"

Liu Yao was the first to rush forward, standing on tiptoe, pointing to the top riddle and reading it aloud:

"If you bite off a cow's tail, what character do you get? Hmm... cow's tail... bitten off... the cow's tail is gone... it's the character '午' (wǔ)! Right, boss? If you remove a horizontal stroke from the character '午', it's '牛' (niú)?" He counted on his fingers.

The shopkeeper chuckled and shook his head, saying, "No, no, young master, think again. The cow's tail is at the bottom; it bit off the vertical stroke below."

Liu Yao scratched his head, thinking for a long time until his face turned red, but he still couldn't figure it out. Frustrated, he stamped his feet, "Ugh! What is it?!"

Cai Yan stepped forward and said softly, "It's the character '告' (gào). The tail at the bottom of the character '牛' (niú, ox) was bitten off by the '口' (kǒu, mouth) radical, so together it's '告'. You see, '牛' with a '口' radical underneath, isn't that '告'?"

The shopkeeper slapped his thigh and exclaimed loudly, "That's it! This lady is so clever! Here, ma'am, take this!"

Cai Yan handed the candied hawthorn to Liu Yao, who took it shyly, scratched his head and smiled, took a bite, and narrowed his eyes into slits.

Next, Cai Yan guessed correctly one after another without even breaking a sweat, as if she had a cheat code.

"A thousand-mile marriage is tied by a single thread; what word does it represent—'heavy'?"

"Why didn't you say it earlier or later? Just guess one word—Xu."

"There are mountains on top of mountains, guess the word 'out'."

"Half green and half purple, guess the word—pure."

"Fifteen days, guess one word—fat."

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he had won quite a few prizes, leaving the boss dumbfounded and his smile frozen:

"Madam, your knowledge is truly amazing! You've almost solved all the riddles on my stall!"

Liu Ce stared in disbelief, then leaned close to Cai Yan and whispered:

"Yan'er, your mind is too sharp! How come I never noticed you were so good at solving riddles before? What did you secretly learn in the palace?"

Cai Yan smiled slightly and said casually, "When I was in the palace, I liked to read these kinds of books when I had nothing to do. I could remember them just by reading them casually. I had nothing better to do anyway."

Zhang Ning was unconvinced, rolled up his sleeves, pointed to the most difficult riddle in the far corner, and said:

"I'll try this one! I refuse to believe I can't guess it!

'Round when drawn, square when written, short in winter, long in summer,' guess a Chinese character. Hmm... round... square... short in winter, long in summer... it's the sun! No, no, the sun isn't a character... it's the character '日' (sun)! Yes, it's '日'!"

She frowned and thought for a long time, then stamped her feet in frustration, her boots thumping loudly on the ground.

"Oh my god! What is it?! I'm so anxious! I clearly think it's the character for 'sun'!"

Ren Hongchang smiled and said, "Sister Ning guessed right, it's the character '日' (sun). The sun is drawn as a circle, but written as '日', it's square. Winter days are short and summer days are long, that's what '日' refers to."