Xiao Lou was carrying two lanterns, waiting for Yu Hanjiang to come and collect them.
Unexpectedly, four people showed up this time.
Yu Hanjiang, Shao Qingge, Mo Xuemin, and Long Sen – four "delivery guys" lined up to "pick up their goods".
Xiao Lou felt sorry for Yu Hanjiang, who was covered in sweat from running, so she gave the lantern to Long Sen, who looked the most relaxed, and said, "Thank you for your help."
Long Sen joked, "You're welcome, it'll be delivered right away. Please give it a five-star review, madam!"
Xiao Lou: "..."
Do you guys really think you're just deliverymen?
After Long Sen left, Xiao Lou went to the stall next to him and picked up a puzzle lantern that he had already discovered.
He was bored, so he strolled along the street and found all the riddle stalls.
This time, the riddle was still a picture riddle. The first side had a green leaf drawn on it, and the back had a beautiful eye drawn on it. This lantern was practically a freebie. Xiao Lou said, "A leaf before the eyes."
This question is indeed very simple; everyone standing next to me understood it.
There was also a red palace lantern hanging next to it, with four sides. The first side had three chopsticks painted on it, the second side had a sun painted on it, the third side had four chopsticks painted on it, and the last side had a moon painted on it.
The teammates were wondering what the connection was between chopsticks and the sun and moon...
Then Xiao Lou said, "He's fickle and indecisive."
Teammates: "..."
Oh, I see! The chopsticks only represent numbers, while the sun and moon represent dawn and dusk, respectively.
Seeing Xiao Lou smiling as he accepted the lantern from the boss, Shao Qingge's lips twitched involuntarily—Old Mo was right, only four deliverymen working together could keep up with Xiao Lou's speed.
The stall owner next to him smiled and said, "Lord Yu, are you accompanying your wife to the lantern festival today to win all the lanterns on the street?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "My wife loves solving riddles. She can win as much as she wants."
This boast left the stall owners speechless—"Win as much as you want? Is your wife really that amazing?"
The surrounding stall owners didn't believe in superstitions and asked Madam Yu to go over and guess.
Xiao Lou didn't stand on ceremony with them, browsing from stall to stall, taking down every riddle that came up and trying to guess it.
The next riddle we received was a bit more difficult.
The palace lantern has six sides, each with a character written on it: "madness", "ecstasy", "itch", "peace", "pain", and "natural". Xiao Lou tilted his head and thought about it carefully. Except for "peace" and "natural", the others all refer to illness. He smiled and said, "Peaceful and well".
The stall owner exclaimed, "Madam, you're amazing! Why don't you guess another one?"
This time, the riddle is also a graphic, an eight-sided palace lantern. From left to right, each side is painted with two butterflies, three leaves, four insects, five sheep, six cows, seven women, eight birds, and nine little rabbits.
Xiao Lou carefully rotated the lantern, and after looking at it, guessed: "Lacking food and clothing?"
The stall owner couldn't help but exclaim, "Madam is truly amazing!"
Shao Qingge only realized it after hearing Xiao Lou's answer: it was the number "two" to "nine," missing "one" and "ten," which sounds like "lacking food and clothing" in Chinese. Xiao Lou is really amazing! He wanted to make Xiao Lou a six-sided lantern, with a six written on each side!
Shao Qingge and Mo Xuemin exchanged a glance, then each took two lanterns from Xiao Lou and quickly hung them on the lantern tree.
On their way back, the group encountered Yu Hanjiang carrying a lantern —clearly, Xiao Lou had guessed two more correctly on their way to hang the lanterns—this was practically bulldozing speed, was he going to flatten the entire lantern market?!
Xiao Lou demonstrated to everyone what "crushing puzzle-solving" truly means through his actions.
The lights on this street
The riddles were all pictures. Xiao Lou swept through all the riddle stalls. His four teammates helped him hang the lanterns. In the blink of an eye, he had won all the riddles on the street. Tourists from all around came to watch. They found that Madam Yu had been guessing riddles. Lord Yu not only personally ran errands for Madam Yu to hang the lanterns, but also called Master Mo, Guard Long, and a rich young master to help.
Tourists who had originally planned to join in the fun and guess the riddles consciously gave way when they saw Xiao Lou, as if they had encountered a boss who could walk sideways.
After solving the riddles on West Street, Xiao Lou moved to East Street.
The riddles on this street are mostly word riddles, and you have to write the answer with a brush to guess it correctly. Xiao Lou is best at guessing word riddles. When he saw the riddle "Green grass grows in the field after the rain", he immediately picked up his brush and wrote: "蕾".
"Surrounded by mountains on all sides, and all the mountains are connected" - Tian.
"There is no first day in the first month of the lunar calendar" - Ken.
"This character is extraordinary, with only four strokes, no horizontal strokes, no vertical strokes, no hooks or curves. Even the emperor would rise upon seeing it, and the sage would bow upon seeing it." The teammates were all thinking—what character is it that even the emperor would rise upon seeing?
Xiao Lou picked up his pen and wrote: "Father."
Everyone: "..."
Let's just give up thinking and simply be deliverymen! Using our brains is too tiring. We can leave it to Professor Xiao.
The four teammates who acted as deliverymen followed behind Xiao Lou, lining up to help him carry the lanterns.
Xiao Lou is not only quick at solving riddles, but also writes extremely neat and elegant calligraphy. The stall owners willingly hand over their lanterns to him, and don't forget to praise him: "You're amazing, madam!"
The onlookers murmured among themselves: "No wonder Lord Yu is so devoted to his wife, never taking a concubine all these years. It turns out she's not only skilled in autopsies and solving cases, but also in poetry and prose!" "She's beautiful and talented. With a wife like that, I wouldn't want to take a concubine." "Ah, Lord Yu is truly blessed!" "His wife is also very fortunate. Didn't you see Lord Yu setting aside his airs and personally running errands to hang the lanterns?"
Yu Hanjiang could hear the voices of the people around him talking.
He thought to himself that being with Xiao Lou was truly a blessing, and he would not let anyone take this lady away from him.
***
While Xiao Lou was sweeping through the lantern market, Ye Qi, Liu Qiao, and Qu Wanyue were also working hard.
Ye Qi is actually quite clever; he solved all the riddles on half the street. He finds a riddle, reads the question, and takes about 10 seconds to think before answering—that's the speed of a fairly intelligent person. He's already quite good, but compared to Xiao Lou, the "big devil," he's still far behind.
Qu Wanyue Street is full of riddles that match poems with idioms. For example, the riddle "When will the bright moon shine on my return?" is answered "My heart is set on returning home". The riddle "The water in Peach Blossom Pool is a thousand feet deep, but it cannot compare to Wang Lun's affection for me" is answered "Incomparable". Although she is a dance teacher, she is also very interested in these poems and can guess them quite quickly after applying what she has learned.
However, guessing idioms is more difficult than guessing characters. After all, the number of idioms learned is limited. Her idiom vocabulary was the richest during the year of the college entrance examination. After graduating from high school, she would gradually forget many idioms. She had to think about each question before giving an answer, so she was a little slower than Ye Qi.
Liu Qiao's speed was similar to Ye Qi's, except that most of the riddles on her street were pictographs, such as "a flock of geese chasing a boat." It was quite difficult to convert the image into Chinese characters in her mind, and she had to think carefully.
Time passed gradually.
Just as Liu Qiao had initially predicted, Xiao Lou had finished solving the riddles on two streets, but they were still not done on one street.
The Lantern Festival has lantern riddles on five streets and closes at midnight. The three realized that time was running out, so they went to Xiao Lou for help.
Ye Qi hurriedly ran over to Xiao Lou and said, "There's not much time left. I've come across some riddles I can't solve, so I'll leave them for now. Why don't you teach me, Xiao Lou..." Noticing that there were people around, Ye Qi immediately changed his mind: "Madam Yu, please try to solve them!"
Liu Qiao also said, "I have a few riddles that I haven't been able to solve. Madam, please go and take a look."
Qu Wanyue laughed and said, "Why don't we all find riddles and the lady can solve them? There's only a stick of incense left."
The three of them had done their best, each getting 20-30 lanterns. They left the difficult riddles to Xiao Lou. If Xiao Lou was fast enough, he might be able to solve all the riddles in the entire lantern market. This approach was indeed very wise.
Xiao Lou felt a warmth in his heart from his teammates' trust and said, "Okay, I'll do my best and hurry up."
Ye Qi first led Xiao Lou to the street where he was: "I can't guess this one—the riddle is 'One side is red, the other side is green, one side likes the wind, the other side likes the rain,' what is the answer?"
This question wasn't easy. Xiao Lou frowned and thought about it for a moment, which was rare for him, but he quickly gave the answer: "Autumn".
Ye Qi thought about it carefully—the character "秋" (autumn) can be broken down into two parts: 禾 (grain) is green and 火 (fire) is red. 禾 likes rain, and 火 likes wind. That was the answer! He couldn't help but give Xiao Lou a thumbs up and quickly wrote the character "秋". Although his writing was crooked and not as beautiful as Xiao Lou's, the answer was correct, and the shopkeeper immediately gave him the lantern.
Ye Qi continued to pull Xiao Lou along for help: "Where is Madam going?"
Xiao Lou was taken aback: "What?"
Ye Qi said, "I didn't ask you where you're going. The riddle of this lantern is this very sentence—'Where is the lady going?'"
Xiao Lou realized what was happening, stretched out the fingers of his right hand, and wrote on his left palm, saying, "Two."
Ye Qi also wrote it down and finally understood what was going on—"Where has the lady gone?" meant that the "person" character in the character "夫" was missing, and what was left was "二".
Ye Qi felt pretty stupid; how come he didn't think of that?
Woolen cloth?
The teammates around him collectively rubbed their foreheads in exasperation—these were all strange riddles, some based on shape, some on poetry, and others on logical reasoning. It was a wonder that Xiao Lou could come up with the answers so quickly.
After helping Ye Qi solve the riddles on this street, the group went to Liu Qiao's street.
Liu Qiao also left the more difficult ones for Xiao Lou: "This guest's intentions are not good."
Xiao Lou thought for a moment, then picked up his pen and wrote: "Funeral".
Liu Qiao continued, "Metal, Wood, Water, Fire?"
Shao Qingge interjected, "Is it rustic?" Liu Qiao replied, "My guess about rusticity is wrong."
Xiao Lou smiled slightly and explained, "It lacks the element of earth; it should be the character '坎' (kǎn)."
Shao Qingge; "..."
He should stick to being a deliveryman.
Xiao Lou also helped Qu Wanyue solve a few difficulties, and the teammates quickly hung the lanterns on the lantern trees outside the stone bridge.
At this moment, the entire tree outside the stone bridge was densely covered with lanterns, numbering in the hundreds. The ten-meter-tall tree was adorned with all kinds of lanterns, making it extremely spectacular, and the surrounding area was illuminated by warm light as if it were daytime.
The bright moon hung high in the sky, and the trees were adorned with lanterns. Everyone was so amazed by this magnificent scene that they were speechless.
At midnight, the lantern market ends.
Just when everyone thought the floating window would pop up with a level completion message, fireworks suddenly went off around them.
Countless dazzling fireworks soared into the sky, accompanied by cheers from tourists, who gathered around the area.
Although ancient fireworks were not as elaborate as modern ones, the bursting red fireworks illuminated the night sky and the faces of tourists. Under the trees adorned with lanterns, countless tourists clasped their hands together, watching the fireworks and making wishes around the lantern trees.
This heartwarming scene will remain unforgettable for Yu Hanjiang.
It turns out that the Diamond-Suit Guardian had them hang lanterns on the trees for the midnight fireworks.
As we bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new, the fireworks of the Yunxiao Festival and the "lantern trees" adorned with lanterns served as a spiritual anchor for the people of ancient times. People would gather around the lantern trees, making wishes for the coming year. Some prayed for favorable weather, others for national peace and prosperity, and still others for longevity for their parents and health for their wives and children… The expressions on everyone's faces were filled with sincerity.
The lights and fireworks shone on the faces of the people, and everyone wore a joyful expression. Children jumped up excitedly, young couples nestled together, looking up at the fireworks, and the elderly wore kind smiles.
This peaceful and prosperous era was something they earned after passing through the Peach Eight secret chamber.
Yu Hanjiang turned around and met Xiao Lou's clear eyes.
Xiao Lou already had fair skin, and when the fireworks shone on his face, it seemed to be tinged with a reddish glow, making him so handsome that it was impossible to look away.
Yu Hanjiang walked over, gently put his arm around her shoulder, and said softly, "So the Great Qi State's Lantern Festival has this tradition of making wishes. Does Madam have any wishes? Why don't we follow the local custom and make a wish under this lantern tree?"
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "Okay."
He looked up at the lantern-covered tree and silently made a wish in his heart.
May everyone successfully exit Card World, and may he be able to be with Yu Hanjiang again after returning to reality... If possible, he will apply to be transferred to the Criminal Police Department in Jiangzhou City as a Forensic Doctor, so that he can stay by Officer Yu's side forever.
The sound of fireworks exploding mingled with the pounding of his heart. Xiao Lou dared not look at the people beside him, and could only keep his head up, gazing at the night sky. Those fireworks were so beautiful… This was the most interesting Lantern Festival he had ever experienced.
Unbeknownst to him, the man beside him had been gazing tenderly at his profile the whole time.
Yu Hanjiang also made a wish—
If I could return to reality, I only want to be husband and wife with you, truly for one lifetime.