Quiz 56: Gambling in the Private Room
Sun Ming Qing was no more than 40 years old. He had taught at Lin Xian for a few days when Zhou Lun Yu was in junior high. During that time, he had been the proctor of the joint examinations that Zhou Lun Yu had attended. Back then, the exam’s atmosphere had been extremely good; both the examinees’ att.i.tudes and the order in the exam site were very tightly observed from beginning to end by the proctor so that no slip-up could be made. Because the exam was perfectly executed, Sun Ming Qing had been promoted to a higher position.
The matter seemed ordinary, but there were quite a few rumors involved. It was said that every time Sun Ming Qing proctored, there would be suspicions of collective cheating. He could obtain great profit from the exam site without anyone noticing!
“Back then, you were also one of the examinees. Did you really not sense anything?” Zhou Lun Yu asked the person sitting across from him.
“Yes, that’s right…even if you still suspect that exam, things have changed with the pa.s.sage of time. Capturing cheaters requires pointing out evidence at the exact moment for it to be successful. I also only know this much about that teacher,” was the reply.
When Zhou Lun Yu thought back to the exam that Sun Ming Qing had proctored, he believed that there must’ve been some cheating involved—the opposing school’s examinees had all obtained identical answers that were completely correct! Just like that, several subject tests had pa.s.sed by, yet n.o.body had discovered anything odd. If that was collective cheating, then Sun Ming Qing had done it without a single flaw! Now that Zhou Lun Yu suddenly heard that Sun Ming Qing would appear again in this important final exam, Zhou Lun Yu saw it as an exceptionally good chance.
For the sake of victory, someone in Kui Yuan will definitely bribe him. This time, I have to figure out exactly what methods Sun Ming Qing uses, Zhou Lun Yu thought.
“Also…Zhou Lun Yu, you’ve told me before that you want to know more about Kui Yuan’s people…”
“That’s not really important.” Zhou Lun Yu stood up, about to end this conversation. However, he suddenly thought: Maybe…I can figure something out from this. He then said, “Ah, actually, tell me about them after all.”
“Kui Yuan’s first year has three main C-types. Guo Dian, Qi Tian Ao, Lu Xiao. They are currently also gathering reports on Lin Xian Central High. Among them, Guo Dian is the top student. His reputation is quite famous, so many people know of the skills he is an expert in. If you encounter him, you must be extremely careful. This person is extremely dangerous…he finds joy in harming the people in the exam site, and especially loves drawing graffiti on others’ test papers. His opponents pretty much all reach their ends due to his drawings.”
Drawing graffiti on others’ test papers? This kind of hobby…
The typical student wasn’t willing to be in the same exam site with him. In that case, the joint examinations were indeed dangerous.
“Guo Dian, I seem to have seen that name somewhere else before…” Zhou Lun Yu thought back for a bit, but was momentarily unable to recall where.
“Have you seen some of his color paintings before? His drawings have been rather famous for a while.”
“Painting? That’s right!” Zhou Lun Yu realized that he’d seen this name at an art exhibition before!
“That’s right. Every exam, Guo Dian would brazenly bring something of his own, something that is allowed to be brought into the site….”
“h.e.l.lo, I’m looking for someone.” It was nighttime. Meng Ming stood at the door of Jin Nai Nai’s home and said to the guard, “Is Jin Nai Nai at home?”
The guard looked very intently at this new visitor, and, after sizing him up, directly asked, “Boyfriend?”
“No, no, that’s not it!” Meng Ming was a bit bewildered again. He hadn’t imagined that the guard would have such a strange response.
“Then, lover?”
Having been ruthlessly asked these two questions, Meng Ming had absolutely no idea how to respond, and he could only tense up. At that moment, a boy walked out from the courtyard and helped Meng Ming out of his situation. He said to the guard, “Haha, don’t make things difficult for the guest.”
This is….someone normal in this family finally appeared, Meng Ming thought. He was really puzzled about the person’s ident.i.ty.
This person’s figure was very normal. His age looked to be around the same as Meng Ming’s, and he appeared to be a student. However, he had a very clear feature: there was absolutely no life in his eyes. Meng Ming carefully looked over the person more closely, and immediately guessed that this was Jin Nai Nai’s younger brother, who was blind in both eyes.
This younger brother spoke to Meng Ming first, “h.e.l.lo, I heard you come while eating dinner. My name is Chen Fei. May I inquire…?”
He heard me arrive?! So he came to meet me… Meng Ming said, “My name is Zhuge Meng Ming.” His surname is Chen? Isn’t their family name Jin?
“Ah, it’s Zhuge Meng Ming. I’ve heard my sister mention you before, you’re in the same school and year as her, right? Did you come looking for her?” Chen Fei asked. “If you want to find her right now, Mother is currently keeping strict watch over her.”
“I’ve heard that already, but I must verify the matter involving the dual school joint examinations.”
“That will definitely be impossible. Mother will absolutely not allow Sister to attend. It doesn’t matter who tries to persuade her, she doesn’t even move when I speak up.” Although Chen Fei wasn’t very old, his words were pretty succinct; everything depended on their mother.
Meng Ming was puzzled, “Your mother doesn’t let her? How come she can’t attend just because your mother won’t let her? This should be her choice!”
Chen Fei was a bit shocked by Meng Ming’s strange way of thinking.
Meng Ming hadn’t been in China for very long, so he naturally couldn’t understand the harshness of Chinese parents. Chen Fei furrowed his brows and said, “Eh, but, Mother is pressuring Sister to attend the unified exams…”
“Then, if I pressured her to attend the joint examinations, what would should she do?” Meng Ming queried. These words were more than astonishing.
Chen Fei was unsure how to reply. When he’d finally organized his own thoughts, he asked, “Is there any meaning behind asking her to attend the joint examinations?”
Meng Ming couldn’t reply, since he himself didn’t really understand the meaning behind his actions. Instead, he thought: What is Chen Fei thinking? If there is no meaning behind my actions, he can firmly reject me.
After some silence, Chen Fei seemed to have understood something. “…I’m extremely sorry for asking this, Zhuge Meng Ming, but you’re a C-type, right?”
Huh? Why suddenly ask this?!
Meng Ming hadn’t been able to reply before Chen Fei immediately seemed to understand something else. He said with a smile, “As expected, you’re a C-type. I can hear your heartbeat, so even if you don’t answer, I can get a general idea of your thoughts.”
This guy…is blind in both eyes, yet his hearing ability is so powerful! [Meng Ming]
“I understand, please enter!” Chen Fei said, as he led Meng Ming into the house.
Hmm? Why is he just letting me in like this…theoretically speaking, shouldn’t he be chasing me away?
Meng Ming was completely baffled as he was led into the courtyard by a blind young man.
Meng Ming was brought into a room. Aside from the beautiful interior decor, the windows and doors were firmly locked. Only Chen Fei and Meng Ming were inside. where a sofa and a coffee table were present. Chen Fei invited Meng Ming to sit down at the table, then pulled a chair over to sit across from Meng Ming.
“Mother definitely won’t allow Sister to interact with C-types,” Chen Fei said. “This…I’m sure you understand.”
Meng Ming did somewhat understand this; however, in that case, why had Chen Fei still invited him in?
“But, my thoughts…are different from Mother’s.” Chen Fei smiled and said, “Since you’re a C-type, then, as long as you can protect Sister with your strength at the exam site, I’ll definitely let you meet her. Moreover, I’ll come up with a way for you and Sister to attend the joint exam together.”
So it was like this! Chen Fei had invited Meng Ming in because of his own opinion.
“Alright, what do you want me to do?” Meng Ming asked.
Chen Fei thought for a bit and asked in return, “Then, what are you skilled at?”
“Gambling.”
“Alright, let’s play dice!” Chen Fei immediately stood up and pulled out a playset from the drawer. It had plastic cups and three dice. He pa.s.sed these over to Meng Ming and said, “I won’t shake it. So, I’m asking you to shake it, while I guess what it is.”
In the dice cup game, n.o.body can see the dice in the cup…the banker shakes the cup and the other players use their ears to listen to it. Meng Ming knew everything about this kind of gambling. Sleight of hand was precisely the test between the nimbleness of the banker and the sharpness of the gambler’s ears.
Chen Fei is blind in both eyes, but, with the hearing ability that he possesses, any normal method of shaking will definitely be completely heard by him! That’s why…
“Alright, start!” Meng Ming shook the cup as he tossed the three dice inside. With a few bangs,Meng Ming finally placed the cup down onto the table.
“The end?” Chen Fei asked. “…With only using such a short amount of time, are you sure that I won’t be able to guess?”
“Mhm. Please guess, is it large or small?” Meng Ming thought: Chen Fei definitely won’t be able to guess it!
The three dice in Meng Ming’s cup hadn’t completely fallen to the table. Instead, they were slanted against the edges on the cup. By lifting the cup the slightest bit and accurately exerting strength, Meng Ming could control the dice’s descent to the table as he desired. The dice’s values, as he, the banker, had implied, could be large or small!
Chen Fei thought back to the movements and sounds he’d just sensed. After a long while…he finally said, “Eh, ah, really strange…I actually don’t know…”
“Ha, you can’t do it, right?”
“That’s right, I couldn’t hear the dice hit the table at all…they’re all standing tilted, and can still change.”
What?! Meng Ming was shocked. Chen Fei could even hear that?! Meng Ming slowly lifted the cup. The dice lost its support, and gently fell onto the table.
“Ah! Got it, now it’s 3, 5, 6,” Chen Fei said.
Meng Ming only asked for whether the numbers would be large or small; he hadn’t imagined that Chen Fei would be able to guess even the numbers correctly after the dice had fallen!
Chen Fei also realized what method Meng Ming had used just now, and said, “Hey, you can’t do that!”
Meng Ming begrudgingly replied, “I know, I was only testing you just now. Now it’s for real!” He quickly re-scooped the dice up in the cup, and, extremely rapidly, shook the cup for 30 seconds!
You shouldn’t be able to tell from the sound this time! With a bang, Meng Ming dropped the cup on the table a second time.
Chen Fei immediately recited, “It’s 3, 4, 5! 5 is the bottom-most one, while 3 and 4 are on top of 5, right?”
He actually…! Meng Ming lifted the cup, and the situation was indeed as Chen Fei had described!
Meng Ming shook the dice once more.
Chen Fei stated, “It’s three 1s neatly arranged vertically, like a pillar.”
Meng Ming shook again.
“Oh…it’s another pillar. The bottom is 1, the top is 6. The die in the middle is stuck between the ‘1’ grooves on the bottom and top dice, and is spinning clockwise there. The top 6 is also turning…oh, it stopped.”
Completely correct…!
“Last time! Getting this one…” Meng Ming waved the cup with all of his strength and shook it at his fastest speed. He then slammed the cup down hard onto the table. “…is definitely impossible!”
After everything had stopped shaking, Chen Fei opened his mouth to say, “The three dice were broken, all split open through their middles to form 6 parts. At the moment, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are all face up underneath the cup.”
The cup was lifted, and the dice’s arrangement…was indeed just as Chen Fei had stated!
Meng Ming lost?!
How could this be…his hearing has actually reached a pinnacle! Meng Ming gripped the cup in his hand as he stared at the dice on the table with a vexed expression.
Chen Fei could hear even the smallest of movements? Didn’t that mean that no sleight of hand tricks could be concealed from Chen Fei?!
“This kind of level isn’t good enough…” Chen Fei said in slight disappointment.
“Who says?” Meng Ming obviously understood Chen Fei’s line of thought. However, he’d gone through the trouble of coming all the way here; thus, he couldn’t possibly just accept going home like this. He retorted, “Playing this game was always to your advantage, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s true…” Chen Fei felt that these words were equitable.
“If you can guess the cards in my hand, I’ll just go back,” Meng Ming suggested.
“Ah, then let’s just go with that!” Seeing Meng Ming take the initiative to make a suggestion, Chen Fei immediately clapped his hands and agreed. He went straight to a drawer to take out a new deck of cards, and pa.s.sed it to Meng Ming, as he said with quite a bit of interest, “Here, we can play with these.”
Meng Ming gently opened the paper box and pulled out the deck of cards.
“还有一张牌留在盒子里吧。”陈斐突然问。
“There’s still a card left in the box, right?” Chen Fei suddenly asked.
“Ah? Yes…” Meng Ming hurriedly pulled out the last card from the box. How unfortunate, he even noticed this kind of thing…
“Cheating like this won’t do…”
“I know.”
Meng Ming immediately shuffled, cutting the cards many times. His skill was so practiced that it seemed like he was a high-speed machine! His fingertips endlessly danced amongst the cards, and Meng Ming very casually pulled out a single card.
“Queen of hearts,” Chen Fei said.
Correct. Meng Ming retracted the queen and thought: As expected, he remembers the sequence of the new cards, then accurately determines the movement direction and position of each card based on the sounds of my shuffling…fine then!
He shuffled a few more times. Just as he finished, he placed the deck of cards down on the table, with their backs facing upwards!
He said to Chen Fei, “If you memorize the sequence, I’ll start flipping these cards over from the very top. Please tell me what each card is.”
“Not a problem. The first is the 10 of spades, the second is the 2 of spades, the third is the ace of clubs…”
As Meng Ming revealed each card one after another, Chen Fei continued reciting the correct answers. However, this was all within Meng Ming’s expectations. He thought: The critical point that decides victory or defeat is this 24th card.
As Meng Ming continued to flip the cards over, Chen Fei continued to read off the cards. “…The 22nd card is the jack of hearts, the 23rd card is the 4 of diamonds, the 24th card, the 24th….eh, how to say this…”
How to say this?! [Meng Ming]
“…I don’t know how best to describe it. This card was torn apart by you. What should I say—the top and bottom halves of the card were split apart. The face of the card is the ace of spades, but this is just the paper bottom, so I don’t know what to call it. The face of the ace of spades is the 29th card.” Chen Fei described the whole situation!
What Meng Ming had used on the card was Zhuge Style Cheating Technique—Water Splitting Blade Draw’s main application. Chen Fei had even been able to discern that from his hearing ability?!
“Also,” Chen Fei continued, “The deck is missing the 10 of hearts. When you were shuffling just now, you burned it up.”
As Meng Ming heard this, large beads of sweat formed on his forehead! Igniting Flames only burned it, yet he could hear that as well?! Impossible…my flame manipulation has been trained to the second level; the intensity of the fire was extremely weak and completely silent. No matter how powerful his hearing ability is, there’s no way he’d be able to sense that!
“Absolutely impossible!” Meng Ming suddenly stood up and shouted. “That’s, that’s not something you can possibly hear!”
“Hmm?” Seeing Meng Ming’s strange reaction, Chen Fei was slightly confused. “Who, who said I only used my ears?”
Ah? He doesn’t only use his ears? Don’t tell me…
Chen Fei figured out Meng Ming’s train of thought and smiled. “Your actions don’t only generate sound, but cause air to circulate as well. Plus, while fire is indeed impossible to hear or feel, I can smell its odor. Look at me, when I walk around, look for things, or whatever, I don’t even need a cane. I naturally rely on my senses of touch, hearing, and smell simultaneously to perceive external matters.”