Chapter 255: Another Weird Theme

The shopkeeper was so excited that he wanted to kowtow several times on the spot.

God knows, ever since he took over the teahouse, he has had people clean and maintain the fourth floor every day, just waiting for the day when His Royal Highness Prince Ling would arrive.

Unfortunately, over the years, many of His Royal Highness Prince Ling’s friends have come here, but His Royal Highness Prince Ling has never been here once.

Every New Year's Day, he would go out of his way to be the first to burn incense, and his wish was that His Royal Highness Prince Ling would visit the teahouse.

Hahaha!

After so many years of robbing, the Buddha finally saw his sincerity and showed his power!

Fu Mo could feel from a distance that the shopkeeper was as excited as an excited fighting bull.

a shame.

He silently stood in front of Yu Lingye and Xie Yingmian.

The shopkeeper slid to his knees and avoided Fu Mo.

"I pay my respects to His Royal Highness Prince Ling and Princess Ling."

Yu Lingye said, "There are many people here, so there's no need to be so polite."

The shopkeeper stood up and said, "Yes, yes, Your Highness, please come this way."

"There's a passage here that leads directly to the fourth floor."

"Don't worry, the fourth floor is cleaned and tidied every day."

Fu Mo clicked his tongue twice and silently complained, "lackey."

The shopkeeper heard it.

Not only was he not angry, he was very proud.

Being able to be a lackey of His Royal Highness Prince Ling is a blessing he has earned in three lifetimes.

The shopkeeper asked a master of machinery to design an "elevator" that goes directly to the fourth floor.

The "elevator" does not have electricity and is moved up and down by manpower. It has a very sophisticated structure.

Yu Lingye nodded: "Good design."

The shopkeeper was in high spirits.

He was praised by His Royal Highness Prince Ling. His Royal Highness Prince Ling praised him.

He can brag about it forever!

The shopkeeper took everyone to the largest and most luxurious box.

Xie Yingmian found a seat near the window.

From here, you can see the whole picture of "searching for it among the crowd".

As the time for the theme announcement draws closer, more and more people are coming.

People wanted to know the topic first, and the crowd kept coming. The downstairs was packed with people.

Xie Yingmian sighed: "Luckily, there are your fans here, otherwise we would have to squeeze outside."

Yu Lingye's forehead twitched when he thought of the shopkeeper's expression.

Although he didn't understand what "fanboy" meant, he could probably guess it based on the shopkeeper's reaction.

Yu Lingye said: "I saved him many years ago."

"He was framed and had nowhere else to go. I happened to need a shopkeeper. After clearing his name, I let him be the shopkeeper of this teahouse."

The shopkeeper also worked hard.

This teahouse is one of the most profitable businesses of all his.

Xie Yingmian: "This shopkeeper is also a man of character."

His personality is similar to Fu Mo's.

A quarter of an hour later, it was time to publish the topic.

Xie Yingmian finally met the organizer.

The organizer did not show his true face, but wore a silver mask.

The distance was too far for Xie Yingmian to see clearly what patterns were engraved on the silver mask, but she felt vaguely familiar with it.

As soon as the organizer appeared, the people in the audience were excited.

The noise was so deafening that it made one's ears buzz.

The organizer raised his hand and made a shushing gesture.

The excited crowd soon quieted down.

The organizer said very little and directly announced the theme of this year.

This year's theme is just two words: Quadrant.

When the topic came out, everyone was stunned for a moment, and then began a heated discussion.

"What does quadrant mean? Elephant?"

"According to the answers from previous years, the quadrant is definitely not the elephant and definitely has nothing to do with the elephant."

"In my opinion, the word 'quadrant' clearly means restricting elephants, and perhaps being their natural enemy."

"No, no, if it were that simple, the organizer wouldn't have increased the prize pool. There must be some deeper meaning behind it."

"So what's the deep meaning?"

"Hey, if I knew, would I still tell you? Wouldn't it be better for me to find it secretly and take the ten thousand taels of silver myself?"

"Tsk, so stingy."

"You are not stingy, then tell me."

"Just say it. In my opinion, the quadrant here may refer to the astrological signs."

A scholar not far away echoed: "That makes sense. The four directions of east, west, south and north are Azure Dragon in the east, White Tiger in the west, Black Tortoise in the north and Vermillion Bird in the south. These are the Four Symbols."

"The two yin and yang give rise to the four images, the four images give rise to the eight trigrams, the eight trigrams have boundaries and limits, and it could also be a diagram of the eight trigrams."

"That makes sense, that makes sense."

"Stop discussing this and go find it."

"Let's go, let's go."

Everyone dispersed.

Yu Lingye looked at Xie Yingmian's confused expression and asked, "Do those people downstairs have a correct answer to their discussion?"

Xie Yingmian: "No."

Fu Mo's ears pricked up: "Princess, do you know the answer?"

Xie Yingmian: "I know."

Fu Mo was very excited: "Can you tell me?"

What if he is the only one who finds the correct lantern this year? Wouldn’t he be able to pocket ten thousand taels for himself?

This is pie in the sky, it can't be wasted.

Xie Yingmian: "Quadrant, also known as quadrant angle."

“The four regions divided by the horizontal and vertical axes in a rectangular coordinate system. (1)”

Fu Mo: ...

He knew every word, but couldn't understand them together.

"Princess, could you please speak more simply?"

Xie Yingmian said, "Actually, someone downstairs guessed something very close to the truth."

"A quadrant is actually just divided into four areas by two lines."

She made the sign of the cross on the table.

"This cross divides the plane into four quadrants."

"The upper right corner is called the first quadrant, and the upper left is the second quadrant. This is similar to what the person downstairs mentioned about the four symbols. Judging by the organizer's style of work, the astrological signs are not the correct answer, but the cross coordinate axis is."

Fu Mo understood this time.

He was eager to act but hesitated to speak.

Yu Lingye asked, "Want to go?"

Fu Mo nodded, then shook his head vigorously: "I don't want to go, I'm just curious."

Yu Lingye: "Go ahead."

"After you find it, don't act rashly. Observe your surroundings to see if there's anyone deliberately trying to guide everyone to the correct answer. If you find someone, have them follow them."

Fu Mo had a complicated expression: "Then, can I go get the lantern?"

Without waiting for Yu Lingye to answer, Xie Yingmian said first: "Okay."

The organizer wanted to fish in this way, get Fu Mo to take the bait, and he should be able to find out something.

After the theme is announced.

The people gathered nearby slowly dispersed.

Without the crowds, the downtown area looked as it should be.

There are crowds of tourists and lanterns everywhere.

A little further away, there were people making iron flowers.

Iron flowers flew everywhere, like stars and rain in the dark night.

Xie Yingmian inexplicably thought of a poem: The east wind blows thousands of flowers into bloom at night, and blows down stars like rain.

At this moment, poetry and reality become concrete.

Yu Lingye looked at Xie Yingmian with longing expression and asked, "Want to go out for a walk?"

Xie Yingmian pointed at the ironwork in front and said, "I want to go see that."

"good."

After Yu Lingye and Xie Yingmian left, the shopkeeper was a little disappointed.

He had been waiting for His Royal Highness Prince Ling to come for a long time, but His Royal Highness Prince Ling and the princess only stayed for less than two quarters of an hour before leaving.

Oh, next time when I burn the first incense stick, I must make a wish to the Buddha more clearly.

For example, asking the Buddha to bless His Royal Highness Prince Ling to stay in his teahouse for more than two hours.

The shopkeeper went upstairs to clean up himself.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw a man with a strange hairstyle sitting in the room.

【Note (1): The mathematical explanation of quadrants comes from the Internet】