Fifteen days after the Lunar New Year, the Lantern Festival (Yuanyuan Festival) will be held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

That evening, Yingyang City was unusually lively. The entire Huayang Street in the inner city was decorated with colorful lanterns. The street was crowded with people, and children, each with a lantern in hand, weaved through the crowds in the streets and alleys, running, laughing, and playing, making the noise on the long street even more lively.

Holding Ahua in her arms, Liuli walked with Li Molin and Ji Jue on Huayang Street. There were many stalls on both sides of the street, but only one stall was the most lively, surrounded by layers of people.

Seeing this, Liuli quickly ran over and squeezed herself to the very back.

Li Molin then walked over, and after Ji Jue rudely pushed aside all the people blocking his way to clear a path, he leisurely walked to Liuli's side.

The stall had a row of bamboo and wooden frames about half a zhang high and two zhang wide, filled with all kinds of lanterns, each with a riddle hanging on it.

"Boss, what do you do here?" Liuli looked around curiously and then fixed her gaze on a middle-aged man who was busy behind the stall.

The man chuckled and replied, "Each of my lanterns has a riddle on it. Would you be interested in guessing it, young lady?"

Upon hearing this, Liuli responded with great interest, "Okay!"

The man smiled and nodded, continuing, "It costs one coin to solve one riddle here. If you solve it correctly, you get a lantern; if you solve it incorrectly, you get nothing. But if you solve ten riddles correctly in a row, I'll give you an extra lantern. How about that?"

Liuli turned to look at Ji Jue and, without further ado, ordered, "Ji Jue, give me the money!"

"Oh," Ji Jue responded in a muffled voice, taking out a small piece of silver and casually tossing it onto the stall.

The middle-aged man collected the loose silver and said with a smile, "Miss, take a look and see which lantern you like, and I'll take it down for you!"

Liuli looked at the bamboo and wooden shelves for a while, then picked out a lantern with a lotus flower design on it and said, "I choose this one."

"Alright!" the man replied, reaching out to take down the lantern, removing a small note from it and handing it to Liuli, saying, "Here you go, miss."

Liuli took the slip of paper, looked at it, and read aloud: "The bright moon half-hidden beneath the clouds, withered flowers fall before the horse's hooves. Guess the Chinese character..."

Her brows furrowed, and she looked completely bewildered.

Li Molin watched her with a leisurely air, his smile growing wider and wider, even his eyes and brows were full of laughter.

Liuli pondered for a long time, but couldn't come up with a clue. Helpless, she reluctantly handed the note back to the middle-aged man behind the stall, pouting and muttering, "I can't guess..."

“It’s the character ‘熊’ (bear),” Li Molin said calmly at this moment.

The middle-aged man was about to take the note back, but upon hearing Li Molin's words, he withdrew his hand and smiled, "This young master is very clever; it is indeed the character 'Bear'!"

Liuli paused for a moment, then happily accepted the lantern from the middle-aged man. Her gaze towards Li Molin softened considerably. She patted Li Molin's shoulder and laughed, "Well done, Li Molin! I didn't know you were so smart!"

Li Molin scoffed and said with a faint smile, "A fool like you would never know how smart I am."

Liuli almost choked on her breath. She coughed, her face darkening, and said angrily, "A bastard is always a bastard! Humph!"

The middle-aged man smiled and asked, "Would you like to guess more, young lady? If not, I'll give you your change."

"Guess!" Liuli chose another lantern with a picture of a lady painted on it, pointing to it and saying, "I choose this one!"

"Okay!" The man smiled, took down the lantern, and handed the note attached to it to Liuli.

Liuli took the slip of paper and read it aloud: "The furnace is extinguished and the fire is out; one must firmly rein in one's wandering mind... Guess the Chinese character..."

Her whole face scrunched up; she had no idea where to begin thinking about it.

After thinking for a while, Liuli wanted to ask Li Molin, but when she turned her head, she saw that he had a mocking smile on his face, as if he was waiting to see her make a fool of herself.

Liuli looked down at the note in her hand with resentment. After thinking for a while, she decided to just return it. Just then, a gentle male voice suddenly rang out, saying, "Miss Liuli, are you guessing riddles?"

Liuli looked over in response, and saw Xuanyuan Hao and Liang Yihan squeezing in together from the crowd. Xuanyuan Hao walked behind Liuli, looked at the note in her hand, and asked, "Have you guessed it, Miss?"

"It's you, Xuanyuan Hao." Liuli smiled and said, "I received the painting you sent. It's really well done. Thank you so much!"

"You're too kind, young lady," Xuan Yuanhao said with a gentle smile.

Liu Li glanced at Li Molin, completely ignoring his dark expression, and cheerfully handed the slip of paper in her hand to Xuan Yuanhao, saying, "I can't guess this riddle, can you?"

Xuan Yuanhao took the slip of paper, glanced at it, and laughed, "Miss, you must have never solved a riddle before. Actually, there's a trick to this one. Look, the first line of this riddle is 'The furnace is extinguished and the fire is gone.' Miss, think about it, what character is left when the fire is gone from the character 'furnace'?"

Liuli's mind raced, and she smiled, "I know, there's only one 'household' left."

“Yes.” Xuan Yuanhao continued, “Miss, look at the next line, ‘Wu ba yi ma lao shen’ (勿把意马牢束). What is the most important word in this line?”

"Hmm..." Liuli thought for a moment, then said happily, "It's the character 'horse,' right?"

Xuanyuan Hao nodded and continued patiently, "Then what character is formed by writing the character 'horse' and the character 'household' together?"

Holding Ahua in one arm, Liuli gestured in the air with the other hand for a while, then suddenly realized and said, "I know, it's the character for 'donkey'!"

Xuanyuan Hao nodded and smiled, "You're really smart, young lady."

"I know! So guessing riddles is this easy!" Liuli glared at Li Molin, then looked at the riddle stall owner and said with a smile, "I guessed it! The riddle is the character 'donkey,' right?"

"That's it." The shopkeeper chuckled and asked, "Would you like to guess more, young lady?"