Starvation is prohibited (1)
The girl in the white dress said in surprise, "This... I recognized him right away, what evidence do I need? My phone can't connect to the internet now, otherwise I could search online to see what Professor Pan Xian looks like."
The handsome man said, "Since we can't access the internet, no one can be sure if what you're saying is true. Perhaps you're in cahoots with this old man, and you've infiltrated here for some ulterior motive."
The girl in the white dress was a little angry and retorted, "What can I, a teenage high school student, and Professor Pan Xian, a 78-year-old man in a coma, do? What special purpose could we possibly have? I also entered this place by some unknown reason. Believe it or not."
At this moment, the middle-aged mother in her thirties spoke up: "Stop arguing. I don't believe this young girl would lie. Her fabricating Professor Pan Xian's identity is pointless. Many people on Earth have disappeared; perhaps only a few of us are left alive."
If that's really the case, then our past identities and statuses are meaningless; the most important thing is to think about how to survive. Even if this old man is posing as a professor, he won't be able to obtain more resources. When it comes to survival, we can't give him our chance to live just because he's a professor.
Therefore, he had no need to pretend. I am more inclined to believe that he really is Professor Pan Xian, and that he is indeed unconscious.
I think the most urgent thing is for us to get to know each other first, then listen to what the clown has to say, and then discuss together how to get out.
The clown wants us to play games, but I have a feeling these games won't be that easy. So, everyone, let's save our energy for the challenges later.
Although the middle-aged mother's voice was not loud, it was melodious and had a comforting quality.
After she finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement, and even the handsome man had nothing to say.
Jian Tanxi said, "Let's start with self-introductions. My name is Jian Tanxi, I am 22 years old, and I am a junior at Beijing University of Technology."
The girl in the white dress said, "My name is Li Chuxia, I am 17 years old, and I am a second-year student at Wanshui High School."
The middle-aged mother said, "My name is Qin Man, I am 33 years old, and I am a part-time Chinese language teacher. This child is my son, his name is Qu Chen, and he is six years old."
Jian Tanxi asked, "Why hasn't this child said anything?"
Qin Man said with some difficulty, "My son... has autism and can't speak."
Jian Tanxi felt some sympathy for Qin Man and apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
Qin Man smiled gently and said, "It's alright. Xiao Chen, say hello to your sister."
Qu Chen stretched out his small hand and waved at Jian Tanxi. This was his way of greeting her.
Jian Tanxi waved to him and said, "Xiao Chen, hello, I'm Sister Tanxi."
Qu Chen smiled at Jian Tanxi. His smile was very beautiful, clean and pure, like a little angel. Jian Tanxi's heart almost melted.
She discovered that although Qu Chen couldn't speak, he was exceptionally handsome, even more so than the young man in the plaid shirt.
She felt that God was fair; this child had shortcomings, but also strengths. Perhaps this child had a very kind and pure soul that would never be tainted by the world.
She finally understood why Qin Man looked so haggard and had gray hair at such a young age. Raising an autistic child while also working part-time must have been far more exhausting and demanding for Qin Man than for any other mother; it was truly remarkable.
Despite these circumstances, Qin Man was not overwhelmed by life's hardships. After entering this strange place, she was able to quickly analyze the situation and guide everyone to live together peacefully. It's clear that Qin Man possesses exceptionally high overall qualities; if she weren't raising an autistic child, she might have become a highly successful and accomplished woman.
The self-introduction session continues.
The middle-aged man in his forties said, "My name is Zhang Dayong, I am 40 years old, and I am a car mechanic."
Finally, there was the handsome young man in the plaid shirt: "Huo Zimu, 27 years old, programmer."
Now that the introductions are complete, we can say we know each other.
In this white world, there are no buildings, no mountains, and no bustling crowds.
It was as if only a few of them remained in the world.
Therefore, everyone felt a sense of shared misfortune.
Just then, the clown paper floated over and stopped about 50 meters away from the group.
Then, the clown spoke: "Welcome everyone to the Genius Game. The participants are: Jian Tanxi, Pan Xian, Qin Man, Qu Chen, Zhang Dayong, Huo Zimu, and Li Chuxia, a total of seven. You are all geniuses I have carefully selected; you should feel honored to have been chosen to participate in the game..."
At this moment, Huo Zimu interrupted the clown: "I am a genius, that's beyond doubt. After all, I have both my bachelor's and master's degrees from a 985 university, and I'm currently in middle management at a Fortune 500 company. Jian Tanxi is a student at a top university, and Li Chuxia also comes from a top high school; they both have good grades. Pan Xian, who is in the hospital bed, is a professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Of course, we are qualified to participate in the competition. But, those few—"
Huo Zimu pointed to Qin Man, a middle-aged woman; Qu Chen, an autistic child; and Zhang Dayong, a car mechanic, and said, "One of them is a housewife, one is a child who can't even speak, and the other is a car mechanic. What makes them qualified to participate in the competition?"
These words left everyone speechless.
Even now, Huo Zimu is still paying attention to this.
Auto mechanic Zhang Dayong seemed a little awkward; middle-aged woman Qin Man just glanced at Huo Zimu quietly and said nothing; autistic child Qu Chen knew nothing, holding his mother's hand tightly and smiling brightly.
The youngest member, Li Chuxia, couldn't hold back any longer and said to Huo Zimu in an annoyed tone, "Mr. Huo, please be quiet and listen to the clown's rules of the game, okay? Stop being so superior."
Huo Zimu glanced at Li Chuxia with displeasure, wanting to retort, but then felt that Li Chuxia was just a high school student, and it would be beneath his dignity to argue with her, so he shut his mouth.
The Joker continued, "I only selected geniuses based on their intelligence, not their outward appearance. Those I choose are definitely geniuses."
Hearing this, Qin Man remained calm, while car mechanic Zhang Dayong was quite surprised and felt a sense of disbelief.
Jian Tanxi suddenly felt confident in herself, although she felt it was a little strange to feel confident in this situation.
The clown said, "The game you're going to play is: Don't starve to death."
Huo Zimu frowned: "Forbidden to starve to death? What does that mean?"
The Joker: "Look behind you."
Everyone turned around and found that a table had suddenly appeared behind them.
There was a steamed bun and a glass of water on the table.
The steamed buns weren't big; they were the normal size you'd find at breakfast shops. One wouldn't even be enough for an adult to eat.
The clown chuckled and said, "Everyone, this is your food ration for the next ten days. The rule of the game is: no starving to death. If you starve to death, you won't be able to leave alive."
Jian Tanxi was so angry she almost laughed. Did this clown think it was funny?
If you starve to death, then of course you can't leave alive.
At this moment, everyone realized what was happening.
Huo Zimu was the first to try and snatch the steamed bun and the cup of water, but the auto mechanic Zhang Dayong stopped him.
Zhang Dayong is the biggest and strongest among them. If he wanted to steal food, the others probably couldn't beat him.
However, Zhang Dayong simply stood in front of the table, preventing others from taking the food. He turned his back to the food, seemingly not intending to eat it all by himself.
Huo Zimu's eyes darted around, and he said to the others, "Zhang Dayong wants to monopolize the food and water. None of us can beat him in a one-on-one fight. Let's kill him first, and then we can discuss our strategy."
In this context, Huo Zimu's words were highly inflammatory.
But no one moved.
Everyone stood in their original positions.
We all come from civilized society, so it's a bit difficult for us to suddenly become people who would kill our companions to steal food.
Anyway, Jian Tanxi didn't want to do that. She felt there must be a way to have the best of both worlds, but she just couldn't think of one right now.
Qu Chen, an autistic child, seemed a little hungry. He tried to run over and grab a steamed bun, but his mother, Qin Man, caught him.
Qin Man whispered, "Xiao Chen, don't go over there yet, eat later."
Qu Chen listened to Qin Man and didn't take any action for the time being.
Auto mechanic Zhang Dayong explained, “I don’t want to eat all the food myself. I’m standing here just to prevent others from doing the same. My idea is that we should all try to survive. One bun is indeed not enough to share, but even if everyone else dies and only one person is left alive, he can’t survive for 10 days on just one bun and one cup of water. So, killing each other is pointless.”
High school student Li Chuxia suddenly said, "No, that's not how it is."
Zhang Dayong asked, "What do you mean?"
Li Chuxia: "If we all die and only one person is left alive, he can still eat our corpses."
Zhang Dayong was shocked and speechless for a moment. Judging from his expression, he really hadn't thought of it that way.
While Li Chuxia brought up the matter, it didn't mean she had such thoughts. She was simply stating a fact and reminding others to be careful and protect themselves.
If everyone else believes that even if only one person survives, that person won't live to the end, and therefore no one will kill each other, then they will lose their vigilance towards their companions.
Some treacherous companions, who are already plotting cannibalism, can take advantage of others' momentary lapse in vigilance to kill them.
Even if people don't have such terrible ideas at first, who knows what they might do once they get hungry to a certain extent?
Anyway, most people have disappeared now. There are no laws, no police, and survival is the top priority.
Changes in the environment can quickly alter people's thinking.
Of those present, perhaps only the little boy Qu Chen and Professor Pan Xian on the hospital bed didn't need to be guarded against, because these two certainly didn't have the ability to kill.
Of the remaining people, everyone was most wary of Huo Zimu, but that didn't mean they could trust each other.
Extreme scarcity of resources led to mutual distrust and made it impossible for everyone to unite.
Jian Tanxi was right; this game was indeed not as simple as it seemed.
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