The lantern festival took place on the two largest streets in the county town. Xi Chun saw that colorful lanterns were hung on both sides of the streets, and many vendors also hung exquisite lanterns. The streets were crowded with tourists, and it hadn't been this lively in many years.
"Wow, is this the lantern festival? It's so beautiful! These lanterns are really pretty, they must be very expensive!" Even though Taozi is a boy, he likes these colorful lanterns. If he buys one, he'll definitely be welcomed by his friends.
"These lanterns can be obtained in two ways: one is by buying them with money, and the other is by guessing the riddles. The more riddles you guess correctly, the more rewards you will receive." Fu Changfeng already knew how the lantern festival was organized and had been wanting to show off his intelligence so that Xichun would know how clever he was.
"Oh, you can do that? Let's go see if we can get the lantern." Xichun was playful and generous.
However, when the group arrived at a stall, they ran into trouble. Qiangzi was illiterate, and Xichun had finally managed to recognize all the traditional Chinese characters, but unfortunately, they were all complex poems that left them completely bewildered.
"What does all this mean? I don't even recognize the words. It looks like I won't be getting a lantern today." Taozi looked at it from left to right, but he still couldn't understand what was written on it.
“Bamboo railings and wooden walls, only for pigs, not sheep. Three boys came to catch the pigs, scaring them so much they ran around wildly.” After reading all the words, Xi Chun’s eyes lit up and he was about to share his guess.
“I know what it is, Miss Chen. Do you want to know?” Fu Changfeng asked, stepping forward as he saw her staring at the riddle.
“I know what it is now, so let’s talk about it together and see if we have the same answer?” Xi Chun laughed, leaving Tao Zi and Zhu Nian, who were still trying to figure out what it was.
"It's an abacus." The two spoke at the same time, but Taozi didn't seem to realize it. After all, he had never used such a thing before and didn't even know how to use it.
"Miss Chen, you are truly amazing. Shopkeeper, we guessed it all. Is there a reward?" Fu Changfeng thought Xichun liked the lantern.
"You need to guess at least three riddles correctly to choose one from this side," the shopkeeper said with a smile.
"What if you want the big one?" Xichun asked, pointing to the large lantern behind him.
"You need to answer twenty riddles correctly to get this. If you can't answer them, you can only buy it for fifty coins." If they are willing to answer, they can increase their popularity. If they can't answer, they might buy the lantern.
“Miss Chen, don’t worry, I’ll guess.” Fu Changfeng was eager to try. He pondered the riddle in front of him and gave the answer in no time.
Many people gathered around upon hearing the scene, and many others, after reading the riddle, couldn't guess it, but suddenly understood after hearing Fu Changfeng's answer.
Xi Chun watched as he effortlessly revealed the answers to the mysteries that she had been trying to figure out for a long time, and she admired him greatly.
"Wow, nineteen now, young master! Guess just one more and you'll get the lantern!" Zhu Nian looked at his young master with starry eyes.
"Yes, that's amazing, shopkeeper! If we guess your lantern correctly, it's ours!" Xichun said happily.
"Alright, alright, I didn't expect you guys to be so amazing. Oh dear, what a blunder." The boss had actually already made quite a bit of money, because many of the people that Fu Changfeng and his group attracted were children. Kids, you know, they want to be with you as soon as they see you, and not everyone is as amazing as this young master.
"The answer to the last riddle is 'fresh,' meaning fresh fish and fresh lamb." As soon as Fu Changfeng finished speaking, everyone around him applauded.
"So that's how it is. I was wondering why one side was hairy and the other side was smooth."
"Alright, alright, all of my biggest lanterns have been taken by you guys today. Here, take them." Fortunately, the shopkeeper kept his promise and handed the lantern to Fu Changfeng, but Fu Changfeng gave it to Xichun instead.
"You guessed it right yourself, so keep it. It's too valuable. I'll go guess at other places later." Xichun shook her head and refused to accept it.
“This was originally a gift for Miss Chen. It didn’t cost any money, so you can keep it. I don’t like these kinds of things.” Fu Changfeng insisted on giving it to her anyway.
On the street, Xichun couldn't keep pushing it back and forth, so she took it. They went to other shops to guess riddles. After the shopkeeper and others left, he took out a beautiful lantern from under his stall.
"Taozi, your brother is going to propose marriage tomorrow, I think we should get him a lantern too. These styles look quite nice," Xichun said to Taozi, who was already carrying a new lantern, which Xichun had helped him guess the riddles for.
“Great! My future sister-in-law will definitely love it.” Taozi was already in a playful mood, and Fu Changfeng joined in. They only stopped when each of them had several lanterns in their hands.
"Miss Chen, Taozi, you're here to play too! So many lanterns! You're amazing!" An Wuji and Guo Xuewei were setting up a stall nearby, and there were still many people around, so their business was doing well.
"Yes, you guys keep busy. We'll be back in a bit, so you should head back early too." Seeing that they were busy, Xichun didn't disturb them any further.
The four of them took the lanterns back to their stall. At this time, someone else came to buy fried chicken. Xichun washed his hands and continued working.
"Miss Chen, we'll head back now. You can keep these lanterns for yourselves." Fu Changfeng led Zhu Nian and prepared to leave.
"Thank you, Young Master Fu. Here's some food; you can take it back as a snack." This is Xichun's special crispy pork with pepper flavor.
"Okay, then we'll be going now."
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