Chapter 14: Empty, Lonely, and Cold
Gu Qingheng not only answered clearly, but also explained it in detail, simply and understandably, allowing the onlookers below the stage to understand the meaning. Afterwards, he put on a look of great enlightenment.
Such a statement left no room for criticism.
Therefore, the teacher who had been standing up angrily and said it couldn’t be considered a victory, now awkwardly sat down again. If it weren’t for seeing the subsequent competitions of his own academy, he would have already left out of embarrassment!
Really, why is there such a monstrous student!
And he’s so young!!!
Did Qingshan Academy build on land with exceptionally good Feng Shui???
Upon hearing that Gu Qingheng had actually answered correctly, the numerous students on the stage turned to look at Gu Qingheng. Their gazes, a mixture of admiration and doubt, surprise and accustomedness, never ceased.
In response, Gu Qingheng’s expression remained unchanged.
For such simple questions, even if answered correctly, there was no sense of superiority.
Merely remembering the content in these books was not difficult for Gu Qingheng.
“Cough, cough, it’s only the first round, and we’ve already witnessed such a magnificent scene! I wonder if there will be any more surprises to come! Now, please welcome the second match, Hongguo Academy versus Chengjun Academy!”
After recovering from his surprise, the host, seeing that the current situation was a bit off, immediately spoke up to draw everyone’s attention away from Gu Qingheng and towards the second match.
Although Aofeng Academy didn’t answer the question correctly, they still had opportunities later.
However, if Aofeng Academy didn’t achieve a victory in the second round, they would be regretfully eliminated.
As for the third round, it was even more brutal.
…It was also the final round, with only a few academies remaining to compete for the championship.
And then, after the second match began, people’s gazes indeed shifted away from Gu Qingheng, and they focused intently on the stage, waiting to see if any dark horses would suddenly emerge and shock everyone!
Unfortunately, the subsequent matches were all bland, and no remarkable figures like Gu Qingheng appeared.
“Qingheng, you were so amazing just now! You answered such a difficult question in one go, and the other academy’s faces turned black, it was so exciting!”
“It’s nothing. You know I’m good at studying, and answering these kinds of questions is not difficult at all.”
Gu Qingheng, who had already retreated from the stage to rest, was now playing with a wooden Rubik’s Cube made by Gu Yu. The six colors of the wooden blocks were mixed together, making Gu Qingheng momentarily puzzled, unsure how to distinguish the six colors of the cube.
At this moment, Zhuo Fei walked towards Gu Qingheng, speaking while curiously staring at the Rubik’s Cube in Gu Qingheng’s hand, wondering what this new thing was.
When Gu Qingheng was at the academy, he always brought some peculiar items, saying they were small toys made by his brother-in-law out of boredom. Although he didn’t know how they were made, they were indeed novel and fun!
Even when Zhuo Fei asked his relatives in the capital to inquire, they had never seen such rare and interesting things.
“That’s true, but only people from our academy know about these. Other academies don’t. They must be regretting losing to you right now.”
“Don’t worry. When we go out for the next round of competitions, people from various academies will definitely know that I’m good at reading.”
“Do messages spread that fast?”
“Think about those gossip, aren’t they all like that? They spread very quickly, so information about me is also like that.”
Answering Zhuo Fei’s words, Gu Qingheng shrugged helplessly, indicating that this was not a secret at all.
However, it didn’t matter if others knew.
Could they prevent him from forfeiting and not participating?
Was it his fault for being so good at reading?
“Let’s not think about this anymore! Qingheng, what are you playing with this time?”
“A Rubik’s Cube, it has six colors. These blocks can be twisted, and finally sorted by color, just move the blocks of the same color together… This is a small toy made by my brother-in-law. He said it can exercise the brain and make people smarter.”
“Wow! Your brother-in-law is so nice!”
Afterward, Zhuo Fei didn’t dwell on this issue anymore, but looked at the Rubik’s Cube in Gu Qingheng’s hand with curiosity.
Then, upon hearing Gu Qingheng’s explanation of the Rubik’s Cube, Zhuo Fei immediately said with envy, feeling that it was great to have such a good brother-in-law like Gu Qingheng!
If only he could have a brother-in-law like Gu Yu.
However, Zhuo Fei only had one brother, who was currently in the army and didn’t return for years, causing Zhuo Fei’s mother to constantly complain at home, so much so that Zhuo Fei’s ears were almost calloused.
It was precisely because of this that Zhuo Fei’s family sent him to study at Qingshan Academy, to prevent a situation like his brother’s from happening again, where they couldn’t see each other even for a moment.
“I have another one here! Zhuo Fei, this is for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes, my brother-in-law asked me to give it to friends. Aren’t you my friend? Come and play with me, I’ve been twisting it for a long time, but I haven’t managed to put together a single side of the same color.”
“Okay, I’ll twist it with you.”
Just as Zhuo Fei was looking on enviously, Gu Qingheng took out another Rubik’s Cube from the book bag beside him, and then, in front of Zhuo Fei’s astonished expression, Gu Qingheng directly placed it in his hand.
If it were before, Gu Yu would definitely not have had time for these little things.
But since Gu Mengyao went to the battlefield, Gu Yu was alone, feeling empty and lonely. During the day at home, besides reading Medical Scriptures, he would tinker with these little things.
Like this time with the Rubik’s Cubes, if it were usual, even if Gu Yu made one, he would just finish it and find making a second one too troublesome.
However, due to his loneliness, Gu Yu made several Rubik’s Cubes.
There was still a Rubik’s Cube in Gu Qingheng’s book bag… He still remembered that at the time, Gu Qingheng had asked Gu Yu with great surprise if he was really going to give all these Rubik’s Cubes to others?
This was very much against his brother-in-law’s persona!
After all, only Gu Yu could take things from others, not others taking his things for free.
But now, he was generously giving them away, which was completely unlike his personality.
And then…
Gu Yu looked up sadly at the sunset, appearing as if he had seen through the vanities of the world, saying that these were all external possessions and there was no need to fuss over them.
Because who he was before and who he was now were completely different!
This made Gu Qingheng unable to help but twitch his lips, then thinking that his sister should come back soon!!!
If she didn’t come back, his brother-in-law would go mad.
…
While Gu Qingheng and Zhuo Fei were playing with the Rubik’s Cubes, Gu Yu sat in a chair, bored, looking around. Regarding the competitions between various academies this time, Gu Yu felt he had overestimated these people.
He had originally thought it would be a duel between masters, and it would definitely be exciting, but now it seemed ordinary.
It was only at the beginning, when Gu Qingheng directly answered the question, that the Academy Competition became a little interesting.
“Alright, the first round of competitions is now halfway through. We kindly ask the academies participating next to work hard and strive to win in the first round!”
“Match twelve, Tianqing Academy versus Huban Academy. Please listen to the question! The second half of the phrase [A frog in a well cannot be told about the sea, for it is confined by its narrow dwelling] is, please answer quickly!”
“I know… A summer cicada cannot be told about spring and autumn, for it is bound by its fate.”
After the moderator finished speaking, a student from Huban Academy immediately stepped forward and answered the question posed by the moderator with a confident expression.
This made the moderator’s face show surprise, obviously not expecting someone to answer so quickly.
This was because, in the first round of answering questions, if one party answered incorrectly, they would be considered defeated.
The other party would directly obtain victory.
Therefore, when answering questions, all academies were extremely cautious, fearing that they might answer incorrectly and become the one holding the competition back.
Apart from Gu Qingheng in the first round, no one else had appeared so quickly after the question was asked.
After his surprise, the moderator did not continue to stand dumbfounded. Instead, he took out the small notebook in his hand, flipped to the page with the answers, and checked what the correct answer was.
“I’m sorry, you answered incorrectly.”
“What!!!”
However, while flipping through the small notebook, the moderator discovered that the actual answer was not this.
After closing the notebook, the moderator regretfully shook his head and told the student who had answered the question that he had not guessed correctly, so Tianqing Academy, who was competing against him, automatically won!
The student who answered incorrectly, upon hearing the moderator’s words, wore an expression of disbelief, clearly not believing that he had actually answered incorrectly!
“Impossible, I clearly remember that this is the answer, you definitely…”
“A frog in a well cannot be told about the sea, for it is confined by its narrow dwelling; a summer insect cannot be told about ice, for it is bound by its season.”
Just as the student who answered incorrectly was being unreasonable, someone from the opposite Tianqing Academy suddenly spoke up, and then, while speaking, he walked forward a few steps, appearing in everyone’s sight.
The person speaking was only about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a clean appearance and elegant temperament, causing a stir among the young women and little wives below the stage, making the men standing around feel their ears were about to go deaf.
Hmph, he’s just a good-looking man.
Why are they so excited???
“The explanation of this sentence: You cannot explain the vastness of the sea to a frog in a well, because it is limited by its narrow living environment. You cannot explain what ice is to an insect in summer, because it is limited by the climate and season.”
Afterwards, the young man who gave the correct answer did not stop. He directly explained the meaning of the sentence in one breath, causing the student who had wanted to make a scene to calm down again, realizing that he was indeed less learned and had answered the question incorrectly.
Gu Yu, who was sitting in the judges’ seats, perked up at this moment and looked towards the stage along with Director Qingshan.
This student explained it very clearly!
Although not as impressive as Gu Qingheng, he was still quite remarkable…
