Chapter 160: You Become the Woman and I the Man

'Zhang Meili agreed, but she doesn't know the name of Cao Xiu's company...'

'Wait.'

'Zhou Chen doesn't know either, but he has room to maneuver. So that's how it is.'

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

The remaining players only said the word "Agreed," and did not explicitly state, "I will buy shares in Company No. 6."

In other words, the moment they said "Agreed," the Future Lie Cao Xiu established earlier took effect. After his company expanded production, everyone else would be forced to buy shares worth 500,000 in his company.

Seeing this, Cao Xiu looked at Zhou Chen. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Have you ever heard of Zhuo Wenjun's Letters from Two Places?"

"'After a single parting' is in the latter half of Letters from Two Places. The poetic lines that correspond to it, and the number deduced from them, represent the number in my company's name," Cao Xiu said with a smile.

Only then did Zhou Chen nod. He turned to the crowd and gave a sinister smile. "I forgot to mention, my company is actually Company No. 6."

"The Future Lie we established just now doesn't seem to involve buying shares in Company No. 6 when it expands production. So... I need you all to establish it again!"

'Oh no!'

Li Zhitong cursed inwardly. In her previous deductions, although she had figured out the layout of Cao Xiu's Lie-Judgment, the way she saw it...

'If I could figure it out, there should be a few other players who could deduce it too.'

'Everyone was just playing along with this Energetic Young Guy's performance, setting up a trap to kill off the inattentive players.'

'If everyone figured it out, it means this Energetic Young Guy would get four million for nothing, and we would be Trying to Steal a Chicken Only to Lose One's Rice.'

'Therefore, Zhou Chen is the key point. He could use the fact that he is actually Company No. 6 to force us to establish a new Future Lie, compel the Energetic Young Guy to reveal his company name, and even demand a cut of the profits.'

'This way, Zhou Chen would recoup some losses, the Energetic Young Guy would gain an advantage, and we would finally learn his company's name.'

'A win-win-win situation.'

'But who would have thought that the Energetic Young Guy would speak in riddles, implicitly revealing the company name only to Zhou Chen. He is setting the pace to trap and kill the rest of us!'

'Letters from Two Places?'

'Isn't that the collection of correspondence between Lu Xun and Xu Guangping, consisting of one hundred and thirty-five letters...'

'But why did the Energetic Young Guy mention poetry just now? Rather than letters?'

'Could it be that there is a second version of Letters from Two Places? And it was written by Zhuo Wenjun.'

When it came to general knowledge reserves, it had little to do with raw intelligence. This was a situation where A Flurry of Random Punches Kills an Old Master could easily occur.

If a Three-Star Player lacked this specific knowledge, they would be trapped and killed just the same.

An expert's move immediately revealed their true worth. Cao Xiu had abundant experience fighting Three-Star Players and knew exactly where to strike a snake's weak point.

Diwu Zeyi spoke thoughtfully, "I remember seeing something related to this in a TV drama. It goes something like: 'After a single parting, two places filled with longing, in the third month the peach blossoms drift with the water.'"

"'In the fourth month the loquats are not yet yellow, I wish to face the mirror but my heart is in turmoil; in the fifth month the pomegranates are red as fire, but they meet a cold rain pouring on their blooms.'"

"'In the dog days of the sixth month, everyone waves fans yet my heart alone is chilled; the seven-string zither I have no heart to play, the eight-line letter I have nowhere to send, the nine-linked puzzle snaps in the middle, and at the ten-mile pavilion my eyes gaze until they ache.'"

"Looking at the above... 'After a single parting' should correspond to the 'ten-mile pavilion'."

Diwu Zeyi stopped there, having made his point.

Long Hui nodded in agreement. "Letters from Two Places is indeed a romantic poem for the ages. However, I have heard another version..."

"'After a single morning, suspended in two places, they said it would only be three or four months, but who knew it would become five or six years.'"

"'In the middle of the seventh month, holding candles and burning incense to ask the high heavens; during the Mid-Autumn Festival of the eighth month, the moon is full but the people are not.'"

"'Climbing high on the Double Ninth to watch the lone geese, thousands of words are not enough to tell, utterly bored to death...'"

"'Ten times leaning against the railing.'"

Hearing this, Dorje also sighed with emotion. "Perhaps this is the charm of Letters from Two Places. Different Mental States lead to different feelings. It is no wonder that it would be fragmented in TV dramas, resulting in multiple versions. Hiding the number of the company's name within Letters from Two Places... I have to say, it is quite ingenious."

...

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

The three Three-Star Players agreed without hesitation after providing their interference information.

The faces of Chen Ran, Qiu Yinong, Zhang Meili, and Li Zhitong darkened.

Zhang Meili never expected that Cao Xiu would pull a stunt like this, dragging her down into the pit as well.

'I can say for certain that there is something wrong with the versions of Letters from Two Places recited by the Three-Star Players.'

'After all, they mentioned TV dramas multiple times in their words, proving that their versions are not the authentic ones.'

'Looking at the expressions of Chen Ran, Qiu Yinong, and Li Zhitong, they probably don't know the true version of Letters from Two Places either.'

'Unfortunately, before I died, I was an English Teacher. I'm not good at poetry.'

'Now, Cao Xiu's Future Lie is a foregone conclusion, and next up is Zhou Chen's Future Lie. We can only take it one step at a time. Later, whoever's company expands production and has its shares bought by multiple companies, that person is...'

'The owner of Cao Xiu's company.'

Li Zhitong similarly lacked the relevant knowledge reserves regarding Letters from Two Places.

Her thoughts were quite similar to Zhang Meili's.

However, she had a cheat code. Long Hui likely wouldn't just watch her die. After all, no one knew if the Third Chamber would require teammates to cooperate on puzzles, so Long Hui would surely help her.

As to whether she would be plotted to death by Cao Xiu, she wasn't worried in the slightest.

...

Chen Ran looked up, turning his gaze toward Qiu Yinong.

The two happened to lock eyes.

They then gave each other a subtle nod.

...

Chen Ran looked up, turning his gaze toward Qiu Yinong.

The two happened to lock eyes.

They then gave each other a subtle nod.

Immediately afterward, retracting his gaze, Chen Ran happily clamped a cigarette between his lips.

'The Three-Star Players were all reciting the TV drama version of Letters from Two Places.'

'Adding the two versions together practically forms the true version.'

'But none of that is the main point.'

'Simply because both versions they recited are missing a crucial line: Ah, my dear husband, how I wish that in the next life, you become the woman and I the man.'

'Therefore, "After a single parting" corresponds to "You become the woman and I the man".'

'Letters from Two Places was written by Zhuo Wenjun to her Husband, Sima Xiangru.'

'Zhuo Wenjun was a woman.'

'So "You become the woman and I the man" means the woman becomes a man, and the man becomes a woman.'

'Yin and yang are reversed.'

'Zhou Chen is Company No. 6. When the number 6 is reversed, it becomes the number 9.'

'Cao Xiu is Company No. 9!'

'Wait, Mei Zhixu... what is going on here? I asked her to find two pieces of Cannon Fodder, but why do I feel like Cao Xiu is an absolute god-tier troll!'

'He knew he couldn't beat the Three-Star Players in raw intelligence, so he competed in general knowledge instead. Although he didn't quite succeed, his line of thinking was flawless.'

'It gives off the impression that Cao Xiu has an incredible amount of experience dealing with Three-Star Players.'

'Let's set Cao Xiu aside for now. Since Qiu Yinong also figured it out, and looking at the expressions on Zhang Meili and Li Zhitong's faces, those two clearly haven't deduced the truth.'

'Li Zhitong has Long Hui as a heavy hitter to lean on, so she won't be targeted for the time being. But Zhang Meili...'

'She might just end up drawing all the concentrated fire!'