Joy of Life: The Mei Family's Son Grows Up

Chapter 98 Death is not unjust
This question is quite confusing, and the first few words can easily lead people astray.

Mei Zhili looked at his wife and saw that she was indeed stumped, so he smiled.

"Madam, didn't you guess?"

Mrs. May shook her head.

"Don't tell me yet, let me think about it."

Mei Zhili smiled and nodded.

Mrs. Mei still wanted to guess, but Mei Yuxi didn't want to guess anymore. She originally wanted to rely on herself, but after guessing for so long, she still had no clue and was tired of guessing.

"Dad, how about you give me a hint?"

Mei Zhili turned around to look at his daughter standing behind him, then looked at his wife inquiringly.

Mrs. Mei thought about it and thought it would be helpful to give some hints, so she nodded in agreement.

Mei Zhili then spoke.

"You've all been misled by the title. Even though the title says this thing is a jar, it doesn't mean it really is a jar. You can't really guess in the direction of a jar. It may just look like a jar because its shape is similar to a jar."

Mrs. Mei thought about it for a while after hearing this, and then her eyes lit up. Mei Zhili asked with a smile.

"Madam, have you guessed it?"

Mrs. May smiled and nodded.

Then both of them looked at their daughter.

After hearing the hint, Mei Yuxi suddenly realized and secretly annoyed herself for getting stuck in a dead end. But after dispelling the fog, it became easy to guess. After thinking for a while, she guessed it.

The three of them exchanged glances and laughed together.

After solving the confusion, Mei Yuxi felt relaxed. She stopped disturbing her parents and returned to the dining table. She glanced around, broke off a chicken leg, sat down and started to eat it. She had used up a lot of brain energy and needed to replenish it.

Mei Cheng'an looked at her with a smile, first picked up the wine jug and poured himself a glass, then quietly watched his sister eat chicken legs. Mei Cheng'an felt that his sister was suitable for food broadcasting because she ate so deliciously.

Mei Cheng'an couldn't help but swallow his saliva, his appetite aroused, and he looked at the chicken on the table. Is it really that delicious?
I reached out and broke off a chicken leg, took it in front of me to look at it, and took a bite. My eyes lit up immediately. You have to admit, it tasted really good. It must have been marinated for a long time. The flavor was especially good and the meat was very tender. Yuxi's carefully selected food is delicious.

While the brother and sister were gnawing on chicken legs, Mei Zhili and his wife continued to guess.

This time, Mei Zhili was also stumped by the puzzle.

He found the riddle very interesting. It sits when sitting, sits when standing, sits when walking, and sits when lying down. It is a living creature.

Sitting, standing, walking or lying down is all sitting. Mei Zhili's first reaction was a stone lion, but the title said it was a living creature, so Mei Zhili couldn't figure it out for a moment.

Mrs. May joked when she saw that he was also stumped.

"Do you ever get stuck?"

Mei Zhili didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He wasn't really stumped. He just hadn't thought of it for the time being. Soon he started thinking about it himself.

Mrs. Mei did not disturb him and turned to the next question. She only took a glance and then exclaimed "Huh".

Mei Zhili was attracted by the voice and looked over.

Mrs. May looked at him.

“This one looks similar to that one.”

Like? Mei Zhili became curious and walked over to take a look. It was indeed very similar. The question was, "Sitting is also standing, standing is also standing, walking is also standing, lying is also standing, guess a living thing", just replace the last word of each sentence with "standing". Mei Zhili smiled. This question is quite interesting.

Mei Zhili thought of the answer to this question in a flash. He thought about the pattern of the two questions and wondered if it was possible...

After reading the next two questions, Mei Zhili stroked his beard and smiled. As he expected, the last word was changed to "行" and "卧" respectively.

Mrs. Mei felt a little dizzy after reading it. What was going on? It was so confusing to pronounce. She looked at Mei Zhili.

"Have you guessed it all?"

Mei Zhili nodded first, then shook his head.

"I have guessed the last three, but I still need to think about the first one."

Mrs. May's eyes lit up.

"Then tell me about the last three questions first. I'm dizzy with these questions and I'm too lazy to guess."

Mei Zhili pulled his wife and pointed at the question in front of them.

"Sitting, standing, walking or lying down is all lying down. This is referring to snakes, because snakes lie on the ground whether they are moving or not."

Mrs. Mei thought about it and realized that it was true.

Mei Zhili pulled her back a step.

"Look at this one again. Sitting, standing, walking, and lying down are all actions. This question is about fish."

Mrs. Mei clapped her hands, and the fish kept swimming in the water.

The two took another step back.

"This is even simpler because it's all standing. This is talking about a horse, and a horse always remains standing."

Indeed, indeed, Mrs. May nodded.

In a blink of an eye, the two returned to the first question.

"Let me think about this question again."

Mrs. Mei was too lazy to wait and turned back to look at her son.

"An'er, come and look at this question and give me a hint."

Mei Zhili glanced at his wife and opened his mouth. He wanted to say that he didn't need any hints and he would be able to guess it himself. But after thinking about it, he closed his mouth obediently. It was not worth going against his wife's wishes for such a small matter.

Mei Chengan was stunned when he heard what his mother said. Is there any question that can stump his father? This shouldn't be the case.

"Wait a moment, mom. I'll be right there. Let me wash my hands first."

As soon as he finished speaking, two maids came forward, one holding a basin of water and the other holding soap. After washing his hands, Mei Cheng'an wiped them with a towel and walked towards his mother.

When Mei Yuxi saw the excitement, she didn't even bother to eat and just washed her hands and went over.

Mei Cheng'an stood beside Mei Zhili and looked at the question. He looked at Mei Zhili and saw the depression in his father's eyes.

Although he wanted to laugh, he couldn't, he said seriously.

"Although you have seen the living creature mentioned in this question, you may not have seen it very often. It is normal that you can't remember it at the moment."

Once this step was given, most of the depression on Mei Zhili's face disappeared.

Mrs. Mei said, "Son, please give me a hint."

Mei Chengan smiled.

"This creature rarely appears in winter and often appears near water sources, such as... the pond in our mansion."

With Mei Cheng'an's hint, Mei Zhili figured out what it was almost instantly. No wonder he couldn't guess it, because he really rarely saw this thing.

He didn't like this thing very much and thought it was noisy. Ever since he had instructed the butler to send people to capture and drive it away many years ago, the butler had dealt with it himself without waiting for his instructions. Therefore, he had seen this thing very rarely.

When Mrs. Mei saw her husband's expression, she knew that he already knew it, so she asked hurriedly.

"What is it?"

Mei Zhili looked at his wife but did not give a direct answer.

"The one I particularly dislike."

Mrs. May blurted out: "Frog?"

Mei Zhili smiled bitterly and nodded.

Mrs. Mei suddenly realized and covered her mouth with her hands to laugh. No wonder this question stumped her husband.

This was the first time Mei Cheng'an heard that his father disliked frogs. No wonder he seldom heard frog croaking. It turned out there was such a reason behind it. He secretly made note of this matter and tried not to mention it in front of his father in the future.

After laughing, Mrs. May glanced at her son.

"Okay, there are only a few questions left. An'er, you can follow along. If you come across a question we can't guess, give us a hint in time."

Mei Chengan smiled and nodded.

The family of four watched it all in order.

In fact, there is basically nothing to do with Mei Zhili and Mei Chengan, father and son, later on. Even if the mother and daughter couldn't guess it at the first time, they could come up with the answer after discussing it and supplementing each other, so there was no need for them to give any hints.

So as they walked, the mother and daughter were discussing the puzzles, while the father and son were beside them appreciating the lanterns.

After about half an incense stick of time, the mother and daughter finally finished guessing the rest of the puzzles. The family sat down again, chatting and laughing, and officially started eating.

There were no rules to follow during this meal. We continued the lively atmosphere from before and chatted and ate whenever we wanted.

The father and son just started chatting and drinking.

"Let me tell you, your father went to Northern Qi once when he was young, and there I saw a huge lantern. It was so big that it was taller than a building. Can you imagine how spectacular it was?"

Yes, I’ve seen it in The Longest Day in Chang’an.

Mei Cheng'an picked up the wine jug and refilled his father's glass of wine, with a look of shock on his face.

"Oh my god, it's taller than a building? Dad, you are not bragging, are you?"

Mei Zhili tapped the table lightly.

"Hey, I just knew I wouldn't believe it. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed there were such big lanterns in the world. It was so spectacular that I was stunned and dumbfounded."

Mei Cheng'an picked up the wine glass, and after his father picked up his as well, he took the initiative to clink glasses with his father.

"That's impossible. What kind of structure would be able to support that height? Could it be that you saw it wrongly? It's actually a building, but there are just too many candles."

Mei Zhili drank it all in one gulp and put down the glass.

“I thought so too, so I leaned over.”

Mei Cheng'an's eyes lit up and he refilled his father's glass of wine.

"Dad, have you entered the lantern? Tell me what it looks like inside."

"No, there are imperial guards blocking the way and not allowing anyone to get close."

"..."

Then why do you say it is so fascinating?

“Although I didn’t go inside, I’m sure it’s not a building.”

The father and son clinked glasses.

"Why are you so sure, Dad?"

Mei Zhili drank it all in one gulp, his eyes blurred, as if he had returned to the past.

"Because... that thing can deform."

Mei Chengan almost spit out his wine.

What did he hear? Transformation? What kind of transformation? Transformers?

"Dad, what are you talking about? How is that possible?"

Mei Zhili said faintly.

"It's true. Not long after I got close, the entire... lantern started to move. The flat base shrank and rose several feet high, stretching out many arms that were several to dozens of meters long. The candlelight burned from the bottom all the way up, illuminating the entire Shangjing as bright as day. Not long after, the lantern actually began to rotate in layers. It was really... so beautiful."

This... doesn't make sense. According to what my dad said, the skill of the person who made this lantern is even better than that of Mao Shun? The lantern made by Mao Shun doesn't even rotate in layers.

"Which master made that lantern? Someone who can create such a masterpiece should be world-famous. How come I have never heard of him?"

Mei Zhili sighed quietly.

"He was sentenced to death by the Emperor of Northern Qi."

"..."

The more he listens, the more he sounds like Mao Shun. Is he also involved in the treason?

Mei Chengan poured a glass of wine for his father.

"Why? What has he done wrong?"

Mei Zhili took a sip of wine, his tone full of regret.

"Because... the lantern caught fire while spinning. Although no one was hurt, the lantern was built with funds from the Northern Qi emperor, who got angry and ordered the execution."

"..."

He spent the investors' money and embarrassed them in public. He deserved to die...

……

(End of this chapter)