Gift ┃ It's for You. Don't Mention It.

Would he really be reduced to dust in the wind and snow? Like that tin can that had crumbled to powder when it was thrown outside?

Bang!!

The locked door suddenly sprang open and slammed against the wall.

Everyone flinched.

Outside, 922, who hadn't yet left, stopped in his tracks too.

A wind unlike anything they had ever felt swept in, as though an aircraft in flight had suddenly lost its cabin door. A tremendous suction dragged at them with all its might.

"Ah-"

Old Yu cried out and suddenly tumbled to the floor, sliding rapidly toward the door.

It was as though a pair of invisible hands had seized his ankles and was trying to throw him outside.

"The papers won't be collected until the rooster has crowed nine times."

"Also, there's a trick to the first round of this moronic question. Tsk... it's pretty shameless."

Those two sentences suddenly surfaced in his mind.

You Huo had no time to think. He snatched the slender folding knife from Yu Wen's hand, vaulted over the long table in his way, and stood before the answer wall.

As the rooster crowed for the last time, he hastily scratched out one word:

Solution.

922, outside the door: "..."

That fucking worked????

It really did.

The crowing and the wind and snow stopped abruptly.

Old Yu's head came to a stop just short of the door, the hair on top of it already gone. Yu Wen was sprawled on the floor, clutching one of his legs.

Their hearts pounded wildly. Pale-faced, they stared blankly for a long while before turning toward the answer wall.

An age seemed to pass before a red mark appeared beside the flamboyantly scrawled word "Solution":

2

Everyone was stunned.

922 was dumbfounded.

He stood in the cold wind for a few seconds, then turned and rushed back to report it.

It took another long while for the people in the room to process what had happened.

They got up from the floor on shaky legs.

"Oh, damn, that scared me to death..." Old Yu had been left bald on top, and part of his scalp had been scraped raw. Blood streamed down from it.

Fortunately, he was still alive.

Yu Wen let go of his father's leg and sprawled on the floor like a dead dog.

Several seconds later, he sat bolt upright and slapped himself across the face. "Look at this pig brain of mine! How could I forget that? Before an exam, our teachers always told us over and over: when you get the paper, whether you know the answers or not, write 'Solution' first. That one word is worth two points!!! Cousin, how are you so amazing?"

"..."

You Huo silently put the knife away. He didn't think that was a compliment.

To stop this idiot from going on about the word "Solution," he condescended to speak, taking the initiative to ask Yu Wen a question. "Who took the knife?"

At the mention of the knife, Yu Wen's face immediately fell. "Who else!"

He pointed at the tattooed man. "Him! We found it on him! I knew something was off about him. Everyone else was looking for the question and clues, but he was stuffing all kinds of knives into his pockets like a bear stocking up for winter. If he hadn't bumped into Sister Yu Yao's stomach and dropped the knife when everyone started making a fuss, who knows how long it would've taken us to find one!"

Remembering what had just happened, he couldn't help feeling a lingering fright.

If that quarrel and commotion hadn't happened, if their luck had been a little worse and they'd found the knife a little later, even You Huo wouldn't have made it back in time for the first collection of papers.

Then his dad, Old Yu...

The tattooed man had been pinned down in a chair, and everyone was about to demand an explanation.

But the answer wall suddenly changed.

Question: A group of travelers came to a snowy mountain and sought lodging in Hunter A's cabin. Hunter A said: I have 13 sets of tableware, but limited food, so I can only host 12 people. A secret is hidden among the tableware, and one person is destined to die. Will you escape? This isn't really very difficult, after all, light is the most wonderful thing in the world.

Requirement: Find the damn set of tableware (but do not damage the tableware).

Knowledge tested: Optics

Everyone: "..."

As everyone stared blankly at the question, another line appeared beneath it.

Violation warning: A punished examinee has answered the question in violation of the rules. Invigilators have been notified.

Invigilators: 001, 154, 922.

Everyone: "..."

Ten minutes later.

In the invigilators' office on the second floor of the house, Invigilator 001 and the rule-breaking examinee who had been brought in for a second time faced each other in silence.

You Huo: "..."

Qin Jiu: "..."

After a long while, the invigilator, who had been fiddling with a pen, gave a soft chuckle. He lifted his eyes and asked lazily, "Are you planning to live here?"

Chapter 5: Gift ┃ It's for You. Don't Mention It.

You Huo sat hunched on the sofa, his long legs propped up, one hand idly touching his stud earring.

At Qin Jiu's words, he lifted his eyes. His cold gaze swept over the other man's face before dropping again.

No explanation, no reflection, no response.

That attitude clearly marked him as the most troublesome kind of rebel.

The moment 154 entered his boss's office, he felt suffocated, as though he'd stepped into the school disciplinary office.

"You wanted to see me?"

With an examinee present, 154 looked more serious than usual and even spoke respectfully.

"What's the punishment for a second violation?" Qin Jiu slowly twirled the pen in his hand and looked at him. "I haven't been here for a while, so I don't quite remember."

154 kept a straight face and was silent for two seconds. Then he said, "Solitary confinement."

Qin Jiu: "..."

You Huo's fingers paused, and he finally raised his head.

His expression was still cold, and apart from sleepy listlessness, he showed no emotion, but 154 felt he was full of mockery.

Maybe it was in his genes.

Or maybe their boss just tended to attract that sort of look.

Qin Jiu: "Other than solitary confinement, isn't there anything else?"

154 opened his mouth.

Something in the room beeped.

You Huo's gaze shifted to Qin Jiu's wrist. Something there flashed briefly; that was where the sound had come from.

154 said, "See? Adding to the punishment is against the rules."

Qin Jiu lowered his eyes and casually straightened his cuff. The flickering light promptly went dark.