C44- End Her
There are so many similar instances that were decided by fate. For example, right now there was the faint sound from the carousel, and beside it was Pei Zhi looking at Lin Zhao Xi.
She didn’t know how to describe this feeling. When Pei Zhi looked at her, she felt relaxed as if someone had splashed cold water on her head, and she stopped panicking.
She looked back at Zhang Liang. Of course, she could say, “I’m not playing because every time you change the rules, you already know the winning pattern”. This game may be unreasonable and Zhang Liang probably tricked her, but not playing meant she surrendered.
Lin Zhao Xi looked at the stones on the table and started counting. She hadn’t changed the rules yet and was holding a stone in her hand. Right now, the rule was you can only take 1 to 4 stones, and the winning pattern was a multiple of 5.
This chaotic round was just a more complicated version of the previous round. She calmed down. The normal strategy to win the game hadn’t changed; find the total number of stones and find the winning pattern.
Lin Zhao Xi was so focused that her surroundings became dark and blurry. All she could see were the stones on the stone table. It didn’t matter if Zhang Liang changed the rules. She told herself that right now she needed to find the total number of stones.
5, 10, 15, 20, 25 …
Across her, Zhang Liang once again changed the rules to annoy her, but Lin Zhao Xi wasn’t even listening.
210, 215…
229, there are 229 stones. At last, she raised her head. The carousel in the distance hadn’t stopped yet, there was still the faint music and children’s smiles that bloomed like a flower.
Hua Juan frantically ran towards them, stones in hand, and Pei Zhi followed him.
She took 1 stone off the table and threw it on the ground. “Only 1 to 3 stones now,” she said to Zhang Liang.
There were 228 stones left, now the player that moved after the first player would win. If this continued, Zhang Liang would surely lose.
Zhang Liang was stunned. There was a crack on that young boy’s proud face. He realised that she had finished counting the stones and knew how to win this game.
How can a dumbass like you count this fast? Zhang Liang thought.
He took 3 stones off the table and said, “4.”
She took 1, 224 left: “3.”
He picked 2: “5 stones.”
…
…
Gradually, they sped up, constantly changing the rules to disrupt each other.
Lin Zhao Xi took 2 stones: “5.”
Zhang Liang took 3: “3.”
After mastering the strategies, the game was reduced to simple subtraction, multiplication, and division. Determine the total, +1 to the total, determine the multiple, leave the prime number, and lastly follow the pattern of this multiple. This is the strategy to win the Bash Game.
The simple calculation training she did in the past displayed its effect; keeping a clear head without panicking, seeing the law of numbers, and simplifying the calculations.
More and more people gathered around them to watch them play. Since they weren’t playing backgammon or checkers, the onlookers were curious. Lu Zhi Zhao was explaining the rules to an auntie and Hua Juan was getting more anxious. He dropped the stones and started provoking Zhang Liang’s group.
And Pei Zhi …
Lin Zhao Xi already knew that Hua Juan had brought Pei Zhi to their side, and she was very relieved. However, this time, she would rely on him no more.
“3!” Zhang Liang shouted before taking 3 stones.
His voice was very loud, louder than the normal standard and there was a bit of crack in it.
The surroundings quieted down for a moment, the carousel was still spinning and playing Fur Elise1Here is the link, the cicadas were chirping as loud as a big wave.
Lin Zhao Xi looked at Zhang Liang. She didn’t know when Zhang Liang had started to sweat. Under his mother’s pink parasol, his face was pale, eyes a bit red. She knew what he was thinking and asked, “Want to increase the difficulty? Maximum of 5 stones is a bit too easy don’t you think? How about bumping up that number to 15?”
There was panic in Zhang Liang’s eyes. Probably he had never lost to someone in rapid calculations, so he was too afraid to reply.
Behind him, his group was already screaming.
“You can do this Zhang Liang!”
“Quickly end her!”
“Don’t let her be too arrogant!”
“Okay.” Zhang Liang finally squeezed out a word from his mouth.
Lin Zhao Xi looked at the boy in front of her. She stopped taking the stones off the table, placed her hands on her lap and waited.
The candy-coloured carousel in the distance began to slow down, everybody held their breath and waited for the carousel to come to a stop.
One minute passed, nobody thought that the girl sitting at the stone table would not take any stone or change the rules. She was as still as a stone statue, just waiting.
“What the hell are you doing!” Zhang Liang bellowed. He slammed the table, his face full of panic.
“Ah, me? I’m waiting for it to stop,” Lin Zhao Xi replied as she pointed at the carousel.
“You broke the rules, you cheated!” The boy’s voice was shaking.
The carousel moved slower and slower. Zhang Liang’s words evoked doubt in some spectators, many were confused over what was happening.
Lin Zhao Xi said three words,“I didn’t cheat.”
All the children and adults looked at one another, not sure what was going on. Some people started counting the stones left on the table while others started counting down on the carousel stopping.
8, 7, 6 … The countdown started to get louder and louder, drowning out the faint sound of Fur Elise
The anxious Hua Juan asked Pei Zhi, “What’s actually happening?”
Pei Zhi looked at the stone table before his gaze rested on Lin Zhao Xi’s face. The wind blew on her temple causing her hair to move around.
“She already won,” Pei Zhi replied.
As soon as his words fell, the carousel stopped; adults and children started to get off the horses, and around the table, the children exploded.
“Did Lin Zhao Xi win?”
“Sh*t she won, how did she win?”
“Class Leader, can you try to explain?” the students of Red Star Elementary School said to Lu Zhi Zhao.
“Don’t interrupt me, I’m counting.” Lu Zhi Zhao deliberated for a while before finally speaking. “There are 81 stones on the table and the rules are, take 1 to 3 stones. Right now, it is Lin Zhao Xi’s turn, if she only takes 1 stone this turn and plays it correctly, no matter what Zhang Liang does, he will lose.” He was uncertain at first but got more excited by the time he finished speaking.
“When Zhang Liang said 3, he made a mistake and gave Lin Zhao Xi a chance to win. Since Zhang Liang gave her a winning situation, Lin Zhao Xi didn’t need to change the rules, so she waited for the carousel to stop.”
“Lin Zhao Xi, not bad!” Lu Zhi Zhao roared. She almost spit out blood (joke) as he smacked her back.
The students of Red Star Elementary School started to scream and cheer. The onlookers that got affected by the atmosphere began to applaud.
On the other side of the table, Zhang Liang’s face showed uncontrollable anger. He despised Lu Zhi Zhao the most and when the guy pointed out his mistakes and failure, he(ZL) finally snapped. He slammed the table and yelled, “My mistakes are none of your business, you fat pig!”
After Zhang Liang’s outburst, the students from Experimental School to his rear screamed as well.
“She definitely cheated!” yelled an Experimental School student.
“Bullsh*t!” a Red Star Elementary School student screamed back.
“Zhang Liang said you cheated, so you must have cheated!” the other countered.
“Isn’t Zhang Liang very smart? But he still lost!” The Red Star Elementary School students laughed in unison.
“Because she cheated!”
“Stop talking nonsense! Lin Zhao Xi’s hands were off the table. You guys are the ones who cheated!”
The two groups started to get closer and closer, gearing up to fight it out. Some students even began pushing each other.
“What are you pushing for!” someone screamed.
“Enough! There will be no fighting!”
Zhang Liang’s mother stepped into the middle of the group. She was panicking and trying to stop both groups from killing each other.
At this moment, Lin Zhao Xi finally opened her mouth. “How did I cheat?”
Everybody fell silent, even Zhang Liang’s mother stopped what she was doing.
Zhang Liang stood up, beside him was his mother holding the umbrella. His face was tense and stiff, he tried to say something but no words came out.
C44- End Her
There are so many similar instances that were decided by fate. For example, right now there was the faint sound from the carousel, and beside it was Pei Zhi looking at Lin Zhao Xi.
She didn’t know how to describe this feeling. When Pei Zhi looked at her, she felt relaxed as if someone had splashed cold water on her head, and she stopped panicking.
She looked back at Zhang Liang. Of course, she could say, “I’m not playing because every time you change the rules, you already know the winning pattern”. This game may be unreasonable and Zhang Liang probably tricked her, but not playing meant she surrendered.
Lin Zhao Xi looked at the stones on the table and started counting. She hadn’t changed the rules yet and was holding a stone in her hand. Right now, the rule was you can only take 1 to 4 stones, and the winning pattern was a multiple of 5.
This chaotic round was just a more complicated version of the previous round. She calmed down. The normal strategy to win the game hadn’t changed; find the total number of stones and find the winning pattern.
Lin Zhao Xi was so focused that her surroundings became dark and blurry. All she could see were the stones on the stone table. It didn’t matter if Zhang Liang changed the rules. She told herself that right now she needed to find the total number of stones.
5, 10, 15, 20, 25 …
Across her, Zhang Liang once again changed the rules to annoy her, but Lin Zhao Xi wasn’t even listening.
210, 215…
229, there are 229 stones. At last, she raised her head. The carousel in the distance hadn’t stopped yet, there was still the faint music and children’s smiles that bloomed like a flower.
Hua Juan frantically ran towards them, stones in hand, and Pei Zhi followed him.
She took 1 stone off the table and threw it on the ground. “Only 1 to 3 stones now,” she said to Zhang Liang.
There were 228 stones left, now the player that moved after the first player would win. If this continued, Zhang Liang would surely lose.
Zhang Liang was stunned. There was a crack on that young boy’s proud face. He realised that she had finished counting the stones and knew how to win this game.
How can a dumbass like you count this fast? Zhang Liang thought.
He took 3 stones off the table and said, “4.”
She took 1, 224 left: “3.”
He picked 2: “5 stones.”
…
…
Gradually, they sped up, constantly changing the rules to disrupt each other.
Lin Zhao Xi took 2 stones: “5.”
Zhang Liang took 3: “3.”
After mastering the strategies, the game was reduced to simple subtraction, multiplication, and division. Determine the total, +1 to the total, determine the multiple, leave the prime number, and lastly follow the pattern of this multiple. This is the strategy to win the Bash Game.
The simple calculation training she did in the past displayed its effect; keeping a clear head without panicking, seeing the law of numbers, and simplifying the calculations.
More and more people gathered around them to watch them play. Since they weren’t playing backgammon or checkers, the onlookers were curious. Lu Zhi Zhao was explaining the rules to an auntie and Hua Juan was getting more anxious. He dropped the stones and started provoking Zhang Liang’s group.
And Pei Zhi …
Lin Zhao Xi already knew that Hua Juan had brought Pei Zhi to their side, and she was very relieved. However, this time, she would rely on him no more.
“3!” Zhang Liang shouted before taking 3 stones.
His voice was very loud, louder than the normal standard and there was a bit of crack in it.
The surroundings quieted down for a moment, the carousel was still spinning and playing Fur Elise1Here is the link, the cicadas were chirping as loud as a big wave.
Lin Zhao Xi looked at Zhang Liang. She didn’t know when Zhang Liang had started to sweat. Under his mother’s pink parasol, his face was pale, eyes a bit red. She knew what he was thinking and asked, “Want to increase the difficulty? Maximum of 5 stones is a bit too easy don’t you think? How about bumping up that number to 15?”
There was panic in Zhang Liang’s eyes. Probably he had never lost to someone in rapid calculations, so he was too afraid to reply.
Behind him, his group was already screaming.
“You can do this Zhang Liang!”
“Quickly end her!”
“Don’t let her be too arrogant!”
“Okay.” Zhang Liang finally squeezed out a word from his mouth.
Lin Zhao Xi looked at the boy in front of her. She stopped taking the stones off the table, placed her hands on her lap and waited.
The candy-coloured carousel in the distance began to slow down, everybody held their breath and waited for the carousel to come to a stop.
One minute passed, nobody thought that the girl sitting at the stone table would not take any stone or change the rules. She was as still as a stone statue, just waiting.
“What the hell are you doing!” Zhang Liang bellowed. He slammed the table, his face full of panic.
“Ah, me? I’m waiting for it to stop,” Lin Zhao Xi replied as she pointed at the carousel.
“You broke the rules, you cheated!” The boy’s voice was shaking.
The carousel moved slower and slower. Zhang Liang’s words evoked doubt in some spectators, many were confused over what was happening.
Lin Zhao Xi said three words,“I didn’t cheat.”
All the children and adults looked at one another, not sure what was going on. Some people started counting the stones left on the table while others started counting down on the carousel stopping.
8, 7, 6 … The countdown started to get louder and louder, drowning out the faint sound of Fur Elise
The anxious Hua Juan asked Pei Zhi, “What’s actually happening?”
Pei Zhi looked at the stone table before his gaze rested on Lin Zhao Xi’s face. The wind blew on her temple causing her hair to move around.
“She already won,” Pei Zhi replied.
As soon as his words fell, the carousel stopped; adults and children started to get off the horses, and around the table, the children exploded.
“Did Lin Zhao Xi win?”
“Sh*t she won, how did she win?”
“Class Leader, can you try to explain?” the students of Red Star Elementary School said to Lu Zhi Zhao.
“Don’t interrupt me, I’m counting.” Lu Zhi Zhao deliberated for a while before finally speaking. “There are 81 stones on the table and the rules are, take 1 to 3 stones. Right now, it is Lin Zhao Xi’s turn, if she only takes 1 stone this turn and plays it correctly, no matter what Zhang Liang does, he will lose.” He was uncertain at first but got more excited by the time he finished speaking.
“When Zhang Liang said 3, he made a mistake and gave Lin Zhao Xi a chance to win. Since Zhang Liang gave her a winning situation, Lin Zhao Xi didn’t need to change the rules, so she waited for the carousel to stop.”
“Lin Zhao Xi, not bad!” Lu Zhi Zhao roared. She almost spit out blood (joke) as he smacked her back.
The students of Red Star Elementary School started to scream and cheer. The onlookers that got affected by the atmosphere began to applaud.
On the other side of the table, Zhang Liang’s face showed uncontrollable anger. He despised Lu Zhi Zhao the most and when the guy pointed out his mistakes and failure, he(ZL) finally snapped. He slammed the table and yelled, “My mistakes are none of your business, you fat pig!”
After Zhang Liang’s outburst, the students from Experimental School to his rear screamed as well.
“She definitely cheated!” yelled an Experimental School student.
“Bullsh*t!” a Red Star Elementary School student screamed back.
“Zhang Liang said you cheated, so you must have cheated!” the other countered.
“Isn’t Zhang Liang very smart? But he still lost!” The Red Star Elementary School students laughed in unison.
“Because she cheated!”
“Stop talking nonsense! Lin Zhao Xi’s hands were off the table. You guys are the ones who cheated!”
The two groups started to get closer and closer, gearing up to fight it out. Some students even began pushing each other.
“What are you pushing for!” someone screamed.
“Enough! There will be no fighting!”
Zhang Liang’s mother stepped into the middle of the group. She was panicking and trying to stop both groups from killing each other.
At this moment, Lin Zhao Xi finally opened her mouth. “How did I cheat?”
Everybody fell silent, even Zhang Liang’s mother stopped what she was doing.
Zhang Liang stood up, beside him was his mother holding the umbrella. His face was tense and stiff, he tried to say something but no words came out.
