Li Jingmo was quite confident now. At the very least, they should be able to secure steamed buns or cornbread, right?
It was almost eleven o’clock. Di Youyou had a big appetite and had walked the entire way up the mountain herself, so she must be starving by now.
“Old sir, we’ll choose the simple questions first. Please go ahead and present the question!”
The old gentleman narrowed his eyes and placed the fan in his hand on the stone table.
“Alright! Listen carefully to the question, both of you.”
Erosion of river works”
Afraid that the guests might not even recognize the characters, the production team thoughtfully printed the four characters ‘erosion in river engineering’ on an A4 sheet of paper.
Li Jingmo’s face instantly stiffened. Separately, he recognized each of these four characters, but what they meant when put together was another story.
Later, the variety show “Baby, Come and Learn” became a massive hit across the entire internet precisely because, from the very first episode, they didn’t water down the content. When they said it was enlightenment education, it was genuine education.
If the children couldn’t answer a question, they could choose a question themselves and have the teacher explain it once. They could only go collect the basic props after memorizing it.
Because this show took an unconventional approach, many of the knowledge points were things even adults weren’t very familiar with, so it quickly sparked a strong social reaction.
However, no one knew that Di Youyou, this Heavenly Dao’s Beloved Daughter, was a massive bug in the system.
Carrying memories from several lifetimes, these elementary common-sense questions couldn’t possibly stump Di Youyou.
Di Youyou, this child prodigy, also exploded in popularity from the very first episode of this show. The phrase netizens jokingly used to describe themselves—’not even as smart as a child’—originated right here.
At this moment, Li Jingmo was truly dumbfounded.
He didn’t understand this question at all.
“Old sir, is there anything simpler than this?”
The old man gave a half-smile, then shook his head.
“Questions like this are already very simple.”
Li Jingmo gave up on the idea of changing the question. If they changed it a few more times and still couldn’t answer, they would even lose their qualification to eat.
Li Jingmo then looked at Di Youyou dejectedly.
“Little one, sorry, your brother is useless! Can’t help at all~”
Little did he know that this performance of Li Jingmo’s would later be edited by netizens into a hilarious meme video. Combined with Di Youyou’s even more impressive pat-on-the-shoulder comfort later, this sibling duo directly became a viral internet sensation, causing uproarious laughter.
For over a month, the Moyin short video platform was flooded with Li Jingmo’s meme-worthy voice, “Little one, your brother… your brother is useless! along with Di Youyou’s contrasting cuteness expression of “It’s fine, leave it to me.”
The entire internet officially entered an era dominated by the topic: “Today, I also want to wish for a little sister like Di Youyou.”
Seeing that Li Jingmo definitely couldn’t answer, Di Youyou patted his shoulder from behind.
“It’s fine. I won’t let Guoguo go hungry.”
Di Youyou got up from the stool and moved closer to the old gentleman.
‘河工蛀蚀’ refers to how ancient officials exploited large-scale projects like river management, erosion control, and canal transport infrastructure construction. They used methods like falsifying disaster reports or inflating project quantities to defraud state treasury funds.
They typically amassed wealth by substituting inferior materials during procurement, falsely reporting losses or accidents, and deducting food and wages from civilian laborers. Even worse, some intentionally left hidden dangers or defects in certain projects, so those projects could be repeatedly reported for repair and management, achieving the goal of repeatedly siphoning funds.”
As soon as Di Youyou said this, even the old man was somewhat surprised.
The child’s answer was unexpectedly comprehensive to this extent.
“Young friend, do you usually enjoy reading books?”
Di Youyou nodded.
Only Li Jingmo was still confused beside them.
“How about it? Did my sister answer correctly?”
The old man nodded.
“She answered extremely well.
Now, you may choose one dish from the simple menu.”
Di Youyou very sensibly let Li Jingmo make the choice. After all, since coming to the capital city for so long, whatever Li Jingmo wanted to eat, Di Youyou would make it for him.
“Then let’s choose cornbread. Coarse grains are good for the body.”
“Young friend, will you continue?”
Li Jingmo was a bit hesitant to back out, worried that if they answered incorrectly later, the hard-won cornbread might be taken back.
Every time Li Jingmo stood there with his mouth wide open, unable to help at all, netizens would curse him on the public screen. But over time, everyone had cursed themselves numb, only envying why Li Jingmo was so lucky?
To have an all-around little sister queen.
Di Youyou nodded, “Continue.”
Just kidding, the meat dishes haven’t all been served yet! How could she possibly stop?
Di Youyou answered the second question correctly as well. It was a social science topic, asking about the names of the various stages from conception to one hundred years of age in ancient humans.
This question was relatively simpler. Di Youyou answered them all correctly and secured the steamed bun.
She didn’t like the pickled mustard tuber.
“Guoguo, do you want the pickled mustard tuber?”
Li Jingmo felt sorry for Di Youyou, thinking answering questions wasn’t easy. Who would eat that pickled stuff anyway!
Seeing that Li Jingmo also didn’t want the pickled mustard tuber, Di Youyou decisively asked the old man to present questions of medium difficulty.
They contained three vegetarian dishes.
The old man also gave Di Youyou three questions, and the little one answered them all correctly.
The first question asked Di Youyou to name a specific application in ancient architecture based on the construction formulas from The Classic of Lu Ban. Di Youyou answered with the mortise and tenon joint structure and the Lu Ban lock.
For the second question, the old man presented an arithmetic problem from The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. Di Youyou answered it using the ancient method of drawing vertical lines for calculation. The horizontal and vertical strokes on that page of rice paper could show Di Youyou’s level of calligraphy.
For the third question, the old man asked Di Youyou to write a well-known ancient text in calligraphy. Di Youyou also passed.
Three vegetarian dishes obtained.
For the third round, Di Youyou still chose to challenge.
This time, it was reversed.
“If you, young friend, can pose a question that stumps this old man, then these three meat dishes I will respectfully present to you!”
Di Youyou’s demeanor remained neither arrogant nor humble.
Her first question for the NPC was about metaphysics and feng shui. The old man indeed couldn’t answer it.
For the second question, Di Youyou asked the old man to recite the ninth-to-last sentence of the entire Diamond Sutra.
The old man hadn’t expected Di Youyou’s questions to be so tricky. He definitely couldn’t recite it offhand.
For the third question, Di Youyou asked the old man to write the names of the seven sets of guests from Baby, Come Learn Quickly in oracle bone script.
The old man: “…”
Now this was what you called a real stumper.
No one had expected this child Di Youyou to not cheat at all, genuinely using ancient knowledge points to make the NPC concede defeat wholeheartedly.
All three meat dishes were also obtained.
The old man stood up and performed a deep bow to Di Youyou.
“Young friend, you have enlightened this old man. Please proceed to the main hall immediately; your meals are being urgently prepared.”
The old man stepped aside, revealing the small path behind the pavilion.
When it came to Zhu Shiliang’s group, the atmosphere returned to normal.