Chapter 1 John
With a shutter sound, Liang Xi, wearing a bachelor's gown and a doctoral hat, was photographed on the phone. Liang Xi came over and picked up the phone to look at it for a moment, and sighed to the blonde girl taking the photo: "Every time I look at my own photos, I am afraid of falling in love with myself. How can a person be so handsome even in graduation photos?" Liang Xi, a restaurant thief more than a decade ago, has now completed his university studies and graduated successfully.
The blonde girl was speechless: "Your narcissism has reached a new level."
Liang Xi smiled back.
The blonde looked at Liang Xi and whispered, "Hey! My family isn't here tonight?"
Liang Xi looked at the photo and asked disapprovingly, "Why? Want to invite classmates to a party?"
The blonde girl kicked Liang Xi and was about to say something when Liang Xi's phone rang. Liang Xi asked her to wait and answered the phone: "Mary... OK, I'll go over and take care of him right away."
Liang Xi hung up the phone and looked at the blonde: "Lucy, I have to go. Keep in touch. Happy graduation."
"Liang Xi!" Lucy called out, but when Liang Xi didn't hear her, she said helplessly, "I mean, I can drive you."
Liang Xifeng returned to Lucy, picked up a wild flower with his left hand and presented it to Lucy: "You are the most beautiful in the world."
…
Liang Xi got out of the car, closed the door, patted the driver's window sill and said goodbye to Lucy, then turned and walked into a house on the roadside. The old woman who was trimming dead branches and leaves in the front yard put down her gardening tools, walked up to Liang Xi and hugged him: "Liang Xi, I'm so happy to see you."
Liang Xi let go of the old woman and reminded her, "Mary, we just had dinner together last weekend. You will make John jealous."
Mary laughed and patted Liang Xi on the shoulder. She was a cheerful person.
Liang Xi looked towards the living room. Old John was sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea and a newspaper, wasting his time. Mary looked towards the living room, feeling somewhat helpless. Liang Xi said, "The older a man gets, the more he acts like a child. Leave it to me. Oh, and get me a clean claw hammer."
Liang Xi entered the living room: "Hi, John."
John didn't even look up: " Yeah."
Liang Xi poured water, tore off a piece of notepaper and folded it diagonally, then opened several medicine bottles on the counter and poured a few capsules and pills onto the notepaper. He held the notepaper in his left hand and the water in his right hand, and handed the notepaper over: "Take the medicine."
John looked at the newspaper, unmoved: "This medicine will make me drowsy and unable to concentrate on thinking."
Liang Xi put down the pills and water and sat opposite John: "John, we need to discuss the issue of taking medicine."
John put down the newspaper and took off his glasses: "How do we discuss this?"
Liang Xi asked: "Do you think taking medicine is bad?"
John: “Yes.”
Liang Xi: “What’s the reason?”
John: “It makes it hard for me to think.”
Liang Xi: "You are already 68 years old, your brain is already confused, taking medicine will help you think better."
John: "No, I'm fine, I'm clear-headed now."
Liang Xi: "Okay! You understand Chinese."
John: “My major in college was Chinese.”
Liang Xi said: "To prove that you are now clear-headed, I will give you a Chinese question, a very simple math problem. If you can answer it, it means that your mind is clear. If you can't answer it, it means you need to take medicine."
John was in the mood: "Come on."
Mary placed the tea and snacks on the coffee table in front of Liang Xi, leaning on the table and looking at the two of them.
Liang Xi said: "To accommodate your rusty brain, I will speak slowly. The question is: If Xiaohua, Xiaoming and I each have two apples, how many apples do we have in total?"
John felt bored and picked up his glasses to continue reading the newspaper: "Six."
Liang Xi said: "Wrong."
John was startled: "Why?"
Liang Xi counted on his fingers: "Jia Ru has two, I have two, Xiao Hua has two, Xiao Ming has two, a total of eight."
John: “What if it’s a person?”
Liang Xi: "His surname is Jia and his given name is Ru. The Jia in Jia Baoyu's name is Jia. You know Dream of the Red Chamber."
John immediately waved his hand and said, " It's a language trap. It doesn't count."
Liang Xi was dissatisfied: "You are already quite old, do you have any shame?"
John still refused to accept the answer: "Re-ask the questions in English. There are too many traps in Chinese."
Liang Xi nodded: "Okay, Mary will be the witness. Next question: Xiaohua, Xiaoming, and Xiaohuang have a watermelon knife and three watermelons of the same size in front of us. How can we use the knife to divide the watermelons equally?"
John was very careful and asked, "Three watermelons for four people."
Liang Xi nodded: "Yes."
John: "The knife cannot turn, it has to conform to the principles of physics."
Liang Xi nodded: "Yes."
John thought for a while and said, "I need two knives." One knife makes six portions, and two knives make twelve portions, which can be divided equally among four people.
Liang Xi shook his head: "No, there is only one chance."
John said, "Impossible." What's the answer?
Liang Xi said: "Kill Xiao Huang with one knife."
John spat out blood and pointed at the door: "Get out of here."
Liang Xi was not satisfied: "Your personality has become irritable. You should take medicine, John. Let me give you one last question."
John: “You ask the question first.”
Liang Xi said, "I have seen such a test in a scientific magazine. The mind controls a person's emotions and body nerves. You said that there is nothing wrong with your brain, so let's do a test. Follow my example first, open your mouth wide and breathe through your mouth, keep your tongue still, and spread your hands shoulder-width apart. Here is the key point: in this situation, raise your two thumbs and keep them vertical. Stop! If you can hold still for 30 seconds, I will conclude that you do not need to take medicine."
John said warily, "You are not allowed to touch me."
Liang Xi nodded: "Of course."
John looked back at Mary: "Mary, you can't touch me either."
Liang Xi nodded: "Of course."
John: “Okay.”
Liang Xi: "Stop being so shameless."
John said firmly, "I'm betting on my reputation as Detective Rose."
Liang Xi took out his phone and prepared to start the timer: "Just say start when you're ready."
John got into position: "Begin."
Liang Xi clicked the timer on his phone, pulled out the capsule, and poured out the powder. He took the nail hammer handed over by Mary, smashed the powder, folded the note and put it into John's mouth. John wanted to resist, but resistance proved that he could not maintain his posture. Liang Xi only smashed the pills and opened the capsule, and did not touch John.
But if you don't resist, the powder will be poured into your mouth. What should you do? You have to take medicine if you move, and you have to take medicine if you don't move.
While John was struggling with his thoughts, Liang Xi's index finger scratched the fold of the note paper, and the powder at the fold flew accurately into John's mouth. John's tongue could not move, causing a large amount of saliva to be produced in his mouth. When the powder met the saliva, it instantly adhered and melted. A bitter taste was transmitted from the root of the tongue to the brain. John wanted to spit out the powder, but Liang Xi quickly blocked his mouth with one hand and raised the water with the other. John gave up resisting, took the water and drank two mouthfuls, which relieved the strange taste of the capsule powder.
The powder may only cause severe coughing, not suffocation.
