Chapter 144 Lost
"Are you ready?"

"Wait a moment, wait a moment..."

Hu Mengdie closed her eyes tightly and breathed hard, like a fish about to die of thirst. She tried to calm down in a hurry.

Li Zhuangsheng was not in a hurry either. He just smiled and waited quietly, as if he was not worried about the outcome.

"Okay...if you ask me again...about you, I will definitely know!"

For a long time, Hu Mengdie bit her lips, her voice trembling, but pretending to be firm.

Li Zhuangsheng lowered his eyes and asked softly, "What's the first book on the right hand side of my computer desk?"

Hu Mengdie's expression froze and her head went blank.

"I remember... I remember..."

"You have to think it over carefully. You only have one chance to answer. Since you love me so much, you must remember what the closest book to me is in the study, right?"

Li Zhuangsheng grinned, as if he was mocking or ridiculing himself.

"me……"

"Don't you remember the book I told you about?"

Hu Mengdie's lips trembled, and her expression was extremely ugly. She lowered her head in pain and tried hard to recall. Why can't I remember it? Don't I often go to his study? Why does he remember everything about me, but I can't remember it?

Her face flushed and she pulled her hair hard, trying to use the pain to awaken her memories of the past.

"Can't remember? There are only five books on my computer desk." Li Zhuangsheng chuckled.

"Let me think about it, let me think about it..."

Li Zhuangsheng waited for a long time, but saw Hu Mengdie sitting there in a daze, pulling her hair and motionless, and it seemed that she had given up thinking.

"It's "Chinese Monster Stories." Li Zhuangsheng no longer waited for her and announced the correct answer calmly.

Hu Mengdie looked up blankly.

Li Zhuangsheng tilted his head: "Did you forget? I recommended it to you. That book introduces the stories of various monsters and ghosts in Chinese mythology. It is quite comprehensive. Every story has its source in ancient books. It can even be said to be a vernacular version of the original text."

Hu Mengdie's eyes were slightly dazed, as if she recalled something.

"We talked about Harry Potter at the time. You said you were interested in fantasy myths and ghosts, so I recommended the book to you. I also told you that the book mentioned that during the Tang Dynasty, an official's wife was possessed by a crane demon. Every night she would ride a horse thousands of miles away to drink and have fun with others, and her maid would follow her on a broomstick... I also said that there were stories about flying on broomsticks in China more than a thousand years ago, so maybe the legend of witches riding broomsticks was passed down from China."

Hu Mengdie's eyes shone. Oh, yes, she remembered. The two of them had indeed talked about this, and Li Zhuangsheng had kept the book there since then.

"As usual, you said I know a lot. I know your compliments were just perfunctory, but I still thought you might want to read it when you're bored or in a rush, so I took the book 'Chinese Monster Stories' out of the bookshelf and put it on my desk so you can easily take it if you want to read it. Oh, by the way, the last book on my desk is 'Corrections to the Chronicle of Li Bai'."

Li Zhuangsheng recalled softly that Hu Mengdie clenched her fists with a confused and tearful expression, like a child who had done something wrong, feeling anxious and trying to get forgiveness.

"You lost again." Li Zhuangsheng curled the corners of his mouth.

"Don't be like this..." Hu Mengdie's face turned pale and then quickly turned red. She shook her head and laughed bitterly, "Don't be like this, okay... Don't be like this..." "Okay, we'll give you another chance." Li Zhuangsheng seemed to have expected it and was still generous. "As long as you answer the third question correctly, you win. You must think carefully, this is the last chance, you can't fail to answer any of the three questions, right?"

Hu Mengdie nodded. She felt like she had a breath stuck in her chest and she couldn't speak anymore.

Li Zhuangsheng smiled and sat upright: "For the last question, I'll give you a simple one that will give you some extra points. Who is my favorite poet?"

"It's Li..." Hu Mengdie hesitated for a long time and slowly uttered two words, but she couldn't say the last word.

Li Zhuangsheng did not urge her, but just looked into her eyes calmly.

"Yes..." Hu Mengdie stammered, not daring to look directly into Li Zhuangsheng's eyes. Her heart suddenly tightened.

This is your last chance. You can’t fail to answer any of the three questions, right?
Li Zhuangsheng's words echoed in her ears. She felt like she was suffocating. She took small, rapid breaths and felt dizzy and almost fainted.

"It's Li..." Hu Mengdie hissed.

"Is it Li Bai?" Li Zhuangsheng asked.

Hu Mengdie shook her head desperately. She didn't dare to admit it. What if she was wrong again? What if she couldn't answer any of the questions?
She no longer dared to answer. She felt like she was being strangled, and the rope was getting tighter and tighter.

"Is that Li He? Li Shangyin? Li Shen? Li Yu? Li Zhiyi? Li Qingzhao? Or Li Shimin?" Li Zhuangsheng asked one by one.

"I don't know!" Hu Mengdie completely collapsed. She collapsed on the bed like a kite with a broken string, covering her face and crying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"The answer is Li Bai." Li Zhuangsheng looked helpless, "I just said that I have a copy of 'Corrections to the Chronicle of Li Bai' on my desk."

"I just want to talk about Li Bai! I just want to talk about Li Bai!" Hu Mengdie instantly became excited and desperately grabbed Li Zhuangsheng's plea, "Believe me, I just want to talk about Li Bai! I really want to talk about Li Bai!"

"Then why didn't you say it just now?" Li Zhuangsheng asked.

Hu Mengdie was choked with tears and speechless.

"Because you're not sure, you don't dare to say it. You're not sure which poet I like best, because you don't really take me seriously, at least I don't see it."

"Thank you for the Switch, I'll just take it as a gift, but I don't play Nintendo. You probably bought it because you saw that I like playing games and saw it on Xiaohongshu or something like that. You never knew what kind of games I usually play, just like you don't know which historical figure I like the most. You just vaguely remember that I mentioned Zhuge Liang, Yue Fei, and Xin Qiji to you a few days before my rebirth."

"I've said before, your kindness to me is like the thank you in the bottle cap, just a routine." Li Zhuangsheng smiled helplessly, "Why don't you believe it? I've said it before, although I'm a bootlicker, I'm not a fool. You're being nice to me just because you want something in return."

Li Zhuangsheng's voice was gentle, as if he was not questioning but comforting. He really wanted to comfort, and even at this point, he wanted to control his temper and not embarrass others.

Hu Mengdie couldn't say a word in reply. She seemed to have lost her soul, and she was dazed, like a porcelain doll.

"I don't want to say that I'm not worthy of you or anything like that. We're not suitable. You're a good person and very suitable for marriage. You're a good wife. It's because I'm too weird that I'm not suitable." Li Zhuangsheng patted Hu Mengdie's shoulder through the quilt, "Have a good rest, I'm leaving. It's okay, we're just not suitable to be together, but we're still friends."

Li Zhuangsheng was about to leave when Hu Mengdie grabbed his arm woodenly, but he gently broke free.

"By the way." Li Zhuangsheng walked to the door, suddenly turned around, and released the Stream Ray to Hu Mengdie, "Actually, I like Taro more."

As the door closed outside, Hu Mengdie slowly collapsed on the bed, her eyes empty and lifeless, as if there was no soul in them.

(End of this chapter)