Chapter 149: Frantic Skepticism

The originally passionate and thunderous recording set plunged into an abrupt, dead silence the very instant Zhang Qiyang blurted out the answer with his bell-like, booming voice!

It couldn't even have been 0.9 seconds!

Before the referee's trapdoor cover had fully descended, and long before most people had even finished reading the question, Zhang Qiyang had already confidently shouted the answer!

This left everyone utterly stunned!

Everyone felt a gentle breeze sweep across their faces, as if they could actually hear the sound of the wind rustling through the grass, with not another peep to be heard!

"Bye-bye."

Not until Zhang Qiyang flashed an arrogant smile and waved goodbye to Pan Ziwen did an uproar finally erupt across the set!

Everyone was somewhat dazed, unsure whether Zhang Qiyang had given the correct answer.

Pan Ziwen wore a dumbfounded expression, completely at a loss as to what on earth was happening!

Zhao Lijing also wore a dumbfounded look.

Thinking she knew what was going on, a wave of intense, nervous heat surged through her heart!

How could Master Pao... cheat so blatantly?!

Wasn't this just asking to be exposed by others?!

Why couldn't he have waited another two seconds before shouting the answer?!

How could he just blurt out the answer right at the start?!

They were done for this time!

Everyone would surely realize that Zhang Qiyang was the king of cheaters!

The Infinity Team had not yet figured out what was going on and gazed blankly at the referee.

The referee, who had just unveiled the question board, was also dumbfounded at this moment.

He knew the correct answer to this question was forty-eight.

So how did Zhang Qiyang know it as well?

Could someone have leaked the question to Zhang Qiyang?

This simply wasn't the calculation speed of a human brain!

Panicking, the referee turned back and cast a bewildered look at Xiao Qiang and Shen Yulin.

The two big bosses of the production team were also completely dazed at this moment. Since they didn't know the correct answer either, they stared blankly back as the referee looked toward them.

Realizing something, Xiao Qiang frowned and asked the referee, "Is it correct?"

The referee nodded in a daze.

Xiao Qiang's mouth dropped wide open, and after pausing for a full second, he said, "Well, make the call then!"

Having received the boss's permission, the referee finally blew his whistle: "Bip! Answer correct! The Guest Team wins!"

Boom!

The set exploded like a pressure cooker blowing its lid!

Incredible gasps erupted from everyone!

No one could believe that Zhang Qiyang had calculated the correct answer in a split second!

Something fishy was definitely going on here!

Anyone with normal thinking could never believe such a thing!

Quite a few crew members began to whisper among themselves: "Did someone leak the questions to Master Pao? Are they deliberately protecting Master Pao's victory?"

On the Infinity Team's side, Su Fei was the first to frown and display an expression of intense disgust, followed by Lu Kai and the others, who also felt that something was deeply wrong. If this wasn't cheating, they would rip up the grass and eat it right on the spot!

However, out of deference to Zhang Qiyang's status, none of them dared to voice their objections immediately.

Over on the Guest Team's side, after recovering from their shock, a few members led by Bai Xinhong jumped up in excitement, loudly praising, "Master Pao is a beast!"

Li Xuan's pretty, sexy mouth remained half-open for a long time; she couldn't fathom how Zhang Qiyang had managed to figure out the result so quickly!

Luo Zhikang's face did not show an overly excited smile; rationally, he suspected there might be some shady business behind this.

Hearing the whispers all around her, Zhao Lijing pressed her thighs together tightly, so anxious she felt like she might pee.

She had no idea how to smooth over a scene that was inciting public outrage!

Up on the high platform, however, Zhang Qiyang wore an air of triumphant and arrogant smugness.

He watched as a stunned Pan Ziwen plummeted from the high platform in a matter of seconds.

"Thud!"

"Ah~~!"

"Hahaha."

Watching Pan Ziwen gaze up at him with an incredulous look just a second before falling off the platform—as if looking at God—Zhang Qiyang found it utterly hilarious!

The referee announced the final result of the second round: "In the high-platform arithmetic battle, the Guest Team wins the final victory with a score of four to three!"

Upon hearing this result, Lu Kai could finally hold back no longer. Raising his fist, he angrily protested, "I object! Did you guys leak the questions to the Guest Team?! How on earth could Zhang Qiyang have calculated it that fast in the final round?!"

Many people shared this doubt, but they hadn't dared to speak up because voicing it meant losing face! Who would dare to make Zhang Qiyang lose face?

Now that Lu Kai was protesting with righteous indignation, the atmosphere instantly became awkward.

Quite a few people with a sense of justice wore bitter smiles; they felt that Zhang Qiyang's stunt had gone a bit too far. Even if someone really had leaked the answers to him, people could understand—after all, the production team desperately wanted the Guest Team to press on and win.

Yet Zhang Qiyang had answered with such arrogance, which was tantamount to insulting everyone else's intelligence!

A person shouldn't go that far!

Even if you were Master Pao, you couldn't be that unreasonable!

Lü Cheng bit the bullet and stepped forward to question the production team as well: "Master Pao's answer was... absurdly fast. Could he have accidentally seen the question board earlier?"

Su Fei puffed out her chest and declared bluntly, "If Master Pao knew the answer in advance, this round of the competition cannot count!"

Feng Sheng let out a couple of muffled snorts, feeling that such a competition was far too unfair. If they were going to play like this, why even bother competing at all? They might as well just hand every round's victory over to the Guest Team on a silver platter!

Wang Dawei and Xu Xian found themselves in a very awkward position. Hindered by Zhang Qiyang's status as the young master of a powerful family, neither of them dared to show an overly questioning attitude.

With the Infinity Team refusing to let the matter drop, the production team found themselves with a major headache, and the situation grew rather tricky.

Not knowing what was actually going on, Xiao Qiang and Shen Yulin hurriedly called over the person who wrote the questions to clarify the situation.

The question writer patted his chest and declared, "It's impossible for any questions to have been leaked! Before every round of the competition, I wrote the questions on the spot backstage. These questions weren't prepared in advance; they were completely random."

Su Fei seized on the crucial point and argued, "But after you wrote them down, did someone immediately calculate the answer and tell the referee? Could the leak have happened at that step?"

The crew member who wrote the questions awkwardly stammered, "That... I wouldn't know."

Faced with everyone's skeptical gazes, the referee stammered anxiously, "I-I-I... definitely didn't leak anything!"

Lu Kai insisted firmly, "If you didn't leak it, someone else definitely did! If you're going to play like this, there's no point at all!"

Lu Kai was clearly about to blow his top, and it seemed he was a bit of a sore loser.

At that moment, Zhang Qiyang stepped down from the high platform and walked over, surrounded by the adoring entourage of the Guest Team. Lifting his chin, he said to Lu Kai, "Then tell me, how should we play for it to be interesting?"

Blood rushed to Lu Kai's head, and with reddened eyes, he snapped, "How can anyone compete when you guys already know all the answers?!"

"Who told you I knew the answer? Stop shifting the blame onto the production team! Let me put it right here: I calculated it on the spot! If any of you don't believe it, give me a similar problem right now! If I can't calculate it in a second, you guys win this round!"

Zhang Qiyang's words made the jaws of everyone present drop and shatter all over again. They had lost count of how many times their jaws had shattered today.

Previously, most people were ninety-nine percent sure that Zhang Qiyang had cheated—including Zhao Lijing, who had firmly pegged him as the ultimate cheater!

Yet now, Zhang Qiyang actually dared to challenge all his doubters!

He was going to prove that his result came from true, genuine calculation!

How could that possibly be?!

Wasn't this just too absurd?!