If he answered correctly, his ranking would be ahead of Tian Tian.
Currently, Tian Tian's ranking is 4th. The gaps between her and the third and fifth positions are only a few seconds, but a hair's breadth can lead to a thousand-mile error.
Therefore, contestants who knew the answer dared not delay for a second, for fear of falling behind.
It was like the college entrance examination; a one-point difference could cause rankings to vary by thousands or even tens of thousands, highlighting the importance of that single point.
Once his answer was out, the next step was to reveal it, which was also the most nerve-wracking moment.
"Tong Tong, do you truly not know any of the previous answers?" Xia Qianqian asked, unwilling to give up.
She felt that with Tong Tong's previous performance, it was impossible for him not to be able to answer a single question.
But he had said he didn't know the answers to the questions answered by the first ten contestants, which was hard for her to accept.
Tong Tong still shook his head: "I don't know!"
"If you don't know, you don't know. When it's your turn to answer, if you don't know the answer, just use the special guest option, okay? I'll help you choose Han Han big brother to answer for you!" Xia Qianqian instructed.
Although she wasn't forcing Tong Tong to reach the end, she felt it would be a shame not to use the opportunity if it arose.
Tong Tong not being able to answer these questions might simply be due to his lack of skill in connecting the dots or his inability to judge the lengths the host was describing.
"Okay, I understand!" Tong Tong replied.
He hadn't seriously looked at the questions from the beginning and didn't want to rack his brains to answer other people's questions, which was why he didn't know the answers.
But he didn't explain this to Aunt Xia, mainly because he wanted to give Aunt Xia a surprise in the end.
Director Wang, however, became worried. With such difficult questions, how could Tong Tong possibly answer them correctly?
Even if the chief director didn't intentionally make the questions difficult, Tong Tong would likely struggle. He had been observing Tong Tong, and he had seen him shake his head more than five times already.
Although he couldn't hear what Xia Qianqian was saying to Tong Tong, he assumed she was asking if Tong Tong knew the answers, and Tong Tong’s response was consistently a shake of his head.
This was what troubled him so much.
Although Tong Tong could use the special guest privilege, he only had three chances. Today had three rounds of competition, and if he used them all, he would have to answer the questions himself later, which would put him close to elimination.
On stage, the host held the microphone and said, "Will contestant Song Yi Cheng's answer be correct? Let's wait and see."
Song Yi Cheng looked at the large screen with great pride, completely confident in his answer.
The result was exactly as he had expected: 639, 215, 104, 18!
A red rectangle appeared, very conspicuous.
"Yi Cheng, I knew you were the best. Mom loves you to death." Song's mother stood up excitedly and clapped her hands vigorously.
Other audience members also applauded. Although many people, after watching Song Yi Cheng's video yesterday, disliked him and didn't want their children to emulate him,
he had answered the question correctly, which deserved recognition and applause.
The audience who had come only today were unaware of these details and were still full of praise for Song Yi Cheng.
"This child is only nine years old and can answer such difficult questions. He is truly a genius!"
"Nine years old, and my son is still playing with spinning tops!"
"Congratulations to Song Yi Cheng for answering the question correctly. Please return to your seat!"
"Who will be the next teacher to draw lots?" the host asked the four judges.
At this moment, Zhao Dewang stood up: "I'll do it!"
"Alright, please welcome Teacher Zhao Dewang to the stage to draw lots. Who will be the lucky one in Teacher Zhao's hands?" the host asked with a smile and a welcoming gesture.
Zhao Dewang glanced at the contestants' seats and his gaze finally landed on Tong Tong. Tong Tong smiled and waved, and Zhao Dewang waved back.
To outsiders, this gesture simply made the elder seem more approachable.
A moment later, Zhao Dewang drew a red ball. The name on it was unexpected, and he immediately froze for a moment.
He and Tong Tong truly had a karmic connection; he had drawn Tong Tong's name.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, he said into the microphone held by the host, "The contestant I drew is Liu Tong Tong!"
Tong Tong was also somewhat surprised that Grandpa Zhao would be the one to draw his name.
Liu Yifeng had similar thoughts to Tong Tong; it seemed the karmic connection between the master and disciple was indeed strong, to have them paired like this.
"Tong Tong, don't be nervous. Remember what I said earlier. If you don't know the answer, don't hesitate and let me choose the special guest, okay?" Xia Qianqian whispered softly.
Tong Tong nodded and then walked towards the stage.
Many audience members had a very deep impression of Tong Tong's performance yesterday and were also looking forward to him bringing them surprises today.
Those who had not witnessed Tong Tong's competition yesterday and saw such a young child participating in this kind of competition were also very curious about what abilities he possessed to be invited by the TV station.
"Tong Tong, just perform normally!" Zhao Dewang said softly to Tong Tong before stepping down.
He believed that Tong Tong could pass the challenge with his own strength.
The host was also looking forward to Tong Tong's performance. Seeing that his name had finally been drawn, he couldn't help but say a few more words: "Tong Tong, your performance yesterday left a deep impression on many people. Do you find today's questions difficult?"
"I think they are average!" Tong Tong replied very seriously, his eyes pure and innocent.
As soon as he said this, many people felt that this child was a bit too arrogant.
Such difficult questions were only average in his eyes. How would those who answered incorrectly feel?
"This child is so ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. He calls such a monstrously difficult question average. How confident is he in his own abilities?" The new audience members were shocked by Tong Tong's words.
He had initially liked this child. Seeing him so fair-skinned and adorable, and when the host first asked if he knew the answer, he had honestly said he didn't. At that time, he thought the child was very pure.
But now it had turned into average. If it were truly average, why couldn't he answer the questions at first?
Even Xia Qianqian was startled by Tong Tong's answer. She had asked Tong Tong if he knew the answer more than once, but each time his response was "I don't know."
When the host asked him, it suddenly became "average."
Could it be that Tong Tong had been playing dumb from the beginning, knowing the answers but pretending not to?
Or was he deliberately answering like this to save face?
If it were for face, she felt it was completely unnecessary. He was so young; no one would laugh at him for not knowing the answer.
Instead, if he made such a bold statement and couldn't answer the questions later, he would be mocked.
Dishonest people are not welcome anywhere.
However, based on her understanding of Tong Tong, he wasn't the type to brag, so there was only one possibility: Tong Tong hadn't told her the truth.
This made her extremely eager for Tong Tong's upcoming performance, perhaps he would amaze everyone!
Director Wang was also stunned by Tong Tong's answer. He didn't know where Tong Tong's confidence came from.
However, his questions would only get harder later, and he wondered if Tong Tong could truly handle them with ease.
The chief director, seeing Tong Tong's arrogance, had initially considered not giving him difficult questions, as he wouldn't be able to answer them anyway.
But now he didn't want to change his mind. Not giving him difficult questions would be a disservice to his confidence.
So, he immediately sent a text message to the staff behind the scenes: "Proceed as originally planned!"
The reply came back quickly: "OK!"
Only Liu Yifeng knew that his son wasn't lying or being conceited.
He was simply telling the truth. However, judging by everyone's reactions, it was clear that no one believed that Tong Tong genuinely felt the questions were average.
As his father, his explanation would likely be met with disbelief.
It was better to let Tong Tong speak for himself with facts; this would be more convincing than any explanation he could give.
Song's mother immediately sneered after hearing Tong Tong's words: "I never expected such a young child to be so arrogant.
And who was it that said they didn't know the answer at first? Now he claims the questions are average. Isn't that slapping himself in the face?
Unlike my son, who answered correctly in such a short time despite being subjected to noise. That is true strength.
And this strength cannot be gained by simply moving one's lips."
Everyone knew she was implying someone, but no one chimed in.
It was true that Tong Tong might have been exaggerating, but her son wasn't much better.
"What you say is true, strength isn't gained by talking. I'll show you what true strength is later," Liu Yifeng said.