Chapter 127 Teacher: Xiao Ming, go and erase the blackboard. Xiao Ming: Damn it! I won't!

Right now, in the live stream chat:

"Holy crap, is that even allowed?"
"The Chinese language is being absolutely butchered."
"I have to say, that’s a clever question. Even as a Chinese native, it took me a second to catch on."
"He’s actually onto something."
"I bet the foreigner on the other end is completely baffled."

After Bai Qingming asked his question, the tens of millions of viewers in the chat were stunned for a second. Once they realized what he meant, they flooded the screen with "666" (the Chinese internet slang for "amazing").

Just as they had guessed, the foreigner was indeed lost.

"Like someone before, like someone now? Aren't these two sentences the same thing? 'Someone' clearly refers to one's sweetheart," the foreigner answered after a few seconds of thought. He was very confident. He felt certain he couldn't get such a simple question wrong.

Facing his answer, Bai Qingming smiled.

"Congratulations..." he paused, then continued, "you are wrong!"

As the words fell, the foreigner was stunned. Hearing the first part of Bai Qingming's sentence, he had thought he was right and was just about to say, "Is that it? That's all you've got?" Who knew the guy was just building suspense?

Instantly, the viewers erupted in laughter.

"Wrong?"
"Impossible."
"Are you bluffing me?"
"Do you think because I’m a foreigner, you can pull a fast one on me?"

The foreigner’s face was full of skepticism as he kept questioning him. It had to be said that his Chinese was actually quite good; his pronunciation was extremely standard. It was clear he thought Bai Qingming was trying to trick him.

To make the foreigner concede in defeat, Bai Qingming explained:

"Don't be anxious, listen to me slowly. The emphasis in these two sentences seems to be on 'someone,' but in reality, the focus should be on the words 'like' and 'on' (xi huan shang)."

"These two words have two meanings. One is what you understood—reading them together means 'to fall in love with someone.' The other is a verb; if you read 'like' and 'on someone' separately, you can treat 'on someone' as a physical activity."

"To like... to 'on' someone." Bai Qingming emphasized the word "on." "It means you enjoy that activity."

As soon as Bai Qingming finished speaking, it clicked for the foreigner!

"So the verb 'to like-on' means to like to f*** someone, right?" he asked.

"Correct." Bai Qingming nodded, showing a look of satisfaction.

"666, this foreigner can even infer the rest."
"'To like-on'—circle this, it’s going to be on the test."
"I don't know why, but I suddenly can't look at this phrase the same way. If someone confessed to me like that, I’d definitely have someone beat them up."
"Some idiot tried to hint at that to me yesterday, and I immediately called my brother to beat him up."
"What a coincidence? I confessed to the girl I like that way yesterday, and just like that idiot you mentioned, I got a beating from her brother."
"Do you two know each other...?"

The viewers in the chat were chatting heatedly. On the other side, the foreigner spoke up.

"I was careless with that last question. Let's continue."
"Alright."

Since that was the case, Bai Qingming decided to give him another lesson. He thought for a moment and began again.

"Since you mentioned the f-word earlier, I’ll give you a question related to it. Pay attention, this is a listening comprehension question."

"Class has started, the blackboard hasn't been wiped yet, and the teacher tells Xiao Ming to come up and wipe the blackboard."
"Xiao Ming says, 'I wipe! I won't wipe!'"
"Tell me, did Xiao Ming wipe the blackboard or not?"

After tossing out the question, Bai Qingming looked at the foreigner on the screen. The chat became lively again.

"I don't know if he wiped it or not, but daring to talk to the teacher like that at school proves Xiao Ming is a total badass."
"This question is way too out there. The streamer’s brain works differently from normal people."
"Forget the foreigner, this question is hard for me too."
"Just joined, what happened? What are they discussing wiping? Is it wiping their butts?"
"Zhao Kai from the Jiangcheng Teachers College Pig Nursing Major, I'm your roommate. I forgot to bring toilet paper to the bathroom, and your phone won't go through. If you're watching the stream, please bring me some paper, thanks."
"Damn, they really are discussing wiping butts."
"What? Are you going to help him wipe it?"
"Stop wiping, a real warrior faces life head-on."

The viewers were always strange; they’d go off on tangents, somehow turning the topic from wiping a blackboard to wiping a butt.

Hearing the question, the foreigner fell into deep thought.

"Wiped? Didn't wipe?" the foreigner muttered to himself. "What does this have to do with the f-word? This guy Xiao Ming seems to have some serious issues. One minute he says 'wipe,' the next he says 'won't wipe.' Does he wipe or not?"

After mumbling for a long time, the foreigner felt something was off. Maybe this question, like the last one, didn't focus on the blackboard at all, but somewhere else. With that thought, he reviewed the question again.

The next moment, he understood.

It wasn't much different from the last question; the key was in the first part. Class had started, and the teacher told Xiao Ming to wipe the board. Would he dare not to? Therefore, Xiao Ming's answer didn't matter. He definitely wiped it.

With that, the foreigner gave his answer.

"The teacher told Xiao Ming to wipe the board, so he wiped it."

Hearing this, Bai Qingming clapped his hands.

"Correct?" Seeing the foreigner getting excited again, Bai Qingming quickly added, "No, no, no, you’re still wrong."

"Wrong again?" The foreigner was puzzled. "Why? Isn't respect for teachers the most important thing in your China? The teacher told him to wipe the board; would he dare not to? Are you playing dirty?"

As he spoke, the foreigner grew frustrated because he felt Bai Qingming was cheating.

"You don't get it, that's the unique part of the Chinese language," Bai Qingming said calmly. "You think that because you don't know Chinese well enough."

"Xiao Ming said it very clearly: 'I wipe! I won't wipe!' It means he isn't going to do it, and whoever wants to can do it themselves."

"In China, the words 'I wipe' have a special meaning. It's a modal particle, similar to 'damn it' or 'f***.' To explain it in English, Xiao Ming basically said: 'F***, I’m not wiping it!'"

After Bai Qingming finished, the foreigner was stunned. Since his Chinese was good, he naturally knew what modal particles were—like 'uh,' 'ah,' or 'oh.' But he never imagined that 'I wipe' could have such a similar function.

*Learned it, learned it.* By comparison, the 'f-word' foreigners often use seemed so monotonous. 'I wipe' was much more powerful. *Learned it, learned it.* Next time he met someone from another country, he could show off with this.

"Continue. I don't believe I'll get the next one wrong." The foreigner was unconvinced.

Bai Qingming didn't waste any time and threw out the next question.

"On Sunday, I came to Xiao Ming's house, and he was busy playing a game."
"I asked Xiao Ming, 'My uncle is here, do you want to go see my uncle with me?'"
"Xiao Ming said, 'Idle and bored, look at your uncle!'"
"So here is the question: Is Xiao Ming going to go with me to see my uncle or not?"