
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
A card game is played using several playing cards. Xiao Ming faces away from Xiao Liang, instructing Xiao Liang to perform the following four steps: First, divide the cards into three piles: left, center, and right, with each pile having no fewer than two cards and the same number of cards in each pile; Second, take two cards from the left pile and put them in the center pile; Third, take one card from the right pile and put it in the center pile; Fourth, take the same number of cards as there are in the left pile from the center pile and put them into the left pile. After these steps, Xiao Ming accurately states the current number of cards in the center pile. What do you think is the number of cards in the center pile now?

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
user