Chapter 434: The Answer is Correct

Chapter 434: Chapter 434: The Answer is Correct

It was rather intriguing that Ji Xiu’e would go to such great lengths, not for her own son, but to secure an advantage for Ji Liantang.

Ji Huan didn’t buy the story of deep sibling affection. No matter how they twisted it, their ultimate goal was to make trouble for her.

’Well then, I’ll just have to counter every move they make.’

Her memories told her that what Ji Liantang detested most was arithmetic. Compared to the rote memorization required for the classics, history, and philosophy, math was his weakness. He’d never been able to get the hang of it, and since it wasn’t a required subject for the imperial examinations, he had long since cast it aside.

Sure enough, the moment Ji Huan proposed a math problem as the test, a look of annoyance immediately crossed Ji Liantang’s face.

But on second thought, ’Ji Huan is just a girl who’s never set foot in a school. She probably hasn’t even heard of the *Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art*. What kind of difficult math problem could she possibly come up with?’

"Very well. We must ensure everyone is thoroughly convinced."

"Fourth Uncle is truly magnanimous. In that case, I’ll state the problem. Please listen closely.

I need to hire two temporary helpers. Helper A’s daily wage is twelve cents for a term of thirty-five days. Helper B’s daily wage is fifteen cents for a term of twenty-eight days. The question is: which helper, A or B, earns more in total, and by how much?

Cousin, please count down from five. If he can’t answer by the time you finish, he loses."

Ji Xuelan agreed and began her count: "Five... four... three... one."

Before Ji Liantang could even react, the countdown was over.

He was dumbfounded. "That’s such a complex problem! Even with an abacus, I couldn’t possibly calculate it in such a short amount of time."

Aunt Kang also jumped in, fighting for her son’s case.

"You did that on purpose! You’re cheating!"

"I said it had to be done within the time limit. A count of five was the time limit. How is that cheating?"

"That’s not even enough time to fart! Who could possibly figure that out?"

Ji Huan scoffed. "Just because Fourth Uncle can’t solve it doesn’t mean nobody can. How about this? Let’s up the ante. Anyone present can try to answer my question. The first person to get it right can be my bookkeeper."

Her words immediately caused a stir among the crowd.

’A bookkeeper! The pay must be great! Best of all, you’d get to go with Ji Huan to Yeyang and work in the county seat. How prestigious would that be!’

"Quick, do the math, do the math..."

"One day is twelve cents, two days are twenty-four cents, right? So three days is... agh, I forgot what day I was on..."

"Ugh, this is impossible. My head hurts from all this math..."

Many people bent their heads and struggled with the calculation, but as time trickled by, no one came up with the answer.

Aunt Kang, as if she’d caught Ji Huan in the act, crowed, "Look! Just look! It’s not just my fourth son who can’t solve it. None of these people can, either! And you still say you weren’t setting a trap? You’re deliberately trying to trap my son!"

"Deliberately trap him? If I wanted to trap him, I wouldn’t have given him a math problem a child could solve."

Ji Liantang, still counting on his fingers, didn’t want to lose to a bunch of peasants. Hearing Ji Huan’s words, he flew into a rage out of shame and frustration.

"You call this a child’s problem?!"

"With 999 cents, you buy 1,000 fruits, a mix of pears and plums. Nine pears cost eleven cents, and seven plums cost four cents. How many of each, and what’s the total price for each type?

From afar stands a seven-story pagoda, with red lanterns whose numbers double on each ascending floor. If there are 381 lanterns in total, how many are on the very top?

One hundred buns for one hundred monks. Each senior monk eats three buns, while three junior monks share one. How many senior and junior monks are there?

A rooster costs five cents, a hen costs three cents, and three chicks cost one cent. If you spend exactly 100 cents to buy exactly 100 birds, how many roosters, hens, and chicks do you have?

If I really wanted to make things difficult for you, any one of those four problems would have you calculating until nightfall, or maybe even until next year.

And those are just the fun little brain teasers. I didn’t have the heart to mention the truly hellish ones, for fear of scaring you."

Ji Liantang’s brow furrowed in suspicion. "I’ve never even heard of these problems. Where did you learn them from?"

"Doing business in Yeyang, I meet customers from all over. Not all of them may be esteemed child students like yourself, but they have real knowledge in their heads. Is it so strange that I’d hear such things from them? You, on the other hand, Fourth Uncle... you also spent a fair bit of time in Yeyang. Did you never run into anyone erudite to open your eyes and broaden your horizons?"

Mrs. Zhu pursed her lips and muttered, "More like opening his eyes in a brothel and broadening his horizons with prostitutes."

"Third Brother’s wife..." Ji Qingshan glared darkly at Mrs. Zhu.

"But it’s true..." Mrs. Zhu reluctantly fell silent.

Being questioned and mocked by a junior left Ji Liantang in an awkward position. He put on a stern face and said in a lecturing tone, "Don’t just show off whatever nonsense you happen to hear. These problems are clearly fabricated. They have no solutions!"

Ji Huan didn’t waste any more words on him and directly stated the answers.

"The first problem: 657 pears, for a total of 803 cents, and 343 plums, for a total of 196 cents.

The second problem: twenty-four lanterns.

The third problem: twenty-five senior monks and seventy-five junior monks.

The fourth problem has multiple solutions.

One solution is four roosters, eighteen hens, and seventy-eight chicks. Another is eight roosters, eleven hens, and eighty-one chicks. Or you could have twelve roosters, four hens, and eighty-four chicks... any of those work."

She rattled off the answers in a single breath, then clapped her hands together.

"I’ve given you the answers. If you’re interested in the methods, you can go home and puzzle them out yourself. After all, I’m hiring help, not teaching a class. But back to the matter at hand. Fourth Uncle, do you still think the first problem I gave you was deliberately meant to trip you up?"

Ji Liantang’s face flushed red, and he stammered, at a loss for words.

Ji Huan continued, "Don’t blame me for being inflexible. It’s been far more than a count of five by now—more like a count of five hundred. So I’ll ask one more time: do you have the answer?"

He’d been interrupted halfway through his calculations and had completely forgotten where he was. How could he possibly have an answer?

Ji the Fourth resentfully turned his head away.

Ji Huan spread her hands. "What a pity..."

"I’ve got it." A man among the day laborers raised his hand. "They both earn the same amount. Four hundred and twenty cents."

Ji Huan followed the voice and saw it was the tall, thin young man with the notched eyebrow.

She paused for a moment, then smiled.

"That is correct."

The crowd erupted.

"How can it be the same? One gets twelve cents a day, and the other gets fifteen..."

"Exactly, and they work a different number of days..."

"But Ji Huan said it’s correct..."

"Then it must be correct."

As the murmurs died down, there was surprise and envy in the air. But the ones who found the outcome most unacceptable were the members of the Ji Family.

Aunt Kang stomped forward, striking a pose as if about to start a public screaming match, to voice her displeasure.

"My fourth son couldn’t even solve it! How could a peasant like him possibly get it right!"

Ji Liantang’s expression was grim. He tugged on Aunt Kang’s sleeve.

"Mother, it’s not that I couldn’t do it. I just... I wasn’t prepared."

Aunt Kang quickly agreed. "Right, right. It’s not your fault. You just weren’t feeling your best..."

For Ji Liantang, the thought of a dignified child student like himself working as a mere bookkeeper was beneath him. So, while failing to answer the question was embarrassing, he hadn’t taken the loss too much to heart.

Who would have thought some country bumpkin would come out of nowhere and actually solve it!

Ji Liantang sized up the man with a glance.

’Dark, scrawny, and dressed like a pauper. To be defeated by someone like this... it’s simply unacceptable.’

He cleared his throat. "The count of five has long passed. Therefore, even if he solved it, the answer should be considered invalid."

’He can’t stand to lose, so now he’s trying to invalidate the answer. Utterly graceless and incompetent. A petty, nasty man.’

Ji Huan scoffed internally but let none of it show on her face.

"In that case, how about we have another round?"

Ji Liantang gave a prim nod, signifying his assent.

The youth with the notched eyebrow also nodded.

Before they began, Ji Liantang requested an abacus.

Ji Huan asked the youth with the notched eyebrow if he needed one, but the young man said he did not.

"Very well. Will the two of you please listen to the second problem."