Chapter 435: Atoning with Death

Chapter 435: Chapter 435: Atoning with Death

"Suppose there are sixty-five workers. Twenty-four of them earn ten cents a day; they are Group Four. Eleven earn twelve cents a day; they are Group Three. Nineteen earn fourteen cents a day; they are Group Two. And eleven earn fifteen cents a day; they are Group One."

"Now, assuming the project lasts forty days, which of these four groups will have the highest total labor cost?"

The moment Ji Huan finished speaking, before Ji Xuelan could even start counting, Ji Liantang blurted out an answer. "Group One costs the most!"

Ji Huan glanced at the abacus in his hand, which he hadn’t even touched. "Are you sure?"

Ji Liantang’s eyes flickered with doubt, but he gritted his teeth. "I’m sure."

Ji Huan shook her head. "The answer is..."

"Wait!"

Ji Liantang changed his mind before she could finish.

"I remembered it wrong just now. It’s Group Four! Group Four costs the most."

Ji Huan asked him again if he was sure.

If she hadn’t asked, Ji Liantang would have been quite sure. Her asking, however, made him unsure.

But Ji Huan had clearly been about to say his answer was wrong... ’If it’s not the group with the highest wages, it must be the group with the most people.’

With that thought, his wavering resolve steadied.

"I’m sure!"

"You won’t change your mind again, will you? Seeing as you’re my fourth uncle, I can give you one more chance to choose again." Ji Huan’s words held a leading tone.

Hearing this, Ji Liantang became even more certain.

’My choice must be correct. Ji Huan is just trying to confuse me and make me change it. I won’t fall for it.’

"There’s no need. A gentleman’s word is his bond. I have made my choice, and I stand by it."

’To think he could say he stands by his choice with such a straight face,’ Ji Huan thought. ’He must have selective amnesia. Wasn’t he the one who wanted a do-over on his very first answer?’

After her silent roast, Ji Huan looked at the young man with the notched eyebrow. "And your answer is...?"

While she had been talking with Ji Liantang, the young man had kept his head down, muttering under his breath.

He only looked up when she addressed him. "I choose Group Two."

"Seeing as someone else just changed their mind, you also have one chance to reconsider."

"I won’t change it. That’s my answer."

Though he also spoke with conviction, the feeling he gave off was completely different from Ji Liantang.

The former was confident in his answer; the latter’s confidence was a mystery.

The difference in their abilities was immediately obvious.

"Wuan, which of them is right?"

"Is it Group Four or Group Two? I kind of feel like Ji the Fourth won."

"But the people in Group Two each make four more cents a day..."

"But Group Four has twenty-four people. Added together, that has to be the most..."

The crowd couldn’t agree, so they naturally turned to Ji Huan.

Ji Huan smiled and gestured to the young man with the notched eyebrow. "This gentleman is the winner."

"Impossible!" Ji Liantang interrupted her. "How could it be Group Two?"

"I wrote the problem. If I say it’s Group Two, then it’s Group Two." Ji Huan gave him a half-smile. "Why is it that Fourth Uncle is so confident in an answer he just guessed?"

’Even if he can’t multiply or divide, in the time he spent guessing this and that, he could have just flicked the beads on his abacus and figured it out by now.’

’But that’s Ji the Fourth for you. Always looking for a shortcut, always hoping to get lucky, and never willing to do things the right way.’

"Could it be that you passed the county examination by guessing wildly like this...?"

At the mention of the county examination, Ji Liantang’s expression changed instantly.

"Look at the kind of question you’re asking! It’s utterly crass! I couldn’t be bothered to calculate it."

Ji Huan found this quite amusing.

"I’m hiring an accountant, not a teacher. Naturally, the questions have to be practical. Should I have asked you to recite some dusty old classics instead? Even if you knew them by heart, it would be useless if you can’t do the accounts."

Furious from the embarrassment and unable to argue back, Ji Liantang flung his sleeves and turned his back on her.

"Only women and petty men are difficult to deal with!"

"My son is right, you’re a petty person! You deliberately gave him a tricky problem because you don’t want him working in your shop!"

Aunt Kang felt that Ji Huan was simply too conniving; her Fourth Son was no match for her.

Ji Huan scoffed. "Heaven knows my question couldn’t have been simpler. If he can’t even handle this, and he really becomes an accountant, his daily work will be a hundred times more complex. Aren’t you afraid he’ll go bald from the stress at a young age?"

Hearing this, Ji Liantang’s heart filled with regret.

’I never should have listened to Mom and Dad!’

’I told them, just let me study hard for one more year, and I’d definitely pass the next county examination. But no, they insisted I come here and try to be some accountant.’

’This is menial labor, not something a scholar should be doing! And it made me lose so much face.’

’What if I actually became an accountant? Clicking away on an abacus all day, counting this person’s money, counting that person’s money... when would it ever end?’

Ji Liantang was already looking for a way out, but Aunt Kang was still demanding that Ji Huan give him a simpler problem.

Ji Huan pretended she couldn’t refuse and posed another question.

"Uncle Wang buys a chicken for thirty-eight cents and sells it for thirty-nine cents. Then he feels it wasn’t a good deal, so he buys it back for forty cents. After thinking it over, he still thinks it’s not worth it and finally sells it to someone else for forty-one cents. So the question is, how much money did Uncle Wang make?"

Ji Liantang hadn’t wanted to answer any more questions, but when he heard how simple this one was, he couldn’t help but feel an itch to try.

Wanting to show off and regain the face he had just lost, the words rushed out of his mouth. "He made three cents!"

Seeing the onlookers nod in agreement, Ji Liantang’s chin began to lift again.

"The chicken cost him thirty-eight cents, and he ended up selling it for forty-one cents... It’s not hard to figure out."

Ji Huan suppressed a laugh and looked at the young man with the notched eyebrow. "Do you agree with him?"

The young man shook his head. "Uncle Wang should have made two cents. When he bought it back the second time, he lost one cent."

Ji Huan’s face showed her approval. "Correct. It is indeed two cents."

A wave of understanding rippled through the crowd.

"Oh, that’s right! I forgot to subtract that one cent..."

"Hahaha, and just now Ji the Fourth was explaining it with such an air of authority..."

"No wonder he can’t pass the Scholar exam. His arithmetic is worse than someone who’s never even studied..."

Ji Liantang’s face flushed red, then went pale.

Ji Huan, however, gave the Ji Family a very friendly smile.

"You’ve all seen it. It’s not that I’m not giving Fourth Uncle a chance, it’s that he’s hopelessly useless. If Grandpa and Grandma still won’t give up, then go ahead and sue me. I don’t think it’s against the law to refuse to hire someone who can’t do basic math. And while we’re at it, I’d like to ask you in court: what exactly were your intentions in recommending someone who can’t do accounts to be my accountant?"

"You..." Aunt Kang wanted to retort but didn’t know where to begin.

In her heart, she couldn’t help but blame Ji Xiu’e.

’She knew the Fourth was bad at math since he was a child. Why did she have to insist he become an accountant? Isn’t there any work that requires memorization? The Fourth is great at memorizing things!’

At that moment, Ji Xiu’e was more furious than anyone! ’Ji Huan is right, Ji Liantang is hopelessly useless!’

Seeing the situation once again spin out of his control, the rising and falling of Ji Qingshan’s chest grew more pronounced.

Before he could have an episode, Ji Huan kicked the back of Ji Liantang’s knees.

Caught completely off guard, Ji Liantang fell to his knees with a THUD in front of Ji Qingshan.

Ji Huan pointed at him and demanded in a harsh voice:

"Ji Liantang, look at what you’ve done to your own father!

"For all these years, the whole family has scrimped and saved to support your studies, even tearing itself apart in the process. And what’s the result? You can’t even do simple accounts!

"Being bad at math is one thing, but you’ve wasted year after year and still can’t even pass the Scholar exam.

"Failing the exam is one thing, but you even caused a scandal by bribing a teacher.

"Grandpa was always healthy. It was you who made him sick with anger!

"Do you dare deny it? Did you think no one knew about these things?

"Let me tell you, anyone in Yeyang can find out about the disgraceful things you’ve done. Even the county school teacher is in jail because of you! Who do you think you’re fooling?

"And Chunyi Building, and that prostitute Linghua...

"All of these things... I held my tongue because I was concerned for your reputation and afraid of upsetting the old folks...

"But I never expected my kindness to be met with your false accusations.

"Who is it that really made Grandpa sick? Don’t you have any idea?!

"Grandpa is on his last legs anyway, so what do I have to worry about? If you’re not afraid of losing face, then I have no reason to hide things for you.

"I’m telling you, Ji Liantang, if Grandpa dies today, it will be because you angered him to death! And you can just wait to atone for it with your own life!"