Chapter 82: Shameless

Someone nearby immediately exclaimed, “This family is too stingy, aren’t they? Two people sharing one rice bowl, how do you eat like that?”

Yang Wei’s face darkened. “Why do you have so many questions? I asked you to solve problems, not discuss whether other people’s families are stingy or not.”

Zu An smiled faintly. Such a simple problem – he couldn’t understand why Yang Wei thought it was difficult. It was something that could be solved with one equation. Could it be that people in this world didn’t know how to multiply two-digit numbers? He casually made a few calculations and wrote down “60 guests.”

Yang Wei swallowed with difficulty. How was this possible? Did this guy know the answer? But these questions were ones I made up. Are these questions really that simple? He even began to doubt himself until he saw the bewildered expressions on the faces of the other students around him. Only then did he feel a little more balanced. This guy must have guessed. He just happened to try the number 60 first. Yes, that must be it.

Zu An continued to look at the third problem:

In Mingyue City market, a rooster costs 5 coins, a hen costs 3 coins, and three chicks cost 1 coin. A farmer’s wife used 100 coins to buy 100 chickens. How many roosters, hens, and chicks did she buy in total?

Oh, this one is a bit interesting. Three unknowns, but only two equations can be formed. However, the numbers aren't very large, so it's entirely possible to use brute force enumeration. Of course, not a mindless enumeration, but a strategic one. Let x, y, and z be the number of roosters, hens, and chicks respectively. Simplifying the equations, one can derive y = (100 - 7x) ÷ 4. Since chickens are living animals, their numbers cannot be decimals. Therefore, x, y, and z must all be integers. Thus, the number of roosters (x) must be an even number, so that (100 - 7x) can be divided by 4. Starting with 2, it quickly becomes clear that there are 4 roosters, 18 hens, and 78 chicks.

Seeing him write the answer, Yang Wei's mind went blank. Three problems, he had answered three correctly! Even if he wanted to abuse his authority as a teacher to say the opponent's answer was wrong, he couldn't. Because under the watchful eyes of everyone, while these people might not be able to solve the problems themselves, it was very easy to verify if an answer was correct by working backward from it. Moreover, Shang Liuyu was also watching. What was going on with this guy? Wasn't he supposed to be a good-for-nothing? How could he solve these problems so easily? And at a much faster speed than even him? Now that the other party had answered three correctly, he had already lost his bet. He no longer hoped to expel the other party, but rather hoped that he wouldn't answer all of them correctly, or he would be in a very awkward position. He had never expected such a situation before, so he had made a promise carelessly. But now, this turn of events made him panic.

No need to panic, the later questions are increasingly difficult, especially the last one, which I found in an ancient rare book. Let alone students, even I can't solve it. No matter how formidable this guy is, there must be a limit. How could he solve such an ancient, difficult problem!

However, Zu An's pen moved like a dragon, swiftly writing down the answers to one problem after another, causing gasps of surprise from those around him. At first, everyone, like Yang Wei, thought he was just lucky. But now, everyone wasn't blind; they naturally understood that he was truly a mathematical genius. Everyone who had initially intended to watch Zu An make a fool of himself – after all, this guy married the most beautiful Miss Chu and was flirting with so many campus beauties from the Crimson Record, which made people itch with hatred – everyone wished he would be expelled from the academy. But as things developed, everyone was not only not disappointed but became increasingly excited. Watching a student get expelled from the academy was nowhere near as interesting as watching a teacher get expelled.

Shang Liuyu's lips also curved into a faint smile as she looked at Zu An, who was writing intently. She thought, *This guy is quite handsome when he's serious.* She couldn't help but recall their first meeting in the pavilion, and the curiosity in Shang Liuyu's eyes grew stronger: *Just how many secrets does this guy have?*

Unlike Shang Liuyu's relaxed demeanor, Yang Wei was continuously wiping cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. He could clearly feel the gazes of everyone in the room gradually shifting towards him, and he genuinely started to feel uneasy. He could only constantly reassure himself: "Don't panic, don't panic. He absolutely cannot solve the last problem."

At this moment, Zu An also paused before the last problem:

“Two farm women brought a total of 100 eggs to sell at the Mingyue City market. Both sold their eggs for the same amount of money. The first farm woman said to the second, ‘If I had as many eggs as you, I could sell them for 15 silver coins.’ The second farm woman said, ‘If I had as many eggs as you, I could only sell them for six and two-thirds coins.’ How many eggs did each of them have?”

The surrounding students immediately began to discuss: “Strange, why do the two farm women sell the same eggs at different prices?” “Isn’t that normal? Obviously, one farm woman is good-looking and the other is a bit plain. The good-looking one can sell at a higher price and still find buyers, while the plain one can only sell her eggs cheaper.” “Brother, your insight is truly profound!”

Seeing this problem, Zu An was stunned. He looked at Yang Wei and asked, "Do you think this problem is very difficult?" Yang Wei thought, *Of course, it's difficult! If it wasn't, why would I leave it as the last one?* But at this moment, he no longer dared to underestimate the other party, so he vaguely replied, "It's not difficult for those who know how."

"Indeed, it's not difficult," Zu An thought. This is just a system of equations problem, four unknowns requiring four equations. The calculation process might be a bit complicated to solve.

Yang Wei, however, was fuming, thinking, *I was just being polite, and you're already taking advantage of it? Let's see if you can solve it!* Anger value from Yang Wei +222!

Zu An gave him a strange look, casually did some rough work on the paper, and finally wrote down the answer: The first farm woman had 40 eggs, and the second farm woman had 60 eggs.

Some eager students quickly took the answers to verify and immediately shouted, "Correct! Correct! All 20 questions are correct!"

Everyone in the classroom was shocked, then looked at Yang Wei with strange expressions. In the bet just now, he had said that if the other party could answer all 20 questions correctly, he would resign.

Yang Wei's head was buzzing at this moment. Everything that happened today was truly against common sense. He had originally thought it was just an easy task, simply trampling on a good-for-nothing student, but who knew that the other party would turn the tables and put him in such an awkward predicament. "This plot isn't right!" he thought. "The intelligence said he was a famous good-for-nothing in the city, so how is he so good at arithmetic?"

Zu An looked at the graceful Shang Liuyu beside him and asked with a smile, "Teacher Shang, right? You're the judge. Who won, in your opinion?"

"Naturally, you won," Shang Liuyu nodded, revealing a smile that only the two of them understood.

Only then did Zu An look at Yang Wei: "Teacher Yang, right? Someone just said that if I answered all 20 questions correctly, he would automatically resign. I wonder if that still counts?"

Yang Wei's face turned beet red, and his parted hair trembled. "You cheated! Yes, you must have cheated!" At this point, he no longer cared about losing face in front of the goddess. His main priority was to keep his job; otherwise, becoming the first teacher in the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty to be forced to resign by a student would be too humiliating.

"Hmph!" A loud boo immediately erupted in the classroom. Everyone was clearly displeased with his blatant dishonesty.

Shang Liuyu also frowned slightly and couldn't help but say, "Teacher Yang, everyone was watching the entire process. How could he possibly cheat?"

As if sensing the contempt in the goddess's eyes, Yang Wei smoothed his hair back from his forehead and quickly said, "I remember now! These problems of mine can actually be guessed with luck, and the numbers aren't very large. He could completely try out the answers one by one." He continued, "Look at the steps he wrote down. Can you understand them? Obviously, he's just guessing wildly." Some students carefully examined the steps on Zu An's paper and nodded in agreement. They truly couldn't understand. Could it really be guesswork? Wouldn't that be incredibly good luck? However, they had heard that he had won 7.5 million taels in two rounds at the Silver Hook Casino before, so his luck was indeed undeniable.

Zu An couldn't help but shake his head. "Although I knew you were shameless before, I didn't expect you to be this shameless. You can lie with a straight face in front of so many people. Just tell me directly, were the answers I just provided all correct?"

"What's the use of just having the correct answer? Without the process, it's still zero points," Yang Wei said stubbornly. "This is the rule of arithmetic class. It's mainly to prevent those who copy answers and people like you who just get lucky."

Shang Liuyu at his side chuckled lightly, "Teacher Yang, what you're saying seems a bit off. Even if he got lucky and guessed one or two, he couldn't possibly guess all 20 questions. Could it be that his method is too novel, and everyone simply hasn't seen it before?" She was very beautiful, with a graceful and charming temperament. Although she spoke softly, her few words resonated with almost everyone, creating a sense of agreement: "Teacher Shang is right!" "Indeed, it's impossible for it to be such a coincidence."

Yang Wei's eyelids twitched, and he felt a surge of silent anger. *Is this woman intentionally going against me?* With his job and reputation on the line, he no longer cared about acting like a gentleman in front of the "goddess." He darkened his expression and said, "Teacher Shang, you teach foreign languages. I don't blame you for not understanding arithmetic. The messy steps he wrote, let alone me, even the arithmetic teachers at the Capital's Royal National Academy would never be able to understand. There's simply no such solution method in this world. What's wrong with me saying he guessed wildly? If you don't believe me, ask him to explain what these steps are all about!" He had already made up his mind that no matter how logical the other party's explanation was, he would dismiss it as utter nonsense. This battle had his entire life's reputation at stake, and he couldn't afford to care about appearances anymore.

Shang Liuyu frowned slightly. After all, the other party was a well-known arithmetic expert in Mingyue City. His words carried great authority, leaving her unsure how to help. She could only look at Zu An, who was standing beside her. This young man had given her too many surprises. She wondered how he would handle this situation.

Zu An said calmly, "Given your level of arithmetic understanding, you wouldn't understand these steps even if I explained them."

Yang Wei was so angry that he laughed. "Haha, did you hear that? What did this arrogant brat just say? I've never seen such an insolent student in my life. I must report this to the school and have you expelled to uphold the school's discipline!" Anger value from Yang Wei +521!