Chapter 83: Shameless

Someone nearby immediately exclaimed, "This family is too stingy, aren't they? Two people sharing one rice bowl—how are they supposed to eat?"

Yang Wei's face darkened. "Why do you have so many questions? I'm asking you to solve problems, not discuss whether other people's families are stingy or not."

Zu'an smiled slightly. He couldn't understand why Yang Wei found such a simple problem difficult. It was something that could be solved with a single equation. Could it be that people in this world didn't know how to multiply two-digit numbers?

He quickly jotted down the answer: 60 guests.

Yang Wei swallowed hard. "How is that possible? Does this guy know the answer? But I just made these problems up."

Were these problems truly that simple?

He even started to doubt himself until he saw the bewildered expressions on the faces of the other students, which somewhat restored his confidence. This guy must have guessed it. He probably just tried 60 as his first number. Yes, that must be it.

Zu'an moved on to the third problem:

In Moonbright City Market, roosters are worth 5 *qian*, hens 3 *qian*, and three chicks are worth 1 *qian*. A farmer's wife spent 100 *qian* to buy 100 chickens. How many roosters, hens, and chicks did she buy in total?

Hmm, this one was a bit more interesting. Three unknowns, yet only two equations could be formed.

However, the numbers weren't large, so a brute-force approach was possible. Of course, it wouldn't be a thoughtless enumeration, but a strategic one. If roosters, hens, and chicks are represented by x, y, and z respectively, simplifying the equations reveals that y = (100 - 7x) ÷ 4.

Since chickens are living animals, their count cannot be a decimal. Therefore, x, y, and z must all be integers. This means the number of roosters (x) must be an even number so that (100 - 7x) can be divisible by 4.

Starting with 2, it quickly becomes clear that there are 4 roosters, 18 hens, and 78 chicks.

Seeing him write down the answer, Yang Wei's mind went blank. Three problems! He had already answered three correctly!

Even if he wanted to use his authority as a teacher to claim the answer was wrong, he couldn't. Under everyone's watchful eyes, even if they couldn't solve the problem themselves, it would be easy to verify the correctness by working backward from the answer. 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 effortlessly? And at a much faster pace than even he could?

Now that the other party had answered three correctly, his bet was lost. He no longer hoped to expel Zu'an but instead wished he wouldn't answer *all* of them correctly, as that would make it very difficult for him to save face.

He had never anticipated this situation before, which was why he had made such a casual promise. But now, the current turn of events made him genuinely panic.

"No need to worry," he thought. "The problems will get progressively harder. Especially the last one—I found it in an ancient, rare book. Not to mention students, even I can't solve it."

This guy, no matter how clever, must have his limits. How could he possibly solve such an ancient and difficult problem!

However, Zu'an's brush flew across the paper, swiftly writing down the answers to each problem, eliciting gasps of astonishment from those around him. Initially, everyone, like Yang Wei, thought he was just lucky, but now, seeing clearly, they naturally understood that he was truly a mathematical genius.

Many of them had initially intended to watch Zu'an make a fool of himself. After all, he had married the beautiful Miss Chu and was constantly flirting with many of the school's most attractive female students, which made people seethe with resentment. Everyone wished he would be expelled from the academy.

But as events unfolded, people weren't disappointed at all; instead, they became even more excited. Watching a student get expelled from the academy was nowhere near as interesting as watching a teacher get expelled.

A faint smile also appeared on Shang Liuyu's lips as she watched Zu'an, who was absorbed in writing. *He's quite handsome when he's serious*, she thought.

Involuntarily, she recalled their first encounter in the pavilion, and a growing curiosity shone in her eyes. *Just how many secrets does this guy hold?*

In contrast to Shang Liuyu's relaxed demeanor, Yang Wei was constantly wiping cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. He could clearly feel everyone's gaze slowly shifting towards him, and a shiver truly ran down his spine. He kept trying to reassure himself: "Don't panic, don't panic. There's no way he can solve the last problem."

At that moment, Zu'an paused before the last problem:

"Two farmer's wives brought a total of 100 eggs to sell at Moonbright City Market, and both earned the same amount of money. The first farmer's wife said to the second: 'If I had as many eggs as you, I could sell them for 15 *qian* of silver.' The second farmer's wife said: 'If I had as many eggs as you, I could only sell them for six and two-thirds *qian*.' How many eggs did each of them have?"

The surrounding students immediately started discussing:

"Strange, why would two farmer's wives sell the same eggs at different prices?"

"Isn't that normal? Obviously, one farmer's wife is attractive, and the other is less so. The attractive one can sell for more, and people will still buy, while the less attractive one has to sell her eggs cheaper."

"Brother, that's truly insightful!"

Zu'an paused at this problem and looked at Yang Wei. "Do you think this problem is difficult?"

*Of course, it's difficult! Why else would I save it for last?* Yang Wei thought. However, he no longer dared to underestimate Zu'an, so he vaguely replied, "It's not difficult for those who know how."

"Indeed, it's not difficult," Zu'an thought to himself. It was just a system of equations problem—four unknowns, four equations. The solving process might be a bit complicated, but that was all.

Yang Wei, however, was furious. *I was just being polite, and you're taking advantage of it? Let's see if you can solve it!*

Rage points from Yang Wei: 222!

Zu'an gave him a curious look, casually scribbled some rough notes on the paper, and then wrote down the answer: The first farmer's wife had 40 eggs, and the second had 60 eggs.

Someone eager to verify the answer quickly took it away to check. Immediately, they shouted, "It's correct, it's correct! All 20 problems are right!"

The entire classroom was stunned, and everyone looked at Yang Wei with strange expressions. He had just made a bet, stating that if the other party answered all 20 problems correctly, he would resign.

Yang Wei's head was buzzing at this moment. Everything that happened today defied common sense. He had initially thought he was taking on an easy task, simply crushing a good-for-nothing student, but who knew that the tables would turn and leave him in such a predicament?

This wasn't how the script was supposed to go! The intelligence reports said he was a well-known good-for-nothing in the city. How could he be so skilled at arithmetic?

Zu'an looked at the graceful Shang Liuyu beside him and asked with a smile, "Teacher Shang, you're the referee, so who do you say won?"

"Naturally, you won," Shang Liuyu nodded, offering a smile that only the two of them seemed to understand.

Zu'an then turned to Yang Wei. "Teacher Yang, was it? Someone just said that if I answered all 20 problems correctly, he would automatically resign. I wonder if that still counts?"

Yang Wei's face turned beet red, and his center-parted hair quivered. "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 position; otherwise, he would become the first teacher in the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty to be forced to resign by a student, and he couldn't bear such a humiliation.

"Hmph!"

A loud chorus of boos immediately erupted in the classroom, clearly showing their strong disapproval of his shameless behavior.

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 disdain in the goddess's eyes, Yang Wei smoothed back the hair from his forehead and quickly said, "I remember now! These problems could actually be guessed if one was lucky. The numbers aren't very large, so he could have just tried each answer one by one."

"Look at the steps he wrote down—can any of you understand them? Clearly, he just guessed randomly."

Some students carefully examined the steps on Zu'an's paper and nodded in agreement, feeling that they truly couldn't understand them. *Could he really have guessed? Wouldn't that be incredibly lucky?* However, they had heard he won 7.5 million *liang* in two rounds at the Silver Hook Casino, so his luck was indeed undeniable.

Zu'an couldn't help but shake his head. "I knew you were shameless before, but I didn't expect you to be *this* shameless. You can tell blatant lies right in front of so many people. Just tell me directly: were all the problems I just solved correct or not?"

"What's the use of just having the correct answer? Without the steps, it's still zero points," Yang Wei insisted, stubbornly. "This is a rule of arithmetic class, mainly to prevent people from copying answers or those who get lucky like you."

Shang Liuyu, standing nearby, chuckled softly. "Teacher Yang, what you're saying is a bit unfair. Even if he were lucky enough to guess one or two answers, it's impossible to guess all 20. Could it be that his method is simply too new, something none of us have seen before?"

She was beautiful and possessed a graceful demeanor. Although her words were soft, they resonated with almost everyone, creating a sense of agreement:

"Teacher Shang is right!"

"It really can't be that coincidental."

Yang Wei's eyelid twitched, and a silent anger rose within him. *Is this woman deliberately opposing me?* With his position and reputation at stake, he no longer cared about her being a goddess.

His face darkened. "Teacher Shang, you teach foreign languages, so I don't blame you for not understanding arithmetic. The messy steps he wrote—not to mention me, even the arithmetic teachers at the Royal National Academy in the capital would never understand them. There's simply no such solution method in this world. What's wrong with me saying he just guessed randomly? If you don't believe me, ask him to explain these steps!"

He had already made up his mind: no matter how logical or illogical Zu'an's explanation, he would dismiss it as pure nonsense. This battle risked his entire reputation, and he no longer cared about appearances.

Shang Liuyu frowned slightly. After all, her opponent was a renowned arithmetic expert in Moonbright City, and his words carried considerable authority, leaving her unsure how to help.

She could only look at Zu'an, who stood beside her. This young man had given her so many surprises; she wondered how he would respond this time.

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

Yang Wei, enraged, burst into laughter. "Haha, did you all hear that? What arrogant nonsense is this boy spouting? I've never in my life seen such an insolent student! I'm definitely reporting this to the school and having you expelled to uphold academic integrity!"

Rage points from Yang Wei: 521!