Shopkeeper Cao probably didn't know that Yu Shu was cursing him for being a busybody, so he reached out and patted her shoulder in a friendly manner.
"You want to find a job?"
"Mhmm." Yu Shu reluctantly agreed. She was still worried about the medical fees that had disappeared.
"What do you know how to do?"
"Accounting." Yu Shu had learned her lesson. This time, she was determined not to mention doing odd jobs. If she couldn't do it, then so be it.
"You know how to use an abacus?" Shopkeeper Cao looked a little surprised.
Shopkeeper Wu sneered and interrupted, "Shopkeeper Cao, don't be fooled by this kid. He doesn't look like he knows how to use an abacus. I'm afraid he doesn't even know how many beads there are on an abacus. If you don't believe me, ask him."
He had guessed correctly. Yu Shu really did not know the format of the abacus and how many beads there were in this era.
So she said, "I don't know. Show me an abacus first."
"Haha." Shopkeeper Wu quickly interrupted, "Look, what did I say? He hasn't even seen an abacus before."
"Shopkeeper Wu, let me borrow your abacus." Shopkeeper Cao glanced at Yu Shu and pointed at the abacus on the counter across from him.
In order to see Yu Shu make a fool of herself, Shopkeeper Wu happily took the abacus and gave it to Yu Shu. He purposely said,
"Do you know how to count?"
Yu Shu ignored him and shook the abacus. The familiar crashing sound made her feel better. She counted the beads vertically and horizontally. It was an antique with two upper and five lower beads and thirteen horizontal lines.
"What do you want me to calculate?" Yu Shu fiddled with the beads on the abacus and turned to ask Shopkeeper Cao.
Shopkeeper Cao frowned when he saw how she held the abacus. He was a little disappointed, but he still said, "What do you want me to calculate?"
"Show me how to calculate the abacus."
This big nine by nine was the basic formula of calculating and calculating. If he could learn it, it was not impossible for him to reluctantly give him a job.
Just as he was thinking about this, he saw the abacus in the youth's hand make a crisp sound. The beads on the abacus the size of a date bounced up and down like beans. At first, it was a little jerky, but in the blink of an eye, it became nimble. The crisp sound was pleasing to the ears, and it made people feel refreshed.
Shopkeeper Cao's eyes lit up, but Shopkeeper Wu, who was waiting to see a joke, was dumbfounded. That bead was moved so fast that he couldn't even see it clearly. How many years had he practiced this dexterous technique?
Just as the two of them were surprised, Yu Shu had already made her calculations. She didn't even bother to show them the results. She directly shook her abacus and cleared it. She said to Shopkeeper Cao,
"If you really want to get even with me, then you should come up with a proper question. Don't just come up with something to fool children."
Yu Shu didn't know what era she was in. Arithmetic was also a type of easy to learn. If a child from a normal family wanted to learn arithmetic, they wouldn't even be able to find a teacher. Arithmetic wasn't something that everyone could learn.
"Fool children?" Shopkeeper Cao laughed. He only thought that Yu Shu was purposely saying something funny to test her. He raised his hand and invited her,
"What do you know that's not for children? Let me see."
Yu Shu thought for a moment, then turned sideways and put the abacus on the table. She made some space and said,
"Then let's do something fun. Four by nine times —"
Four by nine, not thirty-six. It was nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine times nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine times nine hundred and ninety-nine.
"Okay." As soon as Shopkeeper Cao responded, Yu Shu began to play with the bead. Her fingers flew up and down, nimble to the point that it made one speechless. Her movements were dazzling. Compared to her previous moves, wasn't it just child's play?
"This is nine nine nine eight hundred and one. It's a nice name." Yu Shu finished moving the last bead. This time, she didn't mess it up. She turned around and showed the neat picture on the abacus. "It's called a solitary goose straying from its flock."
The two of them curiously moved closer to take a look. The last "one" and the previous "nine nine nine nine eight" were separated by three spaces. Didn't it look like a solitary goose straying from its flock?
Shopkeeper Wu was shocked speechless. He didn't expect that the boy he ordered around for an afternoon could make such an exquisite calculation. Why didn't he see it the moment he came in? If he could get even with him, it would save him a lot of time and effort.
Seeing the strange expressions on the two's faces, Yu Shu felt lucky that she had picked an ordinary abacus. Otherwise, it would be too eye-catching.
Speaking of abacus, it was one of the things that Yu Shu was most proud of. While others were used to relying on computers and calculators, the nostalgic Yu Shu persisted in using this skill. Her first abacus was given to her by Yu Lei after he stole her father's money. After that, he got beaten up for it. She used that abacus until the beads were worn flat, but she still carefully kept it.
"Little brother, why didn't you tell me earlier that you knew how to use an abacus?" Shopkeeper Wu suddenly changed his expression. He reached out his hand, trying to imitate Shopkeeper Cao's way of patting Yu Shu's shoulder. However, Yu Shu smiled and stopped him.
"Don't call me little brother. Just call me little * *."
With a low laugh, Yu Shu ignored the embarrassed Shopkeeper Wu. She looked at the flowery clothes and said,
"How is it? Do you charge people in your shop?"
Of course, Shopkeeper Cao nodded, "Yes."
"Then let's talk about the salary first." Yu Shu had learned from her mistakes. She didn't want to talk about money or anything else.
"I'll pay you fifty cents a month. What do you think?"
Fifty cents was equivalent to five hundred copper coins. Yu Shu didn't know the market price, but looking at Shopkeeper Wu's face, she knew it was a good price. However, she still shook her head at Shopkeeper Cao.
Shopkeeper Cao was young, but he was very straightforward. He looked at the lone goose on the abacus and said, "Then I'll pay you six cents."
"You misunderstand. I don't think it's too little." Yu Shu said seriously, "I don't want to pay you every month. You can pay me every day because I can only do it in the afternoon. I only work for half a day. You can pay me ten copper coins a day."
"Okay." Shopkeeper Cao agreed without thinking, "Come with me to the shop now. We'll sign a contract. When you're done, I'll return the contract to you. I just happen to have an account that I need you to pay me in advance."
"Okay. Let's go." Now there was work to do. It saved her the trouble of asking for an advance.
Shopkeeper Wu watched the two of them leave one after another. He raised his hand, but in the end, he didn't have the thick skin to keep them. He turned around and stomped his feet.
On the other side, Yu Shu followed Shopkeeper Cao to a paper and ink shop across the street. She turned her head and looked at the silk and satin shop across the street. She smiled again.
The view here was so good that she could see everything in the shop clearly.
"May I ask for your name, Shopkeeper?" Yu Shu turned her head and looked at her first customer with a smile.
"My surname is Cao, Cao Zixin." The young man spoke in a refined manner. He smiled humbly and had bright eyes and thin eyebrows. He looked like a gentleman.
"Thank you for helping me pick up my things in the afternoon."
If he didn't mention it, Yu Shu would have thought that he had forgotten.
"Don't mention it. Aren't I getting rewarded for being a good person?" Yu Shu went around to the back of the counter and took the deed that he had simply written. She confirmed the red stamp on it and pressed her fingerprint on it before she suddenly turned her face and said,
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