(Part two)
"If you can't connect it, then you can't connect it. Why are you crying?" Yu Shu had forced her into a corner, but she was still merciless and mocked,
"Is that all you can do? You can't even count accurately and you can only cry. You still want to learn from others and compete with them. You don't know what you are talking about."
In order to learn actuarial calculation, she counted the eight crab legs in the morning and night for three years. She counted five hundred crab legs in one breath easily. It's not that she looked down on others and wanted to gain something from it. If this little girl surnamed Hou had worked hard on calculation, she wouldn't have failed to count a hundred crabs.
Hou Luting was too ashamed to show her face after being ridiculed by Yu Shu. Her face was full of shame, and she couldn't muster the slightest bit of stubbornness. She covered her face and turned around, not daring to look at her Senior Brothers.
Jin Zuoyan had just lost a round, so he could not blame his Junior Sister. However, he was not in the mood to comfort her. Pan Ming sighed and patted her back. He stared deeply at Yu Shu and said in a deep voice, "My Junior Sister is not as good as Female Mathematician. As previously said, it is still a draw."
Yu Shu nodded. Seeing that the other side would not give a question for a while, she sat on the chair and waited quietly.
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Hou Luting finally calmed down. Her eyes were red as she turned around and said to Yu Shu, "
"Female Mathematician, it is my turn to give a question."
Yu Shu raised her eyelids and did not get up. "Go ahead."
She respected respectable people and valued friendship. This was her temperament and also her pride.
She did not feel that there was anything to be proud of when she was ahead of these ancient people in academics for hundreds of years. However, she had a clear conscience. What she could rely on today was exchanged with her sweat and tears.
Hou Luting glanced at Jin Zuoyan who nodded at her. She bit her lips and said in a nasal voice,
"There, there are twenty soldiers lined up. Each row can only stand four soldiers. If you are asked to line up, how many rows can you line up?"
Her voice faded. Yu Shu's hands trembled and she almost dropped the teacup. She managed to hold back her surprise and lowered her head to take notes. In his heart, he was both surprised and delighted.
This problem of twenty soldiers was clearly the same as a very famous "twenty trees" problem she had seen in modern times, except that the trees were turned into soldiers.
This was not a calculation problem, and it had nothing to do with permutations and combinations. Instead of saying it was a math problem, it was more like a drawing problem!
It was a problem that many famous mathematicians in history sought to solve. However, its final answer was … It was a question mark.
Such a similar topic should not have been raised in this dynasty, but Yu Shu encountered it. Was this just a coincidence?
Yu Shu's eyes flickered. She turned around and ordered Xiaodie to fetch a wooden ruler and her charcoal pencil from her study.
With the tools in hand, she first drew a few random strokes on the paper, looking for the complicated and blurry diagram in her memory. At the same time. She was very curious about the old mathematician whom she had never met before.
Of course, she was not stupid enough to think that this real "problem" was really thought up by these people in front of her, that they could be so confident. It must be Han Wenguang's hand.
***
Yu Shu sat on the chair for a full half an hour. There was a stack of used paper beside her, but she was still drawing.
Some of the customers could not sit still. They went to the toilet and hurried back, afraid to miss the scene of her solving the problem.
In this half an hour, the other group of people was obviously more relaxed. Some stood, some sat. They quietly waited for Yu Shu to solve the problem. It was rare that no one urged her. This was the respect Yu Shu had earned with her actions. It could be seen that whether it was an enemy or a friend, strength was the best countermeasure to shut people up.
Xin Liu and the others' legs were sore from standing. They had already found a chair to sit on. In the light and in the dark, only Xue Rui accompanied her. He stood there for as long as Yu Shu sat.
At this time, the guard next to Liu Tan quietly approached Xue Rui and passed a note to him. Xue Rui opened it and saw a row of small words:
A draw is enough. If I want to interfere, I will not let him do as he wishes.
In his heart, Xue Rui thought that Liu Tan still couldn't restrain himself in the end. He knew very well why Liu Tan was so impatient. In fact, Han Wenguang had only one son, and his wife was the young lady of the Yin Clan, which was the number one prominent clan in the capital. She was also an aunt of Prince Ning, Liu Hao. How could he just sit and watch Han Wenguang succeed?
A draw is good, but …
Xue Rui tilted his head. His gaze passed over the colorful bouquet and stared at Yu Shu's back. He could not make a choice.
After a while, he pinched Liu Tan's note in his hand and ordered the guard seriously,
"Go and report that I said it. If I can't win, I will bear all the consequences."
After he sent the guards away, Xue Rui put away the crushed note into his sleeve so that it wouldn't be seen by Pei Jing and He Fangzhi who were sitting nearby. His gaze once again descended onto Yu Shu, and a strand of helplessness leaked out from the corners of his eyes. Habit is really a terrifying word. He didn't know if his decision was correct, but there was already a voice in his heart that told him,
Help her.
***
Soon, the sun set, and the afternoon passed in a hurry. The sunlight shining on the table fell like a curtain. When the last corner of the table had disappeared, Yu Shu finally put down her pen, let out a long sigh, and wiped the sweat on her forehead.
"Phew."
Outside Wangji Tower, many passers-by had gathered. They whispered and guessed if she had solved it.
Pan Ming looked at Yu Shu and felt a little nervous. This time, he did not wait for Jin Zuofeng to ask. He stepped forward and said:
"Do you have the solution, Lady Mathematician?"
Yu Shu turned the last piece of paper over and covered the table. She looked up and said: "I want to ask you a question. I hope you can answer me truthfully."
Pan Ming nodded. He could not wait to know the result.
"The third question, did your master, Senior Han Wenguang, solve it?"
Pan Ming felt that there was nothing to hide. These three questions could deceive laymen and say that they came up with it. He believed that Yu Shu had already guessed that it was his master's idea. So, he ignored Jin Zuofeng's look and said frankly:
"My master solved it."
Yu Shu smiled with relief. She opened the paper on the table and held it in front of him to let him see the picture on it. She said in a clear voice:
"As you can see, I made twenty lines. I don't know how many lines Mr. Han Wenguang can make."
Pan Ming and Jin Zuofeng clearly saw the picture that Yu Shu made with a charcoal pencil and ruler. They were stunned. Hearing her question, no one answered for a while. There was only horror in their hearts —
Twenty lines!
"Twenty lines?!" Someone exclaimed on the spot. For more than an hour, many people were curious and tried to make it. Most of them could only make four or five lines. How could they not be shocked that she could make twenty lines?
Some people did not believe it. They left their seats and came forward to watch. They counted the picture in Yu Shu's hand with fine lines one by one. Then, they were all dumbfounded.
Yu Shu did not hold her hand for too long. When the people near saw it clearly, she put it down. She closed her sore eyes and asked again:
"Master Pan, Master Jin, may I ask how many lines your master can solve?"
Pan Ming did not say anything. He stared at the picture that Yu Shu put on the table. Jin Zuofeng was also speechless. How could he answer this question —
If he said that his master could solve twenty lines, it would mean that she had solved it correctly and won the game.
However, if he said that she had solved one line less, she would make it difficult for them to show how their master solved twenty-one lines. How could they lie?
What made them most frightened was that their master had solved only eighteen lines!
Yu Shu looked at their submissive expression coldly. She only stood up lazily after forcing them to this point. She moved her shoulders and said,
"Tell me, why can't you tell me? Are you saying that Mr. Han can't solve as many as me, a junior?"
As soon as she said this, there was silence inside and outside the building. Many pairs of doubtful and disbelieving eyes looked at the five of them.
Jin Zuofeng saw that the situation was getting worse and worse. He bit the bullet and said ruthlessly, "Don't talk nonsense. How can my master not solve as many as you? He solved —"
"Hahaha!"
At this moment, a series of hoarse laughter came from outside the door and interrupted Jin Zuofeng's answer.
Yu Shu's eyelids twitched. She looked at the door and saw that the crowd in front of the door was separated. Two guards opened up a path, and an old man with wrinkled skin and white hair walked out. He was short and thin, wearing a dark green cardigan. A pair of long eyebrows drooped down to the corner of his eyes, revealing a pair of long and narrow eyes.
"Master!"
"Master!"
Pan Ming and the others shouted in unison. They bowed and introduced the identity of the old man. It was the famous Mr. Han.
Yu Shu and the old man's eyes met. She stared at the invisible pressure. She did not lower her head, retreat, bow, or greet.
Han Wenguang waved his hand to let his disciples stand up. He lifted his robe and walked towards Yu Shu. He looked at her and said in a hoarse voice,
"You are the female oracle this year, Yu Shu of Yiyang?"
"That's me."
Han Wenguang looked at her from top to bottom. He suddenly narrowed his eyes and said seriously, "Do you know that because of you, I lost an oracle disciple?"
"You can only blame your disciple's lack of skill. What does it have to do with me?" Yu Shu said coldly. Pan Ming and the others were so angry that their veins popped.
Unexpectedly, the corner of Han Wenguang's mouth curled up, and he actually laughed. He nodded and said, "This child, very good, very good."
Normally, if someone was personally praised by Han Wenguang, they would be grinning from ear to ear. However, Yu Shu only held a grudge against this old man and did not have a good impression of him. She only felt that he was putting on an act, so she did not appreciate it and directly asked,
"Just now, your disciple gave me a question. I heard that Mr. Han also solved it. How much did you solve?"
Han Wenguang waved his hand and said modestly, "Sigh, I am old and my brain is not as good as the young people. I only solved eighteen lines. Please excuse me."
Yu Shu raised her eyebrows. She thought that this old man was sensible. If he dared to argue with her, she would make him lose his reputation.
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