Lady, escort the emperor! 53
Chapter 53: A Bluff
Song Manor was quite close to the County Office, allowing Li Nuo to sleep in a bit in the mornings.
When he woke up, the bedding beside his bed had already been tidied, and his wife was nowhere to be seen. Li Nuo was used to this. After a quick wash, he went to the County Office with Steward Wu.
Leaving Song Manor, he once again brushed shoulders with the elderly gentleman with the gray hair.
Mr. Chen had arrived at Song Manor early that day. He had spent the whole night on that problem, but still had no clue, and now regretted his boast. He really shouldn’t have bragged in front of those old fellows. If Li Nuo couldn’t solve it either, he would lose face.
After passing through several corridors and moon gates, he arrived at a room. It wasn’t class time yet, so Song Mu Er and Song Ning Er hadn’t arrived.
About two quarters of an hour later, the two sisters walked into the room, carrying small bags.
“Good morning, sir!”
After they greeted him, Mr. Chen, pretending to be nonchalant, asked, “Have you finished the homework I assigned yesterday?”
Unlike usual, this time both sisters shook their heads simultaneously.
Mr. Chen’s heart sank. No way, could that person not solve yesterday’s problem either?
At that moment, he felt both disappointment and relief. Disappointment that he couldn’t continue to show off in front of the three old fellows, and relief that the young man wasn’t all-knowing, allowing him, a lifelong mathematics teacher, to regain a bit of self-esteem.
However, to be safe, he still decided to ask for clarification.
He looked at the two girls and said, “Um, Mu Er… which one of you is Mu Er?”
The two sisters looked exactly alike, even their clothes were identical. Even after teaching them for two months, he couldn’t tell them apart.
Song Mu Er stood up and said, “Sir, I am Mu Er.”
Mr. Chen’s gaze fell on her, and he asked, “Your brother Li Nuo couldn’t solve the problem from yesterday’s homework, could he?”
Song Mu Er shook her head and said, “Of course Li Nuo brother could, but the problem was too difficult, I couldn’t understand his explanation…”
Of course, the problem was difficult; even the four old men couldn’t solve it together. What surprised Mr. Chen was that Li Nuo had solved it, and it seemed like he had done so very quickly.
Mr. Chen eagerly asked, “How did he explain it?”
Song Mu Er didn’t remember the intricate process, so she handed over her small notebook, saying, “Here, Li Nuo brother wrote the solution here, you can see it yourself, sir.”
Mr. Chen carefully took the notebook, turned to the last page, and looked at it.
One second.
Two seconds.
A quarter of an hour.
For a full quarter of an hour, he remained in that posture, without moving or speaking a word, like a wooden statue, only his eyeballs occasionally moving.
Song Mu Er and Song Ning Er had already run off to play; they didn’t have the patience to wait.
After an unknown amount of time, Mr. Chen slowly put down the notebook.
He couldn’t understand it…
At that moment, he deeply understood Song Mu Er. Not only couldn’t she understand it, but neither could he.
But although he couldn’t understand it, his lifelong experience and intuition in mathematics told him that the seemingly random lines on the paper were definitely not random doodles by Li Nuo; he just hadn’t grasped the subtleties yet.
This Li Nuo was very likely an exceptionally rare mathematical genius.
They say a tiger father doesn’t have a dog son, but his mathematical talent surpassed even his father, Li Xuanying.
At one point, he suddenly remembered the handsome young man he had encountered at the gate of Song Manor these past two days.
Could he be Li Nuo?
Mr. Chen walked out of the room and saw the little girl kicking a rattan ball nearby. He asked, “Mu Er, when will your brother Li Nuo be back?”
Song Ning Er didn’t answer him; she snorted and ran away.
Song Mu Er jumped off a swing and said, “Li Nuo brother went out this morning and won’t be back until dinner time. Sometimes he comes to our house, sometimes he goes back to his own house. I don’t know if he’ll come today…”
Mr. Chen sighed and murmured, “If it’s the afternoon, I’m afraid it’ll be too late…”
After teaching the two sisters and testing their basic mathematical skills, Mr. Chen didn’t assign them any homework and left Song Manor in a hurry.
Qingfeng Academy.
Lakeside Cottage.
Three old men sat around a table, occasionally glancing towards the entrance of the courtyard.
The three looked rather tired, probably because they hadn’t slept all night.
All were titans in the field of mathematics. They had competed their entire lives, unwilling to admit inferiority to someone surnamed Chen. They had spent the night pondering the problem, but even after a night, they still had no solution.
At one point, footsteps were finally heard outside the courtyard gate.
Mr. Chen, carrying a book, had just stepped into the courtyard when three pairs of eyes looked at him.
The three’s gazes made him feel a little uneasy.
However, he didn’t show any unusual behavior. Walking to their side, he said, “You all look a bit tired. Didn’t you sleep well last night?”
They hadn’t slept well; they hadn’t slept at all.
An old man waved his hand and got straight to the point, “No nonsense. Did you really figure out the solution to yesterday’s problem?”
Mr. Chen glanced at him and said, “Of course, could I be lying to you?”
He took a piece of paper from his book and handed it to the old man.
The old man took the paper, and the other two immediately gathered around, their eyes immediately focused on it.
The paper contained the problem, but with a few more faint lines added to the original, making it look like a solution. The blank space on the paper contained the solution, but they couldn’t understand it…
Unlike the instantly understandable “General’s Horse Watering Problem” from the previous day, although the solution to this problem was written in detail, they didn’t know how several key steps were derived.
An old man was about to ask when Mr. Chen’s heart sank, and he immediately said, “No way, no way, you three are renowned mathematical masters, not understanding the problem is one thing, but wouldn’t you even understand the solution?”
His words blocked the old man’s question, and the other two temporarily suppressed their curiosity.
This seemingly casual remark was incredibly insulting.
In the field of mathematics, they had painstakingly studied their whole lives. Throughout Da Xia, and even the various countries of the continent, they were absolute titans.
Of course, mathematics was vast and profound. They didn’t consider themselves omniscient, and many difficult problems remained unsolved.
But not being able to solve a problem was one thing; someone else solving it, and then not even understanding the solution, was another…
Even if they truly didn’t understand, they wouldn’t directly ask this old fellow. Perhaps after pondering it, they could unravel the mystery.
An old man stared at the paper, memorizing its contents, then said, “Chen, you’re underestimating me. Of course, I understand the solution, but I suddenly remembered something else. Let’s talk about this problem tomorrow…”
After speaking, he paused his gaze on the paper for a moment before leaving with a wave of his sleeve.
Another old man also looked away from the paper, saying, “I also remembered, I have a fishing appointment today…”
The last old man, having his prepared excuse stolen, simply rubbed his forehead and said, “I suddenly feel a little unwell. I’ll go back to rest first. Let’s meet again tomorrow…”
Soon, only Mr. Chen was left in the courtyard.
“Heh, pathetic excuses.” Mr. Chen looked at the three rushing away, a disdainful expression on his face.
After a moment, he left the academy, looked around to make sure no one was following, and ran back towards Song Manor.
(End of Chapter)
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