106 Cattles, the Back Mountain and a Prescription (1/2)
Chapter 106: Cattles, the Back Mountain and a Prescription
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
On the table near the western window under the starlight was a sheet of paper, two sheets of paper, three sheets of paper...
Chen Pipi looked at the dense small characters in ink on the paper, with wider and wider eyes staring. He could feel his scalp prickling. He wondered about what kind of problem this was, with actually three full sheets of paper, and read them from the beginning subconsciously:
”Haotian shines all over the world, just like the cattleman who loves and is concerned about all the creatures. If you think you're a bit smart, then try to calculate the number of cattle raised by Haotian.”
”The cattle gather in the Kaiping Market of northern Tang Empire. They're divided into four groups to pass through the gates heading towards the barbarians' grassland to graze leisurely. The first group is white as milk. The second group has shiny black skin. The third group is yellow-brown, and the fourth group is colorful. Each group of cattle has bulls as well as cows in unequal amounts.”
”Firstly, I'll tell you the proportion of the bulls: the number of white cattle is equal to the number of brown cattle plus one third and a half of the number of black cattle. In addition, the number of black cattle is equal to a quarter and one fifth plus all the brown cattle... When the brown bulls and colorful bulls gather together, they form a triangle where no cattle dare break into...”
”Please find out the exact number of different cattle. And please note that I could solve this when I was seven years old.” (Note)
…
…
In the following time, Chen Pipi stared at the dense characters in ink on the paper and began to bite the brush holder. He scratched his head, tugged on his hair, swung his legs around and bit his lips. He took a deep breath of the cold air, licked the tip of the bush and started calculating before giving up. He repeated the actions above and cursed loudly deep into the dark night.
The mountain behind Academy was surrounded by thin fog in the morning. The pavement was surrounded by a few fences, with a faint sound of pecking chicken nearby. Random sounds of reading and questioning could be heard from within Academy where the pavement led to.
The fog gradually disappeared and Chen Pipi went out with an obese body. His eyes were bloodshot after staring at the question all night and the usual tightly tied hair was a mess, like hay tugged on by chicken, which made him look very pathetic. He did not look like he had been reading all night, but more like a poor kid who had been caned by his mother with sticks all night.
He went to the door of the school, listening to the sounds of reading and questioning inside and thinking about his own arrogance in the usual days, and could not help but let loose a look of shame on his fat face. However, the impulse of solving this problem was eventually defeated by the humiliation he might face. Therefore, he made up his mind, pushed the door open and went in to bow to everyone without looking around respectfully.
After a moment, the laughing sounds of shock and ridicule showed up in the study room.
”Is there actually a math question in the world that even our Junior Brother can't solve?”
”If you, the only genius in this world can't solve the problem, how can we solve it?”
”Pipi... don't fool us.”
At this moment, a person appeared in front of the study room's door. The laughter inside suddenly came to an end and everyone including Chen Pipi quickly stood up to respectfully bow and say, ”Hello! Second Brother.”
This man called as Second Brother was very tall, wearing a very ancient crown cap and a suit of ordinary college summer clothes, and was tied with golden silk braided ribbon on the waist. With sword-shape eyebrows and bright eyes, he looked awe-inspiring and was covered with a trace of preciseness and politeness. The whole person standing here was like an unshaken palace.
”Spring is the start of a year. Now it's still the end of the spring, not the summer yet. You guys have been lazy! Dawn is the start of a day. Now it's still the beginning of the dawn. You guys have been mischievous! Have you forgotten the rules?!”
Everyone knew that Second Brother always abided by preciseness and rules and was even more nervous when facing him compared to facing the headmaster of Academy and Eldest Brother. Because they had long been accustomed to this cliche, they tended to ignore it and did not mind at all, just smiling and acting dumb as a response.
Chen Pipi could not act numb, so he forced an ugly smile and tidied up his disheveled hair with the fastest speed under Second Brother's strict eyes. Then he pulled the wrinkled clothes on the body and went forward after a cough, very respectfully handing the sheets of paper in his hands over to Second Brother.
”At the academy entry exam, you scored A+ in six subjects. Is there actually a math question you can't solve?”
Second Brother frowned slightly and glanced at the three sheets of paper. The words were similar, but were not meant to mock at Chen Pipi, but expressing his doubts. Who gave the question that had stumbled a genius like his Junior Brother?
”Yes?”
After reading the question on the paper quickly, Second Brother frowned and his thin lips tilted upwards. After a long time, he finally uttered a few words. ”This... Who raised the bloody question? It'll take too much trouble and time to solve it. I have to study the ancient rituals. There's no time for me to do this with you, so do it by yourself.”
After saying that, Second Brother whipped his sleeves around, placed his hands on the golden silk woven ribbon on his waist, and then proudly turned away from the study room and went straight toward the fence surrounded by fog outside the door.
Everyone was silent in the study room and glanced at the back of Second Brother surprisedly, thinking that even the serious and proud Second Brother used this method to avoid solving the question. Thinking of the serious Second Brother in his daily life, some people wanted to laugh but immediately raised their hands to cover their mouths for fear of letting him hear them.
Seeing Second Brother gradually go away, Chen Pipi looked much unhappier with convulsions and even waves on his fat face, and then went to the door with a cry. ”Second Brother! You can't just leave without any suggestions!”