Chapter 938 - 936 Unexpected

Words : 1217 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

Chapter 938: Chapter 936 Unexpected Almost simultaneously, two dragon boats reached the starting point. While waiting for the person to give the topic, everyone hadn’t caught their breath yet and made slight adjustments in position. Everyone was extremely exhausted, with their clothes soaked from sweat and water splashed by the oars. Song Chongjin was no exception, only he was more astonished inside. Others couldn’t hear it, but he could tell that the drummer from Baiyun Academy was likely not an ordinary person. Turning his head to look, the drummer was also looking over at that moment, and their eyes met briefly. It was Gu Zikai’s voice that made Song Chongjin turn back. "Brother Song, this question—" His tone carried some difficulty. Song Chongjin looked down, and the question turned out to be an arithmetic problem: There are pheasants and rabbits together in a cage, with thirty-five heads and ninety-four feet. How many pheasants and rabbits are there? Generally speaking, in the Six Arts of the Gentleman, one must learn a lot and be tested a lot, but since the previous dynasty, only practical strategies and essays have been tested. So nowadays, the academy teaches students the Four Books and Five Classics, writing strategies, and how to write good essays. Where has such arithmetic been taught? Therefore, almost all scholars and students were dumbfounded upon seeing this question. Who would know this? Somewhat hot-tempered ones, what was supposed to be just one segment of the race, was dragged into three segments, almost costing their lives, and not to mention, if you pose a question about the Four Books and Five Classics that everyone cannot answer, they can consider their skills inadequate. But posing a question from arithmetic, who knows how many chickens and rabbits there are? Frustrated, one slapped the water with their paddle, venting their anger, and splashed themselves with water. Song Chongjin couldn’t help but twitch his forehead. Why does this question look so familiar? A few days ago, when he and Yongzhu were studying and accounting at night, Yongzhu jokingly proposed a question for him to calculate to change his mind. At that time, it was precisely this problem with pheasants and rabbits together. He remembered being puzzled back then too. It was Yongzhu who told him the solution, saying to assume both rabbits and chickens could lift two legs, making seventy legs out of thirty-five heads, leaving twenty-four legs. These twenty-four legs belong to the rabbits, with each rabbit having two remaining legs, meaning there are twelve rabbits. Subtracting the twelve rabbits from thirty-five heads leaves twenty-three chickens. Song Chongjin calmly took the pen and paper, quickly writing down the answer. Gu Zikai glanced at the question, not knowing how Song Chongjin arrived at the answer, but at this critical moment, he didn’t think much and handed the answer directly to the person who gave the question. The person checked the answer above and immediately waved the flag in hand, signaling acceptance. Song Chongjin struck the drumbeat, and although the students of Changqing Academy were exhausted and hot, they still followed the rhythm of the drum, paddling uniformly. Song Chongjin knew everyone was almost out of strength at the moment and simply slowed down the drumbeat, not too fast, allowing people to adjust their breathing and rhythm to follow him gradually. The students of the other academies were anxious seeing Changqing Academy submit the correct answer so quickly. Gazing at Song Chongjin, their expressions were filled with disbelief at how he figured it out. Other students were still struggling with the calculation: "There are 35 heads and 94 legs, the rabbit has 4 legs, the chicken has 2 legs..." "So how many rabbits are there? Have you worked it out?" "Who knows how many rabbits! Isn’t this pushing us? Do I have to catch rabbits to count them?" "Who set this question? Such a mind-boggling problem?" ... Until Changqing Academy’s dragon boat reached nearly halfway through the final segment of the race, Baiyun Academy finally got the answer. Following them were three other academies, the rest were frantically pulling their hair, nearly driven mad by the pheasants and rabbits. Due to the long delay, they had time to rest, so their strength gradually recovered. Slowly, they caught up. Seeing Changqing Academy take the lead, the officials from Jing County watching from the grandstand found their mood significantly improved. Even Imperial Doctor Du glanced at Song Chongjin before casually asking, "What question did they pose? Why did only Changqing Academy answer?" Governor Chen waved his hand, naturally someone brought the question forward, and at this point, there was no fear of the question leaking. Everyone looked, feeling amused. The first question was clever, and the second carried some mischievous intent. The third question left most people stunned, some couldn’t help calculating mentally. Even Zhu Haoran glanced and paused, smiling, "The official’s question is interesting." Governor Chen calmly stroked his beard, "After all, it’s to enjoy with the populace, so the question naturally needs a clever touch." What else could others say? Accusing them of not following the rules when posing questions? Isn’t this troublesome? Although restricted by hierarchical relationships, making it difficult to speak, the silent atmosphere expressed all the unspoken thoughts of the officials present. Zhu Haoran rubbed his nose, trying to smooth things over, "Seems like the students from Changqing Academy are very well-rounded. The first two questions were passable, but the last involved arithmetic, which most students aren’t familiar with. Didn’t expect Changqing Academy to solve it so quickly." Saying this, he looked at the starting point where several dragon boats hadn’t even moved. Then he glanced at the Changqing Academy’s director, Lu Jimin, "Director Lu has taught them well!" Lu Jimin maintained his slow-paced attitude, "Thank you for your praise, sir!" Done—you’re all masters! If I keep defending, I’ll be a fool! Zhu Haoran grinds his teeth and lowers his head to drink tea. At this moment on the river, Changqing Academy’s advantage is still evident. Even though Baiyun Academy is aggressively following, with external support, they can’t overcome too many setbacks and, after chasing halfway, seem to run out of steam. In contrast, Changqing Academy, having already adjusted, stays steady with the drumbeat, not fast but consistent, keeping this pace means the first place will be theirs. People watching from the shore were almost ecstatic, jumping and shouting slogans, cheering for Changqing Academy’s victory. Especially the tweens watching excitedly, jumping and shouting. Just then, an accident occurred. An overly excited young lad, probably too thrilled, was restlessly jumping on a tree, slipped, and failed to grab hold, plunging directly towards the river. "Ah—" A scream erupted from the crowd. If the child plunged into the river, it would be fine since many men can swim, plus there were the government officials, surely he could be rescued. The crowd’s scream was not about this, but that the tree the child climbed was a hundred-year-old locust tree by the river, lush and branched. One of its high branches extended far, hanging over the riverbank. The child feared climbing too low for visibility, climbed high, perched on that branch, ensuring a great view. At this moment, when he fell, the branch bounced him, like a tiny cannonball, directly towards Changqing Academy’s dragon boat.

Chapter 938 - 936 Unexpected

Comments (0)