Second Question

Mr. Zhuge now looked at Su Li with newfound respect; this country village woman was simply brilliant!

Moreover, Su Li's kind of cleverness was an upright, innate intelligence, not some petty cunning trick.

She just sat there calmly, laying her terms out in the open: I'll give you the answers, you agree to my conditions.

If we reach an agreement, we exchange; if not, we part ways amicably.

Truly a businessperson—generous and straightforward!

Su Li's character made Mr. Zhuge quite fond of her; such a frank and clever young lady was just his taste.

Mr. Zhuge asked, "Is your visit this time about building a school and inviting a teacher?"

Su Li nodded, "Yes, that's exactly why we're here. To be honest, the village where my ancestors lived is backward and poor. I want to build a school to give children the chance to study, to enlighten them, and bring honor to our family. But we've struggled to find a suitable teacher, so I hoped you could help."

Mr. Zhuge stroked his beard and nodded, "Building a school to benefit the village is a great deed. Since it's such a noble cause, I agree: if you can solve these two problems, I'll help you find a suitable teacher to go to your hometown."

Seeing Mr. Zhuge agree so readily, Su Li didn't hesitate and said directly, "There are twelve rabbits and twenty-three chickens. Mr. Zhuge can deduce the answer from the result and verify if my calculation is correct."

Mr. Zhuge made a sound of surprise, thinking to himself, this young lady didn't even use an abacus, just did mental math—could she really not be bluffing?

So Mr. Zhuge immediately took out paper, pen, and an abacus to verify the answer.

Li Yanhao was very confident inside, proudly glancing at Su Li, thinking, you set a tough problem for Shen Yan, but after all the twists, it ended up back in the questioner's hands—this is a free point!

Mr. Zhuge calculated for a while, checked the correct answer, and Su Li was spot on!

"Well done, well done, Lady Su!" Mr. Zhuge stroked his beard with a look of admiration. "I didn’t expect you to be so sharp. This problem has troubled me for over two months, yet you solved it mentally at a glance—truly remarkable."

Su Li waved her hand with a smile, "There’s still the second question, Mr. Zhuge, why not show it to me?"

This time, Mr. Zhuge didn’t dare underestimate Su Li. He quickly took the paper from the box and handed it to her.

Sure enough, just as Su Li expected, the paper showed the other problem she had given Shen Yan: A tavern has a large vat of wine and two jars that can hold five and six jin respectively. A customer wants to buy three jin of wine. How can you measure exactly three jin using the vat and the two jars?

Mr. Zhuge pointed at the question and said, "This problem is even more difficult. I’ve thought about it for a long time but have no clue."

Su Li smiled slightly, "What’s so difficult about that?"

Then she picked up a pen and quickly scribbled on the paper.

Since Su Li was the one who posed the question, she wrote the answer quickly, then handed it to Mr. Zhuge, smiling with calm elegance and confidence: "Here, I’ve solved both problems. Mr. Zhuge, it’s time to fulfill your promise."

Mr. Zhuge looked completely unsettled, thinking to himself, this young lady glanced at the question and wrote the answer without a second thought—she must be a calculating goddess reincarnate!