Chicken and Rabbit Cage Puzzle Returns

Mr. Zhuge's face flushed slightly upon hearing the man's words, and he said, "Teacher, you flatter me. The questions you gave your student are indeed challenging; I'm afraid even others would struggle to answer them."

Su Li rolled her eyes secretly, thinking to herself that Mr. Zhuge was quite the trickster. His own teacher gave him the question, and since he couldn't solve it, he was now using it to trouble her. That was just too unfair!

No one in the room spoke, seemingly tacitly approving Mr. Zhuge's decision to give the question to Su Li.

Mr. Zhuge then sat properly again, took the paper from the box, and said to Su Li, "This question isn’t some imperial exam problem, but it’s closely related to daily life. Since Lady Su is a cook and often frequents the market, this question is given to you not to trouble you."

Su Li smiled on the surface but thought to herself: "Sounds nice, but it’s really just to make things difficult for me."

Mr. Zhuge handed the paper to Su Li. When she took it with both hands and glanced at the content on the paper, she was dumbfounded.

Li Yanhao saw Su Li staring blankly at the paper and grew anxious, thinking this was some tough question. He felt it was unfair for Mr. Zhuge to trouble a woman like this.

Li Yanhao hurriedly bent down to look at the paper, hoping he might be able to help if Su Li couldn’t answer.

But when Li Yanhao saw the content on the paper, he was stunned too, exchanging a look of disbelief with Su Li.

This... this is just too much of a coincidence!

Mr. Zhuge saw the change in Su Li’s expression, disappointed but not surprised, and said, "Lady Su, if you can’t answer, it’s no problem. This question is indeed difficult, strange, and quite novel. I doubt many can solve it."

Su Li lowered her head to look at the paper, then looked up at Mr. Zhuge and suddenly smiled.

She placed the paper on the ground.

The paper boldly read: "Place a certain number of chickens and rabbits in the same cage. There are thirty-five heads above the cage, and ninety-four feet below. How many chickens and rabbits are in the cage?"

This was the exact same "chicken and rabbit in the same cage" problem she had once used to test Shen Yan!

She hadn’t expected to see it again here with Mr. Zhuge, unchanged even down to the numbers she had originally set.

"This question, tsk, is so simple," Su Li shook her head with a confident smile.

Mr. Zhuge, seeing her confidence, widened his eyes and said, "Lady Su, you really know the answer? Don’t tell me you’re bluffing."

Su Li smiled and said, "Of course I know the answer." Then she glanced toward the room behind and said, "Mr. Zhuge, since this question was given to you by your teacher to test you, if I solve it for you, how do you plan to thank me?"

"Eh, this! This! You young lady are actually bargaining with an old man!?" Mr. Zhuge's eyes went wide as he looked Su Li over again. This village woman had an extraordinary aura, far beyond that of the noble ladies in Jinling City.

Su Li smiled and pointed to the box beside Mr. Zhuge, where another sheet of paper lay. "May I boldly guess this paper is also a question your teacher gave you? Similar to the chicken and rabbit problem, and you also couldn’t solve it?"

This time Mr. Zhuge’s eyes went even wider. "Ah, this is amazing! How did you know? Did you send someone to spy on me in advance?"

Su Li shook her head. "This is my first time here. I’m just a farmer’s wife; how could I have the power to spy on you? But since you’ve brought such an unusual question to test me, if you want me to give you the answer, naturally I must ask for an unusual condition in return."