I just wrote a love poem, how did that make me so powerful?

Li Yan continued to explain:

"Mathematics is a bit difficult for me, but I can't not study it. There will be mathematics questions in the county exam this spring. If I don't study it regularly, it'll be fine, but when the exam comes, I won't be able to solve a single problem."

Another sighed, "If you asked me to memorize classic texts, I could manage a few. But mathematics... I'm completely clueless about it. Every time I come across these kinds of problems, I just want to tear the book apart."

Fatty Xiao touched his double-layered chin.

"Hehe, if you say we can't recite the Three Character Classic well, I'll accept that. But math is different. For us merchants, keeping accounts is our duty."

Li Yan pointed to a question on the paper with her finger.

"This problem... There are chickens and rabbits in the same cage. There are 35 heads and 94 feet. How many chickens and rabbits are there?... I've been trying to figure out how to write the equation for almost half an hour."

Xiao Mingyuan glanced down at the line of text, and a set of numbers instantly popped into his mind. His mouth was faster than his brain, and he blurted it out.

"There are twenty-three chickens and twelve rabbits."

The pavilion fell silent for a moment.

Li Yan's hand hovered in mid-air. The two classmates raised their heads at the same time and stared at Xiao Mingyuan with eyes as if they had seen a ghost.

Xiao Mingyuan was startled and quickly waved his hand.

"I was just talking nonsense, just talking nonsense..." Li Yan quickly checked the calculations on the paper, then looked up, his eyes widening even more than when he was looking at the poem manuscript.

"...That's right! Twenty-three chickens and twelve rabbits, just right! Young Master Xiao, how did you figure that out?"

Xiao Mingyuan scratched the back of his head and chuckled twice.

"It's nothing... When I was little, my dad and sixth uncle would do the accounting in the accounting room, and I would just watch and learn by myself. It's just... I would go through the numbers in my mind, and they would just come to me on their own."

Li Yan stared at him for a long time, her eyes filled with genuine respect.

"Young Master Xiao." Li Yan put down his pen, his tone becoming even more serious.

"If you have some free time, come sit in the pavilion often. I have a few books on mathematics here that I can't understand myself, but you might be able to."

Xiao Mingyuan blinked twice, then chuckled, "That's great! I was just wondering where I could get some tea."

After he finished speaking, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, turned around, and left.

After walking a few steps out of the pavilion, he clenched his fist and let out a low growl.

"Okay...it's done!"

He walked out with light steps, and behind him he could faintly hear two classmates whispering.

"When did Fatty Xiao learn math?"

"Who knows... but I spent ages trying to figure out that problem and still couldn't solve it..."

Li Yan didn't reply, but looked down at the poem manuscript again, his smile widening.

"You should treat Young Master Xiao with more respect from now on. He'll be one of us from now on. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

The two nodded in unison: "Understood!"

The two spoke with a hint of excitement:

"If Young Master Xiao can truly improve our mathematics skills, we'll have a much better chance of passing the county examination."

"Young master, if you achieve excellent results in mathematics, you will easily surpass that Chen fellow!"

……

……

Xiao Mingyuan hummed a little tune as he ran back to his yard, kicked open the door, and his fat body shot in, his mouth agape with a grin that could fit a duck egg.

"Haha, it's done! Li Yan has taken the bait! He accepted the poem, and he even offered him tea. At the next poetry gathering, he'll use that poem to roast Chen Shijin!"

Xu Qing closed the book, looked up at his rosy face, and nodded.

"Very good. What you need to do next is... show off your mathematical skills to Li Yan every now and then, so that he feels you are becoming more and more useful. Only when he trusts you will you have the opportunity to truly leverage his influence."

Xiao Mingyuan patted his chest, his large breasts jiggling as he did so, making him look like a brothel madam.

"Don't worry! I'm like a completely different person now, full of energy! You didn't see it, that chicken and rabbit problem, he couldn't figure it out after 25 minutes, but I answered it the moment I opened my mouth. The looks those guys gave me, hahaha..."

Xu Qing didn't interrupt his excitement. After he finished speaking, she slowly added a sentence.

"However, your strength lies in accounting, which differs from the mathematical questions in the county examination. We need to address this weakness."

Xiao Mingyuan's laughter stopped abruptly, his face stiffening slightly: "Huh? We have to do more problems?"

"You're only truly capable if you can solve problems that others can't."

Especially in the classroom, so that no one will say later that you can only write a few poems and can't do anything else.

Once you've established your reputation, Chen Shijin will have to think twice before trying to take action against you.

Li Yan can genuinely see you as a worthy partner and ally, rather than a spoiled brat clinging to him.

Xiao Mingyuan scratched the back of his head and thought for a moment, then realized that what he said made sense. So he gritted his teeth, sat down at his desk, and picked up a pen: "Okay, let's try it. Here's a pen!"

Xu Qing opened a book on basic mathematics, picked out a few common questions from the county-level exams, and pushed it in front of him: "Do these first."

Xiao Mingyuan looked down at the first question:

Now there is a field that is fifteen paces wide and sixteen paces wide. How much is the field?

He muttered to himself, "Fifteen times sixteen... fifteen times ten is one hundred and fifty, fifteen times six is ​​ninety, adding them together is two hundred and forty..."

Then he picked up his pen and wrote: Two hundred and forty steps.

Xu Qing glanced at it and nodded: "The speed is acceptable, but the writing style is incorrect. For the county-level arithmetic exam, just having the answer isn't enough; you have to clearly write out the steps. You can't just write the result; you have to write out how you calculated it."

Xiao Mingyuan said with a bitter face, "Isn't it enough to just calculate this? Do I have to write down how I calculated it?"

"You need to write it down. The examiner wants to see your thought process, not whether you have the answer in your head. Come on, I'll show you how to write the equation."

Xiao Mingyuan sighed, "Well, I'm on a pirate ship now..." But he still obediently picked up his pen and began to learn from Xu Qing step by step.

The two were engrossed in writing when a knock sounded at the courtyard gate.

Xu Qing put down his pen, and Xiao Mingyuan also looked up.

The door was pushed open, and Xiao Liu stepped in first, followed by a pair of feet wearing black boots, and then a dark purple silk robe...

Xiao Wanjin walked in with a smile, holding a folding fan in his hand, gently patting it in his palm, looking quite content.

"Oh, everyone's busy, aren't they?" Xiao Wanjin stepped in.

His gaze swept around the room, finally landing on Xu Qing, and his smile deepened.

"This must be Young Master Xu? I've heard so much about you. I am Xiao Wanjin."

Xu Qing rose and bowed respectfully, neither servile nor arrogant: "Master Xiao, you are too kind. I am Xu Qing."

Xiao Wanjin looked him up and down...

Young, clean-cut, and with a steady gaze, he lacked the awkwardness of a poor scholar he had imagined, and also lacked the affected arrogance.

He nodded inwardly, then smiled and sat down in the chair: "Young Master Xu, I've come today to tell you something."

"Please speak, Master Xiao."

Seeing the books, paper, and pens spread out on the table, and then looking at the ink-stained pen in Xiao Mingyuan's hand, Xiao Wanjin had a better understanding of the situation.

He chuckled and said, "Although I haven't read many books, I know one principle... Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles, and traveling ten thousand miles is not as good as having a good teacher to guide you. I've seen Young Master Xu teaching my son at your home, and I feel really bad about it."

Xu Qing was about to speak politely when Xiao Wanjin waved his hand and continued.

"So I've come up with an idea..."