Chapter 18: Arithmetic Problems

  Liu Xiu spent several days in anxiety, but the scene of a shrewish woman scolding him at the door did not appear as he had imagined, and he felt somewhat relieved. Lu Min went to the county town and never came back, and Lu Zhi didn't let anyone come to call him, so he studied on his own, reading "The Analects" and "The Classic of Filial Piety" several times, with Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei coaching him on the side. Although he dare not say that he has mastered them thoroughly, he finally had some confidence in his heart.

  The reason is simple, the learning of Gong Sun Zan and others is not much stronger than his. Gong Sun Zan barely managed to get the words and sentences all smooth, while Liu Bei and Mao Zong didn't even understand the whole text, some characters were still guessed, making Liu Xiu dare not say that he had already memorized the entire "Classic of Filial Piety", fearing being envied.

  Then, Liu Xiu decided to have fun with the people, put down his book and went to practice martial arts, ride horses, and touch fish with these three bad students. Apart from them, most of the dozens of classmates were also fellow travelers, and as soon as they heard about going out to play, they would come in a big group as soon as they were called. This scene made Liu Xiu feel nostalgic, thinking that when he was in college, he often shouted "one missing three" in the dormitory corridor, and it took less than a minute to gather a team, the speed was so fast, and now these classmates are not much worse.

  It can be seen from ancient times to the present that there have always been only a limited number of people who truly love reading, and most regard reading as a chore.

  After participating in several group activities, Liu Xiu felt a significant gap. These classmates were mainly from the north, and whether they were real martial artists or not, most of them could ride horses and draw bows. Although he was tall and strong, with impressive physical strength, as soon as he got on horseback, his legs hung loosely and helplessly by the horse's belly, and a feeling of powerlessness immediately surged up in his heart. He could only muster all his strength to grip the horse tightly, becoming tense and breaking out in cold sweat, not to mention galloping freely.

  Compared to his humble appearance, Gongsun Zan suddenly became the most dazzling star. Not only was he good at horse riding, but he could also shoot arrows while galloping on horseback, with five or six out of ten shots hitting their mark. Among the crowd, he was a standout, and with his handsome looks, someone soon gave him the nickname "White Horse Gentleman Gongsun Zan".

  At that time, "Lang" was a very popular title, because Lang was not an ordinary person, but referred to the Lang officials in the palace. Those who could become Lang officials were either children of officials - according to the Han law, officials above 2,000 stones who had served for more than three years could appoint their sons as Lang, or young and talented individuals - recommended by various counties and states as filial piety, outstanding talent, and classical scholars, or students from the Imperial Academy who scored high in the strategy test, or else they were sons of good families from the six northwestern counties who excelled in horsemanship. These people were close to the emperor, had many opportunities for advancement, and were naturally the reserve team for officials. Once they had the opportunity to be appointed outside, they would at least become a county magistrate, and might even directly become an official above 1,000 stones, which was the object of envy for many people.

  Liu Bei and Mao Zong also became stars beside the moon, enjoying great prestige among their classmates. As the host from the east, Mao Zong was skilled in riding horses and drawing bows, although he had some spoiled tendencies, he was a generous person and quickly got along well with everyone. Liu Bei, on the other hand, was relatively weaker, his family background couldn't compare to Mao Zong's, and his martial skills were far inferior to his. However, he had his own strengths, he treated everyone with courtesy and humility, in other words, he had a very good relationship with others, almost everyone was willing to interact with him.

  Seeing this, Liu Xiu could not help but admit that Liu Bei's future achievements were indeed reasonable.

  Liu Xiu couldn't join in the fun, when everyone was playing together, he would either watch from the side or return to his dormitory to read books. It wasn't that he was being aloof, but rather he was afraid of revealing his flaws. Most of these people were going to be working in Zhuo County in the future, and since he didn't have plans to stay here for development, he naturally wasn't interested in deliberately making friends with them.

  The spirited Gong Sun Zan did not forget him, often dragging and pulling him out of the house, pushing him onto his white horse to teach him how to feel the horse's movements, adjusting his balance in coordination with the rhythm of the horse's advance. He told Liu Xiu, "Your strength is great, holding the horse will definitely be no problem, it's just that you're a bit tense now, holding too tightly, the horse won't be comfortable, and it will move restlessly. When you relax and use your strength appropriately, it will be much better."

  With Gongsun Zan's guidance, Liu Xiu slowly learned to ride a horse at a small trot, but he still didn't dare let go of his hands, not to mention shooting arrows like Gongsun Zan and the others. He couldn't help but think that one day he would go to Zhuoxian County to find an ironworker to make a pair of stirrups for him, this thing was simple and efficient, and he would definitely use it.

  Taking advantage of the free time, Liu Xiu told this idea to Gong Sun and others. Gong Sun didn't understand for a moment, and was somewhat skeptical. Mao Zong also didn't take it seriously, and said carelessly, "Why go to the city? I have an ironworker at home. You just describe the shape, and I'll get someone to make it for you."

  Liu Xiu saw that he couldn't explain clearly, so he drew a rough diagram. Gongsun Zan stared at it for half a day without saying a word, but his expression showed some disdain. Mao Zong glanced at it briefly and praised it, saying "not only are your words well-written, but your drawing is also good-looking". Then he casually stuffed it into his bosom, treating it as if it were nothing important. This made Liu Xiu feel very depressed. In the past, when he occasionally read those online novels about time-traveling, the main character would always make a big impression on others with their skills, but now that he himself was trying to create something, nobody was giving him any applause?

  More than ten days have passed, and Lu Min has not returned to the city. Fortunately, these students are not really eager to learn, so they are happy to be on their own when Lu Min is away.

  That day, Mao Zong brought back the well-made stirrup and handed it over to Liu Xiu, saying: "It's done."

  "How much?"

  "Don't mention the money, consider it a gift from me. After all, friends have to help each other out, right?" Mao Zong said with a smile, pulling out a slightly yellowed paper and pushing it in front of Liu Xiu: "Can you do me a favor?"

  Liu Xiu was both angry and amused, deliberately putting on an air of indifference: "I knew you didn't have such a good heart."

  "You can't say that." Mao Zong was anxious: "Am I the kind of person who seeks revenge for past favors? This is really something I couldn't do, which is why I asked for your help. It has nothing to do with that thing."

  "You'd better believe me." Liu Xiu rolled his eyes: "Just this once, don't make it a habit. Hurry up, what do you want to write?"

  "Ah, help me copy this down." Mao Zong casually pushed a wooden tablet filled with writing in front of Liu Xiu, then smiled and said: "If it's convenient for you, could you also explain it to me? That would be even better."

  Liu Xiu took a look and found it was an arithmetic problem, filling in the numbers 1 to 9 into a 3x3 grid, requiring that the sum of each row, column and diagonal be equal. He had done such problems before and knew they weren't difficult, just as he was about to start writing, he suddenly remembered what the woman by the peach stream had muttered to herself that day, so he casually asked: "Who told you to solve this?"

  "Alas, don't ask, who else could it be besides the old tigress in our house?" Mao Zong sighed and said: "Can you solve it?"

  Liu Xiu's hand trembled slightly, almost leaving a big black dot on the paper. He quickly covered it up while writing and said, "It can be solved, this isn't difficult." As he spoke, he quickly filled in the numbers and handed it over to Mao Zong.

  Mao Zong was overjoyed, took it and glanced at it, but the smile on his face suddenly froze. He looked at Liu Xiu again, then at the paper in his hand. Liu Xiu's heart skipped a beat as he secretly cursed, realizing that Mao Zong's words had intimidated him into hastily writing down Arabic numerals instead.

  Mao Zong's face sank, and he said unpleasantly: "De Ran, what kind of ghostly symbol is this? Are you trying to fool me?"

  "Oh, how embarrassing." Liu Xiu was speechless and hastily snatched the paper, cut off half of it, and rewrote it in Lishu script. Only then did Mao Zong nod in satisfaction, smiling as he took the paper and left.

  Watching Mao Zong leave the door, Liu Xiu picked up the stirrup to take a closer look. The blacksmith's craftsmanship in Mao Zong's house was not bad, and this stirrup was made very beautifully, with cloud and thunder patterns on it, making it look like a work of art. Liu Xiu put down the stirrup, got up to find the rope, just opened the backpack and flipped through it, suddenly thought of a question, and immediately regretted it.