Chapter 893 - 895 Too Awesome to be Suspected_1
On the way back, Jiang Yichun was lost in thought and didn’t speak; Bai Ruozhu didn’t attempt to interrupt him, yet she felt somewhat worried.
After they returned and had dinner, Jiang Yichun took Bai Ruozhu’s hand and said, "I know you must be very skilled in arithmetic, many times I’ve seen you do the accounts without an abacus, figuring it out in your mind immediately. Do you plan to ’Conceal Clumsy’ tomorrow?"
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh, "You speak as if I’m very skilled, but I have been quite conspicuous already, I think I’d better not continue that way."
"No!" Jiang Yichun suddenly rejected the idea with a very serious expression.
"Without you exerting your full strength, the Beiyu Academy’s overall score will struggle to make it into the top three. You don’t want to see your second brother come back in defeat, do you?" he said as he pulled her into his embrace, "Things have become a bit complicated now, I’m afraid someone might target you for trouble. If you achieve an absolute result, you might receive the Emperor’s commendation. Having the title of a female scholar would make it harder for those people to mess with you."
"Doesn’t the Emperor dislike me a lot?" Bai Ruozhu glanced at him sideways.
Jiang Yichun was suddenly at a loss for words; he touched his nose awkwardly and said, "Not anymore, I’ve made things very clear to Diao Bin."
Bai Ruozhu gave him another side glance and after a long pause said, "Alright then, I’ll make an effort tomorrow, albeit reluctantly."
She too understood this reasoning. She had fallen out with Xu Panrui, Sun Lin, and others, offended the Jiangnan transport commissioner and had gone against the Holy Edict by using the Suturing Technique. She indeed needed a better reputation to weigh in her favor.
The next morning came swiftly, and as they assembled and set out, the head of the Academy looked at Bai Ruozhu with expectation and said, "Ruozhu, I’ve heard from Zepei about your excellence in arithmetic, we’ll be counting on you today."
Moved by her second brother’s encouraging gaze, Bai Ruozhu nodded at the headmaster, "Headmaster, I will do my best."
The other teachers also looked at her with hope, which made Bai Ruozhu feel slightly unaccustomed and subsequently increased her sense of pressure.
Just before departure, Tu Ying also arrived, saying her brother was much better now and she didn’t have to stay by Tu Bai’s side, so she would go to watch the competition.
As Tu Ying rode in the horse carriage with Bai Ruozhu, she suddenly slapped her head and said, "I almost forgot, Diao Yao came to see you yesterday, but since you weren’t there, she asked me to pass on a message. She said to have you check on Chu Hai after the competition, mentioning his muscle rigidity has worsened, and he can’t even smile now."
Since Bai Ruozhu and the others were staying in accommodations arranged by the competition, they couldn’t allow outsiders to enter, which was why Diao Yao and Chu Hai found other places to stay in the city. They didn’t want to disturb Bai Ruozhu during the competition.
"Chu Hai doesn’t smile much anyway, right? It doesn’t have much to do with the poisoning, does it? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile," Bai Ruozhu mused that Diao Yao was just overly concerned for Chu Hai. After all, the poisoning was self-inflicted by Chu Hai, and if he wasn’t worried, it couldn’t be fatal—so what was there to be afraid of?
"I don’t know, Diao Yao’s eyes were red, probably from crying over Chu Hai again. The poor girl," Tu Ying sighed, empathizing with Diao Yao’s worry for Chu Hai, having experienced the pain of love herself.
Bai Ruozhu said no more, instead pondering in her mind how to suppress the toxins for Chu Hai, not having any clue about a complete detoxification.
The group soon arrived at the competition venue, and before long, the Mathematical Techniques Competition began.
Arithmetic wasn’t valued much among the subjects of The Eight Academies, which is why it was scheduled for the last day. In fact, many scholars didn’t even study arithmetic at all, considering it merely bookkeeping. Why would such scholars need to deal with such mundane concerns? After all, keeping the accounts could always be left to stewards or the ladies of the house.
And the Mathematical Techniques Competition wasn’t too difficult; it involved posing some questions for the contestants to solve, with the highest scorer claiming first place.
This time, the five representatives from the Beiyu Academy did not include Bai Zepei, who seemed to be more of a liberal arts type, really lacking any talent in science.
When Bai Ruozhu and the other four stepped into the Arena, they heard the judge loudly announce, "There has been a change in the rules of this edition of the Mathematical Techniques Competition. In order to make it more interesting for the audience, contestants will no longer work on answer sheets individually. Instead, questions will be displayed, and contestants will race to answer. Whoever answers correctly will receive points, and if someone answers incorrectly, the others will continue to contest. Those who answer incorrectly will lose their chance to contest for that question."
After the judges finished speaking, they had the contestants draw lots to take their seats. On the tables were placed banknotes and an abacus to assist the contestants with their calculations after seeing the questions.
Sitting at her designated spot, Bai Ruozhu felt a surge of excitement. This style of answering questions gave her an advantage. Since she could calculate mentally, she was certain to be faster than using an abacus.
Once the new rules were announced, the spirits of the audience were visibly lifted. After all, what was the fun in watching others answer questions from afar?
"Alright, all contestants should prepare themselves for the first question," said the judge as he hung up a sheet of paper bearing a line of words. He also recited it aloud, "A certain Academy has distributed three hundred and eighty-four books, with each student in Class A receiving sixteen books. How many students are in Class A?"
Upon hearing this, Bai Ruozhu’s jaw nearly dropped. Seriously? That was way too simple. Even elementary school students could solve such a basic division problem.
The others around her were already clicking away on their abacuses, so Bai Ruozhu quickly composed herself, calculated mentally, and loudly declared, "Twenty-four!"
Because she answered so quickly, there was an uproar from the audience. The contestants who had been working the abacus paused, stunned, but then continued calculating, apparently convinced she must be mistaken and not wanting to miss the opportunity to answer following questions.
The judges also paused for a moment, taken aback, before hurriedly declaring, "Correct, Bai Ruozhu of Beiyu Academy scores the first point."
The assistant judge approached Bai Ruozhu’s table and affixed a large symbol, which was an abacus drawn on paper.
At this point, several people who had been working the abacus finally had the answer—it was indeed twenty-four. The crowd looked incredulously towards Bai Ruozhu, wondering how she had managed to calculate the answer so swiftly.
One of the contestants, his complexion slightly jaundiced, couldn’t help but inquire, "How did you calculate so quickly, Bai Ruozhu? You didn’t seem to use an abacus at all... How is that possible?"
From the audience, someone speculated, "She didn’t already know the answer, did she?"
That remark was like a stone thrown onto the calm surface of a lake, creating ripples of speculation amongst the bystanders, who even briefly forgot about the imposing presence of the two hundred elite guards.
Bai Ruozhu, however, remained quite composed. It didn’t matter to her what these people said; after all, she wasn’t the one who should be worried.
Sure enough, a judge at the judges’ table stood up and slammed his hand down, speaking out loudly, "That’s utter nonsense. Are you doubting the fairness and integrity of the organizing committee?"
Unable to find the distant audience member, the judge turned his gaze to the inquiring contestant. The man’s body shook slightly, and he said with a trace of timidity, "I didn’t mean that, I was just curious and wanted to ask Bai Ruozhu."