Chapter Nineteen: A Bet

  Huangfu Song's eyebrows twitched, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then returned to calmness. His small expression seemed to say: You're too ruthless!

  Niu Qi Qing and Yang Yuan are really too ruthless, each of them has an account book that is at least one foot thick, two books together make two feet thick, for one person to calculate, it's impossible to finish within seven days.

  "Hmph! Think you can bully me? Am I the kind of person who's easily bullied?" Wu Ji's heart was coldly laughing, but his face remained calm and unchanged, without a hint of emotional fluctuation.

  He picked up an account book and flipped through it. The account book was written in brush script, with characters the size of walnuts, quite neat. It's just very messy, this kind of account book, if placed now, is only a rough account, definitely not qualified.

  After finishing one book, Wu Ji found that there wasn't much content on it, mainly because the font was too big. After flipping through several books, Wu Ji came to the conclusion that the content recorded in each account book, if converted to modern account books, would be only about one-tenth of it, which means two stacks of account books were equivalent to only a two-inch thick modern account book, not much at all.

  "You think you can bully me with just this little account? You're underestimating me!" Wu Ji's mind was racing, preparing to thoroughly crush the arrogance of Niu Yang and his men, making them aware of his power.

  "How's it going? Can't finish?" Niu Qiqing saw Wu Ji flipping through the account book and thought Wu Ji couldn't finish, so he started teasing him with words.

  "I'm telling you, this isn't much. We just got here and we were already three or four layers in, but we could still finish it. You're only two layers in, let alone being unable to do it!" Yang Yuan also joined in the teasing, constantly curling up the corners of his mouth, with an air of superiority.

  What's so great about relying on seniority?

  Wu Jixin muttered to himself, sizing up the two of them with their smug expressions, and his intention to teach them a lesson became even more determined. As he rolled his eyes, he drawled in a slow tone: "Seven days, ah, is a bit..."

  "Too short? Don't be dissatisfied! If it were me, I could finish it in six days, no need for seven." Niu Qi's head rose proudly, looking pleased with himself.

  "Seven days is already enough to give you face! Tell me, can you complete it?" Yang Yuan's voice rose, with a bit of pride and arrogance.

  "You're all too impatient! Let me finish speaking, I'm saying that seven days is too long!" Wu Ji said with a suppressed smile.

  Niu Yang and Wu Jie stared at each other, taken aback for a moment, before bursting into loud laughter.

  "Haha! You're quite the arrogant little brat! Who do you think you are? How dare you utter such presumptuous words, aren't you afraid of getting your tongue cut off by the wind?"

  "Kid, we're giving you face here. You said it wouldn't take so long, so how much time do you need? Six days? Five days? Don't tell me you only need three or two days?" Yang Yuan sneered, as if Wu Ji was the biggest joke in the world.

  "Your brain finally opened up, you said something human! I only need three days to complete it!" Wu Ji shouted at Niu Yang and the others with a cold tone and a hint of mockery.

  "Impossible!" The two Yang Niu shouted in unison: "Who do you think you are?"

  Within three days, finishing accounting for such a thick account book, neither of them had ever heard of it, and Niu Yang would rather die than believe it.

  "Are you familiar with the Way of Mental Calculation?" A hint of surprise flashed across Huangfu Song's carefree face as he stared at Wu Ji, asking a question that made one's heart skip a beat.

  The way of mental calculation refers to a numerical genius, the kind of talent whose calculation speed can catch up with that of a calculator. For this kind of genius, it's really too simple to finish these two stacks of accounts, he just flips through and finishes them.

  If Wu Ji was such a genius, it would take him less than an hour to finish calculating these two account books.

  Huang Fu's words reminded Niu Yang and the two of them were shocked, with a look of incredulity on their faces, sizing up Wu Ji with an expression as if they had seen a ghost.

  This kind of genius is really too rare, if you can meet one in a lifetime, it's already incredible. Niu and Yang thought they were lucky to have met such a genius as soon as they came.

  "No!" Wu Jie's reply was direct and forceful.

  "Oh!" Huang Fu's voice was flat as he uttered a soft "oh", and then resumed his usual air of being unconcerned with everything.

  "I told you, with your kind of small character, how can you have such extraordinary abilities?" Niu Qi Qing let out a long sigh and said with satisfaction.

  Yang Yuan put down a small wooden stick in front of Wu Ji and said in a stern tone, "Don't say I didn't warn you. Time waits for no man, hurry up and calculate! Make the most of your time, there's still hope. Don't be lazy tonight, light an oil lamp and work through the night."

  Wu Jia took a look, these small wooden sticks are very smooth, shining with a faint light, which is the abacus used for calculation in the Song Dynasty. The ancients relied on this thing to perform a large number of calculations, lasting for thousands of years.

  This thing, Wu Ji had seen it in TV dramas before, but he wouldn't use it. Holding it in his hand, it felt especially smooth, not rough at all. He didn't know how many people had used it already.

  "Don't you believe me? Let's make a bet!" Wu Ji finally got to the point.

  As soon as he came, Niu Yang and the others wanted to make things difficult for him. If they didn't teach them a good lesson this time, who knows what kind of trouble they would stir up in the future? They had to put an end to their wicked ways.

  "A wager?" Niu Yang and the other person seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, asking: "What kind of wager?"

  "If I win, I'll be your big brother. You have to do what I say, no disobedience allowed." Wu Jie said, setting the terms of the bet.

  This kind of trouble, whether in ancient times or modern times, is often encountered, especially new people are more likely to encounter it. Wu Ji had not met less in another space-time, and just taught the two a little lesson.

  "Will we lose?" Niu Yang's eyebrows twitched with full confidence: "What if you lose?"

  "If I lose, I won't be the head of the household anymore." Wu Ji said very decisively.

  If I can't even handle this small matter, I really won't have the face to continue being the head of the household.

  "Alright! It's settled then! You little brat, just wait and see! Don't think that just because you've read a few rotten books and bought a scholar title, you're someone to be reckoned with!" Niu Qiqing still didn't forget to mock Wu Jie with one sentence.

  Wu Ji showed a playful smile, stared at Niu Qi Qing for a moment without speaking, put the two stacks of account books aside, patted his hands, walked out of the house and left quickly.

  "Haha! This kid is just bluffing! He's stalling for time!" Niu Qiqing gazed at Wu Ji's back, a sly smile spreading across his face.

  "Only three more days, humph!" Yang Yuan sneered with a look of disdain.

  At this moment, Wu Ji turned his head and smiled at the two of them, with a hint of playfulness.

  "He won't really have any way out, will he?" Niu and Yang exchanged a glance, their hearts racing with anticipation.

  Wu Ji left the county government office, briefly identified the direction, and headed towards the main street. Wu Ji didn't know how to calculate mentally, not that he couldn't do it, but just needed a tool to complete it. To make this tool, he needed to find a craftsman, so Wu Ji went to find one.

  The whole town of Guishen was not big, just a few streets and alleys. Wu Ji was walking along when he heard a conversation coming from afar.

  "Good fellow, have mercy on me! Take over the shop! I'll be eternally grateful."

  Wu Jixun looked around and saw a man in his forties, who was repeatedly bowing to a very tall man with a look of anxiety on his face.

  "Qiao Zhanggui, it's not that I don't want to help you, but the blacksmith shop is of no use to us." The sturdy man hastily supported the middle-aged man and said with a regretful expression: "Qiao Zhanggui, you know that our Qiyun Society's good men are skilled in archery, but when it comes to ironwork, they are completely clueless. You've come to the wrong place."

  "Good fellow, my father is seriously ill and urgently needs silver to treat his illness. Returning to Xining County, apart from your Qi Yun Society, there really isn't anyone else who can come up with this much silver." Qi Zhanggui's face was full of anxiety, sweat had broken out on his forehead, and tears were welling up in his eyes.

  It's clear he wasn't lying, if it weren't for his father being seriously ill, he wouldn't be so anxious.

  That good fellow sighed and said, "Qiao Zhanggui, don't say any more. We can't take the shop, even if we did, it would be of no use to us. How about this: I'll lend you two taels of silver, considering your filial piety, to cure your father's illness first."

  "Thank you, good fellow! Two taels of silver is not a small amount, but I don't know how much my father's illness will cost." Qiao Zhanggui's face was filled with gratitude, yet he hesitated and said: "My father's illness is a chronic one, this bout will require a lot of silver to treat!"

  "Boss Qiao, I'm afraid I can only sympathize with you! I wanted to help you out, but that would require me to have the ability, wouldn't it?" The good fellow sighed again, looking helpless.

  This is a big truth, helping people must rely on ability, and things that exceed one's own ability, no one can do anything about it. Although this sentence is somewhat harsh, it is very realistic, Wu Ji couldn't help but have a good impression of this good fellow, and took several more glances at him.

  This good fellow was in a fairly large courtyard, with a big sign hanging above the gate, inscribed with the three characters "Qiyun Society". Beside this good fellow were more than ten sturdy men, each robust and handsome, carrying bows and arrows on their backs.

  Wu Ji's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed excitedly: "I can make the bomb right away, all the materials are readily available. The ironwork shop is exactly what I need, it's all ready-made, I just need to take it over and that's it! Hmm, let's do it!"