Section 43 Question 2 (Part 1)

  The next morning, people gathered at Shanyin Wharf with even more enthusiasm, looking forward to the next wonderful appearance.

  Shen Mo was indeed on time this time, still wearing a white shirt, and still accompanied by Shen Jing.

  The two county lieutenants arrived at the dock at almost the same time, and although Hou County Lieutenant's face was not pleasant, he was still quite polite to him. Zhang County Lieutenant was even more smiling, pulling Shen Mo and saying: "County Master asked me to bring you a message."

  "Please speak, sir." Shen Mo said with a bow.

  "He said you've done well, don't be proud of it, and win the remaining two games as well." Zhang Xiancheng's face turned serious as he finished speaking, then smiled again: "You don't know, yesterday when the master heard that you won, he was so happy that he sang opera all night long." As he said this, he shook hands with Shen Mo, and a heavy silver ingot fell into his hand: "This is the master's reward for you. If you win today's game again, there will be another reward. If you win all three games, there will be a big reward!"

  The silver ingot weighed about three or four liang, with a clear break at both ends. It was probably cut off by County Magistrate Zhang himself. This was an unavoidable situation, and he could only laugh it off: "Thank you, Your Honor, thank you, Zan Gong."

  "It's settled, it's settled." Zhang Xiancheng smiled and said: "You've finally shown your face to us, now no one can say you're definitely going to lose." He said mysteriously: "Do you know, the betting house has lowered the odds of your winning to 1:4."

  Shen Mo was already feeling depressed about this matter, and yesterday Shen Jing immediately went to place a big bet, only to find that he was still one step too late. It seemed as if the gambling house had a thousand-mile eye and had quickly reacted, cutting in half the odds of Shen Mo winning, which was really disappointing.

  Actually, the odds of 1:4 are already very high. In contrast, Tiger Head's odds, although they dropped a bit yesterday, only rose slightly to 2:3 in the gambling houses. The gap between the two is still huge. This shows that the gambling houses still don't think highly of Shen Mo, they believe he might have just coincidentally known about that trick and such good luck won't happen again.

  The number of bets placed by gamblers also clearly reflects this... The amount bet on Tieguai winning reached as much as 1,300 taels, while the amount bet on Shenmo winning was less than 200 taels.

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  The hour of Chen had passed, but still no sign of Wang Lao Hu. The crowd was discussing it when they heard a loud and rough laughter coming from the river. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a large ship with a tiger head flag sailing downstream. On the bow stood a short-haired, small-bearded man like an iron tower. He wore a narrow-sleeved blue robe, with a wide leather belt around his waist, a tiger-headed knife slanting from his belt, thick eyebrows, dark complexion, and a pair of eyes staring like bronze bells. It was none other than Wang Gui Fa, the leader of the Tiger Head Society!

  Seeing such a figure, Shen silently couldn't help but secretly applaud and thought: 'It's much better than wearing that indecent Confucian shirt!'

  The big ship stopped steadily at the dock, and then Wang Lao Hu put out a loud laugh and said: "Everyone has waited for a long time." He didn't come down, but on the ship loudly said: "Please ask the two gentlemen Zan Gong and Shen Gongzi to board the ship together, we will go to the middle of the river to take a look."

  Two county lieutenants, Shen Mo and Shen Jing, as well as several other local officials present, boarded the large ship according to his words.

  Hou Xian laughed and said: "I'm asking you, Tongda brother, what kind of medicine are you selling in your gourd?"

  Wang Lao Hu said in a low voice, "Zan Gong, wait a moment, and you will know soon." With that, he waved his big hand and shouted, "Set sail!" The big ship slowly started moving, heading downstream to the middle of the river.

  Some onlookers boarded the ship, but most were running along the shore, with everyone curious about what would happen next.

  The big boat sailed out for two miles, and the river suddenly became turbulent, but it was where the river channel turned!

  The helmsman of the boat suddenly became tense, staring at the river with wide eyes, as if something dangerous was about to happen. He involuntarily gripped the railing tightly.

  Although the sailors were in full control, the big ship still passed through the bend at a fairly high speed. Before the people on the boat could catch their breath, a sturdy tree with luxuriant branches and leaves came head-on, as if it was going to collide with the big ship!

  The passengers on the boat did not utter a scream of terror, and many people were even afraid to close their eyes. All they heard was the old helmsman shouting loudly, turning the rudder sharply to the east, and the big ship barely grazed past the big tree...

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  From start to finish, Wang Lao Hu had been glancing sideways at the crowd. He saw that the two county magistrates were so frightened that their faces turned pale, and several scholars simply went limp in both legs and fell to the ground. But he saw Shen Mo was still calm and composed, and the young man accompanying him was excitedly shouting and yelling, shouting "Let's do it again!"

  Wang Lao Hu nodded secretly, raised his big hand high, and the old captain shouted in understanding: "Drop anchor in the middle of the river!" The sailors dropped two huge stone anchors on both sides, and used several thick bamboo poles to prop up the bow of the ship. After a lot of effort, they finally stopped the boat, but the deck was rocking even more violently.

  Wang Lao Hu walked steadily to Shen Mo's front, stretched out his hand and pointed to the big tree behind him that all four of them couldn't encircle with their arms: "Shen young master please take a look, is this demon tree not a calamity?"

  He nodded silently and said in a low voice: "It's really too dangerous for ships coming down from upstream!"

  "Not bad, this big tree has been growing here since the Taizu year." Wang Lao Hu's face was stern and he said: "At first people just thought it was a beautiful view and didn't pay attention to it. Who knew that as the tree grew bigger and bigger, the river became narrower and narrower, suddenly becoming a disaster!"

  Hou Xian Cheng also understood Wang Lao Hu's meaning, nodded and continued: "The boat sailed over here, repeatedly hitting the big tree, every year there are more than a dozen lives lost here." As he spoke, he pointed to the white flags hanging on the tree, as well as some talismans and offerings: "These are all the ghosts of those who died unjustly!"

  "Why not remove the tree?" Shen Jing asked curiously: "Is it too much trouble?"

  County Magistrate Hou sighed: "I don't know how many times I've made up my mind and tried. But no matter how determined I am, the problem can't be solved. The workers sent to remove the tree all exclaimed that the trunk is firmly in the water and cannot be dug out... If we don't remove the trunk and only cut off the top of the tree, it will be even more dangerous, so it's been stuck like this."

  "We, the Tiger Head Society, have also arranged for our men to be ready underwater, planning to cut down this tree from under the water." Wang Lao Hu said in a low voice: "But the river water here is rapid and deep, and the trunk of the tree is thick and hard. We can't hurt it at all, and instead, we lost two brothers." His voice was hoarse as he spoke to this point, his eyes were red, obviously moved: "I, Wang Mou, although I am a gangster, but my lifelong idol is our Shaoxing's Yangming Gong, he said 'think of it and do it!' Since I have made up my mind, I must get rid of this scourge!"

  "Think of it and go? " Shen Jing was skeptical: "When did Yangming say this?"

  Mo Shen smiled silently: "It's 'unity of knowledge and action', but Wang Daquan popularized it, the meaning is not different."

  Upon hearing this evaluation, Wang Lao Hu was extremely delighted and the resentment he had towards Shen Mo also lightened up a lot. He patted his chest and said: "As long as you can get rid of this scourge, I will immediately admit defeat and release the person!"

  "In silence and solemnity, he said: 'For the sake of his elderly fellow villagers, Shen Mo has no choice but to take action!'"

  The two county lieutenants and the gentry all chimed in: "Whatever is needed, young master, just give the order!"

  He nodded silently, gazing at the old tree that curved and twisted, rising above the water's surface, and said softly, "Wait for me to think of a way."

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  Soon, the people of Shaoxing all knew that the second question was to remove trees from water! This is not just a matter of playing with words, but a real good thing. The evaluation of Wang Lao Hu has increased significantly, and Shen Mo couldn't help but secretly sweat for him. A problem that had been unsolved for decades, could you think of it in just three days?

  "Miss, can you think of it?" In the embroidery building in the backyard of the Yin Manor, Hua Ping once again urged her mistress: "This time, you must think of a solution!" Last time, because her own miss couldn't come up with a plan, she was too ashamed to see Shen Mo. Later, the other party quietly solved it themselves, making Hua Ping both happy and depressed, proud and unconvinced. This time, as soon as she heard the topic, she hastily sent it to Miss, with an undertone of "Please be sure to fight back!"

  Miss Yin was sitting at the desk, holding a fine brush, sketching on a spread-out paper, and hearing this, she couldn't help but laugh and scold: "You little girl, hurry up and follow that kid over there, you're really outgoing for a girl!"

  "No way, miss." Huaping said with a blush: "I just don't want to lose to him again!"

  This remark hit Miss Yin's soft spot. Although she didn't say anything, she was quite upset that she couldn't solve the first question while that kid did. She was itching to overtake him and vent her frustration.

  As soon as she heard the topic, she put down her work and spread out paper and pen to carefully draw up a plan.

  Miss Yin secretly made up her mind, this time she mustn't lose to that little kid she had never seen before again!

  From morning till night, even lunch was used in the boudoir. When the third prompt for sleep arrived, Miss Yin suddenly raised her white small fist and shook it in the air, full of excitement! Brilliant light shines on people!

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  Made up for it, continuing today's update... Seeking votes, almost caught up again.