One Lesson Learned, Then Another

Li Nuo ate lunch at the county office.

For the past two days, he had eaten lunch at Magistrate Pei's home. Yesterday, he had made do with a few buns only because Magistrate Pei's wife had gone back to her parents' home.

Today, they were having dumplings again.

Madam Pei was a master at making dumplings. Compared with the dishes prepared by the chef at home, hers had a distinct, home-cooked flavor.

The chef at the Li Family was a seasoned gourmet. His dishes had it all—color, aroma, and taste—and there was not a single thing to fault. They simply lacked that homey flavor. But sometimes, that little touch was the most important thing of all.

Li Nuo glanced at Pei Zhe across from him and asked in confusion, "Wasn't Lord Pei supposed to go out on official business today?"

Pei Zhe picked up a dumpling and said, "Oh, Assistant Magistrate Zhang just came by. He volunteered to go offer relief to the widowed and the orphaned in my place. I couldn't talk him out of it, so I let him go..."

Just now, Assistant Magistrate Zhang had knelt on the ground and clung to his leg, sobbing and pleading. He refused to get up unless Pei Zhe agreed. With no other choice, Pei Zhe had let him go.

Normally, he should have been pleased to have such an obedient deputy.

But Pei Zhe just couldn't bring himself to feel happy.

After Li Nuo had publicly beaten Wang Yue yesterday, Pei Zhe had sensed that something was off. It wasn't until Assistant Magistrate Zhang had suddenly knelt before him and begged him to spare him that Pei Zhe finally realized... This was bad!

He had become Li Xuanjing's lackey!

Even if he wasn't, that was what everyone else thought.

Come to think of it, Li Nuo had been hearing cases at the county office these past few days, and Pei Zhe had been at his beck and call. The two of them even ate together.

Yesterday, the Official of the Ministry of Personnel had sent his own son to the county office to confess, then resigned in the middle of the night, donated his wealth, and left Chang'an with his entire family. Who else had the power to inspire such fear, if not Li Xuanjing? From the perspective of an outsider, even Pei Zhe himself would have thought he had joined forces with the Minister of Justice.

The Imperial Court was now a tangled web of competing factions, and the post of Magistrate of Chang'an was extremely sensitive. It was impossible to stay above the fray and keep out of the struggle. Sooner or later, he would have to choose a side.

He had long been prepared for that.

But he hadn't expected others to choose for him before he'd made up his mind.

"Alas..."

Thinking of Lord Li's reputation, Pei Zhe let out a long sigh. This time, even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he couldn't wash himself clean...

"Alas..."

At that moment, in Song Manor, the white-haired old man listened as Song Mu'er and Song Ninger explained a problem involving an equation with five unknowns. He couldn't help sighing, a deep doubt taking root in his heart.

He had taught mathematics his whole life. Could he really be inferior to a fool?

This problem was one of the hardest in the "Equations" chapter of the Calculations Classic. Even students who had studied mathematics in depth for several years could not fully grasp it. Yet these two six-year-old girls had not only worked out the correct answer but explained their reasoning clearly.

That meant they truly understood it.

There was no way he could have taught them to do this.

Nothing made a person feel worse than a comparison.

The moment he explained anything a little too deeply, the two girls got drowsy, just like their older sister had ten years ago.

It left him feeling utterly defeated.

The look Song Jiaren gave him from nearby only made him feel more guilty.

He understood what that look meant.

Ten years ago, when he had taught her mathematics, he had judged her to have "no aptitude for mathematics." As he saw it, the mathematical aptitude of the Song Family's twin girls was about the same as Song Jiaren's had been back then.

Now he could see that it wasn't that they couldn't learn. He simply didn't know how to teach.

He really had been leading them astray.

With that thought in mind, he didn't teach them anything new that day. He only had them review what they had learned before, rewarded each girl with a flower-shaped forehead ornament, and left a few problems for them to work on before hurrying away...

Although Song Ninger had received a reward from their teacher this time, Song Mu'er had received one too, so there was nothing to be happy about.

She looked at the new problems in the booklet, her dark eyes darting about as she plotted something.

Song Mu'er saw right through her and snorted. "Don't think you can trick Brother Li Nuo into explaining the problems to you again. I've already agreed on a secret code with him, so you can't fool him anymore!"

Song Ninger froze. "What secret code?"

"One, two, three, four, five..."

Song Mu'er recited the numbers, then winked at her. "I'm already six. Do you think I'm a three-year-old? You still want to trick me into telling you the secret code? I'm not telling. Nah-nah-nah!"

She stuck her tongue out playfully at Song Ninger, then ran off as fast as she could.

Song Ninger crossed her arms and scoffed. "What a stupid secret code. Like I care. I'll go ask Brother Yu..."

A moment later, in a courtyard in Song Manor.

Song Yu's mouth was parched from talking. He picked up the teapot and drained it, then asked Song Ninger with a sense of accomplishment, "Do you understand now?"

Song Ninger shook her head. "No."

Song Yu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

Her teacher had explained this mathematics problem to him the same way. It had taken him ages to understand it, and he had been in his teens back then. Ninger was only six. Why was she expected to learn such difficult mathematics at six?

When he was six, he was still reciting the multiplication table.

With no other choice, he could only explain it again.

"Do you understand now?"

"No."

"Surely you understand this time?"

"Why does this part have to be done this way?"

"Why are you asking so many questions about mathematics? The teacher taught it this way, so just do it like this..."

Song Yu had already emptied three teapots and still felt parched.

At the same time, he realized something: even the simplest "Square Fields" problem was still too difficult for Ninger at her age. She just couldn't understand it.

Song Ninger had realized something too.

Her Brother Yu was nothing like Song Mu'er's Brother Li Nuo.

When Li Nuo taught her mathematics, he never spoke the way Brother Yu did. He didn't just tell her how to solve a problem; he also told her why it had to be solved that way. She could understand what he taught. Brother Yu's explanations were even worse than their teacher's...

If only she'd let him play with her Rattan Ball that day.

Then he would like her as much as he liked Mu'er, wouldn't he?

As far as Song Ninger was concerned, if she wouldn't let someone play with her toys, it was perfectly normal for that person not to like her.

If someone treated her that way, she wouldn't play with them either.

"Ah..."

Thinking of that, she couldn't help regretting it. She imitated the adults and let out a long, wistful sigh.

Chang'an County Office.

Li Nuo went home early that day instead of waiting until dark.

He didn't mind staying late himself, but he felt bad making everyone at the county office work overtime with him.

The cases would still be there tomorrow. He could hear them then. He had already reaped plenty today.

Even though there still hadn't been any serious cases, he had accumulated seven days of life over the course of the day. His lifespan now stood at forty-eight days.

And before the office closed, plenty of commoners were still waiting in line. He could already tell he would have plenty to do over the next few days.

When Li Nuo got home, he found Song Mu'er waiting for him.

No, this could also be Song Ninger.

It was one thing for the sisters to look alike. They even wore the same clothes, jewelry, and sachets. Li Nuo couldn't tell them apart.

He was about to check the secret code when the little girl spoke first. "One, two, three, four, five!"

"..."

Li Nuo was speechless. Silly girl, the secret code was for testing Song Ninger, not for testing him. He didn't have a twin brother. Why would she give the secret code first?

Remembering that she was only six, Li Nuo didn't say anything.

He casually asked, "Where's your Sister Jiaren?"

Song Mu'er replied, "She was here just now, but I don't know where she went. Brother Li Nuo, could you explain this problem to me again?"

Li Nuo took the booklet she handed him. Today's problem was no longer about a system of linear equations with multiple variables. Instead, it asked for the area of an irregular shape, which the Calculations Classic classified as a "Square Fields" problem.

"Square Fields" meant square plots of land. The authorities needed to measure land precisely to determine the exact taxes owed, so they had an urgent need to calculate the areas of all kinds of irregular fields. That was how the broad category of "Square Fields" had emerged in mathematics.

In this chapter of the Calculations Classic, students had to learn how to calculate the areas of all kinds of shapes: squares, rectangles, triangles, trapezoids, circles, sectors, and so on.

The problem Song Mu'er had asked him about showed an irregular shape made up of a rectangle, a triangle, and a trapezoid. All she had to do was calculate the area of each section and add them together. It was simple for Li Nuo, but Song Mu'er didn't even know the formula for area, so he had to start with the very basics.

It was one thing teaching students who already had some foundation. Song Mu'er had never learned any of this. Even the fact that a rectangle's area equaled its base times its height made her ask why.

Li Nuo had no choice but to start from scratch. He explained it several times before she finally grasped the concept of area.

When he explained that a triangle's area was half its base times its height, she started asking why again. Li Nuo had to draw auxiliary lines and complete two rectangles so she could work it out herself. Fortunately, she had already understood how to calculate a rectangle's area, so once Li Nuo filled in the whole shape, she was able to derive the formula easily.

Then came the trapezoid...

It took quite a bit of effort, but Li Nuo finally got Song Mu'er to work out the problem on her own. He let out a long breath of relief.

The problem itself wasn't hard, but explaining it clearly to a six-year-old wasn't easy.

Li Nuo had only just started to feel a little sense of accomplishment when a small figure dashed into the courtyard. Seeing the person seated beside Li Nuo, she cried angrily, "Song Ninger, what are you doing?"

Li Nuo looked at the furious little girl in the doorway and was completely dumbfounded.

A moment later, Song Mu'er stood with her hands on her hips and glared at Li Nuo as if he were beyond saving. "What am I supposed to do with you? 'One, two, three, four, five' was for Song Ninger to answer, not you! How can you be so silly? She fooled you again!"