A Total of 108.4 Million Taels of Silver

Shen Wanjun laughed heartily:

"You little brat, do you think I'd lie to you? Hurry up, I'm starving."

I still have to go back after I finish looking at them! How many pheasants did they catch?

Zhou Wanwan waved her hand and said, "Hurry up and come out!"

The commotion in the dense forest grew louder and louder, and the ground beneath their feet trembled slightly.

The first to emerge were tigers, dozens of them, lined up one after another in a long, straight queue.

They were tall, with yellow and black stripes that made one's heart clench. They walked steadily out of the woods and formed a square formation.

Zhou Wanwan raised her chin and said loudly, "A tiger, fifty thousand taels each."

The second wave of black bears arrived.

There were dozens of them, their fur glossy black, and they were as sturdy as small hills.

They lined up in neat rows, walking forward step by step, the sound of their feet hitting the ground making a loud "thump, thump" that made people's ears ring.

Zhou Wanwan's voice rang out again. "Black bear, ten thousand taels each."

The third wave of cheetahs emerged, numbering in the dozens.

They were slender and long, one after another, forming a straight line, and quickly walked out of the woods, close to the ground.

"A cheetah, fifty thousand taels," Zhou Wanwan said calmly.

The fourth group consisted of several hundred wild boars.

They bared their fangs, a dark mass, yet they remained neatly arranged, in rows and columns, moving forward with small, shuffling steps.

"Wild boar, one thousand taels."

The line that followed was even longer, with thousands of wild deer emerging one after another.

They were numerous, yet perfectly orderly, maintaining the same distance from each other.

Zhou Wanwan looked at them and said calmly, "Wild deer, six thousand taels each."

Further on, antelopes, lynxes, wolves, eagles, great eagles, and thousands of pheasants and rabbits also emerged slowly from the forest, each in its own formation.

Everything that flies in the sky and runs on the ground is perfectly aligned, like a well-trained army.

The students from Jiangnan standing nearby were dumbfounded, their mouths agape, speechless for a long time.

Several people's legs gave way and they collapsed to the ground with a "thud," their hands bracing themselves against the ground, their bodies still trembling.

Someone managed to squeeze out a sentence, their voice trembling. "What the hell is going on? How come these beasts are more law-abiding than humans?"

Some people stared at the dozens of tigers and bears, their faces pale, muttering, "If this is really valued at this price, how much would it be worth...?"

Shen Wanjun froze on the spot, swallowed hard, and asked, "How many wild beasts have come? Where did you get them from?"

Zhou Wanwan smiled and said:

"Don't worry about where I got it from."

They all listen to me anyway. When I say there's something delicious here, they all obediently follow me.

She cleared her throat and began to slowly and methodically count off:

"Sixty tigers, at fifty thousand taels each, that's three million taels."

"Thirty black bears, at ten thousand taels each, that's three hundred thousand taels."

"Fifty cheetahs, fifty thousand taels each, two million five hundred thousand taels."

"Three hundred wild boars, one thousand taels each, three hundred thousand taels in total."

"Three thousand wild deer, each worth six thousand taels, totaling eighteen million taels."

"Three thousand antelopes, eight thousand taels each, totaling twenty-four million taels."

"Fifteen lynxes, each worth twenty thousand taels, totaling three hundred thousand taels."

"Two thousand wolves, each worth ten thousand taels, totaling twenty million taels."

"Two hundred eagles, each worth 100,000 taels, totaling 20 million taels."

"Two hundred large eagles, each worth 100,000 taels, that's 20 million taels."

She looked at the pheasants and rabbits and said:

"As for the thousands of pheasants and rabbits, I won't count them as money; consider them as an extra."

After all, you've come to Dongshan Prefecture as guests, so I should do my part as a host!

"Adding all of these together, the total is one hundred and eight million four hundred thousand taels of silver."

Shen Wanjun's head went blank for a moment, his vision went black, his legs gave way, and his body slumped down.

If it weren't for the two students beside him who reacted quickly and caught his arms on either side, he probably would have fallen to the ground long ago.

One student muttered to himself, "One... one hundred million taels? That's an astronomical figure!"

Some people were so anxious they were stamping their feet. "Don't even mention Jiangnan, even the imperial relatives in the capital couldn't come up with that much cash, could they?"

How exactly did he manage to get these wild beasts to obey him?

I can understand the pheasants and rabbits, but why would the tigers, bears, and wolves listen to her?

Zhou Wanwan smiled slightly and said, "Are you students from Jiangnan planning to renege on your debt?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the bears, tigers, and wolves all formed a circle.

Zhou Wanwan didn't allow them to do that; the Old Scholar Tree was secretly directing them.

These beasts are incredibly obedient. Shen Wanjun, looking at them, broke out in a cold sweat. "Zhou Wanwan, what do you mean by this? Why did you let these beasts surround us here?"

Zhou Wanwan smiled and said:

"No! Did you see me speaking here? Stop falsely accusing me, okay?"

"You're the ones trying to bully me; these beasts are just trying to protect me."

The androgynous young master Young Master Liu shouted, "Zhou Wanwan, you've gone too far! We students from Jiangnan are just here to have fun, and you actually want wild beasts to eat us!"

Zhou Wanwan glared at him and said:

"Am I being unreasonable, or are you guys being unreasonable? Don't you understand the principle of accepting the consequences of a bet?"

At the very least, shouldn't you give me an explanation?

Shen Wanjun's face darkened. "What kind of explanation do you want? What kind of explanation do you think I can give you?"

Zhou Wanwan glanced at him indifferently and said, "What do you mean by that? Does that mean there's no explanation? Does that mean our bet is null and void?"

Shen Wanjun looked at her coldly and said, "Zhou Wanwan, don't go too far. Do you know who we are?"

Zhou Wanwan looked at them and said, "They're all a bunch of untrustworthy scoundrels!"

The students from Jiangnan all lowered their heads.

Shen Wanjun looked at her and said:

"I don't know what method you used to lure these wild beasts here, but we are not ordinary people."

"And many people know we came up the mountain with you today, so if you're so capable, let them eat us."

Zhou Wanwan looked at this group of students from Jiangnan and said:

Wasn't it you who started calling for it?

You said you wanted to have a proper bet with me, so why are you going back on your word now?

Do you think we people from Dongshan Prefecture are easy to bully?

Shen Wanjun was so angry he was about to explode. Who could have imagined this child would be so formidable?

It was just a small bet, he thought, at most a few thousand taels of silver, so what if he lost?

He lost over 100 million taels of silver in one go; he'll probably never be able to pay it back in his lifetime.

This bet cannot be honored.