Chapter 39: One Failure, Another Failure

Li Nuo had lunch at the county government office.

He had eaten lunch at County Magistrate Pei's house these past two days. Yesterday, County Magistrate Pei's wife went back to her parents' home, so he just had a few bites of buns.

I had dumplings again for lunch today.

Mrs. Pei is an excellent dumpling-maker, and her dumplings are quite different from those made by the chef at home.

The Li family's chef is a veteran gourmet. The meals he cooks are delicious and there is nothing wrong with them. The only thing they lack is the homely flavor. But sometimes, this flavor is the most important.

Li Nuo looked at Pei Zhe across from him and asked in confusion, "Doesn't Master Pei have to go out on official business today?"

Pei Zhe picked up a dumpling and said, "Oh, County Magistrate Zhang came over just now and volunteered to help the orphans and widows on my behalf. I couldn't persuade him, so I let him go..."

County Magistrate Zhang was kneeling on the ground, hugging his thighs, crying and refusing to get up unless Pei Zhe agreed to his request. Pei Zhe had no choice but to let him go.

He should be happy that the officer was so obedient.

But Pei Zhe just couldn't be happy.

After Li Nuo beat Wang Yue in public yesterday, he had a vague feeling that something was wrong. It was not until just now when County Magistrate Zhang broke his usual behavior and knelt in front of him begging him to let him go that Pei Zhe realized belatedly...something was wrong!

He has become Li Xuanjing's running dog!

Even if he is not, others think he is.

Speaking of which, these days, Li Nuo was trying cases in the county government, and he was always at his side, and the two even ate together.

Yesterday, the examiner sent his own son to the county government to confess his guilt, resigned overnight, donated money, and left Chang'an with his family. Apart from Li Xuanjing, who else could have such deterrent power? From an outsider's perspective, even he himself felt that he had defected to the Minister of the Dali Temple.

In today's court, the forces of all parties are complicated and intertwined. The position of Chang'an County Magistrate is extremely sensitive. It is impossible for him to remain immune to it and stay out of it. Sooner or later, he will have to face the choice of standing on the right side.

He had already realized this.

But unexpectedly, before he made his choice, someone else had already chosen for him.

"well……"

Thinking of the reputation of Mr. Li, Pei Zhe sighed deeply. This time, he couldn't wash himself clean even if he jumped into the Yellow River...

"well……"

At this time, in the Song Mansion, after listening to Song Muer and Song Ninger finish explaining this equation with five terms, the white-haired old man couldn't help but sigh, and deep doubts arose in his heart.

He has been teaching mathematics for his entire life. Is he really worse than a fool?

This question is one of the most difficult ones in the "Equations" chapter of the "Mathematical Classics". Some academy students who have studied mathematics in depth for several years cannot fully master it. However, these two six-year-old girls can not only calculate the correct answer, but also explain it clearly.

It means they really understand.

He couldn't teach them to be like this.

Everything is afraid of comparison.

As long as he spoke something a little profound, the two little girls would fall asleep, just like their sister ten years ago.

This gave him a strong sense of frustration.

Not far away, the look in Song Jiaren's eyes made him feel even more guilty.

He understood the meaning of that look.

Ten years ago, when he was teaching her mathematics, he once commented that she "had no talent for mathematics". In his opinion, the mathematical talents of the two twin girls of the Song family were actually the same as that of Song Jiaren at that time.

Now it seems that it’s not that they can’t learn, but that I don’t know how to teach.

It is truly misleading.

With this in mind, he did not teach them anything new today. He just asked them to review the knowledge they had learned before, rewarded each of them with a flower, left them with a few questions, and left in a hurry...

Although Song Ning'er also received a reward from the master this time, Song Mu'er also received one, so there is nothing to be happy about.

She looked at the new title in the booklet, her dark eyes rolling around, not knowing what she was thinking.

Song Muer saw through her thoughts and snorted coldly, "Don't try to trick Brother Li Nuo into explaining the problem to you. I have already agreed on a secret code with him, and you can't trick him!"

Song Ning'er was stunned and asked, "What's the code?"

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

Song Muer said something, then blinked at her and said, "I'm six years old, and you think I'm a three-year-old child. You still want to trick me with the secret code? I won't tell you, lululu..."

She stuck out her tongue at Song Ning'er mischievously and ran away quickly.

Song Ning'er folded her arms and said disdainfully: "What a crappy code, who wants to hear it, I'll go ask Brother Yu..."

A moment later, in a courtyard of the Song Mansion.

Song Yu was so thirsty from talking that he picked up the teapot and drank it all in one gulp. With a sense of accomplishment, he asked Song Ning'er, "Do you understand?"

Song Ning'er shook her head: "I don't understand."

Song Yu rubbed his eyebrows and felt a headache.

This is how the teacher explained the math problem to him at the beginning, and it took him a long time to understand it. Moreover, he was already a teenager at that time, and Ning'er was only six years old. Why does a six-year-old have to learn such difficult math now?

When he was six years old, he was still reciting the Nine-Nine Song.

In desperation, he could only tell it again.

"Do you understand?"

"don't know."

"You should understand now, right?"

“Why is it like this here?”

"There's no need to ask so many questions about mathematics. This is what the teacher taught me. You just need to do the same..."

…

Song Yu had already finished three pots of tea, but still felt dry mouth.

At the same time, he also understood one thing. Even the simplest "square field" problem was still too difficult for Ning'er now. She simply couldn't understand it.

Song Ning'er also understood one thing.

Her brother Yu is different from Song Muer's brother Li Nuo.

When Li Nuo taught her math problems, he didn't say it like Brother Yu did. He not only told her how to do it, but also why she had to do it. She could understand what he said. Brother Yu's explanation was not as good as that of the teacher...

If I had known this earlier, I would have let him play with his own sepak takraw that day.

In that case, he would like her as much as he likes Mu'er, right?

In Song Ning'er's view, it is normal for others to dislike her if she doesn't let them play with her toys.

If she were treated like that, she wouldn't play with herself.

"Why……"

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a little regretful, and imitated the adults and sighed slowly.

…

Chang'an County Government Office.

Li Nuo came back early today and did not wait until dark before leaving.

It was nothing for him, but he felt embarrassed to drag so many people from the county government office to work overtime with him.

Anyway, the case is there. If it is not sentenced today, it can be sentenced tomorrow. He has gained enough today.

Even though there were still no serious cases, he had gained a total of seven days of life in one day, and his current lifespan reached forty-eight days.

Before the court closed today, there were still many people queuing up. It can be predicted that he will have something to do in the next few days.

After returning home, Li Nuo found that Song Muer was already waiting for him.

No, this could also be Song Ning'er.

Not only do the two sisters look alike, but even the clothes they wear, the jewelry they wear, and the sachets they carry are the same. Li Nuo can't tell which is which.

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

“…”

Li Nuo was speechless. This silly child, the secret code was used to test Song Ning'er, not to test him. He didn't have a twin brother, so how could she say the secret code first?

Thinking that she was only a six-year-old child, Li Nuo didn't say anything.

Li Nuo asked casually, "Where is your beautiful sister?"

Song Muer said, "He was here just now, but I don't know where he is now. Brother Li Nuo, can you explain this question to me again?"

Li Nuo took the booklet she handed over. Today's question was no longer a system of multivariate linear equations, but to find the area of ​​an irregular figure, which was classified as a "square field" problem in the Mathematical Classics.

"Square fields" refer to square fields. The government needs to measure the land area accurately in order to determine the specific taxes. There is an urgent need to calculate the area of ​​various irregular fields. Therefore, the large category of "square fields" was derived in mathematics.

In the chapter "Mathematics", students need to master the calculation of the areas of various figures such as squares, rectangles, triangles, trapezoids, circles, and sectors.

The question that Song Muer asked him was about an irregular shape made up of rectangles, triangles and trapezoids. All he had to do was divide the shape into sections and calculate the area of ​​each part, then add them up. It was very simple for Li Nuo, but Song Muer didn't even know the area calculation formula, so Li Nuo had to teach him from the most basic.

It would be fine if she taught students with a certain foundation, but Song Muer had never been exposed to these things. Even if the area of ​​a rectangle is the base times the height, she would ask why.

Li Nuo had no choice but to start from the most basic and explain it to her several times before she finally understood the concept of area.

When talking about the area of ​​a triangle being half the product of the base and the height, she started asking why again. Li Nuo had to make auxiliary lines and fill in two rectangles and let her deduce it herself. Fortunately, she already understood how to calculate the area of ​​the rectangle just now. After Li Nuo filled in the complete figure, she was able to deduce it easily by herself.

Then there is the trapezoid...

After spending a lot of effort, Song Muer finally figured out the problem by herself, and Li Nuo breathed a sigh of relief.

This question itself is not difficult, but it is still not easy to explain it clearly to a six-year-old child.

Just as Li Nuo felt a little sense of accomplishment, a small figure ran into the yard, looked at the figure sitting next to Li Nuo, and said angrily: "Song Ning'er, what are you doing!"

Li Nuo looked at the angry little girl at the door and was completely dumbfounded.

After a moment, Song Muer put her hands on her hips and looked at Li Nuo with a look of disappointment. She said unhappily, "What can I say about you? 'Going up the mountain to fight the tiger' meant that Song Ning's decision was right, not you. How could you be so stupid to let her fool you again!"

(End of this chapter)