Seeing that he was interested, Cai Ming didn't think much of it.
He casually handed over the slightly worn account book in his hand.
The account books were made of straw paper produced in the barren mountains; they were a bit rough, but thick and sturdy.
These scraps of paper are used for children to do math; they're cheap and easy to use.
A stack of these papers can be bought for just a few copper coins; they are very sturdy and won't fall apart even when wet.
But when ordinary merchants in the barren mountains found out, they were overjoyed and bought it to use for daily accounting.
In this way, even if the account books get wet, they don't need to be afraid; they can simply dry them in the sun and they will be restored.
The surrounding children looked over curiously; they had already calculated the numbers in the ledger a thousand times, so there was nothing to hide.
Xie Wendong took the ledger, his fingertips touching the rough paper, a sense of curiosity about the new algorithm lingering in his mind.
He intended to take out the copper abacus from his pocket and personally verify the calculations.
However, when his gaze fell on the ledger, his expression suddenly froze.
"What...what is this?"
He noticed that the ledger did not contain the capitalized numbers he was familiar with, such as one, two, three, and four, nor the vertical numbers used for counting rods.
Instead, it was a symbol that had never been seen before, winding and twisting, shaped like a tadpole!
"These scribbles can actually be used for bookkeeping?" He frowned, muttering to himself with a hint of disbelief in his voice.
"Uncle, you can't even understand this?" Cai Ming blinked her big, bright eyes, looking at him with some surprise, her small mouth slightly open.
A chubby-faced little boy chimed in, "These are Arabic numerals, passed down directly from the master on the desolate mountain! They're much easier to write than the capital letters 1, 2, 3, and 4! You can understand them at a glance!"
Another little girl with pigtails added, "Yes, yes, these numbers in the ledger are the simplest of things! Our homework is the real challenge!"
As they spoke, the children actually pulled out several sheets of snow-white paper from the brand-new cloth bags they carried on their shoulders and hurriedly handed them over.
The paper was fine and smooth, quite different from the rough account paper in their hands; it was clearly better paper.
"Uncle, look at this! This is the math homework from the Mountain God's School!" The boy proudly held up a sheet of paper.
Xie Wendong took the few thin sheets of paper with some skepticism.
The paper has smooth edges and the ink is jet black.
Although the handwriting is immature, it is still neat.
In just one glance, his eyes, which had been relatively calm, widened instantly!
“This, this…” His lips trembled slightly as he pointed to the equations on the paper, composed of Arabic numerals and various strange symbols.
Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals...
There were also some diagrams and solutions that he had never heard of before!
"Are these kinds of questions really something that you children should be able to learn?"
"Some problems, even for me, require me to calm my mind, take out my abacus, and carefully manipulate the keys before I can solve them!"
His voice was filled with unprecedented shock and bewilderment.
The oldest of these children is no more than ten years old.
The youngest is only six or seven years old, yet he is already learning such advanced mathematics?
Just then, the same weasel-faced aide from before came over again, looking worried and speaking in a low voice.
"Mr. Xie, what rare thing are you looking at?"
"Given the current situation, what should we do?"
"Could it be that I really am going to spend the rest of my life here?" His voice was trembling with tears, clearly at a loss.
Xie Wendong had no time to pay attention to him at that moment.
His entire attention was completely captivated by the children before him and their talk of the new algorithm and the Mountain God Academy.
He took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the turmoil in his heart.
He turned to look at the group of children who were still laughing and playing, his gaze intense.
“Children,” he tried to make his voice sound gentle, even with a hint of ingratiation.
"I just heard that what you all learned came from the Mountain God Academy?"
Cai Ming answered crisply, "Yes! We are all students at the Mountain God's School! The Mountain Goddess is so kind; the school even provides meals! We study there every day, learning to read, write, and do arithmetic!"
"So, how long have you been enrolled?" Xie Wendong pressed, a suspicion creeping into his mind that even he found absurd.
"Well, if you count it, it should be about half a year!" A slightly older boy scratched his head and recalled earnestly.
"We all started school last winter."
"Six months?"
Xie Wendong felt a thunderclap in his mind.
I saw stars and almost lost my balance.
In just six months, how could a group of illiterate children be taught to such an extent?
What exactly is this Mountain God's School?
What kind of extraordinary abilities did that legendary mountain goddess possess?
He turned around abruptly, staring intently at the staff member who was still babbling on and on, trying to persuade him to find a way to escape as soon as possible.
"I'm not leaving!" Xie Wendong said resolutely.
The voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable firmness.
The aide was taken aback by his sudden decisiveness, and the words stuck in his throat as he stared at him in disbelief.
"I've made up my mind. I'll stay in Huangxian from now on!" Xie Wendong said each word firmly, his eyes shining with an unprecedented light.
"I want to see for myself just how many astonishing miracles this desolate county still holds!"
The group of advisors from the Eastern Palace behind him looked bewildered and puzzled upon hearing this.
"ah?"
"Mr. Xie, what nonsense are you talking about?"
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