Yuan Yunzhong’s voice was neither loud nor soft, even temperate, but when it fell on everyone’s ears, it made them truly feel his seriousness—he truly did not care about killing someone, it was just that he felt it was inauspicious for someone to die in the mansion with the Spring Festival approaching.
Everyone shivered involuntarily.
However, Song Jixue was very excited.
When Yuan Yunzhong, carrying her, headed to Yinyu Hall without looking back, she even made a face at Song Sanliang and the others like those children who felt protected and pampered.
After returning to Yinyu Hall, Yuan Yunzhong carried her directly into the study and placed her on the large desk he normally used for writing and painting. He took some ointment and applied it to her personally.
The ointment had a somewhat pungent smell, but it felt cool and refreshing when spread on the face.
Song Jixue obediently tilted her head back, allowing Yuan Yunzhong to apply the medicine.
Yuan Yunzhong’s heart softened as well.
He asked Song Jixue, "Who taught you the mnemonic for using the abacus?"
Song Jixue replied proudly, "No one taught me, I learned it by myself."
Worried that Yuan Yunzhong might not believe her, she explained, "That year when my father was teaching my second sister how to use the abacus, she didn’t get it for half the day, but I got it just by listening on the side."
Then she recited the mnemonic, "Add one upon one, add two upon two... remove three with five below, remove two with five below... remove four, add one on six, remove five, add one on five... two plus one makes five... subtract one from six, return four..."
Yuan Yunzhong’s eyes brightened further.
He gently touched her head, saying, "Let me test you."
Song Jixue nodded eagerly, her expression saying, "Test me, test me quickly."
Yuan Yunzhong said, "Seven plus fifteen, what does it equal?"
Song Jixue didn’t even think, immediately responding, "Of course, it’s twenty-two!"
Yuan Yunzhong continued, "What about thirty-six plus forty-two?"
This time Song Jiyun answered even faster, "Seventy-eight!"
Yuan Yunzhong said, "One hundred fifty-three plus three hundred seventy-six?"
Song Jixue answered, "Five hundred twenty-nine."
"Five hundred sixty-nine minus two hundred ninety-seven?"
"Two hundred seventy-two."
...
Yuan Yunzhong kept adding more each time, and finally he pondered, "Twenty-four thousand three hundred fifty-four minus nine thousand six hundred eighty-five, plus nineteen thousand seven hundred eighty-three, minus twenty-six thousand three hundred forty-seven?"
This time Song Jixue thought for a moment, but it was just a moment, "Eight thousand one hundred and five."
Yuan Yunzhong fell silent for a short while.
Song Jixue said nervously, "Did I calculate it wrong?" Then she immediately denied, "No, it’s impossible that I made a mistake." She asked him, "Am I not calculating fast enough?" Then she complained indignantly, "That’s because you don’t have an abacus here. If you had an abacus, I could calculate even faster." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
"No!" Yuan Yunzhong smiled at her, and his dark pupils seemed to sparkle like stars as he said, "I was startled by Jixue! I have never seen a child calculate faster and more accurately than you."
"Of course!" Song Jixue became happy again and chattered, "In the past, when my father tested my older sister, it was often me who had the answer before my older sister did.
"Song Tianbao and Song Tiancong are even dumber. Once when we went to buy sweets, the large sugar figurines were five wen each, the small ones were three wen each, and three sugar sticks were one wen. We had one hundred wen money, and Song Tianbao wanted to buy large sugar figurines, and Song Tiancong wanted to buy small sugar figurines. I said we could buy twelve large sugar figurines, four small sugar figurines, and eighty-four sugar sticks, and including Song Tianhui, each of us could have three large sugar figurines, one small sugar figurine, and twenty-one sugar sticks. But they ignored me.
"Song Tianbao bought ten large sugar figurines, and Song Tiancong bought ten small sugar figurines, then they realized that there were two more large sugar figurines and two more small sugar figurines, and moreover, Song Tianbao had spent twenty more wen than Song Tiancong. Song Tiancong was not convinced, and they even started fighting!"
Yuan Yunzhong listened to her seriously and agreed, "They are both quite stupid."
"Right?" Song Jixue felt validated and became more enthusiastic, "Brother-in-law, let me also test you."
Before Yuan Yunzhong could say anything, she continued, "There is a certain number of things, when counted by threes, two remain; when counted by fives, three remain; when counted by sevens, two remain. How many things are there in total?"
Yuan Yunzhong gave a slight smile and said, "Twenty-three."
"Wow! Brother-in-law, you’re amazing!" exclaimed Song Jixue before posing another question to Yuan Yunzhong, "A hundred rabbits run into the camp, both men and women come to chase. They cannot catch them all one by one, only when three people catch four each, does the chase stop." She blinked at Yuan Yunzhong, "Brother-in-law, do you know how many people went to catch the rabbits?"
That cunning look resembled Song Jiyun by seven or eight parts.
Yuan Yunzhong couldn’t help but pinch her cheek, still chubby with traces of baby fat, and laughed, "Seventy-five people!"
"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law!" Song Jixue was so excited she didn’t know what to do.
Yuan Yunzhong asked her, "Does anyone else know how good you are at math?"
Song Jixue shook her head, her mood suddenly a little downcast, but she still defended her family, "My eldest sister is always busy, mother is pregnant with my little sister, and my second sister... she says that a girl who can understand account books and knows how much monthly allowance there is, and how much money has been spent each month is enough."
Most girls are like that.
But not Song Jiyun.
And of course, the sister of Song Jiyun could also be different.
Yuan Yunzhong comforted her, "Your second sister is wrong. Even if you are a girl, as long as you are skilled enough, like your eldest sister, you can do everything that boys can. Look at your eldest sister, doesn’t she manage the Song family’s affairs?"
"Mm-hmm-hmm!" Song Jixue’s eyes curved like crescent moons as she nodded vigorously and said, "My eldest sister is very impressive! But brother-in-law, you’re also very good."
Yuan Yunzhong was amused and thought for a moment before saying, "Do you want to continue learning mathematics? If you do, I can hire a tutor for you."
However, Song Jixue looked a bit perplexed and said, "But what will I do after learning? My second sister said that by learning needlework, one can make clothes, dress beautifully, and keep warm; by learning cooking, one can eat whatever they want and also cook for mother, my eldest sister, and me. What can I do with math?"
She tilted her head and asked Yuan Yunzhong, "Become an accountant? But our family already has an accountant. People outside won’t hire me. If I became our family’s accountant, wouldn’t that mean our current accountant has to be dismissed? We can’t hire an idle person, can we? Wouldn’t that mean we would have to pay an additional salary?"
Yuan Yunzhong burst into laughter and said, "Then you can help your elder sister manage the Kiln Factory!"
He made an analogy, "See, if you have some money, whether you lend it to others or deposit it in the Silver House, there is interest. But if you use the money to buy clay and stockpile it, until that clay turns into porcelain, it just sits there without earning a penny of interest.
"However, if you don’t stockpile the clay and buy only as much as you need, when you need it, you will buy less and the clay merchant will only sell it to you at the retail price, which is much more expensive than the wholesale price. The cost of clay per piece of porcelain will then be more expensive than other families’.
"So, you must calculate exactly how much clay you need, neither too much nor too little. This isn’t something that just anyone can calculate clearly."
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