Chapter 26: Arithmetic Answer
The surrounding crowd gasped in astonishment.
"That was way too fast!"
"Could this young man be a Divine Calculator?"
"The second question is clearly much harder than the first, yet he answered so quickly. Is the answer really two thousand thirty-three Silver Coins?"
The crowd was filled with astonishment, though they were also deeply skeptical. Ye Xing had answered far too quickly. Even the most skilled accountants would struggle to get the answer in such a short amount of time.
"That speed... If he’s right, then it’s just too..." The Bank Manager of the Jincai Money Shop wore an incredibly solemn expression. He quickly turned to the accountants at the various counters. "All of you, stop what you’re doing. Start working on this problem right now. Tell me the answer the second you have it."
Instantly, the entire money shop filled with the CLICK-CLACK, CLICK-CLACK of moving abacus beads. Every accountant was completely engrossed in their calculations.
The Bank Manager of the Jincai Money Shop stared intently at Ye Xing. Logic told him the young man was just spouting nonsense; arriving at the answer in such a short time was simply unreasonable. Yet, his intuition insisted that the young man’s answer was probably correct. After all, he had solved the first problem with the same impossible speed. Who was to say he couldn’t do it again with the second? Now, not a trace of his earlier contempt remained. His gaze was entirely serious.
’It’s fake. It must be. But if it’s real, then his arithmetic skill is terrifying. I must recruit him for my Jincai Money Shop, no matter the price.’ The Bank Manager of the Jincai Money Shop secretly made his decision. An exceptional accountant was crucial to a money shop. Every day, every month, they had to process enormous amounts of financial data. If an accountant was not up to par and made occasional errors in their tallies, it could lead to immeasurable losses for the shop. For this reason, the competition among the various money shops for talented accountants was fierce.
CLICK-CLACK! CLICK-CLACK!
CLACK! CLICK-CLACK!
Time trickled by. The crowd held its breath, eyes fixed on the accountants’ abacuses, waiting for them to announce the result.
CLICK-CLACK!
After a moment, the accountant at counter number four abruptly stopped his abacus. His expression was jubilant, his face flushed with excitement.
"I’ve got it! I’ve got it! Haha, I solved it!" the accountant exclaimed gleefully.
"What’s the answer?" the Bank Manager asked quickly.
All eyes in the crowd immediately snapped to the accountant at counter number four.
"Hehe, the answer isn’t two thousand thirty-three Silver Coins at all. The correct answer is three hundred fifty Silver Coins!" the accountant from counter number four said smugly, his handlebar mustache twitching. He clearly enjoyed being the center of attention. He even shot a provocative glance over at Ye Xing.
"So the real answer is three hundred fifty Silver Coins!"
"These two answers are so far apart. Which one is actually right?"
"I think the accountant at counter number four is right. This young man here is just too young, after all."
"That’s not necessarily true. I think this young fella..."
The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves, and a lively buzz filled the money shop.
"Our accountant at counter number four has calculated the answer to be three hundred fifty Silver Coins. Heh, what do you say to that, young man?" the Bank Manager asked, watching Ye Xing with a smile.
"Careless," Ye Xing said coolly.
The smile on the Bank Manager’s face froze. Seeing how calm and composed Ye Xing was, he began to feel a pang of uncertainty.
"Such arrogance! When I started as an accountant, you were still toddling around! How dare a young whelp like you accuse me of being careless!" the accountant from counter number four roared.
"That’s enough. Stop arguing. We’ll wait for the others to finish," the Bank Manager said sternly.
Instantly, everyone was on the edge of their seats, waiting for the results.
CLICK-CLACK! CLICK-CLACK!
Over a dozen accountants inside the money shop calculated furiously, their abacuses a constant CLACK-CLACK.
After a long while.
"Phew, I’ve finally got it! My answer is two thousand seventy-eight Silver Coins." The accountant from counter number three let out a long sigh, his expression a mixture of fatigue, joy, and accomplishment.
"Old Wu, you must have made a mistake! How could it be over two thousand Silver Coins? That number is ridiculous!" the handlebar-mustached accountant from counter four shrieked.
"What’s so ridiculous? The answer is two thousand seventy-eight Silver Coins," the accountant from counter three retorted, slightly peeved. "You say I’m wrong? Then what’s your answer?"
"My answer is three hundred fifty Silver Coins," the accountant from counter four stated proudly, his tone brimming with confidence.
"What? Three hundred fifty Silver Coins?" The accountant from counter number three was stunned for a moment, then suddenly thought of something and burst out laughing.
"Old Wu, what are you laughing at! What’s so funny?" the accountant from counter four demanded, thoroughly annoyed.
"Three hundred fifty Silver Coins, hahaha! I can’t believe you came up with that. Lao Qiu, you’re way too careless! Nine hundred sixteen Silver Coins plus seventeen Gold Coins, minus five hundred eighty-three Silver Coins—how could that possibly be three hundred fifty Silver Coins? The seventeen Gold Coins alone are worth one thousand seven hundred Silver Coins! Haha, Lao Qiu, you must have treated the seventeen Gold Coins as seventeen Silver Coins! Hahaha!"
"Er..." The accountant at counter four, Mr. Qiu, was stunned. His face instantly flushed beet red, and he looked as if he wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole.
The Bank Manager of the Jincai Money Shop looked deeply displeased. Careless mistakes were common enough in accounting—even the best of them slipped up now and then. But to have it happen in front of such a large crowd was terrible for the Jincai Money Shop’s image. In reality, the accountant from counter four had just been too nervous and too desperate to show off. The more one rushes, the more mistakes one makes.
The Jincai Money Shop fell strangely silent, the only sound being the CLICK-CLACK of abacus beads. Everyone was waiting for the other accountants to finish. With the answer of three hundred fifty debunked, two possibilities remained: Ye Xing’s two thousand thirty-three, and the counter three accountant’s two thousand seventy-eight. With every passing second, the crowd’s anticipation grew.
After another moment, the accountants at the numerous counters began to stop their calculations one after another, announcing the results they had worked so hard to obtain.
"Two thousand thirty-three Silver Coins!" announced the accountant from counter nine.
"Two thousand fifty-six Silver Coins!" from counter seven.
"Two thousand thirty-three Silver Coins!" from counter ten.
"Two thousand thirty-three Silver Coins!" from counter one.
"My answer is also two thousand thirty-three Silver Coins!" from counter six.
"Phew, finally got it. Two thousand thirty-three Silver Coins!" said the accountant from counter eight.
"Same here, two thousand thirty-three Silver Coins!" from counter five.
"I also got two thousand thirty-three Silver Coins!" said the accountant from counter eleven.
As the answers were announced one by one, the crowd erupted in an uproar.