Chapter 23 - Why Don't We Get Married Together

Chapter 23 Why Don’t We Get Married Together

Lu Shuxue’s heart calmed down a little when she heard this. However, when she saw the worried Chen Zhiyuan, she paused for a moment before asking, “Constable Chen, did you take on the task of suppressing the bandits?”

“That’s right. Miss Lu, how did you find out?”

Chen Zhiyuan was greatly surprised when he heard this. Ever since he returned, he had never mentioned that he was going to suppress the bandits. He didn’t want Zhu’er and the others to be worried. But Miss Lu was actually so smart to have guessed it.

“Constable Chen, you were frowning after you finished talking about exterminating the bandits. There must be some thorny problem that made you feel so troubled, so it must be the bandits of Black Wind Mountain. Since they dared to go down the mountain to rob in broad daylight, there must be a lot of them.”

Lu Shuxue explained with some fear in her heart. After all, the incident of encountering the bandits on the road yesterday made her fearful when she thought about it now. If she hadn’t met Constable Chen, she wouldn’t have dared to imagine the result of being robbed by the bandits.

“I see…”

Chen Zhiyuan’s face turned red. He wasn’t thinking about suppressing the bandits just now… It turned out that Miss Lu had misunderstood. But now, he couldn’t admit it even if he was beaten to death.

“Constable Chen, when it comes to suppressing the bandits, Qiu Shui might really be able to help you. This girl is smart and nimble. Although I taught her to read and write in the Xu family’s rear residence, when it comes to arithmetic, even I am inferior. If Constable Chen is worried about outsiders, you can ask Qiu Shui to help.”

Lu Shuxue became serious. She pointed at Wu Qiushui and said to Chen Zhiyuan.

“In the Xu family’s rear residence, apart from a few times when Xu Qingfeng snatched me, it’s rare for him to visit again. I learned to read from Sister Lu, and I also learned arithmetic. Sister Lu said that I’m a genius in mental arithmetic, but I don’t know…”

Hearing Lu Shuxue praising her so much, the carefree Wu Qiushui actually became shy. She rubbed the corner of her clothes. She looked at Lu Shuxue, then looked at Chen Zhiyuan, and said in a low voice.

This girl actually had this kind of ability?

Chen Zhiyuan couldn’t help but take another look at Wu Qiushui. She looked carefree, but she was actually a genius in arithmetic. His heart moved slightly, he said, “Miss Wu. Since Miss Lu said that you’re particularly good at arithmetic, I have two questions here. Can you help me calculate?”

“Constable Chen, speak!”

Hearing that Chen Zhiyuan wanted to test her, Wu Qiushui raised her head proudly. She was absolutely confident in this aspect.

“Today, there’s a cage of chickens and rabbits. There are 88 heads and 244 feet. How many chickens and rabbits are there?”

Chen Zhiyuan spoke slowly. This question came from The Mathematical Classic of Sun Zi. It was a classic question of arithmetic in later generations. However, after he changed the numbers to hundreds, the difficulty was undoubtedly much higher than before.

Wu Qiushui moved her fingers and chanted for a while. Then, she reported the answer, “54 chickens, 34 rabbits. Constable Chen, is it right or not?”

At the side, Lu Shuxue’s gaze kept rotating between the two of them. Her expression was solemn. This kind of arithmetic question sounded more troublesome than usual. Constable Chen really wanted to test Qiu Shui. She didn’t know if Qiu Shui’s answer was right or not.

“That’s right! That’s exactly right!”

Chen Zhiyuan smiled. This girl really had some talent. This kind of question might not sound difficult in the future, but in this era, there weren’t many people who studied this. Could it be that he had even gotten a young, talented mathematician?

“That’s great!”

Lu Shuxue heaved a sigh of relief, and Wu Qiushui jumped up in excitement. “Sister Lu, I’ve answered it!”

“Miss Wu, I have one more question. If you can answer it before I put down all ten fingers, you can eat as much as you want for today.”

Chen Zhiyuan continued with a smile.

“Ah? Also, Qiu Shui…”

Lu Shuxue immediately looked at Wu Qiushui. From Constable Chen’s posture, it was obvious that the question would be more difficult than the previous one.

“Eat as much as I want? Constable Chen, quickly say it!”

When Wu Qiushui heard that she can eat as much as she want for today, her eyes lit up. She looked like a foodie.

“This question is difficult as well as simple. From number one to hundred, add all the numbers together and just tell me the final answer. I’ll start the countdown now.”

Chen Zhiyuan put both hands on the table. He put down one finger in about five seconds.

Wu Qiushui immediately frowned and started to calculate with her fingers. Lu Shuxue’s expression became nervous again.

When Li Zhu’er came out from the kitchen with a bowl and saw the expressions of the people in the living room, she looked at her husband with slight resentment. She leaned against the kitchen door and did not go over, afraid that she would disturb Wu Qiushui, who was calculating.

When Chen Zhiyuan put down seven fingers, he began counting down. “Miss Wu, there’s not much time left. Three –“

“Don’t rush, don’t rush, I’m figuring out, I’m figuring out…”

Wu Qiushui’s brows were tightly knitted, and her fingers moved even faster.

“Two!”

“Five thousand… Five thousand and fifty!”

Wu Qiushui almost roared out. Her eyes were fixed on Chen Zhiyuan, and her eyes were full of nervousness and excitement.

The other two girls also looked at Chen Zhiyuan as if they were experiencing the same thing.

“Hum…”

Chen Zhiyuan deliberately dragged out his voice and finally laughed, “That’s right! Miss Wu is indeed a genius!”

“That’s great!”

The two girls jumped up and hugged each other excitedly.

“Sister Wu, since you answered correctly, come over quickly and continue eating.”

Li Zhu’er also walked over from the kitchen with a smile. She brought a bowl full of beef stew with potatoes and placed it in front of Wu Qiushui. She looked at Chen Zhiyuan and said,

“This is a good thing, Hubby. Since you’ve accepted the task of suppressing the bandits, you can’t be careless. If there’s a mistake in the military horses, money, and grain accounts, and that county magistrate comes looking for trouble with you afterward, you’ll have no place to say anything. I’ll decide and let these two sisters stay. It doesn’t matter how long they want to stay.”

Chen Zhiyuan smiled without saying anything and nodded in agreement.

Since Wu Qiushui had passed the test and Zhu’er had said so, he naturally didn’t have an excuse to refuse.

If he kept this girl who was talented in mathematics and taught her Arabic numerology in the future, perhaps he could really train a mathematician.

Hmm…

Just thinking about it was exciting!

Late at night.

It was late at night, and Chen Zhiyuan was tossing and turning on the bed. Finally, he couldn’t help but turn over and place his palms on Li Zhu’er.

“H-Hubby… What are you doing… Miss Lu and Miss Wu are still sleeping outside… Put them away…”

Li Zhu’er shuddered. She sensed her husband’s hot breath and immediately knew what her husband was trying to do. But when she remembered that someone else was sleeping outside, she was so embarrassed that she whispered in a panic.

“Zhu’er, you’re the one who let them stay. I didn’t say anything. Now that I can’t hold it in anymore, you have to take responsibility, right…”

Chen Zhiyuan didn’t put down his hand. He was even more agitated.

“Hubby… No, I can’t become a laughing stock in front of the two sisters… Don’t you still have the job of exterminating bandits…”

“Those two girls have been through it before. What laughing stock? Exterminating bandits is something that happens during the day. The emperor doesn’t lack hungry soldiers. He has to let me rest at night. Zhu’er, if you’re too shy, let’s just be quiet.”

“Aiya, Hubby, don’t… Hubby, be gentle…”

The commotion from the inner room eventually reached the ears of the two ladies who were still sleeping outside.

Lu Shuxue and Wu Qiushui were originally sleeping on opposite ends of the room, but the commotion in the inner room was getting louder and louder. The two of them could not help but blush.

Wu Qiushui crawled to Lu Shuxue’s side and hugged her. She whispered, “Sister Lu, are you asleep?”

“Yes…”

Lu Shuxue wanted to push Wu Qiushui away, but she was afraid of disturbing the people inside, so she had to respond with a voice that could only be heard by a mosquito.

“Sister Lu, I think Constable Chen and Sister Li are good people. Why don’t we stay here…”

Wu Qiushui blinked her eyes, flipped Lu Shuxue over, and said to her.

“Bah! You shameless girl! Sister Li only agreed to let us stay here, not to let you steal her husband. We need to have a sense of honor!”

Lu Shuxue spat and looked out of the window. “Besides, I haven’t contacted my parents for a long time. I don’t know how the two of them are doing now. How can I indulge in the days ahead…”

“Sister Lu, don’t worry. Uncle and Auntie will be fine.”

Wu Qiushui fell silent when she heard that. It had been a long time since she heard the news of her parent’s death after she was snatched into the Xu Residence. She had already cried until her eyes were dry. Fortunately, Sister Lu treated her very well in the residence, and that was why she made up her mind to follow Sister Lu back home.

“I hope so…”

Lu Shuxue sighed for a long time, and then she looked at Wu Qiushui seriously. “Qiu Shui, I thought about it carefully just now. Your idea might be right. It’s a good choice for you to stay. Both Constable Chen and Sister Li are good people. You won’t be bullied if you stay. Sister Li should be able to accept you.”

“Right!”

Wu Qiushui was about to rejoice when she suddenly realized something was wrong, and she quickly asked,

“Wait… Sister Lu, if you want me to stay, what about you?”

“I’m no doubt going back to my parents, and maybe I’ll remarry… I don’t know what the new husband will be like, and I can’t take you to suffer with me.”

Lu Shuxue caressed Wu Qiushui’s hair and laughed at herself.

“No, no! I want to be with Sister Lu. It would be great if we could marry Constable Chen together…”

Wu Qiushui hugged Lu Shuxue tightly and closed her eyes.

“Silly girl, how can there be so many good things in this world…”

Lu Shuxue looked at the silly girl in front of her and couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t know how much time had passed before she fell into a deep sleep.

They woke up on the second day.

Chen Zhiyuan felt refreshed. He looked at Zhu’er, who was still sleeping soundly beside him. He gently covered her with a blanket and carefully got out of bed.

He came to the door.

The two women were already cleaning the courtyard.

“Miss Lu, Miss Wu, good morning!”

“Constable Chen, good morning. We cooked some porridge. Would you like to try it with Sister Li?”

Lu Shuxue quickly returned the greeting.

“Speaking of which, I’m actually a little hungry. I’ll go and try it first. Zhu’er is still sleeping soundly. She can drink it when she wakes up. You don’t have to wait for her. She’s not someone who cares about this.”

Chen Zhiyuan turned around and walked back to the kitchen. He heard a surprised voice behind him.

“Wow! How could Sister Li be more tired than Constable Chen!”

The courtyard was dead silent.

Chen Zhiyuan rubbed his nose and rushed to the kitchen without looking back.

It was too awkward!

Even after breakfast, he didn’t see the two sisters. He didn’t know where they had gone to hide. He knew that it was Lu Shuxue who did it, so he didn’t care. He walked straight to a quiet place outside the village and opened the system space.

“Ding! Congratulations to the host for signing in successfully!”

“Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining (One Ferghana Horse), and [One Hundred Excellent Warhorses].”