“How is it possible that I got all of the answers wrong? You must be saying that in order to win the bet! There’s no other reason for that!” Yang Wei glared at Zu An angrily. He was confident that he should have gotten at least ten questions correct. He could never accept that he had actually gotten everything wrong.

“Indeed! How could Teacher Yang possibly get everything wrong? He’s our academy’s arithmetic teacher!”

“Zu An is going too far, lying just to win the bet. It only shows how despicable he is as a person!”

… 

Zu An didn’t lose his temper despite all of the criticisms directed at him. Instead, he raised the paper Yang Wei had just completed up high and said, “Very well, let me enlighten you on your mistakes then. Look at the first question. The right answer is 2 and 2, and yet you wrote 10 and 15. You must have just made a random guess, hoping that you’d somehow get it right.”

Yang Wei’s face heated up in embarrassment. It was true that he had guessed two random numbers. He’d simply gotten more and more confused as he thought about the problem, and eventually gave up. However, there was no way he was going to admit to it. “Your question is simply illogical. Given these conditions, how can anyone possibly deduce the answer?”

“Oh, is that so?” Zu An shook his head disdainfully. 

“Since you don’t understand it, allow me to enlighten you. Person A knows the sum of the numbers, but he doesn’t know what the two numbers are. If the sum of the numbers is either 2 or 3, he would immediately know that the two numbers are (1, 1) and (1, 2) respectively. Similarly, if the sum of the number is either 40 or 39, he would know that the numbers are (20, 20) and (20, 19) respectively. Therefore, the possibilities for the sum of both numbers is narrowed down to be between 4 and 38.

“Let’s take 4 as an example. If 4 is the addition of both numbers, the two numbers could possibly be (1, 3) or (2, 2), so A is unable to determine which is correct.

“Now, let’s look from Person B’s perspective. If the number B got was a prime number, namely 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, so on and so forth, he would be able to deduce right away that the numbers are 1 and the number itself. Those are the only two factors after all. Since he was unable to deduce what the number was right away, we can eliminate all prime numbers.

“Back to A’s perspective, assuming that the sum of the numbers is 4, and the product of the numbers isn’t 3—which is likely, since B would immediately know the answer if it were—it only leaves the combination of (2, 2) that fulfills the criteria.

“There are other combinations of two numbers that sum up to more than 4, such that A is unable to deduce what the two numbers are, and B is unable to follow up with a corresponding deduction too.”

After his lengthy explanation, Zu An shook his head and sighed deeply. “See, as long as you had the right direction in mind, you would have gotten the answer on your first try. Isn’t it simple? That’s why I chose to put this question first. Who knew you couldn’t even solve such a simple question? Haaa~”

The spectating students began gossiping amongst themselves.

“Hmmm, the logic is pretty simple now that he has explained it.”

“Tsk, why weren’t you able to solve it then?”

“I just wasn’t able to think of it on the spot! I mean, even Teacher Yang couldn’t get it right either!”

… 

Yang Wei’s face reddened at the damning comments from the spectating students. “Fine, let’s take it that I answered this question wrongly out of carelessness. What about the next question, then? Isn’t the probability the same no matter which door is chosen? There’s no way I could be wrong about that!”

That was the question that he was the most confident about.

The crowd murmured in agreement. “Indeed, the probability should be the same no matter which door is chosen. Whether he chooses to switch to another door or not shouldn’t make a difference.”

Yang Wei’s words were in line with common sense.

However, Zu An sighed deeply and remarked, “It’s one thing for the students to get this question wrong, but how could an arithmetic teacher like you make the same mistake too? This sure is… Hai…”

His condescending attitude so angered Yang Wei that he was on the verge of exploding. “Why don’t you put away that mysterious act of yours and point out what’s wrong with my logic?”

You have successfully trolled Yang Wei for 472 Rage points!

Zu An finally got around to his explanation. “No matter which door you select, the chances of selecting the treasure is one-third. In other words, the total probability of the treasure being in the two remaining doors is two-thirds. If I open one of the two doors to show an empty room, wouldn’t the probability of the treasure being behind the only remaining unchosen door be two-thirds? Given that, you should definitely change your choice of door since the chances of getting the treasure are higher!”

“Rubbish!” said Yang Wei. “The probability of each door having the treasure behind it is independent. It should all be one-third. How could one of them suddenly become two-thirds?”

Zu An shook his head in response. “I fully expected that someone of your IQ wouldn’t be able to understand such complicated logic. Well, let me phrase it in a much easier way for you. Assuming that there are 10,000 doors before you, and only one of them has a treasure behind it. If you choose any of the 10,000 doors, your chances of getting the treasure is only 1-in-10,000, right? With such probability, it’s almost impossible for you to get it right. It’s almost certain that the treasure is in the remaining 9,999 doors.

“So, if I open 9,998 of the remaining 9,999 doors and show that they are all empty, and I offer you the same choice, will you be willing to switch to the other remaining door?”

“Of course I would switch!” replied Yang Wei without much thought. However, right after he responded, his mood darkened. Could I really be wrong about that?

Zu An nodded in satisfaction. “As expected of an arithmetic teacher! You surely got it quickly enough. It looks like you aren’t beyond salvaging yet.”

Steam almost began rising from the top of Yang Wei’s head. It sounds like this fellow’s praising me, but why do his words sound so jarring?

You have successfully trolled Yang Wei for 333 Rage points!

Zu An continued deconstructing his problems. “Moving on to the next question about the pirates. The optimal distribution of ki stones for Pirate A is either (97, 0, 1, 2, 0) or (97, 0, 1, 0, 2). Look at your own answer. Is it right?”

Yang Wei angrily refuted Zu An’s answer. “Nonsense! Pirate A would practically be taking all of it for his own. How could the other pirates possibly agree to it?!”

“I told you that these pirates are smart people who are able to rationally weigh their gains and losses and make the best decision. If we were to put you in their place, I reckon that you would be dead by now!” replied Zu An with a shake of his head.

He launched into the explanation without preamble. “Let’s work backwards through this question, starting from Pirate E. He’s the safest one of them all since he’s in no threat of being thrown into the sea. Thus, his strategy is the simplest. As long as everyone ahead of him dies, he’ll be able to monopolize all 100 ki stones.

“As for Pirate D, whether he survives or not depends on whether there are any survivors in front of him. If it ever comes down to a situation when only he and Pirate E is left, Pirate E is bound to oppose his distribution no matter what and feed him to the sharks. That will let Pirate E monopolize all of the ki stones. Thus, Pirate D is inclined to support Pirate C for his own survival.

“As for Pirate C, based on the logic of Pirate D, he would surely propose (100, 0, 0) since he knows that Pirate D would surely support him unconditionally in order to avoid getting killed by Pirate E. With his own and Pirate D’s vote, he would be able to get majority support for his proposal and monopolize all 100 ki stones safely.

“However, Pirate B, as a perfectly logical thinker, is aware of Pirate C’s distribution plan. What he would do is to propose a distribution of (98, 0, 1, 1). Pirate D and Pirate E would be inclined to support him since they would be able to receive 1 ki stone, which is more beneficial to them as compared to Pirate C’s distribution plan. With that, he would be able to get the majority and hoard 98 ki stones for himself.

“Unfortunately, Pirate A is also no pushover. After analyzing everyone’s strategy, he is aware of the scheme Pirate B is cooking up. So, he chooses to give up on Pirate B, who is likely to vote against him regardless of what he offers, and proposes a distribution of (97, 0, 1, 2, 0) or (97, 0, 1, 0, 2). With this proposal, Pirate C and either one of Pirate D or Pirate E would be able to receive more than what they would earn in Pirate B’s distribution. Since that’s the case, they would support Pirate A, thus allowing Pirate A to secure three votes and claim a majority. With this, he easily secures 97 ki stones for himself.”

Everyone gasped in astonishment. “Aren’t those pirates way too smart?”

“How frightening it would be if the pirates in real life were that smart too!”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a hypothetical situation. Anyone who is that smart won’t have to resort to piracy!”

“I guess so…”

… 

Yang Wei’s eyes stared blankly. He was dazed on his feet, unable to hear anything at all.

Zu An was displeased with his reaction. Hey, hey, hey, can you not succumb so easily? You haven’t provided me with enough Rage points yet! 

To his dismay, even as he shot Yang Wei’s answers down one by one and explained the remaining questions, the latter only provided him with a few hundred Rage points. It seemed the arithmetic teacher had already suffered a mental breakdown. 

“My gosh, he really didn’t get a single question right! Isn’t Teacher Yang a little too incompetent?”

“He always sticks his nose up high as if he’s a big deal. Yet, it turns out that he’s all talk!”

“Tsk, why does our academy have someone like him as a teacher? Won’t he mislead the students at this rate?”

… 

The criticisms of the surrounding students were like knives stabbing into Yang Wei’s heart, and something in him finally broke. He let out a frenzied roar and rushed out of the classroom with his hands covering his ears. He kept going at full pelt, ignoring all the shouts directed at him. He was desperate to get out of this darned place as soon as possible.

It was all too humiliating! He thought that he could easily trample all over Zu An, but who knew he would end up being the one trampled on instead? After this incident, there was no way he would dare to show his face in Brightmoon Academy anymore.

For a teacher to be unable to answer any of the questions posed by his students—he would definitely become a laughingstock not just in Brightmoon City but in the surrounding municipalities too!

Wei Suo rushed forward to massage Zu An’s shoulders. “Boss, you’re incredible!”

The other students also crowded around to offer him tea and snacks. With such arithmetic prowess, he would have a bright future ahead of him even if he was completely inept as a cultivator. It was only prudent to curry favor with him right now.

Chu Huanzhao tried to squeeze through to talk to her brother-in-law, but a huge wall of students had crowded in, blocking her way and shutting her out. Frustrated, she stomped away in a huff. “Bootlickers!”

Ji Xiaoxi’s face was also red, her cheeks flushed in excitement at the impressive feat that she had just witnessed. At the same time, though, she was worried for Zu An. Won’t he be in trouble for offending a teacher of the academy like this?

Pei Mianman’s lips curled upward suggestively, leaving the men around her swooning. “It seems making a deal with that fellow wasn’t so bad after all. It looks like I might just be able to get something from him.”

Not too far away, Zheng Dan, who had been studying the reactions of these women, could barely conceal her shock. She thought that the rumors of Zu An’s relationships with them were just hearsay. After all, how could Zu An possibly charm all of these outstanding women?

A deep and powerful bellow cut through the ruckus. “What are all of you doing here instead of attending classes? Are you trying to rebel against the academy?”

The voice sent instinctive shudders down many a spine. All of them had, at some point, suffered trauma from their experiences with the owner of this voice.

A middle-aged man rocking a bald spot on his head stormed towards the gathered crowd, ruler in hand. Who else could it be other than discipline master Lu De?

The crowd automatically parted to open up a path for him. At the very center of the commotion, he saw Zu An seated grandly on a chair, being served by his fellow students. Deep furrows appeared on his forehead as his eyebrows knit together in dismay.

However, when he caught sight of Shang Liuyu, his frown immediately smoothened out. “Ah, Teacher Shang is here too! What in the world happened here? I saw Yang Wei rushing off with his head lowered almost to the floor. I called out to him, but he didn’t respond.”

“He probably feels embarrassed,” replied Shang Liuyu with a faint smile. She quickly explained the events that had transpired earlier. Her smooth voice sent tingles through the heart, and it was a pleasure just to hear her speak.

“You again?” Lu De glared at Zu An. The gentle look that he had favored Shang Liuyu with was gone, replaced by a severe expression.