Wanqingsi

Chapter 61
I took a fancy to a storefront.At the intersection of the most prosperous Dongmen Street and Beimen Street, there is a locked storefront, with a piece of red paper pasted on the door, which says "For Rent". I can see that the date on the paper has been pasted for several days. Why, why is such a good storefront not rented out?

Asked the shop owners in the neighbors, all of them looked disapproving, and sneered: "That shop is the ancestral property of the old Futou on the outskirts of the city, and that old guy loves to tease people. The nose came back with ashes, stomped my feet and swore that I would rather die than rent this shop and let it rot."

Huh?And this thing?Why don't you rent a good shop, but make things difficult for others?I was surprised and said: "How did he tease people?"

"That old guy likes to make strange things all day long. If it weren't for his ancestors' property, a guy like him who has nothing to do all day long would have starved to death on the street." The neighbors talked about the store. The owner shook his head.On the contrary, I became interested. This kind of weird person who is regarded as a different kind by most people must be very interesting. In addition, I am very satisfied with the location of this shop. I would like to meet this person.

After finding out where the old Futou lived, I took Xiaohong and brother Wei to the old Futou's house.This legendary strange old man lives in the outskirts of the city. It is said that he has no relatives and no reason, and only a boy and an old mother who do rough work serve at home.We hired sedan chairs, left the city, and walked a long way before arriving at a large mansion.The bearer told us that this is the residence of the old Futou. I asked the bearer to wait at the door and went straight up to knock on the door.

After a while, a handsome boy of about ten years old came to answer the door, looked us up and down, and then said crisply: "Who are you looking for?"

I smiled and said, "Little brother, we want to rent the shop in Cangdu City, can you tell your master for us."

"Rent shop?" The little boy gave us a half-smile look, "Do you know my master's rules?"

"Brother, please explain clearly." I smiled slightly, sure enough, the owner of this house is troublesome, and the kid is also difficult to deal with.

"My master is not short of money for renting a shop. If you can answer a few questions from my master, my master will definitely rent it to you." Xiao Tong looked at the show, and it seemed that there were already many people there before. The old Futou was devastated.

"Is this question brought up by the younger brother, or by your master himself?" I smiled, and I was also a little curious about the old man's question.

Seeing the smile on my face, Xiao Tong didn't want to gloat anymore, so he said crisply, "Answer me a question first."

"Brother, please tell me." I smiled.

"Answer me first, is the place we're standing on round or square?" The little boy's eyes flickered with suspicion.

I was startled, what does this mean?The earth is round, and everyone on this earth knows it, but can such a thing be said in this time, space, and dynasty?Seeing me stunned, the little boy had a smug smile on his lips: "Can't you answer? If you can't answer, please answer." As he said that, he was about to close the door.

"Wait a minute." I stopped him, ignored him, and told the truth, "This place is neither round nor square, but spherical."

The boy stopped closing the door and asked in surprise, "Why do you say it's spherical?"

"Is this the second question?" I laughed.

The little boy was startled, and said: "Wait a minute, I'll go ask my master."

He closed the door, opened it again after a while, tilted his head and said, "Tell me, why is this place spherical?"

I really can't answer this, I just vaguely remember that the earth is round, which seems to be related to gravity, but I don't know how to explain it to this person.After thinking about it for a long time, he said, "If you don't believe me, you can do an experiment. Take a boat from a port and sail in one direction, and the boat will definitely return to the place you started from."

I avoided terms such as continents and voyages, and replaced them with words that would not be difficult to understand. I wondered if he would be satisfied with such a speculative answer. The boy glanced at me with questioning eyes, closed the door, and after a while , the door opened again, the little boy came out and said with a smile: "My master invites you in."

Entering the house, I saw all kinds of weird things piled up in a mess, such as huge kites, wooden horse-drawn carriages, models of sailing ships, wooden men with brooms and mops... the boy took us to Walking in the inner courtyard, I saw strange things along the way, and my heart suddenly dawned on me. This old man is probably an inventor who is keen on researching new things.Ancient Chinese literati looked down on laborers, they only talk about it, and they don’t like to put theoretical things into practice. I don’t know if this is also the case in this time and space. The behavior of the old man is not understood by most people.So he lives in a corner, doesn't like to be in contact with people, but longs for a bosom friend, so he has many questions for those who come to ask for rent, and his questions that are too bizarre in the eyes of ordinary people will naturally be regarded as malicious troubles.

Entering the back room, I saw an old man with a red nose wearing a soft hat and a rough cloth coat sitting at the table, playing with the three little golden men on the table, and another tall man dressed in Yaoyue Kingdom costume also Sit around the table.The room is also filled with all kinds of wooden products, some of which can't be seen at all. Here, I accidentally saw a glass bottle, and I was surprised. Could it be that this old man made it?
When the old man saw us coming in, he narrowed his eyes and looked at us, then turned his gaze to me, and said with a smile: "You little girl said the earth is spherical?"

"It's me." I smiled and saluted: "I made the old man laugh."

"How do you know that if you sail in one direction, you will return to the original place?" The old man narrowed his eyes.I don't know what else he wants to ask, I thought about it, and said with a smile: "When the little girl was young, I heard it from merchants in my hometown who went to sea to do business, but the little girl hasn't tried it herself, so I don't know if it's true or not."

"So I heard it from someone." The man in Yaoyue Kingdom's costume laughed, with a rather disapproving tone.The man should be very young, but he has a big beard, so messy that he can't even see his face clearly.I don't know who he is, so I can't open my mouth casually, I just looked at the old man and said: "Then, did I answer this question correctly or incorrectly?"

The old Futou smiled and waved to me: "Little girl, come here?"

I walked over, and the old Futou pointed to the three little golden figures on the table, and said with a smile, "Tell me, which of these bronze figures is the most valuable?"

I looked at the three little golden figures on the table. They were made exactly the same, exquisite and lovely. I picked up the three golden figures, which were heavy and not light in weight. The weight of the golden man must be the same."

"You're quite smart, little girl." Old Futou nodded with a smile, and glanced at the man dressed in Yaoyue Kingdom, "This is a tribute that Chibei asked me to make for the royal family of Yaoyue Kingdom. The weight and shape are exactly the same. of."

Red?Is this the name of the man from Yaoyue Kingdom?To be able to offer tribute to the royal family of Yaoyue Kingdom, is this person also a businessman?Or a member of the court of Yaoyue Kingdom?I didn't have time to think too much, so I held the three little golden figures in my hand and observed carefully, and found that the three little golden figures were really made very realistically. Inside, I saw the little golden man's ears and eyes, and I had an idea in my mind, and said with a smile: "Old man, can you find me three straws?"

Old Futou's handsome boy found three pieces of dog's tail grass, I pulled out the leaves, picked up a little golden man, and put the thin straw through the golden man's ear, and the straw came out from the other ear of the golden man.I was overjoyed, as expected.Pick up the second little golden man, and put it through the ears, but the straw came out from the mouth. For the third little golden man, after the straw went in, it fell directly into the stomach, without any sound.I had an idea in my mind, put down the golden man, and said with a smile, "This third little golden man is the most valuable."

"Why?" The man from Yaoyue Kingdom was puzzled when he saw me choose this little golden man after a series of actions.The old Futou twirled his beard and looked at me with a smile, and said with a smile: "Little girl, explain to him."

I smiled and said: "The most valuable person is not necessarily the one who can speak the most. God gave us two ears and one mouth. It was originally for us to listen more and talk less. The first little golden man is left behind when he hears everything." The ear goes in and the right ear goes out; the second little golden man can't hold back what he hears, and everything leaks out of his mouth; the third little golden man is good at listening, which is the most basic quality of a mature person." I Seeing the sudden realization on the face of the man from Yaoyue Kingdom, he thought for a while and then sighed, "However, the three statuettes must be together in order to show their respective value, and neither one of them will work apart. In my opinion , The warning significance brought by these three villains is the same, and there is no difference in value."

"Well said." The man from Yaoyue Kingdom stood up and clapped his hands together, "Young lady is really smart. I held this golden man in my hand for several days, but I couldn't figure out what kind of mystery it is. The young lady's words today made Chi Get ready."

The old Futou also had a happy expression on his face, and said with a smile: "Where did you come from, you girl, you even guessed why I bothered to be these three little golden men."

I took the opportunity to tell the purpose of this trip: "The little girl's name is Ye Haihua. She comes from the capital and plans to start a small business in Cangdu. No, she just wants to rent a shop from you. Rent that shop to me?"

"You've only answered two of my questions, and there's only one more left." The old man smiled and narrowed his eyes, "If you answer my question correctly, my little old man can lend you the shop directly without paying rent."

I was overjoyed, such a good shop does not pay rent, where can I find such a good thing?I was still thinking about it, but I heard the old Futou say to the man from Yaoyue Kingdom: "Chibei, tell me about your topic and let the little girl think about it."

Chi Bei smiled and said, "I didn't ask this question, it was a question asked by our Prince Wu Lei, and no one in the court could answer it, so Chi Bei took the opportunity of preparing the tribute to ask Mr. Fu for advice."

I smiled and said, "The old man must have answered it."

The old Futou shook his head and said: "This topic is quite tricky. The little old man has been thinking about it for several days, but he still hasn't figured it out."

"Oh?" I didn't know what the topic was again, so I sighed, I had nothing to do with asking for help, so I had to listen to his question, and I said to Chi Bei, "Please tell me, Mr. Chi Bei, the little girl will do her best." .”

Chibei looked at me and said the topic: "There are three big tigers, A, B, and C, who are carrying three small tigers, A, B, and C, across the river. There is only one boat on the river, and it can only carry two tigers at a time, regardless of size. Ask How are they going to cross the river safely?" Chi Bei's eyes flashed, and he said with a smile: "One thing to pay attention to is that the three cubs cannot stay alone with a big tiger other than their mother, otherwise they will be killed by other big tigers. The tiger eats it. Miss Ye has a way to answer it?"

This kind of problem is a bit similar to the puzzle problem that my father asked me to solve when I was a child, that is, a person leads a sheep, a wolf and a vegetable across the river, but obviously, the problem of Chi Bei is more complicated.After thinking for a while, I raised my eyes and smiled, "I have a solution."

"Oh?" Both of them became interested, and I smiled and said to the little boy of the old man, "Can you help me with my pen and ink?"

Chi Bei said: "Miss, do you want to use pen and paper to answer?"

I shook my head and said with a smile, "When drawing on paper, the more you draw, the more confused you become. It's better to use an intuitive method." I lowered my head, took out six copper coins from my purse, took the pen and ink from the boy, Write A, B, and C in large characters and A, B, and C in small characters on the copper plate.

I smiled and pointed to the six copper plates spread out on the table and said: "These three copper plates with large characters represent the three big tigers A, B, and C, and the three small characters represent the three small tigers A, B, and C." The two little tigers A and B pushed out and said: "First, the two little tigers A and B cross the river first."

Then push Xiao B back, and then push out with Xiao C, saying: "Then come back at random, and take C's little tiger across the river." Then push Xiao B back, saying: "Come back at random, since it is When the little tiger C comes back, let the big tiger A and B go over." He said, pushing big Jia and big B to the opposite bank.At this time, the copper coins on the table turned into four tigers, big and small, A and B, on the other side of the river, and two tigers, big and small C, on this side.

The old man looked at the situation on the table, and said with a smile: "We have figured out the first few steps, but we can't solve it when we get here. No matter which tiger comes back from the other side of the river, it will be alone. The little tiger was eaten. This question froze here."

"Why do you want one back?" I smiled. The key to solving this problem lies in this step. As the old Futou said, no matter which of the four tigers on the other side of the river returns, there will be only one cub. Being eaten by other big tigers, I pushed Dajia and Xiaojia back from the other side of the river, and said with a smile: "In the past, I could carry two tigers, and of course I can carry two when I come back."

Old Futou's eyes lit up, and he stood up excitedly: "Little girl, you are really smart."

"Is it already untied?" I smiled, and pushed Da Jia and Da C over, "A and C, two big tigers, go over. B, the little tiger, come over, and take one of them across the river." I pushed Xiao Jia He and Little B pushed it over, and then pushed Big C back, "Big Tiger B will come back, and take C Little Tiger away, and all six tigers will cross the river safely, and none will be missing."

Chi Bei stared wide-eyed at me as I finished solving this problem, stood up and saluted, "I didn't expect that my Yaoyue Kingdom, both civil and military, would be no match for the girl."

"Don't dare to take it." I quickly stood up and returned the salute, "Mr. Chibei's words are too much, the little girl is just playing smart." As I said, I turned to look at the old Futou: "Old man, the matter of renting a shop ..."

"You girl, you always think about that shop. Come on, I, Old Futou, will lend you that shop for as long as you want." The old Futou said proudly.I hurriedly bowed and said, "The little girl doesn't dare to take advantage of the old man, you just need to pay the little girl a cheaper rent."

"If you don't accept it, you won't accept it." Old Futou showed a calculating expression on his face, and his smile was a little treacherous, "You came from the capital, where do you live now?"

"I'm temporarily staying at the inn." I raised my eyebrows, noticing the expression on the old man's face, I'm afraid it's not that simple.The old Futou said with a smile: "I can't stay in the inn all the time, can I? There are still some vacant rooms in my big house. You can move in here. I won't charge you rent, how about it?"

"This..." I hesitated for a moment. I was originally planning to find a house as soon as I found a shop, but now that I got such a good thing so easily, I couldn't help but feel a little nervous.Seeing that I was hesitant, the old Futou said with a "hehe" smile, "You little girl is very funny and smart, I won't hide it from you, you live here, as long as you can answer my questions like today That's it."

I couldn't help laughing, this old man, is he so bored that he can find someone to play with him?I smiled wryly and said, "You always think that I know everything, that I can solve any problem?"

The old Futou smiled and said: "That's okay, I finally found such a smart little girl, naturally I want to keep you for fun, and when you move in, I will lend you my shop for free, how about it?" ?”

How else?No matter how you look at this condition, I took advantage of it.Seeing that this old man is a good person, this house is in good condition, and that shop... I stopped thinking about it, smiled and saluted the old man, and said with a smile: "Since the old man is so kind, my little brother Women are disrespectful."

——2006, September, 10
(End of this chapter)