abcnovels
Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Being enviable is not exclusive to the heroine Part I
At dawn of the next day, Bai Hua and her two maids set off for the ancestral temple, carrying hemostatic herbs that were given to her by Bai Yu’s maid. For the heroine, she must be seething over being given a medicine that would not work on her bruised back, thinking that she was mocked again by Bai Yu.
Though in truth, Bai Yu was not intending to mock her. Instead, she wanted to help the female lead to quickly recover, so that she could ‘bond’ with the male lead without a hitch.
Within that one month, Bai Yu could only hope that the two leads would hurry up and fall in love, then marry each other and move out to some other place out of her sight.
She could hardly endure having to look at the face that resembled the wretched woman who destroyed her former life.
If the story went according to the script, those two would fall in love, marry, and move away without involving her. And this new Bai Yu would get away from being killed by the protagonist pair.
But one thing remained for Bai Yu to prove was...
Was this Bai Hua a transmigrator like her?
.....
“Xiao Xi”
“Yes, miss.”
“Do you think third sister is acting strange lately?”
Bai Yu asked her personal maid about Bai Hua’s old personality, trying not to be suspicious with her question. It went smoothly, as Xiao Xi continued chattering away while massaging her hands.
“So, to sum it up, the third miss has changed a lot. Since that day at the palace, the miss who used to be so frail, shy, and cowardly is now outspoken. She doesn’t avoid anyone’s eyes, not even the first Furen or first miss.”
Now it was confirmed that this Bai Hua had vastly changed from before. Still, the personality change could not prove that Bai Hua was transmigrated here like her.
“Xiao Xi”
“Yes, miss.” The little maid responded enthusiastically.
Bai Yu was amused by her cute response. Xiao Xi was the same age as her, yet she still had the habit of a child. With her cute face and big eyes, she reminded Bai Yu of a small puppy.
“Have you ever heard of this?”
“What is it, miss?”
Bai Yu briefly thought back to the events in her last life, before started speaking slowly. “Two times one is two...two times two is four.”
“Huh?”
“Two times three is six.”
“Two...and then what?”
“Two times four is eight.”
“Two?”
“Two times five is ten.”
“Uh...miss, I’m stupid. I don’t understand what you’re saying at all.”
“Can you do addition?”
“Somewhat, miss.”
“How about multiply?”
“I can’t, miss. I didn’t learn much.”
“Hmmm” She made a sound as she thought. Did she have to test this on those with proper education?
“Where is mother?”
“First Furen is visiting Yue mansion.”
“And the second Furen?”
“She should be at Jiu Yue building, miss.”
“Good. I’m going to see her.”
If memory served her correctly, the second Furen was a merchant’s daughter, so she should have been taught calculations. She might know about the multiplication table. Bai Yu hurried to the second Furen’s resident, a place where her original body never wanted to visit. But right now, she did not care much, as her focus was solely on whether the merchant’s daughter could recite the table with her or not.
“G...Greetings to eldest sister.”
“Relax.”
When Bai Yu arrived, she was met with the second Furen and her sister Bai Yue having tea and dessert, all without a care in the world. Apart from dressing up, these women’s only other interest is eating. Their nonchalance irritated Bai Yu and made her wish that they would get fat someday. Their panicked reaction when seeing her visit also made her want to laugh.
“I came to see you,” she immediately said to the second Furen, not even sitting down at the table.
“Does the first miss have a matter to discuss with me?” Second Furen stood up. She did not dare to sit while Bai Yu was standing. Although this Furen largely respected her, she still put up an arrogant air as she asked. She could do that right after recovering from the shock before her own daughter could.
“I heard that you are a daughter of a merchant. Can you multiply?”
“Of course I can. Why?”
“Then, do you know this?”
“Five times one is five. Five times two is ten.”
“...”
“Five times three is fifteen.”
“...”
“It seems that second Furen is out of practice when it comes to calculation. Alright, prepare the income and expense account of Jiu Yue’s building and give it to me by tomorrow, then.”
Amidst the confusion of everyone in Jiu Yue’s building, Bai Yu returned to her own residence with a calm face, as swift as when she came.
—————
“Miss, just now, what did you ask the second Furen?”
“It’s a multiplication table.”
“And what is it used for?”
“For calculating numbers.”
“Second Furen grew up surrounded by commerce, and yet she doesn’t know that table. From where did you learn it, miss?”
“A faraway universe.”
“Huh?”
“Forget about it.”
“Yes, miss.” The puppy-like maid made a sullen face, her invisible dog ears tucked down. Though her young miss had stopped beating her, she also talked to her less. Xiao Xi thought dejectedly as she continued massaging her young miss’s hand.
Bai Yu was quite sure that the people in this world did not know the multiplication table that she had been able to recite even before she could write her own name. And so she was confident that Bai Hua would surely know it if she did truly transmigrate here. Still, she could not be too assured just yet. She might have to test it on one other person to be certain that the multiplication table was something only those from her former world would know, and the test subject should be someone who had high education. She had plenty of time before Bai Hua returned to prove her theory.
Ah, the life of the first daughter of a noble family was truly convenient.
—————
Two days later, a rumor spread within the mansion that the first miss had devised a new shortcut for calculations, called ‘multiplication table’. The servants endlessly praised her that she was both beautiful and intelligent, as expected of the number one lady of Da Yang.
Obviously, the source of that rumor was Xiao Xi, who misunderstood the word ‘A faraway universe’ and thought that Bai Yu had invented that method herself.
After hearing the rumor, her mother came excitedly to ask her about the matter. And when she refused, the well-meaning Xiao Xi adamantly insisted that it was the first miss’s own invention, even going as far as to recite the multiplication table of two that she remembered from when being tested by Bai Yu to the Furen. In the end, Bai Yu had to go with the flow and reluctantly wrote down the table of two for her mother.
The next day, her father got the table from two to twelve from her.
On that same day, the second Furen came to see her with high-quality satin fabrics with red plum blossoms embroidered pattern and left with multiplication table from two to twelve. She was delighted, as expected from a merchant’s daughter, opposite to Bai Yue who was brought along unwillingly.
In the next seven days, the children in marketplaces all over the capital were reciting twelve multiplication tables to their own melody. Even the magic cultivation institute came to ask for the tables to teach the children of the nobles.
This...went far beyond her original intention.
Bai Yu wrote down the multiplication table from two to twenty-four, along with how to read it. Her father and mother, who spread the news throughout the city, watched on with prideful joy as others praised her as a brilliant young lady.
Bai Yu could only spend numerous nights praying to Pythagoras* who was the original inventor and asked for his forgiveness. “Sir, if there’s an opportunity, I will make sure to credit you for it...”
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*Pythagoras : an ancient Greek mathematician and a philosopher. He was most famous for his Pythagoras Theory. He was also praised as “the father of numbers”. He made significant contributions not only to mathematics but also to philosophy and religion.
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