Notebook of Fortune - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Shen Zhe’s Explanation

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The purpose of the quiz was to find out whether or not Shen Zhe found the answer through calculation.

That was why the hardest question was the first one.

Bai Yu intended to check his answer and the reasoning behind it.

If the guy had given a wrong answer with steps and analyses, she would’ve thought that his previous answer the other day was a random guess. However, he wrote nonsense in the quiz. It was obviously intentional.

So, she asked Shen Zhe and coerced him, trying to find out if he was hiding his knowledge. Her speculation was correct!

Two hours, eight minutes, and 17.32 seconds!

It was the exact time that her crystal had recorded!

It meant that Shen Zhe’s calculations were as precise as what could be measured.

“Alright, I’ll explain my answer…”

Unaware of her shock, Shen Zhe simply looked at the content behind the equal sign and opened his mouth.

“The question we’re discussing is, how long will it take for Ms. Bai Yu to get rid of a purple iron-toothed wolf king, right? It seems simple, but we have to understand the undescribed conditions first!”

“Everybody knows Ms. Bai’s weapon, her location, her techniques and her highest speed; those are not the undescribed conditions!”

“They’re not? What would the undescribed conditions be?” one of the students couldn’t help but ask.

The other students looked at him, too.

Were there more deeply-hidden ones?

“Simple!”

With a casual smile, Shen Zhe said, “Why is the iron-toothed wolf king chasing an expert who is as strong as itself and how long will it chase her?”

“Well…”

Everybody shivered. Even Ling Xueru’s eyes also widened.

The idea had never occurred to her, either!

Yes, why would the wolf king hunt her, and how long could it endure?

If the wolf king stopped after realizing that it couldn’t catch the prey, this question would be irrelevant.

“The question is about how long it will take for Ms. Bai to ‘get rid of’ the wolf king, which means that the wolf king won’t abandon the pursuit. So, they are already mortal enemies!”

Shen Zhe continued, “There’s only one reason why they would become mortal enemies—it probably has something to do about the wolf pack! Since Ms. Bai went on a field trip to Mount Thorn yesterday… If I’m not mistaken, she must’ve knocked out an iron-toothed wolf and was carrying the beast. That’s why the pack was chasing her!”

Then, Shen Zhe raised his head and looked at Bai Yu with a casual smile. “Madam, am I correct?”

“Yes, that is indeed the undescribed condition for this question!”

Holding back her shock, Bai Yu nodded quickly.

The guy expounded the matter so vividly, as if he had seen it in person.

Even level-two or level-three Mages might not have been as accurate as him!

Since when had Shen Zhe become so terrifying?

“There’s such a hidden condition?”

“Our teacher was carrying an iron-toothed wolf so her speed would be affected. It would naturally take her longer to escape…”

“Besides, it is more difficult to deal with a pack of wolves than to deal with a wolf king!’

…

Everybody whispered to each other and looked at Shen Zhe as if he were a monster.

He was the worst student in the class. How could he have thought so deeply?

“There’s more…”

Ignoring their shock, Shen Zhe continued, “The iron-toothed wolf king must be highly intelligent, given its sovereignty over the pack. There’s only one road between Mount Thorn and our school… Do you think they will allow Ms. Bai to return through that road safely?”

Everybody trembled again.

There was his answer!

Since the wolf king intended to kill Ms. Bai, it would certainly block her route of escape. Running on an existing path was the most dangerous choice, if not deadly!

“Going down from the mountain is not an option, either. There are villages of ordinary people below the mountain. Many of them would be injured or killed if our teacher draws the wolves to them.”

Shen Zhe continued reading the answer, “So, the only choice is to climb the mountain!”

“Mount Thorn is 5,683 meters high, with an average angle of 17 degrees. The steepest part is full of snow and it even has an angle of 79 degrees. Due to the slope, our teacher’s speed will be reduced by 17.4%. Because of the scarcity of oxygen as the altitude increases, her strength would drop by 7.82%.”

“The wolf king would be barely affected, given its thick fur and its experience on the mountain. However, the common iron-toothed wolves would be unable to follow; that would reduce our teacher’s pressure.”

“That’s why our teacher was able to press forward. However, it snows frequently on Mount Thorn and there are no roads. Also, our teacher has to make a detour to get rid of the wolves. Naturally, it will waste a lot of time.”

“There’s no turning back on the way to the mountaintop. Our teacher would be killed if she can’t get rid of the wolves after she reaches the peak! Since the posed question is to answer how long it takes for her to get rid of the wolves, it means that she achieved her purpose in the end. So, all we need to calculate is the time for her to reach the peak!”

Shen Zhe continued reading the content behind the equal sign, as it offered both an answer and the detailed explanation.

“Let me see…”

Everyone was enlightened by his explanation. They hurried to take out the map of Mount Thorn and studied it carefully.

Then, they calculated with rulers, brushes and compasses.

Nothing could be heard in the room except for the writing sounds.

A few minutes later, Ling Xueru got the result first. “In such a case, it’s true that our teacher would need two hours to get rid of the wolves…”

Her previous answer was 21 minutes. It didn’t occur to her that such a simple question contained so many undescribed conditions.

Getting rid of the wolf king from the mountaintop was much more difficult than escaping through the main road.

However, even she could only ascertain that it would take around two hours. She couldn’t get a more accurate answer.

The other students also finished calculating. Most of their answers resulted in around two hours.

“Madam, is Shen Zhe’s answer correct?”

Unable to hold it back anymore, Ling Xueru looked at her teacher.

The others were also curious.

Taking out the previous crystal recorder and manifesting the time registered on it, Bai Yu clenched her fists and announced, “It’s precisely correct!”

Although they were prepared for this, the students were still too shocked to say anything.

Having worked on the question, they knew that few people in the school could answer it. However, a notorious student had given an absolutely correct answer!

Well…

Who was the actual genius here?

Everyone was stunned.

Wang Qing peeped at Shen Zhe’s paper, only to be astounded.

He saw a red “×”, next to a gigantic “0”.

Wasn’t Shen Zhe’s answer correct?

How did he get a zero?

Wang Qing was even more dazed after he read the paper.

“Newton, Ampere… Who are they? Are they names at all? You were reading this just now?”

Wang Qing went completely crazy.