This fat guy was someone James Carter met at the casino a year ago, before he entered Yuhuang Academy. It was because James Carter had rarely won a large sum of money, and in the following incidents, this Edward Grant helped James Carter come up with ideas. He was also an expert in eating, drinking, and having fun. According to Edward Grant, his family had once been wealthy, but later fell into decline, and in the end, he was the only one left, mixing with the common folk.

At that time, James Carter was about to be sent to Yuhuang Academy, so he brought Edward Grant along. Yuhuang Academy was said to be the highest-level and most luxurious academy in the Mingyu Dynasty, and it had another name: the Prodigal Academy. That was because from princes and royal grandchildren, to heirs of major families, to governors and wealthy family members from all over, everyone sent their children here. It wasn’t easy for ordinary people to get in; just the terrifying fees alone were more than most could afford. But for James Carter to bring someone in was no big deal.

“This... plus this is how many?” At this moment, seeing James Carter still in a daze and not responding, the chubby, fair-skinned Edward Grant walked up to James Carter, raised an index finger on each hand, and asked cautiously.

Damn, do they really think I’ve been beaten stupid?

Wait! That’s not right. Strictly speaking, the original James Carter wasn’t just beaten into an idiot—he was beaten to death, killed. At this moment, scenes from before flashed through James Carter’s mind. The original fool had been chasing after one of the academy’s three great beauties, Alice Foster, who came to tell him that she actually liked James Carter, but was being pestered by David Grant. So she came up with a plan: have the protagonist go to David Grant and say she already belonged to him.

What a damn idiot. The look on David Grant’s face at the time, and the things he shouted, made it obvious that Alice Foster had said something similar to him before. As a result, that guy used a bench made of ironwood, harder than stone, to hit his head a few times. He was later rescued, but still died.

“Three.” These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Seeing Edward Grant’s two chubby, fair fingers and his look of genuinely thinking he’d been beaten stupid, James Carter answered casually.

“It’s over, it’s over, Young Master Jie really has been beaten silly.”

“This is bad, what should we do!”

“This is a disaster, the family head has been beaten stupid, what are we going to do!”

...

The group of followers gathered around all looked increasingly worried.

“Three, look carefully, I’m asking: one plus one equals what?” Edward Grant was startled too, thinking, could he really be stupid now?

“Four is fine, five is fine, six, seven, eight are all fine, zero or one is fine too, even ten million is no problem.” Looking at the now very close Edward Grant, James Carter answered offhandedly. If people from modern times heard this, they’d know it was just like a brain teaser—answering like this was a joke, not a math problem. James Carter just felt that this Edward Grant was strangely chubby and fair, and his eyes were definitely right, his face even looked a bit familiar. The more James Carter looked, the more he felt he hadn’t been mistaken earlier, and it wasn’t even with his eyes—it was the moment he withdrew his spiritual sense from his sea of consciousness that he’d sensed it.

But now, no matter how he looked, he couldn’t see anything wrong. And this chubby, fair Edward Grant was still holding up his fingers, asking him what one plus one was, so James Carter just joked around.

“Damn, he really has been beaten stupid. This is bad. Even though James Carter was a bit of a playboy, at least we got along. If he’s stupid now, won’t I have to wander the streets again...” Edward Grant thought to himself, quickly stepping forward: “Let me check you, maybe I can find a way to get you some medicine...”

James Carter knew himself that, apart from a big bump on his head, he was actually fine. As for the original James Carter, he was already dead. And from his memories, he knew that Edward Grant was also an apothecary, with some other mysterious skills. James Carter was actually afraid he’d be found out.

“It’s nothing, just joking with you. One drop of water plus another drop of water is still just one drop of water, right?” Although he’d received all the memories, he was still a bit wary, especially after seeing such a miraculous scene earlier. Now, with Edward Grant right in front of him and unable to see anything wrong, James Carter felt it was better to be cautious and not let him check.

“Uh...” Edward Grant was stunned for a moment. Joking, one drop of water plus another drop of water really is still one drop of water.

The people around were also stunned, each pondering James Carter’s words. This kind of saying was common in modern times, but if you’d never heard it before, it always seemed to carry some deeper meaning, like a Zen riddle from a Buddhist scripture.

“Then why did you say it equals three?”

“One man plus one woman, doesn’t that make three?” James Carter replied casually, not wanting to be surrounded by so many people, and waved his hand: “Alright, everyone out.”

“How can one man plus one woman equal three?”

“Idiot, you have to make something.”

“Oh, as expected of Young Master Jie, impressive.”

...

Some people didn’t get it at first, but once one person figured it out, the others’ eyes lit up. Now they truly believed James Carter was fine, because they took his words as some kind of dirty joke, so their laughter all seemed a bit off.