“Grandmother, please save your grandson!”

It was Second Uncle!

Andrew Carter sat on the chair near the door, sneaking a glance. He saw Aunt Martha Cui Shi with her face covered in tear stains, her eyelids red and swollen like two big steamed buns—it looked like something serious had happened.

“Speak. How did you end up owing one hundred guan?”

As soon as Mrs. Carter spoke, Andrew Carter’s eyes widened in shock. Goodness, this Second Uncle really knows how to spend money!

He saw Edward Carter kneeling on the ground, miserably saying, “Grandmother, your grandson has been studying hard these years, trying to make friends with famous scholars and improve my learning. That takes money. When we discuss poetry and philosophy together, I can’t always let others pay—that would be undignified!”

“Stop with the nonsense. Why did you borrow so much?”

Edward Carter shivered and said in a low voice, “Twenty guan of it was borrowed bit by bit over the past two or three years. With the interest compounding, it rolled up to sixty guan.”

Mrs. Carter’s eyes blazed with anger, her whole body trembling, but at least she hadn’t lost her senses.

“And the other forty guan?”

“Yes, yes.” Edward Carter thought for a moment, then, face full of grievance, said, “Grandmother, this really isn’t my fault. I meant well—I wanted to pay back the money I owed. I heard someone could predict the results of dog fights with uncanny accuracy. I followed his predictions three times in a row and won money each time. This last time, there were eight fighting dogs in the finals. If I guessed right, not only could I pay off my debts, I could earn two or three hundred guan…”

Edward Carter was still talking, but noticed everyone in the room had strange expressions. Big Brother Wang Liangui wanted to laugh but didn’t dare, his wife turned her head away, and the other younger ones were desperately holding back their laughter.

Suddenly, Mrs. Carter let out a mournful sigh, “Unfilial child!”

After saying this, she leaned back and actually fainted from anger.

Second Uncle and Cousin, father and son, had both fallen for the same thing. Andrew Carter didn’t even know what to say.

CousinRichard Carter had only planned to bet five guan, and even that was caught by Andrew Carter. But Second UncleEdward Carter went big, betting forty guan at once. Not only was the money lost, but he owed a huge sum!

A full one hundred guan! The Wang family wasn’t what it used to be—where could they possibly get that kind of money?

Mrs. Carter didn’t even have the strength to hit anyone; she just fainted on the spot. Everyone scrambled to revive her, and when she came to, her eyes were full of tears.

“Bring me a knife, kill me now, so I don’t have to see this and be tormented! Why don’t you just kill me?” Old Lady wailed, sobbing uncontrollably. Edward Carter blushed all the way to his neck, but still tried to argue.

“Grandmother, it really wasn’t me being reckless. That master was truly amazing—he got it right three times in a row! There’s a saying, ‘once and twice, but never thrice and four times.’ How could I not believe him? Who could have guessed he’d fail the last time? Who would have thought?” Edward Carter looked utterly aggrieved and indignant.

Mrs. Carter saw he still wouldn’t admit his mistake and rolled her eyes in anger again.

……

“Second Uncle, you were tricked!” The usually quiet Andrew Carter couldn’t hold back any longer.

Edward Carter shot him a glare and scolded, “You’re just a child, what do you know?”

“Of course I know! The one selling you the results is a complete fraud!” Andrew Carter finally saw through it. No wonder Richard Carter was so unreliable—turns out his father was even worse! The family hadn’t even split up yet, and with these two idiots causing trouble, the Wang family would be doomed in no time.

“How could that be?” Second Uncle was still unconvinced. “If he was a fraud, how did he get it right the first three times? I even won money!”

Mrs. Carter couldn’t care about anything else and beckoned Andrew Carter over.

“Tell {great-grandmother}, how did he trick people?”

“That’s easy.” After hearing the story from Second Uncle and his son, Andrew Carter finally figured out the trick.

“Great-grandmother, suppose two dogs are fighting—one will win, one will lose. That so-called expert gives out predictions, half saying one dog will win, half saying the other. Suppose eighty people are tricked. After the first round, forty are correct. After the second, twenty remain. After the third, only ten are left. At this point, he suddenly asks these ten to pay for the fourth prediction. Since he’s been right three times in a row, by the fourth time, they trust him completely and hand over their money. The so-called expert then just writes down a random result, and of course, everyone loses everything—they’re thoroughly scammed!”

“I bet that when he first gave out predictions, it was for free, and he told you it might not be accurate, just for fun. If it turned out wrong, don’t blame him, and don’t spread the word, or else the magic would stop working.”

“How do you know that?” Second Uncle exclaimed in shock. Andrew Carter’s words were as if he’d witnessed it himself—that’s exactly what the man had said! If he hadn’t gotten it right three times in a row, he wouldn’t have bet so much!

Andrew Carter explained it three times, and finally everyone in the room understood. There was no magic, nothing miraculous at all—just a bit of math, and Second Uncle was completely fooled.

Edward Carter looked utterly drained, muttering, “How could this be, how could this be…” He staggered backward, lost his footing, and fell to the ground with a thud, hitting the back of his head. Second Uncle’s legs went limp, and he fainted on the spot. Cui Shi, terrified, hugged her husband and burst into tears.