I just want to be a quiet scholar

Chapter 43 I Speak English

London, England, is the venue for this year's International Mathematical Olympiad.

In the past few days, Mathematical Olympiad teams from more than 100 countries around the world have arrived in London one after another.

There is an eight-hour time difference between Greenwich Mean Time and China's capital time. The Chinese Olympic Mathematical National Team arrived in London three days ahead of schedule, allowing time for the time difference.

The British organizers arranged for the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad team to live in a hotel near Waterloo Station, which is not far from London South Bank University and can be reached within 10 minutes on foot.

The team leader, deputy team leader, coach, translator, logistics staff and six team members of the Chinese Olympic Math Team were all satisfied with the accommodation arrangement. The hotel is not luxurious but clean and comfortable, and it is also very close to London South Bank University, the venue of the IMO competition.

Shen Qi and Zhou Yuan lived in the same room. They both persisted until the end and were selected as the official list of six Chinese Olympians.

The two young men of the same age were full of energy. This was their first time in the UK, so they didn't want to lose the jet lag. They packed their luggage in the hotel, and Shen Qi and Zhou Yuan went out to play together.

Of course, they didn't dare to go too far, they were just around the hotel, within a 3-mile radius.

As soon as he walked out of the hotel door, Shen Qi discovered something that shocked him.

"Hey, Zhou Yu'an, look here, my English level is average, but I know all the English on this brand. If I read it right, it's impossible for them to sell even a box of strawberries." Stop in front of a supermarket.

There is a sign at the entrance of this Tesco supermarket, which reads in English: "Today's special, strawberries 1 pound/box, 3 pounds/two boxes."

Zhou Yu'an's English is good. He quickly understood the discount information and said after thinking about it: "Maybe the British use a mysterious and special number system. 1 is directly followed by 3, and there is no 2."

"Hehe, Zhou Yuan, you poke my joke, I'd rather believe it's a clerical error, go and take a look at the supermarket." Shen Qi took Zhou Yuan into the supermarket together.

After shopping in the supermarket for a few minutes, Shen Qi keenly found that "1 pound/box of strawberries, 3 pounds/[-] boxes of strawberries" did not seem to be caused by a clerical error by the supermarket promotion manager.

There is a shelf of chocolate products, and Hershey's Chocolate is on sale. The supermarket's promotional information is: "HEYSHEY'S-30%-off, £18.5."

"Hey, Zhou Yu'an, look, the original price of Hershey's chocolate is 15 pounds a box, 30%-off means 10.5% off, so the discount price should be 18.5 pounds a box, and what the hell is this [-] pounds?" Shen Qi was lost in thought.

Zhou Yuan thought for a while and said, "This store wants to close its doors and refuse customers to go out?"

Looking at the endless stream of local customers, Shen Qi shook his head: "However, this is not the case. You see, this supermarket has a lot of traffic, and it can be said that the business is booming. I am also surprised that there are actually customers buying strawberries and Good times, a lot!"

Zhou Yu'an carefully observed a cash register not far away, "1 pound/box, 3 pounds/two boxes" of promotional strawberries, a British lady bought 8 boxes in one go, she was very happy, as if she had picked it up Great and cheap.

After the British eldest sister paid the order, a blond boy put 4 boxes of Hershey's chocolates on the cashier counter, hehe smiled, the sun was shining.

Shen Qi and Zhou Yuan looked at each other, speechless.

"I'm afraid... the residents of this area are all fools, right?" Shen Qi deduced this assumption.

"Obviously, this is a black shop, and the customers are all fools." Zhou Yuan nodded, agreeing with Shen Qi's assumption.

"London, the capital of finance, the capital of fashion, the capital of football, the capital of silly hats?" Shen Qi further deduced the second hypothesis.

"It is also possible that the people of London are generally wealthy. After all, it is the capital of the empire where the sun never sets. It is understandable that people are stupid and rich." Zhou Yuan added a supplementary hypothesis on the basis of Shen Qi.

"Mathematics Olympiad, the Olympic Games in the mathematics world, a quiz for people with high IQs, Zhou Yuan, why do you want to arrange it in the capital of stupid hats?"

"Maybe to highlight...the contrast is cute?"

The two Chinese young men paced among a group of whites, blacks, and Indians.

"Zhou Yu'an, you've come here, you can't go back empty-handed, buy something, after all, it's from England." Shen Qi picked up a shopping basket, stopped, and grabbed some snacks on the shelf.

Zhou Yuan was more frugal, so he bought a toothpaste and held it directly in his hand: "When I entered the customs, my Chinese toothpaste was confiscated by the British as a dangerous biochemical product. I have to buy a toothpaste to deal with for a few days."

"Give me the toothpaste, and I'll pay for it together." Shen Qi took the toothpaste from Zhou Yuan's hand and put it in his basket.

There was a line in front of the cashier, Shen Qi and Zhou Yuan were waiting to pay.

A few minutes later, the two came to the cashier, and Shen Qi put his shopping basket on the cashier counter.

"Hello," said the cashier girl, a young red-haired white girl, in English.

"Yeah." Shen Qi nodded and said nothing.

The cashier girl hurriedly took out a piece of merchandise from the shopping basket, scanned the code, and the total amount displayed on the cashier computer: 33.50 pounds.

"33 pounds 50 pence." The cashier girl said to Shen Qi.

"Walter?" Shen Qi was puzzled.

"£33... 50p." The cashier girl repeated, speaking slowly.

Shen Qi said to Zhou Yu'an: "I bought a box of biscuits for £5.8, a muffin for £4.6, three doughnuts for £5.4, and five packs of potato chips. The unit price of each pack of potato chips is £2, and I buy five packs. With a 8% discount, plus Zhou Yu'an your toothpaste £2.2, and the 7% GST here, I should have paid £27.82 for our consumption instead of £33.50, which doesn't count as a result of 33.50. "

"Yes, it is indeed 27 pounds and 82 pence." Zhou Yuan also calculated the total amount in a very short time.

"Hey, young gentlemen, do you need these products?" The cashier girl saw Shen Qi and Zhou Yuan chatting for a long time, and she couldn't understand Chinese, so she reminded her and kept her patience.

"Sorry." Shen Qi said apologetically to the cashier girl, and then said to Zhou Yu'an, "Comparing your spoken English, please tell the red-haired lady about the consumption details I just said and translate it into English."

"OK." Zhou Yu'an nodded and said to the cashier girl in English, "Ma'am, I think you miscalculated our consumption amount."

The cashier girl shook her head firmly: "Impossible, this is the result of computer calculations."

Zhou Yuan reported the details in one breath, and his spoken English was very fluent: "A box of biscuits is £5.8, a muffin is £4.6, three donuts are £5.4, a toothpaste is £2.2, and five packs of potato chips enjoy a 20% discount. Subtotaling £8, and including 7% GST, we have to pay £27p, which we think is a reasonable and correct amount."

The cashier girl was instantly stunned: "You... what are you talking about?"

Zhou Yuan was also stunned: "I speak English, don't you understand?"

(End of this chapter)