Xiao Wang is a shrewd and stingy young man. His girlfriends have been dating one after another, but they all broke up because of his "stinginess".
On this day, Xiao Wang met a girl he liked after being introduced by a friend. They made an appointment to have dinner and drink coffee together, and agreed that each person would pay half the fee. The two first went to a hot pot restaurant. After eating and drinking, Xiao Wang looked at the menu. There were exactly eight dishes, no more, no less, totaling 256 yuan.
Xiao Wang rolled his eyes and suggested: "The Book of Changes says, 'Odd numbers are yang, even numbers are yin. The two of us will pay half of the bill. I am a man, and I pay for the yang number; you are a woman, How about you pay for the double-numbered dishes?"
The girl was stunned: "It turns out that "one half" is divided like this. This is really the first time I have seen it. She smiled and nodded, took the bill and counted it. It’s not that I don’t know, it’s that I am shocked. The dishes with odd numbers are mostly vegetables; the dishes with even numbers are mainly meat dishes. After this calculation, the girl has to pay 188 yuan, but Xiao Wang only has to pay 68 yuan.
The girl was a little depressed and had to pay for the meal with an even number.
Then, the two came to a cafe and ordered two cups of coffee and a plate of snacks. When checking out, Xiao Wang looked at the bill and it read: mocha 36 yuan, snacks 80 yuan, latte 34 yuan. He was immediately relieved, because there was not much difference whether he chose an odd number or an even number this time.
So, Xiao Wang pretended to be generous and gave the girl the choice.
The girl smiled slyly: "The Book of Changes also said, 'Left yang and right yin. Each of us will pay half of the bill, and I will pay the right side."
Now, it was Xiao Wangmeng's turn: Isn't it an odd or even number? Why are they still divided? The girl pointed to the total amount on the bill and said, "I chose the right side of the decimal point. So, thank you!"
Xiao Wang took a closer look: the total amount was 150.00 yuan. The girl said to pay to the right of the decimal point, which is 0 yuan; and he had to pay to the left of the decimal point, 150 yuan.
This time, Xiao Wang suffered a big setback, but he was not unhappy. Instead, he felt that the girl in front of him was funny and humorous, which made him even more excited. He paid the bill readily, and then asked the girl: "Do you think you will be free in a few days, can we meet again?"
The girl smiled slightly, took a pen and wrote a number on a piece of paper, and then folded it in half carefully. After it was done, he handed it to Xiao Wang and said: "Old rule, half for each person!"
When Xiao Wang heard this, he felt happy: This girl has so many wonderful ideas! He took the note and tried to split it in half.
Unexpectedly, the girl stopped him and said, "I'm not in a hurry. I'll leave it with you first! As for how many days we'll meet again, I've written it down." After that, she left first.
Xiao Wang couldn't wait to open the note paper in his hand, and saw a big Arabic numeral "8" written on it.
He suddenly became happy: "It turned out to be eight days later. Really, it's so mysterious!"
After returning home, Xiao Wang couldn't wait to announce the good news to his friends, and even took out the note written by the girl to show off.
My friend took the note and studied the folds for a long time. He suddenly laughed and said: "Half for each person? After folding the 8 characters up and down, they are all 0!"
■ Author: Zhang Yuping
(as published) Editor: Zhu Hong)
(Illustration in this column: Little Black Boy? Gu Ziyi)
