Three children entered a traditional medicine shop at the same time. The first child bought 500 dong worth of licorice. The herbalist struggled up a ladder to retrieve the jar from the high shelf. After completing the sale, he climbed back up the ladder to return the jar to its original place. Once he calculated the total, he asked the second child:
– And what would you like to buy?
– I would like to buy 500 dong worth of licorice as well.
The herbalist felt frustrated but still wanted to satisfy the customers, so he laboriously climbed the ladder again to fetch another jar of licorice for the sale. Cautious of a repeat, he directly asked the third child:
– Are you also going to buy 500 dong worth of licorice?
The little boy shook his head. The herbalist felt relieved, climbed the ladder again to put the jar of licorice back on the shelf, and then carefully descended to ask him what he wanted. The boy replied:
– I would like to buy 1000 dong worth of licorice, please.
