There are two types of people in this world – those who are terrible at math, and those who are math geniuses. Growing up, maths tuition was the only respite for us future engineers. If you've prided yourself for your ace mathematical skills till now, it's all going to change. A Chinese math problem is threatening to take over the internet and even the smartest of people have been left scratching their heads over it. 

What's more shameful – this was a question in an exam for fifth graders in China. Let's see the problem.

© Weibo

Relax, that's not the reason it can't be solved. There is an English translation: 

Before you dismiss this as a wrong question or a prank, let us tell you it's a perfectly legitimate problem. 

The education officials at the Shunqing Education Department confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the question. Rather, it is meant to test the students' “critical awareness” and “independent thinking”. "Some surveys show that primary school students in our country lack a sense of critical awareness in regard to mathematics," they said. 

Now that we've told you it's a legit question with a legit answer, put on your thinking caps and get cracking. Channel the inner Ramanujam in you. We're Indians, we can do anything. We clear IIT-JEE, we rule Silicon Valley! We're better than this! 

No? We're wracking our brains here. No wonder the internet is losing its collective sh*t over this math problem. 

Let's think like the fifth graders. If you found this question in your paper, and you had to answer it by hook or crook what would you say? Some kids attempted it rather cleverly: 

"The captain is at least 18 because he has to be an adult to drive the ship" was the closest a 5th grader came to making some sense, but of course, that's not the right answer. 

Given up? Here's the answer. 

"The total weight of 26 sheep and 10 goat is 7,700 kg, based on the average weight of each animal. In China, if you're driving a ship that has more than 5,000 kg of cargo you need to have possessed a boat license for five years. The minimum age for getting a boat's license is 23, so he's at least 28." 

Even Sharmaji ka beta couldn't solve this. The Chinese beat him to it.