"Can’t I not study English? I am Chinese, and I only love the language of my own country," Luo Qianqian said weakly, raising her hand.
"What do you think?" It wasn’t Elder Zhang with a disapproving look who spoke, but her brother Luo Shufan, who had just been annoyed by his sister’s rolling eyes: "You see me memorizing words and texts every day; do you think you can escape it?"
Self-inflicted suffering cannot live? Such a phrase drifted through Luo Qianqian’s mind.
"For other subjects, a notebook is enough, just record some points and you can use them, but English definitely requires a textbook. Do you want me to have someone bring them to you, or will you buy them yourselves?" Elder Zhang said thoughtfully, looking at the paper in his hand and stroking his chin with one hand.
"You buy it, I can’t escape it anyway..." Luo Qianqian looked mournfully at the smug Luo Shufan, and suddenly felt choked up: "With ’Eagle Language’ around, why isn’t there ’Phoenix Language’ or ’Skylark Language’, which even sound more high-end? Learning ’Dog Language’ wouldn’t be bad either, and ’Cat Language’ isn’t bad. Why do we have to stick to just ’Eagle Language’?"
"I want to learn ’Dog Language’ and ’Cat Language’," He Wenyu said excitedly, raising his hand as he listened to Luo Qianqian.
"......." Both Luo Shufan and Elder Zhang looked helplessly at the complaining Luo Qianqian and He Wenyu, who took the complaints seriously.
"Today’s the first day, and you didn’t bring pens or notebooks, so go and learn how to please cats and dogs. Of course, you can also learn musical instruments or practice calligraphy, depending on your interests," Elder Zhang said, looking at the paper that recorded their courses, planning to redesign their learning schedule.
"I’ll go play with the dog," He Wenyu jumped up, raising his hand.
"Then I, I’ll practice calligraphy," Luo Qianqian said decisively, looking at the bright sun outside.
"Then I’ll also practice calligraphy," Luo Shufan naturally accompanied his sister.
"Then you two start with calligraphy, and after lunch, we’ll all go walk the dog together. Bring your stools over here, but don’t touch the brush. I’ll go get your pencils. There’s white paper here that you can use, just write , imitating the font on this," Elder Zhang measured the two who didn’t want to go out and one who was eager, making his decision, and opened a book of calligraphy by Wang Xizhi on the table.
"... Grandpa Zhang, are you serious? It would be more practical to write a page of ’one’ right now rather than this. It’s mostly illegible, and even if you can read it, you don’t know how to start writing it," Luo Qianqian looked at her brother whose face had scrunched up. Even if she knew how to write, she couldn’t let a few kids start with such sophisticated styles when they can’t even recognize all the characters.
"Oh right, then I’ll write a few characters for you, and you can copy them," Elder Zhang looked at the page which also included ancient scripts, slapped his forehead, picked up the brush, and wrote a few characters ’海纳百川’ on the rice paper.
... Are we supposed to practice hard-pen calligraphy by copying brush strokes? And using large white paper at that, though it’s a relief not to use rice paper directly. Luo Qianqian looked at the four large characters speechlessly, but had to admit, Elder Zhang’s brush writing was really good—stylish, substantial, and spirited. It was something that could be shown off to swindle people. Luo Qianqian admired it after a couple of glances.
The pencils were quickly brought over, and the three of them, moving their stools, sat at the desk from which Elder Zhang had removed his books, sitting in a row, seriously imitating the large characters hanging on the bookshelf. Luo Qianqian sat with her back to the bookshelf, not looking back at all, unable to replicate the brush font with a pencil anyway.
Elder Zhang took out new paper, looking at the little clock on the desk, arranging the schedule.
’Sea’ as in ’ocean’, ’Na’ as in ’cashier’, ’Bai’ as in ’all kinds of flavors’, ’Chuan’ as in ’Santu River, River of Forgetfulness’.
’If the ocean could take away my sorrows, just as it carries away every river.’
As she wrote, Luo Qianqian’s thoughts drifted off, and she no longer knew what she was writing.
Looking at the messy white paper, Luo Qianqian admired herself; even when her mind wandered, she could practice writing—an ability indeed.
Meanwhile, Elder Zhang was researching the equipment and materials available at home, falling into worry. It seemed there wasn’t enough—was it right to invest so much for three kids who weren’t even guaranteed a spot in Experimental High School? But that stubborn old man’s theory about ’Genius’ really stirred his heart. If he could produce a ’Genius’ that shocked the city or even the country, it would really reflect well on him.
Luo Qianqian was young but assertive, genuinely interested in sciences. Luo Shufan, slightly older, also had notable potential and was motivated by his clever sister. He Wenyu, kind-hearted and fond of animals, got along well with the highly praised siblings, clearly having unrecognized qualities. After all, ’Birds of a feather flock together’; how could an average person gain the friendship of ’the extraordinary’?
But what if it turned out to be like what was said in the hospital—a case of ’ruining Zhao’s orphan’, ’pulling up the shoots to help them grow’—’precocious in childhood, not necessarily successful in adulthood’—what then?
But this was his chance to slap those old guys in the face in the competition, even if there was just a one percent chance, he had to try. He was getting on in years; if he didn’t make a move now, was he planning to lie in a hospital bed with an IV drip, calling to boast about his student winning first place? By then, he might be indifferent to life and death, let alone whose student was more outstanding. Maybe then the competition would be about who could hold on for a few more days.
Looking at the three kids who still had unlimited possibilities, Elder Zhang remembered how his own grandsons, Zhang Zhi and Zhang Ye, had learned from him as kids and eventually fell in love with the military green— one entered the military and could hardly be seen once a year, and the other entered the police academy, constantly causing him worry. Perhaps it was those grandsons that made him particularly fond of children, especially smart ones who look likely to succeed in studies without leaving halfway to join the military.
Moreover, these three kids were also connected to his grandsons, giving them a special significance to him. Anyhow, his two grandsons were not likely to quickly give him great-grandchildren to spoil, so treating these students as prep for tutoring great-grandchildren would be good enough.
Elder Zhang spun one wild idea after another, but his hands remained busy. Soon, a schedule was laid out. Satisfied with the learning plan in his hands and seeing the three kids seriously practicing calligraphy, Elder Zhang smiled contentedly.
Luo Qianqian sat with her back to the bookshelf but could see Elder Zhang just right. Seeing the smile on his face made her spine chill, giving her the feeling of being a lamb on the chopping block, ready to be slaughtered.
Looking at the paper below her, which she had unconsciously filled with ’being at the mercy of others’, Luo Qianqian decided it was better not to write while daydreaming in the future—otherwise, even if her face didn’t give her away, her words certainly would.