She taught him thirty words at one go. She explained them and taught him to read them, then revised them with him twice. That was all that was needed for the child to remember them.
Next, Gu Qingyao began to teach him to write.
First, she taught him how to hold the pen, and ensured he was gripping it correctly. Gu Qingyao sat next to him and held his hand as she began to teach him how to write.
Clever children really learned very fast. After she guided him a few times, he slowly grasped the concept of writing.
Mu Mu had never tried anything like that before and had no inkling of the concept of writing.
Gu Qingyao helped him to write a little, and he gradually began to comprehend. Then he looked at the words in his book and slowly began to copy them himself.
At first, his writing was definitely not pretty, but Mu Mu learnt very fast. The more he wrote, the nicer his writing became. They could almost see the speed of his progress.
Gu Qingyao was shocked. This child was too clever.
She might as well teach him more and see how much he could grasp?
So by the end of the morning, Mu Mu not only recognized all thirty words, he could write them all. Although his writing was not nice, one could just about discern the words.
Then he memorized four classic poems and twenty idioms.
He definitely could not write out the poems and the idioms, but after Gu Qingyao explained the meaning of the idioms, he could memorize them all.
Gu Fangting gaped at him in shock!
“My God! Elder Sister, this is a genius!”
She was much older, but she learnt much more slowly than this little fellow. This… and he had never been exposed to learning before. Unlike her, this child did not even have a concept of reading and writing.
This was a blow to Little Nine.
He was about the same age at Mu Mu and had stayed in his hometown for a year. He had been studying all along, but he realized that his writing was not much better than Mu Mu’s.
It was such a blow!
Little Nine made a dismal face. “Elder Sister, he’s lying. He must have learnt these things before.”
Mu Mu looked at Gu Qingyao. “I’m not lying.”
Gu Qingyao knew he was not lying. She could tell that the child had no foundation.
He was just smart!
This was talent!
Gu Qingyao stroked Mu Mu’s head. “All right, I know you did not lie. Mu Mu! You’re very clever. Perhaps you are cleverer than these older boys and girls. Study hard! In the future, you will certainly be very capable!”
Mu Mu’s eyes glowed. “Really? Am I very clever? I only know a few words and I’m considered clever?”
Gu Qingyao: “…”
Gu Fangting: “…”
Little Six and Little Nine, who had been dealt another blow: “…”
Mu Mu was very excited and wanted to keep on learning.
Gu Qingyao laughed. “That’s enough. If I teach you too much at once, you won’t be able to process it. We’ll stop now. Go out and play, and I’ll teach you more in the afternoon.”
“Oh!” Mu Mu was a little disappointed. But he did not go out to play. He continued to look at what he was holding. When he looked at Gu Qingyao’s writing, he felt disappointed with his own writing.
With Mu Mu at home, Gu Qingyao did not go to the cowshed to look for Jiang Yiru every day. But Gu Yunshen went diligently. He went almost every day, immersing himself in learning.
If he was not learning medicine from Jiang Yiru, he was learning foreign languages from the other older folks. He was even beginning to work hard at calligraphy and painting.
The Gu family had been major landlords. Gu Chonghua had studied music, chess, calligraphy and painting since he was young. Gu Yunshen had learnt these things too when he was younger and was even quite accomplished at them.