The eldest child thought about it, thinking, if he could learn Chinese well, he could read storybooks on his own. He felt it was worth it, so he patiently said, "Well, then, go ahead and tell me. I'll listen carefully."

Ning Tang taught him in a more interesting and easier-to-remember way, which was different from what the teacher taught. The eldest boy was impatient at first, but as he listened more, he found that Chinese was not such a difficult subject to learn, and gradually he became fascinated.

Seeing that the eldest child started to concentrate on studying, Ning Tang breathed a sigh of relief and turned his attention to the second girl.

From the beginning, Erniu has been sitting obediently beside the desk, watching her teach the eldest child.

Ning Tang asked her, "Erniu, do you want to learn too?"

Erniu nodded hesitantly, then shook her head.

In the past, when the mother of Da Wa and the other two was still alive, she would teach Da Wa and San Wa to read and write when she was in good health and spirits, while Er Niu could only watch from the side, and she was very envious.

Ning Tang took a few sheets of paper and pens from the box Chen Lie had bought and gave them to Erniu. She had expected Erniu to take them, but she put her hands behind her back and said hesitantly, "Aren't girls not allowed to study? My mom...my real mom said it's pointless for girls to study. Even if they do, they can't learn as well as boys. It's better not to study."

Ning Tang was so angry that he laughed, blurting out a curse word, "Bullshit!"

Erniu was frightened and started picking at her fingernails nervously, which was her habitual little action when she was nervous.

Ning Tang softened his tone upon seeing this, "Who says girls can't study as well as boys? Look at our eldest son, he only got this low a score on the first grade exam. If you just study hard, you can surpass him."

The eldest boy banged on the table in dissatisfaction and yelled, "Mom!"

Ning Tang said, "Don't interrupt me, just study your Chinese."

Is Big Kid scared? Just study hard.

Ning Tang continued to say to Erniu, "If you don't believe me, I'll teach you some simple first-grade knowledge and see how you do."

Erniu was still a little hesitant, so Ning Tang said, "If you don't learn now, you'll have to learn when the first grade starts in September. Just give it a try. No one will beat you if you don't learn well. Captain Shen doesn't beat his daughters."

Erniu was amused. "Well, then I'll try."

Ning Tang took paper and pen, as well as Da Wa's first-grade textbook, and planned to teach Er Niu the simplest thing, which was to write big characters from one to ten.

Erniu was worried that she wouldn't be able to learn well, so she was extra serious and traced the big characters stroke by stroke.

The third child held up his chin and watched his brothers and sisters study. His face puffed up and he shouted, "Mom, I want to study too."

Ning Tang was happy and handed him a piece of paper and a pen. "Here you go."

Only then was Sanwa satisfied.

He is young, so how could he know whether to study or not, or whether to take extra classes or not? He just watched his older brothers and sisters study, so he wanted to learn too.

Little kids like to imitate older kids.

When he got the paper and pen, he just grabbed the pencil and scribbled on the paper.

But finally, I managed to appease this little kid.

Da Wa's Chinese language study was almost finished, and seeing that his patience was reaching its limit, Ning Tang quickly switched his subject to mathematics.

For the eldest child, mathematics is much more interesting than Chinese. He feels very close to the mathematics book.

When learning Chinese, it was like a right-handed person suddenly switched to holding the pen with his left hand. Now he is learning math, and it is like switching back to holding the pen with his right hand. It is really not something that can be described by the word "friendly".

Ning Tang looked through their first-grade math textbook. The teaching was very simple, including teaching them to recognize numbers from 1 to 20, addition and subtraction within 20, and reading a clock.

It is easy to tell the time. We have a clock at home, and my eldest child has learned to tell time very early, which is also a convenience.

Ning Tang took the test on Da Wa's addition and subtraction within 20. Seeing that Da Wa answered fluently, Ning Tang taught him addition and subtraction within 100.

This is not difficult for the eldest child either. When it comes to math, if you understand one, you understand ten. The eldest child is smart and quick. Even addition and subtraction within 100 are not difficult for him.

Ning Tang was very surprised. Could it be that Da Wa was really a rare math talent?

She gave the eldest child a few problems to work on. While he was working on them, Ning Tang copied the multiplication table onto a piece of paper and posted it on the wall. She told the eldest child, "This is the multiplication table. The cross on top is the multiplication sign. You don't need to understand what multiplication is. Just memorize a little bit every day. Once you've memorized it, I'll start teaching you multiplication and division."

Big Boy looked up, glanced, nodded, and continued to immerse himself in the questions Ning Tang gave him. Compared with the boring Chinese, mathematics was more interesting to Big Boy.

Just as I was learning, Qi Dahu's voice suddenly came from outside the door, "Dawa, are you home?"

Ning Tang knocked on the table in front of Da Wa, "Da Hu is calling you."

Da Wa said without raising his head, "I'm home, come in."

Qi Dahu took off his shoes and entered the room. He didn't expect Ning Tang to be there, so he was very reserved and stammered, "Hello, Aunt Ning..."

Although Qi Dahu had grown stronger thanks to Zeng Xinlan, Ning Tang still saw him as very small and skinny. Furthermore, his shy demeanor was almost a replica of Zeng Xinlan's.

Facing such a child, Ning Tang's voice couldn't help but become gentle. "It's Da Hu, why are you looking for Da Wa?"

Qi Dahu came to play with Da Wa. They had originally agreed to play under the big banyan tree at the gate of the military family compound, but Da Wa was late, so he went to his house.

He glanced at the table and saw that the three children of the Shen family were studying. He wanted to ask the eldest child to go out and play, but he couldn't say it. He pinched the corner of his clothes and twisted his body like a little girl.

Ning Tang guessed it immediately, "You want to ask Da Wa to go out and play?"

Qi Dahu nodded.

"Big Boy didn't do well in his Chinese exam last time, so Captain Shen asked him to take tutoring classes at home." Ning Tang glanced at the clock. It was not yet three o'clock. "If you want to play with him, you'll have to wait a while."

Qi Dahu nodded and found a corner to sit down. "Then I'll wait."

Ning Tang let him go and continued to tutor Da Wa and Er Niu.

She asked Erniu how her studies were going, and Erniu shyly showed her the big characters she had written.

She took a quick glance and found that Erniu's handwriting was very neat. The ten big characters from one to ten were written stroke by stroke.

She took a pencil and marked Erniu's 'test paper' with several ticks, praising her generously. "Erniu, you've learned so well! Score: 100."

Erniu opened her mouth wide, holding the paper in disbelief, "Can I really get a perfect score? Even better than my brother?"

"Of course." Ning Tang said without hesitation, "If the full score wasn't 100, I'd give you 1,000. You're too modest. Your handwriting is much better than Da Wa's. His is like a dog's crawl. If I were their Chinese teacher, I'd give him zero points and let him go home with a red lantern."

Erniu felt very happy in her heart. This was the first time that someone praised her instead of Da Wa.

Qi Dahu quietly asked Da Wa, "Aren't you angry about losing to Er Niu?"

Da Wa knew Ning Tang was trying to help Er Niu build up her confidence, so he waved his hand and said, "Why are you angry? Er Niu is smarter than me. Besides, she's my sister, and my sister is good at studying. I'm happy for her."

Ning Tang teased him, "You should be sad. This way, next time there won't be anyone carrying a red lantern to get beaten up with you."

The eldest child said with a smile, "There is also the third child."

He craned his neck to take a look at the 'ghostly talisman' in front of San Wa and nodded, "He will definitely be able to take the beating with me."

The third child didn't understand what the eldest child meant and thought that the eldest child was praising him, so he smiled at the eldest child, revealing his white millet teeth.

Ning Tang then said to Erniu, "Look, you haven't even started school yet, but you've already scored higher than the eldest kid. What will happen when you start school? You'll definitely get first place in every exam to make me and your dad proud. Then Captain Shen will tell everyone, 'Oh, my daughter is so smart! She got 100s in every subject.'"

Erniu blushed and said shyly, "Oh, no, I'm not that smart."

"So, next time someone tells you that girls can't score as well as boys, take off your shoes and slap her in the face," Ning Tang said.

Erniu clenched her fist and said, "Hit her in the face."

"Yeah." Ning Tang said, "That's right, who says women are inferior to men?"

"Who says women are inferior to men..." Erniu murmured. Her mind was wandering, and she didn't know what she was thinking about. After a moment, her little face burst into a different kind of brilliance.

They had been learning for nearly an hour, and since Dahu came to visit, Ning Tang went to the kitchen to get some food to reward the three little kids and to entertain Dahu.

There were dried shrimps, seaweed, and mint syrup. The dried shrimps and seaweed were placed on plates, and the mint syrup was in an enamel jar. Everything was something Da Hu had never seen before.

The three children were already used to it and would start eating and drinking as soon as the food was brought up.

Only Dahu swallowed his saliva but did not take any action.

Ning Tang was surprised and asked him, "Da Hu, why don't you eat?"

Da Hu pursed his lips and glanced at the table full of food. "Auntie Ning, these things must be quite expensive. I won't eat any of them. I'll leave them for Da Wa and the others."

Zeng Xinlan is frugal, and even Dahu is hesitant.

Ning Tang explained to him, "It's not expensive. This dried shrimp is the same shrimp you get at the market for two cents a pound. I noticed that Da Wa and his three kids don't like to peel the shells when eating shrimp, so I dried some for them. You can eat them with the shells. The dried shells are crispy and they provide calcium."

"And this seaweed." Ning Tang pointed at the seaweed. "It's called seaweed, but it's actually laver. You can catch a handful of laver when you cast a fishing net out to sea. It's worthless. Add some chili powder, salt and sugar to the laver and dry it, and you'll get this seaweed." Of course, it's a crude version of seaweed.

The eldest child interrupted, "When you came into our house just now, did you see those lush green weeds growing in the yard? That's mint. Its fragrance repels mosquitoes, and its leaves can be soaked in water. The mint syrup my mom brought us is just mint leaves soaked in water with a little sugar added."

Cheap shrimp, worthless seaweed, and water soaked with weeds.

Da Hu finally felt relieved, "Then... then I'll eat a little..."

Ning Tang was delighted and pushed the plate and enamel pot in front of him. "Help yourself, there's plenty at home. Eat more and you'll be helping us out. There's still a lot. If you don't eat it and it goes bad, it'll be a waste."

Ever since she made these things, Chen Lie and the three children all said they were delicious, so they were always kept at home. As soon as a new batch was made, the cupboard was filled to the brim, so Ning Tang was really not bragging.

After repeated persuasion from Ning Tang and Dawa, Da Hu finally reassured himself. He picked up a piece of seaweed and put it in his mouth. After just one bite, his eyes widened, "Wow, it's delicious!"

The seaweed is fragrant and crispy, with a hint of sweet, salty and spicy flavor, which is very popular with children.

He tried another dried shrimp, and it was indeed made from fresh shrimps that were dried in the sun. In addition to the flavor of shrimp, it also had the unique chewy texture of dried food. It was a bit tiring, but it tasted very delicious.

Da Hu ate several of them in a row and couldn't stop eating.

He suddenly realized that he had eaten too much, so he quickly stopped and looked at Ning Tang's expression.

Unexpectedly, Ning Tang didn't notice him at all. She just held the third child and fed him.

Da Hu looked at Da Wa, Er Niu and San Wa again and found that they ate just as much as he did. Only then did he feel relieved and started eating again.

When Da Wa and Er Niu saw that Da Hu started to eat and drink normally, they looked at each other and slowed down their eating.

Ning Tang looked at these two clever little movements and couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

When they were almost done eating, Ning Tang went to the kitchen cupboard and took out some dried shrimps and seaweed.

When she came back, she keenly noticed that while Dahu was eating, he would look up at the wall from time to time.

Ning Tang was stunned and followed Da Hu's gaze, and found that he was looking at the wall clock.

Da Hu realized that Ning Tang had noticed his little action, so he smiled sheepishly and explained, "Aunt Ning, I'm sorry, I'm borrowing your wall clock to learn how to tell time..."

In the second semester of the first grade, we started teaching how to tell the clock. Dahu didn't have a wall clock or a watch at home, so he could only learn how to tell the clock by using the clock pictures in the math textbook, or by drawing a clock on the sand with a branch.

But how can these two things compare to a real clock? No wonder Dahu stared at the wall as soon as he arrived at Shen's house. It turned out that he was using the Shen's family's wall clock to learn.

After listening to his explanation, Ning Tang felt soft in the heart and didn't know what to say.

Seeing that she was silent, Da Hu thought she minded his behavior, so he waved his hands repeatedly and stammered, "Aunt Ning, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't watch it anymore..."

When he said the word "don't watch", Dahu's voice became noticeably softer, and he glanced at the wall clock again reluctantly.

Ning Tang deliberately said jokingly, "Silly boy, isn't it just checking the clock? What's the big deal? Your mother and I are good friends. If she knew I didn't even let you check the clock, she would definitely come to my house to make trouble. Besides, the clock won't stop even if you look at it a few more times."

Hearing Ning Tang say this, Da Hu felt relieved a little and asked cautiously, "Aunt Ning, can I really look at the clock in your house..."

Ning Tang didn't explain anymore. He waved his hand, motioning Da Hu to come over and showed him the clock on the wall. "Look, this is the hour hand, and this is the minute hand. One minute makes one circle, which is one hour..."

Da Hu gradually became absorbed in listening, and forgot about what had just happened. He began to learn how to read the clock seriously from Ning Tang.

Ning Tang led Da Hu to study for a while and found that it was already four o'clock.

She took the paper and pen from the eldest, second, and third children and said, "I don't want to study anymore."

The third child was already tired of playing, and he didn't show any dissatisfaction when he saw Ning Tang put away the paper and pen.

Da Wa and Er Niu were still immersed in the ocean of knowledge. Da Wa was studying his favorite subject, mathematics, and was naturally very serious, while Er Niu was trying her best to get Ning Tang's praise and studied even harder than Da Wa.

While the two were studying hard, Ning Tang took away their paper and pen. The brother and sister both looked up blankly: "Mom...?"

"What do you want me to do?" Ning Tang said, "It's already four o'clock, stop studying, let's go out and play."

The eldest child asked, "Aren't you supposed to learn until Dad comes back?"

"Will he come back after studying?" Ning Tang asked, "Do you know what time his meeting will end? What if he stays until nine? Should we skip food and drink and study until nine to wait for him to come back?"

"That's definitely not the case." said Big Boy.

Ning Tang said, "So, we must combine work and rest."

"Combining work and rest?" Da Wa and Er Niu looked at each other. "What is combining work and rest?"

"It's a combination of work and rest." Ning Tang thought for a moment and explained to them, "It's about studying for a while, playing for a while. The more you learn, the more you play."

The three little kids, including Da Hu, still didn't understand, but they understood after going out to play.

Da Hu said excitedly, "Okay, okay, Aunt Ning, where are we going to play?"

The beach, the back mountain, the big banyan tree in the military compound, the sand... the entire Hailang Island is so small, there is absolutely no place they haven't played.

Ning Tang had a flash of inspiration, "Let's go fly a kite."

"Fly a kite? Sure, sure." Big Boy's eyes lit up, then dimmed in an instant, "But we don't have a kite."

"If you don't have one, just do it. As long as you have good hands-on ability, there is nothing you can't do." Ning Tang said.

She picked up all the red paper used for making Spring Festival couplets and said, "I'll teach you how to make kites, and then we'll take them to the beach and fly them."

"Can we really make kites by ourselves?" asked Dahu.

"Of course." Ning Tang said, "Making a kite is very simple. First, draw your favorite pattern on paper. A kitten, a puppy, a piglet, anything will do."

While the four children were thinking about what to draw on the paper, Ning Tang went to the kitchen to make the paste for making kites.

The paste is ready and the four children have almost finished painting.

Ning Tang looked at them. What did they draw? Da Wa drew a puppy, Er Niu drew a butterfly, and Da Hu drew a little rabbit.

Perhaps because they often draw on the sand, the three children's drawings are all very good and look very similar.

As for the youngest, Sanwa, Ning Tang laughed as soon as he saw the picture he drew. It was not a picture at all, but a mess of lines.

She asked Sanwa, "Sanwa, what are you drawing?"

San Wa proudly showed Ning Tang his drawing and said in a crisp voice, "San Wa drew a tiger, a big tiger!"

The eldest child came over to look at it and laughed, "You didn't draw a tiger, you drew a pig."

The third child got angry and argued with him, "It's not a piglet, it's a tiger."

Da Wa pointed at the little rabbit Da Hu drew and said, "I think the little rabbit Da Hu drew looks more like Lao Hu than your little pig."

Da Hu smiled shyly and touched the back of his head. "It's okay."

The third child was furious and screamed, "It's not a piglet, it's a tiger, a tiger!"

How could he be Da Wa's opponent? He was defeated after just a few words, and looked at Ning Tang with tears in his eyes, "Mom——"

Ning Tang pinched the child's face and said, "Oh, don't cry, don't cry. I'll draw a big tiger for you, okay?"

The third child stopped dropping golden beans now.

Ning Tang asked Sanwa to sit next to her. She picked up the pen and sketched a lifelike old tiger on the red paper in just a few strokes.

"Wow!" Sanwa exclaimed, pointing at the tiger on the paper and shouting, "It's a tiger!"

"Where is it, where is it?" Da Wa, Er Niu and Da Hu came over and took a look. Hey, Ning Tang really drew a vivid old tiger.

The lines are crisp, the form and spirit are well-presented, and every stroke is just right. The majestic aura of the tiger seems to be transmitted through the paper.

"Mom!" Big Boy shouted, "Please help me redraw my puppy too. No, I don't want a puppy, I also want a big tiger."

"I want one too. I want the butterfly my mom drew." Erniu continued.

Although Da Hu didn't say anything, it could be seen from his expectant eyes that he also really wanted the painting drawn by Ning Tang.

"Of course we can," Ning Tang said, "but if I have to draw each of them and then make the kites, it will be at least five o'clock. Can we still fly the kites?"

The eldest child thought it over for a moment, but he also felt that time was not enough. He puffed his cheeks and said, "Okay, then, I'll draw for the third child first, and then draw for us next time."

Ning Tang soothed him, "Okay, okay, next time I'll draw you one by one. If you want a tiger, I'll draw a tiger. If you want a butterfly, I'll draw a butterfly."

Da Wa, Er Niu and Da Hu were finally satisfied and started to make kites.

Making a kite is simple. Just cut out the pictures drawn by Da Wa and the others on red paper and stick them on a piece of square paper stacked several layers thick. Then stick small bamboo sticks made of chopsticks on the paper, and then install cotton thread and a reel, and a simple kite is ready.

When Da Wa and the others got their kites, they were a little bit unbelievable. Were these really kites they made by themselves?

After all, it was a toy they made by themselves, and the four children couldn't let it go. They hugged the kite tightly in their arms and refused to let go for a moment.

Ning Tang looked at the clock. It was already half past four. He looked out the window again. It was a sunny and windy day, perfect weather for flying a kite.

She locked the courtyard door and led her four children to the beach.

The wind is strong at the seaside, so the kite can take off easily.

Da Wa and the other three can fly their kites by themselves without Ning Tang’s teaching.

The simple kites, carrying their happiness, fly crookedly in the blue sky.

Da Wa took off his shoes and ran on the sand with his bare feet. From time to time, you could hear his cheers, "Fly higher, higher. Hahaha, Da Hu, can you fly as high as me? Wow, Er Niu, I'm going to surpass you!"

The third child saw his older brothers and sisters' kites flying high, but his kite fell to the ground after a few flights. He looked at Ning Tang with a pout and said coquettishly, "Mom, help me fly my kite."

Ning Tang pinched his little face, said "OK", and quickly put the kite into the sky, then let Sanwa hold the reel.

The three kids had a great time.

Flying in the sky are lively and cute "little rabbits", mighty "little tigers", dancing "butterflies" and adorable "puppies". Many people who come to the beach are attracted by the kites in the sky.

Ning Tang took off his shoes and used them as a stool, sitting down on the beach. He looked at the blue sea and sky, and the four little kids playing happily on the white sand beach, and felt very comfortable.

Flying kites is great. It allows you to get some fresh air and it also gives the four kids a chance to relax their eyes and stretch their muscles. It’s a win-win situation.

They played like this for more than an hour, until the eldest child's kite got entangled with the third child's kite, and the four children finally stopped.

Ning Tang looked at the sky. The setting sun was just above the sea level. It was getting late, so he called out to the four children, "It's time to go home."

Big Brother and the others haven’t had enough fun yet, and they’re holding their kites and refusing to move.

Big Baby puffed up his little face and said to Ning Tang, "Why, play for a while longer, we haven't had enough fun yet."