Chapter 395: He certainly gave the kids plenty of inspirational platitudes!

These words struck Jiang Si like two thunderbolts, leaving her completely stunned.

The first thought that popped into my head was, how dare she do that?

Teacher He immediately understood from Jiang Si's expression that she probably didn't know, otherwise she wouldn't be so surprised.

"This was also an oversight on our part," Teacher He said apologetically.

Through his account, Jiang Si finally learned the whole story.

It turns out that after receiving the notification of the Beijing Abacus Competition yesterday, Teacher He sent registration forms to every child in the abacus class.

They also instructed the children to discuss it with their parents when they got home, and if they decided to participate, their parents would help them fill out the registration form.

The children handed in their registration forms early this morning.

Teacher He had something to do temporarily, so she handed over the task of registering and verifying the application forms to Teacher Li in the office.

Before long, the registration forms from other classes also arrived one after another.

Because there were so many people signing up, Teacher Li didn't pay much attention.

I registered my information and then submitted the registration form to the abacus competition organizing committee.

When Teacher He finished her work and saw the registration form, the sky fell down!

Teacher He's abacus class mainly enrolls children aged three to six.

Logically, they should have participated in the preschool group competition, which covers abacus calculation content from levels 10 to 8.

The competition content for the youth group is more complex, mainly consisting of abacus level 7-5 content.

Fearing that Jiang Si might not understand what the test was about, Teacher He gave her a special explanation.

The Level 10 test involves four-stroke arithmetic operations. (For example: 3 + 4 - 2 + 6 = ?)

Level 9 consists of one digit and six strokes. (For example: 7+9-3+6-4+5=?)

The first two are slightly easier, but the difficulty increases significantly at level eight.

The competition involves 2 digits and 3 strokes. (For example: 78 + 46 - 63 = ?)

In addition, there is an extra multiplication operation involving 2 bits x 1 bit. (For example: 36 x 4 = ?)

The difficulty of the youth group goes without saying; just take the Level 5 abacus competition as an example.

This is comparing two 5-digit numbers. (For example: 76895 + 45634 = ?)

Multiplication and division both involve pairing five-digit numbers with one-digit numbers. (For example: 98153 x 3 = ?, 26079 ÷ 3 = ?)

This level of difficulty is simply too much for the preschool children.

And just now, Teacher He received even more surprising news.

He had always thought that Jiang Jingyan was five or six years old, but the teacher in charge of admissions told him that the child was only four years old this year!

Her birthday is rather late, if we really want to calculate it by her full age.

Jiang Jingyan is only two years and four months old!

Actually, it's no wonder that Teacher He was so surprised, even though the two little ones are four years old this year (by Chinese reckoning).

But they not only inherited their parents' good looks, but also their height.

In addition, the food and drinks they usually eat and drink contain spiritual spring water, which makes the brother and sister taller than children of the same age by more than half a head.

Their oral communication skills are exceptional.

So much so that the teachers at the school always thought the two little ones were at least five or six years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning).

Jiang Si understood. "Teacher He, you mean you want her to switch to the preschool group for the competition, right?"

Teacher He quickly waved his hand, indicating that Jiang Si still didn't understand what he meant.

The registration form has already been submitted to the Beijing Abacus Competition Organizing Committee, and there's no way to change it now.

The best solution is to withdraw from the competition, because there's no point in competing against each other.

Teacher He comforted him, saying, "Jingyan is still young. Let him practice for a year first. Once he has a solid foundation, he can participate next year too."

Jiang Si hesitated for a moment, then said, "Teacher He, how about this? I'll talk to her first, and she can reply to you tomorrow, okay?"

Teacher He has been teaching abacus at the Children's Palace for almost ten years and has met quite a few students and parents.

This was the first time he had encountered a parent who remained calm and proactively offered to communicate with their child after an incident.

"Yes, that's fine." Teacher He nodded.

He had already communicated with the parents, so he didn't linger. He led Jiang Si to the entrance of the abacus class, exchanged a few more words, and then turned and left.

Jiang Si was standing at the back door of the classroom at that moment.

Through the window, you can clearly see what's inside.

Zhao Zhao is currently following the teacher's instructions, her little hands moving quickly across the abacus.

Jiang Si was momentarily lost in thought because of the skillful and focused movements of the girl.

Normally, she sees her daughter most often in her quirky and mischievous or coquettish and cute ways; she rarely sees her so composed and serene.

Jiang Si's feelings suddenly became complicated.

Despite spending every day together, her Zhao Zhao seems to have grown up a bit without her noticing.

She has her own ideas and even dares to challenge what seems impossible.

This courage surprised and made her proud.

Jiang Si was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't even hear the bell ringing to signal the end of get out of class. It was Zhao Zhao's voice that finally pulled her back to reality.

"Mom, why are you here!" As she spoke, she buried her face in Jiang Si's arms.

Zhao Zhao was genuinely happy.

She never expected that her mother would actually come to pick her up after she casually mentioned it last night.

I even brought her her favorite chocolate!

Jiang Si peeled off the outer wrapper and stuffed the chocolate into Zhao Zhao's mouth.

The chocolate was a bit big, and Zhao Zhao's voice suddenly became a little muffled, "Mommy... mmm, it's so sweet!"

"Mom, I'll take you to find your brother. He'll be out of class in a few minutes."

Jiang Si let her pull her along until she saw the snow stains that the children had trampled all over the backyard.

Knowing that Zhao Zhao loves cleanliness and beauty, Jiang Si shook her little hand, "Come on, Mommy will carry you."

Zhao Zhao shook her head sensibly, "Mom, I'm a big girl now, I can walk by myself."

Dad said he started sleeping alone when he was three years old.

The brother and sister, determined to surpass their father, started sleeping in separate rooms and beds just after they turned two.

Sometimes they wake up early, and the two of them will make themselves something to eat after getting up.

Jiang Si still clearly remembers the scene when she woke up that day and saw the two little ones sitting at the dining table by themselves, peeling eggs and chatting quietly.

This was absolutely terrifying for her!

Of course, at their current age, the two little ones can't cook anything fancy.

At most, it's just a simple boiled egg with some milk.

Fortunately, when Chris returned to Gaul at the beginning of the year, Jiang Si asked her to buy a lot of practical small appliances.

Among them were small thermos flasks.

Otherwise, she really wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the large metal thermos at home unattended.

Overall, she's a really easy mom!

The child is also taking good care of himself.

They are already quite independent now, without even having to grow up.

Despite it being something to be happy about, Jiang Si inexplicably felt a sense of loss, as if she were not needed.

So she insisted, "The snow on the ground has melted, and stepping on it will get your little boots dirty. How about Mommy carries you?"

Seeing that her mother was so insistent, Zhao Zhao didn't want to spoil her mood.

The moment Zhaozhao climbed onto Jiang Si's back, she pressed her little face against hers and asked, "Mommy, am I heavy?"

Dad was worried she'd be cold, so today he brought her three sweaters, two pairs of thermal pants, and a big cotton-padded coat over them.

They wore hats and scarves as well.

She felt like a round, plump ball!

“Okay, it is quite heavy,” Jiang Si said honestly, “but Mom can still hold on for ten minutes.”

This is how the mother and daughter have always communicated, and Zhao Zhao is used to it.

She pressed her cheek against Jiang Si's and said, "Mommy, I love you so much!"

When it comes to expressing affection, the two little ones are practically born with a natural talent.

"Mom loves you too."

After Jiang Si finished speaking, she casually asked, "I just heard from your teacher He that you participated in an abacus competition?"

"Um!"

Zhao Zhao was also about to tell her mother about this, "Yesterday, Mom and Dad were so busy. When Great-Grandpa came to pick up my brother and me, I asked him to fill out the form for me, but I wrote my own name!"

As he spoke, there was a hint of pride in his tone.

She could already write her own name when she was two years old.

My parents taught me.

She also knows a lot of characters and can recite many, many ancient poems!

Listening to her daughter recount these events vividly, Jiang Si first affirmed her daughter's courage.

“Our Zhaozhao is amazing, she even dared to participate in the competition on her own.”

Then, after carefully considering her words, she asked, "Zhaozhao, do you know which group you signed up for?"

"Yes, I know," Zhao Zhao said proudly about the youth group.

As expected, Jiang Si knew this would happen.

If it weren't for Zhao Zhao's own idea, the old man would never have helped her select the youth group.

Without any anxiety or questioning, Jiang Si asked calmly.

"Zhaozhao, can you tell Mom why you signed up for the youth group? Actually, Mom feels that the preschool group is more suitable for you."

Zhao Zhao blinked her big eyes, "Mommy, but I already know all the questions for the preschool group."

Jiang Si: "..." You already know it?

Before she could speak, Zhao Zhao continued, "Mom, didn't you say that people can't stay in their comfort zone forever, and that they have to challenge themselves in order to improve?"

Jiang Si was momentarily dazed upon hearing this; it did sound like something she would say.

She simply couldn't remember when she said it.

His tone was somewhat uncertain, "Did I say that?"

"Yes, that's what Mom said!"

Zhao Zhao nodded her little head firmly, "When my brother and I turned two, Aunt Chris had a bit too much to drink that noon. You two were lying on the sofa and you were talking. Mom, you even said that life is too short to be content with the status quo..."

Well, that happened several months ago, and Jiang Si really can't remember it clearly.

So the topic had to be brought up again.

Jiang Si knew that Zhao Zhao had already learned abacus in kindergarten.

She wasn't sure what level of education was required in kindergarten. "Zhaozhao, do you know how difficult the youth group competition is?"

Zhao Zhao nodded again, "I know, Brother Weidong and Brother Weimin both told me."

"Are you confident about this competition?" Jiang Si asked again.

"Mom, you said it before, the result isn't important, what's important is to enjoy the process!"

Jiang Si: "..."

It seems she's been giving her child a lot of inspirational advice over the past two years!

She paused, not mentioning withdrawing from the competition again, and said, "Think it through, but there's one thing: you're not allowed to cry if you lose!"

Zhao Zhao agreed very quickly, but then, "My dear mother..."