Chapter 396 The competition isn't scary, the loser is the one who feels embarrassed!

Knowing that whenever she said something like that, it was never anything good, Jiang Si immediately became wary and asked, "What are you up to now?"

"Mom, I don't know how to do multiplication and division..."

"No way! You still dare to report it?"

Zhao Zhao immediately hugged her neck tightly and said sweetly, "Mommy, will you teach me? Zhao Zhao is very smart and learns very quickly!"

She is smart, that's undeniable, but she shouldn't have done this to her mother.

Even after returning home, Jiang Si couldn't help but sigh when she thought about it.

"What's wrong?" Huo Tingzhou got off work a little earlier than usual today, and when he got home he saw Jiang Si sitting on the sofa with her arms crossed, sighing.

Jiang Si: "It's not good for children to be too smart, it takes too much to handle for mothers."

Huo Tingzhou looked puzzled. "Did the two children make you angry?"

"No, it's just that she's too ambitious!" After saying that, Jiang Si recounted everything that had happened that day to Huo Tingzhou without missing a single word.

She's good at calculating, but only for everyday accounting; she's not even an amateur.

She can teach addition and subtraction relatively easily, but she doesn't know how to teach multiplication and division.

"What should we do?" Jiang Si asked worriedly.

"Don't worry."

Huo Tingzhou asked about the specific time of the competition and learned that there were still two weeks left. He then put his arm around her shoulder and comforted her, saying, "It's okay, I'll figure something out."

Jiang Si asked in surprise, "What method?"

Huo Tingzhou said, "Do you remember those comrades who came when the children turned one last time? One of them wore glasses."

Hearing him say that, Jiang Si did have a vague impression, but she couldn't remember the specific name. She only knew that the other person's surname seemed to be Zhuo.

"Yes, his name is Zhuo Mingda. We were in the same military academy before, but he was later seconded to the Military Economics Academy."

The Military Economics Academy is an important base for training general logistics professionals for the entire military.

One of the core courses is called mental arithmetic.

Zhuo Mingda was among the first batch of students. He has strong professional skills and chose to stay at the university to teach after graduation. He is now a senior faculty member in the School of Economics.

“I’ll send Zhao Zhao over there and have him help me cram for a while. Zhao Zhao is so smart, he should be able to learn it.”

Jiang Si hesitated for a moment, "Wouldn't it be inappropriate to bother them for such a small matter?"

Huo Tingzhou smiled and shook his head, "Their college has already started winter break, so he's just idling at home anyway. Besides, when he came over last time, he gave Zhaozhao some guidance for a while."

Otherwise, Zhao Zhao's abacus skills wouldn't have improved so rapidly.

Hearing him say that, Jiang Si felt relieved.

Huo Tingzhou didn't delay; after the meeting the next morning, he went to find his comrades.

Zhuo Mingda thought it was something serious and immediately urged Huo Tingzhou to send his eldest niece over.

He's been teaching for so many years, he can tell at a glance whether a student is a good prospect or not.

Without a doubt, Zhao Zhao is a natural talent.

Now that he has this opportunity to mentor someone personally, Zhuo Mingda is visibly excited.

No sooner had Huo Tingzhou left than he found Zhaozhao a suitable abacus and arranged her classes for the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, on the other side...

After getting ready in the morning, Jiang Si went to the Children's Palace. She first asked Zhao Zhao for a two-week leave, and then went to Teacher He to tell him that she would not withdraw from the competition.

Teacher He was not too surprised by this.

He had guessed this would happen after Jiang Si said she wanted to communicate with the child yesterday.

However, the news still caused a huge uproar at the Children's Palace.

The junior participants, in particular, found the news unbelievable the next day.

Most of them had been learning abacus for several years, and many of them had achieved good results in the competition last year.

Right now, there's a new baby in the competition team, who's only four years old (by Chinese reckoning).

I heard that he took a two-week leave of absence and didn't even come to class.

Is this a joke?

"Four years old? The teenage group? Did I hear that right?" A tall, thin boy scoffed. "Isn't this just a real-life example of forcing growth?"

A round-faced child next to her said, "Someone saw her mother yesterday. She had a very unusual air about her. Who knows, she might be a relative of one of the judges in the abacus competition. Do you think they might leak the questions to her beforehand?"

"I don't think so. Abacus calculations are all done on the spot. How can you cheat?"

"What's impossible about that?"

"It doesn't matter if you say it's impossible," said a contestant who participated in the competition last year.

"With so many people during the competition, who would keep staring at the abacus in her hand? She just makes a couple of quick movements and writes down the correct answer..."

Amidst the lively discussion...

Suddenly, a small, angry voice came from behind, "Are you scared?"

The group looked over with puzzled expressions.

They saw the other person clenching their fists, glaring at them with a cute but fierce expression.

Some people found it funny and teased him, saying, "Little brat, what did you just say?"

"I said, are you scared?" Sui Sui repeated, her little chest heaving with anger.

What do we have to be afraid of?

"Aren't you afraid? Then why do you talk about others behind their backs?"

Sui Sui snorted, "She dared to participate in competitions when she was four years old. Would you dare to participate in competitions at her age? Would you dare to sign up for the youth group competitions?"

this……

The group was momentarily speechless.

Seeing that they didn't speak, Sui Sui continued, "The competition isn't scary, it's embarrassing for whoever loses! What if you lose to a four-year-old toddler..."

He knows how to infuriate people.

He deliberately left the rest of his sentence unfinished and then turned and ran away.

"Hey! This little brat." He's quite cute, but why does he speak like ice crystals?

Of course, the group was just puzzled, and none of them took Sui Sui's harsh words to heart.

These days, mastering abacus calculation is much more useful than mastering math, physics, and chemistry.

If you're good at planning, it's easier to find a job.

Therefore, the prestige of abacus competitions is self-evident.

I heard that there are over a thousand participants in the youth group alone this time, making the competition extremely fierce.

Unless she gets in through connections, a baby like her wouldn't even be able to pass the initial screening.

Sui Sui, who ran away after making those harsh words, was clearly aware of this as well.

The little fist clenched and unclenched repeatedly.

If only he had known, he should have joined the abacus group like his sister.

With him by her side, her younger sister wasn't so scared anymore.

With this feeling, Sui Sui was listless all day long.

The first person to notice that something was wrong with him was Jiang Si. Usually, when he came back from the Children's Palace, he couldn't help but share with his family what he had learned at school that day, or how many chess pieces he had lost to his deskmate.

But today is unusually quiet.

She would occasionally speak, but she would always ask the same question: "Mom, when is my sister coming back?"

"It should be soon. Your father has already gone to Uncle Zhuo's house to pick her up."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the sound of a key turning came from outside the door.

Sui Sui's movements were so fast that they were almost blurry. When the door opened, he saw his younger sister smiling with her eyes crinkled, and he immediately bent down, picked up her little cotton slippers, and squatted down.

"Little sister, quickly change your shoes."

These are all part of the siblings' daily routine, and Zhao Zhao is already used to them.

"Thank you, brother."

Are you tired today?

As they were talking, Sui Sui had already taken the little abacus from her younger sister's arms.

Then she pulled her younger sister to the living room, where she poured water and washed apples.

Completely forgetting that Huo Tingzhou was standing at the door, waiting for his son to help him get his slippers.

With no other option, Huo Tingzhou had to change into it himself.

"What's wrong with him?" Huo Tingzhou asked, puzzled, as he went into the kitchen.

When he comes home, even if his son forgets to bring him slippers, he will immediately call out "Dad!"

I didn't even glance at him today!

Huo Tingzhou even reflected on the spot, wondering if he had done something wrong recently and neglected his son.

"I don't think so." Jiang Si glanced at the brother and sister in the living room. "He was fine when I took him to the Children's Palace this morning, but he's like this now that he's back."

She paused for a moment, then added, "I was just about to ask him when you all came back."

The siblings' conversation continued at this moment.

Zhao Zhao shook her head and said she wasn't tired.

Then, with a terrifyingly strong expression, she said, "Brother, Uncle Zhuo taught me multiplication today. Quickly give me a test!"

Upon hearing this, Huo Tingzhou quickly interrupted, "Zhaozhao, come wash your hands and eat first. You've been studying all day; your brain needs a rest too."

When I went to pick her up from the Zhuo family, she refused to leave.

Sui Sui was also worried that her younger sister was working too hard and that her body wouldn't be able to handle it. "Let's eat first. After you've eaten, your brother will test you, okay?"

Zhao Zhao is an obedient and good child. Upon hearing this, she immediately went to wash her little hands.

When I sat down at the table, there was already a bowl of rice piled high in front of me.

Rice is served every year.

Not only did he serve rice to his younger sister, but throughout the entire meal, he kept putting her favorite dishes on her plate.

Their attentive attitude made even Zhao Zhao realize something was wrong.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Zhao Zhao felt that her brother was being a little too nice to her today!

Sui Sui lowered her head, rummaged through the rice in her bowl, and said in a muffled voice, "It's nothing, you eat quickly."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou exchanged a glance.

After dinner, Jiang Si took Zhao Zhao to take a bath.

Huo Tingzhou went to Sui Sui's room, and the father and son had a conversation that was typical of men.

No matter how smart Sui Sui is, she's still just a child. Her heart was completely opened up by her father's few words of coaxing.

He was worried that his sister would be sad if she couldn't answer the question.

He was also worried that others would laugh at his sister.

After understanding the whole story, Huo Tingzhou patted his son's head.

"My sister enjoys the process. She doesn't care what others say or whether she wins or loses."

"And you made a very good point."

Upon hearing this, Sui Sui raised her head.

Huo Tingzhou said, "It's amazing that my sister has the ideas and courage to challenge herself at this age!"

While affirming his daughter, Huo Tingzhou also praised his son.

"You were great too. You bravely stood up for your sister today. You're a responsible and good older brother!"

Sui Sui blushed as she was praised, "Dad, I will try my best."

He wants to strive to become stronger and follow in his sister's footsteps!

At this time, Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou were unaware of this.

A fierce competition between the brother and sister has quietly begun.

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was the day before the competition—