Chapter 414 My First Waterloo

Hearing the greetings and laughter outside, the people inside all stopped what they were doing.

A bold boy turned to look at Zhuo Qingyun sitting in the back row, "Qingyun, is Teacher Zhuo like this at home too?"

This is completely different from when she was teaching them.

The remaining people were also very curious and pricked up their ears.

Judging from what Teacher Zhuo said just now, he couldn't wait to take this child named Zhao Zhao as his apprentice.

"Teacher Zhuo took a few days off from class before the Lunar New Year, saying she needed to take care of a child. Could it be her?"

"Probably." The little boy sitting in the front row peeked through the crack in the door.

Two children were sitting on the sofa outside.

A boy and a girl, both of whom looked to be only four or five years old.

I just don't know which one is Zhao Zhao?

But no matter which one it was, it was not what they had imagined.

"Is that Zhao Zhao very capable?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Qingyun, who had been silently working on her problems, finally looked up and asked, "Have you finished your problems?"

ah?

The group paused for a moment, then subconsciously looked at their half-finished papers.

I was so busy listening to the people chatting outside that I didn't even have time to do the problems.

"It's alright. Didn't Teacher Zhuo just say that we should invite our guests to stay for dinner?"

One of them consoled himself, "Maybe Teacher Zhuo will let us leave get out of class early."

Zhuo Qingyun glanced at him, gave him a "you're overthinking it" look, and then stuffed the cotton ball she had prepared in advance into his ear.

His father is usually quite gentle, except when he's teaching.

Well done, praise them to the skies.

If you don't do well, you'll be completely ruthless, even to your own family.

But clearly, this person didn't understand Zhuo Qingyun's gaze and was still lost in his own thoughts.

"I don't even expect a full day off, half a day would be fine, then I could..."

"Cough cough cough—"

"Cough cough cough————"

Several clear coughs rang out simultaneously, interrupting the man's thoughts.

This was a secret code they usually used, and the person immediately sat up straight upon hearing it.

Just when everyone thought that Teacher Zhuo was about to start yelling again, unexpectedly, Zhuo Mingda walked in with a smile, leading a little girl with two pigtails.

The rest of the family of three came in with him.

The group had just discussed it outside and decided that starting this week, Zhao Zhao would come to the Zhuo family's house for lessons every weekend.

During winter and summer vacations, she can come anytime she wants.

In short, everything is fine with Zhuo Mingda.

Since all the students were present, Zhuo Mingda introduced them to each other.

Although Zhuo Mingda is younger than Huo Tingzhou, he has the advantage of getting married earlier.

His wife is also a university teacher, just like him, but she teaches at the School of Political Science and Law.

“This is my son, Zhuo Qingyun. He is eight years old this year. He went to his maternal grandparents’ house for winter vacation and just came back before the New Year.”

Zhuo Qingyun stood up politely and said, "Hello, Uncle and Aunt."

Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou nodded slightly. "Qingyun, hello."

"The remaining children are all children we've taken in over the past few years."

After introducing them one by one, Zhuo Mingda pointed to Zhao Zhao and said, "This is Zhao Zhao. Starting today, she will be learning abacus mental arithmetic with you. She is young, so you should take good care of her."

"Understood, Teacher Zhuo."

The group nodded, then glanced at the little guy who was barely taller than their shoulders.

"Teacher, will we have classes together from now on?" asked the little boy in the front row.

He didn't mean to belittle Zhao Zhao.

However, they all started taking the course around the same time, and they've already begun learning large-digit multiplication and division.

Zhao Zhao is so young, can she keep up?

Zhuo Mingda has already considered this issue; mental arithmetic is different from other courses.

Once you master the core algorithm, the number of digits only affects the speed of solving problems; it doesn't have any real impact.

Fearing that Zhaozhao would worry, he made a point of comforting her with a few words, his tone incredibly gentle, as if he had a splint in his throat.

"Zhaozhao, don't worry~ Teacher Zhuo will adjust your learning content according to your progress. We'll take it slowly~"

Huo Tingzhou got goosebumps all over after hearing this.

The students present all had expressions that were hard to describe.

Zhao Zhao, on the other hand, remained calm and composed, saying, "Yes, thank you, Master."

"This kid's composure is truly remarkable!"

After praising her, Zhuo Mingda casually asked, "Zhaozhao, have you mastered everything your master taught you before the New Year?"

He was referring to multiplication and division of large numbers.

He already knew that Zhao Zhao had won first place in the Beijing Abacus Competition for Youth Group.

To be precise, he was already certain that Zhao Zhao would win first place before she even participated in the competition.

Because the questions in those competitions are on a completely different level from what they are learning now.

"I guess you can be considered to have mastered it?" Zhao Zhao took after Jiang Si in this respect, never making any promises she couldn't keep.

The main reason is that no one has been testing her lately.

She wasn't sure how much she had mastered.

But Zhao Zhao's answer was already a pleasant surprise for Zhuo Mingda.

Perhaps wanting to know the extent to which she had grasped the material, Zhuo Mingda pulled out another test paper from the lesson plan.

He had just successfully persuaded Huo Tingzhou and Jiang Si's family to stay for dinner.

There's still over an hour before lunch.

He told Zhaozhao to give it a try, and to write as much as she could.

"Sweetie, go on, find yourself a seat."

Zhao Zhao nodded, took the test paper, and found a seat to sit down.

"Let's go, let's not disturb the children while they're doing their homework." Seeing that Huo Tingzhou was still standing there, Jiang Si gently pulled him out.

Sui Sui didn't bother her younger sister. She took a few chocolates from her pocket, put them in her sister's hand, and went out.

After the family left, the door was gently closed, and everyone inside breathed a sigh of relief.

"So you're Zhao Zhao." The group looked her up and down with curiosity.

Zhao Zhao nodded, "Yes."

"How old are you this year? Why are you so young and already learning abacus mental arithmetic?"

"I like it."

After saying that, she threw the question back at them, "Don't you like it?"

No, that's not it. They must like what they're learning, but the deeper they go, the less happy they feel.

Perhaps they felt that Zhao Zhao was still too young, and that discussing these things now would be too profound for her.

The group didn't say much.

Just then, someone glanced at Zhao Zhao's exam paper.

Upon seeing this, I was completely stunned.

This question... it's exactly the same as the one they're doing now!

He always thought that the questions Teacher Zhuo gave her were separate.

Thinking about all this, he couldn't help but ask, "This is such a difficult question, do you...can you do it?"

But his worries seemed unnecessary, because at the same time he asked the question, Zhao Zhao said to the person next to her, "Big brother, can you lend me a pencil?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Qingyun took one out of her pencil case and handed it over.

"Thanks."

The first question wasn't too difficult. Zhao Zhao used mental arithmetic, and after more than ten seconds, she wrote down the answer on the paper.

Several people curiously leaned closer.

Now everyone fell silent.

The children selected by Zhuo Mingda were all extraordinary individuals.

Perhaps it was Zhaozhao's arrival that put pressure on them.

After that, the group stopped talking and focused all their attention on answering the questions.

This exam can be considered Zhao Zhao's first major setback in her life!

Of the five people, she had the lowest score.

However, in Jiang Si's view, this is not a bad thing.

She had been vaguely worried that Zhao Zhao's journey had been too smooth, and that if she encountered any setbacks in the future, she might not be able to cope or would be unable to bear it.

It would be good to let her see what it means to be "there are always people better than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding."

In the following days, the couple paid close attention to Zhao Zhao's condition.

Only when they confirmed that Zhao Zhao's mindset was not affected at all, but instead showed a tendency to become more courageous in the face of setbacks, did the two feel relieved.

Time flies, and April is here in the blink of an eye.

This year's National Model Workers and National Advanced Workers Commendation Conference is scheduled for April 8th.

The invitation was delivered by the Ministry of Construction at the end of March.

Just as Jiang Si was preparing for the awards ceremony, people from Beijing TV came to her early that morning.