As if struck by a bolt from the blue, Cersei froze completely in place. Her waist remained bent at the same angle, her hand still in the position she had left after putting down the book. As if stuck, she turned her head haltingly, her voice trembling as she asked, "W-what did you say? You...you can't...you can't read?"
Xu Ling is such a grown woman! Can't she read?
Are you kidding me?!
How is that possible?!
It has to be said that Xu Ling is the first person in history to catch Sersi off guard, and even her speech unconsciously became similar to April's, and she became incoherent.
Xu Ling, however, seemed oblivious to the unprecedented impact her words had on Cersei. When her teacher asked her this, she nodded without hesitation and affirmed, "Yes, teacher."
Cersei: ......
That answer wasn't enough. In front of Cecilia, Xu Ling curiously held up the "textbook" she had just received, pointed to the words on the cover that looked like scribbles to her, and asked, "Teacher, what does this mean?"
Honestly, Xu Ling was genuinely curious!
But it is precisely because she is genuinely curious, and not feigning curiosity, that it is even more unacceptable!
It was so unbelievable that Cersei was still immersed in the emotion, her expression blank, clearly not yet back to her senses.
But out of habit as a teacher, her gaze, following Xu Ling's question, had already subconsciously followed that slender, pale finger.
The slightly yellowed cover simply stated the book's basic purpose with just a few words. Cersei stared at the word "woman" in "witch" that her finger was pointing to, speechless.
If she didn't recognize the character "巫", she could comfort herself that Xu Ling was just unfamiliar with rare characters!
Now, looking at this character "女" (woman)...
Very good, she finally gained a very profound understanding of Xu Ling's illiteracy!
Instead of answering Xu Ling's question, Cersei quickly snatched the book from Xu Ling's hands, saying, "This isn't suitable for you."
She turned and walked toward the only bookcase in her house.
Cersei rummaged through drawers and cupboards, remembering seeing that children's picture book just two days ago...
Fortunately, relying on her vague memory, she finally found the children's picture book in a hidden corner just when she was about to give up.
“This one is more suitable for you.” Ignoring her slightly disheveled appearance, Cecilia walked back to Xu Ling’s side and solemnly handed her the children’s picture book. “This was the one Blake used when he first learned to speak, and it’s perfect for you now! As for your lessons… I’ve been thinking, let’s start with recognizing characters first, and then we can learn other things after that!”
Xu Ling, slightly dazed, accepted the children's picture book: ...
No matter how serious Cecily was, it couldn't hide the fact that what she was holding was a picture book purely for young children!
So, in the teacher's eyes now, she's not even worthy of a proper children's literacy book?!
No matter how frustrated and sad she felt inside, on the surface, Xu Ling still silently hugged the picture book tightly and said thank you: "Thank you, teacher. I will finish reading it as soon as possible, no, I will finish learning it!"
And so began the witch's first lesson—no, the "toddler's" first lesson in picture recognition...
Fortunately, Xu Ling wasn't a real three-month-old baby. As a super-sized baby of 1,440 months, she brought out the attitude she had towards the college entrance examination from her distant memory—burning the midnight oil and writing furiously!
Of course, there's a bit of an exaggeration in that statement. This world isn't the world Xu Ling wished for. There are no incandescent bulbs that can illuminate the night like day, nor are there enough paper and pens for her to squander. But here, Xu Ling still visibly works much harder than she did in the barren land.
Seeing Xu Ling's tireless pursuit of knowledge, I feel truly gratified.
It lay quietly on the corner of the table, watching Xu Ling intently reading a picture book. It flicked its tail and thought: Xu Ling is so diligent; it shouldn't bother her with anything else right now…
In that case, let's wait a while! Once Xu Ling has finished learning to read, it will find some time to contact her again...
No one bothered her, and everyone gave Xu Ling plenty of time, so she was able to study diligently for a month without any distractions.
A month is neither a long nor a short time, and given Xu Ling's normal intelligence, it was enough for her to learn the basic characters in this other world.
It can be said that after this month, Xu Ling has basically escaped the ranks of the illiterate. Cersei was extremely satisfied with this achievement.
Although recognizing characters is something that even a child can do, it still seems quite difficult for someone Xu Ling's age.
It's not that recognizing each character is difficult, but rather that memorizing each character thoroughly over time is quite challenging.
It's important to understand that, often, adults with complicated minds don't perform as well as children who are focused on one thing!
Seeing that recognizing words was no longer a problem for Xu Ling, when Xu Ling came to Sersi again, Sersi finally handed over the "Basic Guide to Witchcraft and Medicine" that she had only seen once before.
Cersei: "Now you can learn this!"
Of course, in addition to the book, Cersei also prepared all the basic herbs mentioned in the book for Xu Ling.
Practice makes perfect; this is an eternal truth, and it is also an idea that Cersei has adhered to to this day without changing.
She didn't think that having enough theoretical knowledge was enough; often, it was necessary to observe reality, especially for them as witches.
Although witches also study magic, they actually experiment more with potions; in other words, witches could also be called apothecaries.
The reason they weren't called pharmacists...
This story goes back a long time. Back then, some pharmacists were so unconventional that they were hardly accepted by the world. In addition, most of them were women. Over time, whether it was people who excluded those who were different or ordinary people who were afraid of heretics, they called them "witches".
Although times have changed and witch is no longer a bad name, the title of this profession has been preserved.
However—to be honest, Cersei still prefers the old way, where everyone would run away from a witch!
Unlike now... not only do I not feel afraid of her, but anyone can come and visit her!
As she thought about it, Cersei's blood pressure suddenly spiked.
Xu Ling blinked, then calmly lowered her head and began to study the book she had just received.
Anyway, as long as I'm not angry with her, that's fine!
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