After hearing Meng Zhao's words, a hint of hesitation flashed in Wei Jinglan's eyes. She subconsciously clenched the hem of her clothes and said in a low voice, "Zhao Zhao, I have never done these things before. I am really not sure. I am afraid I will disappoint you."
Meng Zhao gently took her hand, her face full of expectation, "How could that be? Don't underestimate yourself. I've seen you teach Xiao Chuan, Qing Ze, and Qing Yu to read. You're so meticulous and patient. They've made great progress recently."
Wei Jinglan gently shook her head. "That's different. When I teach them to read, it's just like playing with my own younger siblings. But if I were to face a group of unfamiliar students and give a proper lecture, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to handle it."
"What's the difference? Don't overcomplicate things. To be honest, I'm not worried at all that you won't be able to teach it well. On the contrary, I'm afraid that those illiterate, roughnecks in our village won't be able to learn it and will make you angry again."
Wei Jinglan thought back for a moment and realized that she wasn't afraid of this. Xiao Chuan was wild and couldn't sit still. When she first started teaching her to read, she had to explain each word many times, but she didn't find it annoying at all.
Meng Zhao held Wei Jinglan's hand and shook it slightly. "Jinglan, just consider it helping me out. You have no idea how difficult it is to do anything in my workshop. For example, once when I went to the warehouse to check the inventory, I sent three people to count the stock one by one, but they gave me three different numbers. I was so angry that I counted it myself, and found that none of the three of them had counted it correctly."
As Meng Zhao spoke, she frowned, her face full of helplessness. Wei Jinglan couldn't help but chuckle when she saw her like this, as if a weight had been lifted from her heart. She looked up at Meng Zhao, a glimmer of light appearing in her eyes.
"Okay, I'll give it a try."
Upon hearing Wei Jinglan's agreement, Meng Zhao's eyes lit up. He excitedly grabbed her arm and exclaimed, "Great, Jinglan! I knew you would agree. Then I'll teach you how to use this blackboard first."
Then he handed Wei Jinglan a piece of chalk and asked her to try drawing on the blackboard. Wei Jinglan took the chalk and first made a couple of clumsy strokes. After a short period of getting used to it, she started writing words directly with the chalk.
At first, her writing was indeed a bit crooked, quite different from the calligraphy I had seen before. Because she was used to leaving the brush tip when writing calligraphy, the chalk would break in the middle with the slightest pressure.
Wei Jinglan thought she had broken something, but Meng Zhao quickly said, "It's okay, Jinglan. This kind of chalk is like that. It's quite brittle. If you use too much force, it will break. But it's alright, you can still use the broken piece." As she spoke, Meng Zhao bent down, picked up the broken piece of chalk, and showed it to Wei Jinglan.
Wei Jinglan breathed a slight sigh of relief, refocused her attention on the blackboard, and continued writing. After writing a few words, she gradually felt her writing flow more smoothly, and said with a hint of excitement in her voice:
"At first, I used the way I hold a calligraphy brush to write, and I found the chalk very difficult to control. Just now I tried not to treat it as a pen, but as a small stick, and just like drawing on the ground. I didn't pay attention to the tip and shape of the chalk, and it felt much smoother."
Hearing her insights, Meng Zhao nodded repeatedly, his eyes full of praise: "Jinglan, you are so smart. You have mastered the knack of writing with chalk so quickly, and you are also very receptive to these new things. You are really amazing."
Wei Jinglan blushed as Meng Zhao praised her. She hadn't done anything yet, just writing and drawing, and Meng Zhao was praising her like that. But she had to admit, it felt really good to be praised. If she were to teach in the future, she would learn from Zhao Zhao and praise her students more often.
Before she knew it, Wei Jinglan had slowly filled the entire blackboard with words. At this point, the words she wrote were no longer crooked and messy, but had become very neat and easy to recognize.
"Wow, it's full so quickly." Jinglan exclaimed softly, slightly surprised.
Meng Zhao smiled slightly, then took out a rag from behind her back and wiped the blackboard a few times. All the words the two of them had just written disappeared.
Wei Jinglan looked at Meng Zhao with surprise. Seeing this, Meng Zhao patiently explained, "The purpose of this blackboard is different from that of paper. It is mainly to make it easier for the teacher to write on it so that all students can see it at the same time and remember the key points. There is so much content in a class, so it is natural to make it erasable."
After Meng Zhao taught Wei Jinglan about blackboards and chalk, he called everyone else in the room over. Since they were going to talk about it, they should all talk together so that everyone could listen and create a better atmosphere.
She first wrote the Arabic numerals from 0 to 10 on the blackboard, then marked their corresponding capital numerals next to them. After that, Meng Zhao slightly raised her chin, her bright eyes sparkling with lively light.
"Today, I'll be your substitute teacher for a day and share my mathematical experience with you. However, to make sure you're completely convinced, I'd like to ask if anyone is willing to come up and compete with me?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Meng Zhao's gaze swept over the people sitting below. But upon hearing her words, the people who had been so enthusiastic just moments before immediately lowered their heads, none of them daring to look at her.
Aunt Qian sat to the side. Although she didn't know what was going on, she saw that everyone had lowered their heads, so she also lowered her head and didn't dare to look Meng Zhao in the eye.
Seeing everyone's reaction, Meng Zhao's lips curled up slightly, "Ah, none of you dare? Then I'll have to pick someone."
After scanning the room with his eyes, he said, "Second brother, you are the most learned in the family, so you should do it."
Gu Shi breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it wasn't her. Shen Qingze and Shen Qingyu exchanged a glance, and a hint of relief flashed in their eyes. Xiao Chuan couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Meng Zhao immediately shouted, "Quiet down, quiet down, maintain classroom order."
Shen Qinghe showed a helpless expression, but there was nothing she could do but get up and stand next to Meng Zhao to cooperate with her.
Meng Zhao took a handful of candy out of his pocket and put it on the table.
"Now, everyone here can ask us any math question, and Shen Qinghe and I will answer it. Whoever answers correctly first can take a piece of candy. Also, if any of you ask us a question that stumps us, and we can't answer it within half an incense stick's time, we can take a piece of candy from here."
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