Yan Xiaonan wasn't about to give up so easily. She grabbed Grandma Yan and pleaded, "Grandma, I can read! I can read!"
Looking into Yan Xiaonan's pure, big eyes, Grandma Yan couldn't resist nodding, but she made one condition: he couldn't spend more than ten minutes a day recognizing characters. Yan Xiaonan quickly nodded in agreement; ten minutes was enough.
Seeing that his mother had agreed, Yan Xiaoqiang was worried that his daughter would be unhappy, so he could only nod. However, he would keep track of the time, only ten minutes, not a second more, in case she damaged her brain.
Yan Xiaonan asked Yan Dongnan to teach her to read right now. Yan Dongnan picked up a pen and neatly wrote the three characters "Yan Xiaonan" on a piece of white paper. "Nannan, these three characters are pronounced Yan Xiaonan, that's your name."
Yan Xiaonan pretended to look at it once, then read it again, and told Yan Dongnan, "Brother, I've got it."
Yan Dongnan nodded, then wrote down the names of Yan Dongnan, Yan Xinan, Yan Beinan, and Yan Zhongnan on the paper, and read them aloud to Yan Xiaonan. Yan Xiaonan then pretended to understand and said, "Big brother, I understand."
Yan Dongnan pointed to the three characters "Yan Beinan" and asked, "Nannan, how do you pronounce these three characters?"
Yan Xiaonan didn't waste time with him and pointed to the words on the paper, reading: "Yan Xiaonan, Yan Zhongnan, Yan Beinan, Yan Xinan, Yan Dongnan."
Xi Nan Nan and Xue Mei were stunned on the spot. Yan Dongnan was not giving up, so he wrote down the words "Grandma", "Dad", "Mom", "Brother", "Sister" and "Mushroom Village" and read them to Yan Xiaonan. Yan Xiaonan read them back. Dongnan then scrambled the order and asked Yan Xiaonan to recognize the words. Yan Xiaonan recognized them all accurately.
Yan Beinan let out a wail: "Heavens, I can't live anymore! I'm not as good at fishing as Zhongnan, not as good at reading as Xiaonan, and not as good at hunting as Dongnan. I'm wasting my life!"
Southwest and Xuemei were also filled with shame. They were all grown up, yet they were not as good as a two-year-old girl. Xuemei, in particular, felt ashamed. Southeast had taught her to read for many years, but she still couldn't recognize a whole bunch of characters. She decided to learn to read with Nannan from now on.
Looking at Xue Mei's serious face, Yan Xiaonan, looking constipated, asked her, "Sister, do you really want to learn to read with me?"
Xuemei nodded firmly. Grandma Yan turned her face away, not wanting to watch any longer. "Girl, you will be sad, no, you will be heartbroken."
Southeast turned the paper over and began writing Arabic numerals from 1 to 10, making Yan Xiaonan recognize the characters. Yan Xiaonan was really having a hard time. "Brother, are you deliberately torturing me?" Thinking about his age, he realized that his brother wasn't wrong. He had no choice but to resign himself to reading it once. Southeast got excited and was about to write a couple more numbers when Yan Xiaoqiang confiscated them.
There was no clock or watch in the house, but Yan Xiaoqiang counted until he reached six hundred. Then he put the paper away. When the time was up, Yan Dongnan looked at Yan Xiaoqiang helplessly and said, "Dad, how did you count your ten minutes? Did you shorten it by half?"
Yan Xiaoqiang waved his hand, "We'll study again tomorrow. Today's time is up." Looking at the unreasonable Yan Xiaoqiang, Cuihua almost died laughing. She pulled Xuemei up and said, "Nannan's birthday is coming soon. Let's get rid of her rabbit fur jacket these next few days."
Xuemei exclaimed and quickly took out the sewing basket. Everyone's attention was focused on the rabbit fur coat. Yan Dongnan shook his head helplessly. His father and the others really doted on Nannan too much.
North and Southwest wandered around the mountain's perimeter every day, but unfortunately, all they brought back were firewood and pine cones. The pheasants and rabbits had become quite clever and would never be fooled again. Seeing the two dejected boys, Yan Xiaoqiang sternly warned them that even if they couldn't catch anything, it didn't matter, but they were absolutely not allowed to enter the mountain.
The two men remembered how their older brother had killed a wild boar with a single blow, and begged Southeast to take them pheasant hunting. Southeast flatly refused, saying he knew exactly how he had killed the wild boar, and his legs went weak with fear.
Today is Nan Nan's birthday. Both of them promised to give Nan Nan a pheasant and a rabbit as birthday presents, but what should they do if they don't hunt them? Why don't they take Zhong Nan to the mountains to try their luck? After begging Zhong Nan for a long time, he finally agreed. So the two of them and the wolf headed into the mountains.
Yan Xiaonan's heart skipped a beat. She had received Zhongnan's message. So she lay down on the kang and closed her eyes, letting her consciousness spread out. Sure enough, Southwest and North South were heading into the mountains. Yan Xiaonan's consciousness began to search for pheasants and rabbits, as these two things were most abundant in the mountains. Before long, a pheasant flapped its wings and bumped into North South's arm, which North South caught right away.
The two brothers quickly tied the pheasant's feet with a rope, carefully inspected it, and threw it into their basket. Just as they were about to start walking, a wild rabbit crashed into the tree next to them and fell down with a thud. Southwest was a little confused. Was this what his older brother meant by "waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump"?
The two brothers tied the rabbit up tightly again, threw it into their baskets, and tried to head further into the mountains, but Zhongnan blocked their way. Beinan tried to pull Zhongnan away, but Zhongnan revealed his wolfish nature, baring his teeth and growling, his wolf eyes glaring fiercely at Beinan.
Southwest understood that Zhongnan would never let him go up the mountain again, so he pulled Beinan and turned to walk home. Beinan glanced at Zhongnan and resignedly followed Southwest. Just a few minutes after they left, several wild boars walked past where they had just been standing. If it weren't for Zhongnan's intervention, the two brothers would definitely have met the wild boars from afar.
The reason why Bei Nan stopped the two brothers in this way was, of course, the result of Yan Xiao Nan's communication with him. Zhong Nan himself had also discovered the traces of wild boars, and could only use this method to force the two brothers to leave.
Yan Xiaonan's consciousness continued to spread into the mountains. She remembered that she seemed to have felt the sound of water somewhere last time. Thinking of the sound of water, a hot spring appeared in front of Yan Xiaonan. The steam was thick, and she seemed to smell sulfur in her nose. She really wanted to soak in the hot spring. Soaking in the hot spring on a cold day is the most comfortable thing.
Suddenly, Yan Xiaonan felt as if she were soaking in a hot spring. Startled, she quickly snapped out of her daze. Her head throbbed, but she was now fully awake. A thought struck Yan Xiaonan: Could this year's birthday present be an upgrade to her superpower, allowing her soul to leave her body? No, no, this is too dangerous. What if she can't come back?
But she was still a little unwilling to give up. The hot spring was so comfortable. Why not try it again? She just needed to time it right. So Yan Xiaonan lay back down on the kang, closed her eyes, and focused her mind on the hot spring.
Plunging into the spring water, it felt so good! This must be a real hot spring. The smell of sulfur filled the air. I'll come and soak every day from now on. Afraid of not being able to go back, Yan Xiaonan quickly soaked for a while before snapping out of it. She felt refreshed and incredibly comfortable.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
