When Huo Panlijian finally sat down at the school table with her younger siblings, her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down. She had been to school before, too. The little girl smiled and caught sight of three familiar faces out of the corner of her eye.
She frowned, looking at Huo Xiaolong, Hou Xiangxiang, and Da Nier who were smiling and greeting her, her eyes filled with questions.
"What brings you here, Third Brother?"
The little girl pouted her upper lip, held the pen between her lips and nose, and looked up at the ceiling. She didn't want to come either, but her two mothers wouldn't allow it.
Here's what happened: On a beautiful, sunny day, Huo Xiaolong and Hou Xiangxiang were having class in the classroom, while outside, He Yi and Cen Ang were leading the girls from Fengyue Tower to pick pear blossoms, otherwise it would be a pity if they fell.
Spring has arrived, and the women want to make their own spices. Several pear trees in the yard are in full bloom. When everyone was picking the last of the flowers, He Yi saw something on the tree.
"Hey? What's that on our tree? Why is it speckled with silver?"
Everyone crowded around to look for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. It was Cen Ang, an old hand from the Shenxing Division, who looked in the direction of the silver dot at the room where the class was being held, gathered his inner strength in his right hand, and gently patted the tree.
A few soft, crisp sounds rang out on the ground, enough for thirty or forty embroidery needles to fall to the ground.
"My God, where did all these needles come from?"
"That's right, which of our sisters is practicing hidden weapons?"
"No, look at these needles, every single one is stuck in. Nobody here knows internal martial arts as well as we do now."
Cen's mother remained silent, but gave He Yi a wink towards the classroom. The woman immediately understood: fine, this was her daughter's doing.
Cen Ang raised a finger to his lips, then quietly pulled He Yijing to the classroom window, right next to where the little dumpling was sitting.
Huo Xiaolong was unaware of the danger approaching and was folding paper airplanes. After finishing, he threw them out through the crack in the window. The little dumpling had just pushed the window open a crack when he saw his two mothers with dangerous eyes.
In an instant, the little hand closed the window again, pretending nothing had happened, and sat up straight.
Cen Ang pushed open the classroom door and, with his hair disheveled, went straight to Zhao Kai and asked...
"Is this how Zhao Tanhua teaches his children? There are only two kids in total!"
For some reason, the man's gaze was unfocused, his eyes vacant. He stood up, took a deep breath, and asked Huo Xiaolong a question.
"Long'er, come here, tell your mother what we learned today?"
Having studied the Analects
"Memorize it."
The little dumpling memorized the entire poem like a machine gun, and even felt quite pleased with herself, giving He Yi a flirtatious wink.
"Come on, explain this to your mom again."
"This article is about..."
Cen Ang stared blankly at his incessantly chattering daughter, then Zhao Kai said to her...
"Ah Cen, do you have a solution? I don't."
They can learn something in one go, and after the explanation, they just play with it by themselves without bothering others. Apart from their slightly messy handwriting, there's nothing to criticize.
Cen's mother actually had the same feeling when she taught her internal skills. In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, she would learn and master the skills and then go off to play. If she didn't let her go, Huo Xiaolong would definitely be distracted.
Recently, the little dumpling remembered Dongfang Bubai from her past life and started playing with her embroidery needle again.
Hou Xiangxiang was no less remarkable. Although she wasn't a prodigy, she was obedient and diligently completed the assignments given by her teacher. Every day, she would finish her homework before running around with Huo Xiaolong.
Zhao Kai waved his hand, signaling the two children to leave get out of class first.
"Thank you, sir! You've worked hard!"
Do you still have any embroidery needles, little sister?
"That's it. I've used up all the embroidery needles I've had for months in the last few days."
"It's okay, I'll get it out for you in a bit."
"OK!"
The adults looked at each other, and even He Yi pinched the bridge of her nose. Whether Huo Shuwen was there or not was of no use. He couldn't say anything and couldn't think of a way to deal with his daughter.
"That's the situation right now. As for Long'er, you two have seen it for yourselves. She's intelligent and quick-witted."
“Sigh, I made her study not because I wanted her to be outstanding, but because, how should I put it? It’s just…” Cen Ang couldn’t quite put his words into words.
"We just wanted her to calm down and reflect..." He Yi chimed in from the side.
“Yes, this is a path every child has to go through. Look at those wealthy families in the capital, isn’t it?” Mother Cen said to Zhao Kai, meaning that he should think of another way. She couldn’t let the child continue to cause trouble like this. Whose child plays during class? She needed to calm down.
“Reading is not like practicing martial arts; it requires the right atmosphere.” The third-ranked scholar understood all too well what reading required, and to be honest, he was too familiar with Long’er. He had tried to manage the little dumpling, but she had no resistance at all.
Huo Xiaolong applied the same tactics he used on Huo Shuwen to him, and Zhao Kai, who was not as courageous as Xiong Ying, immediately raised his hands in surrender.
"How about we send him to the county school?"
"ah?"
Zhao Kai's suggestion made the two mothers uneasy. They were reluctant to let their child be bullied. What if the teacher at the county school didn't hold back and hit her? What if their child was bullied at the county school?
“I got her for my senior brother. He’s not close to Long’er, so he should be able to keep her in line. Besides, everyone at the county school is studying, so she shouldn’t be able to keep up with her misbehavior.”
Zhao Kai, seeing that Cen Ang was somewhat unhappy, put his hand on her shoulder and continued to speak softly to her.
"Ah Cen, don't worry too much. Long'er isn't as... fragile as you all think?"
There's really no reliable adjective to describe Huo Xiaolong as the third-ranked scholar. I don't know why these two mothers have such a strong bias towards him.
Cen Ang, who rarely cried, had red eyes and said to the man behind him.
"Long'er has had a hard life since she was little. She was brought here from Jiangnan when she was so young, and she suffered so much on the way..."
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