Hearing the greetings and laughter from outside the room, the few people inside all stopped what they were doing.
A bold boy turned to look at Zhuo Qingyun sitting in the back row. "Qingyun, does Teacher Zhuo usually... act like this at home too?"
This was simply a completely different person compared to when he taught their classes.
The others were also curious, perking up their ears to listen.
Judging by what Teacher Zhuo just said, he was practically dying to take this child named Zhaozhao as his student.
"Teacher Zhuo stopped classes for a few days before the New Year, saying he was going to tutor a child. Was it her?"
"Probably." A little boy in the front row peeked through the crack in the door.
On the sofa outside sat two children.
A boy and a girl, both only about four or five years old.
They just didn't know which one was Zhaozhao.
But whichever one it was, it wasn't what they had imagined.
"Is that Zhaozhao very talented?"
Hearing this, Zhuo Qingyun, who had been silently working on problems, finally looked up. "Have you all finished your problems?"
Huh?
The group was stunned for a moment, instinctively looking down at their half-finished test papers.
They had been too busy listening to the conversation outside to focus on the problems.
"It's fine, didn't Teacher Zhuo just say he was going to ask the guests to stay for dinner?"
One of them comforted himself. "Maybe Teacher Zhuo will let us leave class early."
Zhuo Qingyun glanced at him, giving him a "you wish" look, and casually stuffed the cotton balls she had prepared in advance into his ears.
His dad was usually quite gentle, except when it came to teaching.
If you did well, he praised you to the skies.
If you did poorly, he wouldn't recognize his own kin.
But clearly, this person didn't understand Zhuo Qingyun's look and was still fantasizing.
"I don't even hope for a whole day off, half a day would be enough, then I could..."
"Ahem, ahem, ahem—"
Several deliberate coughs sounded simultaneously, interrupting his train of thought.
This was their usual secret signal. Hearing it, the boy immediately sat up straight.
Just as everyone thought Teacher Zhuo was about to start his lion's roar again, unexpectedly, Zhuo Mingda walked in smiling, leading a little girl with two pigtails.
Following him in were the remaining three members of the family.
They had just agreed outside that starting this week, Zhaozhao would come to the Zhuo house for lessons every weekend.
During winter and summer vacations, she could come anytime she wanted.
In short, Zhuo Mingda was completely flexible on his end.
Taking advantage of having his students here today, Zhuo Mingda introduced everyone.
Although Zhuo Mingda was younger than Huo Tingzhou, he had married early. His wife was also a university teacher like him, but she taught at a law school.
"This is my son, Zhuo Qingyun. He's eight years old. He went to his maternal grandmother's house for winter break and just came back before the New Year."
Zhuo Qingyun stood up politely. "Hello, Uncle, Auntie."
Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou nodded slightly. "Hello, Qingyun."
"The rest of these are the children I've taken on as students over the past few years."
After introducing them one by one, Zhuo Mingda finally pointed to Zhaozhao. "This is Zhaozhao. Starting today, she will learn mental abacus calculation with you. She's young, so please look after her."
"Understood, Teacher."
They all nodded, taking another look at the little one who didn't even reach their shoulders.
"Teacher, will we have class together from now on?" asked the little boy in the front row.
He didn't mean to look down on Zhaozhao.
It's just that their group had all started around the same time and were already learning multiplication and division of large numbers.
Zhaozhao was so young. Could she keep up?
Zhuo Mingda had already considered this. Mental abacus calculation was different from other subjects.
Once you mastered the core algorithms, the number of digits only affected speed, not the fundamental understanding.
Afraid Zhaozhao might worry, he specifically reassured her a few times, his tone incredibly gentle, as if his voice was wrapped in cotton.
"Don't worry, Zhaozhao~ Teacher Zhuo will adjust the learning content based on your progress. We'll take it slow~~"
Huo Tingzhou got goosebumps all over after hearing this.
The seated students also wore expressions of speechless dismay.
Zhaozhao, however, remained perfectly composed. "Mm, thank you, Teacher Zhuo."
"This child's composure is truly unmatched!"
After praising her, Zhuo Mingda casually asked another question. "Zhaozhao, have you mastered everything Teacher taught you before the New Year?"
He was referring to multiplication and division of large numbers.
He already knew about Zhaozhao winning first place in the youth group of the Jing City Abacus Competition.
To be precise, even before she competed, he was certain she would take first place.
Because the competition problems and what they were learning now were not on the same level at all.
"I guess I can do it?" Zhaozhao took after Jiang Si in this; she never spoke in absolutes.
Mainly, no one had tested her recently.
She wasn't sure how much she had truly mastered.
But for Zhuo Mingda, Zhaozhao's answer was already a pleasant surprise.
Perhaps also wanting to understand the extent of her mastery, Zhuo Mingda pulled another test paper from his teaching materials.
He had already successfully persuaded Huo Tingzhou and Jiang Si's family to stay for dinner.
There was still over an hour before the meal.
He asked Zhaozhao to give it a try, to write down as much as she could.
"Go ahead, find yourself a seat."
Zhaozhao nodded, took the test paper, found a seat, and sat down.
"Let's go, we shouldn't stay here and distract the children from their work." Seeing Huo Tingzhou still standing rooted to the spot, Jiang Si gently pulled him out.
Suisui didn't disturb his sister either. He took a few chocolates from his pocket, stuffed them into his sister's hand, and went out.
After the family left and the door closed softly behind them, everyone in the room let out a collective sigh of relief.
"So you're Zhaozhao." They all looked at her curiously.
Zhaozhao nodded. "Yes."
"How old are you? Why are you learning mental abacus calculation at such a young age?"
"Because I like it."
Then, she tossed the question back at them. "Don't you like it?"
That wasn't it. Since they were learning it, they must like it. It's just that the deeper they went, the less joy they seemed to find.
Perhaps they thought Zhaozhao was too young, and this topic was too profound for her now.
They didn't elaborate.
Just then, someone's gaze inadvertently swept over Zhaozhao's test paper.
One look, and they were stunned.
These problems... were exactly the same as the ones they were working on now!
They had always assumed Teacher Zhuo had given her a separate set of problems.
"Such difficult problems... can you... do them?" someone couldn't help but ask.
But his concern seemed unnecessary, because just as he asked, Zhaozhao said to the person next to her, "Big brother, could you lend me a pencil?"
Hearing this, Zhuo Qingyun took one from his pencil case and handed it to her.
"Thank you."
The first problem wasn't that hard. Zhaozhao used mental calculation. After about ten seconds, she wrote the answer on the paper.
Curious, they all craned their necks to look.
At that moment, everyone fell silent.
None of the children chosen by Zhuo Mingda were ordinary.
Perhaps Zhaozhao's arrival had subtly put pressure on them.
After that, the group fell silent, pouring all their concentration into answering the questions.
This exam could be considered the first Waterloo in Zhaozhao's life.
Among the five of them, she scored the lowest.
However, in Jiang Si's view, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
She had been quietly worried before, fearing that Zhaozhao's path had been too smooth, and that if she ever encountered a setback in the future, she might not be able to handle it or find it hard to accept.
Now, letting her see what "there's always someone better" meant was actually quite good.
Over the next few days, the couple paid close attention to Zhaozhao's state.
They only relaxed after confirming that her mindset wasn't affected in the slightest; on the contrary, she seemed to be growing more determined with each challenge.
Time flew by, and soon it was April.
This year's National Model Workers and Advanced Workers Commendation Conference was scheduled for April 8th.
The invitation had been delivered by the Ministry of Construction as early as the end of March.
Just as Jiang Si was preparing for the awards ceremony, a team from the Beijing TV station came to visit early one morning.
