novelraw Chapter 726 687: Education Must Start with Children
Chapter 726 687: Education Must Start with Children
"Lord Dumpling."
Zhou Li called out softly.
"Meow?"
Tuanzi immediately stood up from Brother Nan's stomach, tilting her head to look at him. Seeing him beckon to her, she jumped down, then from the sofa onto the coffee table, approaching him.
Zhou Li watched her expression. In her eyes, both he and a sleeping Brother Nan appeared the same: merely human-shaped blankets. When she stepped on and walked over them, she truly seemed to have no thought at all for their feelings.
"Lord Dumpling, how about I teach you to read?" Zhou Li suggested to Tuanzi. "This way, Lord Dumpling will become a literate little cat."
"Don't want to!"
The voice was clear, sharp, and resolute.
Just as she reached Zhou Li's side, she turned her head and began to walk back with small, quick steps.
Zhou Li hurriedly called after her, "Wait!"
Tuanzi looked back. "Meow?"
Zhou Li, twirling a pen, asked, "Doesn't Lord Dumpling want to become a strong and wise Great Demon? The kind that is especially respected?"
After a brief pause, he added, "As Her Highness's noble Close Attendant, you're of high status, yet you can't even recognize characters. If word got out, people would laugh at you, and Her Highness would lose face as well."
"That won't happen!"
"But you need to be educated to be respected, don't you?"
"Lord Dumpling is already very respected!"
"You could be even more respected."
"No need!"
"Hmm..."
Zhou Li pondered again, the pen clattering onto the coffee table. He then said, "Lord Dumpling, do you want to go to the park with Her Highness?"
Upon hearing this, Tuanzi immediately sat up straight, staring up at him.
"Want to!"
"If Lord Dumpling learns the numbers up to ten, I'll take you to the park with Her Highness. How about that? Or to the zoo, where there are many little and big animals—little penguins, little foxes, big lions, big tigers. It'll be fun."
"Really, meow?"
"Really."
"You better not lie to Lord Dumpling!"
"Lying to Lord Dumpling is a serious crime," Zhou Li smiled at her. "I would never do that."
"If you lie, then BIUBIUBIU, your nose will get longer!"
"Alright."
Zhou Li beckoned Tuanzi over, closed the book he had been reading, spread out a piece of white paper, and began Lord Dumpling's educational enlightenment.
At some point, Huai Xu also appeared in the living room. He sat down on the other side of the coffee table, silently watching them.
"Let's start by teaching Lord Dumpling Arabic numerals, then we'll teach you simplified Chinese characters. How about that?" Zhou Li glanced at Huai Xu sitting opposite him, frowning slightly. This Old Monster is being too quiet; he must be up to some mischief. So he asked, "What are you doing?"
"What are you doing, meow?" Tuanzi, mimicking Zhou Li, also stared at Huai Xu.
"You two continue," Huai Xu said and settled into silence again, even leaning forward with both hands on the coffee table and his chin on his arms, watching them intently.
"I'll start by teaching Lord Dumpling Arabic numerals, then we'll move on to simplified Chinese characters," Zhou Li repeated.
"A-ra-ra-bic comb..."
"It's A-ra-bic nu-me-rals."
"A-ra-bic comb!" Tuanzi's voice was more certain.
Zhou Li pursed his lips. "Lord Dumpling, you must be serious."
"Yes!" Tuanzi nodded vigorously, her little face filled with earnestness as she repeated, "Lord Dumpling must be serious!!"
"Then I'll start now."
"Then I'll start now..."
"You don't need to repeat that sentence."
"That sentence... oh!"
"Look here—"
Zhou Li drew a vertical line on the paper with his pen and told Tuanzi, "This stick is 'one'!"
"Look here..." Tuanzi murmured, looking down at the paper. Her eyes, flickering with a faint light, gradually became dazed. "This stick is one..."
"So, Lord Dumpling, what is this stick?" Zhou Li coaxed gently.
"This stick is one!"
"Lord Dumpling is so smart."
"Lord Dumpling is the smartest!"
"Correct." Zhou Li affirmed her intelligence. "Then what comes after one?"
"What comes after one..."
"I'm asking Lord Dumpling, what comes after one? What's the number that's one bigger than one?" Zhou Li said helplessly. "Didn't I teach Lord Dumpling to count? When we counted the Bright Bugs."
"Meow..."
"One Bright Bug, then another Bright Bug came. So how many Bright Bugs are there now?"
"Two!"
"Right! After one comes two!"
"Two, meow!"
"There are a couple of ways to say 'two' in Chinese, but they both mean the same thing when we're counting. So, one, then 'two'!" Zhou Li explained and wrote another number on the paper. "See? The number 'two' looks like a duck. Look, isn't it just like a duck on the water?"
"It's not, meow!"
"This... you... you have quite an opinion."
So Zhou Li erased the '2' he had originally written and chose a different style, one with a loop at the bottom.
"Does this look like it now?"
"It still doesn't look like it, meow!"
"How does it not look like it? A duck swimming on the water."
"Not at all, meow!"
Zhou Li's ears perked up; he heard Huai Xu's laughter.
A stifled "PFFT..."
Zhou Li looked up—
The Old Monster quickly hid his smile, resumed resting his chin on his arms, and kept watching. His darting eyes and twinkling gaze, however, revealed his inner amusement.
Zhou Li was speechless.
After a moment of reflection, Zhou Li thought he should combine pictures or even animations, the kind used for early childhood education, which could probably be found online.
"Lord Dumpling, wait here for me, okay?"
"Okay!"
Zhou Li got up to get his computer. Tuanzi sat in place, her head following Zhou Li's movements, her gaze locked onto him until he walked into the bedroom. Only then did she avert her gaze and turn to look at Huai Xu.
Huai Xu said, "Stupid cat!"
"You're the stupid one!" Tuanzi retorted.
Huai Xu countered, "You're stupid!"
"You're the stupidest!" Tuanzi declared.
When Zhou Li came out of the room, Huai Xu instantly shut his mouth. Tuanzi let out a small "MMPH!" and stopped arguing with Huai Xu, instead gazing curiously at the computer in Zhou Li's hand.
Brother Nan, lying on the sofa, twitched his eyelashes, showing signs of awakening.
When he opened his eyes and turned his head, he saw the silhouettes of a person and a cat huddling together. Their outlines slowly became clear, forming the shapes of Zhou Li and Tuanzi. They were speaking, but it was really just Zhou Li saying something followed by Tuanzi repeating it, and not very accurately at that.
"Let's start over now."
"Now 'bug' come..."
Zhou Li then called Tuanzi to come closer.
Tuanzi, repeating his words, slowly approached him.
A new round of teaching began.
Brother Nan sat up. He remained silent and, like Huai Xu, quietly watched their commotion.
This round of teaching, which incorporated pictures, animations, and counting songs, was quite effective and lasted an entire afternoon.
Brother Nan found it admirable that during this process, Zhou Li maintained gentleness and patience. He led by example, so much so that even someone with Brother Nan's temperament could see an extraordinary charm emanating from him.
「Eight o'clock in the evening.」
The television broadcast the news.
Huai Xu sat on the sofa, seemingly watching the news, but his gaze constantly strayed towards the coffee table while his ears stayed perked.
Next to the coffee table, Little Cat Girl had turned a stack of books into a makeshift stool and was sitting obediently. She was very small. She held a pencil that seemed too long for her little hand and bowed her head seriously over the table, writing numbers and muttering a children's song in a soft, fine voice.
"One is sharp like the tip of a pencil,
"Two is like a duck swimming in water…"
She wrote from one to nine before stopping. Turning her head back and tilting it high, her pair of blue, shiny manga eyes fixed on Zhou Li.
Zhou Li stood beside her, heaping praise without reservation, "Lord Dumpling is really smart! So amazing, you've learned how to write from one to nine in just one afternoon!"
Little Cat Girl, very happy, asked, "Can you take Lord Dumpling to the zoo to play now, meow?"
"Not yet."
"Meow??"
"There's still simplified Chinese characters."
"You're lying!"
Little Cat Girl raised her pencil-holding hand, pointing at Zhou Li with a serious expression, "BIUBIUBIU, your nose will grow longer!"
Zhou Li indeed subconsciously touched his nose. It hadn't grown at all. No, I wasn't lying.
Zhou Li patiently bent down and smiled. "This is what I told Lord Dumpling: first learn Arabic numerals, then learn simplified Chinese characters, right?"
"Um!" Lord Dumpling remembered.
Little Cat Girl withdrew her hand and lay on the table, looking somewhat unhappy.
Zhou Li patted her head, persuading gently, "Lord Dumpling is so impressive, you'll surely learn it instantly! Maybe you'll master simplified Chinese characters by tomorrow morning. Then, in the afternoon, just when Her Highness comes out, she can take Lord Dumpling to the zoo to see the animals, right?"
"Meow?"
"That's right."
Little Cat Girl disappeared.
The little cat appeared.
Zhou Li picked her up and sat back on the sofa.
Brother Nan, with his arms crossed over his chest, glanced sideways at him. This person is so dull, he thought. Such a handsome guy is sitting next to him, yet Zhou Li is all consumed with early education.
The news on the TV continued: "XXX armed forces have once again occupied several areas. Scenes of government forces surrendering with their weapons have reappeared…
"…According to the video released by the government forces, the XXX armed forces are suspected of using new lethal weapons…"
Zhou Li watched the violently shaking images on the television.
Amidst the ruins, a flash of white light appeared, and a group of soldiers—indistinguishable as government forces or some armed militia—dropped to the ground. Their bodies were nearly melting, their weapons red hot.
Zhou Li fell silent.
The abilities bestowed by the Will of the World upon humanity to combat the invasion of the Foreign Clan were ultimately used for fratricide. At such a time, this power looked convenient, powerful, and cruel. Moreover, Heavenly Masters, those in control of supernatural abilities, had bodies just like ordinary humans; they weren't instantly recognizable like fighter jets or tanks.
If Master Ming were still here...
Huai Xu didn't even glance his way but seemed to know his thoughts. "Such things have been unstoppable since ancient times. At most, one can only prevent them from happening on a large scale…"
Zhou Li nodded.
「Early next morning.」
Huai Xu still sat by the coffee table, watching.
Zhou Li could be seen handing a pencil to Little Cat Girl, telling her, "One night has passed. Let's review what we learned yesterday to see if Lord Dumpling has forgotten."
Little Cat Girl, holding the pencil, looked up with her large eyes, staring blankly at him.
Zhou Li asked with concern, "What's the matter, Lord Dumpling?"
Little Cat Girl looked at him, then back at the notebook. After a while, she said blankly, "One night has passed…"
"Uh-huh."
"Review yesterday's learning…"
"Right."
"See if Lord Dumpling has forgotten…"
"Uh-huh, right."
"Lord Dumpling has forgotten…"
"Oh?"
"Forgotten." Little Cat Girl's face shifted from stunned to numb. "I've forgotten it all."
Zhou Li was left speechless.
"HAHAHA…" Huai Xu finally couldn't hold back his laughter.