Chapter 45
Yan Xiang was indeed a very bright child.
In that short amount of time, she had taught him six characters, and without even making him write them, just having him recognize them, he was able to remember them all.
The mother and son went to the river to pick up half a bucket of pebbles, and when Qiao Wei tested him, he didn’t get a single one wrong.
Being a mother who kept her word, she rewarded the child with a piece of candy on the spot.
Yan Xiang clutched the candy in his hand, not immediately eating it with glee, but instead thought for a moment and said, “Mom, I know other characters too. If I recognize them all, can you reward me with another one?”
Qiao Wei was naturally happy to hear this: “Sure.”
Qiao Wei thought to herself, how many characters could a child possibly know? She said, “What characters do you know? Tell me.”
To her surprise, Yan Xiang happily turned and ran off.
Qiao Wei: “?”
Soon, Yan Xiang returned with that book, “little cloth dolls adventure”.
Oh, so he was using the book to find the characters.
In the original owner’s memories, this book had been read to Yan Xiang many times, and Qiao Wei had continued reading it after she arrived. It wasn’t surprising that he knew a few characters.
Qiao Wei sat by the desk, chin in hand, eagerly wanting to see how many characters Yan Xiang actually knew.
Yan Xiang first pointed at the cover and read: “Little, Cloth, Head, Strange, Encounter, Record.”
His tender, white little finger pointed to every character correctly.
Qiao Wei clapped theatrically: “Amazing!”
Just as she was preparing to take out another piece of candy for Yan Xiang, he flipped the book open with a rustle.
Qiao Wei: “?”
Turning to the first page of the main text, Yan Xiang used his little finger to point at the text and began to read one character at a time.
Although it was stuttering and halting, it… was basically connecting into sentences.
Qiao Wei: “??”
Soon, Yan Xiang finished reading the first paragraph.
“Wait a moment!” Qiao Wei stopped Yan Xiang in shock and asked him, “How do you know these characters?”
Yan Xiang said, “When Mom read to me, I learned them slowly.”
Qiao Wei: “???”
A thought sprouted in Qiao Wei’s mind.
She picked up paper and pen and said to Yan Xiang, “Read from the beginning. Mom will record it to see how many characters you know.”
Yan Xiang asked with anticipation in his eyes, “If I know a lot, can you give me another piece of candy?”
Qiao Wei grabbed a handful of candy and slapped it on the table: “If you really know a lot, all of these are yours.”
His mother was a person who kept her word, and Yan Xiang trusted her.
He immediately lay on the table, ready to read.
Qiao Wei stood up and picked him up, letting him sit on the chair so he would be a bit higher.
She dragged over a square wooden stool to sit to the side, holding the paper and pen: “Start.”
Yan Xiang began to read haltingly again.
As he read, Qiao Wei recorded; sometimes, if she realized she had already recorded a character, she would casually cross it out.
Until her hand was so sore she couldn’t take it anymore, she finally called a stop.
Yan Xiang endured his dry mouth and throat, waiting for her judgment.
Qiao Wei was no longer as shocked as before; she had calmed down a lot. She asked, “Can you write them?”
“No.”
“So you only recognize them when you see them, right?”
“Yeah!”
“Do you recognize slogans and signs when you see them outside too?”
“Yeah!”
Yan Xiang glanced at the pile of candy.
“Good.” Qiao Wei pushed the candy over, “They are all yours.”
Yan Xiang cheered, dropped the book, and his two little hands busily stuffed the candy into his pockets.
After he finished, he clutched his bulging pockets and ran off.
He didn’t even want the book anymore.
Judging by the sound, he ran back to his room first. After a moment, Qiao Wei saw Yan Xiang walk out of the house from the window. He went to the small table under the eaves, picked up an enamel mug, tilted his head back, and chugged down the cool boiled water.
After drinking, he wiped his mouth and let out a long sigh of relief.
The little kid was really trying hard for a few pieces of candy, to the point of having a dry mouth.
After quenching his thirst, he finally peeled a piece of candy and put it in his mouth. With his cheek bulging, he hummed a tune that sounded like a nursery rhyme, picked up his little shovel and little iron bucket, and happily started digging holes in the yard.
Meanwhile, inside the house, Qiao Wei rested her chin in her hands and stared at the paper in a deep daze.
She had wanted to count the number of characters earlier, but when she reached around eight hundred and looked at the amount remaining, she gave up directly.
The exact number didn’t matter anymore. Because it was only because her wrist was too sore that she had made Yan Xiang stop. In other words, Yan Xiang’s true literacy level was far greater than this.
No one had taught him. Not even Qiao Weiwei had taught him.
It was just that when Qiao Weiwei and Qiao Wei repeatedly told Yan Xiang the same story, they always held him in their arms, and the mother and son looked at the book pages together. Qiao Weiwei did this, and Qiao Wei had continued this practice.
Thus, in the repeated reading, Yan Xiang matched his mother’s pronunciation with the specific characters and remembered them.
He had learned these characters just like that.
Pure self-study.
And this was just a child in Kindergarten.
Once Qiao Wei figured this out, she could basically conclude that things were exactly as she had guessed—Yan Xiang might not be an ordinary child.
He might, he very likely… was a Genius Prodigy.
Becoming a top global hacker at 7, manipulating the financial markets with ease, tackling national technological challenges, and so on and so forth.
But Genius Prodigy tropes usually appeared in urban romance novels. They generally didn’t appear in period novels, especially not in stepmother novels.
Yan Xiang, the reticent youth in the original text, this tool used by his stepmother Lin Xixi to demonstrate her virtue and kindness, later got admitted to a university in The Capital.
But this was something mentioned casually at the end of the main text’s happy ending. It wasn’t elaborated upon.
What year did he get in? It was very vague. By the time it was mentioned at the end, the main characters were already surrounded by children and grandchildren.
It only said he was the first college student in The Yan Household, setting a good example for the younger siblings who followed.
That her stepson could get into college once again proved that the original female lead was a good stepmother.
Bullshit.
Bullshit.
With a buff like Genius Prodigy, he would definitely be able to go to college regardless of whether he had a stepmother.
Maybe the stepmother even hindered his path to education!
Because the fact that Yan Xiang was a Genius Prodigy was never reflected in the main text. At most, he displayed “excellence,” but this level of excellence couldn’t match the “Genius Prodigy” setting at all.
Thinking of this, Qiao Wei’s anger flared up.
But then she thought, maybe not.
Why are there few Genius Prodigy characters in period novels? Because of the special nature of the era, it’s hard to write.
What could a Genius Prodigy do in this era? Build a TV or build an atomic bomb?
Building a TV didn’t have much appeal in writing, and as for building an atomic bomb, who would dare write about political topics in web novels?
That the Genius Prodigy attributes couldn’t be reflected might not actually be Lin Xixi’s fault.
Lin Xixi herself was only a middle-aged aunt with an elementary school education and a housewife background. Her specialties were housework and cooking. When Yan Lei’s poor rural relatives came, she could cook seven or eight dishes by herself, treat them so well that they were full of praise for her, and spread her reputation for virtue back in their hometown.
She probably never discovered Yan Xiang’s Genius Prodigy attributes. People in the nineties had no concept of a Genius Prodigy.
As for Yan Xiang, she just took care of his food and clothing and never hit or scolded him.
In the main text, as Yan Xiang grew older, he attended elementary school for two years. Later, the school became too chaotic, and Yan Lei stopped him from going. He entrusted someone to buy books for him to read at home.
Yan Xiang would read in his room every day.
Lin Xixi even blamed Yan Lei for forcing the child to study and tiring him out.
The educated youth sent to the countryside were actually students from middle schools. Yan Xiang’s age didn’t coincide with the sent-down youth movement; by the time the college entrance examination was restored, he would probably only be fifteen or sixteen.
But during his childhood and adolescence, the most important period for seeking education, he couldn’t receive a systematic education due to special historical reasons.
Thinking about it this way, one really couldn’t blame Lin Xixi.
A Genius Prodigy born in this era really couldn’t stand out.
Qiao Wei now suspected that perhaps the original author wanted to add Genius Prodigy elements at the beginning, but once they started writing, they found this element difficult to utilize in a period novel and set it aside.
This felt like the closest thing to the truth.
So now, this Genius Prodigy was in her hands, what should she do?
Qiao Wei looked at the little Genius Prodigy squatting in the yard digging away, biting her finger in thought for a long time.
Special era, sigh, special era.
At this moment, she understood why the original author had set the Genius Prodigy element aside as a minor point. It really gave a sense of powerlessness.
How ridiculous, she had originally planned to teach the child four or five characters a day.
Qiao Wei crumpled up those pieces of paper, stood up, and twisted her waist.
Once a person has experienced life, old age, sickness, and death, and can see through things, there is one benefit: they don’t get anxious when encountering anything.
Or one could say, it’s just being very zen.
A Genius Prodigy is a Genius Prodigy, just do her best to teach him.
Before the national education system returned to normal, she would do her best to teach what she could.
The tree that stands above the forest will be destroyed by the wind. Especially in this special era, no one should be an outlier. Being an outlier meant danger.
A Genius Prodigy is still a baby.
A baby should have a happy childhood.
Qiao Wei walked to the gate, put her hands on her hips, and asked: “Do you need my help?”
“No need, I can do it myself.” The little voice was proud and spoiled, “I am a man now.”
“Oh, okay.”
Today was Monday. After lunch, Yan Xiang went for his nap as usual.
Qiao Wei didn’t sleep today; she was waiting for someone. Sure enough, when the time was about right, someone came to knock on the door.
She opened the door and saw two men standing outside: “Is this Regimental Commander Yan’s house?”
Behind them was a flatbed handcart with some wood on it.
“Yes, yes, I’ve been waiting for you.” Qiao Wei enthusiastically opened the gate.
Only one man came in first, taking a general look at the situation in the yard: “Where should we install it?”
He looked again: “Oh.”
There was a circle drawn on the ground; Qiao Wei had marked the spot right after finishing lunch.
The man went back out, and soon both men carried the wood in and installed the “manual washing machine” that Qiao Wei had been looking forward to for days in the spot she specified.
It was exactly the same as the picture she had drawn.
After installing it, one of the men took a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket: “Take a look, is it like this?”
Qiao Wei took it, opened it, and saw it was exactly the drawing she had made.
Qiao Wei was delighted: “Exactly the same. You masters are truly skilled.”
She had prepared cool mung bean soup and cigarettes for the carpenters.
While drinking the mung bean soup, they asked: “We heard from Regimental Commander Yan that this is for washing clothes?”
Qiao Wei said happily: “Yes!”
She said: “I’ll give it a try.”
The carpenters were also curious and waited for her to try it.
Qiao Wei had already soaked a basin of clothes.
The large basins for washing clothes in this era were not like the small basins of later generations. Filled with clothes and water, Qiao Wei had to drag it to get it under the washing stand.
Fortunately, she tried it, and the hanging piece of wood was a bit too high, not deep enough in the water.
The carpenters untied the rope and adjusted it.
Trying it again, it was smooth.
Qiao Wei grabbed the little handle and used the wooden stick to make circles in the basin.
The water swished and rotated along with it.
It was just like a washing machine, and it didn’t take much effort; it even exercised her shoulder joints in the process.
She had only made this to save effort when washing clothes; Qiao Wei hadn’t expected it to be so stress-relieving when she actually used it.
The sky was clear, the sun was hot, and the water swished and rotated.
Three circles to the left, three circles to the right.
It was a pity that there were people around, or she could twist her hips and waist.
But it was still very happy, so happy.
The two carpenters chugged down a few bowls of sweet mung bean soup, leaned over, and looked a bit eager:
“Um… can I try?”
“I want to try too!”
