CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 68: WE ARE ALL LITTLE TURTLES

Zhao Zhitong didn’t like Granny Guan, so without greeting her, she held her little cousins’ hands and ran straight back to her grandmother’s side.

When she reached her grandmother, she pouted and said, "Grandma, that Granny Guan is so fierce, and her voice is so unpleasant. It must be pitiful to be her grandson."

Zhao Guifen couldn’t help but laugh, reaching out to poke her nose. "You shouldn’t talk like that outside. You should call her Granny Guan."

Zhao Zhitong pursed her lips, unwilling to call her that.

She vividly remembered Granny Guan being fierce to her. Every time her original self went back to her maternal grandparents’ house with her mother, Granny Guan would give both her and her mother cold looks and make sarcastic comments.

Therefore, Zhao Zhitong was unwilling to call her granny.

Zhao Guifen and Mrs. Guan hadn’t gotten along since they were young, and their animosity had only grown worse due to some incidents over the years. So, Zhao Guifen didn’t force her to change what she called her. Holding her small hand, they went inside the courtyard.

As they walked, Zhao Zhitong told her grandmother that she thought Gou Dan and Tie Zhu had become dull again, surely because Granny Guan had scolded them. Then, she added with her own logic, "Teacher said that if adults always scold children, the children will become little fools."

The teacher she referred to was her kindergarten teacher from her previous life. That teacher often told parents who frequently scolded their children not to blame them without first asking questions. She explained that it was not good for the children and would affect their ability to respond. She happened to be nearby at the time, heard the conversation, and remembered it.

Zhao Guifen didn’t know this. Thinking Zhao Zhitong was referring to Mr. Meng, their schoolteacher, she pulled her onto her lap and asked what she had been learning at school.

Zhao Zhitong loved talking about school, so she happily replied, saying she had already memorized the *Thousand Character Classic* and could even recite a few poems from the *Book of Songs*. "Teacher said that after the New Year, we’ll begin to read the *Four Books and Five Classics*."

Although Zhao Guifen had never studied, she knew the benefits of education and smiled. "That’s great. You must study hard with your teacher and not disappoint him."

Zhao Zhitong nodded seriously. "Don’t worry, Grandma. I love reading. I think reading is as fun as playing games!"

Cheerfully, she added, "My cousins are all doing so well now! They can write their own names and even count."

Zhao Guifen laughed happily. "That’s good. Then you must properly teach your cousins to recognize characters."

At this moment, the two aunts came out of the kitchen, having overheard the conversation. They laughed and said, "Tongtong, while it’s still daylight, teach your cousins a bit more. If they don’t study properly, just tell us, your aunts, and we’ll spank them."

Zhao Zhitong immediately disagreed. She jumped down from Zhao Guifen’s lap, ran to her aunts’ side, and said seriously, "Aunties, you can’t hit and scold children! Good children are made through praise. My cousins learn very quickly! You should reward them."

Sun Daji, Sun Daqing, and the other little sprouts who were tagging along laughed gleefully. They said proudly, one after another, "Mom, did you hear that? Little Cousin said you can’t hit me anymore! You have to reward me more!"

Eldest Aunt and Second Aunt glared at the little ones and raised the rolling pins in their hands. "I’ll reward you with this rolling pin!"

"AH!"

The little sprouts immediately screamed and scattered in all directions.

Second Aunt Liu put down her rolling pin and smiled at Zhao Zhitong. "Don’t worry, Tongtong. As your aunt, I never hit children in public."

Zhao Zhitong tilted her head, her expression skeptical.

Sun Daqing peeked out from the corner of the wall, looking at his mother. You don’t hit me in public, but you always hit me behind closed doors, he thought.

Eldest Aunt also nodded and said to Zhao Zhitong, "Go ahead and teach your cousins."

Zhao Zhitong tilted her head, then eventually hopped off to find her little cousins.

Since they had already learned their own names, Zhao Zhitong prepared to teach them the names of the village and the county town.

Zhao Zhitong picked up a small wooden stick and squatted on the ground, writing the three characters for ’Sun Village’.

Sun Xiaoxue was the first to recognize the first character and excitedly said, "Little Cousin, I know the first character! It’s ’Sun,’ our last name."

Sun Daji and Sun Daxiang also recognized it. They excitedly used their fingers to write the character ’Sun’ on the ground, and then wrote their own names as well. Sun Xiaoyu and Sun Daru were younger and slower to respond, but they eventually remembered too.

Only Sun Daqing clutched his collar, his brow deeply furrowed. He was the only one who had forgotten. Feeling dejected, he said, "Little Cousin, maybe I should just stop learning from now on? I’m really too slow to learn."

Upon hearing her second cousin was about to give up, Zhao Zhitong immediately put on a serious face and said sternly, "Second Cousin, you can’t give up. Teacher says that giving up halfway is the most taboo thing in studying. Diligence can make up for a lack of natural talent. If you’re diligent, you’ll definitely learn."

Sun Daqing still looked dispirited. "But I’m really slow. No matter how much I learn, I won’t get any smarter!"

"That’s not right! Second Cousin, it’s wrong for you to think that way." Zhao Zhitong looked at her second cousin seriously. "Grandpa Bai said that no one is born stupid forever, and no one is born smart forever. People can become smarter, and smart people can also become foolish."

This was the first time the little ones had heard such a statement. They all stared at Zhao Zhitong, their eyes wide with disbelief.

"It’s true," Zhao Zhitong emphasized. Then, after a thought, she asked them, "Have you heard the tortoise and hare story?"

Seeing them shake their heads, Zhao Zhitong vividly recounted the story of the tortoise and the hare for them. The children listened with rapt attention. After all, children love stories, and Zhao Zhitong told it with such animated gestures that they were even more engrossed.

At the end of the story, Zhao Zhitong said, "You see, the one who ultimately reached the finish line wasn’t necessarily the rabbit who was fastest at the start, but the diligent and unyielding little tortoise."

"So, Second Cousin, don’t give up. If you continuously learn, and if you don’t get it one time, you just learn it again, you will definitely master it."

After listening to all this, Sun Daqing nodded heavily and declared, "Little Cousin, I’ll listen to you. I won’t give up anymore. I want to be that unyielding little tortoise."

Then, the other little sprouts also declared that from this day forward, they would all be diligent little tortoises.

Sun Kang, who had just emerged from the backyard, heard their fervent declarations. He paused, and a muscle in his cheek twitched. But seeing them studying so hard and earnestly, he didn’t interrupt them.

Zhao Zhitong cupped her small chin with her hand. "Teacher said we need to think more to become smarter and smarter. So, let’s start with arithmetic today!"

Saying this, she ran to pick up ten small stones. She then set them a few addition and subtraction problems within ten. "You have to learn numbers within ten first," she explained, "and then you’ll be able to work with larger numbers."

The little sprouts all nodded and then began to scratch their heads as they calculated.

This was the first time Zhao Yu and Zhao Cheng were learning arithmetic with Zhao Zhitong, and both of them studied with great seriousness.