CHAPTER 204: CHAPTER 196: GREAT TALENT

Tian Sisi returned home and had a bowl of noodles with egg prepared by Granny Zhao out of love, which relieved her anger quite a bit. Thinking back, she also found it amusing. She was becoming more childish. It was perfectly normal for Zhang Mingliu to admire Xu Xiaona. After all, which man from that era wouldn’t admire Xu Xiaona?

She had been a bit impulsive earlier. Zhang Mingliu was of an older age, and she shouldn’t cause him to develop high blood pressure from anger. The more Tian Sisi thought about it, the more regretful she felt, so she quickly prepared a bowl of gold and silver flower dew that had been soaked in well water. This gold and silver flower dew was made following the recipe of rose flower dew, and at this time, the mountains were covered with blooming honeysuckle, which could be seen everywhere.

After thinking some more, Tian Sisi personally cooked a bowl of noodles with fried bean sauce. Zhang Mingliu was a Beijing person, and Beijing people love noodles with fried bean sauce. She placed the gold and silver flower dew and noodles with fried bean sauce into a basket, and then carried it back to the classroom.

Zhang Mingliu was initially startled by Tian Sisi’s sudden storm out of the classroom, and then he became furious, planning to firmly teach her a lesson on respecting teachers when she returned!

Sitting alone for a while and calming down, Zhang Mingliu carefully pondered Tian Sisi’s words. He was not a stubborn person; as a Political Commissar, it was crucial to humbly listen to other’s opinions, and by this measure, he believed he had been quite successful.

Although he was still upset by Tian Sisi’s criticism of Xu Xiaona, he had to admit that Xu Xiaona’s actions at the time indeed did not conform to moral and legal principles, and had caused considerable harm to her ex-husband, leading him to a lonely and premature demise.

Alas, it could only be said that it was the right person met at the wrong time; love, who can really clarify it! Zhang Mingliu chuckled and shook his head.

He had been muddled today, wrongly discussing love with a young girl barely in her teens—what did such a child understand about love or not love? It was truly laughable!

Zhang Mingliu stood up, intending to bring the student back; the afternoon classes were not yet finished!

Tian Sisi, carrying her basket, walked in with a cheerful grin, "Grandpa Zhang, I’m sorry! I won’t speak ill of Xu Xiaona anymore, but you also should not tell me to learn from her anymore, let’s not mention Xu Xiaona again, alright?"

As she spoke, Tian Sisi took out the gold and silver flower dew and noodles with fried bean sauce from the basket. The fragrance continuously invaded Zhang Mingliu’s nostrils, enticing him to sneak a peek downwards—fragrant meat sauce and crispy cucumber shreds looking irresistibly delicious, the bowl of golden flower dew also visually appealing.

"Grandpa Zhang, you must be hungry, right? Please eat the noodles with fried bean sauce and gold and silver flower dew. I made them specially for you. Once you eat, you can’t be angry anymore!"

Zhang Mingliu actually was not angry anymore; as an elderly man, he wouldn’t really hold a grudge against a young child, especially since he actually liked Tian Sisi quite a bit, or else he wouldn’t have gone all out to teach her.

Ah, he had been a bit overly eager; Zhang Mingliu reflected on his teaching methods, filled with remorse, planning to make them more enjoyable, at the very least to prevent the young girl from developing any rebellious feelings.

"Grandpa Zhang, you eat the noodles first, and after eating them drink this flower dew. It will make your whole body comfortable. My grandpa loves to drink it this way, he can drink several bowls a day!"

Zhang Mingliu, looking at the chatterbox of a young girl, helplessly tapped her head and bowed down to eat his noodles. The portion of the noodles was not large, just a small bowl, and didn’t make one feel too full. It seemed the little girl had put her heart into it.

After finishing the noodles and sipping the last drop of honeysuckle dew, indeed she felt spiritually refreshed and relaxed all over. It was unexpected that Sisi, this little girl, had a talent for cooking, but it seems she also has talents in other areas. Could this little girl possibly be the legendary genius?

Zhang Mingliu, still fundamentally a teacher, felt a vague excitement, but he learned his lesson and kept his expression unchanged, continuing to teach methodically. He only inserted some light and pleasant topics into the class, and by the end of it, Sisi didn’t seem as resistant as before.

Perhaps the talents of this body were indeed impressive. Apart from the foundation she laid in her past life, even learning languages seemed remarkably easy. Within two months, Sisi was already able to have simple everyday conversations with Zhang Mingliu.

However, because she learned several languages, she sometimes mixed them up. She intended to speak English, but French or German words would slip out instead, which was quite comical.

Zhang Mingliu was very satisfied with Sisi as a student. Initially, it was purely out of respect for Mr. Yun and the Old Man, but now he truly regarded Sisi as his disciple.

Shouhua, who attended high school in the town and only came to consult Zhang Mingliu on weekends, and Qiubai who had more time but selectively attended classes. He skipped classes like the guzheng and sketching, only choosing Go, English, and Japanese classes. With the rest of his time, he helped Tang Tieshan with his work.

This also showed that Qiubai was a person with a strong purpose, never wasting time on pointless endeavors.

Sisi wasn’t very interested in Go. In fact, any activity that required thinking wasn’t much of her interest, and Zhang Mingliu noticed this. So he didn’t insist that she spend more time on Go. It’s fine as long as she could play.

Qiubai was excellent at Go. Although he started later than Sisi, he quickly surpassed her. Initially, Sisi had to give Qiubai a handicap of three stones, but now it was she who needed a handicap of five stones from him, and frustratingly, she still lost.

But in terms of languages, Qiubai couldn’t beat Sisi. This balanced Sisi’s feelings quite a bit. Worse in Go, but better in English and Japanese—two to one, I’m still better!

With Qiubai not selecting other subjects, Sisi also lost much of her motivation. Completing the tasks assigned by Zhang Mingliu daily was enough; she didn’t want to learn anything extra.

Zhang Mingliu had mixed feelings about Sisi; she had such great talents, but was incredibly lazy, unwilling to learn more, truly a waste!

Seeing his old friend’s conflicted expression, the Old Man felt proud. It’s rare to get praise from Old Zhang, his granddaughter is indeed clever!

"Let Ah Nan learn as much as she can, Old Zhang, don’t force her. Look, Ah Nan has lost a lot of weight on her face, it must be from the classes being too tough. Why don’t you cut her some slack by reducing a couple of courses?"

The Old Man was protective of his granddaughter, trying to secure benefits for Sisi, which earned him a couple of disdainful looks from his old friend.

Zhang Mingliu couldn’t be bothered to argue with the Old Man anymore. He realized that Sisi’s dislike for studying was a bad habit inculcated by Tian Liu Jin – a case of the beam being crooked leading to the columns being askew.