Chapter 326
"Yeah, that kid is from the countryside. To be honest, I think his grades are inflated. After all, his stepmother is a teacher, so cheating wouldn't be too hard for him, right?"
"Exactly! A country bumpkin squeezing his way into a foreign language elementary school, while our kids only get to attend a regular one."
Si Nian noticed that one of the women speaking was the middle-aged lady who had previously come to their door to borrow their Da Huang.
She hadn't lent the dog at the time, which offended the woman.
However, she had heard from Grandma Jiang that this was just how the woman was—always looking to take petty advantages. She had tried to curry favor with Grandma Jiang before, but after being ignored, she stopped going over.
Later, seeing that Si Nian's family had moved in, she wanted to try her luck with them, only to be rebuffed.
Now that another new family had moved in—one willing to give her the time of day—she was naturally eager to cling to them.
It was also Si Nian's first time getting a clear look at the new neighbor and her child.
The child looked to be about six or seven years old, quite young. He wore a little suit and small leather shoes. He was a handsome boy, but there was an arrogant look in his eyes, making it obvious at a glance that he wasn't easy to get along with.
The woman wore red high heels, an elegant white blouse tucked into a leather skirt, and a coat draped over her shoulders. Her hair was slightly curled, and she wore exquisite makeup.
She was slightly older than Si Nian, dressed maturely, and looked extremely fashionable.
The haughtiness in her eyes perfectly mirrored her child's.
Si Nian didn't care if others gossiped about her, but hearing them belittle Eldest Child's hard work to such an extent was something she naturally could not tolerate.
"That's right, my son might not compare to someone else's who is in the fourth grade at the age of seven. But it's still better than being ten years old and still in the first grade."
"We may be from the countryside, but it's truly pathetic that some people's sons can't even compare to a country boy."
"No wonder he can only attend a regular elementary school. After all, with poor parental genes, you can't really blame the child. Auntie Wang, instead of looking down on others, you'd be better off improving your own child first. How can someone who can't even beat us have the nerve to criticize others? Where do you get the audacity? So shameless."
Although Si Nian didn't interact much with these people, she had lived here for a while and often bumped into them when walking by.
She would smile and greet those with a good attitude.
Everyone minded their own business without offending each other.
The only bad apple was this Auntie Wang.
Although Auntie Wang didn't like the Zhou family and had no fond feelings toward them, she usually didn't dare offend them either.
Since the Si family was close to the Jiang family, she would normally just gossip behind their backs to satisfy her itching tongue.
But when Fang Hui happened to ask, she simply couldn't hold back her complaints.
Little did she expect Si Nian to overhear her. Being caught red-handed, her face instantly flushed red with extreme embarrassment.
Fang Hui sized Si Nian up, a flash of astonishment at her beauty crossing her eyes.
The Zhou family hadn't been back for long.
Even though they lived close by, this was their first time meeting face-to-face.
Logically speaking, as a newcomer, she should have taken the initiative to visit and say hello to build good relations with the neighbors.
She had already visited the Jiang family.
But she had yet to visit the Zhous.
The incident with the reporter's interview had made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Perhaps because they both had children of a similar age, she couldn't help but subconsciously compare them.
Her own son was so outstanding, yet his thunder had been stolen by someone else, which inexplicably left her with a poor impression of them.
Instead, it stirred up a sense of competitiveness within her.
Now, seeing that Si Nian was actually younger and prettier than herself, she pursed her lips.
After a brief pause, she stepped forward and initiated a greeting, "Hello, my name is Fang Hui. I'm your new neighbor. I hope we can look out for each other from now on."
Si Nian did not reach out to shake her hand. She didn't consider herself magnanimous enough to befriend someone who had just been discussing her son's supposed flaws with others.
She replied indifferently, "There's no need for that. Excuse me, I'm very busy."
Fang Hui's smile stiffened. Her outstretched hand froze in midair, caught in the awkward dilemma of whether to withdraw it or not.
Si Nian ignored her reaction. She simply gave a curt nod as a greeting and bypassed the group to leave.
The women standing nearby hurriedly comforted Fang Hui, "That woman is just like that. Relying on the fact that her family made money from a pig farm and that she's a teacher, she acts all high and mighty. Comrade Fang, please don't take it to heart."
Fang Hui smiled. "It's alright. Perhaps what we said earlier upset her. Thank you for making introductions for me, I'm sorry to have dragged you into this."
The group immediately felt that she was the epitome of kindness and grace.
Si Nian had been here for so long but rarely ever spoke to them.
She always put on an aloof and unreachable front; those who didn't know better would think she was some wealthy heiress.
In contrast, Fang Hui—who came from Beijing, exuded an air of nobility, and even worked at a newspaper agency—was so approachable.
Their favorable impression of Fang Hui skyrocketed instantly.
As soon as Second Child and Jiang Jiu returned home, they took their little sister out to play.
Because their mother didn't allow them to wander too far, they could only stroll around the neighborhood.
Naturally worried, Zhou Zedong grabbed a book and followed them outside.
Today, Si Nian had received a definitive reply from the school. To participate in the college entrance examination, she had to achieve a passing score in the mock exam next Wednesday.
High schools all had score requirements, as no one wanted to drag down their school's average. Naturally, they wouldn't accept someone with poor academic performance.
The high school the original owner of her body had attended was the best in the city, commonly known as City First High School.
However, they refused to accept her, so Si Nian settled for the next best options and reached out to the second and third-ranked schools.
Ultimately, she received a notification from the second-ranked school.
With limited time, she had bought quite a few books to study.
When the older children weren't home, she would hold Yaoyao and read with her.
Even though the little girl could sit still, it looked rather pitiful for her to be cooped up.
So today, she let Eldest Child and Second Child take her out to play.
This also gave her the perfect opportunity to focus on doing some practice questions in peace.
Jiang Jiu and Second Child held Yaoyao's hands, one on the left and one on the right, saying they were going to take her to play at the tube-shaped apartment building.
There were still many kids at the tube-shaped apartment building who liked to play with them. He had previously boasted to others about how pretty his little sister was, and today he was deliberately bringing her over to show her off.
He even specifically put her cutest little hair clip on her.
Yaoyao had grown quite a bit taller and was already walking very steadily.
The little munchkin's hair had grown longer and was very silky. It was tied into a tiny bun at the back with a pink bow clipped to her head. Beneath her straight bangs were a pair of big, grape-like eyes. Although her face looked round, she had a distinct chin—her mother called it an oval face.
She had just gotten a little chubby, making it less obvious, but Second Child loved his plump little sister; she was soft and incredibly comfortable to hug.
He had prepared some marbles, planning to teach his sister how to play with them.
However, upon arriving, they found that their spot had been taken by Da Zhuang and his gang again.
They wanted to find other children to play with, only to realize that those kids were ignoring them.
Instead, they were all gathered around a richly dressed child who was about the same age as him.
Zhou Zehan still remembered him; he was the son of their new neighbor.
Da Zhuang mocked him, "Oh, isn't this Zhou Zehan? Are you here to show off those few broken English words of yours again? Let me tell you, we have Bowen now. He knows multiple languages and is a genius. My mom said he is already in the fourth grade at seven years old, so stop embarrassing yourself here."
Da Zhuang's mother had told him that Fang Bowen's family came from a big city and was very wealthy, instructing him to make sure he built a good relationship with him.
Da Zhuang had now become Fang Bowen's lackey.
"You know English?" Fang Bowen stepped forward, confronting Zhou Zehan, who was slightly taller than him.
Didn't his mother say they were from the countryside? He heard that primary schools in the countryside didn't even teach English yet, unlike in the city.
He had been here for quite some time, and among the children he knew, hardly any could speak English.
This made Fang Bowen extremely disappointed.
Even the kids in Class Four, the best fourth-grade class he had joined, weren't that impressive.
And they called it an elite class.
Those people were so much older, yet so stupid.
He didn't like interacting with people older than him.
At this moment, hearing Da Zhuang say that Zhou Zehan knew English, he immediately stepped forward.
"Are you that good? Then let me test you. If you can answer correctly, I'll give the playground to you guys."
Fang Bowen spoke up, and without waiting for them to refuse, he blurted out a sentence in fluent English: "Do you know which country English originated from?"
Zhou Zedong closed the book in his hands and looked up at him.
He had just returned to school and heard that a major event had happened while they were away.
A seven-year-old little genius had transferred to their school from the distant Jing City.
He heard that the other party had started participating in math competitions at the age of four, a true genius.
As soon as he arrived, he snatched the position of English representative from Li Youcai.
Although he hadn't paid much attention, he could guess at this moment that it was probably the child standing before him, who was about the same age as his younger brother.
He had only heard such fluent English from his mother.
Zhou Zehan: "Uh... um... uh..."
Jiang Jiu: "Uh... um... uh..."
After all, the two of them weren't cut out for studying. Although they had learned from Si Nian for a long time, they only knew some basic vocabulary. In addition, the other party's intonation was different from what the teacher taught and very fast, leaving them momentarily dumbfounded.
The smile on Fang Bowen's lips widened. "I thought you were really good, but it turns out you're just so-so. I learned such simple English when I was four."
Da Zhuang and the others immediately took the lead in laughing out loud.
Zhou Zehan's little face turned red.
"Brother is so dumb!" Yaoyao pinched Zhou Zehan's thigh and said, "The birthplace of English is of course the UK."
Although she was still young, she could understand that her brother was being mocked by others.
But what she understood even less was why her brother couldn't answer such a simple question when he studied with their mother every day.
So strange.
As soon as these words came out, Fang Bowen, who had just pulled a smug smile, froze. He swiftly shifted his gaze to the little chubby girl in the middle.
He wasn't surprised that she answered the question.
Rather, he was shocked that she understood what he had asked.
But this child looked no more than three years old.
When he learned English, he was already four.
And it was taught step-by-step from a young age by a foreign professor his mother had hired.
Not to mention him, even Zhou Zedong, Zhou Yuehan, and the rest of their group all snapped their heads to look at their sister.
She was staring at them with a distressed look on her face.
Zhou Zedong's eyes flickered. He naturally knew the question the other party had asked.
He also knew that his idiot brother definitely couldn't answer it.
But he never expected that his sister would be able to answer it.
At this moment, he rarely revealed a bit of astonishment.
Zhou Zehan, on the other hand, didn't think there was anything strange about it. He slapped his forehead and said, "Is that what it meant? Bro, is that what it meant?"
Zhou Zedong didn't want to pay attention to him. He continued to stare at his sister, deep in thought.
Da Zhuang and the others couldn't understand it at all. To them, it was just gibberish, but it sounded pretty cool. At this moment, they didn't take Yaoyao seriously either, laughing and saying, "Even your brother doesn't understand, what the heck do you know, right Bowen?"
Fang Bowen's little face had tensed up at some point, his eyes staring straight at Yaoyao. "How did you understand what I meant?"
Yaoyao tilted her head in confusion, her round little face incredibly cute. "I just understood it."
Mom wrote these every day and also listened to the radio. Her brothers were learning too, and when Mom took her to school, she also learned.
So she naturally understood it.
Fang Bowen didn't quite believe it and said, "Then let me ask you again: What is your name? How old are you this year? Who did you learn English from?"
Yaoyao bobbed her head and said, "My name is Yaoyao, and I am three years old this year. My mother taught me how to do it. My mother is really amazing, and my brother is clumsy, which is embarrassing for my mother."
As soon as this milky toddler accent came out, everyone was dumbfounded.
The entire courtyard of the tube-shaped apartment building fell into a dead silence.
Even Zhou Zehan's eyes widened in disbelief.
His sister could actually speak English, and even say such a long paragraph.
Good heavens, since when was his sister so amazing?
How come he didn't know?
In his memory, his sister had only just learned to speak not long ago.
She didn't even know that many words.
Fang Bowen gasped.
It was one thing to be able to introduce herself, but she could actually say so many words that weren't even taught in primary school.
Da Zhuang and his group were also stunned.
Wait, was English this simple?
It was one thing for the seven-year-old Fang Bowen to know it.
How could even the three-year-old sister of that show-off Zhou Zehan know it too?
And she sounded really impressive.
"Sister Yaoyao, you... you're so amazing..." Jiang Jiu, who had been shocked speechless, finally found his voice and stared at Yaoyao with admiration.
Yaoyao shyly scratched her little pigtails.
"Not amazing. Eldest brother is more amazing, second brother is not amazing."
Zhou Zehan: "......"
Fang Bowen's expression was ugly.
He originally thought that since they were the same age, he could come and mock Zhou Zehan.
He didn't expect that instead of mocking him, he would be slapped in the face by his three-year-old sister.
He felt very uncomfortable right now.
Was their mother very amazing?
But why couldn't that eight-year-old Zhou Zehan understand?
Yet his sister could understand.
Although Zhou Zehan was despised by his sister, he wasn't sad at all.
Seeing that the other party couldn't speak, his nose was pointing up to the sky right now.
When he went home, he was practically floating as he walked.
Zhou Yueshen had just led Da Huang to the door when he saw his son smiling radiantly.
He stopped and waited for them to approach.
"Did you go out to play?" He let go of Da Huang's iron chain and picked up his daughter.
Second Child nodded heavily, his eyes bright as he said, "Dad, my sister is so amazing, she can speak English."