Chapter 18

Chapter 18

In the tidy office, a military officer around fifty sat there like a mountain, legs wide, commanding the room. The office door was knocked three times, and he said in a low voice, "Come in."

Two people entered from outside: Qian Jun and Yang Shuo.

Division Commander He had summoned them to discuss the report they had submitted about Feng Xia.

"Both of you, have a seat. Let's sit and talk slowly." Division Commander He was especially warm with his two right-hand men, pouring them each a cup of hot tea himself and inviting them to sit down and speak slowly.

Division Commander He: "Is that little girl really that incredible, like you two say?"

Qian Jun: "Sir, you haven't seen it. A few of my battalion commanders couldn't hold her down even together. This kid, she's a beast. She kicked a tree thicker than my wrist clean in half with one kick. With a few years of good training, she'll definitely be a top soldier. And I don't think she was even trying. Tsk, she won't even turn 11 for a few more months!"

Chen Hua: "And this girl is incredibly smart. She taught herself most of a dictionary and memorized the whole thing. Sir, I was shocked when I asked her. I asked how long it took, and she said three or four days. With a brain like that, she could ace the imperial exams!"

Division Commander He interrupted Chen Hua: "What are you saying? Imperial exams? Come on! This kid's so talented, we can't let her go to waste. Take her expenses out of my pay first. Didn't she save one of our soldiers before? She's a good kid! We can't let her slip through our fingers. But I heard you guys had a fight this morning, and she almost took off?"

Qian Jun's face got hot. He knew he'd messed up this time. It was the first time he'd had a kid that young under him, and he hadn't handled it right. Getting called out by his boss now was pretty awkward.

"Sir, I've fully realized my mistake. I'll be more patient with Comrade Feng Xia from now on, and I'll make sure she becomes a top-notch soldier for the people!" Qian Jun said, saluting with a serious look.

Division Commander He burst out laughing: "Alright, I'm putting Comrade Feng Xia in your hands. Don't let me down!"

While the atmosphere was serious among the three men, over at the school, it was all relaxed and fun.

Feng Xia followed the old director to the third-grade classroom. The classroom was small, with about a dozen students. A woman in a blue jacket with hair cut to her ears stood at the podium. She wasn't pretty, but she had a really comforting vibe, with warm, kind eyes. When she saw Feng Xia, she gave her a little nod.

The old director cut into the lesson: "Teacher Xu, sorry to bother you. This is the new student, Feng Xia. She'll be in your class."

Teacher Xu nodded, her voice gentle: "Feng Xia, hi. I'm Teacher Xu Wen, I teach third grade. I teach both math and Chinese for third grade. If you ever have questions, just come find me. Welcome to the class. Now, go ahead and introduce yourself to everyone."

Teacher Xu Wen was a real intellectual. Both her parents were professors at Peking University. Because of the times, she'd been through a lot, and she'd had some really dark years herself.

Her husband was a battalion commander in the Second Regiment, and he was good to her, never left her side. It took a lot of effort from her husband for Xu Wen to get this teaching job. Luckily, things had started looking up in the last couple of years. Xu Wen's parents were big in physics and had been called back to Peking University for secret research. That made Xu Wen stand a lot taller. She also had a son, just turned one, who her mother-in-law looked after. A happy family.

Feng Xia walked up to the podium, looking lazy. For some reason, the kids in class felt something weird about the new girl, like they couldn't put it into words. Like a weird, gut-level fear. Even though she wasn't the tallest and had dimples when she smiled, they were still scared.

"Feng Xia, almost 11 years old, from Daba Village. Happy to join this class."

Feng Xia's self-introduction was concise. Xu Wen smiled and arranged for her to sit next to Wang Lingling. Wang Lingling was a chubby little girl with two pigtails, looking quite cute.

Once Feng Xia was seated and had taken out her textbook, Xu Wen continued the lesson. The class was math, covering the multiplication table. Feng Xia wasn't very interested; she already knew it. She took out her pencil and copybook and began tracing characters stroke by stroke. Having just picked up a pen, Feng Xia couldn't perfectly form the strokes, but she wrote very seriously, one could say "with rapt attention."

Each class was 45 minutes. Feng Xia had arrived just as the lesson began. By the time she finished practicing one page, the class was nearly over. Her hand wasn't soft and weak like an ordinary child's; instead, it was full of strength. Her characters had improved from messy scribbles to something passable. By the last line, they closely resembled the model characters in the copybook. It was at this moment that Teacher Xu Wen came down from the podium and walked over to Feng Xia, but Feng Xia ignored her.

Wang Lingling, sitting next to her, was so anxious her face turned red. She nudged Feng Xia with her elbow, but Feng Xia paid no attention and continued as she pleased.

"Student Feng Xia, stand up and recite the multiplication table I just taught," Teacher Xu Wen said sternly, her sharp eyes fixed on Feng Xia's copybook.

Feng Xia didn't know which part of the multiplication table Xu Wen had just covered, so she simply recited the entire table, clearly and fluently.

Xu Wen was stunned. From Feng Xia's self-introduction and attire, she could tell the student had lived in the countryside and likely hadn't had access to books. Yet she had already memorized the multiplication table. She must be a very smart student.

The dozen or so classmates were even more amazed, their mouths wide open, looking at Feng Xia with admiration, as if she were a prodigy. In the minds of these students just beginning to learn multiplication, Feng Xia was indeed no different from a prodigy. She was incredibly impressive!

Wang Lingling looked at her deskmate, her eyes sparkling like little stars. Her mind held only one thought: She's so smart!

Just then, the bell for the end of class rang.

Although the classmates dared not be too restless with the teacher present, a few bold ones had already stood up and moved closer to Feng Xia. Xu Wen returned to the podium, announced the end of class, and then told Feng Xia to follow her to the office.

Feng Xia followed Xu Wen out, leaving her legend behind in the classroom.

Xu Wen led Feng Xia to the office. Unexpectedly, the old director was also there. He wasn't surprised to see her bringing Feng Xia in and explained Feng Xia's situation to her.

Other teachers from different grades were also in the office. When they heard from the old director that Feng Xia had memorized most of a dictionary, their mouths formed an "O" shape. When they learned she could do mental arithmetic for three-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, they were even more astonished. They looked at this little girl, about 1.4 meters tall, with bright eyes. Several teachers immediately tested Feng Xia with a few problems, which she solved effortlessly, even faster than they could calculate themselves. They were thoroughly convinced. Indeed, she was a genius!

Then the old director explained that Feng Xia had never written before. In these times, the children were pitiable, and the teachers could understand. Xu Wen was not a rigid person. Due to her own experiences, she had even more empathy for these children. The educational approach for a genius was different from that for ordinary children. Since Feng Xia was a genius, Xu Wen would never allow her to be wasted under her watch.

At that time, there were only two subjects: Chinese and math. The teachers' teaching load was relatively light, with one teacher per grade. Xu Wen let Feng Xia go back to the classroom and rewarded her with a notebook and a new pencil.

The children in the class were worried that Feng Xia might have been scolded by Teacher Xu. But when they saw her return with a notebook and pencil, they were practically buzzing. Oh my god, she's too amazing! If the bell hadn't rung, they would have surrounded Feng Xia to ask how she could be so brilliant.

The next class was Chinese. Xu Wen entered the classroom with her lesson plan. The lesson was on Xin Qiji's poem "The Moon over the West River: Walking on the Yellow Sand Path at Night." This poem was a bit long and difficult for third graders. Xu Wen first explained the meaning of each line and clarified some characters' definitions. By the time the students understood, the class was almost over.

Feng Xia listened to a bit of this lesson. She could remember everything after hearing it once and now understood the poem perfectly. While her classmates were taking notes, Feng Xia continued practicing her writing.

Xu Wen called on Feng Xia: "Come, Student Feng Xia, recite this poem."

Feng Xia recited from the beginning: "Startled magpies leave the branch in moonlight; Cicadas chirr in the breeze at midnight. The scent of rice flowers foretells a good year; Listen, frogs croak far and near. Seven or eight stars are seen high in the sky; Two or three raindrops fall before the mountain. By the side of the thatched inn, near the woods of shrine, The winding path leads to a bridge over the stream divine."

Xu Wen then asked Feng Xia to explain the meaning. Feng Xia's explanation was word-for-word identical to what Xu Wen had said earlier, a complete copy. Xu Wen had clearly seen that Feng Xia's textbook was completely clean, without a single note. Such a memory, even for someone of Xu Wen's background, was astonishing. She became even more determined not to waste Feng Xia's talent. She would carefully develop a training plan for this gifted student.

After this class, Feng Xia received a complete collection of Tang poems from Xu Wen. Xu Wen told her to read and memorize them carefully, as she would conduct random checks. Feng Xia nodded, having no objection to the extra homework. She quite liked these poems, which had been lost during the apocalypse. Now that she had the chance to learn them, Feng Xia wouldn't refuse.

After this class, it was 11:30 AM, meaning the military primary school was dismissed. It was summer, with a two-hour lunch break. Classes resumed at 2:00 PM, with three afternoon classes, and school ended around 4:30 PM.

Feng Xia was very satisfied with this schedule.

Almost no adults came to pick up the children. The school was within the military compound, very safe, and close to home. Who would be so idle as to pick someone up? The classmates wanted to invite Feng Xia to walk with them, but as soon as class ended, Feng Xia had vanished, "whoosh," just like that. From then on, another legend about Feng Xia was added at school.

At this moment, with favorable timing and conditions, the priority was, of course, to eat. Eating was important.

Qian Jun had indeed informed the cafeteria that morning when he sent Feng Xia to school. By the time Feng Xia arrived at the cafeteria, the cooks had just finished preparing lunch. The steamed buns were still steaming. Feng Xia walked to the counter and handed a piece of paper to the woman standing inside. The woman couldn't read, so she took it to the head cook. "Oh, isn't this the little girl Regiment Commander Qian mentioned!" The cook told the woman, who immediately understood.

She brought out six steaming hot buns for Feng Xia, along with a large ladle of potato and meat bone stew, stir-fried spinach, and fatty pork slices stewed with vermicelli. Seeing the girl looked thin and weak, she even added a few extra pieces of meat.

"Girl, if you can't finish, bring the buns back. Don't waste them," the woman said loudly, but with good intentions, reminding Feng Xia not to waste food.

Feng Xia didn't say anything, just smiled at the woman, her dimples sweet and endearing, bringing joy to those who saw it.

Feng Xia sat down at the nearest table and began to eat.

"Is that the third one? Third, right? Xiao Liu, can you eat three buns?" a young man wiping tables asked, staring wide-eyed, asking his companion.

His companion shook his head, looking at Feng Xia as if she were a monster, a very strange expression.

Feng Xia paid no attention. She used the buns to sandwich the meat and ate with great relish. She finished all six large buns cleanly, not leaving a single drop of soup. She licked her lips and returned the lunch box to the woman.

"You finished it all?!" the woman exclaimed.

Feng Xia nodded and turned to leave.

The woman still couldn't believe it and asked the two young men wiping tables. Xiao Liu stared blankly: "She finished it all. Ate all six big buns, ate all the food too. She can really eat."

Only then did the woman believe it. No wonder Regiment Commander Qian had instructed them to serve her like that. This girl really could eat!

Feng Xia remembered her bundle was still in Regiment Commander Qian's office, so she went to retrieve it. Coincidentally, both men were there. They asked Feng Xia in detail what she had learned that day. Chen Hua even had Feng Xia recite Xin Qiji's poem again. They cared more than if she were their own daughter. After Feng Xia finished reciting, Chen Hua gave her a few candies. This man was very sensible, and Feng Xia was very satisfied.

Little Black, the snake, who had been out all morning, had also returned. Seeming tired, it curled up quietly in its owner's pocket and fell asleep.

Feng Xia carried her bundle back to Aunt Wu's house. Aunt Wu was eating lunch. Seeing Feng Xia return, she wasn't surprised at all and simply asked, "Have you eaten?"

Feng Xia nodded. Even though she was a glutton, she wouldn't covet an old lady's food when there was plenty available. Old Lady Wu didn't say anything, just handed Feng Xia a bun. Feng Xia took it, put her things away in her room, and chewed on the bun as she wandered out the door.

Behind the family quarters were layered mountains. She twisted her body, exerted some strength with her hands, and climbed up the mountain as lightly as a cat. She swayed and disappeared into the forest.