Chapter 187 - Chapter 187: I Can’t Count
Chapter 187: I Can’t Count
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Big Sister, let me help! I can help Third Sister.” Little Sister Su chirped, raising her hand and waving it around enthusiastically. “You don’t have to look for He
Yulan. I can do it. ”
Little Sister Su stared at Su Wen expectantly.
Su Wen rejected Little Sister Su’s aid. “You can’t. School starts on the 1st of September. ”
“I can help Third Sister before I go to school. Big Sister, please let me help!” Everyone had been assigned a role but her. She did not want to be the only one without anything to do!
“You have to learn how to read before school starts. You have to learn how to add and subtract up to 100.” Little Sister Su was stunned. “Big Sister, I… I can’t even count to a hundred.”
“How far can you count up to?”
“Twenty!” Anyone in the village who could count to twenty was already very smart in Little Sister Su’s mind.
Su Wen took a deep breath and told herself not to be too harsh. She had to understand why Little Sister Su was so far behind. “Counting up to twenty isn’t enough. You need to learn to count to a hundred before school starts.”
The village had no kindergarten. Little Sister Su would have to enter first grade without prior schooling.
Keeping up with her classmates would be problematic if Little Sister Su had no firm foundation.
This would not have been a problem if they lived in town and Little Sister Su had gone to kindergarten from the start. Unfortunately, the family’s finances did not allow it.
“But I only have ten fingers and toes.” Little Sister Su looked aggrieved. “I can’t
help it. It only I had more tingers, I could count more.”
Su Wen listened to her younger sister, speechless.
Su Xiu snickered in the background. Afraid her younger sister would see, she quickly busied herself with her head bowed.
Su Qing sniffed disdainfully. She could not stand the fact that Little Sister Su was so uneducated. Pointing at Little Sister Su’s forehead, she seethed, “How can you still be so dumb? Hasn’t anything I’ve taught you stuck in that thick head? You can’t rely on your fingers and toes to count. What happens if you sit for an exam? Are you going to take off your shoes to count?”
“I can’t help it!” Little Sister Su felt she was plenty smart already.
“Ah! Your two sisters were in the top ten of our classes, while your Fourth and Fifth Sisters have such good grades that the principal recommended skipping a year or two,” Su Qing nagged, “Good. Just fantastic! You’ve lowered the combined intelligence of us six sisters all by yourself! ”
Su Xuewen attached great importance to education and ensured his daughters all had one. As girls, there were few opportunities for them to change their fates. While alive, Su Xuewen taught his daughters how to read and write, hoping to cultivate their minds and change their destinies.
Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to see his daughters grasp that opportunity.
Little Sister Su’s eyes turned red, and she felt extremely wrong. How did things progress like this? Hadn’t everything been fine just a moment ago? Why did her older sister have to talk about her studies?
“I can read and write well! I know plenty of new words too!”
Su Wen massaged her temples, feeling a headache being. She had no experience raising children. After transmigrating, she had a whole strew of younger siblings to care for. Out of all of them, Little Sister Su was always so obedient and well-behaved. Who knew she was secretly a slacker? To only be able to count up to twenty at six years of age was wholly inadequate.
Su Wen could only place her hopes in Sixth Sister, a top student. “I hope you get into first grade. That way, you’ll have Sixth Sister to watch over you. It would put my mind at ease if you went to school together.”
Su Wen thought about how wonderful it would be for the sisters to go to school together! Contrary to her expectations, Little Sister Su reacted badly to her words and jumped off the bed.
“No, I don’t want to! I don’t want to! I don’t want to go to school with Sixth
Sister even if you threaten to kill me. Hmph! I’m not going to school.” Little Sister Su rubbed the tears from her eyes, shouting angrily. Before Su Wen could say anything, Little Sister Su ran out of the room.
Su Wen stared, dumbfounded.
Why did Little Sister Su suddenly lose her temper?
“What’s wrong? Why’d Little Sister Su react that way?”
“Big Sister,” Su Xiu began, smiling bitterly, “Little Sister Su and Sixth Sister don’t have a good relationship. Little Sister is probably afraid she will be bullied if she goes to school with Sixth Sister..”