Chapter 4: The System
"Fifth Brother, Fourth Brother, wait for me! I want to go too..."
It was summer again.
At dusk, the villagers of Xiangfu Village were all by the river enjoying the breeze. The boys had stripped buck-naked, splashing into the water one after another like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
Song Baozhu was wearing a cool, breezy dress that Wang Guifang had specifically altered for her.
She was playing jacks with her village playmates under the shade of a tree at the threshing floor.
Among the circle of dark, thin little girls, she was incredibly conspicuous. Her skin was milky white, and her eyes; like a pair of black grapes, were paired with a small, delicate nose and a plump, fleshy little mouth. She looked like a white, fat glutinous rice ball mixed into a pile of black walnuts.
The villagers of Xiangfu Village used to sneer when they heard Wang Guifang brag that her daughter was a fairy descended to earth, but as the girl grew more and more beautiful, most people came to agree with that statement; this child truly grew up to be exceptionally outstanding.
Moreover, she had a likable personality and a very sweet tongue; she would call out "Uncle," "Auntie," "Grandpa," or "Grandma" to everyone she met. Whenever she took a walk around the village, she would always harvest a few small snacks.
They weren't anything fancy, sometimes a handful of dried sweet potatoes or a few freshly picked mulberries, but for villagers who could barely eat their fill, these were already the best things they had.
Consequently, Song Baozhu liked Xiangfu Village very much. In her eyes, everyone in Xiangfu Village was a wonderful person.
Her sharp eyes caught sight of her fifth brother, Song Zhizhong, and fourth brother, Song Zhibei, running toward the river shirtless. She immediately stood up and shouted at the top of her little voice.
Song Zhizhong and Song Zhibei stopped helplessly.
Song Baozhu ran deng-deng-deng up to them, looking at them piteously with her blinking, watery eyes.
Confronted with such a look, who could hold out?
The two of them steeled themselves and said, "Baozhu, Mom won't let you go in the water. That river is dangerous. What if something happens to you?"
Just as Song Baozhu was about to say that nothing would happen to her, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out in her mind: "Host, you have not yet completed today's learning progress. If you do not finish before twelve o'clock, I will have to punish you again."
Upon hearing this, Song Baozhu instantly deflated.
This strange, eccentric voice had suddenly appeared in her head half a month ago. It claimed to be some kind of Learning System from the cosmic year 6000, intended to assist and supervise the host's studies.
When Song Baozhu first heard it, she was scared into loud, wailing sobs. At that time, she had just finished pestering her eldest and second brothers to tell her ghost stories, and she thought she had been possessed by a ghost so soon.
Later, through the system's repeated explanations, she learned it wasn't a ghost.
Although she couldn't understand what it actually was, after being forced to study a few times, she figured it out: this was a teacher who taught her how to read and write.
She knew what a teacher was; the neighboring Shuisha Village had a school where "educated youths" taught children from the surrounding villages.
She wasn't yet six, so she hadn't enrolled yet, but she had once curiously followed the other village kids to see it.
The adults all said one must respect teachers.
So, once Song Baozhu knew the voice in her head was a teacher, she listened to it very well and obediently followed its curriculum.
However, there was one time she was playing with a spinning top with her fourth and fifth brothers and got carried away.
After the system gave its prompt, she deliberately covered her ears and pretended not to hear. That night at midnight, she was punished by the system.
She was sleeping soundly next to her mother when a sudden, heart-piercing pain made her scream out loud, her whole body convulsing.
At that time, Wang Guifang was scared to the point of tears, and Song Dezhu rolled out of bed, immediately hoisted her onto his back, and ran toward the health clinic. That night, every member of the Song family stayed up for most of the night.
Song Baozhu was unable to speak of the system's existence. That single experience had frightened her thoroughly with pain, and seeing her family so worried, she never dared to slack off again.
Every day, she would obediently finish the system's lessons before daring to come out and play.
She puckered her mouth piteously. "Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, you guys go play. I'm going home." She had to go home to recognize characters and study.
Seeing her look so pitiful, Song Zhibei felt so bad he didn't know what to do. "Zhuzhu, we won't go into the deep water. Fourth Brother will take you to the riverbank, and you can just splash your feet a bit and come back, okay?"
Song Baozhu was very tempted, but she couldn't.
Like a little adult, she let out a melancholy sigh: "No, you guys go."
Finally, mimicking Wang Guifang, she added a reminder, "Don't play too long before coming home, okay?"
Song Zhizhong pinched his sister's chubby cheek. "Got it. As if we need a little squirt like you to remind us."
Song Baozhu waved her hand. "Go on, I'm going home."
Song Zhizhong and Song Zhibei watched her walk toward the house until they were sure, and only then did they feel at ease heading into the river.
Song Baozhu walked home on her short little legs. She encountered many people along the way, and every time she met someone, she would curve her big eyes and greet them sweetly.
"Third Grandma, do you need me to help you thread a needle today?"
"Auntie Wu, your hair looks especially pretty today."
"Uncle Li, carrying water again?"
Every person she greeted so sweetly was overjoyed. Those who patted their pockets and found no snacks felt particularly embarrassed.
Song Baozhu greeted the villagers all along the way, occasionally chatting for a couple of sentences; she felt busier than a national leader.
Just like that, she reached the house of her third uncle, Song Deqiang.
Her third aunt, Ma Xianglan, was washing sweet potatoes at the front door; it looked like they were going to be steamed for dinner.
Song Baozhu walked up to Ma Xianglan with her small hands behind her back, her little mouth hanging open in wonder: "Third Aunt, how come you look so beautiful today?"
Ma Xianglan wanted to keep a straight face but simply couldn't manage it. Her relationship with Wang Guifang was poor, yet she just couldn't harden her heart against this little squirt.
Ever since Song Baozhu could run and talk, she had been incredibly affectionate every time she saw her.
Even a person as stingy as Ma Xianglan had unconsciously been coaxed into giving her quite a few little snacks.
Afterward, she could only stubbornly comfort herself by saying she was being magnanimous, why would she hold a grudge against a small child?
Ma Xianglan suppressed her smile and deliberately teased her: "Shoo, shoo! You little slip of a girl, all you have is a glib tongue. Do you think your Third Aunt is like those other people in the village, losing my bearings just because you coax me with a few sweet words?"
Song Baozhu didn't take it to heart; she knew Ma Xianglan didn't truly hate her. She seemed to have a sharp intuition regarding the kindness or malice of others.
She tilted her head up and said very seriously, "Third Aunt, I'm not coaxing you. I'm telling the truth. Third Aunt, you really are beautiful."
Ma Xianglan’s looks were indeed decent, but Song Baozhu’s tone managed to turn a three-out-of-ten compliment into a ten.
She could no longer hold it in and let out a "puchi" laugh, poking Song Baozhu’s forehead: "I give up with you, just wait."
She turned and went into the house, coming out a moment later to hand Song Baozhu a piece of candy.
"Eat up." Since her little mouth was so sweet, she ought to taste something sweet.
Song Baozhu joyfully accepted it, peeled the wrapper, and offered the candy to Ma Xianglan:
"Third Aunt, let's each have half."
"If I give it to you, just eat it. Why are you being so polite with me?"
Song Baozhu shook her head firmly.
Ma Xianglan knew her personality; if she didn't comply, the child wouldn't drop it.
She had no choice but to take it back and use a knife to cut the fruit candy into two halves, feeding the other half to Song Hongya, who was learning needlework. Song Hongya crinkled her eyes at Song Baozhu.
Song Baozhu spoke a few more words with her cousin Song Hongya before finally heading home.
"Mama, Mama..."
"I'm in here." Inside the house, Wang Guifang was tidying up. Hearing Song Baozhu’s crisp voice, she hurriedly responded.
Song Baozhu followed the sound into the room and walked up to Wang Guifang, who was bent over sweeping the floor. "Mama, open your mouth."
Before Wang Guifang could ask, Song Baozhu stuffed the half-piece of candy into her mouth.
Wang Guifang tasted the sweetness and wanted to spit it out, but Song Baozhu held her hand tightly over her mother's mouth.
"Alright, alright, Mama will eat it. Mama will finish it." Wang Guifang simply sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Song Baozhu into her arms.
"Who gave this to you?"
"Third Aunt!" Song Baozhu asked Wang Guifang, "Mama, does it taste good?"
Wang Guifang said, "It’s delicious. Because my Zhuzhu gave it to me, it's better than anything."
She stroked Song Baozhu’s chubby little hand, patted her back, and kissed her on the forehead before saying, "Go play now, Mama still has work to do."
Song Baozhu nodded and obediently left the room to sit on a bamboo chair that Song Dezhu had specially made for her. Looking at her daughter, who looked like a little fairy, Wang Guifang’s heart melted completely.
Then she felt a bit amused; every time Ma Xianglan saw her, she would secretly try to outdo her, yet she always ended up falling for this little girl's charms.
A person so stingy and greedy who could never get enough was actually willing to give her Baozhu things every time, this time, she had even given away such precious fruit candy.
Song Baozhu sat in her chair with a notebook and pen, writing and drawing.
This was something she had begged Song Dezhu to buy after the system required her to study every day.
The adults all assumed she was just curious from watching the other village children study, so they didn't pay it much mind.
As the sky was turning dark, Song Dezhu returned with his three eldest sons: the first, second, and third.
To earn work points, they had chosen the task of repairing the village river channels, fearing the summer floods might breach the embankments.
"Papa, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother!"
Song Baozhu had just finished the curriculum required by the system. She looked up and saw her father and three brothers.
Hearing her sweet voice, it felt as though the fatigue throughout their bodies lightened by several degrees.
Song Dezhu washed his hands and scooped Song Baozhu up, lifting her high into the air.
Song Baozhu laughed with "ga-ga" delight.
"Dad, you're back. Wash your hands and let's eat."
A girl in her early twenties with a large braid walked out of the kitchen; she had thick eyebrows and big eyes.
She was Song Zhidong's new bride who had just married into the family last year, named Qian Xiaoe.
After the family washed their hands, they moved the table into the courtyard.
The courtyard gate was open, and the river breeze blowing from not far away was extremely comfortable.
Dinner was not as substantial as the daytime meals: a basin of corn porridge that wasn't very thick, accompanied by two large basins of sweet potatoes, a bowl of homemade spicy bean paste, a plate of cold shredded potatoes, and a plate of wild vegetables.
Only Song Baozhu had a separate bowl of white rice porridge and a plump, white boiled egg.
Song Baozhu insisted on pouring a bit of the white porridge from her bowl for everyone at the table before she finally finished the remaining half.
She smacked her lips and said to the system in her mind: "White rice porridge is so delicious. If only I could eat rice every day."
"As long as the host studies crop science diligently, you can increase grain yields. Wanting to eat white rice every day is not impossible," the mechanical voice said, somehow managing to sound like the Big Bad Wolf coaxing Little Red Riding Hood.
Song Baozhu’s eyes lit up. She asked in surprise, "Really?! Then can I make it so my Papa, Mama, brothers, and sister-in-law can all eat white rice too?"
The system said, "Truly. If the host can learn the crop cultivation methods of the cosmic calendar, you can not only let your whole family eat white rice but even the whole village."
Having accidentally ended up here right after leaving the factory, the system had no prior teaching experience.
Through its interactions with Song Baozhu, it had intuitively taught itself how to communicate with children.
To make a child love learning, force is the worst strategy; sparking their interest is the best.
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