Chapter 238: The Courage to Break Free from Shackles
Now that the Heavenly Lord had spoken, Madam Bai naturally abandoned the idea of lecturing her son, and the slap she'd been considering certainly wouldn't be delivered.
She couldn't help but step down from her 'elder' position and become an eager seeker of knowledge: “Son, you said water turns into clouds. Your mother has thought it over carefully, and it makes sense. When water boils, doesn't it turn into
white vapor? That vapor drifts up and becomes clouds, right? But... how do you explain the Heavenly Lord's clouds?”
Young Master Bai proudly declared, “No explanation needed! The Heavenly Lord’s clouds are conjured by a deity and cannot be explained by Physics. Ordinary clouds, however, are formed by water vapor evaporation and can be explained by Physics. It's that simple.”
Madam Bai finally understood. “I see! My son truly is brilliant. Oh, my boy has grown up; your mother can no longer keep up with you.”
As she spoke, Madam Bai's face lit up with a beaming smile. Unlike Bai Yuan, she wasn't worried about being surpassed by her son. In fact, she eagerly wished for him to outgrow her sooner rather than later. After all, she was a woman of the old society, heavily constrained by the limitations of her era. In her view, a woman without talent was virtuous, but her son absolutely needed talent to inherit the Bai family legacy. Therefore, her son should—no, *must*—surpass her.
And the sooner that day arrived, the better.
Li Daoxuan also felt extremely pleased with Young Master Bai's progress.
Gao Family Village's new generation was flourishing. When Young Master Bai’s generation came of age, surely many things would be different.
He hoped that day wasn't too far off.
Just then, Gao Yiye returned from the bookstore. She was pattering towards the watchtower, ready to urgently relay the third episode of “The Heavenly Lord’s Demon-Slaying Chronicles.”
Li Daoxuan called out to her, “Yiye, go to Young Master Bai. I have an announcement to make.”
Gao Yiye quickly ran over, serving as his official messenger.
“Young Master Bai, would you be willing to serve as the ‘Physics Class Representative’?”
This question, of course, was met with no surprise, and Young Master Bai’s spirits soared. “Yes! In fact, I wanted to ask the Heavenly Lord to appoint me as the Physics Class Representative. I love physics, even more than mathematics.”
Li Daoxuan said, “But you are already the Mathematics Class Representative. In the future, while you study physics yourself, you will also need to teach it to other children. If you continue to concurrently manage mathematics... I don't think you will have enough time.”
Young Master Bai fell silent. “This...”
It was indeed a very practical problem.
Although he was quite a genius, he had recently begun to feel overwhelmed.
Gao Family Village no longer had just a few dozen students as before. Since the refugees from Qingjian arrived, the number of students had surged to over four hundred, and they were spread across ten classrooms.
Young Master Bai had to self-study mathematics, while also going to ten different classrooms to teach mathematics to other children. At the same time, he also had to self-study the new subject of physics. For a thirteen-year-old child, this was an enormous burden.
Li Daoxuan turned his attention to Third Young Miss, who was standing behind them. “Third Young Miss, how is your mathematics coming along?” “I’ve reached the first...first semester of middle school...” Third Young Miss replied, a little shyly.
“From now on, how would you like to serve as the Mathematics Class Representative, teaching mathematics on my behalf?”
The moment Li Daoxuan posed this question, Third Young Miss instinctively recoiled. She even wanted to hide behind Gao Yiye. However, Gao Yiye was currently speaking to her on behalf of the Heavenly Lord, so Third Young Miss had to face her directly; there was no hiding. Gao Yiye reached out and gently pulled Third Young Miss back. “The Heavenly Lord is speaking to you. Don't keep ducking away. Stand straight; your attitude is not proper.”
Third Young Miss became even more frightened, shrinking into a ball. She shyly mumbled, “I...I don’t have... a bad attitude... it’s just... I’m a little scared...”
She was just a little girl, barely twelve years old. It was normal for her to be a little shy in front of others.
Li Daoxuan didn’t blame her. “But, besides you, there isn't a better candidate.”
“Oh?” Third Young Miss pondered carefully, and it seemed to be true. In Gao Family Village, only she and Young Master Bai had progressed fastest in mathematics, already reaching the middle school first-year level. Other villagers’ children, due to family circumstances, lacked the ability to apply what they learned and had much weaker learning capabilities, mostly still stuck at the end of Elementary Math third grade.
Third Young Miss stammered, “I...I am... a girl... Girls can’t...”
“Nonsense!” Li Daoxuan declared. “Why can’t girls? Women can hold up half the sky! As long as you dare and are willing to do it, I will appoint you as the Mathematics Class Representative. If anyone contradicts you, I’ll have a talk with them.”
Who would dare talk back to *you*? You are a deity, after all!
Third Young Miss felt the powerful, glittering backing she had just gained.
Her little heart pounded with excitement. Of course she was willing! Though she had been indoctrinated by Neo-Confucianism since childhood and misled by traditional female virtues, she was, after all, just a child, not yet set in her ways like adult women who had been bent by oppression.
She still possessed the courage to break through tradition and shatter her shackles.
Third Young Miss considered it very seriously. She lifted her small face, and a rare expression of earnestness settled on her twelve-year-old, rosy cheeks: “Heavenly Lord, I...I am willing to be the Mathematics Class Representative... Please let me do it.”
“Excellent!” Li Daoxuan smiled with satisfaction. “Excellent, excellent. Since that is the case, I will have Gao Yiye inform Mr. Wang shortly that the curriculum can now be revised. You will teach mathematics to the other children, while Young Master Bai will first dedicate himself to studying physics for a while. Once other children have completed Elementary Math, physics classes will begin immediately, with Young Master Bai teaching physics to the other children.”
Young Master Bai and Third Young Miss bowed together. “We respectfully obey the Heavenly Lord’s decree!”
Li Daoxuan felt a surge of quiet satisfaction. This was truly a significant step forward.
Alright, for now, the arrangements were complete. Time to edit the video.
Li Daoxuan took out the video he had filmed previously, titled “All Villagers Join Hands to Make Hand-Pulled Noodles,” and began to edit it.
He trimmed and cut the process of each household making a single strand of noodle, finally gathering them all together to form a large bowl of hand-pulled noodles, editing it into a short video just one minute long.
He added a caption: “It's harvest time! The people of the miniature world are making their hometown specialty, hand-pulled noodles...”
The caption was as terrible as ever. He really should have studied harder in school. *Sigh*. As the thought crossed his mind, he couldn't help but glance deeply at the Thirty-Two Middle School inside the box.
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