850 Fairy Tales (1/2)
With a wave of tremble, the Wuling Hong Guang drove up to the sidewalk and stopped in front of the pet shop.
The door opened and Zhang Zian got off the car.
The chic ladies glanced at him while they passed by, then covered their noses in disgust and kept a distance from his car.
Despite the fact that he didn't specialize in the seafood business, he drove to the beach each day, and often took rare marine creatures, such as fish, shrimp, and crabs, back. He could not wash the containers in the car everyday, so after some time, the car inevitably smelled like fish.
Wang Qian and Li Kun greeted him, and carried the new marine creatures into the aquarium. They sorted them and put them into different quarantine tanks so that they could adapt to the new environment.
Zhang Zian walked into the shop. The cleaning job was almost done, so he didn't have much to do. He took the underwater loudspeaker battery upstairs to charge.
He met Old Time Tea on the stairs. He hinted Old Time Tea and asked gently, ”How is it?”
Old Time Tea smiled gently. ”Everything is under your expectations.”
The man and the cat looked at each other and smiled.
”Quack! What are you talking about in secret? What are you hiding from me?” Richard had sharply sensed the unusual atmosphere while it flew by.
”Right. We are discussing you behind your back––specifically plucking your feather and making you into a stew,” Zhang Zian threatened. ”After you become stew, the world will be quiet.”
”Quack! My meat is old and dry––it wouldn't taste good in a stew. I suggest you pick another bird!” Richard flew away quickly.
Old Time Tea walked downstairs slowly for the television, while Zhang Zian headed upstairs to wash his hands. They carried a fishy smell after they were soaked in the sea. He could still feel some fine, sea salt granules after his hands were dry.
As soon as he entered the bathroom, he saw Sihwa hide something in a hurry.
He pretended not to see it. After turning on the tap, he asked, ”Why aren't you broadcasting today?”
Sihwa was angry and humiliated after hearing his question. ”Today… I'm not in the mood today! I don't want to broadcast!”
”Okay. It's nice to take a day off sometimes.” Zhang Zian wiped his hands, then left the bathroom.
”Wait a moment!” Sihwa shouted behind him.
”What is it?” Zhang Zian stopped.
”Emm… This… Emm… That…” she stuttered. Her pale face turned red because she needed his help. After stammering for a long time, she took out a book from under a towel. ”I can't read. What can I do?” she asked, troubled. ”I know a few Korean words, but not any Chinese words…”
She could play with the phone, as the phone functions were simple––as long as she remembered the icons. She could make guesses on others, or ask Zhang Zian if it was too hard to guess. However, reading a book full of Chinese characters was mission impossible to her.
In fact, she had learned a few Chinese words since she had arrived in China. But she had learned them mechanically; she didn't have any formal, systemic teaching.
”You must be laughing at me, aren't you? You absolutely are!” She pointed at his face in fury before Zhang Zian had even said anything. She was almost embarrassed to tears.
”I'm not laughing at you. It's normal to be illiterate. Nobody is born literate.” Zhang Zian shrugged. ”Otherwise, they'd be a freak.”
After hearing his words, Sihwa's mood calmed down a little.
”Well… Is there anything you can do to make me literate?” she asked, lowering her head.
”Yes. Lend me your phone for a moment.” Zhang Zian took her phone and downloaded a few early childhood education apps from the app store. They were all basic-level, but entertaining word learning apps nonetheless; he started with Pinyin, which had real people's voices. The apps were already quite developed, and the functions were complete.
He compared a few quickly, then left the most user-friendly one and deleted the rest.
”Here you are. Follow this. You'll learn them soon.” He gave the phone back to her.
”Wow! So childish!” She complained as soon as she saw the interface for young kids. ”Are there any long-legged Oppas or big-boobed girls teaching the lessons?”
”Save it. I'd love to learn if these teachings existed!” Zhang Zian took up her book and flipped through it. The book from Old Time Tea was not suitable.
He returned the book to Pi, then found a few fairy tale books with pictures from his childhood book collection. Each character was marked with a Pinyin illustration.
”After you learn Pinyin, you can read these books. Just learn the words while reading the stories.” He piled the books on the bathroom closet. ”Oh, right––books are not waterproof. Dry your hands before you read them. These are books from my childhood. Most of them can't even be found these days.”
”Books from your childhood?” Sihwa seemed skeptical. ”Could there be… Any dirty content in them?”