Chapter 130: Rain Man (Part 2) Ii (2/2)
”Yes, but I'll let you ask me three questions as a sign of my forgiveness. Shoot,” she said coolly.
”You're studying math because you enjoy it?” I asked.
”Of course. I went to school and got bullied by the kids because I knew more than them. They regarded me as a freak, which is why I stopped attending cla.s.ses.”
”Who taught you all these knowledge?”
”The doctors, nurses, and other staff took turns to teach me at first, but I've learned all the Chinese words they could teach by nine years old. I then started learning English, French, and German on my own.”
”Oh my G.o.d,” I exclaimed, my mouth agape.
”He taught me, too, of course, but nothing else piqued my interest until he showed me a difficult math question. Numbers are part of a self-forming system but are constantly self-contradictory. They require a strict calculation process but most of the time is incomprehensible.”
It was my first time hearing someone explain math this way, and from a girl 12 years of age, nonetheless. After some time, I asked, ”Then what do you wanna do, or rather be, in the future?
”That's your third and last question. I want to be a mathematician. Of course, I'm only learning now but I plan to solve the seven difficult questions. I want to unravel the secret behind math.” She paused then continued, ”Find me all formulas similar to the trigonometric function and pick five basic but relevant questions for me tomorrow.”
I took a deep breath, finally understanding what the president meant when he said I'd be surprised. Xiaoyu was really seeing things that normal people fail to.
”Hey, why are you in a daze? Did you hear what I said? He's been doing what I tell him every day, so I'll go back to him if you can't do that,” she stated, throwing my phone back to me.
”No, no. I can do it,” I said quickly.
”Let's eat and go down then.” She pointed far away.
I looked up into the sky and noticed that the sun was about to set. Time had flown by, and it was only when I picked my phone up that I realized Xiaoyu had drained its battery.
”You're going down too?” I asked.
”I wasn't going to tell you at first, but since I'm a good person... My house is down the mountain,” she told me.
”Don't you stay here in the inst.i.tution?” I asked, confounded.
”I live in his house. I'm not a mental patient. This is the place where I learn, just like how elementary school kids attend school daily.”
I nodded.
She got up, slapping away the dust on her clothes.
We had dinner together and I could hear the doctors and nurses talking about me rather obviously.
After we finished our meal, Xiaoyu and I took the same bus down the mountain.
I watched her walk into a corner neighborhood before I got into a public bicycle and cycled my way back to school.
Xiaoyu learned through my phone for the next 20 days.
All I did was to ensure that my phone battery lasted and to prepare questions for her to solve at home.
We grew closer, slowly but surely, and I started worrying about her future.
She was a prodigy, how could she spend the rest of her life in this inst.i.tution?
On the 20th morning, I received a call from the teacher.
Half-awake, I picked up the phone.
”Luqiao? What time do you start work? I'll get the reporter to look for you and conduct the interview.”
The word 'reporter' jolted me out of my semi-hazy state and I immediately thought about making use of the interview to share Xiaoyu's story.
”Today. I'm free today.”
”Great. I'll get the reporter to the East Mountain entrance and you'll pick him up from there, is that alright? I'll contact you later. I need to see good news tomorrow.”
”Alright, no problem,” I said before hanging up.
I received a message containing a foreign number.
I am going to publicize this huge story for Xiaoyu.
I got up and washed before heading to work.
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