CHAPTER 452: CHAPTER 102 DAILY LIFE

Soon, Xu Lin met Ning Yuhuan’s grandparents.

Grandpa and Grandma are honest and hospitable old folks.

After going inside, they invited Xu Lin to have lunch.

Not long after, Ning Yuhuan’s uncle and aunt also came downstairs to meet Xu Lin.

Ning Yuhuan mentioned that her uncle’s family lives in another part of the village, at the foot of the mountain.

Previously, Ning Yuhuan said they’d need to clean the back mountain during the New Year because it’s part of their little family’s property.

In the afternoon.

Ning Yuhuan took Xu Lin to see the old house above.

It turns out the place at the foot of the mountain is a large house made of tile and mud bricks, and further down is a flat-roofed building, which is the uncle’s home.

"How many kids does your uncle have?"

"Four! Two cousins and two female cousins. The elder female cousin is married, and the two male cousins and the other female cousin have already gone to work. They won’t have a break for a while."

"How are your cousin’s studies?"

"The elder female cousin didn’t attend university, graduated from high school. The elder male cousin is from a second-tier university, while the other male cousin and female cousin are from top-tier universities."

"Your family is quite impressive; there are only six top-tier graduates in the village, and you account for two of them, plus yourself in a key university." Xu Lin exclaimed.

"Our family knows the importance of studying hard!"

Ning Yuhuan declared.

"I think it’s not just that. Sometimes it’s about genetics; some people are born knowing to work hard at studying."

Xu Lin then spoke to Peaceful Years whom he was holding: "Suisui, An’an, remember to study hard, okay?"

The children are still in the stage of developing their worldviews. Kids from ordinary families need a solid foundation for their worldviews to grow.

Children from wealthy families have a different set of values.

"Brother-in-law, I will study hard!"

"Brother-in-law, I will too!"

The two kids responded earnestly.

Xu Lin glanced at Ning Yuhuan: "Peaceful Years, and An’an, are they going to elementary school next September?"

"Yes!"

Ning Yuhuan nodded.

"Next year, I’ll see about having Suisui and An’an attend elementary school in Duanzhou. At least it’ll be a very good school, and the learning environment will be better."

"Ah, that’s not necessary, it seems too troublesome."

Ning Yuhuan knew Xu Lin was going to spend money again, and she’d struggle with Xu Lin always having to pay.

Xu Lin didn’t mind, he just said: "In the county, where they go to elementary school, many of the classmates have rural backgrounds. Their parents might not educate kids as well as your uncle and aunt educate Peaceful Years and An’an."

Peaceful Years and An’an don’t resemble children raised by rural parents—they’re neat and clean, even know to use tissues when they have a runny nose rather than sleeves or collars, so their clothes and appearance are clean, which is significant for a four- or five-year-old.

Xu Lin continued: "Comprehensive quality and economic conditions are positively correlated, as in the better the economic conditions, the higher the comprehensive quality. This is discussed based on large samples. We won’t discuss individual cases, like, there are also scoundrels at good universities, which is normal, but those coming out of good universities generally have better comprehensive qualities than those from ordinary universities or those who didn’t attend university. This is also discussed based on large samples; we don’t discuss survivor bias. Isn’t that right, sis?"

"Right." Ning Yuhuan agreed.

Large samples are the foundation of statistics; samples that are too small are meaningless for discussion, and survivor bias is even less worth discussing.

Xu Lin: "So Peaceful Years and An’an need to attend a very good elementary school. After elementary school, they’ll go directly to an equally good local middle school. Thus, they’ll have a guaranteed learning environment before high school. With a solid foundation, they’ll be able to attend good schools in high school. Just trust me, it won’t cost much."

"Alright then." Ning Yuhuan pursed her lips.

"Peaceful Years, An’an, heading to elementary school next year—can you count yet?"

"Yes!"

Suisui started counting with his fingers: "1, 2, 3..."

He eventually counted to twenty-five.

"Brother-in-law, am I awesome?"

"So clever!"

Xu Lin knew the siblings had just started kindergarten this year and were only four and a half years old.

"What about An’an?"

"Brother-in-law, I know the multiplication table!"

"Oh? The multiplication table?"

This caught Xu Lin’s interest, and he asked: "What’s 1*1?"

"1!"

"And 1*2?"

"2!"

Xu Lin continued to ask, deliberately mixing up the order.

"What’s 8*6?"

"48!"

"How about 9*5?"

"45!"

"An’an is smart, she knows the second-grade content of elementary school."

Xu Lin raised the difficulty: "What’s 81 divided by 9?"

"9!"

Then Xu Lin asked a few more division questions; they were all results from the multiplication table, reversed, and An’an could answer them all.

"Sis, look how smart Peaceful Years and An’an are. It’s a pity not to send them to a good elementary school—the threshold of a poor school is too low. The best student there might be a poor student at a good school."

Xu Lin enthusiastically said, "So sis, it’s decided."

"You’re in charge. I’ll follow your advice."

Ning Yuhuan nodded once more.

"Let’s go inside the old house and take a look."

"Yeah, come with me!"

Ning Yuhuan opened the wooden door of the old house.

A smell of chicken poop greeted them.

In fact, Ning Yuhuan’s grandpa and uncle place chickens here overnight, which is normal in the countryside. Otherwise, where else would the chickens go at night?

"Brother-in-law, look, there’s a big rooster in the cage!"

Suisui pointed to one of the chicken coops, and Xu Lin looked over to see a big rooster inside, it’s been caponized and huge.

Ning Yuhuan reminded him, "My grandpa sent a message last night saying you were coming today, so this one’s for slaughtering tonight."

As Xu Lin is visiting, according to the local custom, there has to be a big dinner with chicken in the evening.