This kind of thing happened in many families. Some cases were quite normal. A child might say, "There are two pots of flowers here, and three there. We have five pots in total." Everyone started using math in daily life. Parents were very happy. But some worried. They asked, "Why does my child love math so much all of a sudden? Is something wrong?"
Several parents went to school to ask Teacher Zhou. Teacher Zhou felt strange too. She asked Teacher Sun. Teacher Sun shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't taught addition yet. You know, school just started. We only learned a few numbers. How could I teach addition?" Then she remembered the class on Thursday afternoon. "Was it Zhu Yanyi’s class?"
Teacher Zhou thought of that too. So she found Zhang Xiaofeng. After asking, she learned it was indeed Zhu Yanyi who taught the lesson. The class was very interesting. The children remembered the simple addition easily. Teacher Sun decided to sit in on the class next Thursday. She wanted to see how Zhu Yanyi taught.
Saturday afternoon was a holiday. Zhu Yanyi went to visit Elder Yao. Elder Yao had sent a message. She asked Zhu Yanyi to come over quickly. So she went to her place on Saturday afternoon.
"Elder Yao, do you miss me because I am at school?" Zhu Yanyi arrived. She saw Elder Yao looked energetic. She knew she was healthy. Before, she worried because she didn’t say why she needed to come. Now that she was fine, she could joke around.
Elder Yao smiled. "I called you here so we old friends can gather with you one last time. Then we are leaving."
"Leaving?" Zhu Yanyi was stunned. She got anxious. "Elder Yao, where are you going? I still have many things to learn. Are you abandoning me?" At this moment, Zhu Yanyi felt sad. Tears fell from her eyes. Since being reborn, Zhu Yanyi always seemed optimistic, happy, and calm. She had never been this sad before.
Elder Yao panicked. she quickly wiped her tears. "Silly girl, why cry? We are not disappearing. The country needs us old folks to help. So we are going to the capital. You can visit us there during holidays. Or you can come when you get into a university in the capital. We are not saying goodbye forever."
Hearing this, Zhu Yanyi stopped crying. She felt much better. As long as they were not disappearing, and not leaving without reason, she was not sad. "Grandpa Yun suggested this, right?" Last time Grandpa Yun visited, Zhu Yanyi saw her plan. She knew that with Elder Yao’s character, if the country needed them, they would come out of retirement. Even if they suffered again, they would do it. But Zhu Yanyi knew the future. These old experts would be given important tasks by the country. No one would persecute them again.
"When are you leaving?" Zhu Yanyi asked, looking down.
Elder Yao smiled. "We leave on Monday. That is why we called you over these two days."
"So urgent? Then I will cook for the grandparents tomorrow as a farewell dinner." Zhu Yanyi stopped feeling sad. She started thinking about what to let them take to the capital. She didn’t care about other things. But she cared about their health. She thought she should let them take a drop of Spirit Spring water. Don’t blame Zhu Yanyi for being stingy. If she gave too much, it might cause trouble. If she gave too little, others would just think it was luck.