Have him plant the seeds a little deeper.

"This is not sophistry," Shen Mo whispered, refuting her.

"Regardless of whether it's sophistry or not, there's logic to it." Shen Chengli spoke up to support his daughter. "Especially those two sentences about the City No. 1 Middle School—they were remarkably profound!"

Shu Mei shot her husband a sidelong glance, somewhat displeased that he was seizing the opportunity to win favor while she was busy lecturing their daughter. Seeing the girl triumphantly display the small dimple on her left cheek, she poked her on the forehead, not without irritation, and said, "Since you already know these things, you should be preventing such situations from happening, rather than using them as excuses to evade difficulties and challenges."

"I am not evading anything." The young girl stubbornly retorted, "I am doing just fine at school, so why do I need to transfer?"

"Fine, you think you're doing very well in your studies, don't you?"

"It's not that I think I'm doing 'very well.' I'm still not first, so I'm not good enough yet. I just feel I have already made a lot of progress, and even if I were at City No. 1 Middle School, it's not certain that I would make even greater progress."

Shu Mei was interrupted before she could finish. The young girl knitted her delicate, pretty brows as she corrected her mother, then muttered under her breath, "The way you talk makes it sound like I’m arrogant, but in fact, I am not."

Shen Chengli laughed and gave his daughter a thumbs-up. "Impressive! Logical and well-reasoned!"

Shen Baoguo, Peng Shouyu, and Shen Chengyan’s couple also began to laugh. Shu Mei was both angry and amused, glaring at her husband. "Why don't you come and talk to her then?"

"No, no, no." Shen Chengli waved his hands quickly, laughing. "I am no match for our daughter. I admit defeat, I admit defeat."

The girl actually thought her father couldn't win an argument against her and said smugly, "This is what they call 'having reason allows you to travel the world,' while you—ouch!"

Shu Mei tapped her on the head and scolded, "Don't change the subject. If you think you've made such great progress, let’s test you on what you’ve learned this semester."

She had intended to give her daughter a practice test from City No. 1 Middle School, but hadn't prepared one as she didn't expect convincing her daughter to be this difficult. So she said, "Let’s start with English. Even if City No. 1 Middle School doesn't have all foreign teachers, at least the English teachers there have no issues with pronunciation. How well did you learn at Town No. 2 Middle School? Give us a self-introduction. You’ll be studying abroad in the future, so you must practice your spoken English more."

"Okay~" Shen Mo dragged out the tail of the word with a touch of "Chinglish," wiggling out of her mother's arms. Like a little butterfly, she skipped to the center of the living room and introduced herself in English: "My lovely Mom and Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, I’m your lovely Momo..."

She delivered a playful, fluent self-introduction in English. Although the grammar wasn't perfect, she spoke naturally and lightly, causing even Shen Chengli and Shu Mei, whose English was relatively good, to look on in surprise.

Immediately after finishing, she seemed to remember something and added, "But I don't want to study abroad."

Cheng Mengfei’s English wasn't great, and Shen Mo had spoken quite quickly, so she didn't fully understand. She turned to ask Shen Chengyan, "What was that last sentence?"

Shen Chengyan thought for a moment and looked toward his older brother. Before he could speak, Shu Mei had already frowned. "She said she doesn't want to study abroad."

She sighed, gestured for Shen Mo to come over, and rubbed her head. "You are still young; there is no need to rush into studying abroad. Let’s focus on the transfer first."

Shen Mo let out a soft, childish "Mmm—" and curled up on her mother’s lap, acting spoiled. Finally, she looked up with her small face. "I don't want to transfer, and I definitely don't want to study abroad. Can we not? Mom, I'm begging you! I don't want to be raised like a pig."

Shu Mei was left between laughter and tears. She lifted her up and scolded, "What 'raised like a pig'? What kind of silly talk is that?"

"That's how they do it abroad." The little girl blinked her eyes, looking very surprised. "Don't you know?"

She looked around and, seeing the confusion on the faces of her grandparents, parents, aunt, and uncle, waved her little hands. "I'll tell you then. An old farmer was dying. On his deathbed, he told his son, 'The cows in the pasture complain about having too much work, the pigs complain about the poor food, and the chickens complain about their poor housing. How do you plan to handle this?'"

"The farmer's son said, 'Then let the cows work less, give the pigs better food, and build new houses for the chickens.' The old farmer scolded him, 'Wrong! Give them votes, and let them choose whether you or your wife should be in charge of the farm. That way, they’ll think they are the masters of the farm. You and your wife then guide them to voice their opinions—one saying you're a better manager, another saying your wife is better. Let them argue, even fight; as long as it doesn't affect the work, it’s fine. That way, they will forget about whether the work is too much, the food is bad, or the housing is poor.'"

The elders were all stunned. Shen Chengli, who had been joking around, frowned, his expression turning serious. "Did that Fang Chang'an tell you this too?"

"No." Shen Mo looked at their expressions, not understanding why they had suddenly turned so serious. She shook her head. "It wasn't Fang Chang'an who said it; it was Lu Xun, in his book."

"Nonsense! When did Lu Xun ever say such things?"

Shen Baoguo pretended to be angry and lectured her gently, "Children are not allowed to tell lies."

Shen Mo wasn't afraid of her grandfather and pouted. "It was Lu Xun! Lu Xun also said the tyranny of the majority is more terrifying than the tyranny of one man, right at the beginning of the first volume of *Lu Xun*."

Shen Chengli laughed. "That is something Lu Xun actually said. You really read it?"

"Yes." Shen Mo vaguely realized she might have caused trouble for Fang Chang'an and began looking for ways to exonerate him. "And the stealing of beans, the picking of watermelons, um, and the *zha* (badger-like creature) and Kong Yiji, but I didn't finish reading them all. Fang Chang'an finished them..."

"Wait." Shu Mei realized her daughter was a bit different today—slippery as an eel. She had tried to discuss the transfer, but her daughter had successfully diverted the topic several times. She patted her daughter’s little head. "Finish the serious business first, then you can talk about your desk-mate."

Shen Mo’s speech was interrupted, and she pouted, clearly unhappy.

Shu Mei pinched her daughter's little face to distract her again, smiling. "That English you spoke earlier was quite good. It really caught me off guard; I thought you were going to complain about why Chinese people have to learn English again."

Shen Mo had been sensible since she was small, and her willfulness was mostly within limits. For instance, she didn't like English, but because her parents insisted she learn it well, she would still work hard at it, though she would occasionally complain. "Why do Chinese people have to learn English" was something she often said when complaining.

Shen Mo showed a sweet smile. "Because I know why now."

"Why?"

Shen Chengli was the first to ask. Including Shu Mei, the elders in the living room all looked at Shen Mo with curiosity, wondering what she would say this time.

"Um..." The little girl tilted her head slightly, pressing a finger to her cheek as if searching for words or recalling something. Then she said, "Because ever since Britain led the first Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century, English-speaking countries have held the most advanced productive technology for the past two hundred years. The subsequent second and third industrial revolutions were also led and dominated by English-speaking countries. Most of the world’s most advanced scientific technology and theories are written in English, so we have to learn English well."

She looked at her grandparents, parents, aunt, and uncle, and added, "Once we learn their leading theories and technologies and surpass them, then it will be their turn to learn Chinese."

After the little girl’s soft, delicate voice finished, the living room remained quiet for a long while. Shu Mei finally asked, "Did that Fang Chang'an tell you this too?"

Shen Mo hesitated, judging that this wasn't a bad thing, so she didn't deny it and nodded. "Yes. He doesn't like English either, but he studies it the most diligently. In English class, he doesn't read extracurricular books or do homework for other subjects."

Except for Shen Chengyan and his wife, who knew about Fang Chang'an, Shen Baoguo, Peng Shouyu, Shen Chengli, and Shu Mei all turned to look at Cheng Mengfei, wondering if the Fang Chang'an Shen Mo mentioned was the same little genius who consistently ranked first in the school.

Cheng Mengfei smiled. "Chang'an is quite independent. He never follows the teacher's pace; he is entirely self-taught."

"If there's something he doesn't know, he listens when the teacher explains it. Most of the time, he does his own thing—either homework or reading—and I've never interfered with him."

Shen Chengyan nodded slowly after hearing this. "If he can maintain the top rank in the whole school under these circumstances, his learning ability is indeed quite remarkable. From another perspective, schools are just assembly lines for mass-producing talent, and often, assembly-line products mean uniformity and cheapness. This can be considered 'teaching according to aptitude'."

Cheng Mengfei laughed. "I haven't thought that much about it. I just think as long as he keeps getting good grades, it's fine."

Shen Chengyan also laughed. "No matter how much logic you use, it boils down to this: as long as he keeps up his grades, we can grant him some leeway in matters that don't involve principles. Listening to lectures or doing homework—it’s all for the sake of learning knowledge, after all."

Shu Mei realized the conversation had been diverted by her daughter again. She sighed and pulled it back. "Let's put that aside. Let's talk about the transfer again."

She recalled her daughter's final exam scores, converted them into a percentage scale, and noted that the scores for Chinese and History were on the lower side. "Let's talk about Chinese and History. Look at your exam scores; both are on the low side. These two subjects require accumulation; you can't just rely on rote memorization, can you?"

"History, you can memorize dates and events, but for Chinese, especially essays, rote memorization is useless. At most, you memorize some poems. Your father has been teaching you to memorize poems since you were little, but you aren't interested, right? You need to cultivate an interest. But at your current school, there are no interest groups, no speeches, no activities—how are you supposed to cultivate that?"

"You are a girl. No matter what major you study in the future, you need a foundation in literature. 'A belly full of poetry and books makes one refined.' Just being pretty on the outside isn't enough..."

Shen Mo listened to her mother's nagging, blinked her eyes, and said innocently, "But I am very interested now."

"If you're interested, why did you get the worst scores?"

"It’s precisely because I'm too interested that I did poorly." The little girl explained, or rather, rebutted, quite seriously. "Because my previous knowledge reserve was too small. Now that I'm suddenly interested, I'm absorbing too much knowledge, much of which is outside the textbooks. It becomes complex. It's like Linghu Chong in *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer* or Duan Yu in *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*—they absorbed too much of others' inner strength all at once and got indigestion. Once I digest it, my grades will naturally improve."

"Also, Mom, you mentioned that liberal arts—Chinese, History, Politics, Geography, and even English—are not separate, isolated subjects. They are linked and influence each other. For example, if I write good Chinese essays, then with the same vocabulary, the English essays I write will definitely be better than classmates who aren't as good at Chinese. See? I did very well in English this time, didn't I?"

"Right now, I just haven't sorted everything out yet. I'm like Linghu Chong after he absorbed everyone’s inner strength. Do you know Linghu Chong? He couldn't digest the power all at once and almost died, losing all his inner strength, and had to rely on external martial arts like the 'Nine Swords of Dugu' to fight. Even like this, I ranked seventh in the whole school. Once I digest it, I'll be like the Linghu Chong at the end of the story—nobody will be able to beat me..."

Watching her daughter with the expression "Mom, can you understand what I'm saying? Do you know how amazing I am?", Shu Mei opened her mouth, then closed it. She almost forgot they were at her parents' house. She took a deep breath, turned to Shen Chengli, and said, "Shen Chengli, are you going to manage your daughter or not?"

"Manage, manage, I will definitely manage." Shen Chengli actually couldn't digest it either. It had only been half a year, and his "little cotton-padded jacket" had changed so much. Fortunately, it was mostly in a good direction. He smiled and said, "Mo Mo, are you sleepy after eating? Go upstairs and take a nap. Sleeping more helps you grow taller. I'll call you later. Play after you've had a good sleep."

The little girl didn't want to be separated from her parents yet and pouted. "I'm not sleepy."

Shu Mei said, "Then go and do some homework."

"Then I'd rather go to sleep."

Shen Mo pouted and walked toward the stairs. Peng Shouyu took her granddaughter's little hand and smiled. "Come, Grandma will go up with you."

Shen Mo kept pouting as she followed her grandmother upstairs. Shen Chengli waved at his daughter, but she turned her head away as if she didn't see him. Shen Chengli smiled again and watched her go upstairs.

Once the sound of a door closing came from upstairs, Shu Mei sighed softly. "Look at that, can we not transfer her? And you—she's still so young, how could you talk about school 'assembly lines' in front of her?"

Shen Chengli laughed. "Don't be anxious, listen to me slowly."

He thought for a moment and said to Shen Chengyan, "Chengyan, Feifei, you two tell me about this Fang Chang'an situation again, as clearly as possible, especially things you haven't mentioned to me before... this kid is a bit uncanny."

Shen Chengyan laughed. "I've basically told you everything. The only thing left is to list the books he reads for you."

Shen Chengli glared at him. "Then tell me what you haven't said."

Shen Chengyan shrugged and, along with Cheng Mengfei, started from the beginning of Fang Chang'an's enrollment, detailing everything they could remember. It took a long time to finish, and their throats were parched, so they drank tea "gulp by gulp."

After listening, Shu Mei asked Cheng Mengfei, "Feifei, do you think his relationship with Mo Mo is normal?"

Cheng Mengfei laughed. "How old are they? Aren't you overthinking this?"

Shu Mei said, "Can this kid be measured by the standards of an ordinary child?"

Cheng Mengfei thought there was some truth to that. "They have a good relationship, but that's mainly because they are desk-mates. Fang Chang'an also has a good relationship with another girl who sits behind them... um, the three of them all get along quite well."

The implication was that if Fang Chang'an were only close to Shen Mo, there might be some underlying motive, but since he was also close to the other girl, it showed he was just innocent and lacked such distracting thoughts.

Shu Mei clearly agreed with this logic and looked much more relaxed. Seeing Shen Chengli still lost in thought, she asked, "You've asked everything, aren't you going to say something?"

Shen Chengli nodded. "My meaning is, if Mo Mo really doesn't want to, we can postpone the transfer. Don't glare at me; listen to my explanation."

"First, we really were inconsiderate about this matter. We should have talked to her sooner so she could have had some mental buffer, and she wouldn't be this resistant now."

"Second, regarding the company, the next half year will definitely be busy. Once Mo Mo moves in with me, if we are running around all the time, are you comfortable leaving her at home alone? Let's not create a sense of abandonment that makes her feel we don't value her."

"So I think if she really doesn't want to, let’s hold off. Let her finish the first year of junior high, and after next summer, she can go to City No. 1 Middle School. This way, she has mental preparation, we have time to accompany her more, and thirdly..."

Shen Chengli seemed to hesitate before continuing. "Whether she takes over the family business or starts her own in the future, someone who wants to stand firm in a high position cannot just follow the rules. Children who follow the rules too rigidly rarely achieve great things. You have to jump out of the rules to have a broad vision and a great heart."

"Mo Mo has been obedient since she was little. This makes things easy for us, but if she continues to be this obedient when she grows up, honestly, I'm worried. Of course, as a girl who is also pretty, I'd be even more worried if she weren't obedient."

"So, mastering the 'degree' is very important. I originally thought I would solve this problem when she entered her rebellious teenage years, but I'm worried it might be a bit late by then."

"At her current age, we can only tell her to be obedient and follow the rules. She hasn't reached the stage where she needs to learn how to 'break the law' [the established order]. But planting a seed now will be a good thing for when we teach her how to 'break the law' later. As elders, we cannot plant this seed for her because we must first teach her how to 'respect the law' before we can teach her how to 'break it'."

"From what I see, Fang Chang'an's influence on Mo Mo is generally positive. Her thinking, vision, and perspective have all clearly improved. Even if there are some deviations, we can slowly correct them through daily contact."

"Since that's the case, another half year won't hurt. Let him plant the seed deeper and firmer, so that in two years, when we teach her, the seed won't be drowned before it has a chance to sprout."