The Great Ming in the Box-Chapter 215: I Sneaked a Peek at Middle School Physics
The early morning sky had just brightened.
The people of Qingjian County were already lining up at the train station, waiting for the small train.
After five days of recruitment work, most Qingjian County residents had found jobs of their own; those with skills were absorbed into the artisans’ well, and those without skills put their strength into road construction and tree chopping.
Women also had work; the small train transported large quantities of spinning machines and cotton bales from the main fortress into their hands, requiring them to weave the cotton into cloth before sending it back to the main fortress.
Under Li Daoxuan’s guidance, Thirty-Two had already started using the “piece-rate pay” method for the women; the more cotton cloth anyone wove, the more wages they earned.
After adopting this method, Gaojia Village’s cotton cloth output had seen a qualitative leap, so it was now also applied in the refugee village.
Even the elderly had found things to do.
Due to the huge influx of people, there was great demand for bamboo baskets, bamboo chairs, and similar items; the elderly went to chop some bamboo, sat under the eaves, and wove bamboo products; although their income was less than the young people’s, they could still exchange for some things.
The only ones without anything to do were the children.
Li Daoxuan glanced casually and saw Refugee Valley full of children, at least over four hundred; the slightly older ones helped with household chores, but the younger ones just played blindly.
This was unacceptable! They had to get these children educated.
But the ill effects of overreaching were showing here too; the study well in the main fortress could not hold so many kids, and even if it could, Mr. Wang alone wouldn’t teach over four hundred children.
Evidently, they needed to hire more teachers and build a large plastic school.
Tan Liwen could recruit teachers again in the county town; as long as they spent money freely, luring some teachers over shouldn’t be hard—and as for the school… he had to rely on his old brother Cai Xinzi again.
Opening WeChat: “Hey, where are you hanging out?”
Cai Xinzi: “I’m still in Shanghai; I just delivered your miniature little Taoist temple to the Micro-sculpting Art Exhibition organizers—they loved it and specially set up an exhibition stand for you—and I still need to attend a figurine business exchange…”
Li Daoxuan: “Oh? So my model request can’t be handled now?”
Cai Xinzi: “Oh, come on, of course it’s possible—I have staff holding down my shop; submit the design to my workers and let them handle it. What exactly do you want made this time?”
Li Daoxuan: “A school! I want a 1:200 school model.”
Cai Xinzi: “Don’t tell me you haven’t had enough studying yet, and you want to display a school in your home to reminisce about your school days.”
Li Daoxuan: “That’s right, I want to collect one—model it after our alma mater, Thirty-Two Middle School, which I’d love to burn every time I see it.”
Cai Xinzi sent a voice message in a sarcastic tone: “Adding wheels this time?”
Li Daoxuan laughed and voice-replied: “My mistake! Adding wheels seems pointless—last time with the Hakka roundhouse, it was rash, and it hasn’t been useful since.”
“Serves you right for messing around.” Cai Xinzi chuckled. “Fine, I’ll take the job—I’ll have my staff make a 1:200 Thirty-Two Middle School and send it to you. But I must warn you: don’t actually burn it and set your house on fire.”
Li Daoxuan: “Then make it with fireproof materials for me.”
Cai Xinzi: “Damn—typical, bizarre requests always pop up at the end.”
The two exchanged a few laughing curses and ended the call.
Li Daoxuan hadn’t focused on the school in ages, but this reminded him to check the study well right away.
Switching his view over, he saw Young Master Bai standing solemnly on the podium, teaching math class to the children below.
As predicted, Mr. Wang had finished the “language class”; now it was Young Master Bai’s turn to “impart skills on behalf of the Deity,” teaching math to all the youngsters.
Li Daoxuan listened briefly: he was covering content from Elementary Math Grade Three, Volume One…
He taught incredibly fast!
In modern-day schools, children took three years to reach that level, yet here Young Master Bai was, cramming it in just half a year.
Thinking it over closely, he understood roughly: they had very few subjects!
Modern elementary students studied Chinese, math, art, music, physical education… after school, they attended cram classes—piano, calligraphy, dance, taekwondo, skating, swimming… their time got shredded to bits.
But these pre-modern children only had two subjects: language and math.
With only those two hammered at all day, the progress couldn’t help but be swift.
Honestly, it wasn’t that healthy, but it still beat them blissfully roaming the fields or helping with chores.
As he pondered this, Young Master Bai’s math class wrapped up; the regular students left, but Thirty-Two’s daughter wandered over to Young Master Bai with a giggle: “Brother Bai, they’re all gone—just us two for extra class now, Elementary Math Grade Six, Volume Two, last lesson…”
Young Master Bai nodded: “Alright, let’s study it together.”
Li Daoxuan chuckled inwardly: Oh? So that’s how it is?
Young Master Bai at thirteen and a half, the Third Miss nearly twelve, two older kids sat side by side at a desk and flipped open Elementary Math Grade Six Volume Two—both close to finishing it.
The Third Miss: “Brother Bai, after this book, do we start Middle School Math?”
Young Master Bai nodded seriously: “Yes! My father’s progress is way ahead of mine; I must catch up fast, or he’ll be disappointed next time he quizzes me.”
The Third Miss: “I heard the Deity has another book, Middle School Physics, entrusted to my father—he said after Elementary Math, we must study both Middle School Math and Middle School Physics together, though they seem really tough.”
Young Master Bai smiled: “Not so bad—I snuck a peek ages ago.”
“Ah?” The Third Miss: “You sneaked a peek? Won’t you get scolded?”
Young Master Bai: “No way! Why scold reading? Saint Lady said the Deity adores book-loving kids—last time I fetched Middle School Math, I didn’t sneak-look; I leafed through it right with her watching. She never scolded me—even said the Deity yearns for someone to read these books quickly.”
The Third Miss asked curiously: “What did it cover?”
Young Master Bai: “Length, time, sound, temperature, light, mass, density, motion and force…”
He rattled off a jumble of chaotic equipment, bewildering the Third Miss: “What in the world is all that?”
Chapter 215: I Sneaked a Peek at Middle School Physics
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