Chapter 19: Teaching—the 9×9 Times Table
Mag froze for an instant, and then realized that it had to be because she had failed to collect money completely by herself, and felt she hadn’t been much of help to him.
Mag put the plate on the table. He couldn’t help feeling his heart ache a little as he looked at Amy’s sad little face. It seemed the little girl was still not very confident in herself. In fact, he felt Amy, who was just a little more than four years old, was already very amazing to do this kind of thing.
Looking into Amy’s eyes, Mag shook his head solemnly. “Who said so? Why would you think that, Amy? It’s mostly because of Amy that we have sold four plates of fried rice today. Besides, you’ve counted right to charge 2,400 copper coins, but Grandpa Mobai didn’t have that many copper coins, so he had to use this more beautiful and valuable gold coins to pay instead.”
“Really?” Amy’s eyes became brighter and brighter as she listened to Mag’s words, but she was still not very confident.Mag nodded. “Of course. It’s my fault that Amy didn’t see any gold coins before, because I didn’t make any. If someone is to blame, it’s me. I didn’t tell you sooner that silver coins, gold coins, and dragon coins are the same as copper coins; all of them can be used to buy things. It is me who should reflect on this lapse. I hope Amy can forgive me.” An expression of self-reproach appeared on Mag’s face.
Amy shook her bowed head. “No, it’s not Father’s fault. Father’s very good to me.” She was a little upset. “Teacher Luna has taught me before, but… but so many copper coins becoming so few gold coins—I just couldn’t make myself do it. They are so many, so…”
Mag lifted an eyebrow and almost burst into laughter. Amy’s explanation was so lovely, but he felt a little depressed as he looked at her timid look.
The external environment had a great influence on one’s character, especially on those who were at an age of slowly molding their values and habits—like Amy.
Between the poor life before and the contempt that humans and elves showed half-elves, she felt a little inferior, and was not very confident.
The good thing was that Amy was still little and that this kind of mindset was just a bud, so Mag believed he could slowly help make her a confident little girl.
I won’t let Amy be laughed at and looked down upon from now on. I’ll make her the apple of my eye and my happy little princess, said Mag to himself.Speaking of mathematics, this world’s level made him a little worried, for it was even worse than the random foreigners’ from his previous life. Even doing the addition and subtraction of numbers which had more than two digits would take them a long while.
Considering that even basic education was not universal in this world, this was not very surprising. Suddenly, Mag came up with an idea for building up Amy’s confidence.
Apparently, China was one of the countries with the highest average level in math on Earth. As a rudimentary knowledge, the multiplication table the ancient Chinese people had invented had made a great contribution to the world.
Mag reached out to stroke Amy’s hair and put the small bowl in front of her; smiling, he said, “Eat this, and then Father will teach you a multiplication table. After you master that, you’ll be even better than the students in the Chaos School, and collecting money will be much easier.”
“Really? Better than those big brothers and sisters?” Amy’s face lit up immediately, and she looked at Mag in disbelief. In her eyes, those big brothers and sisters were studying under Luna every day, and they were all very good.
Mag nodded. “Sure. When did Father lie to you?”
Amy nodded her head and answered earnestly, “I know Father will never lie to Amy. I’ll learn carefully.” Then she started eating.
Looking at Amy eating in a manner that was so adorable, Mag picked up his spoon and started eating too. The 9×9 times table was very magical, and if Amy mastered it, she could easily beat those kids who were still counting on their fingers. It was the first step to boost her confidence.
After lunch, Mag took the dishes to the kitchen. He really didn’t want to touch them as he looked at the oily plates in the sink; after hesitating for a while, he asked the system, “System, do you sell dishwasher?”
“System is not an appliance store,” answered the system.
“Just cut to the chase. Do you sell it or not? I’ll pay for it.” Mag curled his upper lip.
The system was silent for a while, and then a quotation appeared in Mag’s head. “Basic dishwasher, it can clean five plates and 10 spoons at one time. Price: three gold coins.”
This system is really a money-grubber; it has no principles whatsoever… Mag rolled his eyes. He had seen through this system. Yet, the price was fairly acceptable, so he asked without thinking, “So cheap? Then I want one. Charge it to my account.”
Then another line of words appeared in his head. “Done. The dishwasher is in place.”
Looking at the silver dishwasher which was already plugged in on the cooking bench, Mag’s eyes brightened. It seemed very high-tech. He opened the top, removed the several plates and spoons from the sink, and put them in the dishwasher. Then he pressed the start button. Less than a minute later, the top opened again, and the plates inside were already clean and shiny.
Modern technology was indeed very convenient. Mag put away the plates and spoons contentedly. Amy was standing by the kitchen door. She looked at Mag in great anticipation, and said, “Father, what’re you going to teach me?”
“The 9×9 table. Wait for me here, Amy. I’ll go get some paper and a pen. We’ll try to learn some today,” answered Mag. It seemed there wouldn’t be another customer in a while, so he went upstairs and fetched a pen and a sheet of paper; then, he sat at the table and wrote the stair-shaped multiplication table from memory.
This world’s characters were clearly different from those on Earth, but the universal characters were a bit like the oracle bone script, and the numerals were the same as Arabic numerals. The development of civilization was always having some amazing similarities.
Mag had inherited his predecessor’s memory, so he had already mastered this world’s characters and language.
“Father’s handwriting is very beautiful!” Amy exclaimed as she watched Mag write down the multiplication table; she clapped her little hands with adoration. She had thought Luna’s handwriting was the most beautiful, but now she found that her father’s was even better, each figure like the one on books.
Amy’s praise and adoring eyes made Mag feel that his one hour every day spent on practicing handwriting in his childhood was suddenly worth it; finally, someone appreciated his good handwriting. He smiled, and said, “Then I’ll teach you how to write some day if you like.”
Amy nodded happily. “Yes, teach me some day!” She looked at the rows and columns of figures, a little confused. “Father, is this the 9×9 table?”
