Free Web NovelChapter 120: Chapter 120
Chapter 120
The tough path for the journey, the three days it had been, the beauty watched the small figures reclining together in exhaustion. Although they did, those who had slept for the past two days were starting to feel bored.
Only on the first day they were excited, happily looking out the window. However, as time went by, they realized that the forests along the way all looked the same. They would likely get up again only when they stopped for the evening.
Yueqian pondered for a moment. Given the slow pace of the journey, it was expected to take more than fifteen days to reach the capital. If this continued, the children would become thoroughly bored.
Initially, Yueqian had thought of having them read books during the journey. However, the exhaustion, fatigue, and constant jolting of the carriage were not quite good for the eyes. So, she didn’t let them read the books, fearing it might cause vision problems.
In this era, vision problems posed significant challenges. Glasses were not readily available and had to be custom-made. Although she could retrieve them from the department store dimensions, the items she brought out were innovations that people of this era could not produce. This would undoubtedly cause problems.
Moreover, having children at this age develop nearsightedness is not ideal for them. Yueqian didn’t want to push them too hard. Since the journey would take twenty days, it was good for them to get some rest.
"Are you kids bored?" Yueqian’s clear voice rang out. Although she just asked without much thought, the children responded sincerely.
"Very bored."
"Huan’er is very bored too. I can’t sleep anymore, but I don’t know what to do," the two little ones replied, and even Mu Heng nodded in agreement.
In truth, Mu Heng was itching to ride a horse outside. If it weren’t for his desire to avoid the Qin family’s people and their constant disdainful remarks that came whenever they got the chance, he would have already ventured out.
"Is that so? Well then, your sister-in-law has some toys prepared for you. Are you interested?" Yueqian smiled slightly.
The children’s eyes widened at her words. Though they didn’t yet know what Yueqian had for them to play, it would probably be better than staring at each other for the entire journey, right?
Yueqian pretended to rummage through a box brought from home. Of course, it was the box containing her dowry items. Its size was quite large, so when she reached inside, no one could see that she was actually retrieving something from another dimension.
It didn’t take long for the beautiful woman to pull out some rectangular wooden boards. There were four polished wooden boards. Inside were small squares numbered 1 to 15, with one empty space, scattered across the board.
Recently, the children had been practicing their numbers, so Yueqian thought that playing with this would help them remember more easily. Moreover, it was a toy she used to be fond of. These toys had an ancient feel, and if someone from this era made them, it wouldn’t be hard. It wasn’t a toy so complex to make that it would raise questions. This was called a "number puzzle."
“What is this called? And how could it be a toy?” Xiao Long asked, confused.
He only saw a wooden board with numbers inside. Just by seeing it, it didn’t look fun at all. Could this really be considered a toy?
“Don’t underestimate it. Come, I’ll show you how to play first.” Yueqian mixed up all the numbers, turning the neatly arranged sequence from 1 to 15 into a jumbled mess. She did this with all four boards, then handed them to Xiao Long, Huan’er, and her husband.
One board was hers. Yueqian lifted it up and showed it to the others.
“These small wooden tiles can be moved around just like I did earlier. The game is simple: you just have to rearrange the numbers back into their original order, and that’s it,” Yueqian said. She then raised her own board.
She used her slender fingers to deftly slide the numbered squares around. She didn’t show them how she played it, believing that the most fun part of the game was during the period that one still didn’t know the technique. Even after learning the basic techniques, she still enjoyed playing it.
Starting with simply arranging the numbers in order, they could then compete with their friends to see who could solve it the fastest. Winning or losing made it even more fun. For now, it wasn’t necessary to talk about speed; the goal was just for them to finish arranging the numbers.
Though Yueqian appeared confident, Xiao Long didn’t find it all that exciting.
"Just arranging the numbers, is that it?" The child acted as if arranging the number puzzle given to him was too easy and not challenging at all.
Yueqian didn’t argue. She nodded and placed her wooden board down, which was already arranged in order. Her speed was as quick as it used to be.
Seeing how easily his sister-in-law completed it, Xiao Long felt even less interested.
"Fine, I’ll arrange the numbers as you said." Even if he didn’t want to play, since his sister-in-law had gone to the trouble of presenting it, he felt obliged to move those numbers.
However, when he moved one number to align it like his sister-in-law, the adjacent number couldn’t be moved up. Xiao Long was so confused. He returned the number he had just moved up, but it was even more impossible because that number should have already been at the top.
The more he moved the numbers, the more confused the boy became. In the end, number 1 ended up at the bottom, while number 2 was at the top, seemingly unable to be next to each other. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
"Sister-in-law, is this toy broken?" Xiao Long didn’t understand. After half an hour of moving the numbers, he stopped.
The boy was thinking the number board was broken and couldn’t be played with anymore. But when he handed it to Yueqian, the beautiful woman made it seemed like a magic. She only moved it a few times, and within ten breaths, numbers 1 and 2 were at the top together.
"It’s not broken. You just haven’t got to win yet," Yueqian smiled, making Xiao Long blush with embarrassment.
"Alright, I’ll try again." After learning this, Xiao Long realized that the toy his sister-in-law had brought wasn’t easy.
The child was so focused that he was almost burying his face into the board. Mu Heng and Huan’er were also playing. After seeing what Xiao Long had encountered, they carefully moved the numbers themselves.
Since this was a new toy they had never encountered and Yueqian didn’t share any secrets, they had to figure it out on their own. The three of them spent time in silence, unaware of how time had passed until it was dinner time.
"Everyone, stop for now. It’s time for dinner," Yueqian said, smiling.
How she teased the three, engrossed in the game like children, made Mu Heng feel embarrassed. Nevertheless, the board in his hands revealed that he had already managed to arrange five numbers in order. Although he seemed to grasp some technique, starting the next row became challenging again.
"Sister-in-law, can I have a little more time? I’m not hungry yet."
Xiao Long couldn’t place it down. The toy his sister-in-law had given seemed simple, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t get the numbers in the correct order.
Seeing his big brother, who started playing at the same time as him, had managed to arrange five numbers. What did this mean? And even Huan’er had four in order, closely followed big brother. Was it only him that couldn’t even successfully arrange two numbers in order yet?
"Put it down for now. There’s plenty of time for you to play later." Yueqian shook her head. She remembered her own childhood when she wouldn’t eat or sleep until she figured out how to play the game. In the end, she learned that being too rigid wasn’t the right approach.
When she first got this toy, she thought that once the numbers were moved to the correct position, they shouldn’t be moved again, or she’d have to start over.
However, in reality, moving back and forth, even if it meant starting over or making the numbers further apart, when looked at the bigger picture, ultimately made it easier to arrange the numbers correctly in the end. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
This game was the starting point that made Yueqian fundamentally different. These days, Yueqian never thought about how her own path should be.
She only knew that she could take a detour to the left or do something unrelated for now. But in the end, everything she did was to arrange all the numbers on the board. She wasn’t fixated on having 1 next to 2 or 3 following in sequence. The numbers on the board could be moved and rearranged in any order.
Once everything fell into place as planned, she could make the final adjustments to win.
But judging from the children’s actions, they were just beginning to learn new numbers. Naturally, they wanted to arrange them from 1 to 15 without moving them around again. This made success quite difficult. However, it highlighted Xiao Long’s stubbornness compared to Huan’er.
The little girl wasn’t smarter than her older brother but was more willing to take a step back and accept defeat. This made it easier for her to find solutions, making Xiao Long feel like he was losing. In this era, men believed their dignity required them to excel over women, even in games...
This wasn’t Xiao Long’s fault. As a boy in this era, this mindset existed. Their parents taught them that as boys, they must protect their younger sisters or even older sisters, without explaining why. If they had said it was because men’s bodies were generally stronger, giving them a better chance in a fight.
This would help them understand the cause, rather than just believing they must protect women because they are men. It created an identity of "being a man," which made them attached to the idea of “being a man” in whatever they did. Thus, they must “being a man” that was superior to women in everything.
No matter, Xiao Long wasn’t beyond teaching. Moreover, his big brother was a good example. Teaching him to view women differently wouldn’t be too difficult.
In reality, Xiao Long didn’t think that he or his big brother, being boys, were better than their sister-in-law. His fundamental beliefs at this point would make him a good man.
At this point, Xiao Long simply believed in his sister-in-law, and thought she was intelligence because she was from the capital. After this visit to the capital, Xiao Long would understand that not everyone from the capital was as smart as his sister-in-law, and some men from the capital were downright foolish.
Yueqian took the toys from the children’s hands. She patted the heads of the two little ones before leading them out of the carriage. Their dinner had to be eaten with the Qin family’s people. Otherwise, it would raise suspicions about how they had brought so much food.
