That was indeed the case.
In a hilly wilderness in Jiangnan.
Many wooden houses had already been raised there, nestled against the forested hills.
Fast-growing local crops had also been planted around the wooden houses, used for survival.
And inside one wooden house.
Clear, catchy recitation rang out.
"One one is one, one two is two."
Zhao Qing began teaching from among the hundred children.
She discovered that seven of them were rather bright.
Sometimes they could even point out her mistakes.
Of course, this had something to do with how gentle she was with children.
Children were the best at bullying the soft and fearing the hard.
They never dared act recklessly in front of Wenren Sheng or the other leaders.
Zhao Qing explained to the children that 1+1=2.
This was how she explained it.
"These are all symbols."
"A so-called symbol is what you call certain things. For example, you might call a stone iron egg."
"Or when you give one of your friends a nickname, it's the same thing."
At that moment, one clever child said happily, "Teacher, I understand."
"For example, we call Third Brother Dog Egg."
"Third Brother was originally a person, but now, when we call him that, he's Dog Egg. Dog Egg can represent Third Brother."
"Dog Egg is a symbol, used to represent Third Brother."
"Very smart," Zhao Qing said with satisfaction.
"Right, and we also draw turtles on his head. As soon as everyone sees a turtle, they think of Third Brother. Turtles and Dog Egg are both symbols for Third Brother."
Another child understood.
They quickly grasped the concept of symbols.
This shocked Zhao Qing deeply.
But what shocked her even more came afterward.
In just half a year, these children learned everything she had studied, leaving her with nothing