Study

The two girls had barely sat down at the desk when Gwen took out some old textbooks she had used and was about to explain them to Skye when the little girl impatiently whispered, "Gwen, how's it going with what I asked you to ask George about?"

The older girl paused for a moment before remembering what Skye was about to ask. She said somewhat dejectedly, "Don't talk about those things. You're a minor, and he's your guardian; anti-stalking and harassment laws don't apply to you."

"When George found out Henry had those tracking devices, he wanted to find Henry and have me carry a few with me. I was terrified; I didn't dare ask any further questions about it."

Skye exclaimed loudly, "This isn't fair!" Realizing her voice was too loud and might be heard outside, she lowered it and said, "This is United States, a country that champions human rights and freedom. Why should I be subjected to this kind of surveillance!"

"Save those complaints for when you're over twenty. Until you're capable of living independently, no one will be on your side."

"I am capable of living independently!" Skye emphasized.

"Staying in a sewer and figuring out how to eat every day doesn't count," Gwen retorted.

When Skye first came to tutor, she certainly complained to Gwen about her situation. At first, the older girl was very afraid that the younger girl would suffer abuse, especially sexual abuse, after being inexplicably placed in such a strange family.

It was later discovered that with Catherine Hepburn, the domineering grandmother, around, Skye's situation was no different from that of children from ordinary families. The only difference was the absence of a "mother" figure.

Except for the first time when Henry unknowingly dragged someone into the bathroom and stripped them naked, but quickly withdrew without committing any further acts of assault.

After that, they strictly adhered to the separation between men and women and did nothing unnecessary. Nothing like accidentally opening the toilet door ever happened.

Therefore, Skye's complaints are more like those of a rebellious child who expresses dissatisfaction with everything.

During Gwen and Skye's conversations, the younger child never hid anything from her. Perhaps she didn't know what she should keep secret, and simply told Gwen everything, considering her a close older sister.

So, not to mention Skye's situation in this family, Gwen also knew quite a bit about her past working in the sewers.

Although she didn't know what the problem was between Skye and Henry, from an outsider's perspective, Gwen agreed that Skye staying in the house was the best option; at least it was better than being homeless.

She herself was a child at that age, so of course she knew that you couldn't use Reason to persuade someone at a time like this. A stubborn mule will only become more defiant the more you try to reason with it; you have to stroke it gently.

However, we can't completely go along with what the child says; sometimes we have to put the brakes on any incorrect ideas.

If it were an ordinary person, Gwen might rather quit being a tutor than stay any longer. But she knew how smart Skye was; her understanding of math and science was incredibly fast, almost as quick as her own.

Sending such a bright child back to the streets would be a waste of talent. So Gwen patiently and quietly comforted Skye.

On the other hand, it was also because Henry was paying too much for tutoring... she couldn't bear not to do it.

In fact, when Henry was initially offered an hourly wage above the market rate, both Gwen and her father George were worried that he might have other ulterior motives.

George Stacy, having been a police officer for so long, simply couldn't fully empathize with humanity and treat people in a benevolent way.

However, Henry's reasons were also quite valid. Skye's situation wasn't just about teaching her seventh-grade material; she also needed to supplement the content from first to sixth grade. Gwen would have to arrange these parts herself.

This is far more challenging than simply tutoring a seventh-grade student. Therefore, it's perfectly reasonable to receive higher compensation.

Of course, Skye and her father were somewhat aware of the fact that she hadn't been able to go to school for so many years and didn't have a home where she could study properly.

So Gwen, a gifted student, took on this seemingly difficult job. However, when she actually started teaching, she found that the job wasn't difficult at all. Skye was very smart and could quickly grasp some of the more comprehensible concepts.

This little girl even has free time every day to supplement her extracurricular knowledge, and she even pieced together some computers from scrap materials. Making her own electronic parts is a piece of cake for her.

Gwen herself has a science and engineering personality, rather than a literature major. The two girls, one older and one younger, are somewhat similar in their interests and get along very well.

As a "big sister" figure, Gwen has almost completely won Skye over.

Seeing that the girl was about to veer off into "complaining about Henry every day," Gwen quickly took out today's textbook, spread it out in front of Skye, and said, "Okay, stop talking bad about Henry for now, let's finish today's lesson."

Looking at the books on the table, Skye pouted and said, "Didn't I say I didn't want to go to Chinese class? I can't stand reading stories like 'The Boy the Boy Who Cried Wolf ' and ' The Three Little Pigs.' Don't really think I'm a kid who's never read any books."

"I know, that's why this was my textbook in tenth grade. Ernest Hemingway's * the Old Man and the Sea * is not a fairy tale."

"Why do I need to learn Chinese? Isn't it enough to just understand what others are saying? Do people living in United States not understand American English?"

"Heh, do you really understand?" Gwen said, "The essence of language is to present our thoughts through sound or words."

"That inherent thing that language wants to express is where language truly begins. But it can be modified, metaphorically expressed, or even used in various ways."

"You may understand the literal meaning, but have you truly grasped the thought behind the words? The third level of thinking involves comparing and analyzing the content expressed by the author."

"Are there any errors or misleading statements in it? If you don't understand these things, when someone criticizes you, will you feel happy thinking you're being praised?"

Skye looked completely bewildered. "Why go to such lengths? If you don't know, you don't know, so what?"

"But your opponent is very good at this kind of thing." Gwen mysteriously pulled out another book, <Love from a Different Culture>.

"This is...?" Skye asked, puzzled.

"Check who the author is."

"Henry Brown... is this the Henry Brown I'm thinking of?" Skye stared in surprise.

"Yes, that's him. The one lying on the sofa outside." Gwen casually pointed to a sentence she liked from her notes and had Skye read it aloud. She added:

"Although he himself said in the preface that this is a translation, you can't say that his writing skills are bad, given that he can write such beautiful words and such moving sentences."

"So when you want to argue with someone like that, aren't you afraid of being belittled by their sophisticated language skills while you're completely clueless about what they mean?"

After struggling for a moment, Skye, looking like she was about to burst out laughing, said, "Okay, let's read the Chinese."

Gwen count increased by one, and the girl was beaming with pride.