Addition Within Five

Liu Chang'an finished his sugar popsicle, stuck the stick in the ground, and watched Zhou Dongdong eat.

Although Liu Chang'an had brought a considerable portion of the desserts Qin Yanan had made, girls like Qin Yanan and Zhu Juntang always prioritized exquisite and refined food, not making a lot to satisfy everyone. The box Liu Chang'an brought only contained so much, and for Zhou Dongdong, who could eat three bowls of rice, only two macarons were left in no time.

"I want to save it for Mom." Zhou Dongdong had never eaten such a delicious dessert before, so her mother must have never eaten it either.

Looking at the box she had just packed, Zhou Dongdong's hand involuntarily reached out. She quickly hid the box under the small stool, hoping she wouldn't be able to see it.

"You ate your popsicle so fast?" Zhou Dongdong hadn't even finished his, and the melted popsicle had made his hands all wet. He quickly licked them off and then lectured Liu Chang'an, "You can only eat popsicles by licking them."

"How many can you count to?" Liu Chang'an remembered hearing Auntie Xie test Zhou Dongdong on the question of what one plus one equals.

"Ten!" Zhou Dongdong has successfully transformed from a silly child who could only count from one to five into a clever child who can count to ten.

Liu Chang'an was very suspicious.

Zhou Dongdong stretched out a few of her fingers, her wet fingertips covered with some distorted numbers written with a ballpoint pen.

What number is this snake?

"Seven!"

Where's this rotten potato?

"Eight!"

"So that's how you learned it," Liu Chang'an asked again, "Have you mastered addition and subtraction within five?"

Yes, it will!

"If I give you an addition problem up to five and you get it right, I'll buy you a mung bean popsicle."

Zhou Dongdong nodded vigorously, quickly sat down on the small stool, and listened attentively to Liu Chang'an's questions.

What is the sum of 2.1314567 and 1.8685433?

Zhou Dongdong stared blankly at Liu Chang'an. What nonsense was Brother Chang'an spouting now?

Liu Chang'an laughed heartily, "It equals 4! You stupid child, you can't even do addition up to five."

Zhou Dongdong raised her hands, looking at the numbers on her fingertips. So, the sum only equals 4? Did he think Zhou Dongdong was a little kid who hadn't even been to kindergarten? Zhou Dongdong was furious. "You're lying to me! It must add up to many, many hundreds!"

One hundred is the largest number Zhou Dongdong thinks it is, because there is a very, very smart child in the class who is much smarter than Zhou Dongdong and can count from 1 to 100.

Liu Chang'an just smiled and lay back down, letting Zhou Dongdong sit on the small stool, staring sullenly at the numbers written on her hands, pondering the addition problem within five she had just solved.

Zhu Juntang returned to the top of Mount Lu, where Qin Yanan had changed into her swimsuit and was sitting in the swimming pool, flipping through a cookbook by Cai Lan.

"I want to come too!" Zhu Juntang ran up, glanced at the room, and then ran to the dressing room to see if there was a swimsuit that suited her.

It was too much of a stretch. Zhu Juntang glanced at it briefly, then walked up unhappily, stripped naked, wrapped only in a bath towel, and jumped into the pool.

There was no way around it; Qin Yanan, as a mature woman, was fuller in the areas where she should have accumulated fat than Zhu Juntang, so she simply couldn't wear it.

"How reckless," Zhu Juntang said disapprovingly, looking at Qin Yanan was even wearing lace-up swim trunks.

"At least I wore something, and I saw you were all out and about," Qin Yanan said nonchalantly. "Why did you come back again? Are you trying to test whether I'm possessed by my great-grandmother?"

"You noticed?" Zhu Juntang was slightly embarrassed, but not too bothered.

"If I were my great-grandmother, I'd possess your body. Why would I take over my great-granddaughter's body? Isn't that stupid? Don't you think you're stupid?" Qin Yanan shoved Zhu Juntang. "You bastard, isn't that how it is?"

"I don't have this accent anymore!" Zhu Juntang shouted, splashing her hands wildly in the water. Oh well, she had completely given up. The only person who could imitate her speech like that was Qin Yanan.

But just as she was about to give up, Zhu Juntang had another brilliant idea.

Qin Yanan avoided the splashing water, tossed the book onto the shore to avoid getting it wet, and casually picked up a strawberry and took a bite.

"A question suddenly came to mind," Zhu Juntang said.

"That was definitely premeditated." Qin Yanan knew her very well.

"Why does Liu Chang'an seem so concerned about whether you've been possessed by your great-grandmother?" Zhu Juntang guided Qin Yanan. First, Liu Chang'an had never threatened her or strictly forbidden her from revealing his secrets. Second, since she wouldn't say anything herself, it was Qin Yanan 'Qin Yanan business if she guessed it.

"I didn't notice. Do you think I can't see it? He was just fooled by you. He found nothing surprising here, so he showed off his skills by making mutton head meat." Qin Yanan's lips curled slightly. That pig Zhu Juntang, does he think no one can see what he's up to?

"But as an eighteen-year-old boy, don't you think Liu Chang'an... doesn't seem like a boy his age at all?" Zhu Juntang picked up a banana and stared at him intently.

"He doesn't seem like a boy his age, he's like an eighteen-year-old banana?" Qin Yanan took the banana, peeled it, and ate it herself.

"A banana that's over a hundred years old," Zhu Juntang implied in an exaggerated, joking tone.

Qin Yanan clearly didn't pick up on this suggestion; she didn't have Zhu Juntang's unconventional way of thinking.

"He often speaks in a condescending tone, frequently addresses elders by their first names, and often displays anecdotes, knowledge, and skills that only old men and women would know. His hobby is playing mahjong with old men and women, and he likes children that would disappoint zombies..." Zhu Juntang usually talks to Liu Chang'an often, so of course she noticed many details... These details, if not carefully observed, would never be noticed by anyone.

After finishing the banana, Qin Yanan lay down by the pool, her back to Zhu Juntang.

Zhu Juntang swam over, gently tugging at Qin Yanan's swim trunks tie with one finger, and said with a serious expression, "You still think he has a mysterious great-grandfather, but has anyone actually seen him? If this great-grandfather really existed, how could he be so poor? Why doesn't this great-grandfather go to reminisce with Old Master Qin and Old Grandma Su?"

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Qin Yanan swatted away Zhu Juntang's mischievous fingers.

Zhu Juntang refused to say it directly, lest Liu Chang'an come after her later.

"You keep doubting me one minute and Liu Chang'an the next. You should go find your great-grandmother; she's the one who cares about these things the most."

"How could that be? Such an astonishing secret! If I told my great-grandmother, who knows what she would do? And my mother, if she found out about something so shocking, she might try to kidnap you and Liu Chang'an." Zhu Juntang shook her head. "My mother is quite daring."

"You suspect I'm my great-grandmother, but you have no evidence and think it's unlikely, so now you're bringing up Liu Chang'an." Qin Yanan finally understood what Zhu Juntang was trying to say with all that nonsense. "You're suspecting Liu Chang'an is Senior Ye again?"

"Yes!" Zhu Juntang was overjoyed to see that Qin Yanan had finally gotten the hang of things.