Third Uncle's "Special Teaching Aids"

The "gold ring incident" at Auntie Wang's house caused a small "earthquake" within the Su Family.

At the family meeting that evening, Lin Wanyi recounted everything that had happened during the day, exactly as it had occurred.

When they heard that Nuannuan could specify "under the third straw mat in the chicken coop," the brothers Su Mingfeng and Su Mingguo were so stunned that they could not speak for a long while.

They knew Nuannuan could communicate with animals, but they had always assumed it was a kind of vague, emotional exchange.

But now, it seemed that was not the case at all!

It was a genuine "exchange of intelligence" that could convey precise information such as specific locations, numbers, and directions!

"This is unbelievable," Su Mingguo murmured. "If this ability were used on the battlefield..."

"Second Brother!" Su Mingzhe interrupted him, his expression serious. "Nuannuan isn't a weapon."

Realizing he had misspoken, Su Mingguo scratched his head awkwardly.

Su Mingzhe adjusted his glasses and looked at Su Zhenbang at the head of the table. "Dad, I don't think we can keep taking a hands-off approach to Nuannuan's ability. She's like a child holding a peerless treasure, yet she doesn't know how to use or protect it. We have to guide and train her."

"Train her?" Lin Wanyi immediately grew anxious. "Mingzhe, Nuannuan is only five! She's suffered so much, and she's only just managed to have a peaceful life..."

"Mom, don't worry," Su Mingzhe hurriedly explained. "By training, I don't mean the harsh drills they do in the military. I mean helping her better understand and control her ability through games, in a way she can accept."

He paused, then continued, "For example, the fact that she could specify 'the third straw mat' this time shows she has a concept of numbers. Being able to say 'the chicken coop' shows she recognizes locations. But these are all isolated pieces. What if the enemy isn't in the chicken coop, but at the post office a hundred meters away? What if there isn't just one enemy, but three? How would she describe that to us?"

Su Mingzhe's words left everyone deep in thought.

"We have to build an 'information coordinate system' for her. Teach her how to use the most precise language to turn the intelligence she gets from animals into instructions we can understand and carry out."

After listening, Su Zhenbang remained silent for a long time before finally nodding slowly.

"Mingzhe is right. I'll leave this to you. Remember one principle: Nuannuan mustn't feel any pressure. Everything must be done on the condition that she stays happy."

"I understand, Dad," Su Ming Mingzhe solemnly agreed.

And so, starting the next day, her third uncle, Su Mingzhe, became Nuannuan's "personal tutor."

His "classroom" was right inside Nuannuan's pink princess bedroom.

His "teaching aids" were all sorts of unusual things, too.

For the first lesson, he brought a huge, brand-new map of the Capital and spread it out on the carpet.

"Nuannuan, come here. Let's play a game." Su Mingzhe pointed to a red dot on the map. "This is our house."

Then he pointed to another spot. "This is Tiananmen. Look, there's a red gate tower."

Nuannuan lay on the map curiously, like a little kitten, pointing at place names and buildings she had never seen before.

Su Mingzhe was very patient. He taught Nuannuan north, south, east, and west, and taught her to recognize landmarks on the map-the railway station, the post office, the hospital, the department store...

He also brought over a little toy soldier and placed it at "home."

"Nuannuan, if a sparrow told you right now that there was a bad guy at Tiananmen, how would you tell Uncle to send this little soldier to catch him?"

Nuannuan thought for a moment, then pointed at the map. "Have him keep going that way. When he sees the red building, he's there."

"Very good!" Su Mingzhe encouraged her with a smile. "But what if Uncle doesn't know which way 'that way' is? You can tell Uncle to have him walk toward where the sun rises."

Nuannuan nodded, only half understanding.

For the second lesson, Su Mingzhe brought a row of little labeled bottles.

He opened the first bottle, and a pungent smell immediately spread through the air.

"Have a sniff. What does this smell like?"

Nuannuan wrinkled her little nose. "It smells bad... like a hospital."

"That's right. This is the smell of Lysol. Hospitals use it to disinfect things. So someone who smells like this is very likely a doctor or nurse who works at a hospital," Su Mingzhe explained.

Then he opened the second bottle.

"What about this one?"

"This one... smells like a car."

"This is the smell of gasoline. Drivers who drive cars, or workers who repair them, will have this smell on them."

"And this one..."

Su Mingzhe taught Nuannuan to identify them one by one.

Disinfectant, formalin, machine oil, kerosene, turpentine, Chinese medicinal herbs, printing ink...

Each smell corresponded to a particular occupation or place.

Nuannuan found this game fascinating and had a wonderful time playing it. Like a little creature diligently learning to hunt, she used her exceptionally keen sense of smell to firmly commit all this complex "information" to memory.

She had no idea that her third uncle was using this method to build a vast, three-dimensional "information coordinate system" in her mind.

This coordinate system used directions on the map as its lines of longitude and the various distinctive smells as its lines of latitude.

With it, any isolated piece of intelligence Nuannuan received from animals-a vague location, a fleeting figure, a strange smell-could quickly be located, analyzed, and pinpointed.

Every day, Su Mingzhe spent two hours playing these "games" with Nuannuan.

Seeing how happy Nuannuan was every day, the Su Family thought Su Mingzhe really was only playing with her.

Only Su Mingfeng would occasionally stand in the doorway of Nuannuan's room, an exceptionally complicated look in his eyes as he watched his gentle, refined third brother use the gentlest of tones to teach his niece the world's most cold-blooded tracking and reconnaissance techniques.

Su Mingzhe was forging Nuannuan into the sharpest, most unique sword.