Chapter 291 - Chapter 291: Chapter 291: From Science to Magic (1/2)
Chapter 291: Chapter 291: From Science to Magic
Translator: 549690339
It’s past six in the evening.
Star City.
At Liu Shiling’s house.
The mother and daughter had just finished dinner. After tidying up and washing the dishes, Shiling’s mom sat down in the living room. Liu Shiling came up to her, holding a thick, glossy, colored hardcover encyclopedia, asking her mom to read it to her.
This encyclopedia, thick as a brick, was Xiang Kun’s New Year’s gift to the little girl.
Honestly, when they first received this book, Shiling’s mom was slightly surprised. She hadn’t expected the book to be this thick, this many volumes, and she certainly hadn’t expected the wealth of content within.
Based on previous experience, Liu Shiling was not interested in books with a lot of words — she couldn’t understand them anyway.
Basically, the books that Xiang Kun sent were meant to be part of the decor. In time, when Liu Shiling started elementary school and could read these books, she might perhaps look through them.
However, to her surprise, on the day they received the books, Liu Shiling picked up a volume and asked her to read it.
At first, Shiling’s mom was thrilled. Her child liked reading and had an interest in “science” — what parent wouldn’t be happy?
Although she herself didn’t have a high level of education and hadn’t attended university, she thought that since Xiang Kun said this was an “encyclopedia for preschoolers,” she should have no problem explaining its content.
But soon afterward, problems arose.
Reading the book aloud was not difficult for Shiling’s mom, nor was it hard to provide simple explanations to some of the questions or to define some of the terms. She was okay with that.
However, Liu Shiling had questions, one after another.
For example, she read: “Space includes the entire universe — planets, satellites, stars, and galaxies….”
Then, Liu Shiling would ask, “What is a planet?”
Shiling’s mom flipped through the book for an explanation and read it out.
Then Liu Shiling asked again, “What is a satellite?”
Shiling’s mom looked through the book but couldn’t find an answer, so she picked up her phone, googled it, and explained it to her daughter.
Liu Shiling asked again, “What is a star?”
Shiling’s mom couldn’t help but say: “You will find out later…”
Then she read, “The universe originated from a big bang 13.7 billion years ago.”
Liu Shiling asked, “How much is 13.7 billion?”
Shiling’s mom had to use her age as a base number and enlighten her about the concept of numbers. She spent half an hour just explaining what a billion was.
So now, every time she saw Liu Shiling come running over with the encyclopedia, Shiling’s mom felt a bit overwhelmed.
However, despite feeling overwhelmed, she still had to muster up the energy to face the task.
Today, Liu Shiling had opened the page that contained information on electricity and magnetism.
Shiling’s mom suggested flipping back to the earlier pages, “We haven’t finished the previous sections yet. Let’s study geography today, let’s talk about Asia…”
However, Liu Shiling’s chubby little hand firmly flipped the pages back again to the sections regarding electricity and magnetism. She looked up at her mom and said, “Mom, I want to learn this.”
“You’ll learn about this when you go to school, and it won’t be useful to learn it now…” Shiling’s mom tried to flip back to the previous pages.
“But I want to learn it now.” Liu Shiling flipped the pages back again.
With no choice left, Shiling’s mom began to read from the page, “Everything in the universe is made up of invisible atoms, and each atom has particles that can transport charge…
“… the nucleus of an atom contains positively charged protons and neutrally charged neutrons, with electrons orbiting around the nucleus…
“… when static electricity builds up in a cloud to a certain extent, it will produce lightning. Negative charges aggregate at the bottom of the cloud, while positive charges accumulate at the top. In the end, the negative charges land on the Earth in the form of lightning…
“… there is always magnetism where there is electricity. This invisible mysterious force can attract certain metals together, and it can also make some metals repel each other…
With each word she read, Shiling’s mom grew more confused. Was this really written for preschool-age children? But it did indeed say 3 to 6 years old on the cover.
When she was in school, she hated physics and mathematics the most. Simple reading was not a problem, but if she started to delve deep into explanations, there would be no end.
Just reading these passages was making her drowsy, but her daughter was listening attentively, her eyes shining.
Why was Shiling suddenly interested in these things? Isn’t it more interesting for a child to read about history and geography? It would be so much better if Mr. Xiang had sent books like Grimms’ Fairy Tales, One Thousand and One Nights, or a Zheng Yuanjie collection.
As expected, Liu Shiling’s endless questions came rolling in:
“Mom, what is a nucleus?”
“Mom, what is an electron?”
“Mom, what is electric charge?”
“Mom, is magnetism the same as magic?”
“Mom, what’s the difference between lightning and the electricity in our house?”
Shiling’s mom didn’t bother googling anymore. Facing her big-eyed, knowledge-craving daughter, she helplessly replied, “It’s not mentioned in the book, darling. You’ll learn about these things when you grow up and go to school. After kindergarten reopens, you can ask your teacher about it.”
After thinking for a bit, Liu Shiling no longer “bothered” her mom with these difficult questions, and said: “Mom, can you apply for a QQ account for me? I want to add Uncle Bald and my teachers on QQ and ask them.”
Shiling’s mom didn’t hesitate and nodded in agreement. Actually, many of the children in kindergarten already had QQ accounts. However, most of them registered mainly for playing games that required logging into an account. Liu Shiling’s reason for applying for a QQ account, namely, to ask others about “study” issues, was certainly unique.
Watching her daughter walk away, clutching the encyclopedia, Shiling’s mom felt a bit dazzled.