Bai Tingting finally looked up, her big, dark eyes filled with a mixture of fear and hope. It was as though, for the first time, she was seeing someone who might care enough to help her.

  "I... I'll try, teacher," she whispered, almost too quietly for Fang Siying to hear, but the sincerity in her voice was undeniable.

  Fang Siying smiled softly, reaching out to pat her head gently. "That's all I ask."

  "Oh, teacher," the child softly called, her head hanging lower and lower.

  "Didn't understand?" Fang Siying tried to keep her voice gentle. "If you don't understand, you should ask me, okay? Your exercises are very poorly done!"

  The child let out a soft sigh.

  "What's wrong? What's the problem? Tell me," she asked patiently.

  "I just don't understand," the child sighed. "Why do we have to put chickens and rabbits in the same cage? That's so troublesome! And their heads are completely different; why do we need to count how many heads and how many feet? My family is Lao You raise chickens and rabbits, and they′ve never caused such trouble. I can easily count them!" She sighed again.

  "Oh!" Fang Siying was stunned. Facing that innocent little face, she didn't know how to respond. "This is just one method, a way to teach you how to calcute, understand?" she clumsily expined. The child looked at her with innocent eyes and shook her head.

  "Is it teaching us how to make problems more complicated?" she asked.

  "Oh, math is like that. It uses various methods to test your brain and train your ability to calcute. You must accept this training. When you grow up, you′ll face many problems that will require you to use what you've learned to solve them. Understand?"

  "I know," Bai Tingting lowered her eyelids and sighed. "I think I am very stupid."

  "No, don't think like that," Fang Siying quickly said, taking the child's small hands in her own. Her eyes lingered gently on her face. "I think you're a very smart and lovely child."

  Two blushes appeared on Bai Tingting's cheeks. She quickly raised her shes and looked at Fang Siying, her gaze filled with shyness, comfort, and joy. A faint smile brushed across her lips, a look that was captivating.

  "Tell me, who is in your family?" Fang Siying couldn't help but ask, her concern for the child's frailty growing.

  "Dad, Mom, Yanzhu, and Lao You," Bai Tingting answered without hesitation. Then she added an expnation: "Yanzhu is the maid, and Lao You is the driver and gardener."

  "Oh," Fang Siying was momentarily stunned and then looked closely at Bai Tingting.

  "But..." she said softly, "Does your mother like you?"

  The child jumped slightly, quickly raising her shes, looking directly at Fang Siying.

  Her bck eyes were surprisingly intense, almost piercing.

  "Of course they love me!" she almost shouted, her face flushed with excitement, her breathing rapid. She appeared extremely angry and full of hostility. "They both love me, Dad and Mom!" She lowered her shes, biting her lip with her thin white teeth, then lifted her head again.

  The hostility in her eyes vanished, repced by a look that was almost pleading. "Teacher Fang," she said softly, "don't listen to what others say. Don't listen! My dad and mom love me, really! I'm not lying to you, really!" A serious expression crossed her small face, causing a brief pang of sorrow in Fang Siying's heart.

  "Don't listen to others." What did that mean? She examined the child and recalled that afternoon in May, the blind father, and this child... She inhaled deeply.

  "Alright, Bai Tingting, no one doubts that your parents don't love you!" She patted the child's hair. One of her braids had come loose, and she had her turn around so she could help fix it. Afterward, she turned her face back toward her.

  "Go home and ask your parents something, okay?"

  "Okay."

  "Ask your dad and mom if you can stay an extra hour at school every day. I want to help you with your arithmetic. After school, come to my room, and I'll start from the basics. Otherwise, you'll fall behind, understand?"

  "Alright, teacher."

  "Then, go ahead!"

  "Goodbye, teacher." The child gave her one st look, her gaze filled with a special kind of light—a gentle, childish, and affectionate light. It tightened Fang Siying's heart. She knew this child liked her, and she also knew that this child must live in loneliness, because even the smallest amount of love and care could bring her so much joy!

  As she watched the child walk toward the teacher's lounge, she couldn't help but call out to her again, "One more thing, Bai Tingting!"

  "Teacher?" The child stopped and turned her head to look at her.

  "Do you have any younger siblings?"

  "No."

  "Are you the only child your parents have?"

  "Yes."

  "Do you have any grandparents?"