sinovels Chapter 1 Memories of Childhood
Chapter 1 Memories of Childhood
If a newborn baby is like a blank sheet of paper, waiting for fate to write its story;
Then Su Hao's birth was more like a god descending to earth.
Is it a great blessing bestowed by Heaven, or a predestined wisdom rooted in the cycle of cause and effect?
From the moment the umbilical cord was cut and blood was drawn from his flesh, his almost supernatural brain transcended the ignorance of mortals and calmly gazed at the surging, rolling world.
Suddenly, above my tightly closed eyelids, the blindingly white shadowless light in the delivery room ruthlessly cleaved through the chaotic darkness like a sharp blade.
Prior to this, the body had become accustomed to receiving nutrients through the umbilical cord.
But the respiratory system, which had never been used before, suddenly became severely stagnant at the critical moment!
An intense feeling of suffocation washed over me like a tidal wave, making my chest feel so tight it felt like it was going to explode!
Just then!
*Slap!* A crisp slap.
"Wow--"
Su Hao intended to hold back, but the burning pain from his buttocks instantly broke down the last line of defense of the baby's body, forcing him to let out a wail in his tender voice.
However, it was precisely because of this hysterical cry that the first breath of air in the world, slightly sweet and cold, finally flowed into his lungs through his throat, allowing him to complete his first breath.
Congratulations! It's a healthy, chubby baby boy!
The ruthless midwife, however, wore a bright smile as she carried little Su Hao to his mother.
The mother's eyes were now red and swollen, her tired eyes glistening with tears, her gaze fixed intently on her child.
In that loving gaze, Su Hao felt a strong surge of maternal love, a love so intense it seemed to want to give everything, crashing heavily into his heart.
The mother stretched out her trembling hands, exhausted from the effort, and carefully took the soft little life into her arms, pressing it tightly against her warm chest.
At that moment, his blood-related instincts beat his precocious brain to the punch, making the most honest response.
That was the familiar scent that belonged only to my mother, and that soft, warm, and comforting touch...
All of this, like gentle waves, completely soothed the unease in his soul and the fear of entering the world for the first time.
And then, the heart-wrenching cries came to an abrupt end.
"Oh my god! Honey, look at our baby! He stopped crying as soon as I held him!"
The mother's weak voice was filled with barely concealed excitement.
Upon hearing this, the father, who was standing nearby, came closer. His stubble-covered face was filled with the excitement and emotion of becoming a father for the first time.
"Wow, that's amazing! Did this little guy recognize his mother from birth?"
This was the first day Su Hao was born into this world, and from then on, he truly stepped into the ever-flowing world of human life.
……
"Mommy! When is Daddy coming back?"
Having just celebrated his first birthday, while his peers were still drooling and blowing bubbles, Su Hao had already moved beyond the babbling stage and could speak clearly in complete sentences.
This is a ruthless mockery of the natural developmental patterns of human infants and young children.
"Dad's off work, he'll be home soon."
Sizzle~
While stir-frying Su Hao's favorite sliced meat in a steaming wok, Lin Wan, Su Hao's mother, turned around and responded to her precocious son in a gentle tone.
Unbeknownst to his mother, this was the most blissful and exhilarating moment of the day for Su Hao.
Every evening at dusk, the light and shadow outside the window are cut into mottled fragments, and the intense, fiery sunset will climb into the house little by little through the gaps in the blue bricks of the courtyard wall.
The pure and intense colors of nature, seen through the innocent eyes of children, are almost magically beautiful.
The evening breeze that slipped in through the half-open window carried a slightly cool and pleasant feeling.
The aroma of the stir-fried meat slices in the pot was swept by the wind, transforming into the most enchanting scent of home cooking, which permeated the small, cozy room.
Even though time has passed and many years have gone by, Su Hao will still etch this scene of sunset glow and the aroma of fireworks into his mind.
Whenever I think of it, my nose tingles and my eyes well up with tears.
"It smells so good!"
Su Hao took a few chubby little steps and waddled over like a clumsy little penguin, grabbing his mother's trouser leg.
"Oh dear! My little Hao Hao, is your tummy all rumbling with hunger?"
Mom stopped cooking, casually wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, turned around, squatted down, rubbed Su Hao's head, and gave him a smile brighter than the sunset outside the window.
If Su Hao were to tell others about these memories from when he was one year old, they would surely think it was absurd nonsense. So Su Hao kept it to himself and never uttered a single word to anyone in his life.
But for him, the twilight light and shadows, the intoxicating aroma, and the smile lines at the corners of his mother's eyes...
All of these moments were captured as if by the highest resolution film, perfectly preserved in his mind, vivid and timeless.
……
As time went by, when Su Hao turned two, he had already mastered reading skills without any prior instruction or guidance.
Of course, this is also thanks to the literacy posters that Mom has covered the entire wall with, as well as the children's picture books scattered all over the floor.
"Come on, Hao Hao, shall we tell you the story of 'The Little Dog Woof Woof' today?"
His mother held him in her soft lap and then solemnly opened the colorful picture book.
The father, Su Zhe, lay half-reclined on the old sofa next to him, his back comfortably supported by a pillow. He watched the mother and son with a contented look, as if he were enjoying a warm home with his wife and children.
My mother's slender index finger, slightly calloused, slowly slid down the pages, line by line, following the Chinese characters.
"Woof woof, the puppy ate too much today, and 'poof' let out a loud fart."
My mother's voice was soft, with a gentle and soothing quality reminiscent of the water towns of Jiangnan.
However, Su Hao's gaze did not linger on the flashy illustrations for even a moment, but instead locked onto the neatly arranged square characters below.
Before his mother could even finish reading the first line, Su Hao had already jumped in and clearly enunciated the next one:
"But it's okay! Because farting means your digestive system is working hard!"
The mother's voice suddenly stopped, her eyes widened as if she had heard something unbelievable.
Immediately afterwards, that look of surprise turned into a deep smile in her eyes, and she looked down at her son in her arms with a hint of delight.
"Huh? Did your mother read it to you too many times before?"
"Haohao's little brain has already memorized the story?"
Faced with his mother's innocent misunderstanding, Su Hao didn't even have the desire to explain. He simply continued reading in his crisp, childish voice:
"Although it smelled bad, the mother dog still hugged her puppy tightly."
Because the dog thinks that its mother's embrace is the warmest place in the world...
Rustling.
Before anyone knew it, Dad, who had been lying next to me, had quietly turned over and sat up.
He hadn't even put on his slippers properly; barefoot, he strode to the bookshelf and frantically searched for something as if he were digging for sweet potatoes.
A short while later, he pulled out a slightly thick new book and solemnly handed it to Su Hao.
"Then... Hao Hao, take a look at this one too, can you read it too?"
What came into view was a brand new picture book that Su Hao had never seen before, with the plastic film still wrapped around the cover.
"Yes! Yes!"
Although the unknown little monster on the cover, drawn with its claws outstretched and grinning foolishly, is a bit of an eyesore...
But Su Hao still reached out his little hand without hesitation and took it, turning to the first page with a serious expression, and reading it aloud in a clear and resonant voice:
"Legend has it that long, long ago, beyond a very, very high mountain, there was a mysterious village of monsters..."
The moment he read out the first sentence clearly and without any stumbles, his mother and father shuddered as if they had been electrocuted at the same time.
"In this village lives a mischievous monster who peeks at children's dreams every day..."
As the clear reading voice echoed in the room, Su Hao keenly noticed that the two breaths above his head were becoming increasingly heavy.
The expressions on the parents' faces gradually shifted from initial shock and disbelief to solemnity and horror.
"My God... he wasn't just reciting, he actually knows these words!"
Honey, pinch me, is this not an illusion?
"Our family must have had some incredible luck, like our ancestral graves spewing forth a divine star descended to earth!"
The mother quickly covered her mouth, afraid she would cry out, her gaze shifting back and forth between Su Hao's innocent little face and the open pages of the book, as if confirming an unrealistic dream.
"With our average intelligence and genes, how did we end up with such a genius...?"
The father pulled Su Hao into a tight embrace, resting his chin against his son's soft hair...
For a long, long time, he couldn't utter a single word; only the pounding of his heart could be heard.
As his father's broad, sturdy chest pressed tightly against him, Su Hao felt a strange, indescribable ripple in his heart.
Despite possessing a brain far superior to that of his peers, the two-year-old was still unable to deconstruct the weight of this emotion from a grand perspective.
But his keen intuition clearly captured one fact:
As long as he continues to demonstrate his abilities in this game called "words," these two people who cherish him will feel a happiness and satisfaction from the depths of their souls.
After that fateful night, Su Hao's once monotonous white bedroom walls began to be covered with all sorts of bizarre and novel graffiti, as if attacked by a crazy psoriasis swarm.
The initial art style was fairly normal, consisting of simple number tables and addition and subtraction formulas within ten used for early learning.
"Haohao, what's one plus one?"
"Equals two!"
To be honest, Su Hao actually quite enjoys playing these simple arithmetic games with his mother.
Whenever he uttered that predictable answer in his childish voice, his mother would fall into a state of almost uncontrollable ecstasy.
She would hug him tightly and spin him around several times, like a little girl who had received the world's greatest treasure.
Soon, the situation began to spiral out of control, and the thickness of the knowledge on the walls increased exponentially.
The colorful number charts were replaced with multiplication tables, the English alphabet, and Chinese-English picture cards...
Finally, even the calendar and solar term chart were hung up!
It's even more elaborate than the blackboards in top-tier high schools.
"Haohao, tell Mommy, what day of the week is it today?"
"Thursday!"
"Yay! You got it right! Hao Hao is the smartest and most obedient baby in the whole world!"
Every morning, Mom would point to that silly-looking calendar and ask questions with great enthusiasm.
When Su Hao gave the correct answer without any surprise, she would be as proud as if her son had won the Nobel Prize, kissing his little face and sparing no words of praise.
In order to always see that radiant smile on his mother's face, Su Hao was even willing to patiently spend his days pretending to while away the time by looking at the colorful papers on the wall.
Unfortunately, this kind of rudimentary educational toy has a pitifully short shelf life.
His extraordinary mind quickly lost all interest in this unchallenging and simplistic knowledge, and it could no longer stir the slightest ripple in his heart.
......
Cicadas—cicadas—
The incessant chirping of cicadas tore through the oppressive air.
In late summer and early autumn, with the summer heat still lingering, Su Zhe and Lin Wan sat on the porch of their old house, enjoying chilled watermelon to cool off.
Their precious son, Su Hao, was just running around and giggling like a little madman in the muddy yard a moment ago;
But suddenly he squatted down next to a small pit in the corner of the wall, his butt sticking out, staring intently at the ants moving their nest on the ground.
Su Zhe spat out a few watermelon seeds, but his eyebrows unconsciously furrowed into a knot.
He just couldn't understand how his genius son, who was a bookworm and could spend all day looking at wall plaster, had suddenly become such a different person lately.
Not only did he lose his passion for writing, but he also began to develop an interest in mud and insects.
"Honey, haven't you noticed that Hao Hao doesn't seem to be reading as much lately?"
Hearing her husband's grumbling, Lin Wan didn't even falter in her rhythm of spitting out watermelon seeds, and nodded dismissively.
"Yes, that's right."
Su Zhe's heart skipped a beat, and a wave of sorrow, like that of "the tragic loss of a promising talent," washed over him.
They originally thought their ancestors' graves were emitting auspicious smoke, giving birth to a once-in-a-century genius.
Could it be that my illusions are just due to my overly strong "parental filter"?
The thought of working overtime every day lately, unable to even find time to play with his son building blocks, filled him with a bitter feeling of guilt as an old father.
"Sigh... what on earth went wrong?"
Seeing her husband's face contorted in a grimace, Lin Wan finally couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
"Why else? Because he already learned it all."
"If you were in that situation, staring at a bunch of stuff you already know by heart all day, would you find it interesting?"
"What...what do you mean by that?"
He was already tired of looking at those things on the wall.
He knows the punctuation marks in dozens of picture books by heart.
As for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division...
He can now calculate the square of a three-digit number in his head without even holding a pen; he can do it all in his head with just a glance. What more do you want?
Su Zhe almost dropped the watermelon rind in his hand:
"Really? You're not kidding, are you?!"
How to mentally calculate the square of a three-digit number?
Let alone a three-year-old child, even a master's or doctoral degree holder wouldn't dare say they can just open their mouths and talk about it.
"Who's joking about this with you!"
Actually, I've been worried about this for the past few days. Do you think we should teach him the concept of fractions?
But isn't it going too far to teach a three-year-old fractions? Isn't it counterproductive to push a child too hard?
I was just about to discuss this with you.
The son not only didn't fall from grace, but instead continued to excel on the path to genius!
The ecstatic joy of seeing the ancestral graves burst into flames only lingered in Su Zhe's mind for two seconds before he was immediately plunged into the same gloomy and miserable state as his wife.
"Honey, what grade level is this thing called grades in?"
Third grade or fourth grade?
That's a course for children around ten years old, isn't this a bit too big of a leap...?
That's true...
But it's not right to just watch him, who's so smart, spend all his time playing in the mud like an idiot. It's a complete waste of his talent!
Anyway, we should get him some proper books to read; we can't let that bright mind go to waste.
Su Zhe's resounding statement instantly strengthened Lin Wan's resolve, and she nodded emphatically.
"Yes! We won't engage in that kind of distorted education that forces growth..."
But we can't just stand by and watch this promising talent go astray because we're both mediocre.
However, on the other hand, seeing him so carefree every day, I'm actually quite content...
Just as the couple were sighing and lamenting about their son's future, Su Hao, who had been squatting for a long time, suddenly adjusted his posture.
He stuck out his little bottom, striking an extremely comical gecko pose, crawling cautiously towards them on all fours.
"What's wrong with this kid now?"
"He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to see clearly when he ran and would step on and kill the ants that were moving house on the ground."
He always tiptoes around like this whenever he's near an anthill.
Our son, though an absurdly intelligent genius, possesses the kindest and gentlest soul in the world at his core!
Looking at Su Hao's clumsy yet pitiful and adorable appearance, Lin Wan's eyes were filled with tenderness.
She couldn't even bear to shatter this joy that belonged to her childhood.
So what if you're a genius?
So what if I'm mediocre?
After all, in her extremely simple values, letting her son run and play freely like a normal child is in accordance with the natural order and morality, so what's wrong with that?
Pulling herself out of her reverie, Lin Wan smiled and raised her arm, waving at the "little gecko":
"Haohao! Time to eat watermelon! Mom saved the sweetest part from the very center for you!"
Upon hearing the call, Su Hao's mud-covered face instantly broke into a bright smile, even more radiant than the summer sun, and he jumped up.
"Yay! Watermelon!!"
Watching him carefully avoid the swarm of ants on the ground, and then dash towards her on his short legs, Lin Wan felt her heart melt.
However, the gears of fate finally began to turn after that summer filled with the chirping of cicadas.
Two days later, a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica, with its luxurious binding, appeared in Su Hao's simple little bedroom, which was extremely inconsistent with his poor family background.
This is definitely not one of those cheap, cobbled-together items you find at street stalls.
Instead, Su Zhe did extensive research, visited numerous bookstores, and after extremely rigorous screening, finally gritted his teeth and bought a masterpiece that embodies the wisdom of humankind accumulated over two centuries.
The science section, in particular, was personally overseen by a host of scientific giants, including Einstein and Carl Sagan.
Its hardcore level and professional depth are enough to make those popular science books on the market that are just for fooling children shine brightly.
This set of books cost Su Zhe almost a month's salary.
Surprisingly, this usually frugal couple showed not a trace of heartache on their faces.
The son, who used to play in the mud in the yard, became completely absorbed in the vast vortex of knowledge the moment he opened the book, like a dragon plunging into a boundless ocean, utterly captivated and unable to extricate himself.
Even the original childlike and innocent game of watching ants has undergone an extremely absurd transformation in style under the violent impact of knowledge.
"Mom, look!"
Ants can walk in such a straight line because they navigate by secreting a chemical called pheromones!
Hearing her son's still-milky mouth suddenly spewing out these obscure, academic-sounding words, Lin Wan was instantly stunned, and could only blink blankly.
"This, you learned this from that thick book too?"
"Yeah! I've always wondered how these little guys manage to find their way home so accurately in such complex terrain after running so far away."
Now I understand everything; this mechanism for tracking chemical information is simply ingenious!
Looking at her son, with his chubby, round face, yet possessing a mature and world-weary tone and expression, like a scholar who has seen it all...
The comical contrast between the two made Lin Wan's lips curl into an irrepressible smile.
She had been worried that this pile of difficult and dry academic materials would crush her son's thirst for knowledge.
In retrospect, it was just that these mortals were worrying unnecessarily.
Su Hao was like a little mouse that had fallen into a rice jar, his eyes sparkling with almost fanatical joy as he faced the vast and boundless unknown territory.
My initial foray into this field began with the chapters on insects and animals.
When he learns that the stripes on each tiger are as unique as human fingerprints, he holds his breath at this amazing rule.
When he reads the lines about gray geese braving the wind and snow, flying over tens of thousands of kilometers of frozen soil, he tilts his head and ponders.
How do they determine direction?
Could it also be some kind of odor residue invisible to the naked eye?
As your gaze shifts to the next chapter and you come across the physics term "Earth's magnetic field"...
Far from being deterred, he became like a stubborn mule, racking his brains to gnaw at this extremely tough bone, determined to understand the underlying principles.
While reading the text.
While frantically asking questions, trying to understand and deduce in his mind.
The process is like searching for treasure in a maze, which is endlessly enjoyable.
If an ordinary young child encounters obscure or difficult words and concepts, they will usually skip them or lose interest.
But this set of rules for mortals is of no reference value to Su Hao, not even a single punctuation mark.
He doesn't back down when faced with difficult concepts.
He would lay out all the other chapters of the encyclopedia, jumping from one to another, cross-referencing and getting to the bottom of things.
Only when the difficulty that had been weighing on his mind was completely resolved could he calmly turn to the next page.
His learning progress became extremely strange.
Sometimes, a whole chapter of knowledge can be digested in half a day, like a river flowing into the sea.
Sometimes, when faced with a tough challenge, he could sit amidst scattered books for two whole months, relentlessly battling with a single concept.
In the eyes of his parents, it was simply because the books were too difficult to understand that their son was reading so slowly.
Little did they know that Su Hao was actually using these words and diagrams to build a sophisticated and magnificent world model in his extraordinary mind, inch by inch!
The leaves outside the window turned green and then yellow, then yellow and then green again.
Three years passed like flowing water. He disassembled and digested the entire twenty-nine thick encyclopedia volumes, each as thick as a brick.