Chapter 20 –
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Michael looked at the neatly arranged multiplication table with clear rows and columns. It was very neat and uncluttered. Thankfully, he had clear handwriting. Looking at this table, he sat down with satisfaction, and said with a smile. “Right. There are 9 columns and 9 rows, therefore this song is also called ‘9 x 9 multiplication table’. You have the basics of maths and knows how to add and subtract. It should not be too hard to learn this.”
“Then what is the small ‘x’ sign in the middle?” Amy could not understand what the ‘x’ sign means.
“The x sign represents ‘times’. It had the same meaning as ‘times’. In this way, it is easier to write and looks much cleaner.” Michaels smiled as he explained. Amy sat down beside him, and looked at the multiplication table. “Only I know about this multiplication table. If you can memorise this 81 sets of information, then learn the tens times table, you can solve most of the problems in real life.”
“Wow! Papa is really impressive! Teacher Luna asked me to memorise some of the times tables, and I need to memorise about 1770 or so items. I could only remember around 100 or so.” Amy looked at her father with awe.
She had not antic.i.p.ated that not only the words that her father wrote were neat and tidy. Even the multiplication table that he taught her was much easier than Teacher Luna’s.
His mathematical skills were a direct result of his standing on the shoulders of the giants of maths world. Therefore, it is inappropriate of him to claim credit for inventing the times table. But the look of revere on Amy’s face made him felt so good that he shamelessly tried to claim credit for this ‘invention’. He smile and pointed at the first row and said, “Then let’s try to learn the first row first. The numbers between the ‘x’ are the numbers we are multiplying each other by. The ‘=’ sign means equal, and is the result of these multiples.”
Michael explained to Amy the basics of the multiplication table. Under Teacher Luna’s guidance, Amy had a basic foundation in Maths. At least she understood the numbers from 1 to 9. She could add and subtract without difficulties.
But this world’s maths standard is quite backwards. Therefore, he had to spend some time teaching Amy that the order of the numbers do not matter. i.e. 1 x 3 is the same as 3 x 1.
The thing that please Michael the most is that Amy did not suspect him at all, and cheerfully took what he said at face value. Even if what he had taught her was in conflict with what Teacher Luna had taught her, she listened attentively and learned well.
“Now, let’s sing the song! 1 x 1 is 1, 1 x 2 is 2…..” Amy followed Michael and repeated. Her memory is quite good. After singing it for several times, she could recall the 1 times table very quickly.
Michael continued to strike while the iron is hot, and immediately taught her the 2 times table.
Amy had repeated the 2 times table song, but she was puzzled about something and immediately asked, “But Papa, what is the point of memorising all these.”
“Oh, this is very useful!” Michael smile and pointed at the multiplication table. “Look, right now our [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] is 600 coppers coins, or 6 gold coins. Just now Grandpa Moby ate 4 plates. That is 6 x 4 = 24. If you memorise this, you will immediately know the answer, and need not use your fingers to count. Isn’t this convenient?”
“It is really 24 gold coins!” Amy’s eyes lit up. Just now, she had counted the monies for some time in her little head before she come up with the figure of 2400 copper coins. But just by memorising the multiplication table song, she could immediately come up with the answer. This multiplication table really convenient! She was very excited, and immediately shouted, “Papa, Papa! I want to learn, I want to learn this! Once I learned it, I could help Papa out in the restaurant and collect money easily!”
“Ok, then we will learn the 3 times table. We will continue to learn the rest tomorrow.” Michael smiled and nodded his head. Studying requires the learner to be willing to learn and a positive learning att.i.tude. Amy met both of these requirements. She should be a very fast learner.
The afternoon was spent guiding Amy on the multiplication table song. Other than Moby, there were no other customers. This place is really remote and few customers pa.s.sed by.
After selling 4 plates of fried rice, Michael’s heart had relaxed a bit. At least he need not worry that the taste of [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] is unsuitable for the inhabitants of this planet. From Moby’s expression, he seemed to enjoy the feeling of his fatigue being washed away. Maybe he would become a regular customer here. This is a piece of good news for Michael.
“3 x4 = 12, 3 x 5 = 15, 3 x 6 =….. 3 x 6 =…. Papa! 3 x 6 is too hard!” Amy was looked at her father with puppy’s eyes that were on the verge of tears. This is the fifth time she got struck here. Her eyes turned moist, and it look as if she would cry at any moment.
“All right! Then let’s stop at 3 x 5 today! Amy is really smart! Most of the other children at your age could not even memorise the 1 times table song. As for the rest, we will continue tomorrow. By remember a bit each day, the effect is the best!” Michael immediately kept the piece of paper containing the multiplication table. Then he stroke Amy on the head.He could recall a scene of a girl crying when she could not memorise the multiplication table in his past life. That girl was of the same age as Amy, and had the same problem.
“Really?” Amy heard what Michael had said and immediately her eyes shone. She thought that her father was going to punish her for not memorising the 3 times table. But Papa actually told her that she is a lot smarter than other kids her age.
“Of course it is real! When did Papa ever lie to you?” Michael looked into Amy’s eyes and nodded his head in earnest.
“En, Papa would not lie to me. Then tomorrow I will definitely try again and memorise the other half!” Amy nodded her head as well. Her face that was about to cry a moment ago, suddenly broke out in smiles, and she looked more confident.
Michael placed the paper containing the multiplication table behind the counter. At this time, it is already late afternoon. It is highly unlikely that there would be any guest at this time. Looking at Amy’s messy hair, he walked towards the door, and changed the sign ‘Welcome, please come in’ to ‘We are closed’.
He locked the door of the restaurant, and held Amy’s hand, “Let’s go, Papa will help you bath, and become a pretty little lady.
“Then do we need to boil some water, and pick up the big wooden pail?” Amy asked.
“There is no need to do so. There is a bathtub in the toilet, and there is a pipe that directly spray out hot water.” Michael grinned as he shook his head.
“Just like the kitchen’s tap?” Amy asked in surprise. The thing that her father called a tap is really strange. She just need to turn it, and immediately, clean water will pour out of the tap. It was like magic.
“En, yes!” Michael nodded his head, and held her hands as they made their way upstairs. At her age, Amy is still learning about this world, and is full of curiosity. Therefore, she was quite curious about the modern electrical appliances in the home.
The first time Amy saw a bathtub, she quickly adapt to it. She sat in the bathtub, flapped her feet, and used both hands to play with the bubbles. She giggled as she played in the bathtub. She laughed and happily said: “Papa, this bathtub is fun! And these bubbles are pleasant to touch and smell good!”
“En, this is called a shower gel. You use it to clean your body. Right now, what I have in my hands is called shampoo. This is used for was.h.i.+ng hair. After you washed your hair, your hair will become very clean and pleasant smelling too!” Michael grinned.
He carefully placed the shampoo on Amy’s head, and gently told her, “Be a good girl and close your eyes. If the shampoo accidentally enters your eyes, it will feel very uncomfortable.”
“En. I want to be as nice smelling as Papa!” Amy obediently closed her eyes.
Michael gently ma.s.saged Amy’s hair. Although he is quite clumsy, he was very careful. He slowly separated the hair that was lumped together as he shampoo her head.
It is quite difficult to help little children to bath and to shampoo their hair, and it require a lot of patience. After he had bathed and shampooed Amy, he was totally soaked. But looking the little girl who was covered in a towel and the clothes that she had, Michael felt a bit fl.u.s.tered. He tried asking the [System], “[System], do you sell clothes?”
^_^
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