books44 Chapter 195 Math Diary
Chapter 195 Math Diary
“Mingli, don’t you admire Chairman Mao? You say he’s not only a good fighter but also a good poet? Do you know that he marched like an ordinary soldier? He also walked the Long March from Jiangxi to the Northwest. How was he able to persevere? He was even hungry back then, but it didn’t break his body. It was all because he was in good physical condition! Do you know why he was in good physical condition?”
"Big brother, does the Chairman also practice kung fu?" All three younger brothers looked at Song Mingli.
"Back then, he didn't have any famous teachers to instruct him in martial arts; he relied entirely on his own physical training. He and his classmates traveled throughout Hunan on a shoestring budget, passing through five counties without spending a single copper coin."
During winter break, he hiked through fields, up and down mountains, strolled around town, crossed streams, took "rain baths" on rainy days, "sunbaths" in the scorching sun, and "wind baths" in the spring breeze. He slept outdoors all the time, even in winter. In November, he even went on "winter excursions," doing his own "physical training" to improve his physique. So, health is truly the foundation of everything.
Song Mingli posed a probing question: "Brother, how do you know so much? Don't you dislike reading?"
“Who said I don’t like reading? I just don’t like math!” Song Mingxiang retorted. What he didn’t say was that Master Gao had told him all of this. At that time, he didn’t want to practice horse stance or basic skills, so Master Gao told him stories about Chairman Mao.
"Second brother, I don't like math or Chinese. You get such good grades, do you have any tricks?" Song Mingfu was telling the truth. He liked practicing martial arts but didn't like studying.
Speaking of grades, Mingxiang also had a headache. "Yeah, Mingli, share your secret. I don't even dare to show my report card to my dad, and you're not allowed to show it to him either, understand?"
"Are you stupid? Even without report cards, Uncle still knows our grades. Don't forget, the town's top scorer is our older sister. All the teachers are watching us, especially Principal Dai, who's hoping to produce another top scorer!" Song Mingli shook his head as he looked at his older and younger brothers.
"Oh, Brother Nan, you make me both love and hate you!" Song Mingfu sighed repeatedly.
"Hey, you two, stop sighing and groaning whenever you talk about studying. You're scaring your little brother." Song Mingli looked at Mingcheng next to him, criticizing the two who didn't like studying. Mingcheng should be going to school next year too, and he hoped he wouldn't be like them.
"Sigh, studying is so tiring!" the duo sighed again.
Song Mingli couldn't stand it anymore. "Hey, what's so tiring about it? You don't have to go up the mountain or down to the fields. You don't have to lift a finger. It's much easier than practicing martial arts. Let me tell you my secret: for Chinese, besides reading a lot, you should also write a diary. The same goes for math."
"Mingli, are you serious? I can understand writing a diary for Chinese class, but writing a diary for math class too?" Mingxiang was very surprised. Writing a diary was a "painful" assignment that they all agreed was.
"What's the rush? Listen to me. A math journal is about recording what you've learned each day. First, write down what you've learned, then reflect on what you already know and what you're still unclear about. Then, clarify what you don't understand. After that, organize the problems you got wrong, find the reasons for the mistakes, and find a similar problem to work on."
"Second brother, I never knew you'd stay out for ages when I called you for dinner. So that's what you were doing."
“Yes, I write in my math journal as soon as I get back so I don’t forget. You can do that too, Mingfu. We can also connect what we learn each day with our daily lives and make up a little problem. For example, if we’ve learned multiplication, we can write something like this: Each flower basket in my house costs 6 yuan. Today, we sold 5 flower baskets at the market. How much did we get in total? Think about it, it’s 6 x 5 = 30 yuan, a total of 30 yuan.”
"Big brother, what second brother said seems quite interesting. Why don't we write math diaries every day too?"
"Alright, Brother Nan said if I don't improve my math, I'll end up being sold out and still helping them count the money."
"That's right. Since our family is in business, we have to be good at math. And if we want to go out and negotiate orders like Director Mu and Brother Nan, we have to be good at Chinese. Otherwise, I'm afraid we'll be sold out and still be helping them count the money."