In the morning, after Guan Ailan did as her mother told her—harvesting two pole-loads of corn from their private plot and carrying them home—she came looking for Xiao Man, just as she'd promised. She brought three pages torn from a workbook. On them were fifth-grade math problems she had recopied the night before. She said that if Xiao Man could solve them, she should be able to skip to the fifth grade.
There were only math problems, no language arts. The girl was clearly biased toward one subject, but she had a ready excuse: "Language arts isn't a big deal. As long as you know Pinyin and can fluently recite a few fifth-grade texts, you'll be fine!"
Watching Xiao Man calmly and steadily finish all the problems, Guan Ailan's jaw dropped in surprise. After a long moment, she nodded like a seasoned expert. "I think you're good to go! If you do this when the principal tests you, you'll definitely pass!"
