In Georgie's room, he was currently sitting at his desk, tugging at his hair in frustration.
Beside him, Sheldon was diligently explaining a math problem.
The allure of a toy train was enough to make Sheldon endure Georgie's stupidity.
Behind the two of them, Missy, who had been so confident earlier, was now holding a plush toy and pestering Mike to chat.
The task of supervising Georgie's studies only held her interest for three minutes.
After all, for Missy, an unreceived gift had no appeal compared to the handsome Mike.
By the desk, Sheldon, who had thoroughly explained his problem-solving approach, confidently asked, "Well, do you understand?"
Georgie looked at the math problems in the book and responded weakly, "Probably… maybe… I didn't understand—"
After speaking, Georgie even blinked his clear eyes.
It wasn't that he wasn't willing to try.
It was just that when Georgie looked at the problems in the book, it was like listening to a heavenly script, making his head spin.
If no one else had been around, Georgie would have pulled out the magazine from under his desk to perk himself up.
"How can you not understand such a simple problem, when I've explained it so thoroughly?" Sheldon was a little doubtful of life. Then, he looked into Georgie's eyes, and in those eyes, he saw the taste of stupidity.
Indeed, teaching an upright ape to do arithmetic was still too difficult.
"Mike, come over and take a look, this is your task too." Out of his obsession with the toy car, Sheldon chose to ask for outside help.
America's public schools advocated for happy education, and the difficulty of the curriculum was not too high.
Mike was also a little curious at this moment why Georgie couldn't learn the problems in the textbook.
He stepped forward, first observing Sheldon's problem-solving approach, and pointed out, "Sheldon, the problem-solving approach you proposed is too complicated. Georgie only needs to pass this math test; he needs simpler and clearer problem-solving steps."
In Mike's opinion, Sheldon's problem-solving approach was like trying to explain to Georgie the meaning of the existence of the number one.
But Georgie only needed to know that one plus one equals two for now, without having to explore why that one existed.
Sheldon was clearly a bit unconvinced by Mike's statement and said, "All right, I'll leave this to you, I'll watch from the side."
"That's fine," Mike nodded.
Mike knew that his intelligence was currently not as good as Sheldon's. However, when it came to teaching Georgie arithmetic, he still had some confidence.
The problem in the exercise book was just a simple binary operation; by plugging it into the formula and calculating, the answer could be easily obtained.
With a plan in mind, Mike demonstrated the simplest problem-solving steps he had summarized to Georgie.
Then, he asked, "Well, do you understand?"
Georgie fell silent, and after a long while, he stammered, "I think I understood a little… How about you explain it again, maybe then I'll understand."
Georgie vaguely felt that Mike's explanation method was simpler than Sheldon's problem-solving approach, but he still couldn't understand it.
"Okay, then let's try another problem." Mike hadn't realized the seriousness of the problem yet. He found a problem of the same type and continued to demonstrate.
Mike thought that the solution formula was right there. As long as Georgie familiarized himself with this type of problem and memorized the formula, he would naturally know the solution steps.
This was a process of practice makes perfect.
After re-checking another exercise, Mike asked, "Well, did you understand this time?"
This time, only silence answered him.
Mike looked up at Georgie.
Well, from the other party's clear eyes, he had already gotten the answer.
The other party still didn't understand.
"Let's try another problem of the same type…" Mike still didn't give up, continuing to look for examples.
It wasn't until he had explained the same type of problem five times in a row that he was still met with Georgie's vacant eyes.
After the torment of the exercises, Georgie's eyes were almost seeing circles.
This situation made Mike and Sheldon look at each other, and both saw helplessness in each other's eyes.
Indeed, teaching an upright ape to do arithmetic was still too difficult.
Just as the two highly intelligent individuals were also silenced, Georgie moved his neck, making a "click-clack" sound.
Then, he curiously asked, "Mike, why aren't you explaining anymore? I was almost going to learn it."
Facing Georgie's desire for knowledge, Mike gave an awkward smile and said, "It's getting late today, and you're tired. Let's continue tomorrow."
The actual situation was that Georgie hadn't been able to learn such a simple math problem in such a long time.
It was simply impossible to raise his math score to a passing level within two days.
Yes, Mike had already given up.
As Mike left, only Georgie and Sheldon remained in the room.
Out of his obsession with the toy train, Sheldon hadn't given up yet, and he asked, "Georgie, how about I explain my problem-solving approach to you again?"
Georgie might understand a little when Mike explained, but when Sheldon explained, it was like listening to a heavenly script for Georgie.
So, Georgie refused, "No need, I…"
Just as Georgie was about to refuse, he suddenly saw his feet under the desk, and with a flash of inspiration, he smiled and said, "I've already learned it."
This time, it was Sheldon's turn to be surprised: "You really learned it?"
"Yes, just watch me during the test." Georgie exuded a confident glow. Then, he impatiently urged, "I still need to review it myself, so you should leave quickly too."
"All right, I hope I can get my toy train." Sheldon mumbled, happy for the peace and quiet, and turned to leave Georgie's room.
In Sheldon's mind, as long as he could get the toy train, he didn't care how Georgie learned the math.
At the same time, a small car with its high beams on was slowly driving down the road.
Connie, sitting in the passenger seat, spoke, "It's already dark, and there aren't many cars on the road, you can speed up."
As a local pastor, Jeff, though not old, was like an old-fashioned person in character.
Although he had bought a red sports car at Selena's urging, he hadn't driven it much himself.
"No, I have to pay attention to traffic rules. There's an intersection ahead, and the light is about to turn red." Pastor Jeff, driving for the first time, was still a novice; at this moment, he felt both new and nervous.
Watching Pastor Jeff dawdle and almost miss the green light, Connie commanded, "There are three seconds left on the green light, plenty of time. Accelerate and go through it!"
Pastor Jeff's cautious driving style was making Connie sick to her stomach. Her current behavior was intermittently insane.
"Is that okay?" Pastor Jeff asked softly, though deep down, he also had a beast that needed to be unleashed.
After all, he had just lost his wife and his money was gone; such a tragic experience required him to vent properly.
"Listen to me, step on the gas!" Connie shouted loudly, not caring about making things worse.
"Ah—" With a loud shout, Pastor Jeff 'fiercely' stepped on the accelerator.
Amidst the cheers, the car sped through the traffic light at a 'high speed' of twenty miles per hour.