"Go, she eats pretty fast," he urged me along.
I exited the loft and realized that I had no idea where the canteen was.
Thankfully, there were many doctors and nurses around so I was able to ask for directions along the way.
I arrived at the canteen and saw a pet.i.te figure queuing in front of a stall.
"Hey! Glad I caught you," I called out and ran to her side.
"Why are you looking for me? This canteen is for staff only. Patients and their family aren"t allowed, don"t you know?"
"But I am a staff!" I grinned.
"I don"t believe you. I know everyone here except for you. You came in today. New recruits have to stay on and learn for some time before they can enter. This is only your first day so why are you in here?" she said with a pout.
"Look at my meal card! It"s your turn soon, I"ll swipe the card for you." I smiled at her and cut into the queue.
A doctor behind me tapped on my shoulder and said, "Sorry, no cutting of queue."
"No, no. I"m just going to help her swipe the card," I explained with a smile.
The doctor pointed at Xiaoyu. "She doesn"t need a meal card. Are you new here?"
"She doesn"t need it?" I repeated.
"Yeah, so don"t use it as an excuse," he warned sharply.
"Oh…" I looked down at the card.
The doctor grabbed my arm. "Wait, that card…"
"What?"
"The president"s card? Why did he give his to you?" he asked, confused.
I looked closely at the card and saw a photograph of him on it.
"I"m the new volunteer. I"m here to look after Xiaoyu for a month," I answered.
"You don"t have to queue, stand in front," he offered, taking a step back.
"Oh… thanks." I looked down at the card once more, thinking about the president"s respectability.
It made sense since all doctors there were under his supervision.
When I snapped out of my thoughts, Xiaoyu was no longer within sight.
After scanning around for a bit, I caught her sitting at a table not far away.
When it was my turn to order, I quickly selected a few dishes before rushing over to her table.
"Why are you sitting beside me? There are so many empty seats around," she stated with a scowl.
"The president told me to look after you for a month so you"ll have to listen to me," I explained.
"Really?" she asked suspiciously.
"You don"t believe me? Look at this card." I fished the meal card out of my pocket.
"But you"re so dumb. What can you teach me?" Xiaoyu asked as she started to eat.
She sounds just like an adult.
"Don"t say that. We can improve together. I"ll be your teacher for this month and I"ll take it as a revision for myself as well."
I thought about how she was learning Euler equations at 12 when at that age, I only knew how to watch cartoons.
Xiaoyu continued her meal without speaking a word.
I had to get close to her.
"Right, how do you see them?" I started.
"See what?"
"The numbers spinning in the lottery box."
"I use my eyes, duh?"
I was at a loss for words.
She picked out a bunch of chopsticks from a metal cylinder on the table. "Let"s play a game."
People from around our table started coming over to discuss among themselves.
"Xiaoyu"s about to play the game with a newbie."
"Gonna be a good show."
"When was the last time we witnessed it?"
...
"I"ll throw this bunch of chopsticks up and calculate the quant.i.ty before they land. You just have to tell me if it"s an odd or even number. I"ll let you teach me if you get it right."
I sighed as I observed the crowd looking on eagerly.
Cheers erupted and I could only agree.
"Alright," I accepted.
Everyone held their breaths as she tossed the bunch of chopsticks in the air.
The canteen was exceptionally quiet.
A second later, the chopsticks fell and scattered onto the table and floor loudly.
"Odd or even?" she asked.
The doctors and nurses started picking up whatever chopsticks they could see.
"Wait, wait," I said.
"Tell me before they pick all of them up or you lose," she decided.
After a short while, a staff shouted, "No more, all in our hands."
I added urgently, "Alright, alright. Odd, it"s an odd quant.i.ty."
Xiaoyu looked stunned. After a short pause, she spoke, "One chance to change your answer."
"I used my own method and found the answer. It"s odd," I responded with even more confidence.
Everyone looked at her in antic.i.p.ation.
She lowered her head. "You"re right. 63 in total."
Everyone fell silent for a split second before a discussion broke out.
"No way!"
"He guessed it?"
"So he got it right?"
...
They started counting the total number of chopsticks.
"1."
"2."
"3."
"61."
"62."
"63. Any more?"
"It"s really 63."
"Xiaoyu"s amazing!"
"The newbie guessed it right, too. Let"s buy lottery after work."
Xiaoyu looked up. "Tell me. How did you know? What method did you use?"
"Will you listen to me for a month if I tell you?"
"Alright," she agreed after some thought.
Those around us started voicing their thoughts.
"Don"t keep us waiting."
"Are you glad that you guessed it right?"
"Don"t get all c.o.c.ky."
...
I picked up the metal cylinder containing the chopsticks. "I"m not able to count them in the air, but it"s not that difficult to guess if it"s odd or even in quant.i.ty."
I poured out the chopsticks in the cylinder. "First, we always use chopsticks in pairs, so the aunty who washed them will put an even number of chopsticks back in."
I paired them up, leaving only one lone chopstick on the side.
"I was gambling on the fact that no one would take an extra chopstick when having their meals or use it for other purposes, and that the aunty would put them back in an even number after washing. I couldn"t see the chopsticks clearly in the air but there were only a few chopsticks in here left so I simply counted them. I do not deny, of course, that some luck was involved."
Applause filled the canteen.
"He cracked her game?"
"The newbie"s a genius, too!"
"F*ck! What"s your name, boy?"
"You look quite handsome, Mister."
...
Amidst the noise, Xiaoyu ran away.
"I"m Luqiao, a volunteer. I"m sorry to dash, but I have to look after her," I excused myself as I squeezed through the crowd.
I figured that she must"ve gotten her speed from her father.
As for her smarts and magical ability, she must"ve gotten them from her mother.
I found her sitting in a corner at the garden.
Panting, I called out, "Found you. Keep your word. I won, so you gotta listen to me."