A young boy from the 1970s, separated from his family, fled famine and led his younger brother into

"Nian... Nianci... Big Sister!"

This earth-shattering cry of "Big Sister" exploded like a thunderclap in the classroom of Class 2, Grade 3!

The entire class, including their homeroom teacher, Ms. Li, was frozen in place!

Their mouths were agape, wide enough to fit a light bulb, and their eyes were bulging out of their sockets!

"Little Tyrant" Li Hao, along with his most formidable gang of "fierce warriors," actually... actually called a five-year-old, newly arrived little girl... "Big Sister"?!

Has this world gone mad?!

Ma Xiaohong felt like her brain wasn't working properly.

Looking at this scene that could be described as magical realism, she felt as if her worldview had been repeatedly crushed and rubbed into the ground in just five minutes!

Meanwhile, Lu Nianci, the instigator, calmly picked up one of the two White Rabbit milk candies, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.

The sweet milky flavor instantly spreads across the tip of the tongue.

She looked at Li Hao, who was standing there with his neck stiff, and couldn't help but smile.

She knew that from this moment on, her most troublesome "social problem" at the school was completely solved.

Although it was in a way that she herself hadn't expected.

As she had expected, her campus life thereafter became exceptionally...smooth.

With Li Hao, the "number one fighter in the whole school," as her "bodyguard," no foolish kid dared to cause her any more trouble.

She even enjoyed the exclusive treatment of a "big sister".

Every morning, her desk would be stuffed with all sorts of "offerings".

Sometimes it's just a few sweet and sour hawthorn candies.

Sometimes it's a green apple that's just been picked from the tree and still has dew on it.

Sometimes it's even a grasshopper roasted until golden brown and crispy...

Lu Nianci was both amused and exasperated by this, but she did not refuse.

She collected all the edible items, intending to take them back as snacks for Little Stone.

She devoted all her energy to her studies.

For her, the third-grade curriculum was far too easy.

She can complete all her homework in less than an hour each day, and her accuracy rate is always 100%.

She spent the rest of her time... reading extracurricular books.

However, the small book corner at school, with only two bookshelves, and the comic books like "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" and "The Shining Red Star" could not satisfy her insatiable thirst for knowledge.

She needs a larger, more professional... treasure trove of knowledge.

So, a week later, she turned her attention to the military library, which was located deep in the military compound and rarely visited by anyone.

……

The military library is a stand-alone, two-story Soviet-style building.

This is the quietest and most "precious" place in the entire military compound.

It contains tens of thousands of books, covering almost every field, including politics, military affairs, literature, history, and science and technology.

Among them are even many "internal documents" and "banned books" that are never seen outside.

This is an ocean of knowledge, but also... a forbidden zone for thought.

Normally, only those holding a special pass issued by a cadre at the division level or above are qualified to enter.

But with Lu Zhenguo, her "political commissar father," as her backer, Lu Nianci naturally had no obstacles in her path.

When she first stepped into this place, she was instantly captivated by the rich, scholarly atmosphere that greeted her!

She felt like a mouse that had fallen into a rice jar, so happy she was about to faint!

From that day on, she would spend all her free time here.

She was like a dried-up sponge, frantically absorbing the knowledge and nourishment here.

She went from the most basic "Barefoot Doctor's Manual" to the profound "Atlas of Human Anatomy".

She saw the obscure "Das Kapital" in "How the Steel Was Tempered".

Her knowledge system was being rebuilt, filled in, and perfected at an alarming rate.

And it was during this process that she noticed someone.

An old man sweeping the floor.

He was an elderly man who looked to be at least sixty or seventy years old.

He was very thin, with a slightly hunched back, and wore a faded blue work uniform. His daily job was to sweep the library inside and out with a large broom until it was spotless.

He was always taciturn, and his face always wore a detached, numb expression.

Everyone treated him as an ordinary handyman.

But Lu Nianci sensed something unusual about him.

Because she had seen the old man several times during his afternoon nap, hiding alone in the most secluded corner of the library.

He wasn't reading a newspaper or a novel.

Instead, they were thick books written in German or Russian, books she couldn't quite understand... professional works.

Sometimes it's about quantum physics.

Sometimes it's about classical philosophy.

When he reads, a startling, dazzling light flashes in his cloudy eyes.

That hunched back will straighten up without you even realizing it.

He exuded an aura of erudition and pride that only true scholars possess.

But as soon as anyone gets close, he immediately hides the book and transforms back into the humble, silent old sweeper.

A strong sense of curiosity arose in Lu Nianci's heart.

She had a gut feeling that this old man was definitely not an ordinary sweeper!

He has a story.

So she began to approach him, intentionally or unintentionally.

That afternoon, she went to the library again.

She carried a world history book bigger than her head and went to the corner where the old man usually rested.

She "happened" to see the old man secretly reading a German version of "Critique of Pure Reason".

She didn't make a fuss, but simply turned to the chapter on "German Classical Philosophy" in her copy of "A General History of the World".

Then, as if she had encountered some problem, she muttered to herself in distress:

"Oh dear, what on earth is Kant talking about? What's this about 'human beings legislating for nature'? What's this about 'the thing-in-itself'? It's so hard to understand!"

Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for the elderly person next to her to hear clearly.

Sure enough, the old man, who had been immersed in his own world, froze in his hand holding the book when he heard the words "Kant" and "thing-in-itself"!

He slowly raised his head, and for the first time, his cloudy eyes looked directly at Lu Nianci.

His eyes were filled with shock and... a hint of barely perceptible... wariness.