Chapter 708
“You were on the right track,” Theodore said gently. “There’s just one tiny little mistake. Once we fix that, you’ll be able to solve all problems like this.”
“But I’m stupid.”
“Of course not. Your mother and I gave you the best of our genes. You’re the smartest kid in the world.”
“But I’m not good in school.”
“Being good in school isn’t the only way to measure how smart someone is. Look at how good you are at climbing walls. That takes more than just strength; you have to think and figure out exactly where to put your feet to get leverage and support your whole body. And remember playing with mud the other day? You wanted to cover the window with it, but you realized it wouldn’t stick well enough, so you came up with the idea of cutting up clothes and mixing them in. You managed to cover the entire window. If that’s not smart, what is?”
“Cut up clothes? Whose clothes did he cut up?” Penelope suddenly had a bad feeling.
Julian answered immediately, “A red evening gown. I think it was yours.”
Penelope was about to lose it, ready to raise her hand, but she stopped when she saw that Hubert had finally written the correct equation.
Fifteen minus three. In that moment, she could have cried with relief.
“Dad, I really am smart!” Hubert’s face lit up, and he puffed out his chest with pride.
Penelope’s mouth twitched. “It only proves you’re not an idiot.”
“Mom!” Hubert glared at her indignantly, then remembered something. “Anyway, what are you doing in our room? And what’s that in your hand?”
Hubert’s question reminded Penelope why she had come.
She moved closer to Theodore and showed him the speech. “What do they all mean?”
Theodore raised an eyebrow. “Am I supposed to tutor you in addition to the children? I believe that’s outside the scope of a nanny’s duties.”
“I’ll pay you extra.”
“One thousand an hour.”
“Are you robbing me?”
Theodore shrugged. “You can check with any temp agency I
find another nanny doubt you’ll
qualifications.”
With no other options, Penelope had no choice but to hire Theodore at his exorbitant rate.
“Here, there’s a spot. Sit down.”
Penelope squeezed into a seat at the small desk. On her left was Julian who glanced at the speeche and said nothing, but his expression clearly screamed, This is so simple, and you don’t get it?
On her right was Hubert, who just stared at her and snickered, definitely mocking
her.
Theodore began to explain the
terms one by one, using the simplest language he could and even making analogies to help her understand. But after a while, he noticed her eyes starting to glaze over.
“Getting sleepy?”
Penelope tried to stifle it, but she couldn’t stop a yawn from escaping.
“Uh, you don’t have to explain what it all means. Just teach me how to pronounce the words.”
“So, I’ve been talking all this time for nothing?”
“It’s not that I didn’t understand anything…”
“What did you understand?”
“That a robot is like a grocery bag, and you can put apples, pears, and bananas in
it?”
“Is that what I said?”
“I think we could fit some pineapples in there, too. I love pineapple.”
Hubert burst out laughing at her, so hard he nearly fell off his chair.
“Now I know who I get my genes from.”
Annoyed, Penelope kicked Hubert’s chair. “Just get back to your homework.”
Theodore chuckled. “Now this is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.”