"It's like this. I'm going to be a guest at your house on Saturday. May I ask what I want to bring? I asked my father if I could bring a bottle of expensive red wine. He said that he wanted to find out the specific preferences of the host of the dinner."
"For this matter?"
Miss Mihail watched Jenkins talking while looking back at Mr. Mayor who climbed up the escalator, guessing that the man was worried that the crowd would return in a while, and he would not be able to rush back to the gate of the city hall in time.
"Father and mother have no special hobbies, I think red wine is enough."
"Okay, thanks! See you on Saturday then!"
He simply nodded, turned around and ran back holding his hat. Miss Mihail couldn't even say the words of thanks she had prepared.
"He always does."
Thinking in my heart, I am amused that I finally have a familiar male friend.
The ladder in the city hall finally supported the weight of the mayor, until he climbed up the ladder with great difficulty to install the light bulb in his pocket and then retreated, the ladder only made a shocking "squeak" sound .
A few minutes later, the staff of the gas company who were waiting for an order at the intersection opened the master control valve for the entire street. The two rows of street light poles on both sides of the road flickered on for a moment and then went out abruptly. Before the crowd could cry out in surprise, from east to west on the road, dim yellow lights emitted from the lampshades one after another.
They illuminated the faces of Mr. Mayor, Jenkins, the gentlemen and ladies at the gate of the city hall, and ordinary citizens stopped by the cordon.
As if a bomb exploded in this street, the cheers that broke through the sky suddenly sounded, and echoed in this world of darkness and light. Flags fly above people's heads, balloons are released into the cold sky, and even if the darkness never passes, wisdom will light the faintest fire.
"We're witnessing an era."
Jenkins whispered to the old priest beside him that he was very emotional now. But the old priest didn't speak, and when he turned his head to look again, he found that the old man's eyes were filled with tears.
As Mr. Mayor announced the official opening of street lights in Nolan, other streets that have already installed street light poles also turned on street lights simultaneously tonight. Although the current gas lamps still have the disadvantages of weak light, instability and the risk of explosion, this is really a moment enough to be written in history.
Although Jenkins who came to this era knew about the advancement of steam power, it was at that moment that he truly realized the power from mortals.
"Mortal... Wait, I seem to have heard Miss Bevanna mention that the source of the steam revolution is the oracle of the great righteous god [Skillful Craftsman]?"
But in any case, Jenkins, filled with great shock and joy, remained cheerful on the way back to the church, and even ate some more for dinner. Chocolate looked at him with some concern, it was worried about Jenkins' weight.
Seeing that Jenkins asked for another bowl of thick soup, Chocolat came over and pushed the bowl aside with his paw.
"What are you doing?"
"Meow~"
The cat looked up at Jenkins.
By the end of dinner, Jenkins hadn't been able to figure out what his cat was thinking. Jenkins only worries about Chocolate's weight, while Chocolate is always thinking about strange things, which is probably the biggest difference between humans and cats.
The middle of December can already be regarded as deep winter, so the number of people who can still attend evening classes at night has begun to decrease. This is a very normal thing. The priest Roberts in charge of management told Jenkins that it has been the case in previous years.
Since last week, the girl, Phini Feisifu, has also appeared in class. In fact, quite a few of these children taken in by the church will come to attend the evening classes, and after receiving the education of the church, they also understand the value of knowledge. Even if the times are not fair, at least gaining more knowledge—legal knowledge is quite beneficial to a person's life.
When Jenkins wrote the multiplication tables on the blackboard with chalk, the people sitting below were still a little energetic, but when he announced that he could take a ten-minute break in the middle of the class, the whole large classroom was extremely dull.
Probably because a snowstorm is coming, even indoors are a little stuffy. Jenkins was determined to change this situation, so when the second half of the course was about to start, he did not continue to explain those simple multiplications, but leaned on the podium and said to the somewhat sparse "students":
"Some people may wonder why we have to learn such complicated multiplication."
He noticed that he managed to attract the attention of some would-be sleepers, which was a good start.
"It's not surprising that I thought about it when I was young, I mean immature. Some of you, the most complicated arithmetic you've ever been exposed to, may be that annoying penny, Mr. Reams and gold pounds, but that doesn't mean learning more complicated math is useless."
Jenkins tapped on the blackboard with his fingers, a smile on his face. Now except for the two or three people sitting in the back row and his cat, all the creatures in the audience are looking at him.
"We don't mention the development of people's logic and thinking by learning mathematics. This is an obvious thing. It is better to talk about our life. In fact, every aspect of life contains the truth of mathematics, but people often ignore it. ,for example… "
Draw a circle in the air with chalk to attract the audience's attention.
"I think everyone is going to buy fresh vegetables, although it's not easy in winter. Let's say, the price of some potatoes is..."
This is actually a word problem in disguise, but Jenkins said it in a more relaxed tone. His intention was to tell these drowsy people that even if the daily troubles do not exceed the range of pennies and shillings, the study of multiplication is very useful, but he did not expect that after this problem was explained, tonight The first questioner appeared.
"Just sit there and ask."
It was a middle-aged man who seemed to be submissive, and the basis for judging his age was his sad hairline. He was not used to speaking loudly on such an occasion, but the motivation to change his life still gave him courage.
"Honorable sir, may I ask, can mathematics really solve all the difficult problems?"
"most."
Jenkins corrected.
"So, may I ask you a question? It's also about arithmetic and mathematics, I promise."
"Oh, that's of course no problem."
Jenkins smiled. He wasn't conceited, but he absolutely didn't believe that the people sitting below could embarrass him, unless he deliberately made things difficult and raised impossible problems.