Chapter 133

However, Uncle Giovani's perspective vastly differed from that of the small village. While others were still teaching addition and subtraction, he had already taught me to memorize the multiplication table. While other children only memorized by rote, I could calculate with my eyes closed. Even my name was chosen by Uncle Giovani based on a poem. "Cassie stands where the wildflowers grow, a name as soft as moonlit snow." In my memory, his knowledge was comparable to that of the professors I met at university in the literature department. For someone to be called his proud student, he must have been exceptional. Uncle Giovani handed me a yellowed photograph. "Look, this is him and his wife." I carefully took it, and he continued, "This was taken at their wedding in Aureiville. They invited me and your aunt to attend." In the photo, Uncle Giovani and Aunt Betty stood in the center. A tall young man in a suit stood to Uncle Giovani's right, and a beautiful woman in a white wedding d