Chapter 143 Why Read

The sun was gradually setting in the west.

Wu Huiniang stopped what she was doing and began preparing dinner.

Influenced by her mother-in-law, she no longer saves good food; in this weather, it will only spoil if left uneaten.

She first cleaned the pigeons and stewed them in a pot, then started cleaning the pheasants, leaving the chicken and pigeon feathers to dry on the courtyard wall.

We've had a lot of game at home lately, and we've saved quite a few furs. We can use the rabbit fur to make a rabbit fur jacket for my mother-in-law, and the chicken and pigeon feathers can be stuffed into a quilt for warmth... In the spring, she collected quite a bit of willow catkins, enough to fill two quilts, but she still hasn't gathered enough for the whole family's winter clothes. But since we're still at the tail end of summer, there's no rush for these things...

When Cheng Wanwan came back from picking rice again, she helped to cook. Dinner was ready quickly. There was a wild pigeon soup, a bowl of braised pheasant, a plate of lush green vegetables, and a big bowl of white rice for each person. The rice was new rice, with a fresh fragrance, and was very tempting.

The whole family sat down at the table, and Ah Fu was still squatting on the doorstep.

After reporting to Cheng Wanwan, Zhao Sidan took a big chicken leg to feed Xiaodian. Although Xiaodian lived here, it usually took care of its own meals. It would eat its fill on the mountain and then come back. Occasionally, it would eat cooked food as a treat. It opened its big mouth and bit the whole chicken leg into its mouth.

Xiao Hei came over and said, "Woo woo woo!"

Little Dot spat out a little bit in front of Little Black, who happily ate it. Big Black stared longingly at it, so Little Dot had to spit out a little bit more.

Shen Zheng quickly grabbed the remaining chicken leg and said confidently, "I've already made an agreement with Qian Hui. He's going to have someone make a stone wheel and have it delivered tomorrow morning. Can I eat this chicken leg?"

Cheng Wanwan watched him bring the chicken leg to his lips. If she said he couldn't eat it at this time, the child would definitely be furious.

She nodded very gently: "You must be tired today, eat more."

Shen Zheng took a big bite of the meat. The wild game was very fresh and tasted really good, much better than what the cook at the county government office made.

He waved his hand: "Afu, here you go!"

He only took two bites and gave the rest to Ah Fu.

Afu was already used to it, so he immediately took it, held it in his hand, and ate it in small bites, eating his fill with white rice.

After dinner, Cheng Zhao washed the dishes and then took his four cousins ​​to the Zhao Family Ancestral Hall.

Shen Zheng was very curious: "What are you going to do?"

Cheng Zhao packed up two books and said calmly, "Read, learn to read, and learn arithmetic."

Shen Zheng remembered that just now in front of Qian Hui, Cheng Zhao said that he wanted to stay and teach to raise money for his trip.

He asked curiously, "You can teach even though you didn't pass the imperial examination?"

In his impression, it seemed that only scholars could open schools. Among the 36 villages in Ping'an Town, only seven or eight villages had scholars, and only these seven or eight villages had schools. There was no school in Dahe Village.

Zhao Sidan blinked and said, "Young Master Chen, we only need to learn to read. My older cousin can teach us because he knows how to read. What does it have to do with whether he's a scholar or not?"

Shen Zheng was speechless.

With nothing else to do, he went to the ancestral hall with a few others.

This is an open-air classroom. On the bluestone slabs at the entrance of the ancestral hall, there are dozens of tables of varying heights, as well as stools and chairs of different shapes.

The people sitting in the classroom were of different ages. The oldest was about the same age as Zhao Dashan, and the youngest was about four or five years old and still had a runny nose.

"Yesterday we learned about filial piety and respect for elders, followed by knowledge and experience. We also learned about certain numbers and certain characters." Cheng Zhao stood with his hands behind his back and spoke calmly, "I didn't tell you what this sentence meant yesterday. After a day and a night, can anyone understand it?"

The classroom was completely silent; everyone kept their heads down, afraid of being called on to answer.

Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sidan had one more class than the others every day, and they had almost finished learning the "Three Character Classic". Naturally, they knew the meaning of this sentence. They were not stupid enough to speak up at this time to show how smart they were.

"No way, no way, there's actually someone who doesn't understand what this sentence means?" Shen Zheng couldn't help but exclaim. "When I was four years old, I finished reading the Three Character Classic. This sentence means..."

"It means that a person must first learn to respect their parents and love their brothers," Zhao Sidan stood up and interrupted, "and secondly, they must start learning to read and write, and learn arithmetic."

Shen Zheng snorted: "Since you know, why don't you say so?"

“This is what I instructed: to tell Si Dan and Er Gou to give the others more time to think.” Cheng Zhao turned to Shen Zheng, “Brother Shen, if you have nothing else to do, go back and wash up and rest.”

Zhao Dashan stood up and said, "Young Master Chen, if you also want to attend the class, I'll give you my seat."

Shen Zheng curled his lip: "Who wants to listen to introductory lessons for three or four-year-olds?"

He flicked his sleeves and left.

Cheng Zhao continued the class: "Everyone read with me, first filial piety and respect for elders, then knowledge and experience, knowing certain numbers, recognizing certain characters..."

Shen Zheng stopped and stood at the entrance of the ancestral hall, looking at the large group of forty or fifty people. These people had been tired all day and had just eaten before coming to class. They still looked tired, but they all stared at Cheng Zhao with wide eyes, and a glint of light flashed in their dark, tired eyes.

He couldn't resist again and turned back to the ancestral hall.

Even Cheng Zhao, a man of good temper, was a little sullen: "Brother Chen, let's talk about this tonight. Please don't disturb the children's studies here."

"I have a question for you." Shen Zheng pushed Cheng Zhao aside. "You know how tiring it is to harvest and thresh rice during the day. Why would you rather study here than go back to rest? Do you want to participate in the scientific expedition?"

He looked at every face in the classroom.

Cheng Zhao also put down his book and looked at each child.

Zhao Dashan stood up, touched his head and said, "I just want to learn a few more words so that people won't laugh at me when I go out."

Zhao Ergou continued, "I'm studying arithmetic, and I want to do big business in the future."

Zhao Sanniu stood up and said, "I'm not very smart, but studying can make me smarter. I must study hard."

"My eldest cousin said that reading history makes people wise, reading poetry makes people smart, and learning arithmetic makes people rigorous." Zhao Sidan shook his head. "My mother also said that knowledge is more valuable than wealth, and ignorance is more terrible than poverty. So I want to study, not for the imperial examination, but to enrich myself..."

Cheng Zhao was stunned.

Knowledge is more valuable than wealth, and ignorance is more terrible than poverty.

This was the first time he had ever heard someone say those words, and it was his second aunt who said them.

In the past, he only felt that his second aunt favored him. But now that he lives with his second aunt, he finds that his second aunt is wiser than he imagined. This wisdom comes from her life experience and is a height that he cannot reach.

The other people in the classroom gradually stood up.

"I like learning words. I think reading and learning words is very interesting."

"My mother said that if I know a lot of characters, I will become the smartest person in the family. I want to be the smartest child."

"My dad said that my cousin Sidan will soon become an official, and he asked me to study harder..."

The children stood up one by one, and each of them said the reason why they were sitting there to study and learn to read. No one of them was sitting there for the imperial examination.

Shen Zheng shut up silently and stood aside.

After Cheng Zhao finished teaching reading and writing, the next lesson was arithmetic. Out of the forty or fifty students, twenty or thirty of them had abacuses.

These abacuses were all made by Old Man Zhao at the request of the villagers. They cut down trees and sawed the wood themselves, and Old Man Zhao only needed to use mortise and tenon joints to make the abacus frame and then grind out the beads. The price for making one abacus was one jin of white rice.

It was harvest time, and some people who valued education came to Old Man Zhao with grain to ask for his help.