Gu was standing in front of the counter, looking at a bowl of braised meat, muttering something to herself. The customers behind her, seeing the line hadn't moved, grew impatient and urged her on.

"Is it done yet? It's been so long."

"Yeah, it's just paying the bill, why is it taking so long?"

Gu Shi, who was already a little nervous, forgot where she was in the calculation when she heard someone urging her. Seeing her anxious, Meng Zhao quickly went up to take over, "Mother, tell me what this customer ordered."

As if a savior had appeared, Madam Gu immediately said, "This customer ordered two ounces of braised beef, one pig's trotter, half a pig's large intestine, half a pound of pig's knuckle, and two rabbit legs."

While listening, Meng Zhao silently calculated in her mind. After Gu Shi finished speaking, she had finished calculating as well. "Your braised meat costs 90 coins in total. With the opening discount of the new store, you can pay 72 coins."

Upon hearing this, the man stepped aside, took out his money bag, counted out the copper coins, and handed them to Madam Gu. Madam Gu quickly reached out to take them, carefully counted them, and put them into the money box after confirming that there were no coins. Meng Zhao then continued to cut braised meat and calculate the bills for the people in line.

After Meng Zhao finished her work, Madam Gu approached her with a guilty expression and whispered, "Zhao Zhao, it's all because your mother is too stupid. I can't even do this little thing right, making you work so hard."

Meng Zhao stopped what she was doing and turned around. "Mother, don't say that. Your memory is actually quite good. You remembered exactly what the customer wanted. It's just that your arithmetic is a bit weak and you were a little nervous. You'll get better with more practice."

When they finished selling the braised meat for the day and returned home, the two children were studying in the yard. Because the shop was small, too many people would make it look messy, so these days the two children were not allowed to go to the shop, but instead stayed at home to review the lessons that Shen Qinghe had left for them.

"Sister-in-law, there's boiling water in the pot. You can use the hot water to wash it."

When Meng Zhao lifted the pot lid, she saw that there were indeed two large pots of hot water. She immediately felt very relieved. The two children were still young, but they were so sensible. They knew that they would catch a cold if they washed with cold water, so they boiled the water when they were about to return.

It must have taken a lot of effort to fill the container with so much water and heat it up. Meng Zhao patted their heads and said, "Oh my, my two darlings, how can you be so good?"

Shen Qingyu hugged Meng Zhao's leg affectionately and said sweetly, "Hehe, we have nothing to do at home, so we can study while we start a fire. It's not much trouble for you, sister-in-law."

Meng Zhao pinched her soft little face and instructed them, "It's a good thing that you're willing to help, and your sister-in-law is very happy. But you must be careful when you're starting the fire, okay? Otherwise, your sister-in-law will worry too."

The two children nodded obediently and said in unison, "We understand, sister-in-law." Then they skipped and hopped off to help Madam Gu with her chores.

After they finished packing their things, Meng Zhao gathered everyone together and announced some news.

“Starting today, we will set aside half an hour every three days to learn to read and do arithmetic. On the days we learn, Aunt and Xiaoyun can stay in the county for dinner. If it gets cold in winter, there is a spare room in the yard, so it is fine for them to stay overnight.”

Aunt Feng'e was very surprised to hear this news. "Ah, Zhao Zhao, do I have to learn this at my age?"

Meng Zhao nodded, "Of course, Auntie, no matter how old you are, it's never a bad thing to learn more. Not only you, but everyone has to learn. At least you should be able to understand all the menus in the shop, write some common characters, and quickly calculate the value of what customers buy."

Aunt Feng'e naturally understood that being able to read and write was a good thing, since there were countless people in the world who couldn't even write their own names.

Now that he had such a good opportunity, how could he not learn? He immediately expressed his attitude: "Zhaozhao, don't worry, I will definitely study hard."

Madam Gu was also very happy about this. If she learned to do the accounting, Zhao Zhao could rest more and wouldn't have to stand in front of the counter every day.

After hearing Meng Zhao's words, the most excited and thrilled person was Shen Yun. She had known since childhood how different the circumstances were between those who had received an education and those who had not. As a woman, she had previously thought that reading and writing were a luxury. She never expected that she would have the opportunity to read and write while working. She immediately reacted enthusiastically.

"Sister Meng Zhao, I will definitely study hard too. Does that mean I should learn from Sister Meng Zhao?"

Meng Zhao smiled and shook his head, "That won't do. I'm only half-baked myself, how could I teach you? I specially hired a tutor for you." He then left her in suspense.

After the announcement, everyone started preparing dinner. They had eaten a rather greasy lunch, so they wanted something lighter for dinner.

Meng Zhao scooped out some flour, added water and kneaded it. While it was resting, he asked Aunt Feng'e to wash some chives, chop them into small pieces, and add oil, salt, and chili powder to taste.

Roll out the risen dough into a large flatbread. Spread the mixed chopped chives evenly on the flatbread, and roll it up from one side to form a long strip. Then cut it into small pieces about four fingers long.

Add water to the pot, pour in a bowl of rice, add a few red dates, place a steamer rack on top, and put the chopped chive rolls on the rack. Once the rice porridge is cooked, the rolls should be steamed as well.

After Shen Qinghe returned, everyone sat at the long table, each with a bowl of rice soup, accompanied by savory chive and chili flower rolls, and finished their dinner together.

After the meal, Aunt Feng'e asked with a face full of curiosity, "Zhaozhao, when is the tutor you invited coming over?"

Meng Zhao smiled mysteriously and said, "Hasn't the Master already arrived?"

"Huh? Where? I didn't see it." Aunt Feng'e looked puzzled.

Shen Yun suddenly understood. "The teacher that Sister Meng Zhao is talking about is Brother Qinghe."

Meng Zhao then smiled and nodded, "That's right, your brother Qinghe studies at the county school, so teaching us is more than enough for him."

After finishing the last mouthful of rice porridge, Shen Qinghe put down the bowl and said, "I've prepared the teaching materials. When shall we begin?"

Meng Zhao gave a wink, and everyone immediately understood and busied themselves with chores. In the blink of an eye, the table was cleaned up, and everyone moved a stool to sit in front of it.

"Second brother, second brother, the lesson is about to begin."

"Qingze, you've called him the wrong way. You shouldn't call him Second Brother right now; you should call him Master."

"Alright, alright, Master Shen, it's time to start the lesson."

Feeling a little uncomfortable being stared at by so many people all at once, Shen Qinghe coughed lightly twice, then spoke.

"Today's topic is the first chapter of the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, 'Square Fields'."

"There is a field that is fifteen paces wide and sixteen paces long. How much is the field?"