The torches under the drying shed in the warehouse are still burning brightly tonight.

When Errui arrived with Qiaoyun and Xiaoman, Xia Xiucai had just started his lecture. The three of them quietly slipped into the crowd without making a sound and found an empty spot to sit down.

Compared to yesterday, there were still many people gathered, surrounding the area in layers. The children didn't bring straw mats and just sat cross-legged on the ground in front of them.

The second group consisted of young and middle-aged men who didn't aspire to academic success; they were content with simply knowing a few characters.

The third group consists of women sewing shoe soles; it's a fun activity for villagers when they have nothing else to do.

Today, Scholar Xia was talking about the character "日" (sun). Instead of having Li Laoshi pose for a pose, he wrote the character on a white stone slab with charcoal and passed it around for everyone to see.

"The term 'sun' can refer to the sun in the sky or the time of day and night."

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west every day, so a day and night is also called a "day".

This time, Scholar Xia did not delve into profound theories, but only explained the meaning and etymology of the characters.

Everyone in the village understood.

Xu Genqing said, "This character is easy to recognize; it means 'sun.' One sunrise marks one day, hence the name 'day.'"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and the boys and girls in the front row even learned to write.

Just when everyone thought the day was coming to a satisfactory end, Xu Gensheng, who had been mute yesterday, asked: "Scholar, you said that the alternation of day and night is a day, and that day and night are the sun and the moon. Why not use the moon and instead use the day to define a day?"

He was determined to get to the bottom of things.

Scholar Xia patiently replied, "The sun is the essence of the sun, and the moon is the essence of the moon."

The sun remains the same, but the moon's shape changes every day.

If the calendar is based on the phases of the moon, it would have 29.5 days. To ensure that each year has a fixed 365 days, months are divided into long and short months.

Otherwise, the calendar will move forward, eventually leading to the absurd situation where winter has just begun and it's already the first month of the lunar calendar.

Therefore, the ancients not only needed months with varying lengths of months, but also added leap months, setting some years to have 13 months.

Based on the phases of the moon—first quarter, full moon, last quarter, and no moon—they are respectively named the new moon, full moon, quarter moon, and dark moon…

As Xia Xiucai spoke each sentence, everyone felt they could understand each word individually, but when put together, they couldn't understand it at all.

I'm dizzy, I'm dizzy again!

Just moments ago they were all smiling and laughing, but now their faces are contorted with grievances.

All the victims stared at the perpetrator.

The scholar just gave a very good lecture. I finally learned what a "day" is and I know that "one day is one day".

You just said one extra word and revealed what "moon" is, and there are so many moons, it's impossible to count them all.

Xu Errui scratched his head and complained in a low voice, "Oh no, there's only one moon in the sky, but there are countless moons in the sky. How am I supposed to remember them all!"

This was the first time Qiaoyun had been in such a large crowd. She was excited and listened attentively.

Hearing Errui's complaint, he whispered, "Actually, the scholar only mentioned four things: when the moon is full, when it's not full, and when it's completely invisible!"

Xiaoman chimed in, quite surprised: "Sister-in-law Qiaoyun, how did you remember that?"

Qiaoyun was a little embarrassed and showed her handkerchief to the two of them.

Because she had been walking in a hurry, she took out a handkerchief to wipe her sweat; she had been holding it in her palm while listening to the lecture.

Because she was so nervous and worried that she wouldn't remember, Xia Xiucai tied a knot for every moon she mentioned, and now the handkerchief has four knots.

Errui scratched his head and chuckled, "No wonder Mom said you're smarter than me. How come you only know to remember by making a knot? I never thought of that!"

Qiaoyun pursed her lips and smiled smugly. Her mother always said she was meticulous, so she definitely had to remember these things. Otherwise, how could she explain it to her mother when she got back?

In that short time, Xia Xiucai had finished explaining the character "月" (moon) and assigned homework: "From now on, I will explain one character every day. You must be able to recognize, write, and understand it. I will check your work tomorrow. Can you do it?"

The children shouted the loudest: "Yes!" "We can remember!"

Xia Yuan was among them. Having started his education earlier than others, he was naturally able to write and memorize.

The adults, however, couldn't open their mouths, stammering and looking around without saying a word.

Without uttering a second sentence, Xia Xiucai resumed his blank expression, picked up the stone slab, and left.

As soon as he left, the area under the drying shed became noisy. The children ran off laughing and saying they were going to practice their calligraphy so they wouldn't be outdone by their friends.

Xu Genqing pointed at Xu Gensheng and cursed, "It's all your fault for talking too much. The scholar's words just now made people dizzy. Now what homework do we have? We've fallen into the moon's nest."

Xu Gensheng, who had been well-behaved in front of Xia Xiucai, was now defiant. He stuck out his neck and said aggrievedly, "If you don't understand, you should ask. Even Xiucai didn't say I was wrong, so why should you say so? It's clearly you who's stupid and can't remember, yet you're blaming me."

Li Laoshi, looking embarrassed, came over to mediate: "Oh, it's just remembering a moon! It's such a simple thing."

Everyone sees the moon, but even if you haven't seen the moon, you've probably eaten a pancake. Give me a pancake, I'll take a bite, and it'll be missing a slice; two bites and it'll be half gone. You'll remember that perfectly.

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Genqing retorted, "Go away, get out of here! All you know how to do is eat pancakes. You were able to make a fork yesterday, why aren't you doing it today?"

Li Laoshi glanced around casually, then lowered his voice and said, "The moon keeps changing its shape today, I can't manipulate it. I can only manipulate the sun, but if you want me to manipulate it, I'll take my pants off..."

Before he could even speak, Xu Genqing cut him off, saying, "Li Laoshi, you want a beating?"

Several men who were usually joking around gathered around. Li Laoshi, who had been speaking without thinking, realized his mistake and begged for mercy as he was lifted up and thrown into a large fire-fighting water vat next to him. Water splashed everywhere, and laughter filled the air.

The water vat was full, and it wasn't cool even in the middle of summer. Li Laoshi wiped himself with water, stood in the vat, and started yelling, "Xu Genqing, I'll fuck your mother!"

Qin immediately jumped out and said, "Li Laoshi, do you dare to say it and do it?"

Upon seeing that Xu Genqing's mother was indeed there, Li Laoshi immediately cowered, squatting in the water vat, too afraid to move, and repeatedly begged for mercy with his hands clasped together: "Just kidding, just kidding!"

The jokes of country folk are often risqué, and these married women, who have been married for decades, are especially daring.

Seeing Li Laoshi's frustrated expression, all the wives and men in the room laughed so hard they bent over.

The fatigue from a long day's hard work and the worries about making a living for the family were all relieved in this playful moment.

Not far away, Errui, Xiaoman, and the other young people didn't dare to approach and were muttering about going back when they were startled by a shout from beside them: "Hey, when did Qiaoyun get here?"

Qiaoyun turned around and saw that it was Pi Shi beside her.

This shout attracted several more people to gather around, curiously examining Qiaoyun and asking repeatedly, "Why did you come alone?"

Where's your child? Why didn't you bring them?

Qiaoyun explained with a smile, "My mother brought the child! She sent me here to listen to the lecture!"

Pi looked surprised: "You came all this way just to listen to this? Aren't you tired?"

“Yes, if you want to learn something, you shouldn’t be afraid of getting tired.” This is what her mother-in-law said, and Qiaoyun thought it made sense.

A woman nearby curled her lip dismissively: "What kind of learning is this? It's just for fun. If anyone should be learning, it should be the men. You've abandoned the children to come and play by yourself; you're so unfilial!"

Qiaoyun's face flushed red instantly!