“There’s something I need to do,” Jiang Nuan beckoned to Xie Shi, “Jiaojiao, go and bring the stone benches outside over for Grandma and Grandpa to see.”

"Yes!" Xie replied crisply and left.

"Big sister, what's wrong with the stone bench?" Aunt Jiang asked, puzzled. "Is it broken and needs to be polished?"

“No,” Jiang Nuan smiled mysteriously, “you’ll find out soon enough.”

A short while later, Madam Xie returned carrying the stone bench in one hand.

“Mother,” she smiled especially gently, “where should I put it?”

"Just put it on the ground, it's not important."

While the two were talking, the others in the hall stared in astonishment.

"This stool is so light?" Old Huang was eager to try it out. "I'll give it a try too."

“What are you trying?” Grandma Jiang immediately stopped her husband. “It’s not that the stool has become lighter, it’s that Jiaojiao is strong.”

As she spoke, Grandma Jiang became puzzled, "I remember she wasn't this strong a while ago."

In an instant, two words came to Grandma Jiang's mind: destiny with immortals!

He immediately turned his questioning gaze to his daughter.

Jiang Nuan nodded almost imperceptibly. "That's why I asked you to come here. There's a cultivation technique here that can strengthen the body and increase strength. I want you to learn it too."

"Really?" Jiang Chao asked excitedly, "I can learn too?"

Jiang Chao felt depressed the moment he saw the yellow tree in the morning.

Both were serving corvée labor, but he was dark-skinned and thin, looking like a dried-up salted fish, while his cousin, though thinner, looked more energetic, and his face was fairer than before, making him look more handsome.

This stark difference pained him deeply.

But a grown man can't just voice these thoughts; he can only keep them to himself.

Hearing Jiang Nuan say this, he immediately realized that his chance to turn things around had come.

“Of course I can,” Jiang Nuan said with a smile. “I can even joke about this.”

“Let’s forget it,” Aunt Jiang said somewhat self-consciously. “We don’t know a single character and don’t understand anything. Even if my older sister teaches us, we might not be able to learn.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Jiang Xu said, scratching his head. “Sis, you can let Jiang Chao learn from him, we can just forget about it.”

He's fine with working in the fields, and repairing a table and bench is no problem for him, but as for martial arts techniques, that's just nonsense.

“You two shut up,” Old Mrs. Jiang said. “You’d better grit your teeth and learn it. If you can’t learn it, don’t blame me for kicking him out of the house.”

"So ruthless?" Jiang Xu was stunned for a moment. "Mom, are you serious?"

“Of course we’re serious,” Grandma Jiang warned her son. “Even we two old folks can learn it. What are you two young people saying that’s so discouraging?”

This is a divine opportunity; only a handful of people can obtain it. If you encounter it and don't cherish it, you'll be struck by lightning.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xu thought to himself: You're really confident!

“Mother is right, it’s not difficult,” Jiang Nuan said with a smile. “If you find it troublesome, I can have someone read it to you. You don’t need to know how to read.”

She refused to believe that she couldn't remember it after hearing it hundreds of times.

“No,” Grandma Jiang waved her hand, “It’s not easy to have a chance to learn to read, we can’t miss it.”

When I get back to the village, I can show off to my old friends.

I'm a scholar now!

“Sure,” Jiang Nuan said with a smile, “As long as you’re happy.”

Anyway, there's no harm in being literate.

Both Grandma Jiang and Jiang Nuan were decisive and efficient people. An hour later, the Huang family's elementary literacy class started.

Teacher: Jiang Nuan.

Students: The Jiang family and the Huang family.

Location: Huang family's backyard.

Jiang Nuan took the charcoal used for the fire and wrote characters on a wooden board, then taught them to everyone.

Previously, when Grandma Huang and Grandpa Huang heard that their daughter-in-law was going to teach them some kind of kung fu, they were momentarily stunned.

Immediately after realizing what was happening, he agreed without hesitation.

They were all family, and no one knew the changes in the youngest son's family better than they did.

Previously, I only had doubts, but now I am completely certain that my youngest daughter-in-law has a unique way of maintaining health.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Grandma Huang felt that learning to read was really difficult at the beginning. She was old and her memory was not good. Even if she was taught again and again, she could only recognize the characters but not herself.

However, there was a strong-willed old lady named Jiang next to her who always wanted to take the lead in everything. She didn't want to be inferior to her in-laws, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and persevere.

He wrote on all sorts of things at home like a madman, constantly muttering to himself, recognizing more and more characters, and learning became easier and easier.

Jiang Nuan saw how hard the two old ladies were working and admired them, but she was also worried that they would overwork themselves.

“Let’s take a break today,” Jiang Nuan said. “Tomorrow is the Flower Festival, let’s prepare something and make some flower cakes.”

"Oh dear," Grandma Jiang patted her head, "Today is the second day of the third lunar month. No, I have to go home."

"Why go home?" Old Mrs. Huang advised. "We have two cows, no need to rush to spring plowing, it won't be a problem."

Grandma Huang said this with a proud look on her face.

That's the confidence that comes from having cattle at home.

“No, that’s not it,” Grandma Huang waved her hand. “The pigs at home are due to give birth, I reckon it’ll be in the next day or two.”

“Let Jiang Chao and the other boys go and check on them,” Jiang Nuan suggested. “Mom and Dad, you should rest well. I’ll make you something nice to nourish your bodies.”

“I’ll go help too,” Sister-in-law Huang said with a smile. “It’ll be good for me to get some fresh air. My brain’s been working so hard that I feel dizzy.”

She used to find reading and literacy something to aspire to, but now, all she can think is, "What the heck?"

If it weren't for the immense pressure from her in-laws, she would have given up long ago.

"Big sister, I'll go too," Aunt Jiang said eagerly. Noticing her mother-in-law's gaze, she immediately sat down obediently and added in a low voice, "Is that alright?"

She really didn't want to stay here at all.

If it weren't for her husband teaching her for an hour every night, she wouldn't be able to keep up at all.

"No..." Jiang Nuan had just opened her mouth when she noticed the pleading looks in their eyes, and immediately changed her mind, "Yes, we can do it together."

"Let's go, let's go," Grandma Jiang waved her hand. "I'll continue learning from my in-laws. You young people just lack patience; you're not as good as us two old ladies."

Under the disdainful gazes of the two elders, Sister-in-law Huang and Aunt Jiang hurriedly left as quickly as possible.

On the other side, a group of men were diligently practicing calligraphy with brushes.

“Father,” Village Chief Huang asked for help, “do you think this ‘domain’ is wrong? I don’t remember it having that dot on top.”

“This one is correct,” Old Man Huang nodded, “There’s a little bit on it.”

Seeing this, Grandpa Jiang sighed, "Now, we can be considered scholars, can't we?"

“What kind of scholar are you if you haven’t even finished reading a single book?” Old Huang waved his hand. “You need to work harder and learn more.”

"I don't know how long it will take to learn," Grandpa Jiang said, still concerned about his land. "It's already March, the paddy fields need to be prepared, and the weeds in the wheat fields need to be pulled."

"Don't worry about that," Old Man Huang said calmly. "This year, the three families will work together, so it won't be delayed."