Chapter 38 Yao Xiaoyu is angry. Four words a day, one test a week! ...

"Heaven and earth were dark and yellow, the universe was vast and boundless... We love and nurture the people, and we serve the Rong and Qiang tribes. Is this hard to remember?" [1]

Yao Xiaoyu looked at the large number of misspelled words and blank pages on the test paper, and her hands were trembling with anger. She thought her requirements were not high - she only needed to learn two characters from the Thousand Character Classic every day, and she was not required to use them. She only needed to listen, speak, read and write.

This is her carefully considered primer: although some sentences in this book are incorrect in modern times due to technological advancements and the need for intellectual enlightenment, it is easy to read aloud, and almost every sentence is rich in allusions, making it more practical than other textbooks.

Yao Xiaoyu's requirement for Wenrou and Zhou Chunhua was that they not be illiterate, that they could recognize two or three thousand commonly used characters, and that they could understand vernacular novels if they were given one. A thousand-character classic, with all the feudal dross removed, would allow them to recognize at least eight or nine hundred characters, which would be enough to meet their immediate learning needs.

Moreover, she didn't just sit idly by: every day when learning new characters, she would read the entire eight-character phrase with the two of them, and after confirming that they could recite it, she would explain its meaning to help them strengthen their understanding.

For example, after learning the phrase "Gold is produced in the Jinsha River, and jade comes from the Kunlun Mountains" for four days, she recited it for four days straight.

It wasn't just a recitation of the whole sentence, but a word-by-word explanation: "Jin means gold, Li means beautiful, and Shui means the water we use to wash our hands. When the two words are combined, they can refer to beautiful water or the Jinsha River."

In addition, she bought notebooks and pencils at her own expense and started teaching them how to hold the pen properly. She also had the two of them copy a fixed number of new characters they learned each day. Yao Xiaoyu believed that she was not as good as a modern professional teacher, but she was much better than her private tutor. [2]

But the current outcome...

"You all need to memorize this entire passage from beginning to end."

Yao Xiaoyu inhaled and exhaled, then said to the two men, "I originally wanted the father and son to take my sister out so that I could surprise them with her exam results, but now..." Wenrou and Zhou Chunhua exchanged a glance and stammered, "..."

"Heaven and earth were dark and yellow, the universe was vast and boundless..."

She kept repeating the same eight words at a time, getting stuck every now and then. It was clear that, apart from the few days she was studying, she had completely ignored her promise to review. Yao Xiaoyu looked at the two people who were peeking at her and suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.

Isn't the opportunity to study precious? How come when you actually have the chance to learn to read, you don't put in any effort?

"A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent..."

Speaking softly, Yao Xiaoyu looked at Zhou Chunhua beside her, who was showing approval, and pressed down the veins on her forehead one by one.

Don't get angry, don't get angry, anger will only make you sick and no one can take your place.

"This means that even if a woman lacks talent, she should at least have good moral character. It is not that a woman's illiteracy is a virtue!" [3]

Yao Xiaoyu's explanation, word by word, made it clear why the two's learning hadn't been very effective—the two genuinely believed that women shouldn't be literate; no, to be precise, it was their gentle counter-brainwashing of Zhou Chunhua.

My grandmother was illiterate, but she had never said anything bad about women being educated. People who were truly brainwashed by the so-called virtues and precepts for women would rather starve than go out and earn a living.

Yao Xiaoyu tried to calm herself down: "A moment of patience brings calm, a moment of retreat brings boundless horizons. A change of mindset doesn't happen overnight, and a bright future is often accompanied by a winding road... Bullshit! A moment of patience leads to ovarian cysts, a step back leads to breast nodules, and even gardenias smell sweet without restraint. What am I supposed to endure?!" [4]

"Father, elder brother, mother and grandmother, you can decide which one to teach. My requirement is that he learns half a sentence of the Thousand Character Classic, which consists of four characters, a day, and can read and write them."

After Yao Ping'an and Yao Tianrui returned, Yao Xiaoyu dropped a bombshell. Apart from Yao Xiaoli, who had good exam results and was completely unaware of the situation, all four of them changed their expressions. Yao Xiaoyu pretended not to notice.

Since we accept that a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent, shouldn't we also inherit the fine traditions of the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues, such as the husband being the guide for the wife and the wife obeying her husband after marriage and obeying her son after her husband's death?

If your husband and son order you to learn to read, and you don't listen, then you're not a good woman who puts her husband first.

This move, this move is called Magic Clash!

"I'll have an assessment once a week. If I fail, Dad, I won't give you the silver coins you helped me copy."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chunhua became anxious first:

"That won't do!"

Whether she's serious about learning to read or not, what does that have to do with Yao Ping'an making money? Ten thousand words in seven days, that's four silver dollars a month. If she's careful, that's enough for the whole family to eat rice for a month!

"Why not? You can learn in one ear and out the other."

Yao Xiaoyu yawned and then said:

"You don't have to copy books. You can just go to He Family Bookstore to find work yourself. But Manager He also said that there are more and more people copying books now, so it's uncertain how much you can earn."

Yao Ping'an can earn about five silver dollars a month now. Four silver dollars are given to him by Yao Xiaoyu, and the remaining one is money he earns from copying books. It's not that he doesn't want to earn more, but Manager He's side is also short of supplies, and the only reason he can be assigned some tasks is because of the previous incense offerings.

"At worst, I can just take the manuscript out and have someone copy it. One silver dollar for ten thousand words, and there are plenty of people who are fast and have good handwriting."

Yao Xiaoyu could even take the original manuscript directly to the newspaper office, have someone copy it, and then bring the first draft back. Given the revenue she generates for the newspaper now, and the enthusiasm Editor Pi always shows her when she visits, this small request would definitely be granted.

"No way! We can't let outsiders make this money!"

Zhou Chunhua felt a sharp pain in her heart as she thought about the gleaming silver dollars flowing from her home to someone else's. Her tone became much harsher, but Yao Xiaoyu was not afraid and shouted even louder than Zhou Chunhua:

Because I want to!

As soon as she said those words, Yao Xiaoyu felt most of the frustration in her heart dissipate. Sure enough, venting through roundabout means was not as satisfying as speaking directly.

"I can let whoever wants to make my money do it, and I can let whoever wants to copy my manuscript do it!"

Zhou Chunhua is angry? Yao Xiaoyu is even angrier!

If she really can't learn, that's fine. She can write and take notes, but she just doesn't work hard. The two months of her hard work have been a joke. It's only because Yao Xiaoyu is still wary of natural disasters and man-made calamities outside that she would pack her things and run away to a place 800 miles away today!

"It's fine if you have any objections. At worst, I'll move out. I earn twenty silver dollars a month, and I can go anywhere in Shanghai!"

Moving out was of course impossible, but that didn't stop Yao Xiaoyu from using those words to scare her family and show off her financial strength—including Yao Ping'an's side, she could contribute fourteen silver dollars to her family every month, more than the whole family earned. Now that she found out her family was treating her words like child's play, it was reasonable for her to speak recklessly in anger.

"What are you saying, child?"

When Zhou Chunhua heard Yao Xiaoyu say she was moving out, her head went blank. Yao Xiaoyu just smiled, revealing a set of white teeth, and looked very well-behaved.

"It doesn't matter if you don't want to learn to read. It's just four silver dollars less a month, which isn't a big deal."

Zhou Chunhua knew that Yao Xiaoyu was saying this on purpose, but she was still manipulated. After all, one can't be too upset about four silver dollars.

Looking at the doubled number of characters they recognized, Zhou Chunhua couldn't help but feel a little regretful: if she had known that Xiaoyu would react so strongly to their literacy, she would have been more serious before.

After Yao Xiaoyu had won over Zhou Chunhua, she looked at Wenrou, who was sitting quietly, and smiled again, revealing her pearly white teeth.

"Mom, if you don't pass the test, I won't pay for my older brother's tuition next year."

Every donkey has its own way of being tethered, and Yao Xiaoyu's specialty is to prescribe the right medicine for the right ailment. Look at that expression; it's much more pleasant than her calm and collected demeanor just now.

What tuition fees?

Wenrou stood up excitedly, then sat down again in pain. Yao Xiaoyu pretended not to see it and told her her plan. Originally, she wanted to wait a while before making a move, but plans can't keep up with changes.

"Before, my older brother only finished primary school because the family was short of money. Now the family has recovered. Although we are not particularly wealthy, my royalties are not small. If we save up and squeeze out some money, we can still afford the tuition for middle school."

When Yao Xiaoyu thought it was a dream, she had already made a promise to the original owner that as long as Yao Tianrui and Yao Xiaoli were willing to study and not repeat a grade, she would cover their tuition and living expenses until they graduated from junior high school. Although she regretted not casually asking for a higher price after she found out it wasn't a dream, Yao Xiaoyu was a person who kept her promises.

"If all goes well, my older brother will be able to go to school next September."

It's inevitable that Yao Tianrui will go to middle school; now's a good time to tease Wenrou.

Yao Xiaoyu didn't plan to leave Yao Tianrui outside forever. It's easy to go astray but hard to go back to good. In this era where family members are at risk of ruin, any deviation in the Yao family would be fatal. If it weren't for the relatively simple environment where Yao Tianrui is currently helping to secure a job, Yao Xiaoyu would never have let him go out to work.

Once the radishes are back in place next year and Yao Tianrui has completed his social practice, he will only study even harder. As for his economic autonomy after returning to campus... the silver dollars he receives each month go straight into Zhou Chunhua's pocket, and two cents is enough for a little bit of financial freedom.

When the Yao family was wealthy, Yao Tianrui's pocket money was calculated in silver dollars.

While Wenrou was in a state of turmoil over the news that her eldest son could still go to school, Zhou Chunhua had already subconsciously started calculating the expenses for middle school.

The cheapest middle school costs sixteen yuan per semester, and there are three semesters a year, which is forty-eight silver dollars. Xiaoyu has six yuan left over each month. If he saves it all, he will have seventy-two silver dollars a year, which is enough!

After Yao Tianrui stopped working, the amount of money they could save decreased, but Zhou Chunhua still knew the importance of her eldest grandson's future—he was the pillar of the family!

Xiaoyu earns a lot, but she will eventually get married.

"Why next September? Couldn't it be earlier?"

After receiving the pleasant surprise that her eldest son could continue his studies, Wenrou felt anxious. He was only supposed to start school in September, and the New Year wasn't even over yet.

"Because school starts in September." Even the vacancy has to be filled until graduation.

Yao Xiaoyu didn't mention the second reason, but the start date of school was convincing enough. Wenrou looked at her daughter with eager eyes. Yao Xiaoyu rubbed the goosebumps on her body and thought she still preferred Wenrou's cool and indifferent appearance.

"Learn four characters a day, and be tested once a week. You pass if you make no more than four mistakes."

Yao Xiaoyu wasn't going to take the sentimental route anymore; she directly linked the two students' exam scores to their interests.

“Grandma, if you fail the first time, I will stop paying you silver dollars for copying for a month; if you fail the second time, I will stop for a year; if you fail the third time, Dad will have to find his own work, and his monthly salary of ten silver dollars will be reduced to eight.”

“Mother, if you fail the first time, your eldest brother’s schooling will be postponed until the year after next; if you fail the second time, it will be postponed until the year after that; if you fail the third time, your eldest brother will have to find a way to pay for his tuition himself.”

"Dad, eldest brother, you can choose who to teach. I'll only be responsible for the exams."

Yao Pingan: ...

Yao Tianrui: ...

No, why is it that when the mother/grandmother/daughter-in-law fails the exam, they are the ones who suffer the loss?!

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Author's Note: Mini-Theater

Xiaoyu: Before coming to the Republic of China, I never thought I would be a person who advocates learning!

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Zhou Chunhua and Wenrou both insisted on being literate, as Yao Xiaoyu couldn't bear to see anyone illiterate in the family.

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【1】Heaven and earth are black and yellow. This comes from the Thousand Character Classic.

[2] Better than the private school teacher: Hu Shi wrote in "Forty Years of Self-Narration: Hu Shi's Autobiography": The private school in his hometown only charged two silver dollars a year, and the teacher only let the students read and recite the texts, never explaining the meaning. Hu Shi's mother gave several times more silver dollars, and only then did the teacher give Hu Shi extra tutoring. Meanwhile, the students who had also read the Four Books and were a year younger than him did not receive extra tutoring and did not know the meaning of "under the knees of father".

[3] "A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent": The official interpretation refers to a woman who is talented but doesn't constantly boast about her abilities; extreme humility is a virtue. (Yao Xiaoyu deliberately misinterpreted this to encourage Wenrou and Zhou Chunhua to study harder.)

[4] Gardenias are unrestrained: This comes from Wang Zengqi's "Plants and Trees of the Human World". The original text reads: "Gardenias are large and coarse, and their fragrance is so strong that it cannot be shaken off. Therefore, they are not favored by refined people, who consider them to be of low character. The gardenia says: "To hell with you, I just want to be fragrant like this, fragrant to my heart's content, what the hell is it to you!"

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