Chapter 35 Learning Chinese Characters

When Jian Menglan heard that he was about to give a long speech, she quickly interrupted him, "Alright, stop talking about those old and rotten rules now. Go and teach the two children to read and write."

As she spoke, she pulled the two children up and said, "You only need to remember one thing: respect your teachers."

"We'll remember that." The two children nodded obediently.

Yan Anqing had no way to deal with his wife, so he could only give up and let someone take him and his two children to the study prepared for them.

Si Ming and Si Tian just smiled and shook their heads. They also had something to discuss, so they said something to Jian Menglan and left.

Madam Si took her hand and sat on the sofa: "It's been almost twenty years since I last saw you."

"That's right. Time flies in the blink of an eye. Look, I have a head full of white hair, but you are still in such good shape." Jian Menglan said with a smile.

"I didn't expect that I could really invite Mr. Yan to teach my two children this time." Mrs. Si said with a smile.

"Don't say that. After all, we owe the Governor's Mansion a favor. We rejected the old Governor back then, but we didn't expect that it would be the old Governor who helped my child get revenge in the end."

"In fact, even if the governor didn't come with the rare copy this time, we would still agree to teach the two children." Jian Menglan sighed.

"Why are we saying this? We've always admired Mr. Yan's character. He made that decision for the sake of this country. We feel guilty for not being able to save your child."

Mrs. Si felt truly helpless when she thought of the three children who had died that year.

When the couple came to the door for help, the old governor led his troops to rescue them without saying a word, but it was still too late. All three children were killed.

At that time, Jian Menglan was almost going crazy. She kept beating Yan Anqing and asking him why.

Yan Anqing never told the reason until the old governor captured the enemy and killed them, then he revealed the truth.

Jian Menglan also slowly began to stop resenting Yan Anqing.

"I used to blame Yan Anqing, but when he got older and experienced more, I realized that he didn't do this for himself." Jian Menglan's eyes were red.

"It's all in the past. If you don't mind, my child will be yours in the future, and my little one will also be yours." Old Lady Si said with a smile.

"Okay, okay, I really like this child Juanjuan. She is well-behaved and pretty, sweet-mouthed and likable." Jian Menglan's face was full of smiles when she talked about her.

"This child has a miserable life." Old Madam Si told her some things about Juanjuan.

"It's her blessing to meet you." Jian Menglan said with a smile.

Madam Si smiled and nodded: "By the way, is that the only copy Mr. Yan is looking for?"

Jian Menglan shook her head. "No, he said it was a book even older than the rare copy he was looking for. He studied it all night last night, and if he hadn't come to your house today, he wouldn't have let it go."

"Hahaha! I thought you were going to find it, so I agreed." Old Madam Si smiled and shook her head.

"This old guy is always putting on airs. He acted really well yesterday. I even thought this was the book he was looking for." Jian Menglan said with a look of disgust on her face.

"If you are free, please come to our house often. There is nothing much to do here, and we can keep each other company." Old Madam Si said with a smile.

"Okay, as long as you don't find me annoying." Jian Menglan had a smile on her face.

study.

Juanjuan’s desk and chair were bought separately because she is young and small, and she can’t reach the desk and chair that are too big.

Si Jinchen's was not much better than hers, and was also bought specifically for them to learn from.

Yan Anqing started by teaching the two children the simplest way of holding a brush, and gradually corrected their pen-holding habits.

"Hold the pen with your fingers and don't loosen your grip. Use your fingers, wrists and elbows to exert force and write." Yan Anqing said as he picked up the brush and wrote a little on the paper on the blackboard.

“Pay attention to the direction of my starting and ending strokes, where to lighten, where to press hard, and where to pause.”

Si Jinchen memorized it as soon as he saw it, and began to write with the brush in his hand.

Juanjuan looked at it for a long time but didn't understand it. She scratched her head and didn't know where to start.

When Yan Anqing saw what Si Jinchen wrote, he touched his beard with his hand and nodded continuously to show that he was very satisfied.

At this moment, when he turned his head to look at what Juanjuan was writing, he felt a rumbling of thunder. This was not just a little bit, it was simply a huge mass...

He couldn't even describe what he saw.

"Juanjuan, it's not written like this." Si Jinchen smiled helplessly.

"Isn't that right?" Juanjuan looked at him innocently.

"Light at the front, heavy at the back, then pause, and then go up." Si Jinchen said to her patiently.

Juanjuan took the brush and wrote as he said, but in the end it turned into the shape of a pile of poop.

The master and the disciple looked at each other, and for a moment they began to doubt whether they had taught him wrongly.

Yan Anqing taught Juanjuan how to write it three times: "Do you remember it?"

"I remember." Juanjuan nodded seriously.

"Okay, write it again yourself." Yan Anqing felt that there should be no mistakes this time.

As a result, reality taught him a hard lesson.

Juanjuan tilted her head, puzzled: "I clearly wrote it according to what the teacher said!"

Yan Anqing took a few deep breaths and suppressed the feeling of powerlessness.

This girl may not be suitable for calligraphy. How about teaching her how to write with a fountain pen tomorrow?

Si Jinchen looked at Juanjuan: "It's okay, I'll teach you slowly later."

Juanjuan smiled and nodded: "Okay."

Yan Anqing looked at the two children and reached out to grab the lapel of his shirt: Fortunately, there is a smart one, otherwise his reputation would be ruined in his later years.

After an hour-long class, he felt more tired than after staying up all night studying a rare book.

When he came out, his face looked bad.

Jian Menglan looked at him and then at the two children: "What's wrong with you?"

Yan Anqing didn't want to talk anymore. He just raised his hand and waved casually as a farewell.

"Madam Si, we'll leave first and come back tomorrow." After saying that, Jian Menglan picked up her handbag and went after Yan Anqing.

Madam Si looked at the two children in confusion: "Achen, Juanjuan, what's wrong with your teacher?"

"I don't know!" Juanjuan looked innocent.

Si Jinchen looked embarrassed, not knowing how to start: "Grandma, you should go to the study and take a look yourself."

Old Madam Si walked into the study with a puzzled look on her face. When she saw the strokes on the paper, she suddenly understood what was wrong with Yan Anqing.

It would be embarrassing for such a great Confucian scholar to not be able to teach a child how to write strokes.