Lu Cijian stared at the crooked words on the ground for a while before raising an eyebrow.
Although the words on the ground were written crookedly, just like the children, the stroke order of each word was correct. If one were truly illiterate, one would only be able to draw the words like the children, without knowing the stroke order at all.
But Jiang Yimian was different. Even if she wrote her handwriting terribly, the casual strokes still revealed that she could read, and that she certainly couldn't write badly.
Lu Cijian stared at the words on the ground with interest, a hint of curiosity appearing in his usually indifferent eyes.
Fortunately, the meal was ready quickly. Zhao Dashu and the others had long been exhausted by the tedious calligraphy practice, so as soon as they heard it was time to eat, they washed their hands and rushed into the house.
Dinner was a feast, with both meat and vegetables, a variety of dishes, and a pot of taro stewed with pork ribs, which made everyone drool with the aroma.
In addition, with the major hidden danger on the mountain resolved, everyone was very happy.
The area outside the small depression was not so quiet and peaceful.
As soon as Wang Zhuzi and his group returned, he told everyone that yams and taro were edible and could fill their stomachs. He also told them some precautions.
Some people hesitated, but seeing that many others were searching around, they gritted their teeth and joined in the search.
Even being poisoned is better than starving to death. Their food supplies have long been exhausted. During their time on the mountain, they have been digging up tree roots, bark, and eating tree leaves. They can only manage to stay alive each day; getting a full meal is out of the question.
As long as they can eat their fill and not go hungry, they don't care about anything else. Even if they are poisoned to death, they want to die well-fed, because the feeling of hunger is just too unbearable.
Having figured this out, everyone got up and began searching all over the mountain.
The group returned home laden with their loot as darkness fell.
For the first time, fires were lit in the forest. Every household lit a fire. Those with pots cooked yams and taro in them, while those without pots chopped bamboo, broke the taro and yams into small pieces, and threw them into bamboo tubes to cook.
In short, everyone smiled for the first time since they started climbing the mountain.
Soon, the taro and yam were cooked, and the forest was filled with the aroma of the food.
Everyone was so captivated by the aroma that they forgot all about the poison and stuffed it into their mouths.
The soft, sweet flavor immediately drew praise from everyone upon tasting it.
The Liu brothers were initially hesitant, but seeing that everyone else had eaten without any problems and even enjoyed their food, their empty stomachs grew even hungrier. They couldn't resist any longer and immediately got up to go find some.
The two brothers finally found some yam pieces that had been overlooked by everyone nearby, but before they could take them back, the short man blocked their way and said irritably, "Take the things out. My older brother said that you almost killed the brothers today, so you can't eat these yams and taro."
If this guy hadn't given them random directions, they wouldn't have been trapped in those traps. Although he got food, he was still unhappy.
Upon hearing his elder brother say that the two brothers couldn't eat yams and taro, he immediately agreed.
Liu Xiaofei looked displeased, hid the yam behind his back, and said irritably, "If it weren't for us two brothers leading you there, do you think those people would have told you that this stuff is edible?"
Liu Dafei was also a little annoyed and said irritably, "You should know that those families in the mountains are all our relatives. In a way, my brother and I are your saviors!"
If it weren't for them, Old Liu and the others would never have mentioned the food.
The short man scoffed, glanced at the two men, and said, "Relatives? Who brings strangers to their relatives' house to steal their grain? You two are not worthy."
Having said that, he didn't bother with any more words. With a wave of his hand, several men appeared behind him and snatched the yam pieces from the two brothers' hands.
The Liu brothers were so angry that they cursed loudly, but they were already injured and hadn't eaten enough, so they were no match for these people who had just eaten.
The yam pieces they had painstakingly retrieved from some hidden corner were also stolen by the group, and the two men were beaten quite a bit.
The commotion here was quite loud; many people saw it.
Everyone assumed that the two brothers had offended Wang Zhuzi and his group, and didn't pay much attention.
But in the following days, whenever Liu Dafei and his group found taro and yams, they would be robbed, either by Wang Zhuzi's group or other refugees.
After a few days, everyone else had enough to eat, but the two Liu brothers, Dafei and Dafei, were still struggling to dig up tree roots and bark, drinking only watery soup every day.
I'm hungry every day but not starving, and I'm never full. It's so uncomfortable.
If everyone had been like this before, it wouldn't have mattered, but now, apart from them, every other refugee in the mountains is able to eat their fill.
This realization infuriated Li Xiaofang, who cursed and swore every day. The two brothers also frequently argued, which everyone just watched as amusement.
The refugees in the mountains had food, stopped causing trouble, and began to live a peaceful life.
Things haven't been going well in that little depression lately.
Jiang Yimian was inspired by Lu Cijian's teaching of everyone how to write their names. She took the opportunity to have everyone learn some commonly used characters every day, saying that she learned them from Lu Cijian.
It didn't arouse any suspicion from the children, after all, the older sister had only read it once that day and was able to write her own name, so it was only a matter of time before she learned to recognize more characters.
However, the task of learning to read caused Gou Sheng, Zhao Dashu, and their two brothers endless troubles.
The four of them were simply not cut out for studying. The sight of those square characters made them dizzy and their eyes blurred. They would rather spend a few hours working in the fields.
So, the group tried every means to avoid learning to read and engaged in a series of cat-and-mouse games with Jiang Yimian.
Unfortunately, the autumn harvest was over, and there wasn't much to do in the fields. The group couldn't dodge many times before Jiang Yimian caught them, and they could only squat silently on the muddy ground in the yard to practice calligraphy.
Old Liu and the other adults refused to learn to read, firstly because they were old and their memory was not good, and secondly because they felt dizzy and their eyes were blurry when they looked at the characters. After learning to write their own names, they quietly stayed away from the matter of learning to read.
Jiang Yimian didn't force the adults, but the children had to learn to read.
Zhao Dashu and the others are still young, so it's better for them to learn more characters than to be completely clueless.
So, under her guidance, the children would practice writing and recognizing characters with Gousheng and the three Zhao brothers whenever they had free time. After a few days, they actually learned quite a few characters.
Seeing that Gousheng could finally write a few capital numbers, Xiao Ye was satisfied and went to see Zhao Dashu and the other two.
Jiang Yimian nodded in satisfaction. Xiao Ye was indeed a promising student. Although his handwriting was still crooked, he could quickly memorize any words she taught him. He was very smart.
Moreover, with him watching over her, she felt much more relaxed.
Seeing the children studying diligently, Jiang Yimian didn't disturb them, but instead looked at the person who was searching for something in the woods with a worried expression.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
