Chapter 50: Reading to Gain Knowledge
Shen Yueyao was stunned for a moment, "Su Daya?"
She followed Su Erya's gaze towards the alley ahead, but didn't see anyone.
"Isn't Su Daya staying in the old house and not going out?"
The weather is so cold now, and that girl thinks she is a lady from a wealthy family. Can she go out?
Su Erya was also a little confused. "When I left home this morning, Grandma and Daya were still sleeping. Maybe I saw it wrongly."
Shen Yueyao looked forward, thoughtful.
Across the alley is the town’s academy, the only one in the town. Good students from the surrounding villages and town would come here to study.
Su Daya shouldn't come here.
But seeing Su Erya's expression, Shen Yueyao said: "It's still early, let's go over and take a look."
Just think of it as shopping.
The two men walked into the alley, but saw no one after they passed through.
Su Erya scratched her head and said, "I'm sorry, Aunt San, I was mistaken."
"Don't say sorry, it's nice for us to come here for a stroll. When Dabao and Erbao grow up, I plan to send them to the academy to study."
Shen Yueyao didn't want Erya to blame herself for a small matter.
When the two men were about to go back, they also saw several families living in a nearby street.
"The small courtyard here looks like a two-story courtyard, neither too big nor too small."
The reason why Shen Yueyao paid attention to it was that she felt that if Dabao and Erbao went to school in the future, she might be worried. If she earned more money by then, she could rent a house nearby to live in temporarily.
However, it will take at least one or two years for the eldest and second children to go to school.
They are only three years old now, and Shen Yueyao is reluctant to send them to school so early.
When at home, Su Xueyi would also teach her eldest and second child how to read.
So there is no rush to send them over.
Shen Yueyao didn't think that Dabao and Erbao had to take the imperial examinations or something.
She just thought that reading could help them see more things, make them more rational and intelligent.
Su Erya was also curious and asked, "I wonder what it's like inside."
Su Erya looked towards the streets and couldn't see what was inside clearly, but an envious look appeared on her face.
It should be comfortable to live here.
The academy is not far behind, with a good atmosphere and quiet environment. Two streets in front is the downtown street with a wide variety of shops, making it much more convenient to buy things or set up stalls to sell things.
Shen Yueyao looked at it and said, "Let's go through the entrance of this alley and take a look."
Shen Yueyao was actually curious about what it looked like inside, but she found that the walls of the houses in the town were very high.
Unlike a farmyard, the walls here are very high.
Shen Yueyao felt that this was very safe.
She actually wanted to buy a house in town.
It goes without saying that the price is high.
At this time, they passed by a courtyard and the gate was open. When they passed by and looked inside, they could clearly see the layout of the house inside.
When they passed by, someone from the real estate agency was bringing a customer to look at a house.
"Madam, let me tell you, this courtyard is wonderful. The owner takes good care of it and keeps it very well. Look, the ground is paved with soft cobblestones, and there's a well inside, which is very convenient for daily use. There are five rooms, so it's spacious enough for the whole family."
The lady who was looking after the house took her maid to look around and asked, "Can the price be lowered?"
"Madam, the landlord is selling it for ninety-five taels of silver, which is already a bargain. Look at the furniture and the surroundings. It will cost you some money to clean it up yourself."
"And houses with wells are naturally not cheap."
"There's a persimmon tree planted in this yard. I heard the persimmons are very sweet."
The lady frowned and said, "The houses nearby are all over eighty taels of silver. This price is really much more expensive."
The dealer continued, "Madam, I'm not exaggerating, but of all the houses around here, this one is the better. The others are cheaper, but there are some that cost eighty-seven or eighty-eight taels of silver..."
"There are also houses a little further out, to the west, which are cheaper..."
Upon hearing the price, Su Erya was shocked, "So expensive!"
A house is so expensive.
In the village, building a house and hiring a carpenter to do the work can be done for a few taels of silver at the cheapest, and more than ten taels of silver at the best.
That was a price they dared not even think about.
I didn't expect it to be so expensive here.
Shen Yueyao was also stunned.
I knew housing prices were expensive here, but I didn't expect them to be this expensive.
If Dabao and Erbao go to school, Shen Yueyao really wants to buy a house here.
But when she thought of the price, her heart sank.
It seems that I still need to go back and work harder to earn enough money as soon as possible.
The ancients started their education early, so perhaps in a year, both the eldest and second child will be going to school.
When Shen Yueyao and Su Erya returned, they felt a little heavy-hearted.
The two realized that what they were earning now was really not enough.
But Su Erya was actually very satisfied in her heart, thinking that being able to eat her fill was enough.
But she realized that there were really a lot of rich people in the town, otherwise why would they all live in houses like that?
The environment of the house is really nice, it is a stone brick and green tile house, I feel it must be very comfortable to live in.
It is also close to the easternmost pier. When the weather gets warmer in spring, there are more boats and people at the pier.
There were many stalls at the dock at that time.
…
When I got home, it was still early.
As soon as they entered the house, they heard the sound of reciting a book coming from the house.
Su Erya said happily, "Aunt San, it's Dabao and Erbao who are reciting the text. I've heard from Uncle San that Dabao and Erbao are very smart and must be very talented in studying."
Shen Yueyao felt a sense of peace in her heart as she listened to the catchy sound of reading.
It was Dabao's voice inside, and Dabao was reciting the chapter on benevolence from the Analects of Confucius.
Shen Yueyao was in a complicated mood.
Everyone thinks that studying is very stressful in this technological age, but in ancient times, scholars who took the imperial examinations had it even harder.
Many people start learning to read when they are three or four years old.
Enlightenment reading does not mean reading picture books or story books.
But they are "Three Character Classic", "Thousand Character Classic", "Four Books and Five Classics", "Analects of Confucius" and so on.
Shen Yueyao asked, "They are reciting the Analects. Have they learned anything else before?"
Su Erya said, "Well, Uncle San used to teach Dabao and Erbao a lot about the Three Character Classic and the Thousand Character Classic. Dabao and Erbao should be able to recite them by now. They should have memorized several chapters of the Analects by now. But Uncle San would check on them frequently and do spot checks."
In the past, Third Aunt didn’t care about these things. She was often not at home. When she came over, she saw Third Uncle teaching Dabao and Erbao.
When Shen Yueyao heard these words, her expression changed and she said, “Er Ya, do you recognize words from time to time?”
She can say these things and knows the Analects, so she obviously knows these things.
Su Erya said a little embarrassedly, "Life was very hard in the labor camp. We didn't have enough to eat or wear warm clothes. Every day when grandma came back from the quarry, she would teach us to read and write when she had time, but we didn't read much anyway."
Grandma said that girls can understand things more if they read more.
Shen Yueyao thought, no wonder Erya learned Arabic numerals so quickly, it turns out she has a basic knowledge.
Shen Yueyao said with a thought: "Er Ya, study hard. Girls who study well can also develop their talents. When I have time in the future, I will also teach you how to keep accounts and calculate quickly."
When doing business, you must learn how to manage accounts.
However, the method taught by Shen Yueyao is the accounting method of the technological age, which is much simpler and faster.
She knew that the accounting methods of this era were a bit cumbersome and would slow down the calculation.
"It would be nice to have an abacus."
Su Erya quickly waved her hands and said, "Aunt San, no need for an abacus. Abacus is very expensive. I can do mental arithmetic."
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