Chapter 74 At the beginning of life, human nature is good.
The busy day is gradually coming to an end.
Cheng Wanwan felt that the day was very fulfilling. She did a lot of things, and each of them made her feel that they were very meaningful.
Wu Huiniang has already started preparing dinner. Zhao Sidan is counting ducks in the yard. Cheng Wanwan asked him to count them so he can practice his counting.
As soon as he finished counting, Zhao Sidan pointed towards the mountains and said, "Mom, I saw Brother Tiezhu coming down the mountain. Should we call him over?"
Zhao Tiezhu is the eldest grandson of the village head. He is twelve years old this year. He was sent to the town to be an apprentice to the shopkeeper, but he stopped going for some reason. He is considered the most knowledgeable child in Dahe Village.
He dug up a basket full of wild vegetables, including bracken, purslane, and dandelion, which shows that the child is not lazy.
He walked into the courtyard and saw Cheng Wanwan there, and felt inexplicably afraid.
In the past, when he came to ask Brother San Niu and Si Dan to go out and play, he was scolded severely by Aunt Zhao, so he was not very willing to come here.
Cheng Wanwan tried her best to put on a gentle smile: "Tiezhu, come here, your aunt has something to ask you."
Zhao Tiezhu walked over slowly.
He was about to say that his family was waiting for him to come home when he looked up and saw Wu Huiniang take an egg from the chicken coop, crack it in front of him, and put it into a bowl. It was obvious that she was going to fry the egg.
He couldn't help but lick his lips.
Last time, I brought home a pheasant, but unfortunately it was a rooster and wouldn't lay eggs. My grandmother couldn't bear to kill it and cook it, so he hadn't eaten eggs in a long time.
Cheng Wanwan asked him with a smile, "Tiezhu, you are a literate child, have you read the Three Character Classic?"
Zhao Tiezhu immediately nodded: "I know the Three Character Classic. The shopkeeper's son used to recite it every day in the shop when he was studying, so I learned a little bit of it."
Cheng Wanwan nodded in satisfaction. As long as someone knew how, she could learn it quickly and then teach her four sons.
She took out the Three Character Classic from the house: "Then read it to me."
"At birth, people are inherently good, and their natures are similar..."
At first, Zhao Tiezhu read very smoothly, since he could recite some of the characters. But later, he needed to recognize the characters and read them one by one. Then he encountered characters he didn't recognize and got stuck.
The Three Character Classic contains more than 300 short sentences and more than 1,000 characters. Being able to read the Three Character Classic fluently is considered to be the beginning of one's education.
Cheng Wanwan glanced at it and saw that Zhao Tiezhu could read about thirty sentences. When he got to the part "Xiang Jiuling, Neng Wenxi", he didn't recognize a bunch of words after that. But after that, he could continue reading smoothly to the part "one and ten, ten and a hundred".
These are words that a normal three- to five-year-old child could learn in a month, so let's start learning them for now this month.
Cheng Wanwan encouraged him, "Tiezhu, you're really amazing. No one in our Dahe Village can actually read the Three Character Classic."
Zhao Tiezhu raised his chin: "It's actually very simple."
"Then I'd like to make a deal with you. If you come and teach me one sentence every day, I'll give you an egg."
Zhao Sanniu was filled with excitement.
It turns out that Mother wanted to study herself, not that she made them study.
That's great, absolutely great.
Zhao Tiezhu swallowed hard: "Adults shouldn't lie to children."
Cheng Wanwan laughed: "Why would I lie to you? I'll give you an egg first, and you teach me the first two lines."
She took an egg out of the house and handed it to Zhao Tiezhu.
Fearing she might change her mind, Zhao Tiezhu quickly hid the egg in his clothes and immediately said, "The first line is, 'At the beginning of life.'"
Actually, he didn't recognize the character "初" (chū), but he knew how to pronounce it. Last time when registering names, someone in the village had "初" in their name, and he had circled it. This time, he secretly memorized the character and wrote it several times in his palm, hoping not to circle it next time he registered names.
After teaching him that one sentence, he turned and left. Earning an egg for every sentence he said was such a good deal.
Cheng Wanwan: "..."
In her mind, "At birth, man is inherently good" is just a saying. This kid has no sense of morality and cheated her out of half an egg. Tomorrow, she must make him teach her another saying.
Zhao Sidan chased after him, saying, "Brother Tiezhu, don't run away! I haven't learned it yet!"
Cheng Wanwan sighed: "I've got it. Come on, I'll teach you. San Niu, you come and learn with me too."
Zhao Sanniu: "..."
I never thought I could escape the fate of studying. It's so tragic.
Zhao Sidan quickly went over and said, "Mom, Brother Tiezhu spoke too fast just now, I didn't hear him clearly."
Cheng Wanwan said, "The first sentence is 'At the beginning of life.' You should first familiarize yourselves with this sentence, and then refer to this book to gradually learn these three characters."
Zhao Tiezhu was stunned when he stepped outside the courtyard.
My aunt's memory is amazing; he only read it twice at most, and she already remembered it.
Back then, he listened to it every day, at least hundreds of times, before he could stumble through the first few dozen lines...
The sound of reading aloud filled the room. Zhao Tiezhu suddenly wanted to join in. Although he knew the words, he had never read them aloud like this before. He really wanted to experience this feeling.
He carried the wild vegetables home and carefully took the eggs out of his pocket.
The village head's wife stared wide-eyed: "Where did these eggs come from? Did you steal them from someone else's chicken coop?"
"Grandma, I don't steal anything," Zhao Tiezhu said with a grin. "It was given to me by Sidan's mother. She said that if I teach her a line from the Three Character Classic, she will give me an egg. I know more than thirty lines, so I can get more than thirty eggs."
The village head's wife was taken aback: "When did Aunt Dashan become so focused on education? She even gave you eggs to teach you..."
Tiezhu's mother casually remarked, "There's a private school in Chengjia Village. Didn't the Cheng family have a nephew who graduated from it? I guess Dashan's mother wants to compete with her own family."
“What’s the point of this?” The village head’s wife shook her head. “The Cheng family’s son is already a student, while Si Dan only started studying at ten. How can he catch up with him? Da Shan’s mother used to support her own family, but now she’s starting to compete with them again just to spite them. Isn’t this just a waste of eggs?”
Zhao Tiezhu was displeased: "How can giving me eggs be considered a waste?"
“No, no,” the village head’s wife chuckled. “But you’re only teaching one sentence and you get an egg for it. That won’t do. You need to teach a few more sentences, otherwise, when Aunt Dashan realizes she’s been taken advantage of, she won’t let you teach her anymore. Also, you should try to find someone to teach you a few more sentences, so this can last longer.”
Zhao Tiezhu's eyes lit up: "When Grandpa comes back, I'll have him take me to town, and I'll go find Brother Fang Ping and have him teach me how to recite it."
It doesn't matter if you can't read the words, as long as you can recite them. Just read them aloud while referring to the book and you'll get an egg.
He's really smart.
"The main problem is that no one in our village has become a scholar, and no one has taken the lead in establishing a private school. It's too difficult for people in Dahe Village to get an education."
The village head's wife sighed repeatedly.
Everyone knows that education is important, but no one can afford to send their children to school. Building a school in one's own village would make it cheaper for children to study.
However, this idea is too greedy. These days, people can't even get enough to eat, let alone study. What kind of wishful thinking is that?
Da Shan's mother was just angry with her family. Once her anger subsided, she wouldn't bring up the matter of studying again.
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