Chapter 65: Cultural meals are such a waste of money!
What? Learning from the culture of giants?
The little people had all sorts of different expressions, and suddenly things erupted!
Some looked bewildered, some were completely calm as if they had expected it, some were shocked and terrified, and others had faces full of curiosity and eagerness...
But Canglan's words made a lot of sense, and no one stood up to object.
Now that we're living in the world of giants, we can't rely on Ningjia forever and hide in her house. We'll always face various dangers and challenges, so learning the giants' language and writing is extremely important.
Everyday language can be learned through chatting with Ning Jia, but specific written characters must be learned on one's own.
"Clan, clan leader," He Meng asked tremblingly, her face pale, as she raised her hand, "how are we supposed to learn?"
Before Cang Lan could speak, Ning Jia interjected:
"How about we start with Pinyin?"
Pinyin? What is that?!
A bad feeling crept into He Meng's heart, and her face turned even paler after seeing the related pictures Ning Jia had searched for on her phone.
"Why do we need to learn this Pinyin method when learning Chinese characters?"
“It’s pinyin,” Ning Jia corrected.
"Because pinyin is the foundation for learning Chinese characters, once you learn these letters, you can look up words in the dictionary and learn more Chinese characters on your own..."
Seeing the little people staring at the letters with dizzy eyes, as if reading a book written in heaven, just like she herself had when she looked at the Lilliputian script, she felt a pang of pity.
"Let's just learn Chinese characters directly. Anyway, you don't need to type, so learning the basics should be enough."
After hearing that they didn't have to learn that damn "pinyin," all the children breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly became less resistant to learning Chinese characters.
Compared to learning those oddly shaped letters, learning Chinese characters doesn't seem so difficult anymore?
...
That morning, Ning Jia was busy in the kitchen, but the living room was not as noisy as usual.
The little ones have finished their morning sachet-making work and have seamlessly switched to class mode.
Zhelan, the teacher, is standing in front of a whiteboard the size of a computer screen, holding a thin 2B pencil, pointing to the large character "Ning" on the whiteboard, and letting the children learn the pronunciation and writing of this character.
To meet the needs of sachet making, after learning the simplest "one, two, three", the little people immediately upgraded the difficulty and started learning the character "Ning".
Ning Jia glanced out from the kitchen and saw that the atmosphere in the "Little People's Classroom" was serious. Apart from a few who were lazy and ran away, most of the little people were seriously copying on small pieces of paper with pens.
The pens they used were homemade by Ning Jia. She would break an HB mechanical pencil lead into small pieces, wrap the upper half with several layers of washi tape, leaving a small section of the lead exposed, and it would become a miniature pencil that even a tiny human could write with.
Ning Jia thought the pencil was a bit rudimentary, but the little ones didn't mind and quickly started using it. They even became fond of the tape with the daisy pattern wrapped around the pencil lead.
Seeing that the children liked it, Ning Jia, unusually generous, bought a bunch of different patterned packs of tape online so that the children could make their own pencils.
This activity quickly increased everyone's enthusiasm for learning. In addition to the character "宁", they quickly learned other commonly used simple Chinese characters such as "一", "二", and "不".
Among them, Xuecao learned the fastest, even surpassing the seeded player Baisu, and her number of Chinese characters mastered was far ahead of others in the tribe.
For such a gifted student, Ning Jia said, "We can't be poor in education, no matter what." She immediately ordered a set of beautifully printed second-hand children's picture books from Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace app) to give Xuecao extra tutoring.
Small-format picture books are still a bit too big for little Xuecao.
Fortunately, these picture books didn't have many pages. She looked at the book for a moment, then held it upright, opened another page to keep it standing, and after reading one page, she slowly turned to the left...
So, while the other little figures were still copying the character "Ning," little Xuecao was standing between the pages of a book that was more than a head taller than herself, intently reading, creating a cute little "person"-shaped reading scene.
This scene is indeed adorable, but sometimes it's not controlled properly, and the pages will suddenly snap shut in the middle, trapping the snow grass right in the middle...
Although the pages are light and getting caught won't cause any serious problems, it's still a little embarrassing for the little character who gets caught -_-||
At Xuecao's request, Ningjia found an eraser and placed it next to the book page for her to use as a doorstop, and that embarrassing incident never happened again.
An eraser can also be used as a stool.
Sometimes, when Xuecao gets tired of reading, she'll sit down and rest for a while. Or she'll simply sit there, tilting her head back to look at the content on the opposite page.
However, one time she was so engrossed in reading that she naturally leaned back against the pages, causing the entire book to tip backward and fall to the floor with a thud.
The snow grass, trapped between the pages, resignedly lay there, ultimately unable to escape its fate as a sandwiched creature...
The second little figure to read the picture book is Bai Su.
After learning from Xuecao's mistake, she obediently opened the picture book, wiped her feet clean, and stood on the pages to read. She would read a little and then move down a little. Although this made her neck quite tired, it was better than having it pinched from time to time.
Besides these two, there are also little figures who have come to read books one after another, such as Licorice, Rice Sprout, and... He Meng?
Although she didn't want to discriminate, Ning Jia was genuinely puzzled by this:
He Meng has only just learned the character "一" (one), and her number of Chinese characters is the lowest in the tribe. Can she understand the content of the picture book?
"He Meng, how come you flipped through it so fast? Did you even understand all the words on it?"
Ning Jia was startled, thinking she had blurted out her innermost thoughts. But upon closer inspection, she realized it was Xue Cao peeking her little head out from behind the large pages of the book, asking He Meng a question.
"I don't understand it at all!"
He Meng said confidently, then chuckled:
"I just need to look at the pictures on them and guess what they mean."
Everyone: ...
...
After lunch break, the children started their literacy lessons again, while Ning Jia rode her bike to a shopping plaza near her home under the blazing sun.
She walked into an educational training institution with her bag on her back.
This was a new customer that Liu Yue had just introduced to her. She heard that the teachers at the organization were under a lot of pressure and relied on coffee to stay awake, so Ning Jia immediately brought over a dozen small sachets for trial use.
This "future star" has rented a floor in the annex connected to the shopping mall. It is a quiet place in the middle of the city, with a convenient location and a very spacious area, which shows that it is developing well.
Ning Jia stood at the entrance, explained her purpose to the receptionist, and couldn't help but feel a little strange seeing the place so deserted.
The receptionist explained with a smile:
"To accommodate students' class schedules, most of our courses are scheduled on weekends and holidays. Today is Monday, and the teachers are all on holiday."
I see.
Ning Jia suddenly realized that since she stopped working, she had almost never paid attention to things like "what day of the week it is".
"Is Mr. Jiang not here today either?"
"Yes, Mr. Jiang is also taking a day off today."
"Okay, then please give these to General Manager Jiang. Thank you."
Ning Jia handed over a large cardboard box and took out a sachet from her bag. "This sachet can refresh you. Here, you can try it out."
"Wow, thank you."
The young man accepted it with delight, "Are you in the business of selling sachets?"
Yes, that's right.
Ning Jia took the opportunity to add the other person on WeChat and chatted with them for a few minutes.
It turns out this guy was doing a part-time summer job. He also had to take exams and get certified during the school year, so his studies were quite demanding.
Upon hearing this, Ning Jia gave him a few more sachets, as college students often have irregular schedules and are a potential customer group.
After delivering the sachets, Ning Jia saw that it was still early, so she went to the shopping plaza to see if there were any similar competing products and to learn some tips.
After wandering around for a while, I didn't see any shops selling sachets or perfumes, but I did see a beautifully decorated dollhouse.
The large, bright glass display case showcases many dolls of various shapes and sizes, as well as... a lifelike dollhouse that perfectly matches the size of the dolls.
Ning Jia's gaze was immediately drawn to the shop, and she involuntarily walked in.
Facing the dazzling array of goods on the shelves, she looked around and exclaimed:
Wow, doll houses have become so elaborate these days?
Not only are the houses structured exactly like in real life, but there are also many large villas ranging from 3 to 5 stories, with a full range of room styles and all kinds of small furniture. You can even DIY your own wallpaper and customize the size and decoration style...
Looking at the incredibly realistic details of the various houses, Ning Jia felt like a country bumpkin visiting the city, and even had an impulse to buy a dollhouse and take it home.
Take, for example, this dollhouse in the light wood color scheme. It is made entirely of solid wood and features an open design. The room is furnished with a simple and elegant colorful bed, sofa, and table, and the color scheme is eye-catching.
Ning Jia casually pulled the switch cord of the ceiling light bulb, and it actually lit up. She then tugged at a small curtain in a room, and it could be drawn as well. For a moment, she felt a little tempted to try it out.
Now that the little people have paid rent, they're considered proper tenants. It's really unreasonable for them to continue living in the big bamboo basket. Perhaps…
Ning Jia couldn't resist extending an index finger and placing it inside the dollhouse, simulating the scene of the little people living inside:
Hmm, the room and furniture seem a bit small?
I'm wondering if custom sizes are possible? The product description seems to say yes?
Her gaze shifted downwards, and the moment she saw the price, her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died.
This dollhouse is so small, and it costs 1800 yuan?! And if I want to customize other sizes, will I have to pay extra?
They're gone.
Ning Jia decisively prepared to retreat. As she passed the counter, she overheard a shop assistant speaking to a customer:
"Five custom-made dollhouses, all made to your specified dimensions and structure... Victorian retro style..."
When she heard "it's 18,000 in total," her pupils dilated in shock, and she glanced curiously at the tall young man who had ordered the dollhouse.
Good heavens, this person spent almost half a year's worth of her family's food expenses just to buy a few toy houses?
The shop assistant behind the counter smiled broadly, and after the young man paid, she even brought out several newly released dolls:
"Mr. Zhou, this is a small gift for your purchase. Thank you for your continued patronage."
The young man shook his head. "I don't want the doll anymore, you can have it."
Ning Jia, who was pretending to look at the dollhouse, was filled with emotion:
This is what it means to be rich and willful! Such an expensive dollhouse, bought just like that, at the original price!
If it were her, she would definitely look at the dollhouse in a physical store first, then wait for a discount online, or buy it on Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace platform)... Oh no, even if she had the money, she would never buy such an expensive dollhouse.
Moreover, the doll they gave us looks quite exquisite, and it must have been expensive.
Even if you don't like it, you could have kept it and then resold it online. Why did you just throw it away?
...What a waste of money!
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Author's Note: Yes, the spendthrift is the male protagonist. ^_^
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