Chapter 242 Blackboard and Chalk
Houses, fields, servants or gold and silver?
She likes Sang Yu no matter which one of them is right. She is not a kind person who does good without expecting anything in return.
She was willing to take the risk to save people in order to get closer to the Shen family. Now that she can receive another big gift, that would be the best.
I saw her looking at the empty space and giggling foolishly, with a silly look as if a trickle of saliva would flow out from the corner of her mouth at any moment.
Old Mrs. Shi silently moved away and continued to weave the small basket in her hand.
This kid... I don't know what good thing he is thinking about, he is laughing like a fool.
Xiao Zhao was obviously not as knowledgeable as the old lady. When she saw Sang Yu laughing strangely, she instinctively stepped back in fear, but soon she bravely stepped forward and gently tugged at her clothes.
Sang Yu was still a little dazed when she awakened him from his beautiful fantasy of getting rich overnight, but when he saw her frightened and nervous expression, he burst out laughing.
"If you're scared, why are you pulling me? Aren't you afraid that I might be having a seizure?"
Xiao Zhao shook her head, squatted down and wrote a few words on the ground: "Don't be afraid, sister is good."
These words made Sang Yu feel warm in her heart, and she touched her head: "Xiao Zhao is so good."
Seeing that she was about to write on the ground again, Sang Yu suddenly grabbed her hand and said, "You have to write on the ground every time you want to talk. It's very troublesome, right? How about I make you a little writing gadget?"
Xiao Zhao didn't understand what she meant, so he squatted down and wrote, "Is it paper and pen?"
There are no portable and lightweight gel pens now, so the most you can use is charcoal pencils. However, charcoal pencils are too easy to stain your fingers and clothes, making them inconvenient to carry with you.
"That's too much trouble," Sang Yu waved her hand, proudly saying, "Sister will make you a new toy you've never seen before."
Students in later generations may have different educational backgrounds, but they are definitely familiar with one thing, and that is the blackboard.
Almost from the first day of elementary school, teachers stand on the podium and write new knowledge and new words on the blackboard for students to learn.
What Sang Yu wanted to make for Xiao Zhao was naturally a small, portable blackboard that could be used for writing multiple times.
Blackboards, made of cement and ink, have officially appeared in the public eye since the mid-19th century.
In the early days, stone slabs or blackened pine boards were used instead, and then gradually improved into the color-coated steel blackboards that are common in later generations.
Before making it, she asked Xiao Zhao for her opinion. After learning that she wanted a board the size of an adult's palm, she immediately started to mix it.
Sang Yu had mixed similar cement products when building a house before, so it was quite easy to replicate it now.
With almost no effort, Sang Yu had already made several palm-sized mud blocks, trimmed the edges with the back of a knife, and pressed them down.
After confirming that these cement boards would become neat rectangular flat pieces after drying, Sang Yu nodded in satisfaction.
"Wait a few days for it to dry completely, then I'll give you a coat of ink. Then you can write on it with chalk and everyone will be able to see it. You won't have to squat on the ground every time you write."
Xiao Zhao looked at the neat gray board, finding it difficult to understand what she meant. She squatted down again and wrote a few words: "What is chalk?"
"Oh yes, I almost forgot to make chalk for you." Sang Yu slapped her forehead. She only remembered to make a blackboard, but didn't think that there was no chalk at this time.
Limestone and gypsum, the two main sources of chalk, are sold in markets even outside the canyon, but they are too rough and have irregular shapes, making them not very convenient for writing.
Sang Yu took Xiao Zhao to the market to buy some limestone and gypsum, ground them carefully into fine powder, and mixed them with water in proportion until there were no particles.
Making chalk requires a mold. Fortunately, there is not much else at home, but there is a lot of bamboo.
She found a long, thin bamboo and split it into sections at the joints.
First, carefully brush a layer of oil on the inside of the bamboo, then pour the slurry into the upright bamboo joints and shake them gently to expel the air.
After standing for a quarter of an hour, the interior will begin to solidify. Remove the mold and take out the chalk blank. Dry it in a ventilated place for two or three days before starting to use it.
The chalk made by this method is definitely not as good as the one made by industrial production lines in later generations, but for the mute girl Xiao Zhao, it is enough.
Even if the dried chalk breaks into several pieces, she will only use them one by one.
"Be patient and wait a few days. I'll have Mom make you a small cloth bag later. Then you can put the chalk in it... It seems like it might break? Forget it, I'll make two more chalk holders. I'm very skilled at this..."
Sang Yu kept muttering, and Xiao Zhao squatted beside her and listened quietly.
She didn't know what a blackboard or chalk was, but her sister said it was made specially for her and she liked it very much.
Sang Xinghao, who had just returned from a day of fun, noticed a bunch of new things in the corner as soon as he entered the house and rushed over.
"Sister, what is this? Why haven't I seen it before?" he asked.
Sang Yu didn't even raise her head: "Blackboard, chalk, for writing, don't touch it yet, it will easily crack before it dries."
When Sang Xinghao heard it was for writing, he was immediately delighted: "Sister, is this for me? Did you hear that a teacher in the upper village is going to open a school?"
Only then did Sang Yu look up blankly: "Huh?"
After Sang Xinghao's explanation, she learned that a man named Chai from the upper village who had previously served as an imperial censor was planning to open a private school and enroll a few students of appropriate age for their initial education.
His wife bought some candies today and came to find these children, asking them to go home and tell their parents if anyone wanted to go to private school.
Sang Xinghao had just heard that the private school was recruiting students, and when he got home he saw the blackboard and chalk for writing. Naturally, he misunderstood that they were specially made for him.
"Oh, so that's how it is." Sang Yu understood the whole story and smiled awkwardly, "Although it's a good thing that you can go to school, this is really not for you. It's for Xiao Zhao."
"Ah?" Now it was Sang Xinghao's turn to be dumbfounded.
He suddenly felt uneasy as if his home was being robbed. In the past, his elder sister always thought of him first when she had something good, so why did it become Xiao Zhao now?
"Since there's a private school in the village, and he's a censor, then you should go and study there. It'll save you from running around the village all day and getting a tan."
The whole family didn't need to make a decision together on this matter, Sang Yu made the final decision on his own.
She had wanted Sang Xinghao to go to school for a long time, but she had never found a private school close to home that accepted students, so she gave up.
After deciding this, she looked at Xiao Zhao and asked with a smile, "Xiao Zhao, do you want to go to school?"
If peppers could be grown normally from that packet of pepper seeds, Sang Yu would be willing to support Xiao Zhao for her entire life, not just to send her to school.
Obviously, he didn't expect that he would have the opportunity to choose. Xiao Zhao was stunned for a long time before realizing that he was being asked.
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