For the next month, Erfu and Sifu lived in dire straits. The whole family supervised their studies, and even in the school, stars were watching them. Their brains were buzzing from studying so much.
Just now, Erfu and Sifu had just picked up their pens to copy the book when Xingxing rushed over, and the two brothers let out a weak groan.
"Second brother, don't use so much force. Look, you've torn the paper again. Fourth brother, you too, use less ink. Look, the ink has dripped onto the paper again, and the words you wrote are all smudged." Xingxing frowned. Sigh, these two brothers are too difficult to manage. They've been practicing writing for over a month, but they still often can't write a few decent words.
The only consolation is that the two of them have already memorized what the Master has taught, and now they only need to write the characters out to start copying the book.
In fact, the teacher assigned copying homework every day, but the second and fourth brothers always handed in sheets of paper that were so dark and illegible that the original text was barely visible. This made the teacher so angry that he would slap their hands every day.
Xingxing posed a profound question: "Second Brother, Fourth Brother, why are you so stupid? Ruru is five years younger than you, and I am four years younger than you. The teacher taught us once and Ruru and I could write it. Why can't you learn it?"
Zhou Sifu's face turned red. He lowered his head and remained silent, angrily struggling with the paper and pen. No, he had to write the words clearly and couldn't let the paper get pasted up again.
In contrast, Zhou Erfu's provocation had no effect on him. Not only was he physically strong enough to withstand the teacher's ruler, but he also had a strong mentality. Even after being looked down upon by Xingxing, he remained unfazed.
“Xingxing, you know that your second brother is older than you. He started learning late, so his mind is slower and it’s normal that he can’t keep up with the teacher’s pace. If he had started school a few years earlier, he would definitely be as smart as you.”
Xingxing wouldn't be fooled by him. "You're talking nonsense. Your eldest, third, and fifth brothers are the same age as you. All three of them can learn very quickly. Next year they'll be learning the Four Books and Five Classics. You and your fourth brother have only just finished memorizing the Three Character Classic."
"You can't even write clearly. It's obvious you're not paying attention and haven't put your mind to your studies. I'm going to tell Mother when we get home."
"No, please spare your second brother. He hasn't eaten meat for over half a month. If he doesn't eat meat next month, he'll cry for you." Zhou Erfu really wanted to threaten her with harsh words, but in the end he didn't dare to do so. He was afraid that if Xingxing cried, and his mother found out, he might not have any meat to eat until the New Year.
“You’re a grown man, how can you act like a little girl, crying all the time? If you don’t write seriously, you won’t get any meat.” Xingxing was very strict. Other things could be discussed, but studying was the only thing that couldn’t be taken lightly.
“I’m serious. You saw that your second brother is practicing calligraphy diligently. It’s just that your second brother is clumsy and needs more time to improve,” Zhou Erfu was not lying. He genuinely wanted to improve his handwriting, but he couldn’t control his strength well and he used too much ink, either tearing the paper or making it smudge.
Xingxing raised her chin, looking very tired. "Sigh, we were born to the same parents, on the same day, so why is there such a big difference between us?"
Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu both twitched their lips at the same time, and the bratty little sister imitated Master Gu's manner to mock them.
Suddenly, Zhou Erfu laughed, then beckoned Xingxing to come closer and whispered, "Little sister, let your second brother tell you something fun."
Xingxing tilted her head, looking incredulous. Her second brother was definitely trying to avoid practicing calligraphy and was trying to fool her.
Zhou Erfu could tell what she was thinking just by looking at her expression. He clicked his tongue and said, "This time, your second brother is serious. Look, the weather is getting warmer and warmer. In another half month, when we go home, there will be lots of crickets in the rice paddies."
"Really? We can catch frogs again! That's great! Second Brother and Fourth Brother, you have to catch a lot when you get back!" Xingxing patted her chubby little hands happily.
The first time Xingxing heard the croaking of frogs in the rice paddies was last year. She didn't know what it was, and she was both curious and a little scared. She didn't dare to sleep alone at night and insisted that Zhao Guihua sleep with her.
Zhao Guihua asked her why she was scared, and she said, "Mom, listen to the 'quack quack quack' sound, there are so many monsters, they are making such a loud noise at night, it's so scary. Xingxing is afraid to sleep alone, because the quack quacks will take Xingxing away."
“Xingxing, that croaking sound isn’t some monster. It’s a little frog in the field that eats insects. It’s the insects that help our rice grow better. That little black thing with four legs hopping around is a frog. Didn’t you see it during the day?” Zhao Guihua explained gently.
Xingxing thought for a moment and then said, "But there are also 'coo coo coo' and 'wo wo wo' sounds, which are very noisy at night."
"That's a frog making a 'clucking' sound. Frog meat is edible. Tomorrow, I'll have your second and fourth brothers catch a few for you to try."
"What are you yelling about?" Xingxing persisted, pressing for an answer.
"That's a frog too, it just makes a deeper clucking sound. It's actually just clucking, but you heard it as 'lying down'."
Later, Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu caught a lot of frogs and cooked them for Xingxing. After that, Xingxing was no longer afraid. She really liked eating frog meat, so when Zhou Erfu mentioned it again, she started thinking about it again.
Xingxing waited and waited, and finally the day of her holiday arrived. Her father and mother drove an oxcart to pick her and her brothers up to go home. Oh, this time Ruru also insisted on going back to the village with her. Last time, Ruru was left alone in town and was very unhappy because she couldn't see Xingxing. So this time she insisted on going back together.
The village chief's son, Dongsheng, was studying at Jiang Xiucai's private school, which didn't coincide with their holiday schedule, so he didn't come to ride Zhou Laoda's oxcart back to the village this time.
As soon as Xingxing got home, she went to check if her ducks had returned. Ever since the day the ducks started laying eggs, Xingxing had been able to eat duck eggs every day. All ten female ducks laid eggs every day, and every time she went to town, Boss Zhou would send her a lot of eggs.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
