Chapter 3399 Extra Zhou Yin 14
Zhou Yin was shocked by their shamelessness. His eyes widened as he pointed at them and was about to refute them, but Xia Yan held his hand down. He smiled and nodded, saying, "That's good. I don't want my brothers in the clan to worry about me. Please don't spread the news about my Xia family anymore."
Even after entering the house, Zhou Yin was still shocked by Xia Yan's magnanimity. "Mr. Xia, aren't you angry at all?"
Xia Yan tilted his head to glance at him and said, "You're angry. Do you think I'm being magnanimous by not caring?"
"Isn't it?"
"No," Xia Yan said, "This is forbearance. Forbearance is different from magnanimity."
Xia Yan paused and asked, "Xiaoyin, have you ever been educated?"
Zhou Yin was stunned for a moment and then said, "I can't say I've read it, I just recognize some words."
Xia Yan smiled and waved at him, "Then follow me."
Xia Yan casually took out a copy of The Analects and handed it to him, "Read it."
Zhou Yin took it. He knew "The Analects of Confucius" because Xiaopang had shown it to him. Besides "Thousand Character Classic", he had only read "The Analects of Confucius", but there were still some characters he didn't recognize.
Zhou Yin opened the Analects and began to read according to the words on it. As he read, he found the feeling of squatting beside Xiao Pang and memorizing silently...
Xia Yan watched from the side and reached out to pull the book from Zhou Yin's hand. Zhou Yin was stunned. Xia Yan said, "Continue."
Zhou Yin could only recite with his eyes wide open, but he did not recite in order. He recited whichever article he remembered. Mainly, when he heard Xiaopang reading, his voice was not coherent.
Xia Yan did not interrupt him. As long as he did not make any mistakes, he let him continue reciting.
After Zhou Yin finished reciting, he felt a little nervous when he saw Xia Yan remained silent.
It was the first time for him to recite in front of the teacher. Before, he had only recited in front of Xiaopang, who was his little friend, and the feeling was completely different.
Zhou Yin swallowed, and Xia Yan, noticing this, poured him a cup of tea and asked, "How many years of education have you had?"
Zhou Yin hesitated for a moment, but finally told the truth, "Sir, I never went to school. I just eavesdropped outside the school window for a while, and then I studied with a friend for a few years. I can recognize a few words, that's all."
Xia Yan carefully asked him how he learned from others, and he remained silent for a long time after asking.
Zhou Yin knew that Xia Yan was also a teacher, and thought he was bothered by his eavesdropping on his class. He lowered his head and said, "Mr. Xia, if you give me a few more days, I can find a job and move out."
Xia Yan came back to his senses after being lost in thought. "You want to move out?"
Zhou Yin had seriously considered this matter and said, "It's not good for me to live here forever. I know that the master and the mistress are good people. I will move out when I find a place to stay..."
Xia Yan stopped him and said, "Don't worry. My family is small, and you've helped me a lot during this period. If you don't mind, you can stay at home and help me take care of the house."
Without waiting for Zhou Yin to speak, Xia Yan continued, "Aren't you literate? Have you ever thought about continuing your studies?"
He said, "If you want, why not stay and continue studying with me."
Zhou Yin was stunned, and it took him a while to find his voice, "What is this kid's merit?"
Xia Yan smiled and said, "I'm short of a disciple to serve me. You're very capable, just what I want."
Zhou Yin immediately knelt down and said, "Sir, I don't deserve this. Please just keep me as a farmhand."
He even had his life saved by someone else, how could he be a disciple? He must be a long-term worker, without any wages, just food and accommodation provided.
Xia Yan hurriedly helped him up and said, "What farmhand? If I say I'm a disciple, then I'm a disciple."
Zhou Yin shook his head repeatedly, "The boy can't produce Shu Xiu now."
"I don't want your tuition."
"Master, if you don't want it, I can't refuse it," Zhou Yin insisted. How could you learn from a master without paying a tuition? Would you still be a master and apprentice? "I'll work as a farmhand for now, and when I earn enough, I'll come and learn from you."
Xia Yan: ...
Seeing Zhou Yin's insistence, Xia Yan had no choice but to agree.
Zhou Yin was very excited to be able to become a farmhand of the Xia family. He got up early the next morning to perform his duties as a farmhand. He first went out to buy breakfast, and then started to boil water for them to wash.
After the family finished breakfast, he picked up a bucket and went out to fetch water. When he came back, he went out to buy two loads of firewood and started chopping wood...
After a morning, everyone in the alley knew that the Xia family had a new farmhand, the boy they had rescued.
Seeing Zhou Yin's diligence, many people murmured privately, "The Xia family is doing quite well in this business. They got such a capable farmhand for free, and I heard they didn't even pay him a penny."
"That's great! This kid is so hardworking that he's almost as hardworking as two farmhands."
"That's right! It saves a lot of effort and money."
Mother Xia felt guilty looking at him, and hurriedly said to Xia Yan, "Master, I think Zhou Xiaolang is a good person. It's not good to cheat him. You should give him some wages."
Xia Xin nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, now he has even taken over the yard work, he is very hardworking."
Xia Yan said, "He only eats and sleeps in our house, and doesn't get any wages."
Mother Xia frowned, "When did you become so mean?"
Xia Yan smiled slightly and called Zhou Yin, who was busy everywhere, over. "Don't rush to do all the work. Let the work of the wife and the young lady be done by them. When you finish chopping wood, come to the study to find me."
Zhou Yin agreed.
Xia Yan formally taught Zhou Yin to read.
Although Zhou Yin was smart and could recite "The Analects of Confucius" and "Thousand Character Classic", there were actually many dialogues and sentences in them that he did not understand the meaning of. He just had a vague feeling when reading them.
What Xia Yan was doing now was to clear away the mist that was covering his eyes, allowing him to see what was behind the mist.
As for his poorly written handwriting, Xia Yan handed him a large amount of draft paper and said, "You must practice calligraphy more. It's not something you can learn by being smart. You need hard work."
Zhou Yin responded respectfully.
He didn't have pen, ink, paper and inkstone before. Now that he has pen, ink, paper and inkstone, he is still subconsciously frugal. He has to rehearse every word in his mind before writing it down.
Xia Xin would occasionally come to the study to look for books to read. Seeing his handwriting, she couldn't help but smile, "Your handwriting... My father said you had memorized the Analects, so how could your handwriting be like this?"
Zhou Yin said embarrassedly, "I've only used branches to write on the ground before, but branches are hard, and the ground is hard too. It takes a lot of force to write the words, which is different from using a pen."
He held up the pen in his hand and said, "The paper is soft, and the pen tip is soft too. I applied a little pressure and the ink spread."
Not to mention things like the pen strokes and direction, the only two words he wrote better were "Zhou Yin".
But Mr. Xia didn't really like these two words.
"Don't show your handwriting in the academy, or people will laugh at you."
(End of this chapter)
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