Chapter 380 Really Poor
Zhou Hu was talking to Yang Heshu and forgot the time. When the people from Old Zhou's family arrived, he remembered that he had forgotten the important business and had not had time to take a look at the situation in his family's fields.
Yang Heshu also saw Old Zhoutou leading a group of people over. Manbao waved and called out "Dad and Mom" from a distance, so it was impossible for him not to know who they were.
Yang Heshu looked over and found that there were really a lot of people in Manbao's house.
However, Manbao still asked, "Dad, where are the second, third, and fourth brothers?"
"They went to plow another field, so they can work faster. What brought you here? Did you have lunch? I don't know if your sister-in-law left anything for you."
Man Baogang and Bai Shanbao Bai Erlang ate a lot of snacks and didn't feel hungry, so they said, "I'm not hungry."
Old Zhou looked at Yang Heshu curiously and talked to him.
Zhou Dalang and others have already filed into the fields and started working. He and Zhou Hu pulled the plow, while Zhou Wulang held the plow. He has now learned how to hold the plow, and when Old Zhou doesn't want to hold the plow, he basically leaves it to him.
Of course, he now also has to follow Zhou Dalang and Zhou Hu to take turns pulling the plow.
Yang Heshu asked, "It would be easier if two people pulled the plow, wouldn't it?"
"That's right. If you pull alone for a day, there won't be much good flesh left on your shoulders. There's still a lot of life ahead of you, so you can't push yourself too hard. Are you a teacher too?"
Yang Heshu smiled and said, "I also teach."
Old Zhou had a natural liking for teachers and said with a smile, "Teaching is good. Those who can teach are people with great abilities."
Yang Heshu asked with a smile, "Are there many people who study in your family?"
"A lot," Old Zhou said proudly, pointing to his grandchildren in the fields. "Look, even the youngest grandson is studying."
Yang Heshu opened his mouth wide and looked at Manbao in surprise. How could such a family be poor?
What if he has never seen poor people?
Manbao opened her mouth to speak, but Yang Heshu smiled and asked before she could, "Who is the teacher? Is the school far away? How much is the annual tuition?"
"Ah?" Old Zhou finally reacted, his face beaming like a chrysanthemum. He said cheerfully, "No money, no money. My daughter taught me that."
Manbao, who was pointed at by Old Zhou, puffed out his chest and looked at Yang Heshu proudly.
Old Zhou said with some regret, "My daughter is the only one in our family who is smart. She learns things very quickly. Her brothers and nephews and nieces can't compare to her. It takes them a long time to learn two words. Fortunately, their studies are free and just take up some time."
Yang Heshu was obviously not expecting this and asked in surprise, "Books, pens, inkstones, and brushes all cost money. It's quite good that my father-in-law is willing to spend money on them."
As he walked along, not to mention those from ordinary or poor families, even the wealthier farmers did not dare to send their children to school easily.
He asked them what they thought, and they all said that reading and recognizing words were difficult, so if the family had some money, they would send their children to school. What if the family could no longer support them after one or two years and they had to take their children back? The children would not have learned many words and would have forgotten them in the blink of an eye. Isn't this a waste of money?
You know, for ordinary people, the expenses for books, pens, ink, paper and inkstone are also very high. In two years, you can recognize a lot of words, and basically you can read some of the simplest books intermittently. But if you can't continue to buy books and practice calligraphy, you will almost forget them after a while.
You should know that young people learn things faster, but they also forget things faster.
Yang Heshu counted the number of children in Old Zhou's family and nodded secretly. It seemed that Old Zhou's family had to spend a lot of money to buy so many books and pens, ink, paper and inkstone.
But by the same token, their family is definitely not very poor.
Who knew that just as the thought flashed through his mind, Old Zhou burst into laughter and said happily: "Sir, you can tell at a glance that you have never suffered hardship. You already have books at home, so why do you want to buy any more?"
Old Zhou pulled his daughter to his side and praised her to Yang Heshu, "My daughter's teacher is a good man. Every time there's a new textbook, he'll copy one for her. After Manbao learns it, she goes home and practices calligraphy while copying one or two more. The ones she copied poorly are shown to the children at home, and the good ones can be returned to the teacher. Next time, if a student doesn't want to pay a lot for a book from a bookstore, they can spend some money on pens, ink, and paper to buy a book from the teacher."
Yang Heshu opened his mouth wide.
"I don't expect them to become teachers in the future. In fact, I think it's enough for country people to learn how to farm, do some math, and write their own names. In the future, they can calculate the taxes they need to pay themselves without asking the village head for help. They can just sign their names instead of making a circle." This is really what Old Zhou really thinks. "But my wife and daughter both say that studying is good. If it's good, then let them study. Anyway, they will go out to play at home. They might as well squat in the yard with a stick and learn to write."
Yang Heshu: "...So there's no writing brush, ink, paper, or inkstone?"
"Oh, that stuff is really valuable. My daughter and her brothers make a lot of money selling candy, and they basically spend it all on pens, ink, paper, and inkstone. Occasionally, the family has to give her some. One box of ink is enough to buy several kilograms of meat."
Manbao explained, "It's just three pounds."
"Three pounds isn't too much, it's enough for three meals."
Yang Heshu now understood that it didn't cost much for so many people in the Zhou family to study. Basically, they only had to pay for Manbao's pens, ink, paper and inkstone.
He touched his chin thoughtfully, and his eyes swept over the people in the Zhou family one by one. He found that except for Manbao who was wearing half-worn cotton and linen clothes, the clothes of the other people in the Zhou family were all patched. He also saw that the man named Zhou Wulang had a tear in his armpit that had not been sewn up yet.
It’s just like Manbao said, their family is very poor.
However, Yang Heshu looked at Manbao, then at a group of children who were applying fertilizer and sowing seeds in the field, and finally felt that something was wrong.
He smiled and asked Old Zhou, "I see other families send their boys to school, why is it the opposite in my father-in-law's family?"
Old Zhou said without hesitation, "The teacher doesn't like my other children. He only likes Manbao. Besides, my grandchildren are not as smart as my daughter. My daughter is very good at memorizing. She can memorize it after reading it three or four times. Those kids read for a long time with their hands behind their backs, and as soon as they close the book, they can't remember the first sentence. They go to study with the teacher, and they can't teach others when they come back."
Yang Heshu nodded, looked at the proud Manbao again, and couldn't help but smile knowingly. This person is really the smartest, oh no, the second smartest person within a hundred miles, right?
He asked Manbao curiously, "You said you were the smartest person in the area. Who told you that?"
There is a chapter at 5 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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