Chapter 40 Jealousy (Yunqi recommended votes 15,000 plus more)
"Just look, who's afraid of who?" Bai Shanbao, though also pale-faced, opened the box with trembling hands in order not to lose face in front of Manbao. After taking a look, he turned his head away and said stubbornly, "I'm not afraid of it, it's just that it's too ugly. I don't like looking at it."
Manbao felt that what he said was absolutely right and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, yes, I also think it is too ugly. It hurts the eyes if you look at it too much."
The two children looked at each other, both agreeing with each other's words. Then they turned their heads to take a look at the bugs in the box, turned their heads away, took another look, and turned their heads away again...
Mr. Bai watched this scene outside the window, then looked at his son who lowered his head and pretended to be honest. He moved his feet, but seeing Mr. Zhuang in front of him, he held back and did not kick out.
Although Mr. Zhuang also spanked students on the hands, he did not approve of parents spanking their children, especially the way Mr. Bai did. Seeing that his eyes were looking at Bai Erlang more and more unfriendly, Mr. Zhuang signaled the parents to leave as he was going to start the class.
Mr. Bai secretly glared at his youngest son, warned him in a low voice, and asked Liu and Zheng to leave together.
Although Qili Village is located in a valley and is difficult to access, the scenery is stunning.
Mr. Bai was also a scholar. When he built the school, he deliberately chose this place with beautiful scenery. It faces the water and the mountains, and is extremely beautiful.
Although the autumn scenery is bleak, there are still dense forests here, and many wild flowers are blooming on the roadside, which makes it beautiful.
Liu walked slowly along the riverbank towards the Bai family mansion, looking quite happy. She turned to Mr. Bai and said, "This place is truly a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery."
Mr. Bai knew that his aunt was talking about Manbao. He stroked his beard and smiled, "Aunt, don't look at this poor mountain village. In fact, there are many good things and good people here. Just wait and see."
Mrs. Liu nodded. "That child, at such a young age, knows how to face challenges head-on. Even though she's clearly afraid, she still knows how to overcome them. I just hope Shanbao can learn from her in the future."
Mrs. Liu felt a little regretful. "What a pity, she's a girl. Oh, and she has so many brothers and nephews. How come there isn't any one that Mr. Zhuang likes?"
Although Master Bai seldom visited the village, he was still aware of its affairs. He smiled and said, "I'm afraid all the Zhou family's talents are in this child."
Liu recalled the Zhou family she met yesterday, nodded, and said with a smile: "The Mrs. Zhou I met yesterday seemed like a virtuous person."
Mr. Bai thought about what the housekeeper had told him about the Zhou family and said uncertainly, "Perhaps. It's said that the eldest and third sons are very diligent, and the second son is quite clever and often goes to the market to do some small business."
The two of them went home while talking.
Back at the school, Manbao and Shanbao had already put the bugs away and started taking out their own books to read with the teacher.
Bai Shanbao originally wanted to crush his opponent in reading, so he started reciting loudly at the beginning. Although his voice was still a little babyish, he was the loudest in the class.
Manbao loves to join in the fun. When she sees her deskmate reading loudly, she also starts to read along in a loud voice. The two little kids look so cute when they shake their heads and nod their heads.
At least Mr. Zhuang, who was standing on the stage, was particularly satisfied. There was a smile in his eyes. He stroked his beard back and forth, and shook his head with satisfaction as he read.
Led by the two, the other students in the class also read aloud more seriously than before. Even the college students who had already finished learning the Analects of Confucius couldn't help but turn around and recite the Analects with them.
Bai Erlang, who was standing outside the classroom, couldn't help but turn his head to look at the two children in the room, and snorted with a fiery snort.
The two classmates who were punished like him also looked inside curiously, and came up to the eldest brother and said, "Erlang brother, how come your cousin can also read the Analects? Didn't he just start school?"
Bai Erlang muttered, "That's why I hate him the most. He started learning at just two. My grandmother said he could recite not only 300 poems, but also the Thousand Character Classic and the Analects. As soon as he came, my grandmother gave him my favorite braised pork. In short, he's as annoying as Manbao. Humph, is being able to read a thing a big deal?"
"That's right, that's right. We're better at fighting than him. Otherwise, after class this afternoon, we'll stop him on the road and beat him up so you can vent your anger."
Bai Erlang hesitated, "If my father knew, he would definitely beat me up."
"We did it secretly. I heard my eldest brother say that if you don't want the person being beaten to know who hit you, just put a sack on them."
Bai Erlang rolled his eyes and whispered, "Where can we find a sack?"
"I have it at home, but I can't run back home to get it. Your house is closer than mine."
"Then tomorrow," said another person, "we'll bring sacks tomorrow, and it would be best if we could also sack up Manbao."
"That's not good," Bai Erlang frowned and said, "She's just a girl. You can just scare her with bugs. How can a man hit a girl?"
The other person also felt that beating a girl was too shameful, so he disagreed with the proposal, and the proposal was shelved.
Bai Shanbao and Manbao competed to speak louder. In short, you suppressed me with your first sentence, so I will suppress you with my second sentence.
Mr. Zhuang looked at them with a smile for a long time before knocking on their desks and admonishing them, "Keep your voice down. There are also techniques for reading, otherwise you won't be able to speak tomorrow."
Mr. Zhuang signaled everyone to stop, asked the primary school students to take out their books, and began to teach a new text. After they knew how to read this text, he asked them to read it thoroughly first and then explain its meaning in class later.
After instructing the elementary school students, Mr. Zhuang went to see the college students.
In fact, there are only five people in the older group.
Bai Shanbao glanced at Manbao and read silently on the side.
Manbao also read seriously. She has always had a good memory and basically remembered it after reading it two or three times, but she didn't know what it meant, so she looked around.
If it were in the past, she would have asked Koko directly, but now there was someone sitting next to her, and she felt that instead of talking to Koko in her heart, it would be better to talk to others with her mouth.
The words spoken through the mouth sound particularly nice.
So she began to push her handwritten textbook towards Shanbao and asked, "Do you know what this sentence means?"
Bai Shanbao took a look and happened to have learned it from his grandmother before, so he said proudly, "Of course I know, don't you know?"
"I don't know. The gentleman hasn't had time to tell me yet," Manbao said matter-of-factly, "but I want to know now. Can you tell me?"
Bai Shanbao turned his head to look at her, feeling very comfortable under her gaze, so he reluctantly told her, "Actually, it was two of Confucius' disciples talking. Ziqin asked Zigong, 'The teacher always hears about the country's political affairs when he goes to a place. Does he ask others to tell him, or do others tell him on their own initiative?'"
This is an article from Xue Er, and Bai Shanbao had memorized it by heart. His grandmother also told him the meaning, and he remembered it all.
Manbao listened with great interest and said, "I have never heard of this story before. It is really wonderful. I wish I could travel to various countries like Confucius in the future and have people take the initiative to tell me stories."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
