Chapter 44: Teaching Chinese Characters (Wishing Book Friend Tang Shuning a Speedy Recovery)
Zhou Silang squatted beside Manbao and sighed again and again, "Little sister, has Fourth Brother ever offended you?"
Manbao nodded, "You have offended our entire family."
Zhou Silang was silent for a long time, then said, "I said I really have changed. Do you believe me?"
Although he didn't believe it in his heart, Manbao nodded and said, "I do believe it, so Fourth Brother, you have to work hard to pay back the money you owe to your family and your brother and sister-in-law."
Zhou Silang slumped his shoulders and said, "Farming doesn't make money."
Manbao disagreed, "Many people farm the land. My parents farm the land, my brother and sister-in-law farm the land, and even Mr. Bai's family farms the land."
“That’s all good land.”
"Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of years ago, the land was the same. Wasn't it cultivated by people?" Manbao had already asked Keke and was very confident. He comforted Zhou Silang, "Don't worry, Fourth Brother. You can open up the land first. When the time comes, I will bring my fifth and sixth brothers to help you cultivate the land. In the future, I will talk to Dad and give you all the land you open up. You can earn money slowly. If you can't pay it back, you still have your son."
Zhou Silang: ...
Manbao had already made plans for him and said, "Although your son has to pay off your debts, he will get more land than Datou and his family when he divides the family property. He will definitely agree. In fact, I want Datou and his family to open up their own land so that they can pass it down to their children and grandchildren in the future."
Zhou Silang: "...Manbao, you think too much."
Manbao: "Of course, sir, you should think long-term and not just see what's in front of you. I just thought about it. Why is Mr. Bai's family so rich?"
Zhou Silang: "Because they have a lot of land."
"Yes, because they have so much land, so much that they can hire many people to help them farm. All they have to do is lie at home and count their money," Manbao said ambitiously. "If our family also has a lot of land, can we also become a white landlord?"
Zhou Silang turned and left.
Manbao even tried to persuade him to stay, "Fourth brother, please don't leave. I haven't finished what I want to say yet."
Zhou Silang no longer wanted to pay attention to her.
Land reclamation is very tiring, and it is almost all physical work. Every day when Zhou Silang gets home, he just wants to sit on the ground and not move. After eating, he takes a quick shower and lies down on the bed before it gets dark.
Zhou Silang touched his aching shoulders and back and shed tears of regret for the first time. He really knew he was wrong.
Zhou Silang was wiping his tears in the house, while Manbao gathered all his friends and taught them how to read before it got dark.
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang also squeezed over to watch out of curiosity.
Manbao first taught them the names of their county and village, and then their own names. She said, "This is what the teacher taught me. He said I should memorize it so that if I get lost or kidnapped, I can remember where my home is and what my name is."
Feng couldn't help but spit and spit twice, saying, "Children's words are careless and can be blown away by the wind. Little aunt, please don't talk nonsense. How could you get lost?"
Little Qian said, "This is a good idea. Quickly have the children write it down, including the fifth and sixth children. If you need to go to the county town by yourselves in the future, don't get lost."
"Sister-in-law, the fifth and sixth sons are already grown up, who would want to snatch them away?"
"You never know," said Xiao Qian. "It's a peaceful time now, and people are needed everywhere. What if someone is so daring as to kidnap the fifth and sixth brothers and make them do hard labor? Such things have happened before."
Feng was surprised. "Has this ever happened?"
"Of course not," Xiao Qianshi said as her aunt jumped in front of her and looked at her with sparkling eyes. She knew that she liked to hear such stories, so she smiled and said, "That happened when I was a child. There were two brothers in our village, one in his twenties and the other just coming of age. The two brothers went to the county town to find work and were separated from their fellow villagers. As a result, they were captured and their families thought they were dead. After several years, the younger brother came back alive, but he was no longer in human form. They said that he was locked up in a quarry to chisel stones, and he only had one steamed bun a day. Many people were exhausted to death or starved to death. Otherwise, what do you think? Why do we have to travel together every time we go to the county town? It's all because of what happened in the past."
Manbao looked at his fifth and sixth brothers and said in a conflicted tone, "Fifth brother, Sixth brother, please don't go to the county town."
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang were both a little nervous, but thinking of the huge profits, they were reluctant to agree.
Old Zhou smoked a pipe of dry tobacco and said, "Second Brother, take the fifth and sixth brothers for a walk tomorrow morning and teach them the etiquette of walking."
Zhou Erlang responded.
Manbao curiously asked her father, "Dad, are there any rules for walking?"
"That's right. Wait for your fifth brother to come back tomorrow and let him tell you."
Manbao was looking forward to it.
It was the first time for several of them to learn to read, so of course they couldn't know too many words, so Manbao only taught them the three words "Qili Village".
Everyone was gesturing on the ground with sticks. The three sisters-in-law of the Qian family were relieved to see that the children did not run out to play after dinner.
Qian and Feng were about to ask Daya and Erya to wash the dishes, but when they turned around, they saw them squatting on the ground drawing seriously. After hesitating for a moment, Qian pulled Feng aside and said, "Forget it, we'll just wash them and let the aunt and nephew play together."
In the past, jobs like washing dishes were done by Daya and Erya. Although Feng was not very happy about having an extra job, she looked at her happy daughters and nodded in agreement.
Forget it, just learn a few words, at least I won’t forget where I live.
Manbao taught seriously and the students also learned seriously. When it was too dark for everyone to see clearly, Manbao threw away the stick and everyone started playing games together.
Few people in the Zhou family would ask Manbao what she learned in school, because they wouldn't understand even if they told her. Every day when Manbao came home, they would only ask her if she was bullied. Once they knew that she wasn't, they would stop asking.
As for how Manbao is doing in school, is there any need to say more?
That would definitely be great. In the minds of everyone in the Zhou family, is there anyone in the entire Qili Village who is smarter than their youngest sister (aunt)?
Didn’t you see that Mr. Zhuang would rather not pay the tuition fee than accept her as his disciple?
The Zhou family was relieved, but the Bai family had a different attitude towards Bai Shanbao.
Bai Shanbao had just returned home and hadn't even sat down when his mother Zheng pulled him over and touched him. The first thing she asked him was whether he had had a fight today.
After getting a negative answer, I asked him if he bullied anyone. After being denied again, I asked him if he was bullied by anyone, and found out that he had not.
Only then did Zheng breathe a sigh of relief. As for the fact that her son deliberately stepped in puddles and got his shoes and pants wet, that was a small matter.
She asked the servants to take her son downstairs to bathe and change his clothes, and then gave him a bowl of ginger soup before taking him to see her mother-in-law.
(End of this chapter)
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