Chapter 200 Visiting Mr. Zhang
The next day, after delivering the pastries, Xu Zhiyi went to the bookstore. In addition to the set of pens, ink and inkstone he already had, he still needed four sets of paper, pens, ink and inkstone. He also bought two rolls of paper. Since he had just started practicing calligraphy, he bought the worst quality paper. He spent a total of one or two taels of silver, four hundred coins.
After returning from the town, Xu Zhiyi wrapped some cakes in oil paper and went to the home of the old scholar the village chief had mentioned.
The person who opened the door was a six-year-old girl. She looked up at Xu Zhiyi and asked curiously, "Sister, who are you looking for?"
Xu Zhiyi: "Excuse me, is Grandpa Zhang home?"
After hearing what Xu Zhiyi said, the little girl quickly opened all the doors and motioned Xu Zhiyi to come in: "My grandfather is in the study, come in quickly, sister"
Then he shouted towards a window: "Grandpa, a sister came to our house and said she was looking for you."
Xu Zhiyi handed the cake to the little girl: "Little sister, there are some cakes in it. I made them myself. Take them."
After the little girl took it, she tried to think about what her grandmother usually said to guests when they came to her house: "Thank you, sister! You are so polite. It's enough for you to just come. Why bring anything with you? We are all family. Next time you come, don't bring anything with you!"
"Sister, please sit down. I'll get you some water."
After saying this, he took the pastries back to the kitchen and put them there so that he could return the gift to his sister when she left.
Xu Zhiyi was very surprised to see the little girl speaking like an adult.
Zhang Xiucai, who was copying in the study, heard his granddaughter's words, put down his pen and stood up. Seeing Xu Zhiyi in the yard, he was very confused. He didn't know this girl! Why did she come to him suddenly?
Xu Zhiyi looked at Zhang Xiucai who came out and quickly greeted him: "Hello, Grandpa Zhang."
Mr. Zhang pointed to a stool beside him and said, "Young lady, please take a seat. What do you want to talk to me about?"
"Grandpa Zhang, I would like to invite you to be my teacher."
"Master?" When Mr. Zhang heard the word "master", his expression was a little bad, but he soon recovered: "Miss, you asked me to be your master, didn't you ask about me?"
Then he chuckled and showed a mocking expression: "I am a teacher who was expelled from the academy. You dare to ask me to be your teacher? It's really funny."
Xu Zhiyi: "Grandpa Zhang, I came here just because I asked around. I don't know the facts of the academy. I only know that if the village chief and other villagers can recognize someone, he must be good."
During her conversation with the village chief yesterday, the village chief said that Mr. Zhang was an upright person, and the villagers had always praised him and he had never had any disputes with anyone.
When Zhang Xiucai heard Xu Zhiyi's words, he was somewhat moved. He did not expect that he would be so highly regarded in the village.
"Girl, are you sure you want to ask me, a man with a ruined reputation, to be your teacher?"
Xu Zhiyi: "Grandpa Zhang, I am here now because I have thought it through."
"Okay, I'll teach you. You can bring your child here starting tomorrow!"
Xu Zhiyi was stunned for a moment when she heard this, then quickly waved her hands: "No, I'm not teaching the children, I'm teaching me, my two husbands, and my two ten-year-old cousins at home."
"What...what?" Zhang Xiucai opened his mouth in shock when he heard Xu Zhiyi's words, and he was unable to react for a moment!
Xu Zhiyi looked at Zhang Xiucai's surprised expression and repeated it again.
Mr. Zhang recovered now: "Ahem... I was really rude just now. All the students I teach start their enlightenment at the age of seven."
"Grandpa Zhang, you can just teach us from the very beginning. We will study hard and won't embarrass you, Master!"
"Master, you just come and teach us every afternoon, and I'll teach you according to the village!"
Zhang Xiucai: "Okay, then starting from tomorrow, the monthly salary will be 100 wen."
Xu Zhi thought that since Zhang Xiucai had agreed, it was not a good idea to keep him any longer, so he stood up and prepared to leave.
Mr. Zhang also stood up and walked a few steps forward.
The little girl searched for a long time before she found the candy her grandma had hidden. The elders said that when guests come to visit and we have no tea at home, we can use sugar instead.
He took the sugar and hurried to the kitchen to get a bowl of water, then poured some sugar in. He then carefully wrapped the remaining sugar, took it back and put it away before coming out with a bowl of sugar water.
But I saw that my grandfather was the only one there, and I became anxious: "Grandpa, where is my sister?"
"After the chat, they must have gone back!"
Then he looked at the bowl held by his granddaughter and suddenly realized that she had left before even taking a sip of water! With his brain, no wonder the old woman always scolded him for not being able to use his brain for anything other than studying.
When the little girl heard that Xu Zhiyi had left, she burst into tears: "Grandpa, I haven't given my sister a return gift yet, what should I do? Why did he leave?"
Zhang Xiucai: "What's the return gift?"
Hearing this, the little girl took the bowl of sugar water back to the kitchen, and then took out the pastry wrapped in oil paper.
"Grandpa, this is what the sister just brought over."
Mr. Zhang took it, untied the rope, and found pastries wrapped inside.
"Why didn't you tell grandpa just now? Now they have left. Sigh, we are really rude this time."
When the little girl heard this, she couldn't stop crying!
"Okay, stop crying. Next time a guest brings a gift, if you receive it through your hands and the master doesn't know, you must tell the master secretly, understand?"
"When people bring gifts to us, we can't accept all of them. We can take some out and add some of our own things for the guests to take back."
The little girl nodded: "Got it!"
Seeing Xu Zhiyi coming back, Su asked quickly, "How is it going? Is Mr. Zhang willing to come and teach you guys?"
Xu Zhiyi: "He was indeed a little reluctant at first, but he finally agreed!"
Su: "That's good. It's not easy to find a teacher."
Su Ze, who was grinding apatite ore, saw that two barrels of powder had been ground out. He looked at Xu Zhiyi and asked, "Zhiyi, these stones we brought back have already ground into two small wooden barrels of powder!"
"Come here and teach me and your grandfather what to do next."
Xu Zhiyi: "Hey, I'll do it later"
Qin: "Speaking of this, didn't I use the fertilizer made by Zhiyi to water the vegetables a few days ago? I went there today and found that the vegetables seemed to be growing much better than before."
Hearing this, Xu Zhiyi suddenly thought of a good way to take care of the vegetables: "Mom, aunt, let's save the wood ash from burning in the stove, and when the vegetables in the field grow up, sprinkle the wood ash on the leaves."
"Sprinkle a full layer to prevent insects from eating the leaves."
Qin was surprised when she heard this: "Zhiyi, how come you know everything? How come you are so smart?"
Su: "Alas, it's my fault as a mother that Zhiyi was useless when she was in the Xu family. She had to do everything at a young age. She especially liked to tinker with things that we thought were impossible, so it's not surprising that she can do these things."
Hearing this, Xu Zhiyi glanced at Su with some doubt. The original owner didn't seem to be like what she said, right? Thinking about it carefully, he suddenly found that the original owner's long-standing memory was a little fuzzy.
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