Chapter 57 The Ox-Master
Song Chunxue didn't sleep well all night.
The third child is the same.
Today was the day Sanwa Jiang Yexun was to go to school, and he got up before dawn.
After he changed his clothes and washed his face, he went to the kitchen to make soup, and that's when he heard the rooster crowing.
When Song Chunxue arrived at the kitchen, she found that Sanwa had already cooked the soup and had drunk it himself.
"Mom, you're up." Sanwa scratched his head sheepishly. "I couldn't sleep, so I got up and made some soup. Mom, drink it while it's hot."
Song Chunxue watched as he put on the clothes he wore on their engagement day: a moon-white cross-collar short shirt, dark blue trousers, and coarse cloth tied around his calves, clearly indicating that he was wearing socks.
He doesn't usually wear socks. When he's herding sheep on the mountain, dirt gets into his shoes, so there's no need for him to wear socks.
The brand-new blue cloth shoes easily got dirty, and Sanwa would bend down from time to time to brush the dirt off the shoes.
Seeing him bending over, Song Chunxue quickly turned her face away, afraid that Sanwa would see her reddened eyes.
“It’s still early, you can go back to sleep for a while. We can go after I’ve had my soup and fed the chickens.” Song Chunxue pointed in the direction of the West Mountain. “The children in the village only go to school when the sun shines on the mountain every day.”
Sanwa nodded, "I understand."
He stepped out of the kitchen, took a deep breath of fresh air, and felt completely refreshed.
The May mornings were slightly cool, but Sanwa didn't feel it at all; in fact, he wanted to go to the school early to check on things.
But soon he realized that he was getting old, and his classmates were all younger than him. He wondered if the people in the school would laugh at him.
Although there are quite a few people in Zhuangzi who started reading late, there probably aren't many who started as late as him.
When Song Chunxue finished her soup, packed her things, and walked out of the courtyard with her tuition fees, she saw Sanwa squatting on the ground drawing circles.
His excitement was replaced by tension and worry, and he became somewhat depressed.
"What's wrong? You're afraid to go?"
When Sanwa saw Song Chunxue wearing a plain-colored right-fastening robe, he stood up in surprise.
"I've never seen Mother wear this before, it looks beautiful on her." He praised her sincerely.
Song Chunxue smiled; this child could be sweet-talking too.
Farmers rarely wear such large-fronted garments because they have to work on weekdays; they only wear them during the off-season or on very important occasions.
Song Chunxue always wore a faded, patched short-sleeved shirt with the front closed, and always looked very down on her luck.
It's no wonder that others admire Song Chunxue; she can support three children's education all by herself. Even in other families where both parents are alive, it's not certain that they could afford it.
The mother and son crossed a mountain and arrived at the school after about half an hour.
The school was located behind the mountain to the south, on a low hill, and children from more than a dozen surrounding villages came here to study.
Private schools were relatively small in scale. They were established by local clans or villages that raised money and land for education, and invited literate people from the community to teach. Therefore, the school buildings were relatively simple.
As we approached Jingcao Hall, we saw the tightly closed doors and a group of boys of varying ages lingering at the entrance.
When everyone saw Song Chunxue, some of the children recognized her and Sanwa, and they couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
Song Chunxue didn't take it to heart. She turned to Sanwa and whispered, "Dealing with people is not the same as dealing with sheep. Some people say unpleasant things and will laugh at you. Don't take it to heart."
Sanwa couldn't help but laugh. "Mother, don't worry, I won't take such a small thing to heart."
He looked around and saw no one taller than him. Although there were two others around his age, they were both thin and not as sturdy as Sanwa, who herded sheep year-round.
"If it comes down to a fight, none of them are a match for me. Even if they say bad things about me, they wouldn't dare to do it to my face," Sanwa whispered to comfort her. "They're just a bunch of kids, I'm not afraid."
Song Chunxue nodded. That's true. Sanwa isn't a timid or cowardly child.
Before long, the teacher arrived and, as he unlocked the door, couldn't help but turn to look at Song Chunxue.
"Are you from Li Family Village?" He seemed to recognize Song Chunxue, and looked her up and down. "The one from the Jiang family who had four sons?"
He probably wanted to say the word "widow," but he didn't because there were so many students present.
"Yes, I'm here to take my third son to school. I don't know who to talk to?"
Song Chunxue recognized this man. If she remembered correctly, his surname was Niu, and everyone called him Master Niu.
He just hadn't taught many children, and they'd never spoken to each other before.
"Wait a moment, Jiang Yao will be back, then you can go find him. Let's go inside first."
He turned around and hung the lock behind the heavy wooden door, and the students went into the classroom and headed to their respective school buildings.
Song Chunxue, along with the three children, followed Master Niu to a large house with six tables inside.
This is where the teachers rested and prepared their lessons.
"Just find a place to sit and wait for Jiang Yao to arrive. He will arrange which school your child should study with."
Niu Fuzi was somewhat thin, of medium height, and dressed in an ordinary cross-collar long gown. The vertical lines on the sides of his mouth were particularly noticeable.
Sanwa also said that before he went to school, he thought that Master Niu was very special, that he looked like the Bull Demon King, that he was tall and had two big black horns on his head.
Unexpectedly, after seeing Master Niu in person, he felt that Master Niu should be called Tree Trunk instead.
Because Niu Fuzi is rather thin and long, as is his face.
Nine years have passed, and Master Niu looks a bit weathered. Sanwa can't help but stare at him.
"How old is this child? He looks quite tall. How many years of schooling did he attend before?"
“A year and a half,” Sanwa replied.
"Why do you suddenly want to study here? You're almost engaged, isn't this unnecessary?"
Master Niu looked at Song Chunxue with suspicion, "I remember that your other three children all went to school. The fourth one studied in the village. This one is supposed to herd sheep for your family, right? If he goes to school, who will herd sheep?"
"..." Song Chunxue hadn't thought about it before, but now she couldn't stand listening to him speak.
If it weren't for the fact that offending the teacher was wrong, she would have wanted to curse him.
"The fourth son doesn't like studying, so he's the one who herds the sheep. This kid has been herding sheep for so many years, but he's always wanted to come back to school. I was afraid of leaving him with regrets, so I'm fulfilling his wish."
Song Chunxue smiled slightly at Sanwa, "He has been herding sheep for nine years and is a great contributor to the family. He can study for two more years to recover."
Master Niu nodded, "Yes, you are quite fair to the children."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "I remember you're quite close to Jiang Yao's family. Why didn't you talk to him about it before? You share the same surname, don't you see each other often?"
"Yes, although we share the same surname, their great-grandfather and our great-grandfather came from two different places, so we can't be considered of the same clan, nor are we that close." In fact, it was Jiang Yao's side that looked down on Jiang Shuming's family.
Jiang Shuming was Song Chunxue's deceased husband and the father of her several children.
Jiang Shuming's father had no other brothers; both of his grandfathers were separated from him after he came of age due to a drought.
When Jiang Shuming was alive, he didn't often interact with Jiang Yao's side. After Jiang Shuming passed away, they had almost no contact with each other.
"I can imagine, your husband passed away many years ago, so there's no need for us to keep in touch." At this point, Master Niu put on a meaningful smile, "I heard that last time you went to the market, you got into a fight with two people from Shangchuan, pushed them off their cart, and got them bruised and battered. How did you manage that?"
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