Chapter 325 There are kind and simple villagers everywhere.
After a busy day, Jiang Ling felt sore all over.
After she finished washing up, she was about to blow out the lamp and go to bed when she suddenly heard light footsteps outside the window, followed by an old voice, mixed with Ah Zhu's soft words of dissuasion, drifting intermittently into the room.
"That's all... not much... could you please pass this to Miss Xiao Qiu?"
"No, Grandma Sang, really no! You keep it for yourself... Sister Xiao Qiu won't accept it." A-Zhu's voice was very low, full of difficulty.
“I’m an old man… Eating these refined grains is just a waste of food… Miss Xiao Qiu is a noble person, she goes to great lengths to teach the children, she deserves to eat something better…”
Grandma Sang insisted, her tone tinged with stubbornness.
Grandma Sang? Jiang Ling seemed to vaguely remember her.
He was an elderly man in his seventies at the east end of the village, with a very kind and gentle face.
Jiang Ling would occasionally see her slowly walking by when she was sunbathing at the door, and sometimes she would give her a gentle smile.
Just as Jiang Ling was about to get up, she heard Granny Sang suddenly raise her voice and call out clearly, "Little Qiu? Are you asleep?"
A thought crossed her mind, and she decided to open the door.
A chilling aura, mixed with fine snowflakes, rushed towards me.
Outside the door, Grandma Sang leaned on an old cane, with A-Zhu beside her, carrying a heavy bamboo basket covered with a clean blue cloth.
"Grandma Sang, Azhu? It's such a cold night, come inside quickly." Jiang Ling stepped aside to let the two of them into the house, and then lit the oil lamp on the table.
The light inside the room brightened up a bit, and Grandma Sang placed the bamboo basket next to the table and carefully lifted the blue cloth.
Inside, there was a small bag of refined rice, a small bag of refined flour, and a small bag of dried sweet potato chips and corn cakes, all of which were winter rations for people in the north. It was clear that they had been carefully prepared.
Seeing this, Jiang Ling assumed that Granny Sang had come to deliver tuition fees to the children, and asked with a smile, "Granny Sang, do you also have children who need to go to school?"
These things are too valuable; you don't need to give so many gifts for a school assignment.
Since Jiang Ling agreed to teach in the village that afternoon, many neighbors brought their children's tuition fees over that evening.
They were all kind and simple villagers, and none of them wanted to take advantage of others.
Besides, reading is a very important thing. It's already a blessing to have books to read. People would save up their tuition fees even if it meant cutting back on their own spending.
Jiang Ling understood their difficulties, and since she couldn't refuse most of them, she only symbolically accepted a small amount.
Grandma Sang slowly shook her head. She sighed, her voice a little hoarse: "No, Miss Xiaoqiu. I... have no children in my family who need to go to school. My old man passed away at the beginning of the month. We had saved up his winter food, but now I'm just an old woman all alone. I can't eat that much, and it's just sitting there. I thought I might as well give it to you, Miss."
Jiang Ling was taken aback upon hearing this, and quickly waved her hand: "How can this be? Absolutely not! Granny Sang, these are all your winter food supplies, how can I take your things? Please take them back."
Ah Zhu chimed in, "Yes, Grandma Sang, I already told you that's not allowed... Sister Xiao Qiu won't take it, you have to keep it for yourself!"
Grandma Sang stubbornly held onto the bamboo basket, refusing to let Jiang Ling touch it. She raised her head, her cloudy eyes filled with sincerity:
“What’s wrong with that? It’s a wonderful thing for the girl to teach everyone to read and write, a virtuous act! It’s just that I, this old woman, am not blessed with good fortune and do not have the good fortune to have grandchildren to dote on me and enjoy this blessing.”
She took a breath and continued.
"I haven't been able to do anything for the children in the village. This little bit of food is a small token of my appreciation on behalf of the villagers of Shijia Village who have received your kindness. It's simple, so please don't find it offensive."
As she spoke, Granny Sang was about to bow, but Jiang Ling quickly stepped forward to support her, her eyes slightly moist.
"Grandma Sang, please don't do this. I appreciate your kindness, but I really can't accept this food. It's not easy for you to live alone, you should keep this food for yourself to get through the winter. I'm staying at A-Zhu's house, I don't need anything, really."
Grandma Sang grew anxious, her eyes reddening. "If the young lady doesn't accept it, it means she thinks my old woman's things are too coarse. I know my grain isn't worth much, but it's a small token of my appreciation. We old folks can't offer much help, this is all we can do."
Looking at Granny Sang's determined eyes, Jiang Ling knew that she could no longer persuade her to change her mind.
If I insist on not accepting it, I might hurt the old man's feelings.
She took a deep breath and nodded gently: "Alright, Grandma Sang, I accept your kindness. But there's too much grain, I definitely can't finish it all. How about this, I'll keep some, and the rest can be given to Master Yan to distribute to the families in the village who need it more. Is that alright?"
Upon hearing this, Granny Sang immediately smiled and nodded repeatedly, "Good! Good! I'll do whatever you say, Miss! As long as you don't mind."
Jiang Ling carefully took out two cornbreads and a small handful of dried sweet potatoes from the bamboo basket, covering the rest with a blue cloth: "This is enough for me. Please have Azhu take the rest to Master Yan. Thank you so much, Grandma Sang."
Grandma Sang smiled so much that her wrinkles gathered together. "No need to thank me, we should be thanking you. It's late, so I won't disturb you any longer. Please get some rest."
After seeing Granny Sang and Azhu off, Jiang Ling closed the door and looked at the cornbread on the table.
I feel terrible.
Because Jiang Ling had difficulty walking and couldn't go too far, the teaching location was set in Shi Lao's courtyard.
When the afternoon sun is at its best, this place becomes a unique school in the village.
There was no desk, no paper or pen.
The children brought out small stools of varying heights, tree stumps, and even a flat stone from their own homes, and sat around in a corner of the yard where the snow had been swept away.
Jiang Ling sat on a bamboo chair covered with thick cushions, with a light-colored stone slab with a relatively smooth surface placed in front of her. This slab was found by A Zhu.
She used burnt twigs as charcoal pencils to write on the stone slab.
Starting with the simplest characters like "sky, earth, person, mouth, hand," and progressing to "mountain, water, field, grain, tree," she wrote each character with meticulous care and accompanied it with vivid explanations.
“Look at the mountain, doesn’t it look like Tiger Ridge behind our village? It’s high in the middle and low on both sides.”
"The water, winding and meandering, is like the stream at the entrance of the village; it flows."
“The fields are square and straight, with lines drawn inside; that’s where we grow our crops.”
She not only teaches characters, but also occasionally tells stories.
Tell the myth of "Cangjie inventing characters", tell the story of "Mencius' mother moving three times" and tell the story of "grinding an iron pestle into a needle".
This teaching method captivated the children, and even the adults who were originally peeking out from outside the yard couldn't help but squat in the corner.
Master Yan indeed came several times humbly, ostensibly for the purpose of exchanging ideas.
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