Song Anbang was also very surprised. When he got home, his mother told him that his older sister, who hadn't been home for more than ten years, had returned. He was still young when his older sister got married and didn't have much of an impression of her.
Song Anxin and Song Anbang faced each other, both feeling rather awkward. Song Anbang called out in a stiff voice, "Sister."
Song Anxin nodded at herself for getting such a great deal of a younger brother for free. To ease the awkwardness, she introduced her two sons.
Hello, Uncle.
Hello, Uncle.
Lin Fengnian and Lin Fenghe obediently greeted the people.
Song Anbang hadn't expected to have two such grown nephews. When his mother told him he had two, he felt a little awkward and replied, "Yes, hello."
From the moment Song Anbang appeared, Lin Fenghe's eyes changed, filled with a mixture of admiration, longing, and envy, making Song Anbang quite uncomfortable.
Song Anxin had already noticed that this kid was a bookworm. In his eyes, Song Anbang was no different from the idol in the eyes of modern young girls.
Song Anbang, probably unable to withstand the intense gazes of his three nephews, coughed and said, "Then, elder sister, you go ahead with your work. I'll go pack up my books." With that, he left.
Grandma Lin laughed and said, "When he was little, he would always pester her to call me 'Ah-jie' or 'Ah-jie,' but now he's become shy. Do you remember how you used to spank your little brother? He complained to me about it quite a few times."
Song Anxin just smiled awkwardly. The old lady's mention of it brought up a lot of memories in her mind.
When they were little, Song Anbang liked to follow his older sister around. The two often played and bickered, and Song Anxin suddenly felt much closer to this unfamiliar younger brother.
However, Lin Fenghe's eyes darkened the moment Song Anbang disappeared; she felt it was time to put the younger children's schooling on the agenda.
Simply telling stories wouldn't do. She learned that the county academy only accepted students who had already begun their education. Since her family didn't have enough money to send the children to school, she decided to teach a few children the basics herself.
Enlightenment requires enlightenment books, and books were very precious in this era. Even the cheapest ones cost several tens of coins, and Song Anxin began to feel the pinch just thinking about it.
Suddenly, Song Anxin's eyes lit up. She had an idea! Her father was a scholar, and he had also been a teacher before. He must have some basic introductory teaching materials.
So she asked Grandma Song, "Mother, where are Father's books? May I take some home to read?"
"Why did you suddenly decide to read books? Didn't you hate books when you were little?" Grandma Song asked.
Song Anxin said, "I showed it to a few children, and they also want to study."
Upon hearing this, Grandma Song nodded in agreement, saying, "Studying is good, studying is good. My grandsons are not bad either; perhaps they can pass the imperial examinations and become students after they start studying."
When Lin Fenghe heard that her mother wanted to lend them books, and that her grandmother said they could pass the imperial examinations in the future, her eyes lit up with anticipation as she looked at her mother.
Lin Fengnian scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. He knew he wasn't very bright and couldn't possibly pass the preliminary examinations; knowing a few characters would be good enough.
Grandma Song told Song Anxin to go to Song Anbang's room to look for all the books, while she talked to her two grandsons, whom she liked more and more the more she looked at them.
Song Anxin walked to Song Anbang's room. The door was open and not closed. Song Anxin looked inside. The room was small and simply furnished, with a bed, a bookshelf, and a desk.
However, the bookshelf was very large, filled with books from top to bottom. Some of these books probably belonged to her father, and some to Song Anbang. The family was so poor, yet they never thought of selling these books, so they must have been very precious to her.
The bed was squeezed into a corner, and Song Anxin even wondered if her tall brother could stretch his legs out at night.
The desk was tidy, and there were articles he had written that he had left there to dry on it.
She saw Song Anbang carefully searching for something in front of the bookshelf, perhaps looking for the book he had just asked for.
She gently knocked on the door next to her. Song Anbang turned around when he heard the sound and saw that it was his sister whom he had just met. He asked in confusion, "Sister, is there something you need?"
Song Anxin explained her purpose for coming.
Song Anbang said, "The primer books are at the very bottom of that bookshelf. Can you find them yourself, sister?"
Song Anxin nodded and went to look for them herself. The books at the bottom of the bookshelf had probably not been used for a long time and were covered with a layer of dust. Song Anxin found the enlightenment books of this era: "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Surnames" and "Thousand Character Classic".
Just as he picked it up, Song Anbang said to the outside, "Mother, I'm out of enlightenment paper. I need some money to buy more, and I also need to pay next month's tuition fee."
Grandma Song responded from outside, "...Alright, Mother will give it to you later."
Through the open door, Song Anxin saw her mother looking somewhat troubled, perhaps because she was short of money, but she seemed to have made up her mind and agreed to her son's request.
Since the last time Song Anxin heard from Grandma Song that Song Anbang refused to earn money by writing letters for others because he felt it would interfere with his studies, she felt that Song Anbang had lost a lot of goodwill towards her.
She felt annoyed no matter how she looked at that face that resembled hers, still acting as if she didn't know the value of daily necessities and taking it for granted that he was asking her mother for money.
She couldn't help but say, "Anbang, don't you know that your family is living in poverty right now?"
Song Anbang didn't expect his older sister to talk to him, so he turned around and said, "I know, but I need money to study."
Song Anxin was somewhat displeased and said, "I know you still ask your mother for money. You know that your mother saves money for your studies and embroiders every day to sell. She only stops when it gets dark and she can no longer see. She ruins her eyes by doing this and can no longer see the small patterns. Then she goes to wash clothes for others."
In the freezing winter water, she washed bucket after bucket. Have you ever seen my mother's hands? Her hands were as withered as dry tree branches, her palms calloused from hard workâno different from the hands of a seventy- or eighty-year-old!
Upon hearing this, Song Anbang was deeply moved and said, "But studying requires money. I... I have no choice but to keep studying harder! I hope that one day I can achieve success and allow my mother to enjoy her old age in peace."
"Then you can set up a stall to write letters for people, or copy books. With your status as a student, you can copy books for the academy and earn at least a hundred coins per book, which is much more than what your mother earns."
This would also lighten the burden on your family a lot, so why don't you go? Do you think doing these things would be beneath your status as a student?" Song Anxin stared straight at him.
Upon hearing this, Song Anbang quickly stepped forward and said, "Sister, how could I possibly think like that? Father and the teacher have both said that even if you study and become an official, you should never think of yourself as superior to others. How could I look down on these people just because I am a mere student?"
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