Song Anxin continued, "The money is all in the cabinet in Mother's room. This is another key. If you need money for collecting duck eggs or anything else, just take it from there. We'll just reconcile the accounts every now and then."
Holding the key, Zhang Mei looked at him expectantly and said, "Mom, I... I..."
Seeing Zhang Mei's moved expression, Song Anxin hesitated for a long time before saying something, afraid that she would cry again. She quickly said:
“You are our eldest daughter-in-law, and you will have to take care of this family sooner or later. I am also busy now and can’t take care of many things at home. I think it’s good to have you share the burden. You don’t need to rush, just take your time.”
Zhang Mei quickly held back her tears. She knew her mother-in-law didn't like seeing her cry. Her eyes were firm as she said:
"Mother, I will definitely do my best and not let you down."
Song Anxin smiled when she saw Zhang Mei's spirited demeanor. She knew that her daughter-in-law would not let her down; she handled every single matter at home very well.
Soon it was noon. After lunch, Song Anxin's family either took a nap, chatted, or went about their own business in the house. This was the most relaxing time for everyone.
An Xin was explaining new mathematical knowledge and theories to Song Anbang. He was learning very quickly and had already learned the junior high school level of theory. Lin Fenghe was also listening from the side.
Lin Fengnian, Zhang Mei, and the other three were practicing calligraphy with brushes. Although the paper wasn't very good, they were reluctant to use it. They practiced each character on a wooden board for a long time before daring to write it on the paper.
After finishing the lesson, Song Anbang went back to his room and took out a small item from his basket.
The younger children immediately recognized what it was, their eyes filled with interest. They stopped practicing their writing and put down their books, all crowding around Song Anbang.
Song Anxin looked up and saw that it was a small abacus.
"Uncle, do you know how to use an abacus?" Lin Fengyao asked curiously, blinking his eyes.
Song Anbang said, "Yes, the academy teaches all of them. I forgot to bring them last time, so I brought some books with me when I went to the county this time."
"Uncle, can you teach us?" Lin Fengshou's eyes widened when he saw the abacus. He had seen many shopkeepers in the county with one, and they would take it out and rattle it with a loud clang when doing accounts, looking very impressive.
Song Anbang nodded and said, "I took it out to teach you. I need to go to Uncle Lin's house and ask him if he can make a few of these abacuses."
Lin Fengshou and Feng Yaolian exclaimed, "Me too! Me too!"
The group left in a flash, but returned shortly afterward.
Song Anxin was sitting in a spot near the north wind, enjoying the cool air. She was writing some math problems, some for Song Anbang and some for the school children.
Zhang Mei was practicing calligraphy on a wooden board with great seriousness next to her, but the characters she wrote were not much different from her scrawled handwriting. The two of them still did the best with charcoal pencils.
Seeing the group return, she asked, "How did Anbang go? Did Fengnian's uncle say it could be done?"
Lin Fengshou said somewhat dejectedly, "My uncle said that the beads of this abacus need special tools to be polished, but my uncle's family doesn't have any, so we can't make them."
Song Anxin comforted you, "It's okay, Mom will buy it for you once you've learned how."
Lin Fengyao's face immediately lit up with joy:
"Really, Mom? Then I'll definitely be the first to learn, hehe." She then tugged at Song Anbang's sleeve and said, "Uncle, please teach me quickly... teach me..."
Unable to resist his nagging any longer, Song Anbang had no choice but to first introduce him to the abacus: "Look, the beads on this are..."
Several of the younger children also gathered around to listen, especially Lin Fengshou, who looked at the abacus with great seriousness, as if it were a precious treasure. Zhang Mei also pricked up her ears.
After explaining the basics of the abacus for a while, Song Anbang asked, "Have you all memorized it?"
Apart from Lin Fenghe and Lin Fengshou remembering some of it, the others were completely bewildered.
"Uncle, you're speaking too fast. Could you please repeat it?" Lin Fengyao said.
Song Anbang then explained it again, and this time the group finally remembered some of it. Song Anbang asked, "What number is this position? And how many beads are on this abacus?"
Lin Fengshou thought for a moment and answered. Lin Fenghe was also good. Lin Fengnian and Lin Fengyao, one big and one small, scratched their heads. Zhang Mei also said that she was not quite sure.
Song Anbang had no choice but to prepare to explain it to them again.
Song Anxin couldn't stand it anymore; the ancients really made everything sound so literary and complicated.
She got up and walked over to them, saying, "Anbang, I have a little trick for learning the abacus that might help them learn faster."
Song Anbang looked up and said, "Sister, you also know how to use an abacus?"
"Ahem, I only know a little bit."
Then she picked up the small abacus and said to the children, "Come, recite a rhyme with me: The little abacus has four sides, the long middle is the beam, the strings of beads are hidden on the grid, one bead on the top represents five, one bead on the bottom represents one, look from right to left the digits can't be wrong, ones, tens, hundreds, thousands..."
The younger children, including Song Anbang, felt as if the nursery rhyme their mother/elder sister was reciting had a magical power. They memorized it after only a few repetitions and instantly understood what an abacus was all about.
Seeing that they had all memorized it, Song Anxin let the younger ones explore the abacus on their own.
She called Song Anbang aside: "These are just basic formulas for recognizing the abacus. I'll write down some addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division formulas later. You can study them carefully before teaching the children."
"Sister, could you tell me what the mnemonic is? I've been learning the abacus for so long, and I've never heard of a mnemonic for learning it before," Song Anbang said.
The rhyme he just heard only scratched the surface of the abacus; he couldn't think of any other convenient and simple rhyme to go deeper into its meaning.
Song Anxin recalled for a moment and slowly said, "Addition is like this: one goes up, one goes down, five goes down, four goes down, one goes down, nine goes down, one goes up... and division is when you reach two, one goes up..."
Song Anbang felt that his older sister was being too modest when she said she only knew a little; her knowledge had already overturned his imagination.
Song Anxin wasn't being modest; she really only knew superficial things. She could do the theory but couldn't put it into practice, mainly because the abacus wasn't used in her time.
As the afternoon drew to a close, two carriages sped up in front of Song Anxin's courtyard. Alighting from them were Manager Cai of Tianxuan Restaurant and Manager Meng of Junyue Restaurant.
Rivals are bound to be hostile when they meet. The two men snorted as soon as they saw each other and turned their heads away, refusing to look at one another.
They even teased each other a bit when they reached the courtyard gate.
"Manager Meng, you're quite quick on your feet. Are you trying to outdo my Tianxuan Restaurant again? Let me tell you, no way. You were just lucky that time."
"Manager Cai still remembers? It seems you must have been sighing a lot at home during that time. My Junyue Restaurant was always packed with customers lining up every day."
"........"
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