Chapter 36 Winter (Part 4) From today onwards, it will be your little cat...
early morning.
Qian Shiwen sat at his desk, carefully reviewing an article.
Mo Jingchun stood beside him, looking down at the pen tip writing lines of words on the paper, her hands clasped even tighter behind her back in nervousness.
Snowflakes were falling outside the window.
Qian Shiwen's eldest son quietly entered the house and added two honeycomb briquettes to the charcoal brazier.
He smiled at Mo Jingchun, silently said "Good luck," and then left.
"Xiao Mo is really hardworking."
Outside, the youngest daughter of the Qian family was sweeping snow while listening to her father's stern voice as he lectured from the study.
Her brother put down the fire tongs, grabbed a broom, and came over to help shovel snow. "Don't let Mother hear you say that, or she'll say..."
The younger daughter cleared her throat. "Little Mo knows how to work hard, but all you do is play. Can't you learn from Little Mo?"
After mimicking her mother's tone, she couldn't help but laugh, "Oh dear, I'm already so old, do I still need to imitate that?"
Her brother chuckled, “Have you forgotten what Father and the others said? The goddess intends to teach literacy to the people in each county. When that happens, as our father’s daughter, a learned person, you will most likely be selected to be a literacy teacher.”
The younger daughter was shocked. "What did you say?"
She couldn't understand, "Why do we need to promote literacy?"
Her brother frowned slightly. "The goddess said that whether it's manual labor or farming, having knowledge can help everyone do better."
The younger daughter was stunned for a moment, "Huh?"
Her brother made the final decision, "In short, this matter will be implemented in the future. You'd better not fall behind in your studies, otherwise, if you can't give a lecture when you stand in the workshop or at the village entrance, it will be a huge disgrace to our father!"
The younger daughter imagined it for a moment, and her expression gradually became distorted.
In the study, Qian Shiwen patiently explained the problems with Mo Jingchun's article and gave her suggestions for revision.
Finally, I encouraged her, "This article is better than the last one. You've made progress. Keep it up, read more books, and write more."
Mo Jingchun took the manuscript and bowed respectfully. "Thank you for your guidance. I will definitely work hard. You have really been a great help during this time."
"It's alright, it's alright," Qian Shiwen said with a smile. "We teachers are very happy that our students are willing to improve."
Watching Mo Jingchun's departing figure, the little girl stood up straight, just like the plum blossom in the courtyard.
Qian Shiwen stroked his beard and smiled kindly.
Among the heads of the administrative office, Mo Jingchun, Zhu Youchuan, and Yun Youning are the youngest. However, Zhu Youchuan comes from a prominent family and has received an excellent education since childhood. Yun Youning's family is a well-known wealthy household in the area, and her father is happy to broaden her horizons. Under his influence, she has learned a lot about business and gained a lot of experience.
Only Mo Jingchun, a girl from the mountains, had only studied the Analects of Confucius, and was far behind in terms of innate education. She didn't want to lose too much, and didn't want people to think she wasn't qualified to stand in her current position, so she could only improve herself through hard work.
fine.
Qian Shiwen thought, which founding emperor of any dynasty was led by only talented people? Many people were honed in the process of conquering the country.
With Xiao Mo's ambition, the goddess will give her enough time to grow.
only……
He gazed at the red plum blossoms blooming amidst the ice and snow, wondering if we old bones would live to see that day.
Lunar New Year's Eve is fast approaching.
The fighting in Anling County is not over yet, and the people in the city have no time or energy to prepare for the New Year.
After the news spread, the village chiefs organized their villagers to take action. They cleared the largest open space in their villages, moved tables and chairs from each household, washed them, made simple arrangements, and wove dragon lanterns out of bamboo and straw...
As they busied themselves, they looked ahead to what kind of food the goddess would bestow upon them on New Year's Eve.
Zhu Youchuan is still presiding over the case.
The temporary government office was packed with men, women, and children who had rushed over upon hearing the news. They gathered three or four deep at the entrance, eagerly watching the spectacle.
He sat in the courtroom, solemnly pointing out the criminal's crime, presenting one piece of evidence after another, forming a complete chain of evidence, and confirming the criminal's crime.
"You are the murderer who killed so-and-so."
The people outside listened with great interest, exclaiming "Wow!" in admiration.
Zhu Youchuan slammed his gavel to quiet everyone down.
Seeing that he could not argue, the prisoner kneeling below the court cried and said that he did not do it on purpose, that it was all the victim's fault, that he knew he was wrong, and begged the judge to let him go.
Zhu Youchuan remained calm and said, "Before you went to find so-and-so, you specifically carried a dagger with you. You intended to take his life from the beginning, which doesn't seem like an accidental killing."
He slammed the gavel twice, "In the case of so-and-so murdering so-and-so, after trial, the facts of the crime are clear and the evidence is conclusive and sufficient. Therefore, in accordance with Article 171 of the Yunhe Law, so-and-so is found guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced to death."
After the trial concluded, the prisoner was taken away.
The person organizing the documents asked Zhu Youchuan curiously, "Those last few sentences of yours were quite cool!"
He wanted to repeat himself, saying things like "the facts of the crime are clear and the evidence is conclusive," and "he was sentenced to death based on so many articles of the law."
Zhu Youchuan's expression finally relaxed. "I learned this from the goddess. She showed me how people in later generations judged cases."
"How will future generations judge cases?"
Zhu Youchuan nodded, "Yes, people in later generations have electronic products, so there is even less room for criticism when it comes to evidence."
For example, surveillance footage, photos, audio recordings, and videos.
"We must be more careful and thorough in our investigations to avoid wrongful convictions!" The young man stretched and yawned.
What's next?
"He Jin from Shifang insists that his son marry his wife's brother's daughter." The speaker said helplessly, "The goddess has said that close relatives cannot marry, so we specifically included it in the 'Yunhe Law,' but there are always some people who don't listen."
Many deeply ingrained beliefs persist, and some people still only accept the rule of "no marriage between people with the same surname," failing to realize that cousins and siblings are the same.
Therefore, despite their continuous efforts to promote their views, some people still stubbornly hold their own opinions.
Zhu Youchuan listened for a moment, then asked, "Is it just him who insists? What does his brother-in-law's family think?"
The clerk was taken aback.
Zhu Youchuan knew what was going on and said, "Go to the propaganda team and find someone who can talk a lot, along with their village chief and his brother-in-law's family. We'll all go to his house and have a good talk."
If you can persuade them, fine; if they refuse to listen, just send them to mine coal.
"good!"
The few people from the temporary government office immediately ran out.
Medical clinic.
Doctor Xu led most of the doctors, nurses, medicine boys, and apprentices to join the army on the expedition.
Only a small fraction of the staff remained.
Several apprentices and medicine boys are applying medicine to someone who slipped and fell in the snow.
Disinfect, apply medicine, bandage, and fix.
Then he reminded them that the roads were slippery due to the snow and to be careful when walking.
As he pounded the medicine, a young apprentice casually remarked, "I wonder when my senior brothers will be back."
His question sparked a conversation among the others: "Can they come back and celebrate the New Year with us?"
"That probably won't work, right?"
"They haven't finished fighting yet. They're definitely going to finish it in one go, win or lose. How can they go back after the New Year to continue fighting?" a female apprentice said.
Her words made everyone laugh.
The senior sister chuckled, "That's right, that's right. We can't exactly tell the other side, 'Let's call a truce and continue fighting after the New Year.'"
The senior brother said regretfully, "Then they can only spend the New Year on the battlefield in Anling County."
"Don't worry, the goddess will surely bestow a feast upon them."
"Yeah, I hope they can finish the game and come back soon."
“Speaking of this,” a young apprentice said, looking at everyone with feigned mystery, “I heard Doctor Xu say that he hopes to have one doctor per village in the future.”
Everyone found it unbelievable.
"A doctor for the whole village? You didn't hear me wrong, did you?"
"If each village needs a doctor, how many doctors would be enough? Hundreds? Thousands?"
"But if we can really have a doctor in every village, then when someone in a village gets sick, they can get timely medical attention. Think about it, if you send someone to the township or county seat, and there's a delay on the way, a minor illness can become a major illness, and a major illness can become a serious illness."
"That makes sense, but people..."
The female apprentice shrugged. "I told everyone not to worry about it in advance. Doctor Xu probably brought up this idea because the goddess told him about it."
"goddess?"
The senior sister nodded thoughtfully, "It does indeed seem like the work of a goddess." She always saved all living beings.
The group exchanged glances and then fell silent.
The goddess knows more than they do; the goddess cannot be wrong.
For example, before, the goddess asked them to organize sanitation activities at their clinic. At first, everyone didn't quite understand. Free medical consultations were one thing, and medical knowledge lectures were another, but why were they asked to lead people in cleaning? Why were they asked to encourage everyone to wash their hands frequently and drink hot water?
The goddess said, "Illness enters through the mouth."
The goddess showed them the "germs" on everyone's hands.
Everyone: "!!!"
The staff at the clinic were terrified by the germs and organized that sanitation campaign very seriously.
Clean up garbage, unclog ditches and canals, disinfect, and kill insects.
They watched as villagers bathed, washed their hair, trimmed their nails, and cut their hair.
They painted the words "Wash your hands frequently and drink hot water" on the wall.
...
I don't know if it's just their psychological effect, but it seems that after the sanitation campaign, there are indeed fewer people getting minor illnesses recently.
Could it be, as the goddess said, that hygiene and medicine are one and the same?
County government office.
Qiu Tang dragged a chair to sit under the eaves and read "Dream of the Red Chamber" (children's version) while watching the snow fall.
She watched as the characters in the book opened a poetry club, appreciated chrysanthemums, drank wine, and composed poems, and she felt a longing for it.
However, she sighed regretfully when she thought that neither she nor her classmates could write poetry.
"It's okay, you can tell stories, recite poems, or guess idioms."
He Qinglan's voice suddenly rang out.
Qiu Tang looked up in surprise and saw He Qinglan walking up the steps in the snow. She said, "It's just an event, you don't have to write your own poems."
Qiu Tang nodded repeatedly.
She noticed that He Qinglan was holding what appeared to be a small white cat, so she stood up and curiously peered over, "Goddess, where did you find this cat?"
He Qinglan paused. "A cat?" She looked down at the little white tiger in her arms and smiled faintly. "I went to the forest in Northeast China to collect medicinal herbs and happened to run into it. Its mother had just died, and the little thing was quite pitiful."
Qiu Tang: "..."
Her eyes widened. "Northeast? Then this kitten..."
He Qinglan casually handed the little white tiger to her, saying, "It's okay, from today onwards, it's your little cat."
Qiu Tang: "..."
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Author's Note: 1. A new spicy hot pot restaurant just opened nearby, and I've been craving it for days. I ordered some yesterday, and I've had diarrhea ever since. [crying emoji]
2. When I was a child, I watched "The Little Tiger Returns Home" and always wanted a white tiger cub (of course, I was just a hypocrite _(:з」∠)_).
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