The house is quiet; someone is up to no good.
Meng Chijian sensed something was wrong as soon as he got home.
Amian, like a little servant, couldn't sit still for a moment and took out clothes to wash again. She had two small shirts made of silk, a material that would fade after being washed, and they were already faded now, but they were very soft and comfortable to wear.
Originally, A-Mian and Meng Jing washed the clothes at home. However, after A-Mian started menstruating, she couldn't touch water for a few days. Therefore, Meng Chijian gradually started washing her undergarments and blouses.
Amian was washing herself with great effort, and Meng Chijian was a little suspicious that she wasn't getting it clean.
Suddenly, he saw his younger sister wink at him.
“I went to the academy with A-Mian today. A-Mian… knows that you paid the money,” Meng Jing said.
"oh."
A-Mian then dried her hands and ran over to explain her confusion: Why did they lie to her and say that going to school was free? Why didn't they send Xiao-Jing instead? Was saying she was smart also a lie? Why did they insist on making her study?
Even she herself didn't think that studying was very useful; she just did it for fun, just like when she went to the mountains to pick wild fruits or to the river to catch fish.
Meng Chijian served up a wild vegetable bun, a mixed dish of cabbage, green onion, eggs, and wild mushrooms, along with a plate of pickled mustard greens, and made the final decision: "There's no reason why, we're husband and wife. I want you to go to school, so I'm working hard for it. If you want Xiao Jing to go to the academy, or if Xiao Jing wants to go herself, you'll have to figure it out yourselves."
"But……"
"But what? I'm the older brother, so I should pay for it? Does that mean my second brother should also pay for my schooling? And what about my nephews and nieces?"
Meng Chijian knew she lacked social skills, which was one of the reasons he was in a hurry to send her to school. "Do you even know what a husband and wife are?"
Meng Jing answered quickly: "I know, I know! It means living in the same house, eating together, and having lots of babies!"
"What does Ah Mian think?"
Ah Mian, who is five or six years older than her, has her own insight: "Becoming a couple is because there is too much to do by one person, so you have to find another person. It's the same with having children. When the children grow up, they can also help with housework."
Take my second sister-in-law's son, Tiger, for example. When he gets a little older, around four or five years old, he'll have to help take care of his younger sister, tend the fire, and feed the chickens. When he's eleven or twelve, he can go to work in the fields with them.
Meng Chijian, however, had a different view: "If you earn money but don't spend it, then it's all for nothing. You can't spend that much by yourself, but once you're married, you can spend the money on your wife and children."
Mencius' mother ate a vegetable bun with a smile on her face.
The old lady said, "You're all right. Eat quickly, or it will get cold."
As the sun sets, a family eats their dinner under a tree, with wisps of smoke rising from distant chimneys—a scene most common in the mundane world.
After dinner, A-Mian and Meng-Jing went to feed the chickens and discuss some matters.
"Ah Mian, you should go. I really don't dare to go alone..."
“I’ve got an idea. We can’t let the academy make those ten taels of silver for nothing.” The weight of that silver felt like a mountain on A-Mian’s shoulders, but it spurred her to come up with an incredibly bold idea: “Let’s pool our money and buy some candles. After dinner, I’ll teach you what I learned during the day. Do you remember the character ‘天’ (tian, meaning 'sky')?”
A-Mian casually broke off two tree branches and let Meng Jing slide them on the soil—it was much easier to use a stick than a brush. Meng Jing imitated the writing a few times and could already recognize it.
"This word means sky. It means the sky. What we look up at is the sky."
"That's great! This way I don't need to go to the academy; I can learn to read at home!"
And it immediately saved ten taels of silver.
“That’s not all,” A-Mian said, her eyes shining. “Xiao-Jing, go to the village these next few days and ask if any little kids want to learn to read from A-Mian’s wife. There’s no tuition fee, and they can bring whatever they want.”
Will anyone come?
"Give it a try. Teaching one person is the same as teaching. If you have any questions, I'll write them down and ask the teacher at the academy the next day."
The two men each paid fifty coins for the candles.
For the first few days, no one came after Meng Jing called out.
On the fourth day, among the children who had come to listen to the storytelling, a little girl with a snotty nose always came to play, bringing half a small basket of green beans; and a seven or eight-year-old boy with missing teeth caught some small fish and shrimp. When the second brother's family heard about this, they also called Tiger to join in the fun, and he brought two copper coins.
These things aren't worth much, but A-Mian was still very excited, after all, being a teacher must be much more fun than being a student.
During the day at the academy, A-Mian was the last one.
When the teacher was testing her, Ah Mian's answers to questions always elicited bursts of quiet laughter from the students.
Although Ji Hengzhi and his group did not openly interact with A Mian, they secretly sabotaged her from time to time.
She put caterpillars in her basket.
Collect many fallen leaves and leave them in the study so that she will spend more time cleaning.
They even wrote many satirical poems about her, saying she was as stupid as a pig and would never be able to learn anything.
"We'll find out during this monthly exam; she'll definitely be last again!"
The students' discussions made Ji Hengzhi feel both relieved and awkward.
In some ways, he should actually thank Ah Mian. With Ah Mian around, he was no longer at the bottom of the class, and his family even thought he had made academic progress…
In contrast, Ah Mian casually tossed the caterpillars out of her basket, which startled the others.
As for the rest, she didn't care at all.
Anyway, she was the only one punished by sweeping the dormitory for a month; afterwards, it was a rotating system. Besides, she was indeed the last place in the last monthly exam.
However, once she arrived in Qingshan Village, her treatment was completely reversed.
"Ah Mian, will you tell me another story today? My child kept talking about it in his sleep last night!"
"By the way, my spinach is ripe and very tender. I asked your Meng San to take some back with me."
Meng San's popularity has also strangely improved a lot.
There were quite a few people in the village who wanted to see him make a fool of himself, and some of them were saying very hurtful things behind his back.
The main reason for this is the fear that Meng San might spoil A Mian's heart, and that the other wives would follow suit. If their own wives started clamoring to go to that cramped, unpalatable academy, how could they possibly live like that?
But things changed after A-Mian started teaching the little ones to read.
We still have some vegetable leaves at home, and the kids are always running around and playing outside. What's wrong with them learning something?
When Big Nose and Missing Teeth returned home and used a stick to crookedly write "Yaya" and "Big Head" on the ground, and read them aloud, many people changed their tune.
They never imagined in their lives that their children, being farmers, would be able to read and write, and wouldn't have to be illiterate like they were.
Who said Ah Mian is wild? Ah Mian is amazing!
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