Jiang Nuan took the book, dusted it off, and then opened it.
The dark yellow paper was pressed tightly into a stack, with a square dent in the middle.
After flipping through the pages for a while, Jiang Nuan breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she recognized these characters.
It wasn't Simplified Chinese, but Han Dynasty clerical script. If she hadn't studied it for a while for her professional needs, she would definitely be illiterate by now.
Fortunately, Jiang was literate, so she no longer had to rack her brains to find excuses.
"Mom, are you going to teach us to read?" Huang Xiaosi asked nervously, seeing Jiang Nuan's serious expression.
Once you can read, you're considered a highly respected scholar, and all the boys in the village have to listen to Huang Xiaosi.
“Yes, this is a good time for you to learn to read,” Jiang Nuan explained. “However, we don’t have paper and pens at home, so we need to make a few sand trays first.”
"Mom, how do you make a sand table? Tell me, and I'll do it." After confirming the information, Xu Xiaosi excitedly took on the task herself.
“The sand table is very simple. Just make a shallow wooden frame and fill it with sand,” Jiang Nuan paused, then pointed to the bamboo sieve used to dry wild vegetables in the yard. “It’s similar to that sieve. There can’t be any holes, or the sand will leak out.”
Huang Xiaosi's eyes darted around, and he asked cleverly, "Mom, how about the drawer box?"
"A drawer box," Jiang Nuan's lips twitched, "Fine, fine!"
It just needs to be able to hold sand; the rest is unimportant.
"Will the bowls at home be okay?" Huang Xiaowu asked, feeling wronged. "The drawer box is full of sand and it's too heavy for me to carry."
“Yes, that works too!” Jiang Nuan nodded emphatically.
Although I was quite shocked by their bizarre ideas, I still have to admit that these two kids are quite smart and their minds work very quickly.
"Grandma, I want to learn too," the five-year-old girl said in her sweet, childish voice.
“Okay, I’ll teach you both.” Jiang Nuan agreed without hesitation. It doesn’t really matter whether you’re herding one sheep or a whole flock.
The book in the Huang family's collection is the "Thousand Character Classic." When the Confucius Institute was booming, Jiang Nuan followed suit and memorized several ancient texts.
So many years have passed, and although I can't guarantee that I can recite it word for word, it's impossible to make a mistake when reading it from the book.
The combination of clerical script and the Thousand Character Classic is somewhat strange, yet it complements each other perfectly.
After filling the drawer with sand, Jiang Nuan took out a wooden stick and wrote the first sentence of the Thousand Character Classic: "Heaven and earth were dark and yellow, the universe was vast and boundless."
"Mother, you can actually read!"
Overjoyed, Huang Xiaosi failed to realize that this statement revealed his true thoughts.
"Little Four, what do you mean by 'Mother really can read'?" Jiang Nuan was displeased as she looked at the eight neatly written characters. "Would your mother lie to you?"
Jiang Nuan spoke with absolute certainty. She had studied diligently for nearly twenty years, from kindergarten to graduate school, so she was by no means illiterate.
As for Jiang's fault, she said she would not take the blame.
“Mother,” Huang Xiaosi touched his nose, “I didn’t mean that, I was just too surprised, yes, too surprised.”
After saying that, he praised himself for his cleverness in his heart.
To be honest, the whole family says that his mother is literate, but he is very skeptical of that.
Once, when he went to play at the school in the neighboring village, he heard the teacher saying Confucius and so on. Thinking that his mother could read, he boasted to Fatty that his mother was even better than the teacher.
The fat man didn't believe it and insisted on seeing his mother write with his own eyes. He found paper and pen and asked her to write something, but his mother dismissed him, saying she was too tired.
He wouldn't give up, and whenever he had the chance, he would pester his wife to write something. After being rejected time and time again, he began to vaguely guess what was going on.
From then on, he never had any hope that his mother would teach him to read.
After realizing what was happening, Jiang Nuan was surprised. "Xiao Si, you recognize these eight characters?"
Otherwise, how could he be so sure?
"I don't know him," Huang Xiaosi said, blushing and scratching his head. "I used to like going to the school in the neighboring village. The students there would often recite their lessons while swaying their heads. I remembered it after hearing it so many times."
"I see," Jiang Nuan said jokingly after hearing this, "Aren't you afraid that your mother's writing will be incomplete?"
"No way," Huang Xiaosi chuckled, pointing to the book. "It's exactly the same as in the book, there's no mistake."
"He's such a smart son, no wonder he's my son." Jiang Nuan happily rubbed Huang Xiaosi's head.
She now understands why so many people have children even though they know they are a burden; the overflowing satisfaction and happiness they feel is intoxicating.
After the jokes, Jiang Nuan began to teach the children how to write, one by one.
She taught diligently, and the children learned diligently; before they knew it, an hour had passed.
After Wang finished dealing with the matters in the backyard, she came out and saw this scene: a group of people were squatting in the yard with sticks, poking inside drawers and bowls.
“Mother,” she frowned, clenched her fist, and then spoke softly, “There are only two drawer boxes in the house, we can’t waste them.”
If it breaks, it needs to be repaired again, which will cost a lot of money.
"Sister-in-law," Huang Xiaosi explained after understanding Wang's meaning, "we didn't waste anything, Mother was teaching us to read."
"Is your mother teaching you to read?" Wang was overjoyed and said happily, "This is a big deal!"
She had long hoped that studying would lead her to success, but her mother was in poor health, and she couldn't neglect her.
If it helps children learn to read, then forget about ruining drawers and boxes, I'd even chop up cabinets and burn them for firewood.
After realizing what was happening, Wang's face lit up, and her words became stronger, "Mother, you can continue. It's still cold, I'll make some ginger soup to warm you up."
“Okay,” Jiang Nuan nodded, “cook more so that the eldest and second eldest can have something hot to drink when they come back.”
The lesson lasted for three hours, ending just before dusk when it was time to cook dinner.
During the journey, Jiang Nuan, who had been squatting the whole time, felt extremely dizzy and could no longer hold on, so she sat cross-legged on the ground.
The moment it ended, Huang Xiaosi excitedly ran outside, and no one could stop him.
He wanted to show off to Little Fatty that he had learned eight characters.
Who told Little Fatty to laugh at him for lying? Humph!
Since Xie was not home in the afternoon, Wang was the only one having dinner, so she had to cook more dishes than usual, and Jiang Nuan offered to help.
Wang's cooking skills couldn't compare to Xie's, and Jiang Nuan was a picky eater, so she simply did it herself.
Jiang Nuan wasn't very strong, so Wang Shi did the heavy lifting like killing fish and chopping bones; she was only responsible for cooking.
Xiao Wu volunteered to help start the fire, while Da Niu and Er Niu stared intently at the meat, refusing to leave the kitchen no matter what.
On the way, Xie returned from outside and saw Jiang Nuan cooking in the kitchen. She glared angrily at Wang and said, "Sister-in-law, how could you let Mother cook?"
"Second sister-in-law," Wang said, lowering her head in shame, "I can't persuade her."
“It has nothing to do with your sister-in-law,” Jiang Nuan turned her head and smiled at Xie Shi. “I’m in a good mood today and want to show you what I can do. You’re in for a treat.”
Not to brag, but the iron pot stewed chicken she made today was especially delicious. She added plenty of ginger and garlic, a small half bowl of homemade rice wine, and a handful of fresh mushrooms. Even before it was taken out of the pot, the aroma had already filled her nose.
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