Chapter 971 Fleeing the Famine? There's No Way to Escape (18)
Xiao Bao reached out and touched his clothes. They felt very comfortable and fit perfectly. His sister was so nice!
His mother never embroidered clothes for him, not even a handkerchief.
"Sister, there's also a purse. You need to tie it up."
Ning Yan took the purse and tied it for the little one. The little one giggled and said, "Sister, it's so pretty! I love the clothes you made, sister. They're prettier than all my previous clothes."
Luckily, he was smart enough to tell his father to send the best fabric to his sister, otherwise he wouldn't have such nice clothes to wear.
"Hmm, you have good taste!"
At lunchtime, Xiao Bao sat next to Ning Yan and ate happily. Although the food at the Ning family's house wasn't as refined or delicious as the food at the Lu family's house, Xiao Bao still ate with great relish. He really liked his sister's family.
After lunch, Ning Yan took Xiao Bao back to her yard, and the two sisters took a nap together. After they woke up, Ning Yan taught the child to recognize characters.
The characters were from her memorized copy of the Three Character Classic.
Yes, the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were sent over by the little guy's father, just in time for his son to use.
Ning Yan noticed that Xiao Bao recognized most of the simple characters. "Has Xiao Bao already started learning?"
"Yes, Father taught me and even hired a tutor for me."
"Study hard, and you might become a high-ranking official in the future."
Xiao Bao: "Sister, would you be happy if I became a high-ranking official?"
Ning Yan smiled and said, "Of course."
Xiao Bao swung his short legs again: "Then I'll study hard and become a high-ranking official in the future so I can ask my sister for an imperial title!"
"Okay, then I'll be waiting."
Xiao Bao began to seriously learn to read.
The teacher had just finished teaching him the Thousand Character Classic, but he had only learned half of the Three Character Classic and couldn't recite the rest.
The two studied until around four o'clock in the afternoon when Butler Lu came to pick them up.
Xiao Bao looked aggrieved and said, "Sister, I don't want to leave."
“We must strive to keep our promises and not break them. I promised your father this morning that I would take you home before dark, so we must work hard to fulfill that promise, otherwise no one will trust us in the future.”
Xiao Bao lowered his head and admitted his mistake, "Sister, I understand, I'll go back right away."
"Silly child, if you're reluctant to leave your sister, you can come again in the future. You're such a good boy, your father will definitely agree."
Xiao Bao immediately raised his head, "Sister, can I still come?"
Ning Yan patted his little head. "Of course, Xiao Bao is always welcome here. You forgot, we're the best of friends in the world!"
"Yes, my sister and I are the best in the world!" Even his father can't compare!
“However, you have already begun your education, and your father will not allow you to come often. If you cannot come, we can write to him.”
"Write a letter?" But he's too young and hasn't started learning to write yet. What if he can't write?
"If you can't write it, then learn it. Once you've learned it, you can write it for me."
Xiao Bao nodded.
That's right, if you don't know how to write it, just learn it.
After Xiao Bao left and returned home, he immediately went to his teacher and asked him to teach him to write.
The teacher was very puzzled. "But you are too young. Learning to write too early will hurt your hands."
"But I want to write a letter to my sister, how can I do that if I can't write?"
The man said, "You can dictate it and have someone else write it down for you."
Xiao Bao thought about it and agreed that it would work, but he felt that it was better to write it himself than to have someone else write it.
"If you teach me a few fewer words each day, it shouldn't hurt your wrist."
Even if he can only write one sentence, it's still written by his own hand, so no one else will know what he and his sister said.
The gentleman thought about it and it wasn't a bad idea. A child this age does nothing but eat and play all day. He hadn't expected the young master to be so studious. He would definitely teach him well.
The next day, Lu Chengwen thought his son would try to go find Ning Yan again, but to his surprise, Xiao Bao went to study with his teacher after finishing his meal. He had a lot of things to do and couldn't keep an eye on his child all the time, so he instructed the housekeeper to pay more attention to Xiao Bao.
In the afternoon, the butler reported to him, "Master, the young master has asked the tutor to teach him to write, supposedly so that he can correspond with Miss Ning."
Lu Chengwen: No, the two families live so close to each other, we can just pass on a message if something happens, why would we need to write a letter?
Huh? Isn't something wrong? That's his fiancée. Shouldn't he be the one corresponding with her?
What trouble are you causing, you brat?
Fifteen minutes later, Lu Chengwen went to the study.
When the gentleman saw him arrive, he quickly stood up and bowed.
"Patriarch Lu."
"Sir, please don't mind me. I just came to check on things. How is Xiao Bao's studying?"
"The young master is very hardworking and dedicated. Today, he even asked me to teach him calligraphy. He wrote more than twenty large characters, and I had to forcefully stop him before he stopped."
"Writing? He's only three years old, not even four yet. Let him learn to recognize characters first. We can talk about writing when he's older."
Xiao Bao was reciting his lessons when he heard this and immediately protested, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. You're probably just jealous that I can write letters to my sister, that's why you won't let me learn to write. Don't even think about it, I'm going to learn!"
Do you think he's stupid? The butler came by before and talked to the master for a long time. He must have been the one who told on him. Otherwise, his father wouldn't have come to the study at this hour.
Lu Chengwen: "What nonsense are you talking about? Your father is doing this for your own good. Don't be ungrateful. Be a good boy and listen to me, or your sister will be heartbroken if you hurt your hand in the future."
Sometimes, children who are too smart are not so easy to fool.
The master glanced at his disciple, then at the Lu family head, and silently shut his mouth.
Xiao Bao turned his head away from his father. It was his sister who said she was communicating with him. His sister must have thought of this possibility. If his sister didn't say anything, then nothing was wrong. Who are you trying to fool?
Lu Chengwen touched his nose. "That brat, I wonder who he took after?"
"Well then, Mr. Ye, I won't disturb your lecture any longer. Please take good care of Xiao Bao here. If you have any requests, just tell the butler."
Mr. Ye nodded in agreement.
Afterwards, they watched the head of the Lu family leave.
There's a certain something about the Lu family head's back view... something... a sense of helplessness, like his thoughts have been exposed.
Turning around, he was met with his little disciple's mischievous face. This kid was no pushover.
...
Three days later, Ning Yan received Xiao Bao's first letter.
This letter is quite interesting; the first two words are simply "Sister".
It's poorly written; you can barely make out what it says.
The next step is to draw.
A pond.
There was a small stool by the pond, and next to the stool was something that looked like a bucket, but the bucket was empty.
Hmm, the Lu family has a pond? Their house must be quite big. Xiao Bao went fishing, but he didn't catch anything.
The second picture is a tall stick figure.
Why stick figures?
Because the drawing is too simple, just a few simple strokes: the head is a circle, the limbs are a line, and the body is also a line.
It was barely recognizable as a human figure; the stick figure was bent over, talking to a shorter stick figure. But Ning Yan guessed it was a scolding, the little guy was tattling, and his father had scolded him.
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