Chapter 74 The Academy and its Hall
The clothes and shoes Chen Baoyue made for him were all made of good fabric.
One was navy blue and the other was light blue, both made of fine cotton, and each came with a pair of cloth shoes in the same color.
The shoes with their multi-layered soles use real, thick hemp ropes underneath.
The shoes were very comfortable to wear. After watching Guo Baiwen walk around in front of her with a straight face but a hint of smugness, wearing his new clothes and shoes, Grandma Guo couldn't help but nod in approval.
Among the return gifts brought back, besides Guo Baiwen's clothes, there were two pairs of smaller shoes, one pair for Guo Xiaohua and one pair for her.
Since the exact shoe size was unknown, the shoes were made in a winter style, with cotton padding inside, somewhat like the pink cotton shoes that Guo Baiwen gave to Xiaohua before.
"Moon is such a thoughtful child." Grandma Guo felt at this moment that the marriage between the two families was all predestined.
Fortunately, both families are relatively easy to get along with.
only--
She picked up the box containing the deer antlers, and with a quick weighing, she knew it contained at least a pound of antlers.
Chen Zhonghua used to hang the deer antlers under the eaves to air dry, but now the deer antlers in the box have become dry and hard.
In the morning, Grandma Guo pretended to be curious and chatted with the pharmacy clerk next door for a bit.
Knowing that this stuff is very valuable, although there are several different prices depending on the quality of the deer antler, the one jin that the Chen family gave was worth at least nine or ten liang.
Feeling that the gifts were a bit too expensive, Grandma Guo couldn't help but ask Guo Baiwen, "Should we wait until the holidays to send some things back to the Chen family?"
Grandma Guo saved a certain amount of money every month from the family's shop.
Aside from the rent due next year, which is fixed, she had recently paid for Guo Baiwen's schooling at the academy and deducted the money needed to buy ingredients for the dessert shop next month.
Those eighteen taels of silver were all the savings the family had accumulated over the past six months.
The night before she set off, worried that the silver ingots wouldn't be shiny enough, she wiped each one with a cloth beforehand and then wrapped them one by one with red paper.
It looks nice, and the number is auspicious.
But that was just to show our sincerity, not to intimidate the other party.
The more she thought about it, the more worried she became. Fortunately, Guo Baiwen stopped her in time, saying, "Grandma, you're overthinking it."
Guo Baiwen recalled the expressions of the Chen family when they saw him off, as well as what Granny Sun had said to him before she went into town, and felt that there should be nothing seriously wrong.
But seeing that Grandma Guo was still worried, he put his arm around her shoulder and comforted her, saying, "If you think it's too expensive, Grandma, we can just send you more sweets and mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival later."
There will be many more opportunities to meet in the future.
He was about to pull his hand back, but suddenly stopped in mid-air and then put his arm around Grandma Guo's shoulder again.
Grandma Guo was completely confused. She looked up at him and asked, "Wenzai? What's wrong?"
Guo Baiwen remained silent, only retracting his arm and gesturing in the air before turning to look at Grandma Guo with disbelief and asking, "Grandma—"
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
He looked dazed and uncertain, as if he wasn't quite sure. "Have you gained weight recently?!"
"Huh?!"
Upon hearing this, Grandma Guo couldn't help but touch her own arms. After Wenzai said that, she also felt that she did seem to have gained some weight on both arms.
Unlike before, when you could touch my hands and feel bones.
But upon closer inspection, she realized it was due to the clothes she was wearing underneath.
Just as the two were arguing, Guo Xiaohua came downstairs.
Upon hearing this, she remarked, "Grandma has gained some weight."
She's been learning tailoring from Madam Lin lately. Especially now that the weather's hot and everyone's wearing light clothes, she can tell a person's approximate size with just a glance.
After hearing what she said, Grandma Guo finally believed that she had indeed gained weight since arriving in the county town.
But thinking about it carefully, I was quite busy when I was selling hot pot vegetables, and I wore thick clothes. I was so tired every day that my appetite gradually increased.
After the candy shop opened, I no longer needed to stand in front of that pot all the time.
Sometimes when the shop is empty, she'll calculate the numbers recorded in the ledger while eating the leftover scraps from making desserts in the morning...
Sometimes when I'm in a good mood, I'll pour myself a small cup of rice wine before bed, sometimes with peanuts, sometimes with a little cured meat, savoring it slowly until I'm ready to sleep...
She touched her stomach again—
I've really gained weight.
Before Grandma Guo could even decide whether she should be happy or sad, Guo Baiwen spoke up first: "That's great! I always thought you were too thin, but now you've finally gained some weight."
He remembered that time when he weighed her in his hand, he felt that Grandma Guo was too thin.
Judging from Xiaohua's height, she should be around 1.3 meters tall, while Grandma looks a head taller, probably around 1.5 meters.
Both of them weighed around 60 or 70 pounds.
If older adults are too thin, their muscle mass and immunity will be lower, making them more susceptible to illness and less able to recover.
Of course, being too fat isn't good either.
Even though Grandma Guo has gained some weight, she is still thin.
Guo Baiwen did some mental calculations and felt that it would be best if his grandmother gained about 15 pounds more than she was now.
That's what he thought, and that's what he said.
Hearing him say that, Grandma Guo forgot what she had been worrying about and said a little embarrassedly, "Grandma was just thinking about whether to cancel the dinner—"
The current aesthetic trend leans towards a slender and elegant figure, emphasizing a person's spirit and charm.
Although it was mostly because my family was poor before, even if we wanted to eat something good, we couldn't.
So until now, Grandma Guo always thought she was the type who couldn't gain weight.
Hearing this, before Guo Baiwen could even speak, Guo Xiaohua interrupted, "Grandma! Why cancel the supper!"
Recently, because of the improved food quality, her hair has become thicker and blacker, and she has also grown taller.
It seems that in another year or two, he will surpass Grandma Guo in age, and sometimes he eats more than Guo Baiwen every day.
The little girl has a very open-minded attitude towards being fat or not.
She laughed and said, "It's hard for other people to gain weight! I think they just can't afford to eat meat, so they insist on saying that being thin is the only way to look good."
The meat is so delicious!
The rabbits we used to raise at home, and the chicken stewed by my grandmother, were always delicious.
Besides, she used to be very thin, with sunken cheeks, but no one ever complimented her on her looks.
"Besides, you can't get fat in one bite."
Given Grandma's habit of chewing slowly, even if she had an extra late-night meal every day, it would probably take her many years to gain the fifteen pounds that her brother mentioned.
But it's good this way, she also thinks that her grandmother looks better with more flesh on her bones.
My overall energy and spirits are much better.
She leaned closer, resting her head against Grandma Guo, and took her arm, not caring if she was pressing down on her grandmother, and said in a coquettish tone, "Grandma—"
I still hope that Grandma can stay healthy and live many more years of good life like she does now!
Grandma Guo was so annoyed by her interruption that she couldn't bear to look at her anymore, seeing that Xiao Hua was still clinging to her.
The old lady pondered for a moment, then stared at her with some suspicion: "You didn't get into trouble somewhere again today, did you?"
Upon hearing this, Guo Xiaohua immediately lifted her head off Grandma Guo's shoulder.
Half sad, half guilty, she said, "Grandma—how could you think that way—"
Guo Baiwen watched the two chatting and laughing, and felt much more relaxed.
Perhaps due to a change in mindset, the poetic imagery that Guo Fuzi had previously lamented has improved considerably.
In fact, if we're just talking about early education, there's no need to learn these difficult things.
However, Guo Baiwen had a foundation from his previous life, so even though he still needed to switch between vernacular and classical Chinese, his speed was considered fast for a short-term student.
For this reason, Master Guo asked him more than once whether he wanted to try taking the test at the Confucian academy.
But Guo Baiwen knew in his heart that he only had the foundation from his previous life, plus Master Guo really cared about his studies, otherwise how could he have made such rapid progress?
The school does offer short-term programs, but the shortest is a year. Given Guo Baiwen's current situation, it might be worth a try.
After all, he is already studying "Prodigy Poems" and "The Classic of Filial Piety".
The next subject taught was the Four Books and Five Classics.
Although Master Guo could teach, there were many students at the private school, so he might not be able to come and teach Guo Baiwen all the time.
It would be better to go to a less crowded scripture school, where the learning will definitely be more detailed and comprehensive than at a primary school.
However, tuition fees have also risen accordingly.
If he were to transfer to the short-term program at the academy, even if it was through Master Guo's connections and he transferred directly from the academy, it would cost him at least eight taels of silver a year.
Not to mention later on, he also had to acquire the Four Books and Five Classics along with them.
Even the calligraphy practice books I use daily now need to be changed.
Guo Baiwen did the math himself and estimated that he should ask for at least eleven or twelve taels more.
He had only been engaged for a short time, and not only had his family's savings shrunk rapidly, but a considerable amount of his own "secret stash" had also been used up by various expenses in recent days.
Knowing that he was hesitant about the money, Master Guo spoke with him privately several times.
After all, once they went to the Confucian academy, they would no longer be taught by Master Guo.
I heard that the instructors there are Master Cao and his teaching assistants.
Although Cao and his son were rather serious and rigid, their knowledge of the Four Books and Five Classics was superior to that of Master Guo.
There were about seventeen or eighteen long-term students at the academy, who were divided into three classes, A, B, and C, according to their different learning progress.
The three classrooms are arranged one after the other, which makes it convenient for Master Cao and the teaching assistants to patrol the classrooms and also to understand the different learning progress of each student.
Master Guo knew about his family situation and also felt that Guo Baiwen was indeed someone who could seriously study.
Several short-term students have come and gone from his deskmates, yet his progress in learning has been even faster than that of long-term students at the boarding school.
This was also the main reason why he wanted Guo Baiwen to go to the Buddhist academy.
Guo Baiwen hesitated for two days, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
He just said he would think it over carefully.
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