Chapter 101: Learning to read and write. Marriage?
On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, the small restaurant and the bun shop opened again.
Qiu Xuan also went with them. After all, it was the first day of opening after the New Year, so she had to go and take a look.
It just so happened that the academy also started classes on that day, so Qiu Xuan launched a bag full of blessings.
Just like they would put copper coins in dumplings at home, they also put copper coins in the buns today.
The price of buns remains the same as before. Whoever can eat the copper coins in the buns will get them.
As soon as this activity started, more and more people came to buy buns. Many people did not go for the penny, but everyone wanted to have good luck.
Zong Xiao stood by the window, wrapped the buns in oil paper, and handed them out through the window.
Those who came to buy buns were already familiar with the process. They handed over the buns with one hand and paid money with the other. However, the money was not handed to Zong Xiao, but placed in a pottery jar next to him.
The sound of the copper plates colliding was so crisp that Qiu Xuan could hear it even while sitting on a bamboo chair.
The sound was so pleasant that Qiu Xuan couldn't help but look over.
Just a glance, and his eyes happened to meet Zong Xiao's.
Zong Xiao seemed to have been paying attention to her movements. When he saw her looking over, he quickly asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Qiu Xuan shook her head. She was not that fragile. How could she not feel comfortable sitting here?
But she had long been accustomed to Zong Xiao's behavior. Ever since he knew she was pregnant, he had become much more cautious. He would open his eyes immediately if she turned over at night.
It can be said to be excessively cautious.
"If you feel stuffy in the room, I'll take you home later." Zong Xiao said.
Qiu Xuan couldn't help here, so it would be better for her to go home instead of taking up space.
She thought about it, nodded and said, "Okay, wait until you're done."
The buns are sold in batches. Once the freshly baked buns are sold out, there will be no one outside.
Zong Xiao washed his hands and gave Qiu Xuan the rabbit fur scarf and hat.
"It's still warm if you wrap it up." He said as he put it on her.
This hat and scarf were all made by my grandmother. Last year, some of the rabbits they got were sold whole, and some were sold just for the meat.
The rabbit skins were kept and processed by Zong Xiao. Then Zong's mother picked out nice colors and sewed them into hats and scarves for them.
This one from Qiu Xuan is pure white, and it makes you look particularly cute when worn in winter.
Zong Xiao took her hand and stroked it gently, "I forgot to get you a hand warmer."
"It's not that cold outside. Let's go. I want to buy something on the way home." Qiu Xuan urged.
There are mostly bookstores on Shuyuan Street, and Qiu Xuan has long wanted to come and have a look.
In the past, she only knew a few words on the menu. After all, people here don’t write letters, and even buying and selling houses can be done directly with fingerprints, which is very convenient.
But now that she was pregnant, she inexplicably wanted to learn how to read.
It just so happened that Shuyun, the little kid at home, would also have to go to school in the future, so Qiu Yun simply bought two more books.
These are all introductory books for learning to read, and many of the words can actually be recognized just by looking at their shapes.
Qiu Xuan took the book and flipped through two pages, and found that she could recognize many of the words on it.
She remembered that when she first came here, she felt overwhelmed by the words and couldn't make out any of them.
"I'll read it when I get home."
Seeing that she kept her head down, Zong Xiao confiscated the book from her hand.
"Hey, I've discovered that studying is really good. When the child grows up, how about we send her to academy?"
While selling buns here, Qiu Xuan discovered that scholars always had a unique temperament and were gentle and refined.
It’s a pity that there is no such child in their family, but the more there is no such child, the more people want to cultivate one.
It just so happened that there was a ready-made baby at home, so Qiu Yun planned to start with Shu Yun.
As soon as the two returned home, Qiu Yun went to Yueyang's courtyard with her book.
As soon as I stepped in, I heard Shuyun crying.
The child cried so hard that his voice was almost hoarse.
"What's wrong?" Qiu Yun pushed the door open and saw Shu Yun lying on the ground, refusing to get up.
Yueyang was also angry. She sat on a bamboo chair beside her and had no intention of helping anyone.
"Sister-in-law, let him cry. He'll be fine after crying for a while."
Yueyang has passed the stage of being a loving mother. Now when she finds problems with her child, she will correct them immediately without any motherly filter.
Qiu Yun didn't know what was going on yet, so she quickly asked, "What did Shu Yun do to make you so angry?"
Yueyang glanced at Shuyun, who was lying on the ground wiping her tears, and was so angry that she couldn't speak.
"He..." She pointed at Shu Yun and said angrily, "He went to steal Dafu's food and even put it in his own bowl."
Qiu Xuan was about to say something to comfort someone, but suddenly she couldn't.
She looked at Yueyang and then at Shuyun, and said carefully: "Did he eat it himself?"
“…eat it for me!”
Qiu Xuan finally understood why Yue Yang was so angry...
"Fortunately, I found the bone after taking a bite! This bastard." Yueyang felt sick when she thought of this.
She said that Dafu didn’t like to follow Shuyun in the past, but why was he wagging his tail behind Shuyun today?
It turns out that this bastard stole the dog’s food!
Qiu Xuan didn't know how to comfort her. She tried to hold back her laughter for a long time but finally burst out laughing.
"Sister-in-law!~"
"Okay, okay, I won't laugh." Qiu Yun put the book in her arms on the table and pushed it in front of Yue Yang. She changed the subject and said, "Why don't we teach Shu Yun to read from now on? Give him something to do so he doesn't have to go to Huo Huo Da Fu anymore."
Shuyun is actually only a little over one year old, so it is too early for him to learn to read.
If it were in the past, Yueyang would definitely say that he was too young and would wait another two years.
But what happened today, Yueyang wanted to send him to a private school right now.
It’s a pity that they only want kids over four years old.
Shuyun lay on the ground crying for a long time. Seeing that no one came to pick him up, he grunted and got up by himself.
But he didn't go to find Yueyang, instead he ran to Qiuxuan's legs.
"It's no use looking for your aunt, come here." Yueyang waved at him.
Shu Yun pouted. He didn't want to go over there, but due to his dignity, he went over there anyway.
In the end, I got slapped twice on the butt.
After Zong Xiao came back in the evening, Qiu Yu told him about this as a joke.
Qiu Xuan stood beside him, took the chestnuts he bought, and asked him with a smile, "Was your third brother like this when you were a child?"
Zong Xiao didn't remember all this, but Zong Anji was indeed more mischievous than him since he was a child.
I climbed trees all day long, and several times I couldn't get down after climbing up, so my eldest brother had to climb up and carry me down.
Speaking of this, Zong Xiao thought of his elder brother who had passed away ten years ago.
"Although I have never met your elder brother and his wife, they must be very good people." Qiu Xuan peeled the hot chestnuts and stuffed them into his mouth.
"My eldest brother and his wife...are really nice people."
Qiu Xuan stuffed another into her mouth. "Oh, right, Huaixue will be ten years old after the New Year. She's bored staying at home all day. Why don't we find a girls' academy for her to study in?"
Women's academies are usually only found in provincial capitals, and are mostly places where wealthy families go.
Their small town of Yuanxiang has never had a girls' academy, but there was a female teacher. Zong Xiao had heard people mention her before, but he didn't know if she was still there.
"I'll go and ask around. If there's any information, we can ask Huaixue about it."
"Of course. Huaixue must make her own decision."
A few days later, Zong Xiao received a letter confirming that the female teacher in the town was indeed still there.
We do hire people, but the price is not cheap, it costs two taels of silver per month, and we have to check the people first.
Not all who go are accepted.
Qiu Xuan and Zong Xiao discussed it and felt that the price was not expensive. After all, this was the only place in the town where women could learn to read and write.
But this matter cannot be decided by the two of them.
The next day, Qiu Xuan called Huai Xue into the house and asked her what she had been doing recently.
The little girl has rarely gone out to play with the children in the village since the New Year. She heard from her grandmother that the girls over there have already been engaged.
Although they are only in their teens, they can receive money as soon as they are engaged. Many families will arrange marriages for their children early and then collect half of the betrothal money.
When you are fourteen or fifteen years old, you can marry into your husband's family.
Qiu Xuan frowned and couldn't bear to listen any further.
"Aunt, I've been embroidering handkerchiefs recently."
"You already knew how to embroider, so why are you still embroidering?"
"Grandma said the flowers I embroidered lack spirit." Huaixue took out the handkerchief and handed it to Qiuyun, "Aunt, look."
Qiu Xuan was even worse at sewing, and in her eyes the flowers on the handkerchief were already quite beautiful.
She pinched Huaixue's little face and praised her as usual: "How beautiful it is, Auntie thinks it is especially beautiful."
"If you like it, then give it to me. When I embroider something more beautiful, I'll show it to you."
"Okay~" Qiu Xuan called her over today because she had something to ask her.
Now that she had finished talking, she asked directly, "Does Huaixue want to learn to read and write? Do you want to study with other girls?"
"Study?" Huaixue had never thought about this. No one studied when they were in the mountains.
"Yes, reading and learning to read." Qiu Yu took the Three Character Classic from the table and showed it to her, "This is it."
Huaixue didn't answer. She looked up at Qiu Yun and said, "Aunt, does studying cost a lot of money?"
When Qiu Xuan heard her ask this, she knew that she wanted to go.
But the child is sensible and afraid of spending money.
She said, "Learning to read and write is a good thing. Besides, it doesn't cost much. Look, we live in such a big yard, how can we not afford to pay for education?"
Huaixue's eyes lit up and she said happily, "Really?"
"Of course."
Seeing that she had no objection, Qiu Yun agreed to take her to town tomorrow.
The girls' private school found out its location as soon as they asked around.
The private school was located in a large mansion on the back street of the academy. When Qiu Yun went there, she found out that the female teacher was actually hired by a wealthy family.
In the past, he only taught his own daughters, and later he began to recruit students from outside.
But not many people come. After all, in this small town, there are very few people who allow their daughters to go to school and learn to read and write.
Qiu Xuan took Huai Xue's hand and walked into the house to meet the female teacher.
The female teacher seemed very strict at first glance, but after talking for a while you would find that she was actually very kind.
Huaixue naturally stayed there, but the private school did not provide lunch, so the girls had to go home to eat at noon.
Fortunately, the bun shop was close by, so the task of picking up Huaixue naturally fell on Zong Xiao.
After this matter was done, Qiu Xuan told her clan mother. She was so old that her eyes turned red when she heard it.
Huaixue is already ten years old and learns to read and write very quickly.
She could recite the entire Three Character Classic after studying it for two months.
She wasn't that fast at writing, after all, she had never done it before. But it was a big improvement. Now, the words on the menu hanging outside the bun shop were all written by Huaixue.
As May approaches, the weather is getting warmer.
Qiu Xuan would go out for a walk whenever she had time. Today, the bun shop happened to be busy, so she went to the private school to pick someone up on behalf of Zong Xiao.
As soon as I reached the door, I saw a woman supporting an old lady walking towards me.
It's no wonder she took a second look. The way these two were dressed didn't look like they were suitable for sending their children to a private school.
The woman said in a shrill voice, "Mother, take a closer look and see if that little girl is the child that my eldest sister gave birth to. If she is, you must seize the opportunity and think carefully about it for the sake of your grandson."
Qiu Xuan couldn't help but frown. Why did this woman say such...
"Mother knows. If it is really that girl, mother will do whatever it takes to get the clan to agree to this marriage," said the old lady.
Zong family? !
Qiu Xuan felt bad because she knew all the girls in this private school. Except for her own Huaixue, no one else had the surname Zong!
But who are these two people? Why are they suddenly talking about Huaixue's marriage?
As she was thinking, the door was opened from the inside, and then several girls walked out together.
Before Qiu Xuan could find Huai Xue, she heard the old lady speak again.
"It's her, it's her! Her features are exactly the same as your eldest sister's, cut from the same mold!"
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