Chapter 137 Selfishness
In the valley, time seemed to become slow and long. There was still work to do every day, but after the fields were plowed, it was not particularly hard. Sang Luo even took the time to chisel out four wooden basins out of a tree stump, for washing face and feet, for various uses.
Besides this, the biggest change is that Chen An and his group of children can now gather under the tree to study together after work.
Of course, there is no pavilion, desk, or stool yet, but that doesn’t matter. We can just grab a few stones, pick up a few wooden stakes, sit around a table, and read happily just the same.
Children's demands are not high. Weren't they like this in the past?
Even the three Xu brothers and sisters were quite accustomed to such study conditions, and they felt a kind of novelty and freedom that they could not feel in the study room of the school.
When Sang Luo had some free time to go over, she saw that the children were divided into three groups. Chen An led the children from Shili Village to one group, who were still reading the Thousand Character Classic. Xu Wenyin followed Chen Ning and was in this group of children. Wang Yunzheng and Xu Wenbo were in their own groups. The two cousins were at different schoolwork paces and studied separately. Since they didn't read too loudly, they didn't interfere with each other.
In order to avoid doing heavy physical work, Sang Luo changed the three meals a day system at home to two meals a day like other families. When Chen An came home from feeding time, she would talk about the books that the three cousins of the Xu family had read.
"Yun Zheng and Wen Bo showed me their books today, sister-in-law. The books they used were written with a brush on a roll of very smooth, very white cloth, which was said to be silk. They were rolled into rolls, each with a silk bag, and then put into a wooden box. The wooden box was in the bag he carried on his chest all the way."
"Silk books." Sang Luo was not surprised. At that time, books were not printed and were all circulated by hand copying. It was normal for the children of the Wang family to use silk books. She asked Shen An: "Did you see what books you brought?"
Chen An nodded and said, "He showed me the Thousand Characters and the Jijiu Pian. Yun Zheng said that these two books are for elementary school, and then there are the Analects, Zuo Zhuan, Gongyang, and Book of Rites. These are what we should learn in sequence after elementary school. He said that there is a sequence for reading. I am learning the Thousand Characters now. When I recognize all the characters in the Thousand Characters and understand the meaning, he will lend me the Jijiu Pian to copy. If I have learned the Jijiu Pian well later, he will lend me the Analects."
Speaking of Yun Zheng lending him books to copy, Shen An's eyes lit up.
Sang Luo curled her lips and said, "Then you must thank him sincerely. There is nothing to thank him for right now, but remember this kindness in your heart. Nowadays, books are treasured by every family, and most of them cannot be bought outside."
As for herself, not only did she not learn all the Chinese classics when she was in school, even if she did, she had actually forgotten a lot over the years. The "Thousand Character Classic" was learned by the original owner, so her memory of it was clearer. If they wanted more, it would be difficult for her to recite a few books to them.
Shen An nodded seriously: "I understand."
Sang Luo didn't need to worry about the brother and sister's qualities in this regard, so she asked him, "Where is the Thousand Words Literature now?"
When Chen An heard this, he blushed: "I can recite what my sister-in-law taught me now, but if I don't really read the book, I can only recognize and write about 170 words."
Sang Luo smiled and said, "Not bad. It has only been three months since I made the bamboo slips for you. You will have to learn hunting and go into the mountains most of the time. You will have limited time to read."
Then he asked Shen Ning: "Where is An Ning?"
Chen Ning was a little embarrassed and said in a low voice: "My second brother just took the test today. I am not as smart as him. Many words are missing strokes. There are only more than 70 words that I can memorize without making any mistakes."
Sang Luo smiled. She might not be less intelligent than Chen An, but she was definitely not as hardworking as Chen An. Even when Chen An had escaped to the mountains for these days, he would definitely be muttering something to himself when he settled down at night. Among all the people, she only saw Wang Yunzheng and Shen An like this.
After a few words of encouragement, the porridge in the pot was ready. Sang Luo brought out the stewed soybeans she had made in the morning and mixed in some bean sprouts, which was then served as dinner.
Shen Ning was eating, thinking of something, and tilted his head to count the days: "Sister-in-law, my eldest brother and his family have been gone for six days, right? Or seven days?"
Sang Luo was stunned by her question. It's not that she couldn't remember how many days Chen Lie had been gone, but she suddenly realized that since entering the mountains, she had gradually become less clear about the passage of time. Every day in the mountains, from dangerous to fulfilling, and then to the tranquility of the present days, every day was good, but she seemed to have lost the concept of time.
For example, now, she clearly knew that her group escaped in the middle of the night on the second day of the second lunar month, but was it the end of February or the beginning of March? If it was the beginning of March, which day was it?
Sang Luo found that she didn't know.
The hand holding the bamboo chopsticks paused for a long time before Sang Luo said, "The seventh day. If everything goes well, he should be back in two or three days."
Although this was said, Sang Luo remembered the incident. After dinner, she met Qin Fangniang, who had just washed the dishes and poured water, and asked her about it.
Qin Fangniang laughed: "It's the second day of March. I don't remember it, but my parents and Zhou Cunzheng are calculating it. They need to calculate the farming season."
Sang Luo breathed a sigh of relief, as long as someone still remembered it.
I’m afraid that I’ll spend too much time in the mountains and become confused.
Because of this, she thought about it and asked Chen Youtian for some bamboo. After returning home, she cut the bamboo into strips. Then she went back to the cave and found a sewing basket that had been moved from the big cave in the past few days and placed on the shelf made by Chen Lie. She took out the awl for sewing shoe soles and carved today's date on the bamboo strips.
From now on, draw a line on each passing day, and carve a specific date every once in a while, so that you will never get confused again.
Chen Lie and his group did not return until the sixth day of March, about a day or two later than expected.
The first day was fine, and the time fluctuated a bit which was normal. On the second day, although the families in the valley didn't say anything, they were actually a little worried in their hearts, afraid that something might happen on the road. On the sixth day of March, the children took turns guarding the entrance of the canyon early in the morning. In the afternoon, after hearing a few stones knocking in the right rhythm, they were sure that the people transporting the grain had returned.
Some were waiting happily, while others quickly ran into the valley to report the news to the elders of each family.
When Sang Luo ran to the valley entrance, the stones had been moved away and Chen Lie had just come out of the alley carrying a bag of grain. She looked him up and down and found nothing wrong, so she felt relieved. She was about to leave the canyon to help carry the grain in, but was stopped by Chen Lie.
"This time we are transporting large bags. You can't lift them. Don't go over there. We can just make two more trips."
The big bags weighed 120 kilograms each. Sang Luo really couldn't lift this weight, but she didn't try to be brave. She nodded and stepped aside.
He thought that there were only large bags of grain left, which meant that even the grain of the Lu family, which was ranked just before the Xu family, had been transported away, and there should not be much grain left behind.
Sang Luo was right. After Chen Lie and his group had brought in all the food and sealed the entrance to the canyon, they told her, "With the remaining food and the people who stayed behind, we should have enough manpower to transport all the food in one trip. So if it's just about transporting the food, we only need to go out once more."
Sang Luo looked around and found that a new group of people had stayed behind this time. It was true that walking in the forest was dangerous, and staying in the cave for a long time was not comfortable either. Especially the cave at the first grain storage point was a narrow cave with a very narrow entrance, and it was not very bright inside. It would be good for everyone to change it.
Only after all the things had been moved did Sang Luo realize that Chen Lie and his companions had brought back more than just food.
The young and strong men who went out of the house all bought a lot of mountain products. They brought two small baskets woven with willow branches and hung them on a shoulder pole. Most of them were filled with various mushrooms and, of course, some other wild vegetables.
The men all have work to do. Those who come to pick up people are either wives or mothers. They are so happy to see the fresh goods that they can't stop smiling. It is time to feed the babies, and they walk with the wind in their hands while carrying small baskets.
Chen Lie fell behind and showed Sang Luo what he brought back, offering his treasures: "I thought you might not have much fresh vegetables to eat in the valley, so I also got a lot of wild vegetables. These mushrooms are picked from familiar ones, and they are all edible. Take a look, you can eat a few of them fresh, and the rest can be dried in the sun."
Sang Luo's eyes lit up when she saw this. Really, she had been eating either soaked dried vegetables or soybeans and bean sprouts recently. How could she not be bright-eyed when she saw two baskets of mushrooms?
She couldn't help but move her head closer to Chen Lie, took one of the baskets and held it in her hands, and complained quietly: "You're right, everything in here is good, but there are mountains of things outside, and we dare not go out and can't eat."
Chen Lie laughed. "Let's wait until the last batch of grain is delivered. I will try to set up some cover outside the cave exit. We can go out from inside and check the situation outside safely without being easily seen by outsiders. Since there are not many people in the deep mountains now, I will call Dashan and Lu Er and take you and the aunts into the forest every few days. In fact, you are good at climbing trees, so we can go by ourselves."
At this point, he remembered that the cave was really high, so he asked Sang Luo: "Do you dare to go up to that cave? There is actually a foothold. I will get you a rope to tie it up. It is very safe. Going in and out there will make the least noise and it is not easy to be discovered."
Sang Luo thought, isn't this similar to rock climbing? Thinking about the height, she was a little scared, but she nodded: "Not yet, but I will dare to do it after practicing a few times."
The smile on Shen Lie's face had not yet faded when it rose again.
Sang Luo, really, you said she is a delicate and weak little girl, that's right, but sometimes she is very brave, like when she was learning how to make an arrow with a bow, and when she was attacked halfway, she was the main force to help in the tree house. Just like now, there is a dangerous peak nearly three meters high, and she really dares to climb it.
"Okay, then bear with me. I'll plant the rice seedlings this time before I go out. I'll be back in ten days at most, and then I'll take you out."
Chen Dashan was just a few steps ahead of the two of them, listening to Chen Lie whispering to Sang Luo from behind. That voice, well, he could tell that Chen Lie's smile had never faded without him turning around.
And listen to what they say, you can go by yourself, you just feel like you are a nuisance to me.
Unable to bear the sight any longer, he quickly took a few steps to distance himself from Shen Lie.
He couldn't help but look up at the sky. He was twenty-one and Chen Lie was nineteen, but Chen Lie got married first. It was obvious that marrying a wife was not determined by age, but by God.
I don’t know how many years this fall will last. What if the chaos outside lasts longer? Tsk, don’t look back and Shen Lie’s baby will be able to go out to buy soy sauce and vinegar, but I don’t know where his wife is.
He walked a little faster, and listened and looked less, so as to avoid making him feel sore.
As Chen Dashan walked away quickly, Chen Lie and Sang Luo were left behind completely. The two of them didn't care and had no idea what Chen Dashan was thinking about.
Sang Luo thought of something important and asked Chen Lie, "By the way, your trip was a day or two later than expected. Did you encounter any problems on the way?"
Chen Lie nodded. "I went to the cave that Manager Xu and I had agreed to visit. We found signs of human activity in several places along the way. We had too few people left behind, and we were worried that the food storage site was not safe, so we found another relatively hidden place overnight to move the food and the people left behind."
"So that's how it is. Are there a lot of people hiding in the mountains now?"
Chen Lie did not say anything first, but took out a small bamboo tube from his sleeve and handed it to Sang Luo, "This is the letter that Manager Xu hid a while ago. The letter said that after the conscription of soldiers and grain, the county statistics showed that three out of ten villagers in each village fled. We should be careful in the mountains. In addition, Henan Road has been lost, and someone has claimed to be the emperor there."
In Henan Road, most of the granaries are located there.
The chaos in this world has long been inevitable. At this point, Sang Luo would rather it be destroyed faster. Only after destruction can it be rebuilt and the people who have been displaced have the possibility of seeing the light of day again.
She unscrewed the small bamboo tube and pulled out the note inside. She glanced at it briefly and it was probably what Chen Lie said. At the end, it also brought news about Shen Jin and others. Their lives were poor and hard, but safe.
Sang Luo let out a sigh of relief, rolled up the words and put them back into the bamboo tube. Then she heard Chen Lie calling her, "A Luo."
Sang Luo turned her head to look at him: "Hmm?"
Chen Lie's fingers curled up nervously at his side, and he asked tentatively, "Can you teach me how to read?"
Sang Luo frowned: "You want to learn to read?"
Chen Lie nodded: "I received the letter this time thanks to Wei Qinghe. If no one in the same industry could read, I would not know what Manager Xu wrote even if I received the letter, and I would have to come back and ask you to help me read it."
His eyelashes trembled, and he lowered his eyes to hide the uneasiness and inferiority in his eyes, then he looked up at Sang Luo: "Can you teach me how to read?"
"Sure, why not?" Sang Luo raised her lips slightly and looked at him with a smile in her eyes: "But I always thought you would be more willing to learn from Xiao An."
Chen Lie was stunned, and when he met Sang Luo's teasing gaze, his face suddenly became hot.
He did secretly follow Chen An in reciting the Thousand Character Classic, but he had too little time. When he was in Shili Village, in addition to teaching Chen An and his group of half-grown children, he also found time to teach several relatives separately. He only listened carefully when Chen An recited before going to bed at night after returning home, and read silently along with him.
He thought he was very secretive, but he didn't expect Sang Luo knew it.
He was a little at a loss, with a thin layer of sweat oozing out of his palms: "At that time, I didn't dare to trouble you."
I didn’t say it because I was afraid of being embarrassed for being a slow learner.
Sang Luo saw the red color gradually staining his ears and laughed: "Now you don't feel like you are bothering me?"
Now?
Now he's a little selfish.
Shen Lie's throat moved slightly with nervousness: "Xiao An is studying with a group of children now, so he naturally has no time to teach me during the day. It would be a bit strange for me to be among a group of children, right?"
"It's too dark at night and it hurts my eyes, so I'll learn from you. I'll recite it by myself, Xiao An, and you can help me check when I write, and point out if there's anything wrong?"
Sang Luoyuan was just joking. Teaching Chen An and Chen Ning was one thing, so what was the harm in teaching one more Chen Lie? She smiled and agreed, then walked back carrying the small basket.
Turning his head, he saw Chen Lie laughing happily, but he seemed to be afraid of laughing too much, so he suppressed his smile from time to time, and then raised it again.
The dimples on her cheeks appeared and disappeared.
Is it worth being so happy just because I promised to teach you how to read?
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