Chapter 44: Alternatives to Brush, Ink, Paper and Inkstone
Gu Xixi suddenly asked about Gu Tiezhu. Gu Qingye was startled and there was a hint of discomfort in his smile.
She stammered, "Ever since that incident...he has refused to go out."
"My temper has changed a lot."
Gu Xixi pretended to be concerned and said, "Given the time, he should be able to walk again."
Gu Qingye did not doubt him and nodded, "Of course you can."
"But he walks with a cane and still has a slight limp, so my brother doesn't want to be seen by others. He probably only walks around the yard by himself when no one is around."
Gu Xixi thought thoughtfully, "He doesn't let anyone see him, how do you know he's walking in the yard?"
Speaking of this, Gu Qingye couldn't help but sigh.
"One day I went home early to get something and saw that look. My brother immediately stopped walking and got really mad at me!"
After she finished speaking, she suddenly thought of something and hurriedly explained, "Sister Xixi, I'm not blaming you for what I said. My brother also said it's none of your business."
Gu Xixi smiled and said she didn't mind. "It's almost time to go up the mountain tomorrow. Can we change the appointment to tomorrow morning?"
Gu Qingye nodded excitedly, "Yes, I'll listen to you, sister!"
When Gu Xixi entered the room, the old doctor had just sent away a patient with a runny nose and a cold. Aunt Zhang was walking around holding a ladle of steaming medicine, and the smell of medicine filled the yard.
Gu Xixi pinched her nose with one hand and frowned in disgust, "What's that smell? It's so awful."
Aunt Zhang said, "The old doctor prescribed the medicine, saying that people with colds have come home these past two days, so he asked me to boil the medicine and fumigate everywhere after the patients leave to prevent us from getting infected."
It turned out to be disinfection.
Gu Xixi loosened her hands that were pinching her nose and took a breath. After getting used to it, it didn’t seem so hard to accept.
She handed a plate of buns to Aunt Zhang, "These are the vegetarian buns Aunt Qian gave me. They are still warm from being steamed."
The plump buns look appetizing.
Aunt Zhang said happily, "Our Xixi is getting more and more popular. She can even eat other people's buns."
Gu Xixi couldn't help but laugh.
She was always annoying in the past anyway.
Aunt Zhang walked quickly to the kitchen, saying, "I'll go get some rice so the buns don't get cold."
In the west room, Mu Nanzhao had already gotten out of bed. There was paper on the table and he was writing.
When Gu Xixi came in, Mu Nanzhao looked up at her and turned the paper over and placed it on the table without any hesitation.
"What's up?"
Gu Xixi had no intention of finding out what he wrote, and just told him about her experience of going to find Lao Qian.
"Prepare yourself."
Mu Nanzhao frowned in displeasure, "Trouble."
Gu Xixi spread her hands, "They respect teachers and education, you pretend to blend in, wouldn't it be better if you make a big scene?"
She turned and went out, "Dinner is ready, come out and eat when you're done."
That afternoon, Lao Qian brought a group of people to get ready.
The village school was located in the land temple. There was an empty house on the east side, which was originally the place where the village chief held meetings.
However, it has not been used for meetings for many years and is now filled with clutter.
The room is big enough, sunny and ventilated, perfect for use as a classroom.
Mrs. Qin came home and asked Gu Xixi to go to the land temple together.
She said cheerfully, "The village chief said that good things should be done quickly."
"But we still need everyone's suggestions on what to do specifically, especially you, you must be present."
"This is the first time our village has run a village school, so we can't miss anything."
Gu Xixi was dragged to the land temple by Qin Dasao. Lao Qian and others had already cleared out the debris in the house.
After everyone discussed it, it was decided that the roof needed to be repaired and the interior walls needed to be re-plastered.
The main features include tables, chairs and benches for the children, and a desk for the teacher.
These were not readily available, so we had to find other wood to make them.
There is no need to hire carpenters from outside, as most men in the village can do some carpentry work.
These are basically the external conditions required to run a village school.
Everyone contributed what they could and gathered what they had, and they started working right away.
Seeing that everyone was in high spirits, Gu Xixi hesitated for a long time before raising another difficult problem that could not be ignored.
"To read and write, you need books, pens, ink, paper, and inkstone."
"All these have to be purchased at the study in the city. Even the cheapest ones cost a lot."
The land temple suddenly became quiet.
Productivity was low in that era, and the cheapest paper cost three to four cents, and bound books were even more expensive.
Not to mention that the four treasures of the study are consumables, and the money invested in them is a bottomless pit.
Many villagers have never been to school and do not understand the market situation, but when they heard that it would cost money to send their children to school, they all became shaken.
"Going to the city to buy so many things, how much does it cost?"
"There is no such thing as a literary star in our family. If you think about it, what good will it do to recognize a few words?"
Old Qian looked around and became anxious. "Are you guys planning to back out?"
"Reading and gaining knowledge will benefit future generations."
The villagers looked at each other, lowered their heads and said nothing.
It’s bad enough that sending children to a village school doesn’t make money, but now you have to spend money on it?
It would be better to let the children play for a few years and then go to work in the fields.
Mrs. Qin thought for a moment, gritted her teeth and said, "My dog boy wants to go to school!"
"Like the village chief said, reading makes one wise. As long as the village school can be established, I will do everything I can to let Gou Wa sit in the school."
Gou Wa's name was given by his teacher.
Although Mrs. Qin herself could not read a few words, she admired people who knew books.
She has always wanted her children to become that kind of person.
Old Qian also said, "Mrs. Qin said it well!"
"I would also like to express my opinion. My child also wants to go to the village school."
Lao Qian's two sons have reached the age to start learning, and he originally wanted to send them to their uncle's house to go to school, but now that he is going to set up a village school, he won't have to travel far.
He looked around at everyone and said, "Besides, how do you know that our village can't produce a literary star?"
Gu Xixi had been looking down in deep thought since just now.
She raised her eyes and said, "I have a way. A way that doesn't cost money."
Everyone's eyes turned to Gu Xixi.
Mrs. Qin was pleasantly surprised and asked, "What's the solution? Tell me now."
Gu Xixi said, "We don't need to buy paper. We can always find a piece of old cloth from torn clothes at home."
Everyone nodded, every household has this thing.
If the clothes are no longer wearable, cut off the relatively intact parts and use them to patch other parts.
Gu Xixi continued, "Everyone has eaten Mocai, right? It's everywhere around us."
Someone wondered, "We eat black cabbage in the spring, and it's almost autumn now. The old stuff can be used as firewood."
"We're not talking about eating it now." Gu Xixi said with a smile, "We're talking about using it to boil black water."
"As long as nothing is added to fix the color, the ink juice can be easily washed off the cloth."
"The children can write on old cloth with ink juice and reuse it."
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