Chapter 79 Self-taught talents are often neglected by the world, which is stingy with its blessings...
Zhang Cuiyi opened her eyes groggily, leaning against the headboard. She felt sore all over and slowly came to her senses before realizing that she had slept sitting up all night.
It was already bright outside, and the child beside her was fast asleep. She turned to check the child's forehead temperature, which was normal, and then she breathed a sigh of relief.
These days, the child has caught a cold, and it keeps getting better and worse.
Fearing infection, her husband pushed all the responsibility of caring for the children onto her.
Zhang Cuiyi had to go to the girls' school during the day and do housework when she got home. She could only open the literacy book when it was late at night.
Last night, she was sitting on the edge of the bed reading a book when she unknowingly fell asleep sitting up.
Teacher Qin praised her for her hard work. Although she missed a few classes at the beginning, she worked harder than anyone else and quickly learned all the characters in the literacy book. She also kept asking questions.
Zhang Cuiyi not only learned it herself, but also taught her young daughter to learn it.
The little girl was only a few years old and at the age of curiosity. Seeing her mother tending the fire in front of the stove, she pointed to the leaping flames and asked, "Mom, how do you write the character for 'fire'?"
She picked up a charcoal stick and neatly wrote the character for "fire" on the ground, then added the character for "water" next to it: "Xiaoyun, guess what this character is?"
"Water!" Xiaoyun answered crisply.
Metal, wood, water, fire, earth; wind, frost, snow, rain, clouds, and mist... This is how it is written in the book, and Zhang Cuiyi writes it over and over again every day when she is with her child.
She would write with charcoal fire while cooking.
While doing laundry, she would dip her fingers in water and write.
In between taking care of her family, she always manages to squeeze out a moment to do something that is just for herself.
It's as if in this way, one can savor a little sweetness amidst the bitterness of life.
One day, she ran into her neighbor on the street. The neighbor looked at her for a long time, seemingly wanting to say something, before finally asking, "How did your Xiaoyun learn to read?"
Zhang Cuiyi learned after asking in detail that something had happened between the children.
The children from the neighborhood often played together. When the boys reached school age, they were sent to school to begin their education. They looked down on the girls who were still playing games like dropping handkerchiefs and beanbags, and would laugh at them from the sidelines: "Long hair, short on brains, a bunch of women, no ambition!"
To say something like that, one must have heard a lot of adults talking about it, and been subtly influenced by their words.
Xiaoyun stepped forward and retorted, "You probably don't even know as many words as I do!"
The boy in the lead, Shao Nan, got angry and challenged her to a contest to see who knew more characters and could write more of them. The person who could write more characters would win.
His classmates from the academy cheered him on from the sidelines: "Shao Nan, don't lose to her!"
Shao Nan grabbed a tree branch and wrote a dozen or so crooked characters on the sand. He stood up triumphantly and looked at Xiao Yun: "How about that? Admit defeat!"
He was notoriously unruly in school, neglecting his lessons and dozing off during class, and no amount of scolding from the teacher could change his mind.
Everyone shook their heads and said he was useless, but he shamelessly accepted it.
Unexpectedly, his self-esteem and confidence soared when he was facing a little girl.
The other party was just a girl who had never been to school, how could she possibly be better than him?
To everyone's surprise, Xiaoyun calmly picked up the twig and began to write on the ground, stroke by stroke.
She wrote neatly and fluently, quickly writing more than ten characters, and was about to surpass Shao Nan.
Shao Nan immediately became anxious and rushed over to accuse him, "You definitely copied me! How could you possibly write so many words?!"
Xiaoyun completely ignored his words and continued writing diligently, from the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth) to wind, frost, rain, snow, clouds, and mist, and then to seedlings, wheat, millet, pots, pans, and bowls...
Shao Nan's expression gradually turned ugly. There were many characters he didn't recognize. He had only managed to recall a dozen or so commonly used characters.
He's already so knowledgeable despite having attended school, so how could this little girl possibly know more than him?
Unable to swallow his pride, Shao Nan turned back and shouted to his classmates, "Go for it! We can't lose to her!"
But those who usually played with him were all the same kind of people. Several boys often skipped school by climbing over the wall and teased cats and dogs, and none of them had the confidence to go up and challenge him.
Instead, the girls behind Xiaoyun surrounded her.
Seeing the boys who were just moments ago so arrogant now looking like wilted eggplants, they felt a sense of triumph for the first time.
Xiaoyun wrote quietly until the sand was almost completely filled.
The boys finally couldn't hold back any longer and rushed up, yelling, "You're not allowed to write anymore!"
Xiaoyun was so frightened that she took a step back.
They took the opportunity to step forward and trampled the writing on the ground.
"You!" Xiaoyun retorted sternly, "What kind of skill is it to cheat when you can't win?"
Shao Nan clenched his fists, his face flushed red, and after a long while, he finally managed to stammer out, "Where did you learn all these words! You've never been to school..."
The girls retorted in unison, "A loss is a loss!"
"You shameless scoundrel! Don't you know shame?!"
Handkerchiefs and sandbags rained down on the boys' heads, and they screamed and ran away, quickly disappearing from sight.
Looking at the words on the ground that had been trampled and were now a mess, Xiaoyun lost all interest in chasing after them.
The girls surrounded her with sparkling eyes: "Xiaoyun, you're amazing!"
How do you know so many words? Can you teach us?
Xiaoyun blushed at the praise and picked up the twig again to demonstrate: "This is the character for 'fire,' and this is the character for 'water'..."
"These are all things my mother taught me."
After the children got home, they pestered their parents, asking to learn to write.
The adults were stumped; they themselves could barely read, so how could they teach their children?
The aunt looked at Zhang Cuiyi and tentatively asked, "Cuiyi, can you teach me a few words? Otherwise, my child keeps bothering me."
Zhang Cuiyi snapped out of her daze and readily agreed, "Of course!"
She planned to have a good talk with Teacher Qin about this when she went to the girls' school the next day.
Although the registration period has passed, she can still bring back what she has learned and teach it to her neighbors.
It would be great if more literacy books could be printed.
----
Qin Xiangfu carried the second volume of her newly compiled literacy book toward Chunmei Printing House. The matter that Zhang Cuiyi had mentioned to her was exactly what she wanted to hear.
As time went by, the students had gained a basic understanding, and the first volume of the literacy book was becoming insufficient. So she and Tang Xi worked together to compile a second volume, planning to print some to distribute to everyone for trial use.
Considering what Zhang Cuiyi had told her, she decided to print an additional forty or fifty copies of the first volume and distribute them to women in the community who wanted to learn on their own.
Chunmei Seal Engraving Studio was the one she trusted most, and the owner was her close friend, Tian Chunmei.
When Tian's father passed away early, he left his mother and daughter to struggle to support the seal shop. Tian Chunmei not only supported the family business, but also expanded the seal shop, and everyone respectfully called her "Manager Tian".
When Qin Xiangfu arrived, Tian Chunmei came out from behind the counter.
Dressed smartly, she smiled and looked at her friend: "Brought another new book?"
"Your literacy book was very popular last time, and people have been asking for a sequel ever since!"
Qin Xiangfu chuckled: "Don't tease me. It's just a literacy book, not some historical novel. Who would want to read a sequel?"
“I’m telling the truth!” Tian Chunmei said seriously. “You know what kind of people I associate with, right? Which of them doesn’t want to learn to read?”
Upon hearing this, Qin Xiangfu realized that Tian Chunmei mostly associated with female businesswomen.
Among them were grain merchants, market vendors, and traveling merchants who roamed the country; each of them had struggled and worked their way up in the business world.
“When they do business, they inevitably need to draw up written agreements and contracts. But because they are women, they cannot attend school for systematic learning, so they have to hire a clerk in the caravan.”
Tian Chunmei sighed, "A while ago, one of my sisters was tricked by a clerk. It turns out he was in cahoots with the rival..."
Ultimately, women must be able to read on their own.
She flipped through the two literacy books Qin Xiangfu had brought, and continued, "After that incident, I sent her a literacy book so she could learn some characters by herself. I didn't expect that more and more people would come to me asking for it, so I kept printing more and more..."
"They weren't satisfied with just one book; they kept coming to ask if there were any new ones, wanting to learn more!"
Qin Xiangfu suddenly felt a surge of emotion.
The idea she casually came up with with Tang Xi actually garnered so much popularity and even changed so many people's lives without her knowledge?
"Xiangfu, would you like to cooperate with me?" Tian Chunmei stared into her eyes and said, word by word.
"We will publish a set of literacy books and put them on the market for sale, so that people all over the world who want to learn to read will no longer have to ask others for help."
"Regardless of age or wealth, everyone can learn equally by opening this book."
Qin Xiangfu nodded solemnly.
"good."
If her books can pave a new path for women everywhere, she would be willing to do her best to publish them, not just ten or a hundred, but thousands or even tens of thousands of copies.
----
With summer fast approaching, Luxi Academy gave students a two-week break so they could go home and help with farm work.
The students, who didn't need to farm, were discussing going to the city to have fun.
Fan Yizhen borrowed a carriage from Wen Yu.
These days, the girls are learning the Six Arts at the academy, and everyone has learned to ride horses and drive carriages.
From the initial chaos and disarray to the present where everyone can ride horses with ease, countless efforts have been made behind the scenes.
Wen Yu readily lent out the carriage and horses.
The newly appointed village head has been busy communicating with the agricultural official from the prefectural city, distributing high-quality seeds to various places, and preparing for the next round of sowing.
Let the children play if they want to.
Unexpectedly, after the children returned, they discussed with great interest the girls' school in the prefectural city and the "literacy book".
"Sister Wen, we went to the girls' school in the city for a visit, and there were many girls there listening attentively to the lessons!"
The students chattered around Wen Yu, sharing their observations from the city: "A literacy book has become popular over there, and everyone from the elderly to young children is using it."
Wen Yu took the book from Fan Yizhen and started reading.
This is clearly a book compiled by local literati. Although it is simple and unadorned, it is very suitable for beginners.
Fan Yizhen added, "Teacher Qin from Luzhou Girls' School was very happy to see us. She asked a lot about the academy and said that she would visit Luxi Village in a few days to ask for advice on teaching methods for other subjects."
Wen Yu suddenly realized.
Although the teaching materials from Luxi Academy have been sent over, they are still too difficult for students with no prior knowledge.
Literacy is fundamental, and Qin Xiangfu could teach literacy, but for more profound knowledge, even she herself had to learn it from scratch.
“Then our Luxi Academy can also produce a series of basic introductory books to serve as textbooks for them,” Wen Yu said earnestly after a moment of thought.
The students of Luxi Academy started early and worked hard, and now they have laid a solid foundation and have their own strengths in different subjects.
If everyone pools their wisdom and works together to compile a set of teaching materials, it wouldn't be too difficult.
"Really? Is it possible?" They were slightly excited.
"There are still seven days before the resumption of classes, so you should start preparing in the next few days." Wen Yu patted Fan Yizhen's shoulder lightly. "After the start of the semester, you can take the drafts over for the teachers to review."
Everyone perked up at the mention of something new and responded in unison, "Great!"
"I want to write..."
As soon as they stepped outside, some people couldn't wait to share their thoughts with others.
As Wen Yu watched their retreating figures, she felt that the women of this world were far more capable than she had imagined.
Perhaps letting them explore things on their own will allow them to forge a broader path.
They are not delicate flowers waiting for others to save them, but wild grass and strong bamboo struggling to grow in the cracks of rocks.
Even if the world is stingy with giving them sunshine and rain, they can always sprout when the spring breeze blows.
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Author's Note: I'll be taking a break for a while after this chapter. I need to go take some exams, and I'll finish the story properly when I get back. [Please!]
Thank you all for following and supporting me. I've met the warmest readers in the coldest channel. Love you all! [heart emoji]
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