Jiang Ling smiled wryly after hearing this. She never expected that her previous behavior would cause such a great psychological trauma to the person in front of her.
"Looks like I need to take another closer look at the parenting guide!" Jiang Ling thought for a moment and continued, "If you weren't naughty and disrespectful, why would I ever hit you?"
"But...but my dad has never hit me..." Zhao Qianyu said, pouting with an extremely aggrieved expression.
“Your father is your father, and I am me. Your father can’t bear to hit you. After all, you are his only son. How could he bear to hit you?” Jiang Ling said.
"Hmph, is he reluctant to part with me? He's clearly just too lazy to pay attention to me. I don't know what he's doing every day, always busy, I'm almost never seen. Besides, everyone except those people in the academy is afraid of me. Aunt Jiang, do you think I'm that scary?" Zhao Qianyu said, making a face at Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling was speechless for a moment. She couldn't very well tell Zhao Qianyu that his father was busy exploiting the people every day, and that the reason he was afraid of him was because of his father, the county magistrate.
“You’re not scary, it’s just that identity is very important in some things!” Jiang Ling finally managed to squeeze out these words after thinking for a long time.
"What? What identity? What identity could I possibly have?" Clearly, although Zhao Qianyu was somewhat unruly, he didn't seem to have noticed the class-related issues.
“Your father is the county magistrate, and you are the son of the county magistrate. That’s your status. Although the county magistrate is the local official in charge, his status is much higher than that of ordinary people like us. It’s normal for others to be afraid of you,” Jiang Ling explained.
Zhao Qianyu seemed unable to understand Jiang Ling's words; he scratched his head and remained silent for a long time.
"Then tell me what happened next!" Jiang Ling asked, seeing that Zhao Qianyu still didn't understand.
"Ah! This... I walked from dawn till dusk, I was so tired and hungry, I was just about to sit down behind a big tree to rest when I heard the howling of wolves. I was terrified and ran for my life, but I couldn't see the road clearly, and before I knew it, I... I don't know what I tripped over, and then I just felt dizzy and couldn't remember anything!"
As Zhao Qianyu finished speaking, a chill inexplicably ran through his body. He looked at Jiang Ling with a panicked expression and said in a slightly pleading tone, "I...I won't run away anymore, Aunt Jiang, please...please don't hit me, okay?"
Seeing Zhao Qianyu's terrified expression, Jiang Ling guessed that he would be quiet for a while. Thinking of this, Jiang Ling nodded and said, "Okay, I won't hit you anymore, but no one in our family is just sitting around doing nothing. Everyone has to work every day!"
"Wh...what? Okay, tell me what I'm going to do!" Zhao Qianyu muttered, his head drooping like a deflated balloon.
“Well, you’re also a student at the academy and you can read. I’ll give you two choices. First, you and my brother Jiang Zhishan can teach the children to read and write. Second, you and I can go to the fields to farm!” Jiang Ling said.
“Then…then I’ll definitely go teach children to read and write!” Zhao Qianyu said without hesitation.
"However, you'll have to ask my brother about this. If he agrees, then you'll have to obediently come with me to farm!"
Jiang Ling's next words made Zhao Qianyu feel a little discouraged again. He pouted and muttered, "Would your brother agree? Besides, aren't you his sister? He'll definitely listen to you as long as you speak!"
Jiang Ling smiled faintly and said, "It's true that I'm his older sister, but my brother is all grown up now and should be able to think for himself. As for whether you can get him to agree, that's up to you!"
Zhao Qianyu looked indignant after hearing this. He put on his shoes and prepared to run outside, but Jiang Ling grabbed him and then found a patched piece of clothing belonging to Jiang Yaojie in the closet. She placed it in front of Zhao Qianyu and said, "Your clothes were torn yesterday, so wear my son's clothes for now!"
Zhao Qianyu grinned as he looked at the patched coarse linen clothes, but he still obediently put them on and then walked towards the door.
Jiang Zhishan had just finished cleaning up the dishes and was about to rest before going to the school to teach when he saw Zhao Qianyu come out of the room. He turned his head away angrily.
Zhao Qianyu walked up to Jiang Zhishan, put aside his airs, and said to Jiang Zhishan, "Brother Zhishan, I went too far before. I apologize to you here!" As he spoke, he even bowed to Jiang Zhishan.
Although Jiang Zhishan was angry, the other party was, after all, the son of the county magistrate. How could an ordinary citizen like himself fight against him? Besides, the other party had apologized. Based on the idea of "forgiving others when possible", Jiang Zhishan simply forgave Zhao Qianyu.
"No need, no need, it's all in the past! Why bring it up again!" Jiang Zhishan waved his hand, but still didn't look at Zhao Qianyu.
"No! Brother Zhishan, this is a mistake, and I ask you to accept my apology again!" Zhao Qianyu panicked when he saw that Jiang Zhishan had no intention of completely forgiving him, and bowed to Jiang Zhishan again.
Seeing this, Jiang Zhishan quickly turned her head, reached out to support him, and frowned, saying, "Alright, alright, I forgive you, okay?"
Jiang Zhishan sounded impatient, but Zhao Qianyu was all smiles. He turned around and met Jiang Ling's gaze. He excitedly pointed at Jiang Zhishan and said to Jiang Ling, "Your brother agreed! Your brother agreed!"
Jiang Zhishan was somewhat surprised to hear this. His gaze also fell on Jiang Ling. Jiang Ling quickly walked over and said to Jiang Zhishan, "I thought Zhao Qianyu was also a scholar. Why don't you take him along to teach the children to read and write?"
“This…” Jiang Zhishan hesitated for a few seconds but still nodded.
Then Jiang Zhishan led Zhao Qianyu toward the open space next to the Lu family ancestral hall.
Zhao Qianyu, a newcomer, found everything here new and exciting, but when he saw the so-called "school," he was stunned.
This is no school; it's just an empty lot without even a decent building.
The children simply carried their own stools and sat together, but their eyes were filled with longing.
"This? This is the school?" Zhao Qianyu's words were clearly filled with surprise.
"Otherwise, do you think everyone is like you, sitting in a bright and clean room? Holding a calligraphy brush that costs more than ten taels of silver and using a stack of fine Xuan paper that costs several taels of silver?" Jiang Zhishan retorted to Zhao Qianyu in an annoyed tone.
Although Zhao Qianyu was unconvinced, he didn't dare to provoke Jiang Zhishan at the moment, since he was now in a situation where "one has to bow one's head when under someone else's roof."
"Alright! Let's begin class. Today we'll continue with the Three Character Classic. Yesterday I taught you to recite the line 'It is not proper for a child not to study.' Can anyone explain what this line means?" Jiang Zhishan said, holding the Three Character Classic book and looking at the children below.
"No way? The Three Character Classic? I've known that by heart since I was two or three years old!" Zhao Qianyu almost slid off his chair after hearing Jiang Zhishan's words.
"Seriously? Some of you are already so old, and you're only now starting to learn the Three Character Classic? Many of you are already past the age of taking the imperial examinations. Even if you learn the Three Character Classic, it's useless!" Zhao Qianyu said, looking at everyone in confusion.
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