Previous
Fiction Page
Next
Font Size:
Chapter 59 1/2
Shen An stood up abruptly, “Big sister-in-law, will you teach me and An Ning how to read?”
Sang Luo smiled, “Of course. Your older brother didn’t mention it all, but not only is it easy to get cheated if you can’t count, it’s also easy to get cheated if you can’t read. I’ll teach you some simple ones first.”
As for going to village schools to learn to read, according to the memories of the original body, more than ten years ago, the state school, county school, and village school were abolished by the previous emperor. The current one valued education, and reopened some schools, but the implementation was not very good.
At least in the original body’s hometown, there was only a county school and no village school. If children in the village wanted to study, they could only find a knowledgeable teacher themselves. It wasn’t easy to find a knowledgeable teacher who was willing to take students nowadays.
After coming to this area, Sang Luo had never known about village schools. As for county schools, although she often went to the county, she mostly visited the eastern and western markets. She hadn’t paid attention to whether there were county schools. It seemed she would have to inquire next time.
Shen An was thrilled to hear his sister-in-law say she would teach him and his sister to read, but he was also at a loss, not knowing where to start.
Sang Luo smiled and said, “You and An Ning can go find some fine sand, the finer the better. Later, I’ll ask Uncle Youtian to make you a wooden box for holding sand. You can start by learning to write on the sand with sticks.”
Paper and pens were unaffordable.
Paper was indeed expensive, very expensive. To this day, she could only use suitable leaves washed and softened as substitutes for toilet paper…
…
When Feng Liuniang and the others brought the wooden barrel and pottery basin over, Chen Youtian also came.
Sang Luo greeted him with some embarrassment, “I can manage to make some rough things myself, but tofu is meant to be sold. If the frame isn’t done well, it will affect the appearance of the finished product. I’ve troubled you again.”
Chen Youtian didn’t mind at all. “No problem. It won’t take long.”
Tools and wood were all here with Sang Luo. Chen Youtian picked them up and got to work right away.
When Shen An and Shen Ning came back with a dustpan of fine sand, they saw Chen Youtian and eagerly called out “Uncle Youtian” before setting down the dustpan and approaching him. They were full of enthusiasm.
“Uncle Youtian, could you make something for me and An Ning?”
They were full of anticipation.
Chen Youtian was a good-natured person and smiled as he asked, “What do you want me to make?”
Shen An and Shen Ning explained the purpose of the sand tray, describing its size and depth. They had already thought it over.
Writing didn’t require much depth, and it didn’t require much wood either. It was simple to make, and after hearing their explanation, Chen Youtian readily agreed.
Shen An thanked him profusely. Remembering the grand promises he made when his sister-in-law hurt her hand building the chicken coop last time, he stayed to watch Chen Youtian work.
Chen Youtian found it amusing. “Do you also want to learn carpentry?”
He was just joking, but Shen An nodded seriously. “Yes, I want to. Uncle Youtian, can you teach me?”
Chen Youtian was surprised. “Really want to learn?”
Shen An nodded again. “Really want to. In my family, I’m the only boy, so in the future, I’ll have to take on these tasks.”
This sentence made Chen Youtian laugh, but then he thought of the hardship behind these words and sighed. “Your brother also learned from me. The work he did was even more meticulous than mine.”
An old man and two children, all three of them were struggling.
Chen Youtian patted Shen An’s shoulder. “Learn it then. If you want to learn, I’ll teach you.”
While working, he explained some principles and techniques to Shen An. Shen Ning also listened attentively beside them.
Seeing them so earnest, Sang Luo didn’t interrupt. She went down the mountain to ask Mrs. Chen for some straw and borrowed a shovel.
The old lady didn’t ask what she needed the straw for. At this time of year, straw was the most abundant. She simply tied up a big bundle for her.
Sang Luo didn’t really need so much, but considering that she needed to change the straw in the chicken and duck nests frequently, well, it didn’t hurt to save some. She thanked the old lady and carried the shovel and the large bundle of straw back home.
They hadn’t even stepped into the house yet, but just outside the courtyard, there was some yellow clay left over from when they were building the house. They shoveled out a pile of mud from the side and started mixing water and mud right there.
When Xiao An and An Ning heard the faint commotion and came out, Sang Luo had already started tossing straw inside, preparing to take off her shoes and tread on the mud with her feet.
This task was familiar to both Shen An and Shen Ning!
When they were building the house, they had observed for many days and even climbed up themselves to step on it.
The siblings both rushed over: “Sister-in-law, mixing mud? Let us do it!”
They dashed over, took off their shoes, and were about to jump in. Rolling up their pant legs, they stepped into the mixture. Only then did they ask, “Sister-in-law, why are we mixing mud?”
Sang Luo couldn’t help but smile: “Did you forget the goose eggs I asked you to pick up? We’re going to lay them out today.”
Recently, there had been little rain in Qiyang County, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t rain later. It was better to lay the goose egg stone road sooner rather than later.
With these two little siblings mixing mud, she didn’t have to take off her shoes herself.
She turned around to tidy up the yard, although there wasn’t much to tidy. It was just about lowering the part of the path to be laid, spreading the mud, and then inserting the goose eggs so that they were level with the adjacent ground that hadn’t been dug. And bringing over the stones to be used with a dustpan and placing them aside for later use.
Chen Youtian glanced over and asked a question. Hearing that they were laying a stone road, he didn’t quite understand why they needed to lay stones again in this well-packed courtyard. But he didn’t say anything. In his view, the Sang family had some ability. They could read and had their reasons for doing things.
He lowered his head and continued with his work.
Everything was prepared; they just needed to go out and pick up the mud.
The two children’s legs were covered in mud, but they were having a great time. Watching Sang Luo come to pick up the mud and enter the courtyard, they stopped stepping in the mud. Anyway, it was already mixed. They ran to the edge of the water pit to wash their feet clean, not bothering to put on their shoes before running back in.
Sang Luo dumped the mud from the dustpan directly onto the excavated road base. Then she placed the dustpan aside and started picking up stones with the two children.
“Pick out the goose eggs with a noticeable black color first. We’ll use them to make flower patterns later.”
The two children were excited beyond measure. Chen Youtian thought to himself…
Laying a road and making flower patterns too?
An Ning was the most excited: “Sister-in-law, how do we make the flowers?”
Sang Luo also became playful: “Come, let me teach you.”
She took the black goose egg stones and started outlining flower patterns: “Like this, if you want to make a certain shape of flower pattern, you can outline it first, and then fill it in with the same color stones later.”
The three of them, one adult and two children, huddled together and filled the flowers with stones, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
When Chen Youtian finished making the tofu scoop and tofu mold Sang Luo requested, in the courtyard of the Shen family, from the gate to the door of the main grass-thatched house, a winding stone path with flowers had already been laid.
Previous
Fiction Page
Next
Shen An is so considerate for wanting to learn carpentry so that Sang Luo won’t hurt herself again dealing with it. Chen Youtian is also a great neighbor and mentor for being willing to build things and teach them for free; he doesn’t have any thoughts of annoyance, but only kindness and consideration.
Thanks for the chapter! 😀