readytorunbook Chapter 243 Reading and Literacy
Chapter 243 Reading and Literacy
Xia Qingyue smiled slightly and said, "Aunt, we are fine. It is inevitable that we fell a few times, but we had snow to cushion our feet and we were wearing thick clothes, so we were not injured."
Chen Yuzhen turned to look at Han Zhibai.
Han Zhibai nodded and said that they were fine. He picked up the bowl, took a sip of hot water, and looked around the house, "Aren't uncles at home?"
Only then did Xia Qingyue realize that the house was a little quiet and deserted.
"Ever since your uncle and his men went to the town to make adobe bricks for two families, the news has spread and attracted the attention of some wealthy families, such as those who want to build shops on the street and the houses of businessmen. In total, there are more than ten families who want adobe bricks.
As the end of the year approached, they were too busy to handle the work, so they simply stayed at the host’s house and came back every few days.”
"Brother Benfu and your uncle Fang are too busy to handle it. Please select a group of people from this village to help."
Xia Qingyue and Han Zhibai nodded in understanding.
She asked, "Hey, where are the eldest, second, and third brothers?"
Chen Yuzhen smiled so much that wrinkles formed at the corners of her eyes, and her eyes were filled with joy and relief. "Some time ago, Sheng'er spent every day at home carving bamboo tubes. After a few days, he suddenly said that he wanted to learn to read and write, and that learning to read would make him smarter and more conducive to doing business.
A day later, Kang'er said he also wanted to learn to read, so they took this opportunity to learn together.
When these three boys were young, they were the most naughty. They were good at climbing trees to take bird eggs and going to the river to catch crabs. But when they sat down to read and write, it felt like there were needles pricking the stools, and they would be distracted after sitting for a short time.
What we originally thought was that since they were not good at studying, they should learn hunting skills so that they could support themselves and stay healthy.
Now, they have grown up, become sensible, and take the initiative to learn to read and write. Life at home has become better, so we naturally support them with all our strength.
Anyway, I always feel that no matter what you learn, as long as you are willing to learn, you can learn it at any time, no matter whether it is early or late. "
Xia Qingyue's eyebrows slightly raised when she heard this. She thought this was a good thing. "Where did the brothers learn to read and write?"
"There was a family surnamed Liu in the village. There were five people in the family, including a father, his son, his wife-in-law, and two children. Uncle Liu learned that Brother Benfu was doing well in the town, so the father and son took the initiative to visit him and politely asked if he wanted help.
There was a shortage of people at that time, and the Liu family were of good character, so Brother Benfu suggested that the father and son go and try the job the next day. After working for a few days, Uncle Liu's son was too weak to bear it and sprained his leg.
After some investigation, we learned about Uncle Liu's family. They used to live in the town and made a living by doing small business. Their son was a scholar and passed the imperial examination. In the past two years, natural disasters and wars have caused misfortunes in the family. Now they are facing the problem of food and clothing every day.
"It just so happened that the other day, Sheng'er and his friends said they wanted to learn to read and write, so I discussed with Brother Benfu and thought, what a coincidence! We can just ask the Liu family kid to teach them."
As they were chatting, Fang Xiaoyu brought in two bowls of steaming brown sugar ginger tea. "Qingyue, bring them here quickly and drink them slowly. It will warm you up."
After expressing their thanks, Xia Qingyue and Han Zhibai each took a bowl and drank while blowing on it.
Seeing that they had finished most of the bowl, Chen Yuzhen remembered something, "Hey, Qingyue, Zhibai, about half a month ago, the carpenters Zhao and Yao from the village sent a lot of furniture over. They said you made them?"
Xia Qingyue's lips turned red after drinking the brown sugar ginger tea. She looked up at Chen Yuzhen and said frankly, "It's true. We thought that since there are many people in our family, we could use more of it. It can be used for a long time, so it's worth it."
Hearing her say that, Chen Yuzhen swallowed back what she wanted to say. Her red eyes flashed with moisture. After a while, she said softly, "You are thoughtful. We like it very much."
"As long as you like it." Xia Qingyue said. She looked at Han Zhibai happily, and he was also gazing at her with a smile.
Seeing that the two children had a good relationship, Chen Yuzhen felt relieved. "Qingyue, Zhibai, Xiaoyu, you guys sit down and chat. I'll go cook the meal first."
Chen Yuzhen got up and went to the kitchen.
Fang Xiaoyu was very happy as she hadn't seen Xia Qingyue for more than half a month. She chattered about things at home and in the town.
Xia Qingyue listened while drinking brown sugar ginger tea. After finishing a bowl, her body felt very warm and her face was a little red. She would occasionally interject and talk about the snow situation on the mountain.
Han Zhibai listened to their conversation quietly.
After a while, the voices of Li Weisheng and Chen Youmao were heard from outside. The three of them walked into the yard, holding paper, pens and books in their hands, and talking.
When they walked under the eaves, they could see the people in the main room clearly. Everyone was smiling and walked in quickly.
"Sister, brother-in-law!"
The three of them greeted each other with a smile.
"The snow hasn't melted yet. Did you have a smooth trip down the mountain?" Li Weisheng looked at Xia Qingyue and Han Zhibai worriedly while speaking.
"It went smoothly, but the road was slippery so we walked slowly. I heard that you are learning to read and write now, how is your learning going?" she asked with a smile.
"This is what we learned and wrote today. Brother-in-law can read. Come and see how we are doing." Li Weikan put the paper, pen and book in his hand on the table.
Chen Youmao and Li Weisheng did the same. They each sat down, pointed at the words they had learned in recent days and read them out loud one by one, holding a brush and writing them stroke by stroke on the straw paper.
Xia Qingyue watched silently. She knew most of the traditional Chinese characters. Last time, she read out the betrothal gift list written by Han Zhibai in front of the Li family, and there were quite a few words on it.
Afterwards, the Li family was very curious about how she knew those words. She quickly thought of a way to cover up the incident by saying that Han Zhibai taught her.
After all, the original owner never went to school as a child and was illiterate.
Han Zhibai, who was watching from the side, taught them how to hold the pen and corrected their mistakes from time to time.
After watching for a while, Xia Qingyue and Fang Xiaoyu went to the kitchen hand in hand to cook dinner.
Xia Qingyue and her friends brought down a lot of cooked food from the mountain, including sausages, dried chicken, duck, fish, and braised pig's trotters and meat. They had a little bit of everything, so they simply cut them all up and cooked a pot of hotpot to eat them hot.
It didn't take much time for the pot to boil and it was time to eat. It was already dark outside.
The whole family sat around the table and had a happy meal.
After dinner, Li Weisheng, Han Zhibai and the other two went to wash the dishes and clean up, while Xia Qingyue, Chen Yuzhen, Fang Xiaoyu and the two kids sat in the main room and warmed themselves by the fire.
After sitting for a while, Chen Yuzhen stood up and said, "The family over there doesn't have people living there all the time. We have to go make the bed early and light a pot of charcoal to warm up the room."
Holding the oil lamp, the three of them went to the small home of Xia Qingyue and Han Zhibai next door.
Seeing Xia Qingyue leave, Heihei Xiaobai, who was lying in the nest in the main room and was drowsy, immediately got up and followed her.
They worked together to clean up, and the kitchen and main house of the small house became bright and warm.
Seeing that it was getting late, Chen Yuzhen and Fang Xiaoyu went home. As soon as they left, Han Zhibai came back. He entered the main house and ran into Xia Qingyue who was about to go out with some clothes in her arms.
She said, "The hot water for washing is ready in the kitchen. I'll go wash first."
"it is good."
They washed up and then went back to the room, sitting on the bed and soaking their feet in a large wooden basin.
After soaking, Han Zhibai picked up the large wooden basin with both hands and went out to pour water. When he returned to the room, Xia Qingyue had already fallen asleep.