Chapter 39: If You Don’t Listen to the Elders, You’ll Fall into a Pit Sooner or Later
“If you don’t listen to the elders, you’ll fall into a pit sooner or later.”
Yuan Ye was not humble at all when it came to accepting advice; he was as stubborn as a mule. A Man was very displeased with this. After leaving, she grumbled incessantly to A Qing, “I think he’s just like a dung beetle piling up dung balls. No matter how high he piles them, there’s a limit. He’ll never amount to anything in this life.”
After grumbling, she glanced at A Qing, and seeing A Qing lowering her eyelids in silence, she couldn’t help but urge, “Eat an extra bowl of rice from now on. He’s so wasteful, and as a doctor, he’s actually losing money. He refuses to kowtow to others to recoup his losses. I don’t think we’ll have good days for much longer. We should eat an extra bowl while we can, as these opportunities won’t last.”
A Qing didn’t nod. A flicker of worry crossed her eyes, and she softly asked, “Then what will he do in the future?”
“Who cares if he dies!” A Man cursed, frustrated by his lack of ambition. But after a moment’s hesitation, she sighed, “I can’t persuade him, so let him be. When the time comes… when the time comes, we’ll take him begging. If we have one bite, he’ll have one bite. At least he won’t starve.”
A Qing thought for a moment, lowered her eyelids, and nodded gently. She felt this was acceptable and was slightly relieved.
“Remember to eat more from now on, you need to put on some weight!” A Man urged again before going to find Yayoi. She wanted to prepare some good dishes and meals for the evening. Since Yuan Ye was acting so recklessly and still pretending to be tough despite his knee injury, he was bound to go bankrupt sooner or later. So, rather than letting those poor villagers benefit from free medicine, she might as well use it for a feast.
She left, preparing to falsely deliver an “imperial decree” to have Yayoi stew two chickens that night, and to add an extra handful of salt. She would eat one herself, and Yuan Ye and A Qing would share the other. She was delighted.
…
That night, A Man took the opportunity to hold a “welcome feast” and gorged herself again. After eating her fill, she lay on the straw mat, patting her belly. She picked a blade of straw and began to pick her teeth. She no longer seemed too bothered by Yuan Ye not listening to her advice. “Whatever. If he doesn’t want to kowtow, so be it. If he goes bankrupt, he goes bankrupt. The cart will find its way when it reaches the mountain. We’ll deal with the future when it comes. What matters is being happy now.”
As she picked her teeth, she was calculating how long the money Yuan Ye got from selling his “ancestral treasure” would last and what he could do in the future. Would selling potent pills in the market town be more profitable, or should he just sell fake medicine? Suddenly, she noticed A Qing leaning over a corner of the low table, and Yuan Ye was holding a book, speaking softly to her.
A Man was very surprised for a moment. She quickly got up and went over. She heard Yuan Ye teach A Qing a couple of sentences and write them twice on paper with cinnabar. Then, A Qing picked up a small brush, dipped it in ink from Yuan Ye’s inkstone, and began to trace the characters while reciting them from memory.
A Man was even more surprised. She nudged A Qing and asked in a low voice, “What are you doing?”
“Learning to read,” A Qing replied concisely, as always.
“He’s teaching you to read?” A Man could obviously see that, but she couldn’t believe it. “Is it free?”
A Qing nodded gently, her hand still carefully tracing the characters. A Man then turned to Yuan Ye and asked curiously, “Why are you teaching her to read?”
Yuan Ye was also busy studying, his eyes not leaving the book. He casually replied, “She follows me around all day and gets bored. Once she can read, she can look at books and pass the time.”
Following you around all day has such benefits? If you had said so earlier, I would have given you my head last month!
A Man’s eyes began to turn green with envy. It was already difficult to learn anything in this era, let alone for her, a beggar girl, a lowly commoner. She couldn’t find any teachers willing to teach her. Even if there were teachers willing to teach, she couldn’t afford the fees or the stationery and books!
Not to mention anything else, this large sheet of paper that A Qing was using was worth half a chicken leg if calculated carefully. Before she knew Yuan Ye, she had only eaten chicken a few times, and those were stolen.
She wanted to learn too. It wasn’t her style to miss out on a good deal. She quickly nudged A Qing, “How many characters have you learned? Write them for me to see.”
A Qing recited the nine characters she had learned yesterday and clumsily wrote them on the paper for her. A Man’s small round eyes widened, and she memorized them intently, muttering them aloud. After a moment, she started to nudge A Qing with her backside, “You take a break, I’ll write for a while!”
“Alright, don’t disturb her studies!” Yuan Ye couldn’t stand it anymore. Wasn’t this bullying the honest person? A Qing was his person now! He pulled out a piece of paper, found a brush from his brush and inkstone bag, and pointed to another corner of the low table. “You go over there!”
“Ah, you’re willing to teach me too? How embarrassing!” A Man said with a look of pleasant surprise. Even as she spoke, her backside had already moved to the designated spot. She lovingly stroked the Mino paper, thinking to herself that he truly lived up to his reputation as a spendthrift. “If you don’t go bankrupt, who will? It’s good enough that you’re willing to teach us. You should have us go to the earthen floor room and write on the ground with small wooden sticks, and occasionally kick us and scold us!”
This guy, he doesn’t even know how to be a teacher, and he’s still gaining!
Yuan Ye didn’t mind teaching. It was the same effort to herd one sheep as it was to herd two. He didn’t care about having one more student, nor did he care about spending a little more on paper and ink.
He treated them equally, prescribing the right medicine. He gave A Man a couple of instructions, taught her how to hold the brush and use it, and then let her recite and write on her own. He then continued reading his book. However, before he could turn three pages, A Man started tugging at his sleeve, her face full of excitement. “I’ve finished learning! What’s next?”
Yuan Ye looked at her speechlessly, suspecting she was there to cause trouble.
This must be the difference between poor students and excellent students! An honest child like A Qing listens to the teacher. She can practice nine characters for half an evening, and her foundation will become stronger as she learns, leading to infinite achievements in the future. But a mischievous monkey like A Man is different. She’s a prime candidate for a poor student, daring to say she’s learned in five minutes. She’ll probably be like the bear breaking corn, learning a bit and forgetting a bit.
However, he was dedicated to whatever he did. Since he was teaching people to read, he had to be responsible. He patiently advised, “Learning requires a steady approach. The worst thing is to aim too high. If you master eight or nine characters a day, after five or six months, you’ll basically be proficient. Don’t be so impatient.”
A Man scratched her small round face, her dou dou eyebrows furrowing. She asked curiously, “It doesn’t have to be so troublesome, does it? It’s not difficult. I think I’ve memorized it!”
This wild child is being stubborn again…
Yuan Ye didn’t indulge her bad habit. He gave her a new piece of paper. “Then read and write them for me to see.”
A Man stuck out her tongue and licked the tip of the brush. Muttering to herself, she raised her hand and silently wrote the two sentences on the paper. Apart from the characters being crooked and ugly, there were no mistakes.
Yuan Ye looked at the “exam paper” and pondered for a moment. He thought it might be because A Man had some prior foundation. She seemed to have known dozens of common Chinese characters before. However, he still advised, “You might have memorized them now, but this is only short-term memory. If you don’t practice well, you’ll probably forget them after a night’s sleep.”
“Impossible! If I’ve memorized it, I’ve memorized it!” A Man was impulsive and acted on her whims. She wasn’t the type to listen to advice and strongly demanded, “I’ve already learned it. You should teach me the rest! Otherwise, if I only learn a few characters a day, how many years will it take me to be able to use them!”
“Fine!”
If she dared to die, Yuan Ye dared to bury her. Seeing that he couldn’t persuade her, he decided to let her suffer a loss and learn a lesson. He directly read two pages to her but was too lazy to have her trace them. He just told her to copy and memorize them from the book and then left her alone. He would test her tomorrow after she woke up. If there was even one mistake, he would scold her until she defecated!
Did she really think learning to read was that easy? Children in later generations had to finish middle school before they could dare to say they were literate, taking nearly ten years!
Two pages of new characters were quite a handful. The wild child A Man indeed became obedient. She knelt by the corner of the low table and diligently recited the text.
“Lord Saburo, please have some tea.” Yayoi, the temporary maid, arrived with a teapot and poured a bowl of tea for Yuan Ye. She also poured a bowl for A Man and A Qing.
“Thank you.”
Yuan Ye smiled at her, picked up the tea, took a sip, and then set it aside, continuing to read his book. After flipping through a few pages, he looked up and saw Yayoi kneeling there with the teapot in her hands. He casually said, “You should go rest. We can pour our own tea if we need it.”
“No need, Lord Saburo. I… I don’t have anything to do right now. I… I’ll just pour tea for you here.” Yayoi snapped back to attention, quickly lowered her perked-up ears, and spoke with some nervousness, her gaze darting away, not daring to look at Yuan Ye.
Yuan Ye looked at her, then at A Man beside her, who was diligently reciting something in a low voice. He immediately understood and smiled helplessly, “If you want to learn, then come along!”
This wasn’t a bad thing. He would eventually need to socialize and go out. If the people around him could read, they could write him letters if something happened. It was certainly better than being surrounded by a group of illiterate people. Besides, he was already teaching two, so adding one more wouldn’t make a difference. They could attend class together, and teaching seven or eight characters a day would be enough, not delaying anything.
He even felt a sense of emotion. Ancient children were indeed precocious, all eager to learn, unlike his eldest niece—the child of his eldest sister from his uncle’s family. She was a master of mischief and often failed exams. His eldest sister had almost knelt down to beg her to study properly, but it was useless. She still failed, saying she wanted to be a streamer in the future and that studying didn’t matter.
Yuan Ye was very generous, even feeling a sense of empathy. Yayoi looked surprised. “Can I?”
“Of course!” Yuan Ye found a brush and pulled out a piece of paper for her. She was now enrolled, becoming a member of “Yuan Ye Night School.”
Yayoi didn’t dare to take it. She hesitated and said, “This is too expensive, Lord Saburo. I… I’ll use sand! I’m already very happy to have the chance to learn to read…”
“It doesn’t matter. If you want to learn, learn properly. It’s not a big deal.” Yuan Ye directly spread the paper in front of her and handed her the brush. He didn’t care about this small expense. After all, his eldest niece’s tuition and private tutoring cost tens of thousands every year, and buying paper could be done by the ton. A few sheets of paper here were nothing. If a few sheets of paper would make her study hard, his eldest sister would immediately change careers and open a paper mill, making paper with tears in her eyes every day, willing to work herself to death.
Compared to his eldest sister, he was extremely lucky.
Yayoi cherished the opportunity to learn. She immediately bowed deeply to him and said earnestly, “Thank you, Lord Saburo, for giving me this opportunity. I will definitely in the future…”
She wanted to repay Yuan Ye in the future, but she couldn’t think of what he needed and got stuck.
“No need to be so polite!” Yuan Ye quickly helped her up. He couldn’t integrate into this era and couldn’t accept people kowtowing to him with a clear conscience. He quickly began the lesson, teaching a couple of sentences first, about eight to ten characters a day.
Yuan Ye’s night school started in this haphazard manner. Fortunately, all three students were very enthusiastic about learning, and the experience of being a teacher was very good. He didn’t feel annoyed at all.
The night passed without incident, and everyone slept soundly.
The next morning, after Yuan Ye completed his daily task, he had nothing to do and immediately organized the first exam. He had no other intentions and wasn’t petty; he just wanted to teach A Man a lesson and let her know the importance of studying diligently!
This was also his responsibility as a teacher, to guide A Man onto the right path. However, after all three students submitted their papers, he looked at them and fell into thought.
This is a bit strange…
