Crossing the Unknown Country

The next morning, the three children got up early and prepared to copy books. They wanted to copy two medical books and one library book together. They began to grind ink, put some in a bowl, and began to try to write. The brush was completely dry after a night, and the ink was spread out. Su He was asked to copy the medical book first. Su He opened the medical book, took out a piece of paper and spread it out. He picked up the brush and wrote the first word "本". He wrote a neat small regular script without any blur or dispersion. This pen was tested without any problem, so it was given to Su Run to copy the medical book for Su He himself. He picked up another one and started to write. It was a little soft, so he needed to write lightly. He wrote the second word "草" on the paper, and there was no problem either. Then he used the third pen, the third word "拾", and the fourth pen, the fourth word "遗". This book cover was written. Although it was written with four pens, the font was consistent and clean.

The three of them started copying books on their own. One table was not enough, and they didn't move the small table in their room and put it next to them. Su He's parents walked out of the house and saw three children writing furiously in the yard. They didn't even look up and were concentrating on copying books. The couple didn't dare to speak, for fear that the children would make mistakes if they spoke. The paper was too expensive, and there were only two extra sheets. After watching the children read several times, they picked up the pen to write, and they were very careful for fear of making mistakes.

Su He's parents tiptoed to the kitchen to cook, and first cooked for the children, and then stopped to talk. Su He and his brothers agreed to write for an hour every morning, and write in the remaining time when they were free. This way, they would not delay the housework, and there were other things to do. The three of them saw that the time was almost up, so they stopped to wash and buy brushes to hang on the wall. The brushes needed to be put up or hung. There was only one dining table in the house, and the small kang table had to be moved around, so there was no place to put the brushes, so the brushes had to be hung in the room.

After they put away their books, pens and papers, they saw that their parents had already cooked. They hurried to feed the chickens, clean up the vegetable garden and do housework together. Su He watched the three chickens being released again soon, running around the yard. The chickens were still straightforward, and their poop was everywhere. Suddenly, he remembered the fences for raising chickens he had seen before. There was no barbed wire here, but there were thorns, so he could just weave one.

Su He thought about calling his father: "Dad, come here, let's discuss something."

Her parents came out to see what their daughter was going to do.

Her father asked Su He: "What do you want to say, my daughter? I am listening."

Su He said, "Dad, let's make a semicircle around the vegetable field for the chickens and let them run around there. It won't dirty the yard, and the chicken manure is easy to clean up and the eggs are easy to pick up. We can just make a few nests at both ends. Just like a hole, we can weave a semicircle with brambles and buckle it down."

Su He's father thought about it and thought it was a good idea. The chickens would not run around anymore and it would be easier to clean up, so there wouldn't be chicken droppings everywhere in the yard. Su He's father: "This is a good idea. Just make a circle around the vegetable garden by the wall. I've started making this up in the past few days."

Then he asked Su Feng and Su Run to bring the copied books to him for a look, and Su He also went to get some paper and handed it to her father. After he looked at them one by one, he felt relieved and asked them to copy carefully and not to panic.

While they were eating, brothers Su Feng and Su Che came over to discuss how to change shifts to copy books. When they heard that they had made the brushes overnight and copied some this morning, they asked Su Run to take a copy for them to see. Su Run went straight into the room and took out a copy he had copied, as well as a brush he made himself. He also told them not to say that these brushes were made by themselves, because they were all made from the hair of their family members.

Su Feng and Su Che were stunned when they heard that it was made of hair. Hair could be used to make pens, something they had never heard of. They nodded quickly, saying that they would never mention this matter outside and would keep it a secret.

Then two people said: "We can also cut our hair and use it to make pens."

Su He's father said, "Use these pens first, and you can cut them later when you need them. I'll go find a carpenter to make a big desk this morning, and I'll carry it out to the yard to write every day."

Su He and his family quickly finished their meal so that the table could be cleared for copying books. They took out their things and left a book for the two brothers to try to copy. First they used a purchased pen, then a homemade pen, and they were equally effective. The two brothers each had one and copied one page to try. All the children in their family started to recognize words and write at the age of three, and all the children's handwriting was pretty good. Their three years old was probably the current age of five, which was the age of full years in the past.