Traveling through ancient times: living a different life

After Tingsong came back, he looked after his younger brothers and sisters. After washing his hands, he went to the main room to teach his younger sister and the three little ones to read. The youngest, Tingbai, also got up and joined the learning army.

I held the Thousand Characters given by my brother. There were many traditional Chinese characters. I thought I had to study hard. I should not think that I was a well-educated person just because I went to college. I should study hard when I came to ancient times. My brother taught me for an hour.

Biyue can recognize seven or eight out of ten characters, but she hasn't started writing yet. Tingsong sees that his sister is learning very seriously, so he goes to the room and gets a sandbox for her. There is a cut branch next to the sandbox.

Biyue used a tree branch to practice traditional Chinese characters on the sand table. With the foundation from her previous life, she wrote quickly and well.

"Sister, I asked you to write before, but you didn't want to. You only wrote three or two and then stopped. But now that you've been sick, you've tried harder."

Oops, has the secret been exposed? Bi Yue responded, "Brother, I am a girl and I don't have to take the imperial examination. I will learn slowly. When I grow up, I will recognize more and more."

"That's right, brother supports you."

After washing the clothes, Wang was happy to hear the children reading. She asked the children if they were hungry. As she spoke, she went into the house to get five cakes, gave one to each of the five brothers and sisters, and then went back to the backyard to work.

When it was time to cook dinner, Wang went to the kitchen.

Tingsong came out from the main room, "Mom, I'll help you light a fire."

Wang said, "Okay, you won't teach them anymore."

"I've been teaching them for the whole afternoon. They are still young. They don't need to learn too much at once. They won't be able to remember too much. Let them review slowly."

Someone helped to light a fire, and Wang worked quickly. The meal was ready in half an hour. As they did farm work these days, the family had good meals. Rice, noodles and oil were kept in a small warehouse behind the kitchen. Both daughters-in-law were equipped with keys, and cooking depended on the intensity of the work.

At this time, the gate opened and several people who had been working in the fields came back and went to the backyard to put away their tools and wash their hands.

The elders were pleased to see the children studying in the main room. After everyone was present, the little ones tidied up the living room while the adults went to the kitchen to help serve the dishes.

There was a big plate of pork stewed with cabbage, a big bowl of egg drop soup, stir-fried radish, and a large dish of pickled cabbage. Everyone sat around the table, regardless of gender. Grandpa started to pick up the dishes with his chopsticks first, and then the others began to eat. The children couldn't reach the food, so their parents helped them. Biyue sat next to her grandmother, and her grandmother picked up a lot of dishes for her, and her small bowl was full.

Bi Yue looked at her bowl and said, "That's enough, grandma. If you give me more, I won't be able to finish it."

"Okay, eat slowly." Grandma responded with a smile.

After everyone finished eating, they cleaned up the dishes and boiled some hot water for the family to use.

Fourth Uncle returned to his room, and Bi Yue followed her brother to Fourth Uncle's room. His room was on the outside, opposite the main door, and was wider than the other rooms. Fourth Uncle divided the room into two rooms, the inner one was a bedroom, and the outer one was a study.

There was a bookshelf on the left side of the outer room, with more than a dozen books on it, most of which were thread-bound volumes. Bi Yue stared at them, and her fourth uncle held her in his arms, "Yue'er, which book do you want? Your fourth uncle will get it for you." His fourth uncle did not despise her for being too young to understand.

Bi Yue pointed to a travel journal, "This one is good, it has pictures, I can ask my brother if there are any words I don't know."

Fourth Uncle handed her the travel book.

Bi Yue took the book and said, "Thank you, Fourth Uncle. Did you copy all those books? Bi Yue pointed to the thread-bound books, which were obviously sewn with cotton thread."

"Those books are very expensive to buy, so I hand-copied a few and kept one for myself so that my nephew can read them when he grows up. The rest can earn some money for the bookstore to pay for pens, ink, paper and inkstone."

It seems that my fourth uncle is very sensible. He knows that studying costs money, so he tries to do it himself if he can to reduce the burden on the family.

In ancient times, studying was very expensive and most families could not afford it. My fourth uncle started studying at the age of 7 and is 17 years old this year. He passed the examination for a student at the age of 14, but failed the examination for a scholar twice. His family was afraid that it would be a burden for him and encouraged him not to give up. He decided to take the exam next year and was going to go this year, but he fell ill at the last minute. If he missed it, he would have to wait another year.

My fourth uncle has worked even harder this year, hoping to be admitted to high school next year.

Biyue took the book, said goodbye to her fourth uncle and returned to the main room. The light outside had dimmed and it was already past six o'clock.

Biyue put the book under her pillow and planned to read it tomorrow, then went to Wang's room. Her mother was sorting clothes in the room, and when she saw her daughter coming, she said happily, "Yue'er is here. I just saw you go to Fourth Uncle's room."

"I'm going to my fourth uncle's room to borrow a travelogue. It's getting dark now. I'll read it tomorrow. My fourth uncle has to go back to the county to go to school tomorrow morning."

"Yes, in the morning I take the village ox cart to the town, and then take a car to the county."

"Mom, let me ask you something!"

"What's the matter? Just ask!"

"Is my grandmother a daughter of a wealthy family? She seems to be quite knowledgeable."

"She's not a lady, but she seems to be working for a wealthy family. I'm not sure about the details, so why don't you ask grandma!" She talked about this and that for a while and then left.

Wang knew that she was going to her grandmother's house, so she went about her business.

Bi Yue walked towards the door and heard her grandfather tell her grandmother that there would be a market in town tomorrow, and he would take her to the clinic to check it out and bring back some meat, and buy some cloth to make spring clothes for the little ones, especially Song'er and Nannan.

"Okay, Brother Feng."

Bi Yue raised the corner of her mouth. Brother Feng, Brother Feng, hehe! Grandma called Grandpa like this in private. When she heard no more, Bi Yue pretended to come in from outside.

"grandparents."

"Here we are, my dear. We will go to the market tomorrow. Grandpa and grandma will take you to the clinic."

"Ok."

"Then I'll go tell the fourth child to go with us tomorrow." Grandpa said and went out.

Biyue sat on the stool obediently. What was grandma looking for in the closet? She took out a purse from it, closed the closet, and put the purse under the pillow.

Grandma looked at the darkening sky outside and asked Biyue, "Are you sleepy?"

"Not sleepy yet."

I thought: It's only 7 o'clock! I'm going to sleep. There are no entertainment activities in ancient times. It's dark outside the village. It really fits the saying, work at sunrise and rest at sunset! The true portrayal of ancient farmers.