Farmhouse Green Plum

After a while of being angry, Lai Di asked again: "Did your grandma beat you?"

"Of course I did." Daya stretched out her hands and showed them, "They specially prepared bamboo strips. After they beat my left hand, I admitted my mistake, so they beat my right hand as well."

Xiaoxiang was worried at first, but seeing her relaxed and teasing look, she couldn't help but ask, "Isn't it too serious?"

"How is that possible? With that kind of force, if it weren't for the bamboo strips, both of my hands would have been broken."

"Why do you say that so easily?" Lai Di was surprised. She moved closer to look at her hand carefully, and stopped when she didn't see any wound.

"I've already been beaten. There's no point in me crying." Daya shrugged. Now she was no longer embarrassed about being beaten.

As for people knowing about it and talking about her behind her back, let them talk whatever they want. She no longer cares about what the villagers think of her anyway.

Being beaten only hurt for a while, not as much as when she injured her hand while chopping wood. After the wound became festering with pus, that was the real pain that was excruciating.

"Yulan also said that Xu Yuzhi said she would never teach her to read, to prevent her from betraying her, so, Daya, you should give up learning to read.

Luckily Aunt Chen persuaded her to stop this time. If Xu Yuzhi's mother went to your grandmother openly and the whole village knew about it, you would be finished." Lai Di and Xiao Xiang persuaded Daya again.

Daya remained silent. The two thought she had listened to their advice and didn't want to prepare firewood in the afternoon. When everyone went to pick herbs, she suddenly said, "Help me keep an eye on Song Yuan. I'm going to Wutong Village."

"Wutong Village? What are we going there for?" Lai Di looked confused.

Daya pursed her lips and said, "I'll go to the community school to see if I can learn secretly."

Lai Di Xiao Xiang was so frightened that she almost broke out in a cold sweat. After confirming that there was no one around, she lowered her voice and asked, "Are you crazy?"

It was dangerous enough to learn to read from Xu Yuzhi, but he even dared to eavesdrop at the community school!

Not to mention that she was discovered by the old teacher, who caught her and eavesdropped on her and accused her of misbehavior, more importantly, the community school was full of boys, and if Daya, a girl, sneaked over there, her grandmother would beat her to death if this got out!

Daya looked at Lai Di, then at Xiao Xiang, and said softly, "I must learn to read."

After saying that, she walked past the two of them and headed towards Wutong Village carrying the backpack.

"Hey!" Lai Di called out, but she lowered her voice quickly to avoid attracting attention, "Daya! Daya!"

After a struggle, the two men were unable to persuade Daya to leave and could only watch her walk towards Wutong Village.

Xiaoxiang was so anxious that she was sweating profusely. "Laidi, what should we do now?"

"What else can we do? Go to the intersection and guard it to provide her with protection!" Lai Di was so angry that her liver hurt, but she was helpless.

Looking at Song Yuan squatting in the bushes playing with insects and not noticing that someone was missing, she felt overwhelmed. "Let's fool Xiao Yuan first. He's young and can't keep a secret."

Daya avoided people all the way and took advantage of the cover of grass and trees to successfully reach the back of the lecture hall of the community school.

What made her feel at ease was that in the minds of the villagers, the community school was a holy place for studying. There were not many people around, and even if someone passed by, they would walk past quietly and quickly, for fear of disturbing the students inside.

Daya squatted in the grass half a person's height, and only heard the sound of reading coming from the lecture hall.

"A man from Wuling made his living as a fisherman. He walked along the stream, forgetting how far he had gone. Suddenly he came across a peach blossom forest that stretched for several hundred feet along the banks. There were no other trees in the forest, but the grass was fresh and fragrant, and the fallen petals were colorful. The fisherman was very surprised..."

What is this reading?

Fishing, peach blossom forest, mountain with a small mouth, mountain with a small mouth? And light?

What should I do? I don't understand at all.

Confused by what she heard, she carefully broke off a few thick leaves, held them in front of her to cover her face, quietly straightened up, and peered inside.

Inside the lecture hall, I saw a gray-haired teacher wearing a round-necked long gown without a single wrinkle on it.

With a stern face, he paced slowly in the lecture hall, listening to the students reciting.

That serious expression made Daya, who was outside, feel awe and dared not even breathe, not to mention the students sitting upright in the lecture hall.

Among the students who were reciting with their hands behind their backs and shaking their heads, Daya spotted Yuan Qing sitting in the third row in the middle. He had his back straight and was reciting very seriously, as if he was chewing over every word carefully, unlike the others who could recite fluently without any effort.

Daya was a little confused. Wasn't Yuan Qing the best student in the community school? Why did he seem to recite less fluently than others?

Soon, the students in the lecture hall finished reciting the entire article and all looked at the elderly teacher.

The old scholar nodded slightly, revealing a bit of satisfaction. He put his hands behind his back, slowly walked to the top seat and sat down, saying leisurely: "Although the eight-part essay examination only tests the Four Books and Five Classics, other articles must also be read.

The way of writing lies in the three ways of reason, words and spirit. To understand the reason, one must trace back to the Six Classics and study the theories of the Confucian scholars of the Song and Yuan dynasties.

The words should be suitable for the topic and should be taken from books of the Three Dynasties and the Han Dynasty;

When desire is strong, one must cleanse his mind with righteousness and reason, and immerse himself in the ancient writings of the great masters of the Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, and Song dynasties..."

Daya, who was outside the lecture hall, became more and more confused as she listened. She felt that the old teacher's words were extremely difficult and obscure. She could only barely understand the three words "eight-legged essay for selecting scholars", "Four Books and Five Classics", and "articles", and could not understand the rest at all.

Seeing that the students in the lecture hall looked like they had learned a lesson, Daya was very impressed. They were indeed scholars who could understand such obscure words.

She shrank back and squatted in the grass, feeling very distressed. What should she do? Eavesdropping was not an option!

Is it because what the old teacher is teaching now is not the beginner’s course for children who have just entered school, so I can’t understand it?

Well, Song Yuan will be 5 years old after his birthday in May, and it will be time for him to start elementary school. Why don’t we find a way to get his family to send him to school?

Firstly, I don't have to take him with me wherever I go and get rid of this burden. Secondly, I can come and eavesdrop on the elementary school classes.

If it really doesn't work, you can only wait for him to learn it, and then learn from him.

The question is, is Song Yuan good at studying? Will he be like Song Tian, who only knows how to climb tung trees and writes his own name crookedly?

"What are you doing here?"

A voice suddenly sounded above her head, and Daya was so scared that she sat down on the ground, "I didn't steal... Hey, Yuan Qing, it's you."

Daya touched her chest, breathing heavily, and looked around nervously.

"Don't worry, school is over and everyone has left. No one saw you."

"Haha, really?" Daya felt guilty and embarrassed after being caught eavesdropping.

She blinked and quickly changed the subject: "What were you reciting just now? It sounded quite nice."

Yuan Qing's eyes lit up, "Right, I felt the same way when I first started. This is Tao Qian's famous work, Peach Blossom Spring, from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It is a masterpiece that is easy to read. Even illiterate people can appreciate the beauty of its rhythmic rhythm. My goal is to write an article like this!"