bayedsolid Chapter 426 The Flower of Barrenness (1)
Chapter 426 The Flower of Barrenness (1)
Wangyou, on the other hand, led the ox with one hand and her younger brother Tianye with the other, and then taught Tianye to read.
The two children were young and couldn't do any heavy work on a daily basis. Although the old man and woman were biased, they wouldn't let the young children in the family do any heavy work.
Wangyou's duty was to herd cattle. Tianye was three years old, and Wangyou usually just took him along as a side job.
Wangyou seems to be naturally liked by small animals, so when she takes the cow out, the cow never runs away, which allows Wangyou to do more things.
However, Wangyou doesn't like hunting wild animals because at most she can only get a bowl of soup, and the meat might just be scraps. It's a thankless task, so Wangyou isn't willing to do it.
But there's nothing we can do about it; that's just how things are these days. Strong laborers eat the most, women working in the fields eat half as much, and children eat even less.
Therefore, there are very few children in the village with a build like the chubby Tian Zhuang, let alone those who go to school like him.
It can truly be said that all other pursuits are inferior, only studying is superior.
Wangyou had a good memory since childhood, but her health was slightly weak. The year her mother was pregnant with Wangyou happened to be during a once-in-a-century drought, which caused her to not only not recover well in the womb, but also to be born prematurely at seven months. So, although she looked five years old, she was still smaller than a normal five-year-old child.
However, when he was four years old and herding cattle, he once went up the mountain and found a very beautiful bead. By chance, he recognized it as his master and obtained a mustard seed space.
This space can only hold things, but the advantage is that there are many delicious foods inside. Wangyou discovered a food called milk and drank some from time to time, which gradually improved her health.
It's just a minor issue, a congenital weakness, a disease of affluence, and you'll probably have to take care of it for the rest of your life.
This is why her father would occasionally steal an egg from her grandmother, and although her grandmother would chase after him and beat him, she wouldn't pursue the matter too much.
In this world, there is a preference for sons over daughters. Even if her parents did not, that's just the way things are.
From the moment she started herding cattle, Wangyou began searching for a way out. If she didn't take good care of her health, she would surely die young. After wandering around for almost a year, Wangyou discovered through comparison that studying was the only way out.
She has a naturally good memory and can remember everything she sees. This world does not allow women to take the imperial examinations, but she has a younger brother. She can raise her brother and enjoy the good life. This path is perfectly feasible.
Since her younger brother has always known to save food for her since he was little, there is a lot of potential for him to learn this skill.
"Sister, why do we have to read this?" Tianye repeated after her, but he didn't understand.
"Ono will be able to protect her older sister and find her a good doctor when she goes to school. If Ono doesn't study hard, her older sister won't be able to find a good doctor and might die young."
"Sister, I don't want you to die. I'll do whatever you say." Tianye grabbed Wangyou's hand in fear. Grandpa Niu at the village entrance was dead, and he had never seen him again. He didn't want to never see his sister again.
“From today onwards, you will learn whatever your sister teaches you, but you can’t tell anyone else. This is your little secret with your sister.”
"Yes, yes, Ono won't tell anyone." Tianye nodded emphatically.
From that day on, Wangyou took Tianye to the village school every day to audit classes, and then borrowed books from the chubby boy Tianzhuang to read, while also teaching the chubby boy how to quickly memorize the daily lessons.
"Little sister Wangyou, my dad hasn't hit me lately." The chubby boy was overjoyed to have finally gotten a B in his exam and even shared some pastries with Wangyou and Tianye.
"Tian Zhuang, let me see your pen."
"These are my new pens and paper. I'll give them to you, and I'll bring you ink another day," Tian Zhuang said, taking the pen and paper out of his book box.
"Okay, thank you." Wangyou didn't stand on ceremony and took the pen and paper from the chubby boy's hand, then fiddled with the tip of the brush for a while.
Wangyou fiddled with the brush for a while, figuring out that the hair on it must be animal hair. These fine, soft hairs felt both soft and hard to the touch, so they must be from different parts of the body. As for the handle, that was a simple task, and it wasn't difficult to work with.
"Tian Zhuang, how much is this pen?"
"One tael of silver, I don't even know where it's worth one tael of silver."
"This book is really not something that ordinary people can afford to read." Wangyou sighed and decided to teach the little fat boy more diligently in the future, and that she should also start practicing her handwriting.
When the chubby boy heard that Wangyou wanted to practice calligraphy, he offered up his ink.
Wangyou didn't use ink directly, but instead began practicing with the stream water by the creek.
At first, her writing was limp and lifeless, but Tian Zhuang recited the writing techniques her teacher had taught her like a memorized text. Wang You had a good memory and an extraordinary ability to understand. After writing a few characters, she adjusted them according to her own feelings, and they were already quite decent.
Then Wangyou tried it with ink, which made the little fat boy depressed. The boy had been learning for a year and his handwriting was still not as good as Wangyou's, who had only studied for half a day.
Looking at her handwriting and then at the words in the book, Wangyou noticed that her handwriting lacked strength. This was probably related to her age and the amount of practice she had.
"Forget-Me-Not, tell me quickly, how is this written?"
"So, when you're writing, don't use your arm, use your wrist..." Wangyou explained her feelings after writing for a while.
The chubby boy immediately tried it and found that his handwriting was indeed a little bit better than before.
"Sister, Xiaoye wants some too." Tianye was reciting his lessons when he realized no one was paying attention to him. Seeing how close his sister and brother Tianzhuang were, he became unhappy.
"You have to practice too. How can you find a good doctor for your sister if you don't practice?" Wangyou smiled and pinched Tianye's cheek.
After playing for a while, seeing that it was getting late, the group went home to their respective mothers.
"Dad, can I ask you something?"
"what's up?"
Do you know what's usually used to treat rabbit fur?
"Why did you suddenly ask that?"
"Just tell me if you know or not."
"I know, alum and borax will do."
"Can soapberry water clean it?"
"A little bit is fine, but a lot is not."
"Okay, go to sleep!" Having gotten the answer she wanted, Wangyou lay down and fell asleep.
The couple didn't take the child's issue to heart, and Wangyou didn't plan to tell her family yet. She would only do so if there was a result; if she told them now, people would just say she was daydreaming.
Besides, Wangyou doesn't know if her idea will work, but she should at least try, right? How can she know it won't work if she doesn't even try?
From that day on, besides sneaking into classes, Wangyou would also consciously look for thin bamboo shoots and other small animals, and when a small animal bumped into her, she would pluck a tuft of fur from it.
After pulling the rabbit fur a few times, Wangyou discovered that rabbit fur was more absorbent than bird fur, so she decided to use rabbit fur for an experiment.