Reading Books

  Since it was each taking what they needed, Yun Zheng didn't oppose anymore. The old tribe leader once again sincerely comforted Yun Zheng and instructed his son before leaving the door with a big bag of gifts, going to the Li family's banquet with great satisfaction.

  The son of the old tribal leader was a robust man in his forties, with broad shoulders that seemed capable of shouldering a mountain. He carried over 100 kilograms of rice on his shoulder as if it were a bundle of straw, and followed behind the old tribal leader who had brought books and writing instruments.

  This sudden change left him dazed, and in just one day he solved all his difficulties, from now on he can happily live as a rice worm in the village, as long as he passes the imperial examination, he will be respected by everyone for life.

  The old clan leader's surname was Cang, and everyone else called him Old Cang. His son's name was Cang Er. In Yun Zheng's memory, Cang Er referred to a type of thorny plant that could stick to people's or animals' fur and run around everywhere.

  Cang Er indeed lived up to his name, being sticky was his nature. The rice had already been carried over but he didn't leave, instead rubbing his big hands full of calluses and wanting to speak, opening his mouth yet not a single word came out.

  "Uncle Cang, just say whatever you want, as long as it's something I can do, I'll definitely agree to it. We're a family now, what's there to be hesitant about?"

  "That, that, Xiao Cong, your uncle has been blind for his whole life because he couldn't read and was cheated by those black-hearted wine shops and restaurants, losing a lot of game. This can't go on like this. You two brothers are book-smart, study hard, the village won't lack food for you two to eat. See if you can teach Xiao Shu to read together with you, not asking him to pass the imperial exam or anything, just hoping that in the future he won't be cheated by those black-hearted shops and lose his life's earnings."

  After hearing this, Yun Zheng was stunned, and Yun Jianqiang, who was lying on the rice bag, was also stunned. For the first time, they felt the importance of knowledge. It turned out that without knowledge, one would be bullied, and this was true.

  There was a bag of rice at home, and Yun Zheng still borrowed an axe to prepare for going up the mountain to chop firewood. Chopping firewood has become a kind of tempering for his heart. If it can be said that he was forced by life before, then now Yun Zheng wants to truly experience the living conditions of the Song Dynasty and quickly integrate into this collective.

  Chopping firewood is still full of fun, Yun Zheng's speed has increased a lot today, and his clothes have changed to the same style as other boys, wearing loose pants, a small jacket with a lapel, except for shorter hair and whiter skin, walking on the mountain road, there is not much difference from the rest of the kids.

  In my free time, I play a game with these kids using chopsticks. Apart from having to count, there's nothing strange about it. A group of kids crouch on the ground, concentrating and quietly picking up scattered chopsticks with their own chopsticks. As long as they don't touch other chopsticks and successfully count the ones in their hand, they win.

  Life is the best teacher, in a short time, these children can count their chopsticks clearly, so a small handful of bamboo chopsticks becomes a big one. Yun Chen firmly believes that as long as this game is played several times, it's no problem to calculate the little firewood money for oneself.

  Today, selling firewood went very smoothly. I changed to a new job, which is quite fair. One bundle of firewood for three cents, no cheating whether you're young or old. Yun Zheng looked at the three cents in his hand, felt a sense of melancholy for a while, and then put it into a cloth pouch.

  It was already dusk when they returned home, Yun Jianqiang had disappeared, and the little yellow dog was nowhere to be seen. Yun Zheng was extremely frightened, and he rushed down from the bamboo building, shouting loudly like a madman. After two shouts, the little yellow dog appeared at Yun Zheng's feet, wagging its tail, and Yun Jianqiang also appeared behind the bamboo building, lying in the arms of a mulberry-picking girl.

  Yun Zhen roughly pulled him out of the mulberry-picking girl's arms and shouted, "Where did you run off to? Why didn't you listen at all? What if you got lost?"

  Yun Jianqiang saw the tears in Yun Zheng's eyes, stretched out his small hand to help him wipe them away, and whispered: "I won't run around anymore, I'll just wait for you at home."

  Yun Zheng, who was still in a state of shock, was immediately surrounded by the mulberry-picking girls. He couldn't understand what they were saying, but he knew they were extremely excited. One of the girls even showed him an embroidered pattern.

  "What's this?" Yun Zheng took one glance and knew that kind of simple drawing absolutely didn't belong in the Great Song Dynasty.

  Yun Jian nodded strongly, and Yun Zheng didn't need to pay attention to these mulberry-picking girls. A good man doesn't fight with women, and it's only right for him to take Yun Jian back home for dinner. These were just simple sketches, so why did they drive the girls crazy one by one?

  Yun Zheng was washing rice to cook, today he went up the mountain, Cang Wa caught a bamboo rat, she didn't bear to eat it herself, so she gave it to Yun Zheng, he then found some bamboo shoots and mushrooms, preparing to stew a pot of fragrant bamboo rat soup.

  Yun Jianqiang took out three copper coins from his own small pocket and put them on the table, saying proudly: "I drew a few small flower patterns for them, and Xiaohua Jie gave me three copper coins to buy sugar to eat. Today I also followed them to wash clothes..."

  Yun Jianqiang and a group of little girls went to wash clothes, Yun Zheng's face suddenly turned black, and he slapped him on the back of his head, saying: "Can't you have some morals? When they washed their clothes, they didn't wear clothes, specifically going to the back of Xiaoshan Mountain, men don't go there, don't you know?"

  "I'm only three years old!" Yun Jianqiang had just finished saying when he was slapped again on the back of his head.

  "Warning you, if you dare to do such a thing again, I'll beat you into an idiot, and then you can go with them to wash clothes. A 12-year-old child should understand this, should know everything, with a premature heart in her small body, following those girls to take baths, washing clothes, is considered indecent behavior, this habit must be gotten rid of."

  The rice in the small pot was cooked, and the bamboo rat soup in the ceramic jar was also ready. Although only salt had been added, the two of them ate extremely fragrantly and sweetly. After dinner, Yun Hao sat by the fire pit, reading a book. He had already promised the old clan elder that he would study hard, as not doing so would be ungrateful for the bag of rice the elderly had given him.

  Yun Jianqiang also held a book and read it for a while before saying to Yun Zheng, "Big brother, do you plan on relying on these things to make a name for yourself in this era?"

  Yun Zheng smiled bitterly and said, "What else can I do? I'm almost a useless person here, my shoulders can't carry anything, my hands can't lift anything. What can I do except walk the old path I took when I was studying for the exam? You should study too, as long as we can pass the imperial examination and become a Xiucai, we can live a carefree life in this world."

  Yun Jianqiang suddenly said to Yun Zheng, "Big brother, I was naughty today, why didn't you hit me? I heard that when kids are naughty, parents will grab them and spank them. You were already very angry just now, so why didn't you hit me? I really want to know what it feels like to get spanked by a parent."