Chapter 136: Chapter 136: Homeschooled
When Zhou Anran and others returned, the Xiao siblings and Sun siblings had already stopped their training activity.
Xiao Jingran had already left for Hejia Village for some matters.
"Master, I already got the goat milk for the children." Guo Tianliang approached the group while bringing a jar full of milk.
Zhou Wenzhi took it from him, and smiled widely, patting Guo Tianliang’s shoulder. "You have done a good job."
Guo Tianliang scratched the back of his head, not knowing how to respond. He merely shook his head.
The sun was still shining hot outside, so Zhou Wenzhi immediately ordered the children to enter the house. He handed over the jar of milk to Zhou Shuran for her to boil.
He sat on a chair and began to fan himself, watching the Xiao siblings and Sun siblings playing on the floor.
All of a sudden, he had an inspiration.
"Ran’er, have you taught them how to read and write yet?" He asked Zhou Anran beside him who was bringing soy milk to the table.
Zhou Anran raised her eyebrows. "We have been quite busy taking care of the fields lately and haven’t practiced much. I wonder if their ability to read and write has gotten rusty."
She was distributing the cup of soy milk, so Xiao Fenghao and others heard her words. They subconsciously stiffened, especially Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi.
The calmest one was Xiao Yuyan since she was the most diligent among them.
Zhou Wenzhi stroked his beard. "There isn’t much to do in the fields anymore. After I return, I will teach them to refresh their memory, starting today."
Not long after, Zhou Shuran returned with the warm goat milk.
For Xiao Qingya and Sun Tiezhu’s younger siblings, they would receive a cup of goat milk instead of soy milk.
"Shu’er, you can help me to see if your nephew and nieces still remember what they have learned." Zhou Wenzhi decided.
Xiao Qingya watched with eyes full of horror. [Do I have to be homeschooled too someday?]
Her siblings were confused by the new term they had learned. What is homeschooled?
"Grandfather... I... " Xiao Yuxi stuttered, her smile was forced. Then, she turned to Zhou Shuran. "Aunt, please be patient with me."
She was quick-witted enough to pick the kinder teacher compared to the strict Zhou Wenzhi.
For the next few hours, the children were learning, including the Sun siblings. The latter were originally full of worries, but they found out it wasn’t as scary as they thought.
Sun Tiezhu knew that learning and being literate was a luxury, so he learned as much as he could, listening to every Zhou Wenzhi’s words attentively. He knew such a chance would be rare.
Zhou Wenzhi could see that Sun Tiezhu was the most attentive out of them all, and he couldn’t help but also pay more attention to him.
This Sun family’s young man was quite different from his father who had wasted his life away. The former was much more hardworking and willing to take on challenges.
For the next few days, Sun Tiezhu could already write a lot of new characters and form simple sentences.
Today was the day before the harvest began, and they would become more busy starting tomorrow.
Zhou Wenzhi really appreciated Sun Tiezhu and he let him stay behind after others had gone to bed. Thanks to him, the Xiao siblings also became much more competitive when they saw Sun Tiezhu learning a lot of new characters.
How could they let Sun Tiezhu, who hadn’t learned how to write before, beat them?
"You are heading to the north soon," Zhou Wenzhi began, pulling out a small book. "Keep this with you."
Sun Tiezhu’s eyes widened; he was stunned. "T-this is really for me?"
He had never owned a book before. Just from the cover alone, he could see that it was precious.
The book was tailed for illiterate people who had just begun learning. Each character had a picture beside it.
"Take it." Zhou Wenzhi shoved the book to him. "After you arrive in the north, if you have a chance to study, treasure it and learn earnestly."
He still recalled the Qiu family’s son who never returned to their county. The Qiu family had disowned him.
The matter that had caused it could have actually been solved if the Qiu family had taken a step back, but they didn’t.
Qiu Mu’s mother has taken her son’s money that he had saved for three years. She reasoned it was better to invest it on a goat, and thus she bought a goat with that money without his consent.
Alas, when her son returned, the goat had contracted a disease and died.
He had originally saved his money so that he could study under a teacher. It wasn’t like he had never given his family the money he earned. He only took a small amount and saved little by little.
In his anger, he demanded the money to be returned, but the mother refused.
In his anger, he left and never returned.
"Uncle sent a letter to Mother a year ago, Grandpa Zhou." Sun Tiezhu told him earnestly when Zhou Wenzhi asked whether he was sure his uncle really lived in the north.
Zhou Wenzhi nodded. He patted the young man’s shoulder. "Then go, find your uncle."
In some ways, Sun Tiezhu’s grandmother indeed resembled Chen Huayun.
"Mother..." Xiao Yuxi approached Zhou Anran who was preparing something in the kitchen.
She had thought it over for a few days before she braved herself to try confessing to her mother. After she thought it through, she realized she might have to give up a lot.
Which man would like a brute woman? She might never get married in her lifetime.
But... if she missed this chance, she might regret it more.
Once they returned to Hejia Village, there was no way to hide that she was learning martial arts from her mother.
She suddenly took Zhou Anran’s hand and began to act spoiled. She called out again in a sweet tone, "Mother..."
"What’s wrong, Xi’er?"
Xiao Yuxi swallowed, and then asked. "Mother, can I learn martial arts?"
