Qi Shanhe unfolded the paper in his hand and showed it to Yu Xiaolian.
Seeing Yu Xiaolian glanced at the questions on the paper, then looked at him with displeasure, suddenly realizing, "Ah, it’s all my fault as a student, I overlooked that Yu Teacher might not recognize all the characters on it.
Okay, let me read it for you...
The title of this article is: Respectful Avoiding Humiliation, Tolerance Wins Popularity...
Oh dear, after saying so much, Yu Teacher might not understand the meaning of the article, right?
No worries, let me... explain to you sentence by sentence.
This sentence means that being dignified prevents insult, and tolerance gains public support...
I wonder if Yu Teacher has any better insights on this article that he could teach me?"
Qi Shanhe was highly dramatic and pretentious.
Yu Xiaolian snatched the paper from Qi Shanhe, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at Qi Shanhe’s face.
Without waiting for Qi Shanhe to speak, Yu Xiaolian took the lead, saying, "As far as I know, this topic is an old question in several juvenile exams, why hasn’t Qi Tongsheng understood it after taking the juvenile exams so many times?"
Yu Xiaolian clasped her hands behind her back, sighed deeply, and looked at Qi Shanhe, "I think Qi Tongsheng is completely clueless and utterly foolish, this path of exams is not suitable for him at all, if it’s really not working out, maybe he should just go back to the village to farm?
Save some gift money, it can be seen as filial piety for your elderly parents and a contribution to your family.
Alas... a rotten wood cannot be carved...
Stop reading, it’s a waste of money anyway."
Qi Shanhe originally planned to publicly humiliate Yu Xiaolian, but didn’t expect to be counter-humiliated.
Wasn’t it said that Yu Teacher could only do arithmetic and didn’t recognize a few big characters? How come she knows this is a common question in juvenile exams?
Of course, he knows this question, he has taken the juvenile exams so many times, he’s very familiar with this question, the reason for ’asking’ Yu Xiaolian was precisely because he’s most familiar with it, intending to humiliate Yu Xiaolian while showcasing his scholarship and extraordinary insight before fellow students.
Now it’s great, he can’t say he knows it because he’s ’asking’, but if he admits he doesn’t know it, wouldn’t he become the laughingstock of the academy?
Failing to understand once is understandable.
Failing to understand after ten or twenty attempts? What would he become?
No, indeed, he had taken the two juvenile exams every three years, nearly twenty times, and this question with debate significance is precisely the favorite topic of examiners.
Qi Shanhe blushed deeply, feeling utterly humiliated, starting to feel a bit at a loss.
While pondering whether to lower his head and apologize to Yu Xiaolian, Yu Xiaolian reached out and nudged him, "Move aside!"
She’s getting off work!
Working overtime without pay, why should she work overtime?
"Oh, by the way, you’re not just clueless and utterly foolish, you’re also inarticulate and can’t even argue!
When comparing with those who are literate and skilled, where do you stand?
You can’t beat others in skills, and you’re not articulate, it’ll be difficult to become a speech officer in the future, listen to me, go back home and farm!
Oh... when it comes to farming, you wouldn’t mix up sesame and millet, would you?
Emma, seeing your guilty look, I knew you mix them up, what use are you anyway?
You’re just wasting air when alive and wasting land when dead!"
Qi Shanhe drew a circle with his foot, nearly fainting on the spot, this little girl surely has argued with people before.
He underestimated her!
After Yu Xiaolian left, Xiaohu and Su Jingyue stood on either side of Qi Shanhe.
Xiaohu looked worriedly at Qi Shanhe, "His literacy isn’t good, skills are poor, arithmetic is also bad, and he can’t farm when returning to the village. What should be done?"
Su Jingyue helplessly shook his head, "There’s no saving him!"
Qi Shanhe finally fainted, fulfilling everyone’s expectations.
As Qi Shanhe staggered and was about to fall, Xiaohu and Su Jingyue quickly jumped far away, afraid of being crushed by Qi Shanhe.
"Hey, I say, you two, how come you have no sense of camaraderie at all? Qi Tongsheng fainted, why didn’t you give him a hand? Just let him fall to the ground ?"
Su Jingyue immediately replied, "We didn’t intend to let him fall to the ground, we just didn’t want him to fall on us, we are only seven years old, if he crushes us, wouldn’t half our lives be gone?"
Xiaohu nodded in agreement, "Exactly, he shook left and right, who knows which side he would fall?
My instinctive reaction was not to be his human pillow, just look at our skinny frame, if he fell on us, we wouldn’t fare well!
We call this preserving ourselves!"
Yu Xiaolian wasn’t aware of Qi Shanhe fainting, in fact, she forgot about Qi Shanhe’s affairs as soon as she walked out of the academy.
What’s worth mentioning? Not worth mentioning!
She understood those ignorant and conservative ancient scholars too well, isn’t the problem that they look down upon women?
They bow and salute her, calling her Teacher, embarrassed and losing face.
Yu Xiaolian wanted to ask them, acquiring knowledge, what’s the shame in that? What identity do you fear losing face for?
Confucius also said, three people walking together, there’s bound to be one who can be my teacher, yet these ones with no accomplishments hold themselves so proudly.
If they were indeed such, being proud would be fine, but they’re nothing, clumsy with arithmetic like an ox, one wonders what they are proud of? Get full chapters from 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝕟𝕖𝕥
Aside from other things, she felt her second sister at home is stronger than those old juvenile exam takers, not talking about scholarship, just their humility and eagerness to learn, second sister deserves praise.
Ever since Yu Xiaolian went to the academy to teach arithmetic, when she’s not around, it’s Zhao Erya who manages the shop, sells goods, and keeps accounts.
Although the handwriting in the account book is sometimes crooked, with some strokes extra at times or missing at others, she didn’t lose any record.
Also, her modesty, always saying her writing isn’t good, needs more practice, after this period of diligent hard work, Zhao Erya’s writing has significantly improved.
Look, today’s account is much more neat than before.
Just after praising Zhao Erya, Yu Xiaolian looked up to see Jiang Lin entering the shop.
Jiang Lin came to bid farewell to Yu Xiaolian, he and Yu Zhengyang are heading north from Yu State to Lu State and Jizhou.
Jiang Lin mentioned that the conscription quantity in Yu State is fairly ideal, though some people fled to the mountains to avoid conscription, as Yu State is their first stop for conscription, the numbers are quite considerable.
However, further north may not have as many people, although they are also dividing forces in several routes, the north is farther than Yu State, the conscription message definitely precedes the military, there are many mountains there offering good hiding.
So, Jiang Lin speculates that the people fleeing in Lu State and Jizhou would certainly be more.
Jiang Lin said he should pass by Luocheng again on his return, and he’ll see her then.
Yu Xiaolian packed a big bag of snacks for Jiang Lin to eat on the road.
Jiang Lin didn’t refuse, carried the bundle of snacks, and said goodbye to Yu Xiaolian with a smile.
After Jiang Lin left, Yu Xiaolian felt a bit melancholy, ancient transportation was too inconvenient, sometimes a single farewell could be the last meeting.
Just like her grandmother and Grandpa Sun, probably won’t meet again in this lifetime.
As Yu Xiaolian was feeling sentimental, Yu Changhe came over, saying that while she was not home this morning, the Zhao Family from the west side of town came over, wanting to buy the recipe for their family’s braised meat.