Spring is coming

Chapter 23 Literacy
What he pointed at with his chopsticks was Weicai. Mo Jingchun explained to him: "This is Weicai, a wild vegetable that grows on the mountain. I picked it today. It's very fresh. Brother Bo, would you like to try it?"

"Weicai?"

Bo Qingshan picked up a chopstick and turned it over and over, as if thinking, and muttered something: "Picking weeds, weeping is also gentle... So this is the weed mentioned in the poem?"

He got up and sang a song, then raised his eyebrows and asked Mo Jingchun: "Girl Jingchun, have you heard of picking up wei?"

Mo Jingchun looked confused: "No."

"Tsk, I said I would teach you how to read, look at my memory."

Bo Qingshan suddenly remembered what he said outside Huaibiqi Juju that day, and slapped his forehead: "Starting from tomorrow, if I am not busy at home, I will come here and teach you how to read the Thousand-Character Classic."

Seeing Mo Jingchun's stunned expression, he shook his head in amusement: "Do you want to learn it or not? Why don't you thank me? How much does it take for someone else to study for a year? I don't charge you a penny."

Mo Jingchun came to his senses and nodded fiercely as if he was afraid that he would regret it: "I want to learn! Brother Bo, you are so kind!"

The study room of the Bo family is large, but there are not many books in it.

When Bo Qingshan came here, he planned to travel lightly, so he only picked up some things he often looked at and brought them with him.

But it was shocking enough in Mo Jingchun's eyes.

The bookcase that stretches from the soles of the feet to the beams of the room is half full, with hundreds of volumes at least.

The first time she touched something like a book, she held an Analects of Confucius.

Mo Jingchun couldn't put it down smelling the smell of ink emanating from the paper. Mo Jingchun carefully turned over page after page, wiping his hands on his clothes from time to time, fearing that the sweat from his hands would stain the pages.

For her who is illiterate, reading these now is like reading from heaven.

The strange strokes were twisted together to form different characters. Every time they passed, she would raise her head and ask Bo Qingshan beside her, what did this sentence mean?
Bo Qingshan could patiently answer her questions at first, but then he simply took the Analects from her hand and knocked on her forehead: "You haven't learned to walk yet, and you want to run away? You have to eat your food one bite at a time!"

Then he got up and found a few books for her such as "The Thousand Character Essay" and "Hundred Family Surnames" that are commonly used in schools for enlightenment, and asked her to sit at the desk and read along with him.

Bo Qingshan did not aspire to gain fame and he studied as he pleased. When he taught his apprentices, he taught wherever he thought and never stuck to paper.

Learn to read first, then interpret its meaning.

Then keep copying and reading silently until you can memorize it.

The order of what he taught was different from that in the classroom, which was understood first and behind the scenes, which made Mo Jingchun's learning less difficult.

She does not seek to be well-informed, so she does not need to think too much about understanding in the process. In the later stage, as she learns more and more things, her understanding ability will naturally improve.

This method was actually accepted well by Mo Jingchun.

Gao was shocked at first when he heard that Mo Jingchun said that he was learning literacy from Bo Qingshan, and then he felt mixed.

If someone is willing to teach their children to be enlightened, this is a great thing.

But she couldn't help but feel a little regretful, why was it Chun'er and not Qinglin who met Bo Qingshan?Chun'er's reading and literacy are of little use.

Fortunately, Mr. Gao is an open-minded person, and he feels relieved after regretting it.

Mo Jingchun has always been more well-behaved and smarter than Mo Qinglin. She learned it in the Bo family, and she can teach Mo Qinglin when she comes back, which is the same.

After Mrs. Gao figured it out, she lovingly warned: "Grandma knows that Chun'er has always been smart. Reading and literacy is a good thing, it can make you understand things. Just don't work too hard and hurt your eyes. We don't take the exam for the top prize."

There are very few children in the village who can study these days, and even boys are rare, let alone girls.

Mo Jingchun considered that he could not cause trouble to Bo Qingshan, so he told Mr. Gao not to tell anyone.

Mrs. Gao also knew in her heart that this person was already taking good care of her family, so of course she would not go out and sell him out.

After meeting Mr. Gao, Mo Jingchun soaked himself in books whenever he had time. Except when he was in Bo's study room, Mo Jingchun would occasionally take books home to review before going to bed at night.After more than a month like this, Bo Qingshan has made such great progress that even Bo Qingshan couldn't help praising her for being smart.

Bo Qingshan was originally from a merchant family and had no intention of pursuing an official career, but the old man did force him to study for several years in order not to be looked down upon.

When he was a child, he was full of displeasure, which was nothing compared to the way Mo Jingchun loved the book like a treasure when he got it.

And in this small Mojia Village, how many children are cut off from this road because of poverty?
In the study room of Bo family.

The sunlight pours down, falling on the floor through the shade of the trees outside the window, and the stars are dotted, tracing the path of the wind.

Mo Jingchun sat in front of the desk, holding his breath and not daring to move at all.

Her eyes did not leave the paper for a moment, and she did not bother to wipe away the beads of sweat already forming on the tip of her nose.

The weather is getting hotter day by day.

Bo Qingshan's unhurried instructions came to his ears: "When writing, your wrist must be flat, your palm should be empty, and your fingers should be firm. Otherwise, you will be unable to write for an hour with the posture you just held."

He simply used his hands to correct her, and his warm palms touched the moist backs of her fingers. Mo Jingchun retracted his hands as if they had been scalded.

The thick ink dripped down and spread on the paper, forming a mess.

The page I finally finished writing was wasted.

Mo Jingchun was startled and quickly raised his head and said, "I didn't mean to do it."

Her eyes were frightened and her brows were furrowed, like a frightened rabbit, which made people unable to bear scolding.

"Okay, what are you afraid of? Do I still need a piece of paper?"

Bo Qingshan didn't care and took out a new piece of paper: "I just want to teach you how to hold a pen, should you be shocked?"

Mo Jingchun also felt embarrassed and buried his head deeply. He heard Bo Qingshan say again: "Why are you burying your head so low? You don't want your neck? Lift it up. Lift it up."

Unexpectedly, the cicada outside was hiding in the leaves and laughing louder and louder, which was annoying.

Mo Jingchun picked up the cold water at hand and drank two large glasses of it before calming down and copying on the copybook again.

"Sir, a bunch of officials came from the county government. They said that a suspect had escaped here and they wanted the people in the village to cooperate in the investigation."

Hang Sheng's noisy voice sounded at an inappropriate time outside.

suspect?

Mo Jingchun immediately stopped writing and looked out the window.

She thought of the murder she encountered that night, and hesitated whether to take the initiative to tell the officer that someone was buried nearby.

Bo Qingshan saw her hesitation and stopped her: "Don't worry, let's see what they are here for first. Don't speak for a while. Let Hang Sheng say anything."

Although she didn't understand why she had to hide it from the official, Mo Jingchun still nodded under his gaze.

The three of them came all the way to the village and found that the village chief and clan elders were already accompanying several officials.

There were about four or five people coming. A group of police officers wearing public uniforms with black background and gray border surrounded a police officer in public uniform with black background and red border.

It's just that these people all looked impatient, and they seemed to be in a stalemate with the village chief.

Mo Jingchun ran back home first, locked the doors and windows of several rooms, and stayed in his room to observe what was going on outside.

(End of this chapter)