On the first day of school at the elementary hall, Qinglian arrived, leading a dark-skinned girl, introduced as her sister, Qingcao.
Qingcao was shy by nature, her fingers calloused from labor, and she refused to touch the brand-new books, waving her hands, “They’ll get dirty.”
Luoyan sat the two sisters down and gestured toward Liu Changsheng, who was tossing a book around.
“That book’s already fallen on the ground twice; who cares if it gets dirtier than him?”
With that comparison, Qingcao finally relaxed and carefully opened the first page, whispering, “Three?”
“Three Character Classic.” Luoyan’s eyes lit up. “So you can read.”
“My mother taught me a few when I was young.”
She had heard some details about Liu the carpenter’s family and guessed that Cui Yi had also studied before marriage but, after marrying, was too busy with daily chores to teach her daughters.
For Luoyan, this was a pleasant surprise.
While grinding ink, she sighed, “At first, only Guyu wanted to learn; now Qingcao has joined. I’m so lucky.”
Jia Yufang pushed two square tables together and set up a shelf with tea and pastries.
Luoyan stood in the middle, placing the Qingcao sisters on her left, Zhuyun and Guyu on her right, while the uninterested Liu siblings and the out-of-reach Guyang stood opposite.
She signaled Zhuyun to hand out paper and pens, then took out the textbook she had compiled and announced loudly, “Today, we start with numbers.”
First numbers, then things like roofs, cattle, and sheep, followed by clouds, thunder, and rain.
After covering everyday items, they would learn the characters used in Tianqi and Shenqi contracts.
This was advice given by her grandmother.
Having served as a maid in the Luo household for decades, her grandmother explained that poetry and couplets had little to do with servants’ lives, but knowing how to keep accounts and read contracts was invaluable.
It earned the respect of the lady of the house and prevented deception.
Luoyan wholeheartedly agreed since she herself had only learned a few dozen classical texts and could understand nothing more advanced.
…
Young Guyang only wrote a few strokes before biting down on the pen shaft, while Liu Changsheng, sweating heavily, obeyed Luoyan’s stern glare and obediently copied.
The most outstanding was Guyu, who had practiced with her older brother’s old books and wrote steadily and confidently.
Luoyan glanced at the distracted Zhuyun and found he had finished early.
Though his handwriting was rough, his memory was surprisingly good.
Qinglian and Changyi gradually leaned together, looking at each other with worried faces.
Luckily, Qingcao was undistracted; she wrote her characters very small to fit more attempts on the page.
Seeing the time was nearly up, Luoyan said, “Those tired can eat now. Those not tired can bring their chairs over and keep writing.”
There were many people and hardly enough seats, but when only Guyu and Qingcao remained, the room instantly felt spacious.
Zhuyun was about to leave but was caught by Luoyan. “What are you doing?”
“…”
Just because he could remember the characters didn’t mean he liked studying.
Naturally, he wanted to escape.
“You’re not allowed to leave.” Luoyan opened the Three Character Classic and said, “I know you think this is too easy, so why not try learning this one?”
Zhuyun glanced at the beaming Liu Changsheng, then impatiently replied, “Why should I?”
“Because if you go out to play, I’ll get restless too. But I’m the teacher; how can I leave before my students?”
“Fine.” Zhuyun pulled up a chair and sat, fixing his gaze on the hard-working Guyu.
Cold sweat beaded at Guyu’s temple.
He then turned to tease Qingcao but was grabbed by Luoyan, who gently held his face and forced him back. “Big brother, I’m not forcing you to study anymore, okay?”
The girl’s palm was soft and warm, instantly paralyzing Zhuyun as if under a spell.
When he regained awareness, he discreetly freed himself, raising the Three Character Classic to block their view, mumbling, “You teach then.”
“?”
Oh well, this wasn’t the first time she’d seen him go back on his word.
Luoyan took the book back and read the text aloud slowly, repeating twice.
Surprisingly, Zhuyun already recited it by heart.
Just as she was about to teach the next page, Qingcao stood. “Yan Jie’er, I have to go now.”
She still had farm work to do. Luoyan took out a cloth bag she had prepared earlier and walked Qingcao to the fork in the road.
“These are some old things I no longer use. You can take them to play with. Also, please thank Cui Yi for the pancakes.”
Qingcao was only thirteen and easily coaxed.
Hearing they were secondhand, she gladly accepted.
Luoyan, fearing the girl might overwork herself, admonished her like a little adult: “Don’t read after dark, or you’ll hurt your eyes.”
Upon hearing this, Zhuyun, following behind, scoffed, “Who still wants to read stories in the middle of the night? Not even eight oxen could pull me there.”
“Keep your voice down.” Luoyan quickly glanced at Qingcao, who was already walking away, then kicked him. “You’re really annoying. Out there, you have to protect the teacher’s reputation.”
Guyu stepped out of the shed, blushing. “I want to go skip stones.”
Zhuyun seemed to have anticipated this and grabbed Luoyan’s hand, heading toward the stream. “Alright, now you can rest.”
“Did you make Guyu say that?”
“Ask him.”
Guyu hurriedly waved his hands. “I wanted to say it myself, really.”
Luoyan: “…”
Liu Changsheng had already gathered some flat stones.
Seeing them approach, he gave two monkey-like calls, boasting, “My stones can skip two or three times!”
Guyang, who couldn’t throw far, looked at his older brother for help.
Guyu looked troubled and was about to admit he didn’t know how when Luoyan teased, “If you want to play, you must be good at it.”
“Watch me.” Zhuyun pulled her back to his side. With a flick of his right hand, a stone zipped out and skipped seven times on the water. He curled his lips in pride but sounded regretful. “Not feeling it today.”
Judging by Luoyan’s expression, if he had a tail, it would be wagging to the sky.
“Let me try.”
She picked the smoothest stone from Liu Changsheng’s collection and imitated him, managing to make it skip four times.
Liu Changsheng: “……”
It must have been the stones’ fault; he resolutely refused to lend any more to Luoyan.
“Cheapskate.” Luoyan found another stone herself, turned to Zhuyun, and said, “Teach me quickly.”
Zhuyun stepped forward, grasped her hand, moved it back, and then threw the stone. It skipped eleven times before sinking.
Everyone was stunned, applauded loudly, and praised Luoyan until she could hardly stop smiling.
Holding a handful of stones with nowhere to put them, Liu Changsheng almost ground his back teeth. Secretly, he vowed to practice quietly and surprise the whole village.
The Meiyu Season had officially begun, making roasting meat and fishing impossible.
Every day after school, everyone stayed in the Jia family’s shed.
Liu Changsheng had recently gone with his father to town to deliver goods and brought Luoyan several popular storybooks.
She was so absorbed she stopped playing chess, simply lounging on a rattan chair.
Zhuyun had already been trained by her but found winning too easy and let Guyu take his place.
Then he took out a heart method (Xinhua) manual and sat beside Luoyan.
He still wasn’t good at writing but had memorized many characters.
The dusty secret manual could finally be picked up and studied slowly.
Whenever he encountered difficult passages, he’d nudge Luoyan’s elbow.
However, Luoyan was too absorbed in reading.
After being interrupted twice, she puckered her lips in annoyance.
Zhuyun sneered, “What earth-shattering story is worth this fuss?”
Luoyan blushed and placed half the storybook on his lap, lowering her voice. “It’s about a scholar hiding from rain in a ruined temple who meets a Huyao disguised as a wealthy lady.
The lady is moved by the scholar and gives him money to take the imperial exams. They eventually marry. I haven’t read past that part yet…”
A fairly ordinary tale, less dramatic than the love and hate dramas of the martial world.
Zhuyun casually flipped through it, honestly not seeing what was so interesting, yet Luoyan’s eyes were glued to it without pause.
Seeing his disdain, Luoyan protested, “A gentle scholar paired with a proud young lady is so sweet. Besides, the scholar is really kind—he remembers everything his wife says and even defends her when accused of being a demon.”
Zhuyun looked indifferent, his face practically saying, “Why should I care?”
Reluctantly, she closed the storybook. “Fine, you just wanted me to play with you. Chess or Werewolf?”
“Chess.”
Guyu, having been dragged in and then sent away, muttered, “……”
Luoyan glanced at the unfamiliar Xinhua manual and casually asked, “Have you finished those earlier books? Any parts you don’t understand?”
“No.” Zhuyun looked proud.
She immediately praised him. “You’re amazing, the smartest student I’ve ever had.”
While they were talking, Liu Changyi heard a faint, feeble meow and tugged at Luoyan’s sleeve. “Yan Jie’er.”
Zhuyun, with sharp ears, recognized the sound coming from the corner of the courtyard and told the others, “Two stray cats are sheltering under the eaves.”
“Cats!” Luoyan jumped up. “Take me to see them.”
“…”
She really liked everything.
But since the rain was heavy, Zhuyun didn’t let her follow.
He went alone with an umbrella and brought back two stray cats, one big and one small.
The big cat was shy and ran off as soon as it touched the ground.
The smaller one stumbled clumsily and couldn’t even get past the long table.
Qingcao crushed some pastries to feed it, but Qinglian muttered, “Maybe it only eats mice.”
Sure enough, the kitten sniffed and then turned away, collapsing on the table without moving.
Zhuyun showed no interest, but Luoyan stared at it, plucking a wild grass stem to tease it, calling softly, “Mimi, Mimi.”
He patiently examined it. “Probably one or two months old.”
“Too young.”
Since Guyu’s family made a living from hunting, he was somewhat knowledgeable compared to the others. He picked up the kitten and inspected it. “It’s too young; hard to keep alive.”
The girls instantly teared up.
Fortunately, Luoyan had outside help. She called Jia Yufang, hoping, “Grandmother, do you have any way to save it?”
Jia Yufang was stumped but didn’t want to see the children upset and agreed.
It was time for everyone to return home.
Luoyan petted the kitten and said to her equally worried friends, “Once we get it settled in a couple of days, I’ll call you all over to play.”
“I’ll feed it some meat broth first.” Jia Yufang wiped the kitten with a dry cloth and thoughtfully said, “If there’s a mother cat, leave some meat outside. If the kitten is full, the mother will nurse it.”
Luoyan exhaled in relief, leaned toward Zhuyun, and grinned, “Ah Yun, when I found you, you were about the same. You’re really connected with Mimi.”
He was oddly annoyed. “You pick up everything and want to raise everything.”
“?”
But Jia Yufang understood and laughed, ordering them to make a nest to keep the peace.
Zhuyun gathered some dry wood, shaved it flat with a dagger, and assembled a simple bed frame.
With old cloth folded into a quilt, it looked quite proper.
Suddenly, Luoyan had a spark of inspiration. She pointed at Zhuyun, “Big brother.”
Then at herself, “Second sister.”
Finally at the kitten, “Then it’ll be Third sister.”