Free Web NovelChapter 441: Chapter 232: Qingmu Quits School
During dinner, Qingmu told Zheng Changhe about the Zhang family’s method of cutting grass to feed their pigs and collecting fertilizer at the same time. During the summer, the Zheng Family usually ate in their courtyard. The four of them would gather around a small square table, and after eating, they would linger for a while to chat.
Zheng Changhe nodded. "I saw your Uncle Zhang cutting grass the other day, and he told me why. We should start cutting some to bring back for the pigs too. We’ll have to go toward the mountainside, though; there isn’t enough in the fields. You and I can go cut it in the morning. Juhua, you shouldn’t go out. Just stay home and make breakfast."
Juhua nodded and looked toward the corner of the courtyard. The new bamboo shoots had unfurled and already shot up taller than the old stalks. The osmanthus tree, however, didn’t seem to have grown much and looked just the same as always.
A cool breeze swept through the forest and across the fields, pouring into the courtyard and carrying with it a medley of fresh scents. There was the fragrance of flowers, the smell of grass, and other, more mysterious aromas. In short, if one simply opened their heart and focused their senses, they could take in the rich tapestry of scents that nature exuded.
Night fell. It was a moonless night. And while the sky was filled with stars, making it not quite so dark that you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, it still couldn’t compare to a moonlit night.
After her bath, Juhua put on a facial mask with Qingmu’s help, then lounged lazily on the bamboo bed. Gazing up at the dense smattering of stars, she said to Zheng Changhe, "Dad, I actually enjoy gathering wild vegetables, you know. It’s not hot if you go out early in the morning. Sigh! I just don’t have the time. If I did, I could use it as an excuse to wander around a bit."
Zheng Changhe chuckled. "My girl, cutting grass isn’t the same as your usual vegetable gathering. To cut grass, you have to push your way into the thickets, and you never know if you’ll run into a snake. If you want to gather wild vegetables, just go down by Jing Lake and the Little Qing River in the late afternoon when the sun is going down. It’s actually good for the pigs to eat more wild vegetables anyway."
Qingmu said to Juhua, "You’ll definitely have more free time soon, because in a few days, I’ll be back home. I won’t be going to school every day anymore. I’ll only need to set aside a few days a month to go and ask the teacher for instruction."
Juhua was stunned. "Why?" she asked. "You’ve only been studying for two years. Surely there are still many books you haven’t gotten to?"
Zheng Changhe also hurriedly asked what was going on.
Qingmu reassured them. "It’s nothing. Don’t you two worry. The teacher said that since Huai Zi, Changyun, and I aren’t studying to earn official positions, we don’t need to be like Little Shitou and Zhang Yang and meticulously study every single classic. We just need to choose the most profound ones to learn. From now on, it’s more about self-study at home—reading more books, including ones on different subjects. If there’s anything I don’t understand, I can just go ask him."
Juhua let out a sigh of relief. "That may be, but I still think you should go and listen to the teacher’s lectures in the winter, when we have more free time."
Qingmu smiled. "I’m afraid that won’t be possible. We’re going to build the workshop this fall."
Juhua slapped her forehead. "Oh, right! I forgot about that. Sigh! It’s been hard on you, having to study so much. But the teacher is right, reading more books at home is just as good. We can afford it now, so we absolutely can’t be cheap when it comes to books. If you buy them and read a bit now and then, and just go ask the teacher when you’re confused, you might end up learning even more than you would have in the classroom."
Qingmu nodded. "That’s exactly what I was thinking. Now that I’m literate and have a foundation, I should read all sorts of books—history, medicine, travelogues, agriculture, and trade skills. Not only will it broaden my horizons, but a lot of that knowledge is directly related to our lives as farmers. It’s always good to know more. Otherwise, I’ll be just like I was before—an illiterate fool!"
As the brother and sister talked, Zheng Changhe, who couldn’t quite follow their conversation, spoke up. "I don’t really understand all this," he said. "But you need to think it through carefully, son. If you can go to school for another year, you should. It’s not like your old dad is too weak to work. Otherwise, you’ll have stopped halfway through your studies. Wouldn’t that be a waste of all your effort up to now? We have a lot of chores at home, but we can manage. Things were so hard for us the year before last, but you were still in school. Now our lives are much better, and you want to stop? I just think we can’t only be focused on making money."
Hearing this, Juhua couldn’t help but see her father in a new light. She reassured him, "Dad, brother isn’t quitting school because we’re too busy at home. It’s because he doesn’t need to take the exam to become a Scholar, so the teacher has assigned him different books than Yangzi and the others. He’ll study these on his own at home and only go to the teacher when he has questions. It’s cheaper this way, too."
Qingmu felt that Juhua had explained the situation more clearly than he had, so he quickly agreed. He added that the teacher had given them a list of books and told them to buy them and read them on their own.
