“The heavens are dark, the earth is yellow, the universe is vast and ancient, the sun and moon wax and wane, the stars are arrayed, the seasons change, autumn harvests and winter stores...”
It seemed that the little devil, Zong Jincheng, had found a tiny sense of accomplishment in his smooth recitation, as even after half an hour, his voice could still be heard chanting the "Thousand Character Classic."
“Give up the throne and yield the kingdom, there was Yu and Tang... Ouch, 'Yu wants sugar'? Do fish like sweet things? How can they ask for it when they don’t even have hands?”
Zong Wenxiu: “......”
Good heavens, the meaning I learned wasn’t this.
Shunzi: “......”
Sometimes, teaching Master Jincheng is truly helpless.
“Pfft...” Xu Wan, who had just entered, heard this divine translation and slipped, banging her head against the doorframe with a loud thud.
Oh God! Spare her ears!
What on earth was this translation?!
Cui Zhi, who was holding a food box, was startled and quickly helped Xu Wan up: “Madam! Are you alright?”
Hearing the noise, the little devil finally opened his eyes, which had been closed the entire time. Seeing Xu Wan, he immediately became on full alert and quickly sat up from his half-reclined position on the long bench.
Seeing Xu Wan’s startled appearance, he instinctively felt that something wasn’t right.
Xu Wan, supported by Cui Zhi, walked in and weakly pointed at the little devil: “‘Yu wants sugar’... Only you could come up with that. Why not say the fish comes ashore to grab the sugar itself?”
The little devil crossed his arms and stood confidently, looking like the smartest person in the world: “Fish can’t come ashore to grab sugar, you’re the one who’s stupid, not me.”
Xu Wan: “......”
Fine, if you can’t realize you’re stupid, then at least don’t think everyone else is.
Truly, you are the little devil of chaos.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Xu Wan took a deep breath and silently repeated “one hundred million, one hundred million, one hundred million” three times to calm herself down.
She didn’t believe anyone could resist their favorite food and still claim they didn’t like it.
Zong Jincheng turned his head stubbornly: “A gentleman does not eat food handed out in pity.”
Zong Wenxiu, who had just stuffed a piece of Seven-Flavor Cake into his mouth: “......”
There was no pity, really, no pity at all.
Xu Wan snorted and didn’t continue arguing with him. She just glanced at the book on the table in front of Zong Wenxiu, as if casually asking: “Wenxiu, why are you also reading the Thousand Character Classic? Didn’t you just start learning the ‘Meng Qiu’?”
She couldn’t directly expose the private agreement between the two, or the little devil would become defensive. But she also couldn’t let him hold Zong Wenxiu back, or else this little rascal might slack off, dragging Zong Wenxiu down with him.
Zong Wenxiu’s heart skipped a beat when asked.
He instinctively looked at his brother...
What should he do? If he told the truth, his brother would be angry, but if he lied to Madam, how could he repay her for saving his mother?
The little devil, full of resentment, glared at Xu Wan, expecting her to continue provoking him. But perhaps because he had been provoked so much lately, he was too busy being angry to remember to coordinate his story with his half-brother.
Zong Wenxiu, not getting a response from his brother, could only stutter: “R-reviewing...”
The child, clearly not used to lying, was so nervous that his body trembled. He didn’t even dare to look at her, his head sinking lower and lower.
Xu Wan had expected his reaction. She smiled and replied: “Reviewing the old to understand the new—it’s indeed a good habit.”
“Mm-hmm...” Zong Wenxiu mumbled in response, hoping she would quickly move on from the topic.
But as luck would have it, Xu Wan continued: “I just looked at the ‘Meng Qiu’ book. Although it’s a bit thick, it’s a collection of historical anecdotes that are very helpful for building your knowledge. Knowing history allows you to understand the present. You should take it seriously
nd not just swallow it whole like an illiterate, or come up with something as ridiculous as ‘Yu wants sugar.’”
Suddenly called out, the illiterate Zong Jincheng: “???”
Does she think he can’t understand such obvious sarcasm?
The little devil was about to explode.
But Xu Wan turned to Zong Wenxiu: “I’ve looked into your learning abilities, and you should be able to finish reading ‘Meng Qiu’ within a month. Helping your brother study is hard work, but remember to focus on your own studies as well. Don’t fall behind. I’ll check on your progress in a month.”