Chapter 6, Literacy

Although on the surface, Ruor and Sun Le appear to be of similar age, their eyes do not deceive; naturally, both feel that Sun Le should be the elder sister

The old man is named Fu Lao, and he is a renowned elder in the nearby village, primarily due to his literacy.

Nevertheless, in order to gain a bit more capital for survival in this world, Sun Le still insisted on teaching the elderly to read and write. The old man was already quite worried about the lackadaisical attitude of the weak children towards learning characters, and upon hearing Sun Le's request, he readily agreed, saying: When children have companions, they always learn with greater seriousness.

The old man glanced at Sun Le and slowly sat down on a nearby earthen mound, beginning to speak.

Sun Le saw an old man and a child both turning their gaze towards the campfire, so he used a branch to dig out a few pieces of yam, placing them on some leaves nearby to cool for a while. Sun Le then reached for one, peeled off the skin, revealing the tender and smooth white yam inside, and respectfully placed it in front of the old man, saying, "Elder, please help yourself, but there is no salt in it, so the taste is just average."

Sun Le collected about 3 to 4 pounds of this yam. The three of us each took one, and soon it was all gone. After finishing, Old Sun sighed with lingering satisfaction, "It truly is a good thing; once it enters the stomach, the whole person feels comfortable."

Time passed quickly, and in less than an hour, Sun Le had memorized those few hundred characters. Just as Fu Lao was repeatedly marveling at her talent, the yam was cooked, and a fragrant aroma wafted through the air

The Ji residence, to which she was married, is one of the more than twenty city lords under the command of the Qi Marquis. The Ji city lord has eight sons, and the fifth son is one of his most favored children.

The weak child, gnawing on the last half of a yam in hand, stared at Sun Le. Seeing her walk over to pull some ramie to weave, he couldn't help but curiously ask: "Ugly girl, what are you going to do with that?"

From his mouth, Sun Le discovered that this world was not any dynasty from the history she knew. The Son of Heaven here bears the surname Zhou, and has continued for twenty-three generations over five hundred years. Under the rule of the Zhou Son of Heaven, there are more than a dozen vassal states, all of which were granted by the first Zhou Son of Heaven, and now they have grown too large to control.

As the sun was about to set, Sun Le had unearthed a cluster of yam, which measured approximately ten meters in total, thick and plump, making one salivate just by looking at them.

The old man shook his hand and smiled, saying: "Hehe, I am now full and have strength, so don't worry, little girl."

Teaching such intelligent students brings a great sense of accomplishment to the elderly. He used a branch to write several hundred characters in the muddy ground, then repeatedly read them aloud to Sun Le. At this point, the weak child could no longer interject; he stood by with a pout, stubbornly following along with Sun Le as he recited the characters, displaying an unwillingness to concede.

After the weak child began to assist the elderly, he noticeably became much more well-behaved. However, every time the elderly were not paying attention, he would always stretch out his foot to kick Sun Le or quietly pinch him.

Seeing the elderly person about to leave, Sun Le quickly stood up and respectfully said, "Let me assist you." After saying this, he moved forward to help.

As for the place where she is currently located, it is called Qi. The Duke of Qi is the feudal lord of the Qi region, and he has a total of thirteen sons, among whom the eldest and the third son are the most favored by the Duke of Qi

Sun Le tore off another piece and handed it to the weak child, and only then did it come to her turn. She was truly hungry now; the little bit of thin porridge she had for lunch was far too little. After such a long day of toil, eating this unsalted yam and meat, she felt it was incredibly fragrant in her mouth

Seeing that both the old and the young had not left, Sun Le had some details he wanted to clarify, so he gathered some dry twigs nearby, piled them together, and used the firestone to light a fire for the elderly. He washed the yam in a nearby shallow pond, leaving the skin on, and then placed it in the glowing ashes to roast.

After the weak child was led by the elderly for four or five steps, he suddenly turned his head and called out to Sun Le, "Hey, ugly girl, I will come to play with you again tomorrow"

As he watched their departing figures, Sun Le suddenly recalled something: would his silent absence for more than half a day cause any trouble?

Sun Le had the intention to inquire further about the Fifth Young Master, but the old man always brushed her off with a single sentence. After asking three times without success, she had no choice but to give up.

Sun Le had a hearty meal and was in high spirits. At that moment, she winked at him and made a funny face, saying, "It's a secret!" As soon as her voice fell, Ruo Er immediately turned his face away and muttered, "If you don't want to say, then forget it!" Although he said to forget it, his eyes occasionally glanced at Sun Le, clearly still curious.

The old man, disregarding the completely lost interest of his grandson, repeated those twenty or thirty characters to himself three times before carefully putting the bamboo slip back into his bosom

As the old man recited, she felt a sense of familiarity. By the time the old man had finished reciting the twenty or thirty characters in a halting manner, Sun Le was already completely listless: she was very familiar with this method! The moment the old man spoke, her body informed her that she had long since mastered this breathing technique in her previous life.

She also wanted to know some things about her own body, but the old man did not know her before, so she had no way to ask. Moreover, in order to avoid raising suspicion, this matter could only be understood in secret, after all, there was plenty of time ahead

Sun Le possessed memories from a past life, allowing him to learn characters at an astonishing speed. The twenty or thirty characters on the bamboo slip were sufficient for the old man to read just once. Such "talent" left the old man in constant amazement. Sun Le, uncertain if he would have another opportunity to meet the old man and seek his guidance, requested him to record in writing the information he had just introduced regarding Fu Qiong, and to read it aloud to her twice.

Fu Lao could no longer wait; he took a big bite with one hand and, while devouring the food, mumbled, "As long as there is something to eat, it's fine. It's not easy to get salt."

Sun Le saw that the old man had finally stopped talking, and quickly stepped forward, reaching out to tug at the old man's sleeve, stammering and eagerly asking: "Grandpa, you just mentioned the ups and downs of his life, and I would like to hear more about it."

Of course, it is a good thing. Yam itself is a traditional Chinese medicine that greatly replenishes energy, not to mention that this particular piece they are eating is clearly of some age.

Without waiting for Sun Le to respond, he tugged at his grandfather's hand and hopped up the hillside.

The elder, upon seeing the two children, couldn't help but chuckle. He slowly stood up, took the weak child's hand, and said, "It's getting late, we must be on our way, weak child." Noticing that the weak child was still curiously watching Sun Le weave the vines, the elder smiled and said, "Weak child, you can come back tomorrow; the young lady will definitely be here again."

While roasting the yam, Sun Le asked Fu Lao for the bamboo slip, which was inscribed in the clerical script. She recognized some of this script and could decipher all the characters on the bamboo slip through a combination of guessing and deduction

The story of helping the elderly seems to flow endlessly once it begins, with no conclusion in sight. Sun Le listened while digging up yam. After hearing the elder speak about the stone hoe, she discovered a piece of stone knife on the hillside where they had come. Holding the stone knife, she found that the effect of digging in the soil was indeed much better.

She rolled her eyes, thought for a moment, and then said, "Old man, why don't you tell us the story of the current emperor first?" She glanced at the weak boy and saw that the young man was also looking at the old man with bright eyes, so she added, "Look, even the weak boy wants to listen.

Regarding the childish behavior of a weak child, Sun Le naturally would not take it to heart. The weak child had bumped into her several times in a small and playful manner, but always received no response, which made him a bit disheartened