That afternoon, Teacher Shen checked the morning’s lessons.
When it was Zhou Xiaozhou’s turn, he correctly recognized all the assigned characters and gave clear explanations of their meanings.
But when Teacher Shen asked him to pick up his brush and write, he slowed down.
Not only was holding the brush difficult, but the characters he wrote came out crooked and uneven.
Gu Xiaoman sneaked a glance at his work and struggled so hard to hold back his laughter that his face turned red.
Zhou Xiaozhou felt his own cheeks grow hot.
Teacher Shen, however, didn’t reprimand him.
After looking over his writing, he said gently, “You’re quick to recognize characters. That’s one of your strengths. But writing them neatly takes more than intelligence.”
Xiaozhou nodded earnestly.
“This student understands.”
“From now on, practice a few sheets every day. When your hand gets tired, take a rest. Remember, don’t try to do too much.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
Teacher Shen asked him a few more questions.
After Xiaozhou answered them, a smile appeared on the Teacher’s face.
“You’ve done well today.”
Zhou Xiaozhou’s eyes lit up at once.
This was the first time since arriving in this world that he’d received formal praise from a teacher.
He couldn’t help sitting a little straighter.
Beside him, Gu Xiaoman secretly gave him a thumbs-up.
Xiaozhou smiled so broadly that his eyes curved into crescents.
At the end of the school day, Zhou Shoushan was already waiting outside the academy.
The moment he saw his son come out, he hurried over to meet him.
“How was your day?”
Zhou Xiaozhou threw himself into his father’s arms.
“Father, the Teacher praised me!”
Zhou Shoushan broke into a smile.
“What did he praise you for?”
“He said I learned well!”
“Really?”
“Really!”
As Xiaozhou spoke, he suddenly grew a little embarrassed.
“It’s just that my handwriting isn’t pretty.”
Zhou Shoushan burst out laughing.
“That’s all right. You can practice slowly!”
He picked up his son.
“My little Xiaozhou got praised by the Teacher on his very first day of school! When we get home and tell your mother and sisters, they’ll be so happy!”
Just as father and son were talking, Teacher Shen came out behind them.
“Second Brother Zhou.”
Zhou Shoushan quickly turned around.
“Teacher.”
Teacher Shen glanced at the child in his arms and smiled.
“Xiaozhou did quite well today.”
Zhou Shoushan was overjoyed.
Before he could even thank the Teacher, Teacher Shen continued.
“There’s something I need to tell you in advance, though.”
Zhou Shoushan’s heart immediately jumped.
“Please go ahead, Teacher.”
Teacher Shen spoke gently.
“The child has a good understanding, but he’s still very young. His bones and muscles haven’t fully developed, so he mustn’t be pushed too hard when learning to write.”
“When you get home, you don’t need to make him practice all day, either.”
“When I take on students, I look at their long-term progress, not what they can accomplish in just a day or two.”
Zhou Shoushan finally relaxed.
“Please don’t worry, Teacher. I’ll remember that.”
Teacher Shen nodded.
“There’s one more thing. The academy will hold a beginner’s assessment in a month. If Xiaozhou wants to stay, he’ll need to show progress in all three areas: recognizing characters, explaining the meaning of the texts, and handwriting.”
Zhou Xiaozhou raised his head.
“Teacher, I’ll do my best!”
Teacher Shen smiled and patted his head.
“Good. I’ll look forward to seeing how you do.”
On the way back to the village, Zhou Shoushan held his son securely in his arms.
The setting sun fell across the field ridges, and smoke was already rising from the chimneys in the distance.
Resting against his father’s shoulder, Zhou Xiaozhou thought about the characters he’d learned that day, but something else was on his mind.
“Father.”
“What is it?”
“After class tomorrow, can I bring my book home?”
“Why?”
“I want to teach Second Sister.”
Zhou Shoushan stopped walking for a moment.
He lowered his head and looked at his son.
The little fellow was already so sleepy that his eyes were half-closed, yet he still remembered what he’d promised his sister before leaving home.
Zhou Shoushan’s heart softened.
“Of course.”
He smiled as he agreed.
“As long as the Teacher allows it, you can teach her when you get home.”
Only then did Zhou Xiaozhou close his eyes contentedly.
Before long, soft breathing came from his father’s shoulder.
Zhou Shoushan slowed his steps.
His child was still young, and the road ahead would be long and difficult.
But today, at least, he’d taken the first step for his son.
And the Zhou family’s second daughter, who usually preferred quiet and always kept old books hidden at the bottom of a chest, had finally found something to look forward to each day.
Waiting for her younger brother to come home from school.
And studying together.
By the time Zhou Xiaozhou woke up, they had already arrived home.
He was lying in his little bed. His padded jacket had been taken off and replaced with a soft inner shirt. Outside the window, the sky was growing dark, and voices drifted in from the kitchen as his mother and sisters chatted.
“Awake?”
Zhou Qingzhu came in carrying a bowl of warm water. The moment she saw her younger brother open his eyes, she smiled.
“Father said you did well at school today. The Teacher even praised you.”
Zhou Xiaozhou rubbed his eyes. The first thing he did was look for his book bag.
“Second Sister, where’s my book?”
“It’s right here.”
Qingzhu handed him the cloth bag, then asked curiously, “What did you learn today?”
Zhou Xiaozhou sat up and took out a thin elementary reading book.
“I learned lots of characters, and some lessons the Teacher explained.”
He opened the book across his knees.
“Second Sister, come over. I’ll read it to you.”
Qingzhu’s eyes lit up at once.
She’d long wanted to see what the books used in a proper school looked like. But since it was her younger brother’s first day, she’d been afraid of tiring him out and hadn’t dared ask.
“Did the Teacher let you bring it home?”
“Mm-hmm!”
Zhou Xiaozhou nodded.
“I told him there was another sister at home who liked learning characters, too. The Teacher said books should be treated with care, but I could bring it home to review.”
Qingzhu felt a warmth spread through her heart.
She sat down beside her younger brother and washed her hands before carefully turning to the first page.
The characters were arranged neatly, one after another.
She recognized some of them, but there were others she’d never seen before.
Zhou Xiaozhou pointed to a line and slowly read it aloud to her.
Afterward, he explained the meaning just as Teacher Shen had that day.
Qingzhu listened with great concentration.
Only after he’d finished did she ask softly, “Does the character ‘敬’(jing) in this sentence mean respect?”
“Yes, but the Teacher said that here it also means treating something seriously.”
Zhou Xiaozhou thought for a moment.
“Like how Father works in the fields and takes care to grow the crops properly.”
Qingzhu nodded.
“Then I understand.”
One sibling read while the other listened. Before they knew it, nearly half an hour had passed.
When Madam Liu came into the room carrying dinner, she saw the two children sitting close together with the book and couldn’t help smiling.
“Eat first. You can study after dinner.”
Zhou Qingzhu quickly closed the book.
“Mother, we’re coming.”
Zhou Xiaozhou, however, still hadn’t had enough.
“Second Sister, I’ll teach you again tomorrow after I learn something new.”
Qingzhu smiled with her lips pressed together.
“All right.”
During dinner, Zhou Shoushan told everyone about his son’s first day at school.
Zhou Xiaozao listened with shining eyes.
“Xiaozhou, did the Teacher really give you a little stool?”
“Really!”
Zhou Xiaozhou swung his legs.
“Otherwise, my feet wouldn’t reach the ground.”
Xiaozao laughed so hard she nearly choked.
“Then were you the shortest one in the whole school?”
“So what if I was the shortest?”
Zhou Xiaozhou protested indignantly.
“When I grow up, I’ll be taller than you!”
“But I’ll grow up, too!”
The two siblings argued back and forth while Zhou Qinghe shook her head, laughing.
Madam Liu put some vegetables in Xiaozao’s bowl.
“Stop teasing your little brother. Let him eat properly.”
Xiaozao pouted.
“Mother, Xiaozhou isn’t even angry!”
Zhou Xiaozhou immediately nodded.
“Third Sister is right.”
After saying that, he even picked up a small piece of egg from his own bowl and placed it in Xiaozao’s.
“Here. This is for Third Sister.”
Xiaozao’s eyes curved into crescents.
At another table, Old Madam Feng saw the scene and couldn’t resist reminding him, “Xiaozhou, eat a little more yourself. Studying takes a lot of brainpower.”
Zhou Xiaozhou looked up.
“Grandmother, my sisters use their brains, too.”
“What do they need their brains for?”
“Second Sister studied with me today!”
Zhou Xiaozhou spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“She learns really fast!”
Old Madam Feng was taken aback.
“Qingzhu studies, too?”
Zhou Qingzhu tightened her grip on her chopsticks.
She instinctively lowered her head.
Although she’d always liked learning characters, she knew that the family hadn’t had spare money to pay for a girl’s education.
Now that her younger brother had only just entered the academy, she was afraid her grandmother might think she was being unreasonable.
But Zhou Xiaozhou had already begun enthusiastically explaining.
“Second Sister knows lots of characters! When there’s one I don’t know how to write, I can even ask her.”
Old Madam Feng glanced at Qingzhu.
“There’s no harm in knowing a few characters. They’ll come in handy for keeping accounts or writing your name.”
With that, she continued eating.
Qingzhu sat stunned for quite a while.
So Grandmother hadn’t scolded her.
That night, while Qinghe was making the beds, she noticed her second younger sister was still sitting beneath the lamplight, holding a thin twig and tracing characters on the tabletop.
“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
Qingzhu looked up.
“Eldest Sister, I want to remember the characters I learned today.”
Qinghe walked over and took a look.
“You don’t even have any paper.”
“It’s fine. I can practice by tracing them on the table.”
Qingzhu smiled sheepishly.
Qinghe fell silent for a moment, then turned and opened her sewing basket.
She pulled out several sheets of old paper that had been neatly trimmed and tucked underneath everything else.
“Here. Take these.”
Qingzhu froze.
“Eldest Sister, don’t you use these for keeping accounts?”
“I have more.”
Qinghe pressed the paper into her hand.
“If you like learning, then study hard.”
Qingzhu ran her fingers along the edges of the paper, suddenly feeling as though she might cry.
She carefully put the sheets away.
“Eldest Sister, once I’ve learned, I’ll help you keep the accounts, too.”
Qinghe smiled.
“Then that’ll make my life a lot easier.”
In the room next door, Zhou Xiaozhou was fast asleep.
He still didn’t know that the first book he’d brought home had quietly given his Second Sister a chance to fulfill a wish she’d been holding onto for so long.