Qu Qing felt that he was starting to get hungry, so he turned to take a look at the two people happily squinting their eyes while eating wild fruits. After thinking about tonight’s dinner, he went to the kitchen to start cooking porridge. Hua Zizhou also wanted to help, so Qu Qing asked him to watch the porridge while he went outside to gather all the rice that had been cleaned of insects.
Hua Zizhou noticed that every time he wanted to help, Qu Qing had already done everything.
Today, he made porridge with rice and added the leftover wild vegetables from lunch. Although it was light, it was still quite flavorful.
After the meal, Qu Qing took advantage of Hua Zizhou washing the dishes to fetch another bucket of water. As he walked along the path, he considered that the creek was only about three hundred meters from his home. Although it wasn’t very far, making the round trip for water every day was somewhat inconvenient. He observed the terrain in the area and thought that if he could direct the water from a higher point to his home, it would be much more convenient to use. However, the creek water was dirty, and he wondered if there was a new, useful water source nearby.
When he reached the riverbank, he saw some wild vegetables that little Qu Xin had picked in the morning. After filling his bucket with water, he also gathered a handful of wild vegetables to take back.
Since becoming poorer, he found that he was becoming increasingly good at being frugal and managing his household.
When he returned, the sun was almost setting. He heated some water and wiped himself down. After cleaning up, he went out from the kitchen to pour out the dirty water and instructed the two of them to wash up as well.
Taking advantage of this break, he went to gather the thatch in the yard and placed it under the eaves to prevent it from getting wet in the rain or dewy at night.
It wasn’t completely dark yet, and with many thoughts weighing on his mind, he found it hard to lie down. After thinking for a moment, he took a sickle and went to the nearby bamboo forest to cut back a few bamboo stalks about the thickness of his thumb. Sitting in the yard, he trimmed
away the branches and turned the bamboo into thin strips, then began to experiment with whether he could weave something from them.
The first bamboo weaving item at home was a backpack. He studied it for a while, looked at the bamboo in his hands, and began to try making it himself. After working on it for a bit, he gradually found some techniques. Unfortunately, as he progressed, he ran out of materials and his skills were not yet refined, so he wasn’t able to succeed. As the sky grew darker, he prepared to stop and, lifting his head, he noticed a large and a small figure squatting nearby, intently watching him.
Qu Qing realized that his clumsy movements had been completely observed by the two of them, and his face turned red. He deliberately changed the subject and asked, “Have you finished washing up?”
“Yes, we’re done, Father. What are you doing?” Qu Xin looked at Qu Qing with his dark eyes.
Qu Qing was still somewhat unaccustomed to this form of address. He glanced at the half-finished item that barely counted as anything and casually put it down on the ground. “I was just messing around, I didn’t plan to make anything. It’s getting dark, so let’s stop and go to sleep.”
As soon as he mentioned going to sleep, no one in the house objected. They locked the front door, closed the room door, and the three of them lay side by side on the bed, but none of them were actually asleep.
Qu Qing, having done heavy work for the first time in his life today, was now feeling fatigued and sore all over. He was very tired and wanted to sleep, but his mind was unusually alert. His goal for the night was clear: to obtain more information from Hua Zizhou.
After two days of being together, he had come to understand that Hua Zizhou was very obedient to him and worked seriously without being perfunctory. However, this was just the beginning, and he still didn’t know how things would be in the future. But for now, he was certain that Hua Zizhou would not disobey him.
“Zizhou, are you asleep?”
“Not yet.”
Qu Qing could sense a hint of tension in his voice.
“I can’t sleep. Why don’t you say something? Anything will do—interesting stories, gossip about famous people, just talk about something.”
He wanted to gather some information about the village and the world around him. “Um, but with you putting it that way, I’m not sure what to say right away,” Hua Zizhou replied. “Then let’s start with famous people. Who do you think is the most famous person in the area?”
“I know this one!” Little Qu Xin’s voice suddenly chimed in. “The most famous person is the Zhao family. Everyone in the village says they have countless fields and endless money.”
Qu Qing immediately became interested. “Really? Then tell me about this person.” A wealthy family like that was probably akin to the landowners of ancient times. Given his current financial struggles, he was curious about anything related to wealth.
Through their back-and-forth conversation, Qu Qing pieced together a complete picture of this ancient rich person.
Mr. Zhao is from Huajia Village. When he was twenty, he went out to explore and earned quite a bit of money. Now, after returning to his hometown, he opened a cloth shop in the town and built a house for himself in the village. He is also dedicated to repairing bridges and roads for the community. In fact, a long time ago, he even planned to build a school for the village, but he had to abandon the idea because he couldn’t find a teacher.
Upon hearing this, Qu Qing’s interest was piqued, and he asked, “Why couldn’t they find a teacher? Is there really not a single educated person in this area?”
Hua Zizhou explained, “It’s not that there aren’t any. Although there are a few scholars scattered around, most of the people who can afford an education come from wealthy families. Their goal is to take the imperial examination, so it’s unlikely they would agree to come to the countryside village to teach children.”
“Oh, I see…” Qu Qing thought to himself, feeling that he had found a direction. He considered that perhaps he could try to seize this opportunity. When he was in school, he had been quite good at studying, but later, due to an accident in the family, he had to drop out without even having the chance to take the college entrance exam.
However, before that, it would be best for him to first understand whether the writing in this world is the same as that in his original world. If it’s different, then there’s no point in thinking further. Even if it is the same, he would still need to figure out how to explain to others how he learned to read, which could be quite troublesome.
After thinking for a moment, he cautiously asked, “Zizhou, can you read?”
“I can’t read. Not just me, even in the entire Huajia Village, there are only a few people who know a few characters. I heard that your family was quite wealthy before moving to Huajia Village, so… do you know how to read?”
Qu Qing’s eyes lit up, the question that had puzzled him just moments ago suddenly had a solution. If he had moved to this village later and the villagers were unaware of his past, he could easily fabricate a story about having studied before. No one would suspect a thing.
With this thought in his mind, he said, “I studied for quite a few years in the past, but I’ve put it aside for a long time, so I’m not sure if I can still do it.”
“Wow!” Upon hearing that he had studied for quite a few years, Hua Zizhou’s eyes instantly filled with admiration. “No wonder you gave a name that sounds so nice! It’s normal since you can read. You’re really impressive.”
Being flattered by this compliment, Qu Qing felt a bit embarrassed. “Actually, it’s nothing special, I just studied a bit…”
In modern times, with nine years of compulsory education, studying isn’t anything remarkable. College students are everywhere, and graduate students are as common as dogs. He only graduated from high school, and even if he had good grades in school, not having attended university meant he was just an ordinary high school graduate.
“No!” Hua Zizhou suddenly sat up straight, excitedly grabbing Qu Qing’s hand resting on the blanket. “Having studied is really impressive! Our village’s chief was chosen because he could read, and there’s a scholar from the neighboring village with the surname An. I heard he was well-educated and later got invited by the county magistrate to take an official position. So, studying really is something remarkable!”
Qu Qing felt increasingly uneasy.
Was it really that exaggerated?