Ye Quan was Ye Wu’s grandson, and he was absolutely terrified of Ye Manshu. In the past, he had personally experienced her “loving care.”
The perfect childhood discipline he had never experienced from his own parents, he had fully experienced at Ye Manshu’s hands.
So the moment Ye Manshu called his name, he immediately stood up without daring to delay even a second. He walked forward and began explaining the characters.
Because he feared Ye Manshu the most, he had listened especially attentively during class.
Besides, her teaching had actually been quite interesting, so he had remembered a lot.
He managed to explain seven characters before he began stumbling, but in the end he still read through all ten.
“Excellent! Student Ye Quan, keep working hard.”
After Ye Quan stepped down, Wang Fuhua came up next. He was the youngest grandson of the Wang clan leader.
Once all five children had finished, Ye Quan turned out to have mastered the most.
Ye Manshu realized the little fellow was actually quite clever.
After listening to them all, she began focusing specifically on the characters they struggled with.
They had all learned the first few characters well, but performed poorly on the later ones.
After reviewing everything once more, she drew lots to choose another child to come explain the lesson.
Unexpectedly, Ye Quan was chosen again.
This time, when Ye Quan stepped forward, he had mastered all ten characters.
“Wonderful!”
Ye Manshu praised him enthusiastically again, even using several idioms and briefly explaining their meanings.
Ye Quan’s little face flushed bright red with excitement.
In the past, learning two characters in a single day would already have been impressive.
After an entire month, he had only learned a little over ten characters.
Yet now, in only half a day, he not only recognized all ten characters, but also understood their meanings, learned related words, and grasped how to break characters apart into radicals and components.
That meant he could even begin combining radicals to guess new characters. Though he wouldn’t always be right, he could at least get half of them correct.
The children had never experienced such a novel teaching style before. They found it both fun and exciting.
Not only that, but after checking the time, Ye Manshu spent the final quarter-hour weaving the ten characters together into a story.
The story was highly entertaining, and the children listened with complete fascination. The room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Even the parents listening outside found themselves drawn into the tale.
When the time was up, Ye Manshu finished the story and announced that the morning lesson was over and classes would continue in the afternoon.
“Teacher, can you tell more? I haven’t heard enough yet,” one of the auditing students pleaded.
Ye Manshu looked over and recognized him.
Li Xuewen, a child from the Li clan. He was a bit older, already nine years old.
“That’s all for today. If you swallow too much at once, you can’t digest it. First master what you’ve already learned. Steady progress is the true essence of studying.”
Besides, it was already noon, and Ye Manshu was hungry. There was no way she was willing to keep teaching.
She wasn’t some kind of masochist!
The adults outside began discussing among themselves.
“Ye Manshu really does have some skill. Forget the children—even I learned all ten characters.”
“I probably learned five or six. No, really, I want one of those blackboards and chalks too. If the characters are written there all the time, eventually you’ll recognize them just by seeing them often.”
“Exactly! People always say studying is hard, but after listening to this lesson, it suddenly feels much easier.”
Ye Manshu smiled faintly. She knew exactly why.
Adults had more developed brains than children. Their comprehension abilities were much stronger. Combined with the fact that this was their first time hearing her teach and that the characters she chose were relatively simple, it wasn’t surprising they remembered them.
One of her own teachers in her previous life had once said that good teaching needed to be interesting. If students enjoyed the lesson, they would naturally remember more.
Classes shouldn’t feel like immortal cultivation, where every lesson felt like surviving a heavenly tribulation. Otherwise, children would naturally hate studying.
Cheng Qian’s previous teaching style had been painfully rigid. He only knew how to force information onto the children, reciting textbook explanations over and over.
A teacher like that wasn’t even as useful as modern AI.
Ye Manshu had transformed from a notorious old hag into a lively, entertaining teacher in only half a day.
Some villagers had even begun inventing excuses for her previous terrible behavior.
“Manshu was only in such a bad mood before because life crushed her spirit. And her three sons angered her constantly. Look now—she’s straightened those boys out. Her youngest son can study without spending money and can even earn some. She doesn’t vent at everyone anymore.”
“That’s true. For over a month now, she hasn’t argued or fought with us. She’s not stealing my scallions today or yanking your garlic tomorrow.”
“Exactly. She used to constantly mooch from her eldest daughter’s family. Poor Cheng Yi looked thin enough to be blown away by the wind, and that little child of hers was so skinny all you could see were huge eyes. But a few days ago I heard Manshu even gave her money.”
“Really? Has she actually turned over a new leaf?”
“I heard that over a month ago she injured her brain and nearly died. Her three sons were unfilial—they wouldn’t even pay Physician Li to treat her and only wanted her property…”
Soon everyone began constructing a grand drama in their imaginations.
Naturally, Ye Manshu was the tragic heroine, and every strange thing about her was blamed on her three useless sons needing discipline.
When Ye Manshu later learned the truth behind these rumors, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Back at home, Sun Shi had already prepared lunch.
Ye Manshu looked at Sun Shi’s swollen pregnant belly and pushed the only few pieces of meat toward her.
“Eat properly and nourish yourself. Why are you still so thin?”
Sun Shi hurriedly pushed the bowl back. “Mother, you eat. I’m fine.”
She genuinely felt her life was good now. They had oil in their food every day and could eat until full. She was already very satisfied.
Before Ye Manshu could say anything else, Cheng Kang suddenly snatched the bowl away. The few pieces of meat disappeared straight into his throat.
He didn’t even chew before swallowing.
Sun Shi didn’t dare say a word.
Ye Manshu instantly exploded with anger.
She kicked Cheng Kang with a loud bang.
Cheng Kang crashed onto the floor. The wooden bowl flew from his hands, fortunately already empty.
“Mother! What are you doing?!”
Ye Manshu glared at him furiously.
“What am I doing? Did I say that meat was for you? I gave it to Xiao Juan!”
Cheng Kang protested indignantly. “She’s just a woman. Why should she eat good food?”
Ye Manshu nearly died of rage.
Her second son, aside from being filial toward her, truly treated his wife and daughters terribly.
He didn’t know how to cherish his wife—only how to take from her.
“Your mother is also ‘just a woman.’ So what? Your father never once said I didn’t deserve good food. How did I raise such a bastard?”
“But you gave Father three sons! She’s a useless hen that only lays worthless girls!”
Ye Manshu stepped forward and kicked him twice more.
“Your grandparents only had me, their one precious daughter, and they treated me wonderfully. What, are you insulting your grandmother too? How dare you? I’ll beat you to death!”
“Hiss—!”
Ye Manshu accidentally slammed her wrist against the corner of the table.
That only made her angrier.
She continued kicking him until Cheng Kang finally begged for mercy.
“Mother, stop hitting me! Stop! I’ll listen to you from now on! If you say I can’t eat it, then I won’t!”
Still not understanding the real issue at all.
But then again, wasn’t this exactly the mindset the original owner had taught him?
The original Ye Manshu had constantly drilled ideas of male superiority into Cheng Kang. And Cheng Kang himself was blindly obedient to his mother. After years of indoctrination, there was no way he could suddenly change overnight.
Slowly, step by step.
At least he hadn’t become so rotten that he looked down on his own mother too. He still listened to her, which meant he wasn’t beyond saving.
Besides, in this ancient society, even men who respected their mothers rarely truly empathized with women.
What a rotten, cannibalistic society.
Sun Shi only dared beg Ye Manshu to stop beating him, but didn’t dare physically intervene. The same went for the two little girls—they only dared plead for mercy.
To them, whenever Ye Manshu punished Cheng Kang, it meant punishing their entire family. They were terrified.
Ye Manshu felt another headache coming on.
Changing Sun Shi and the children’s mindset would also take time.
No amount of explanation from her would work overnight.
After lunch, Ye Manshu went to check on Wang Lin.
His condition had stabilized somewhat. The medicines were sustaining him. Although his face was deathly pale, he no longer seemed in immediate danger.
Still, she couldn’t guarantee complete safety yet. He needed another two days of observation.
Cheng Yi’s face was pale as she whispered, “Mother… thank you.”
Ye Manshu stuffed two eggs and two steamed buns into her hands.
“Eat. Otherwise your body won’t hold up.”
“Mother, I’m fine…”
Just then, someone outside suddenly shouted loudly:
“Wang Lin’s wife! Pay back the money!”