Ye Manshu didn’t actually want to curse like that, but honestly, arguing with a shrew was strangely satisfying.
When facing someone fierce, you had to become even fiercer to suppress them.
In the end, Ye Manshu accepted the fish. Mainly because Cheng Yi’s home didn’t even have cooking oil or proper seasonings, so no matter how it was cooked, it would taste awful.
“I’ll take it back and cook it properly, then bring some back for you. Your body really needs nourishment. You’re skinny as a bamboo pole, and my grandchildren are skinny as little monkeys too. As for those eggs, boil them and eat them. You must eat them.”
Cheng Yi’s eyes reddened immediately.
“Mother… you’re really good now.”
Please don’t turn back into how you used to be.
Ye Manshu found herself an excuse.
“Your mother already died once. I took a trip through the King of Hell’s palace before realizing what I did wrong. Your two brothers and your younger brother are all worthless brats. Daughters are better. Even though you were angry at me, you still came to care for me when I got sick last time.”
The original owner had indeed fallen seriously ill a year ago. It had been “cold damage,” though in modern medical terms it was severe bronchial pneumonia.
Cheng Yi had cared for her day and night without even undressing to sleep.
Yet after recovering, the original owner had still cursed Cheng Yi away simply because Cheng Qian had casually remarked that Cheng Yi hadn’t brought over any money and was unwilling to pay medical fees.
But in truth, Cheng Yi had brought the family’s only chicken and stewed soup for her mother to help her recover.
How should one put it?
Cheng Yi truly loved her mother emotionally—it was just that the original owner had been unbearably awful.
Hearing Ye Manshu speak this way, Cheng Yi couldn’t help crying.
“Mother, you gave birth to me and raised me. I’ve always remembered your kindness. When I was little, you treated me well too.”
After thinking about it, Ye Manshu realized that was true.
Back then, although the original owner favored sons over daughters, she hadn’t treated her daughters so badly.
Later, after Cheng Qian began studying, he constantly and subtly filled the original owner’s mind with ideas like: men are the pillars of the family, men are the masters of the household, women are dependents, women are worthless burdens.
He even claimed these teachings came from his teachers.
Combined with the fact that many villagers already believed such things, the original owner gradually began thinking perhaps this really was the truth.
Slowly, she neglected her daughters more and more. Eventually, under Cheng Qian’s instigation, whenever the family lacked money, she married off both daughters at high “bride prices.”
The more Ye Manshu remembered, the angrier she became at Cheng Qian.
And Cheng Yuan had constantly egged things on from the side, while Cheng Kang simply didn’t care at all.
There was practically no sibling affection among them.
“Alright, Mother’s going home now. I still have to teach children how to read.”
“Teach?” Cheng Yi looked puzzled.
She didn’t know about this, which wasn’t surprising. Few people from other villages had heard yet.
“Your third brother went off for corvée labor, so I’m replacing him teaching children for a month. I already taught all morning today, and it went pretty well. Oh, right—if Wang Jia and Wang Nian want to, they can come audit the lessons too. I’ll allow it. Normally children from other villages can’t attend for free.”
Cheng Yi’s eyes lit up immediately.
She called over Wang Jia and Wang Nian.
“You two should follow my mother and attend class. Even learning a few characters would be good.”
But both children shook their heads.
“Big Brother still needs care, and there’s housework to do…”
“I’ll take care of your brother. There isn’t much work right now. You two should go study first.”
In the end, Wang Jia still refused. At twelve years old, she didn’t want to squeeze into a classroom full of little children, which was understandable.
But Wang Nian was eventually pushed into going by Cheng Yi.
Ye Manshu first returned home and handed the fish to Sun Shi.
“Stew this fish. Add some eggplant, and buy some tofu to cook together with it. Once it’s done, send it to Xiao Yi.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Sun Shi never argued or questioned anything. If Mother said do something, she simply did it.
Then Ye Manshu took Wang Nian to the school.
There were even more children listening today than there had been in the morning.
But there were far fewer adults.
Who had time to sit around listening to lessons all day?
Between learning characters and earning money through labor, people naturally chose labor first. After all, most families still struggled to fill their stomachs.
Literacy simply wasn’t the priority.
Children learning a little was enough. If opportunities arose in the future, literate people could at least find slightly better work.
Nobody dreamed about the imperial examinations or officialdom.
Ye Manshu first had the five paying students write the ten characters on paper. She corrected them one by one, especially their writing posture.
She herself had spent tremendous effort in her previous life just learning how to write neatly.
As for elegant brush momentum and artistic flair—she didn’t have much.
But she had once been a top student. The theories were engraved into her memory.
How to hold the brush, how to begin a stroke, how to move the wrist—she explained everything clearly and logically.
Afterward, she let the five children continue practicing on their own.
Meanwhile, she glanced toward the auditing children who had no brush, ink, paper, or inkstones.
Most of them had already grown impatient and run off. Without stories to hear, they’d rather go play.
How many children that young truly had patience?
Even with stories, after a few days only a handful would likely remain.
But two children stayed behind.
One was Wang Nian, crouched on the ground using a stick to repeatedly write the ten characters into the dirt.
The other was a child from the Ye family named Ye Yuze.
He was much older—around eleven or twelve.
His parents had both died, and so had his grandparents. He had no direct relatives left.
An elderly widower from the clan had adopted him, but that old man had also died earlier this year.
Now Ye Yuze was an orphan once again.
Seeing how seriously Ye Yuze practiced writing on the ground, Ye Manshu asked,
“Have you mastered them already?”
Ye Yuze answered politely,
“Yes, Teacher.”
“Then explain them.”
In a calm, steady voice, Ye Yuze summarized almost everything Ye Manshu had taught that morning.
He could even draw inferences from examples, explaining things clearly and logically.
“What an excellent memory.”
This was a good seedling.
Ye Manshu had her own selfish motives.
She wanted to find children with scholarly talent and train them toward the imperial examinations.
People from the same clan and village naturally supported each other. As long as one person rose to success, everyone would benefit eventually. Then whatever she wished to do later would have someone backing her.
The process would take time, of course. But even becoming a mere xiucai scholar could already provide some protection.
As for her own son Cheng Qian—
Hopeless. She no longer expected anything from him.
Ye Manshu was carefully improving her own health. If she could also gradually improve medicine in this era, she figured she might live to seventy or eighty.
Optimally, she needed someone slightly older.
If she trained a five- or six-year-old child, it would take at least seven or eight years before they could realistically attempt the examinations.
Ye Yuze’s age was perfect.
Eleven or twelve years old, intelligent, and quick-witted. If he studied diligently for two or three years, he could absolutely attempt the exams.
If everything went smoothly, within four or five years he might pass the xiucai examination and become someone capable of shielding her.
And if luck favored him further, perhaps he could even quickly become a juren graduate.
The path would be difficult, of course.
But in terms of exam-oriented education, Ye Manshu was confident she wouldn’t lose to anyone.
She couldn’t carve rotten wood.
But if the wood itself was good quality, she could absolutely shape it beautifully.
Most importantly, Ye Yuze had no close relatives at all. No entanglements.
He was an ideal candidate.
And according to what she had learned, his character was fairly good too.
The boy was even handsome.
As Ye Manshu silently calculated in her heart, she increasingly felt that investing in him might truly be worthwhile.
As for Wang Nian—
He was merely an extra bonus along the way.
So Ye Manshu asked Ye Yuze directly,
“Do you want to study and take the imperial examinations?”
Ye Yuze froze briefly, then smiled bitterly.
“I want to study. But where would I get the money? As for the examinations… I don’t even dare dream about them.”
“Don’t think that far ahead yet. From now on, you can study with me first. Just keep learning. If you’re busy during the day, then after you finish your work, you can come ask me about any characters you don’t recognize. Also, I have books at home. If you want to read them, you may.”
Ye Yuze looked at her with unconcealed longing.
“I… can borrow books?”
“You can.”
Cheng Qian had bought quite a lot of books over the years. The Four Books and Five Classics were all there.
Ye Yuze immediately thanked her repeatedly.
“Don’t thank me. I simply think you have talent for studying. Study well. Don’t worry about the final result—just continue reading seriously.”
Ye Manshu still needed time to observe him.
If the child truly knew gratitude, then she would adopt him and focus on raising him carefully.