Thinking about the errand assigned to him by his mother, Duan Mingjing got up early early, picked out a few bright clothes from the cabinet, picked through them, and finally chose a plain robe that he was most satisfied with.
Duan Mingjing also combed her hair into a very upright bun, wore a pair of newly made shoes, and went to the study room with the books placed in front of the table.
There are two study rooms in the old house of the Duan family. One is for Duan Mingqing and his friends to study. It is similar to the study rooms of other families. It has all kinds of paper, ink, pen and inkstone. The bookshelves are full of sages’ classics and examination scriptures.
The other one is specially used for studying for the children at home. For this reason, Qiao Lan also had some small tables, chairs and benches specially built. Although there are bookshelves, there are many fewer books on them, and it is very simple.
Duan Mingjing felt that he had passed the exam and was more than capable of teaching several children at home. However, since he had not touched books for many years, he was inevitably a little rusty. Last night, he went to the big study room to find a few books and read through them before going to bed.
When Duan Mingjing opened the study door with confidence, he was stunned when he looked at the empty study inside. Why was there no one there?
Duan Mingjing searched around the house but couldn't find the child.
I only found out the reason from Uncle Sun. The children did not go to class in the past few days and followed the old lady to play in the village.
Duan Mingjing was angry and helpless. He originally planned to follow him to Zhuangzi, but after knowing that all the carriages at home were being pulled to Zhuangzi, he stopped thinking.
Duan Mingjing stood in the quiet courtyard, looking at the lush flowers in the corner of the courtyard. When he heard the crowing of chickens and birds coming from outside the wall, he suddenly felt itchy.
I went back to the house, changed my body, and picked up the task of feeding the chickens again.
The people from Zhuangzi came over early in the morning. They were two older men who could recognize a few words.
Under Duan Mingjing's guidance, the two raised and fed chickens and cleaned the chicken coop.
There were no chickens hatching in recent days, and the weather was hot, so there was no need to burn the ground dragon all the time. After finishing the cleaning work, the two of them sat together under the eaves of the chicken coop, chatting with each other.
Seeing Duan Mingjing walking over from a distance, he quickly stood up and greeted him.
"Second Master is here!"
Duan Mingjing nodded, "You don't have to worry about me, just keep sitting and I'll take a look."
The two old men looked cautious and nodded.
He didn't dare to sit under the eaves and talk anymore, so he picked up the tools at hand and cleaned up the weeds and gravel beside the chicken house.
Duan Mingjing just wandered around the chicken farm out of boredom, and even made a meal for himself at noon.
Seeing that the sun was about to set, the old lady finally came back in a carriage with her children. Duan Mingjing breathed a sigh of relief.
Listening to the laughter and laughter in the backyard, Duan Mingjing walked over.
I saw all the children at home smiling, holding a large dark green lotus leaf in their hands, with two or three lotus pods and other fruits placed on it. They must have gone to play in the lotus pond next to the village.
Duan Mingjing looked at it and felt a little aggrieved.
When he was young, his mother never took him to play in the lotus pond. Now everyone in the family goes there without him.
Duan Mingjing approached Mr. Shang who was moving the lotus pods, and his tone was a little aggrieved, "The whole family is going to Zhuangzi, why don't you say something to me?"
Mr. Shang blinked and said inexplicably: "I told the second master last night and asked him if he wanted to go together? The second master said that he wanted to read hard and not let me talk too much."
Duan Mingjing:......
It seems that this is indeed the case, but how did he know that he was going to Zhuangzi to play?
The lotus flowers bloomed late in Zhuangzi. When all the lotus flowers in the pond were in bloom, Qiao Lan took her children to play there and brought back some lotus pods and lotus roots.
Although the lotus pods are a bit old, they are best used to make lotus seeds and red bean soup when the weather is cold, peeled and dried. The lotus roots are not thick enough at the moment, but they are more tender and refreshing.
What's more important is that the shrimp fry that Qiao Lan originally put into the water have grown several times in size after several months of growth. They are all as thick as an adult's finger and are extremely suitable for cooking.
She asked the people on Zhuangzi to get some out of the basket and brought back a basin. She tasted it first to see if it tasted good. If it tasted good, she would wait until Duan Mingqing and the others came back to get some more.
All the hard work of raising so many things is meaningless if you can't eat them.
Duan Mingjing's depression disappeared under the attack of a pot of braised prawns.
The freshly caught shrimps were so delicious that Duan Mingjing ate half a bowl less rice than usual, ate an extra bowl of shrimps, and then took a sip of mung bean soup that was iced at the bottom of the well.
Just when Duan Mingjing was about to go back to his room to rest for a while and read a book, he was called over by Qiao Lan.
Qiao Lan is sorting out her notes in the house. There are hundreds of books on half of the table. They are all notes she has made in the past few years. They are extremely precious!
"Have you prepared your book?" Qiao Lan asked.
Duan Mingjing was a little confused, "My son took some books from the study last night and read them in the middle of the night. Today Tao'er went out with his mother, otherwise my son would still want to teach him..."
Qiao Lan: "What did you see?"
Duan Mingjing reported the names of literacy books similar to "Thousand Character Essay" and "Hundred Family Surnames".
Qiao Lan raised her eyes and glanced at Duan Mingjing. She also knew how to preview, which was good. But this book seemed useless.
"Have you read any other books?" Qiao Lan asked.
This stumped Duan Mingjing. He could only stumble and find some impressive books in his mind. "My son has read some "The Analects of Confucius"..."
Qiao Lan thoughtfully said: "The Analects of Confucius is not good, how many mountains, rivers, county annals, history books and classics have you read?"
Duan Mingjing began to sweat on his forehead. He didn't remember this.
Seeing that Duan Mingjing remained silent for a long time, Qiao Lan also understood that Duan Mingjing was out of money, so she said, "Go to the bookshelf and find some humanities books and poems that have nothing to do with the imperial examination. Take that book to give
Tell Tao'er and the others a bedtime story to coax them to sleep. If they don't like to hear it, just tell them something they like to hear. Half an hour is enough."
Qiao Lan paused and added, "For the remaining hour and a half, you get up early tomorrow and accompany them to practice calligraphy and read books. As a father, you need to teach through words and deeds! You have to be yourself so that you can teach your children better."
Qiao Lan never expected Duan Mingjing to raise his children as sleeping dragons and phoenixes. After all, Duan Mingjing himself had no ink in his belly.
But this parent-child relationship must be cultivated!
The first way Qiao Lan thought of to cultivate personal relationships was to ask Duan Mingjing to tell some children some bedtime stories.
Read some classics and poems that have nothing to do with the imperial examination, and tell them to the children.
It broadens children's horizons and cultivates literary sentiment.
Duan Mingjing knows how to read and read, right?
Qiao Lan looked at Duan Mingjing, who was standing in front of him blankly, and seemed to have no reaction.
"What's wrong?"
Duan Mingjing was silent for a moment, and said with a sad expression: "Mother, why do you want to tell a bedtime story?"
He could probably understand these four words, but didn't his mother ask him to teach his children well? How to teach children how to put them to sleep. Which father would put his children to sleep?