Chapter 112: Learning

The next day, Yang Qing supported his waist and got out of bed early.

It's nothing for a man to brag; the key is whether it can be realized.

Yang Qing strained his waist trying to turn over and sing, it almost wasn't his own.

"Ay, this body still needs more nourishment; it's so weak, how can we go to war?"

After he endured the waist pain and finished cooking, Chen Hong came to the courtyard full of spirit.

Standing in the sunlight, she stretched lazily.

"Ah, so comfortable…"

Then she began practicing Supreme Ultimate.

She wasn't practicing the gentle Supreme Ultimate, slow and slow; she practiced martial Supreme Ultimate, the kind where after finishing a set, steam rises straight from her forehead.

While she was practicing Supreme Ultimate, Yang Qing went to wake the grandmother.

The grandmother had already woken early, dressed, sat on the kang, and was using the daylight to sew shoe soles.

"Grandma, it's time to eat."

Yang Qing said while taking away what she held in her hand.

"From now on, you don't need to do this; I'll handle sewing the shoe soles. When you're free, go out to chat with people, bask in the sun, or find someone to listen to the radio with."

The grandmother took off the thimble from her finger.

"I'm not useless; why would I need you to sew shoe soles?"

"From now on, you should do more men's work."

"Don't spend all day by the stove and shoe soles; you're good for nothing."

Well, Yang Qing was left speechless by the retort.

But the grandmother's words were useful; she just wanted Yang Qing to go out and make a career, not let him waste away at home.

Faced with such kindness, Yang Qing could only agree.

"Okay, Grandma, don't worry; after I finish eating I'll go look for work."

The grandmother glanced at him.

"Ah, if only you had a proper job."

She no longer has the ability to find a job for Yang Qing; this requires Yang Qing's own effort.

Yang Qing had no complaints; things were already pretty good.

"Grandma, don't worry about the work."

"Don't you know me? I can always find work."

"Even if there's no work, we can find other ways."

"I guarantee you won't lack food and drink."

The grandmother raised her hand and hit him, laughing and scolding.

"Do I care about food and drink? I care about you always drifting outside."

"Nothing beats having a proper job."

Yang Qing supported the grandmother and walked outside.

"We already have a proper job at home; we can't be greedy anymore."

"The Gu Ning family in the front courtyard all make a living from odd jobs."

"I benefit from your old lady and Chen Hong's influence, so I have no burden."

"I'm already satisfied."

Upon hearing Gu Ning, the grandmother whispered.

"You and she have nothing going on, right?"

Yang Qing firmly shook his head.

"Really, there isn't."

The grandmother pretended to be doubtful.

"Then how come someone said yesterday they often saw Gu Ning running over to your place?"

Damn it...

So soon they started throwing dirt at me at the grandmother's place?

Really hateful, who said it yesterday?

Yang Qing silently cursed the women who came yesterday, saying that those who give birth have no asshole.

"Grandma, you mustn't listen to their nonsense."

"Gu Ning came to ask me about how to fish for Earning Money."

"My wife knows."

"These people in our compound just don't like to see others doing well; whoever does well is considered guilty."

The grandmother reluctantly accepted his reason.

"I heard there's also a Chen Xueru, all dressed up, who comes over specifically at night."

By then he had already gone out; Yang Qing handed the grandmother over to Chen Hong.

"Wife, you explain this."

Then he fled in defeat.

What I fear most is the elderly being kind to you.

Seeing Yang Qing's appearance, Chen Hong giggled.

She also stirred up the grandmother.

Grandma, this guy is just dishonest, relying on the fact that he now has some flesh on his face, looks handsome, and has started to flirt.

Yang Qing expressed speechlessness; he also didn't know how, after gaining flesh on his face, he gradually turned into Tang Sanzang.

There's nothing to be done; nowadays people just like this face.

Only after the new century did women start to like horse faces.

The family argued noisily, but it soon passed.

Chen Hong went to the Jiedao Office, while Yang Qing took out a book to study, not thinking of going out.

He also dragged a wooden stick along the ground.

The old lady found it quite curious and came over.

"What are you doing?"

Yang Qing explained.

"Recognize characters."

Upon hearing this, the old lady became energetic.

"Shall I teach you? I've attended night school."

Yang Qing laughed.

"That's great."

Then the old lady began teaching her numbers.

"This is one, the one in one-two-three; this is two, the two in one-two……"

Yang Qing pretended not to understand, forcing himself to study seriously.

One taught seriously, one learned seriously.

………

At some point, the deaf old lady also came.

"That's wrong, isn't seven times nine sixty-three?"

The old lady was unconvinced.

"How could it be sixty-three? It's clearly fifty-nine."

The deaf old lady insisted she was definitely right.

"Look, this is a nine, this is two nines……"

The two people's argument again drew in Second Aunt.

"No need to count, seven times seven is forty-nine, seven times eight is fifty-six, seven times nine is sixty-three, definitely correct."

"My Guangfu learned this from me in the first place."

Thus, one-person teaching gradually became three-person teaching.

As they taught, these people felt something was off; Yang Qing, this guy, was learning too fast.

Not long after, he learned up to one thousand, and also mastered the multiplication table.

Others would take half a month, but you've only taken how long?

Second Aunt was the first to speak up.

"Yang Qing, you're amazing, practically a prodigy."

"You really learn fast."

Yang Qing gave a bitter smile.

"Second Aunt, I'm this old; I know a bit of this knowledge, okay."

"Besides, money and grain coupons are different numbers; if I didn't understand these, I'd be an idiot."

Second Aunt thought about it and agreed.

"That makes sense."

"Let's not teach numbers; let's first learn the alphabet."

"Do we have an alphabet textbook? If not, I'll go get my Guangfu's."

Yang Qing hurriedly fetched it.

"Yes yes yes……"

When mentioning phonetic spelling, the two old ladies became clueless, because Chinese pinyin was only promoted in 1958; previously, most ordinary people used Chinese characters for phonetic notation, such as Han Tong Han, Shuo Tong Yue, etc.

Second Aunt, because of her son, also learned some phonetic spelling.

She picked up the book and pointed to it, reading aloud.

"Follow me in reading: a ah, b bo, c ci, d de……"

Yang Qing followed along reading, feeling embarrassed, almost making a mistake.

This pronunciation somewhat resembled that of his village teacher.

No choice, Yang Qing endured the discomfort and continued reciting.

At this moment, Lou Xiao'e couldn't hold back her curiosity and came over, as the commotion in the backyard was too loud.

Hearing Second Aunt's pronunciation, she couldn't help but point out.

"Second Aunt, Chinese phonetic spelling should be taught separating initials and finals."

"a ah, o oh, e yi, i yi, u wu…… these are finals."

……………

Blah blah blah.

Second Aunt, after being given a barrage by Lou Xiao'e, became a bit unhappy.

"I know, isn't this about first letting him recognize initials and finals?"

Just you can; otherwise, you come teach.

The second aunt knew Lou Xiao'e made sense, but she couldn't let go of this face, so she directly talked back.

Lou Xiao'e felt a wave of grievance.

"I'm not, I……."

The second aunt shoved the book into her hand: "You come teach."

Saying that, she pushed Lou Xiao'e beside Yang Qing.