Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 66: It is not shameful to praise suffering

After one class, Chen Xuan learned more than a dozen words, and the overall experience was very good.

Mr. Yushan does not lecture by rote. Instead, he expands on each word, explaining its meaning, connections, and associations one by one. He also mixes in some short stories with educational or cautionary significance. The content is rich, and is either lively and interesting or serious and rigorous, and is not boring at all.

Even though Chen Xuan had the thinking of an adult, he couldn't help but be attracted by the content of his lectures. At first, he just had the mentality of learning to read, but later he gradually listened carefully, because what Mr. Yushan said could make him further understand the world.

Not to mention him, no one in the entire class was not serious. I don’t know if they understood that studying requires such a serious attitude, or if they were competing with each other, or if they were forced to be serious because of Mr. Yushan’s fame and majesty. Of course, it may also be because being able to attend Mr. Yushan’s class is a hard-won thing.

Although they are a group of children who are very lively and energetic at their age, they are very well-behaved. Not only do they not play tricks, they don't even whisper to each other. This kind of learning atmosphere is very good.

Maybe it lacks a lively atmosphere, but this is how learning should be.

Maybe people in this world have understood the importance of reading since childhood, unlike the Earth where Chen Xuan lives. For some young generations, studying is just a stage in life. It is like doing a task, not for themselves, but to please their parents and teachers.

After all, many people start studying from kindergarten and study for ten or twenty years, but in the end they cannot escape the fate of being treated like beasts of burden.

But studying is still meaningful. Even if I'm screwing in a factory, I can still search my brain and find some useful content from the knowledge I learned in my memory to flirt with the factory girls...

But Mr. Yushan did not deviate from the content of the book "Chumeng". A book of Chumeng has more than 3,000 characters. After learning all of them, you will almost have mastered the commonly used characters. Then you will be able to read books by yourself. As for uncommon or even rare characters, you will have to study them in depth later.

This book requires the entire academic year of Grade D to study.

When the bell rang, Mr. Yushan finished his lecture and assigned homework, asking students to practice breaking down the more than ten characters learned in this class ten times. After that, the teacher and students greeted each other and said goodbye, and the class was over.

"Let's go to the bathroom. Anyone want to join us?"

"I was almost suffocating because I was afraid of missing a word my husband said. I didn't dare to ask to go to the bathroom in the middle of the conversation."

"You guys go ahead, I need to review and remember what the teacher said."

"I need to go for a walk. My butt is almost stiff from sitting..."

After class, the classroom suddenly became cheerful and noisy, presenting a scene that was both familiar and unfamiliar to Chen Xuan.

"A Xuan, do you understand what the teacher said?" Gao Jingming couldn't help but care about Chen Xuan. Probably because he had been instructed to do so, he also called Mr. Yushan "Mr." in class with everyone else.

Chen Xuan smiled and said, "It's okay, sir, you explained it carefully, I can understand it."

He did not forget his duties during class and helped Gao Jingming spread the paper and grind the ink.

"That's good. I'm going to the bathroom now. Do you want to join me?"

“I’m not going.”

"Okay, Linzi and I are going to the bathroom..." A class lasts about an hour, and there is a twenty-minute break between classes, which is plenty of time.

Taking advantage of the break time, Chen Xuan took the time to practice calligraphy, not in order to finish his homework ahead of time, but because he still had a long way to go. There were so many people around him that he didn't mark the pinyin of the characters he had just learned.

During this time, he also heard some children around him chatting about Ren Fang's death. Some were horrified and confused, and some even burst into tears, saying that they were very friendly with Ren Fang and had agreed to visit Ren Fang's home some time ago. They never thought that they would be separated from him forever during one holiday.

Children's emotions are so pure.

Not long after, Gao Jingming and the others returned, still discussing who had peed higher before, as they all peed on the roof. Chen Xuan found this amusing, secretly calling it childish, but he had to admit, the new 'cock device' was quite useful...

The preparatory bell rang, and the second class was about to begin. The children returned to their seats.

This class lasts for four seasons and is taught by an old gentleman with a white beard. Chen Xuan heard other students mention it during the break. This old gentleman was a juren (a scholar) and had served as a county doctor. After retiring, he was invited by Mr. Yushan to teach here.

He was obviously much more serious than Mr. Yushan, but the students below did not buy it. Many of them were whispering and making small movements, which made him so angry that he blew his beard and glared at the students. He even hit several students' palms with a ruler, especially their left hands.

Zhou Lin was beaten, but it was his servant Ge Guang who took the punishment on his behalf. This made Chen Xuan feel sad, and he thought to himself that Gao Jingming had to be well-behaved, otherwise he would have to take the punishment on his behalf.

In this class, the teacher asked the students to read a short article about spring plowing. He read a sentence and the students followed him. In his words, although everyone nowadays does not know many words, they must know every article by heart, if not be able to recite it by heart.

Chen Xuan roughly understood this. In this world, students do not have the choice of texts to memorize, but must recite every text.

"The night is long but the sun is still up, people are awake but dogs are still. No smoke rises from any house, but every door is opened and tools are put on. A ray of morning light sets on the road, feet never stopping through the mud and cold dew, sweating like rain as they water the rice seedlings, day after day the grain is harvested into the granary. Who can see how much hardship they endure? The toilers never see the food in the pot, they have thin food for breakfast and leftovers for dinner, they pick wild vegetables and feel hungry, one meal hungry, the next full, this goes on year after year. When spring comes and the flowers bloom again, it is time for the children to go to the fields."

The old man led the students through the text several times. It was just an introductory text, and the principles were simple. He then began to explain the meaning of the text. The gist of it was that farmers got up before dawn to work in the fields, when the dogs were still asleep. However, after working hard day after day, they couldn't even fill their stomachs. Even if they had to eat wild vegetables, they would still feel dizzy from hunger. Year after year, until the children at home grew up and were old enough to work, the cycle would begin again...

After explaining the content of the article, he seriously warned the students that everyone should understand the labor and hardships of farmers, and know that every meal is hard-earned. However, such hardships are not worth singing about. Using the suffering of others to show off one's own literary talent is a shameful behavior. It is like rubbing salt into the wounds of others to make oneself happy. You may not understand it now, but you must remember his words firmly.

After repeated warnings, the old man continued to lead everyone to read the article, over and over again. The number of words was not large, and they had to read until they could memorize it. If they could not memorize it in one class, he would ask those who could memorize it after class. He would conduct a random check tomorrow, and those who could not memorize it would be punished with a ruler.

They read the text over and over again until the get out of class was over. After the teacher left, the students complained one after another, saying that it was too painful to have to memorize the text again.

Chen Xuan finally understood why Gao Jingming could fluently "read" the contents of the book without even looking at it when they were at Gao's house that day. That's how feelings are formed. It doesn't matter if you can't read yet. Just read it over and over again, and even a dog will remember it after a while.

Chen Xuan doesn't have such a strong memory, so he definitely can't memorize an entire lesson, but he can follow others and proceed smoothly.

This reflects the role of companion reading. For example, he and Gao Jingming each remember a part, and then compare and supplement each other. By checking for omissions and filling in the gaps, they can gradually recite an article.

After being able to recite them, as long as Chen Xuan quietly marks the pinyin of those words, it is equivalent to knowing those words.

As many students scratched their heads, the break passed and the last math class of the morning arrived. This one wasn't difficult for Chen Xuan. He was even 90% sure. The teacher who taught 'math' wasn't as good as him in this area...

(End of this chapter)