Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Zhang Ling softly said, "Mmm," then added, "It's good, but not as good as the food at school."

"Then what do you usually eat at Yucai?"

"In the morning, we have milk and steamed buns with eggs. For lunch and dinner, we have braised lamb chops, stir-fries, many different kinds, almost never the same thing every day."

Zhang Dongxiang smiled.

On this point, Fang Zheng was indeed conscientious. It seemed that the canteen standards when they went to Yucai Primary School for meals had not been lowered.

The chefs there were indeed extraordinary, and the taste of the food they made was better than at home, as he remembered.

After the meal was finished, the servants prepared to come forward to clear away, but they saw Zhang Ling already holding his small bowl and chopsticks, ready to leave.

Zhang Dongxiang asked, "Ling'er, what are you going to do with your bowl and chopsticks?"

"Grandpa, I want to wash my own dishes."

Wash his own dishes?

At the dinner table, the family's surprised gazes all turned to Zhang Ling, but Zhang Ling, on the other hand, was already leaving the table with his short little legs.

Zhang Dongxiang was even more overjoyed!

How could a child be so sensible? He even does housework himself, without needing anyone to urge him?

Although this was the simplest of chores, usually done by servants, in many aristocratic families, the elders followed the family precepts.

They advocated acting like sages, doing things personally, so they were not ashamed of doing chores.

On the contrary, they regarded it as a cherished virtue!

Many officials in the court, although they were already immensely wealthy, still maintained this diligent style, diligently doing housework, and even personally going to the fields to plant vegetables and collect manure.

Now, seeing his five-year-old grandson taking the initiative to wash the dishes, Zhang Dongxiang's heart was filled with joy.

His other grandsons had never been so proactive as Zhang Ling.

The family looked at each other, and then they all smiled.

Zhang Dongxiang even ran to Zhang Ling's side and stood behind him, watching his grandson wash the bowls and chopsticks, smiling and saying, "Good grandson, go and rest, it's getting late."

Unexpectedly, Zhang Ling shook his little head and said, "No, I want to study. Grandpa, where's my schoolbag?"

"Study? You only know a few words, how can you study? Can you understand it? Did Principal Fang tell you to study when you get home? Don't listen to him, listen to Grandpa, just go and rest."

Although Zhang Dongxiang was happy, he always felt that something was wrong.

A child so young has already learned to wash dishes on his own, and now he wants to study on his own initiative. It feels a bit strange.

Maybe the school left some homework. What books can such a young child understand?

Zhang Ling shook his head and said, "No, I want to study. Our Principal Fang said, 'Advise you not to cherish golden thread garments, advise you to cherish the time of youth.'"

"Oh! What else did he say?" Zhang Dongxiang stroked his beard, his eyes darting around.

Another good poem popped out. He had to write it down later.

"Also, 'Black hair does not know to study hard early, white hair regrets reading late. Reading unconsciously enters deep spring, an inch of time is worth an inch of gold. We should encourage ourselves in time, for the years do not wait for people. If you don't work hard when you are young, you will only be sad when you are old. What you get on paper will always feel shallow, you must personally practice to truly know... '"

Zhang Ling recited the poems, half a stanza at a time.

Zhang Dongxiang was more and more shocked as he listened, and finally couldn't help but shudder and shouted, "Good!"

This Fang Zheng... is full of poetic talent and profound thoughts!

I really can't help but praise him!

"Did your Principal Fang write all these poems?"

"Yes, yes. Our Principal Fang said that he usually doesn't like to write poems, writing poems is the most brain-consuming, so he wrote incomplete poems for several days, hoping that we can understand the true meaning of them, and when we grow up, we will personally complete them. By then, we will be considered to have achieved something in our studies. By the way, Grandpa, will you let me study at Yucai or not?"

Zhang Dongxiang swallowed.

Based on these few poems by Fang Zheng, one thousand taels is a steal, and five thousand taels is not a loss!

But... this seems to be a bottomless pit. What if Fang Zheng increases the price in the future?

Could it be that for the education of one grandson, he would have to throw in the entire family fortune?

Fortunately, only one child was recruited from each family. If all the grandsons were sent in, the old Zhang family in the six houses of the capital would be emptied and unable to afford the tuition!

Thinking that the six houses would be emptied, Zhang Dongxiang couldn't help but shudder.

To talk about education, it seems that the child is indeed being well-educated at the moment, but it is not good enough to spend five thousand taels for a semester.

Besides, there are so many people in the family. If Ling'er's performance is seen by the other houses, what if they also clamor to go?

This Fang Zheng, now he is clearly showing his fangs. He opened the school just to make money!

He will definitely expand the enrollment in the future. If several more children are sent in, it will really be the end of his old life!

No, he absolutely cannot send this child to Yucai again!

Zhang Dongxiang's eyes moved to Zhang Ling, who was still blinking his eyes, waiting for his grandfather's reply.

How to fool the child is a problem... Let's delay it. In a few days, the child will forget!

Having made up his mind, Zhang Dongxiang changed the subject and said, "Ling'er, go and read first, Grandpa also has something to do. Let's go, let's get the schoolbag."

After speaking, regardless of Zhang Ling's objection, Zhang Dongxiang pulled his grandson's little hand to find the schoolbag.

Soon, they arrived at the study. Zhang Ling saw the schoolbag on the table and ran over happily.

This schoolbag was also given by Yucai Primary School. It was embroidered with various cute animal images, fastened with a button, and had pockets on both sides for water bottles.

Zhang Ling had been carrying it on his back when picking up the child before, and Zhang Dongxiang hadn't paid attention to it. Now, looking at it carefully, he felt it was quite novel, so he asked, "Ling'er, did the school give you this schoolbag? What are the bamboo tubes on the side for?"

"This is a water bottle made by the school, in case we don't have water to drink on the road when we go out." As he spoke, Zhang Ling had already opened his schoolbag, took out the books, and turned to the table of contents.

Well, they are really thoughtful, considering even the details of making a small schoolbag.

"Ling'er, you sit here and read. If there are any words you don't know, ask Grandpa." Zhang Dongxiang pulled a chair and lifted Zhang Ling up.

His eyes glanced at the content of the book.

"The Crow Drinks Water," "The Fox Borrows the Tiger's Authority," "The Farmer and the Snake," "The Three Little Pigs"...

Zhang Ling turned to the "The Crow Drinks Water" article. Zhang Dongxiang leaned over to look, and after only a few glances, he knew what was going on.

It was a simple little story, but it seemed meaningful. Although it was written in vernacular, it was fine for children to read.

It was printed in two kinds of characters side by side, one of which was the simplified characters that Fang Zheng had mentioned before, which was no problem.

But... this story is probably thousands of words long. Can his grandson recognize them all?

Zhang Dongxiang couldn't help but reach out and point to the content, saying in a gentle tone, "Ling'er, do you recognize all the words here?"

Zhang Ling nodded: "I recognize them all."

Zhang Dongxiang frowned, turned a few pages, and deliberately picked an article with many uncommon words and a larger length, and asked, "Do you recognize all the words here too?"

"I recognize them all."

Zhang Dongxiang's eyes revealed shock, pointing to the word 黽 and saying, "What is this word pronounced?"

"It's pronounced mǐn."

......