Chapter 15 Learning Methods
In the past, Su Wan went to work at the mill, but now that Su Wan is gone, Wang’s father doesn’t want to waste that hour every day, so he wants Wang Luosheng to go.
In the eyes of Wang’s father, who did hard labor, Wang Luosheng went to school without being exposed to the wind and rain, and he did not have to carry bags as heavy as stones. Going to school was simply a blessing. Therefore, it was no big deal for Wang Luosheng to do some work after returning. He would not feel tired at all.
Today, Wang Luosheng and Li Sheng went to Duan Mansion with Duan Jingtian to have dinner and study.
Perhaps because he had not eaten breakfast and had not eaten much of the school meals at noon due to the aroma of Duan Jingtian’s food, Wang Luosheng felt that today’s meals were particularly delicious and ate several large bowls of food without realizing it.
Afterwards, he reviewed his homework with Duan Jingtian and Li Sheng at Duan’s house. While studying, the three of them drank the orange juice prepared by Su Wan. After finishing reading, they ate Su Wan’s wontons, and then went back to their respective homes.
The autumn night was as cool as water, and Wang Luosheng felt chilly. He should have changed into thicker clothes this morning, but he didn’t feel warm all day.
Wang Luosheng quickened his pace and returned home, wanting to drink some hot tea to warm himself up, but found that there was no tea at home as before.
Just as Wang Luosheng was feeling angry, Mrs Wang came out from the inner room and said to him, “Luosheng, come back a little earlier next time so you can work at the mill for an hour.”
Wang Luosheng couldn’t believe his ears. What? His mother actually asked him to work at the mill.
It was absurd that she is making him work at the mill when he had so much to study for.
In Wang Luosheng’s mind, since he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, his family should naturally focus on his studies. How could his parents be so foolish as to let him work in a mill?
Wang Luosheng said, “Mom, I still have a lot of homework. If I go to the mill to work, I won’t have time to review it. Why don’t you let Luo Xue do it?”
Wang Luoxue heard the noise and ran out of her room immediately: “Brother, you are a person who has read the books of sages. The work at home is for women, and the work outside the house is for men. Besides, don’t you think about it? Can I move all the grain to the mill?”
Wang Luosheng said: “Didn’t Su Wan do a good job before? If Su Wan can do it, why can’t you do it?”
Wang Luoxue sneered, “Brother, all the neighbors who are studying know that studying costs a lot of money, so they help with housework to earn more money when they have time. Why can’t you do it? You have to let a little girl like me do it. Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at for what you said?”
Wang Luosheng was speechless. Indeed, there were several scholars around his home. They would help with housework in their spare time. Wang Luosheng used to help with housework like them. Later, when Su Wan came, she said that it would affect Wang Luosheng’s studies if he had to help at the mill while studying. So Su Wan took over all the work that Wang Luosheng did. Later, these chores were naturally done by Su Wan.
Wang Luosheng didn’t have to do anything but study without distraction. Later, he studied better than his neighbors. Wang Luosheng’s academic performance got better and better, until he became the top student in the school.
Now that Su Wan has gone to work at the Duan family, it is only natural for Wang Luosheng to take over the work at the family mill again.
Wang Luosheng was filled with rage. How could his parents and sister treat him like this and let him, a student at the time, do such a thing?
Seeing Wang Luosheng not moving, Mrs Wang said unhappily, “Luosheng, you spent so much money on studying, and your family let you study without any regrets. You can’t grow up to be an ungrateful person who doesn’t know how to repay.”
“You have to take the initiative to share some of the burden for your parents.”
Mrd Wang’s idea was very simple. Her son and daughter must be filial to her and listen to her. They should not ignore her just because they have achieved some success.
Wang Luosheng was filled with anger, but he could not vent it. The emperor of the time ruled the world with filial piety. No matter whether they were ordinary people or high-ranking officials, they had to abide by filial piety, respect their parents, and take their parents’ words as their guiding principles. Speaking back to their parents or not helping them with work were considered unfilial in theory.
There was no other choice, so Wang Luosheng went to the mill and worked for an hour.
After finishing his work, Wang Luosheng would read for a while. After reading, Wang Luosheng encountered the same problem as last night. When he wanted to wash, there was no water in the water tank, let alone hot water.
Wang Luosheng was so tired that he had to do all these things. After fetching water, boiling water and washing up, it was already very late at night. Wang Luosheng then lay down on the bed drowsily and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.
When Wang Luosheng woke up, it was already bright outside. Yesterday, when Wang Luosheng woke up, he was almost late, but today he was definitely late.
Wang Luo had a headache and got up in a hurry. Wang Luosheng felt dizzy. Oh, right, he caught a cold when he came back last night. The headache was probably caused by the cold.
Even though it was cold, Wang Luosheng still just wore the same clothes as yesterday. He felt that he would still be cold at night, so he took out a thick gown. However, the gown didn’t match his clothes at all. But Wang Luosheng couldn’t care less.
Wang Luosheng told his desk mate Zhang Dashi yesterday that he would never get up late again, but he came to bed even later than yesterday.
Moreover, since he was late today, he would definitely have to stand outside the school when he got there. Wang Luosheng felt a headache. As if it were raining overnight, Wang Luosheng had stood for a whole morning yesterday and had fallen behind in his homework. In the evening, he went to help at the mill at home, so he had already fallen behind in his homework yesterday. If he had to stand outside the school for another morning today, wouldn’t he fall behind even more?
Wang Luosheng went to the private school with trepidation, and sure enough, everything developed as he feared. Wang Luosheng stood for another morning. Wang Luosheng did not get a good rest last night, and this morning he stood outside the school, drowsy and almost fainted.
For more than ten days, the Wang family lived in chaos. Wang Luosheng was busy every day. His life and studies were a mess. Wang Luosheng also caught a slight cold. If the infection was more serious, Wang Luosheng could rest at home and not go to the mill. However, Wang Luosheng’s illness was not serious, so his father and mother insisted on letting Wang Luosheng go to the mill to help.
If Wang Luosheng made any complaint, his father would scold him for being unfilial and ungrateful. Wang Luosheng, who always took filial piety very seriously, had no choice but to continue helping at the mill.
These days, Wang Luosheng was in a hurry to get to the school every day and was drowsy during class. Several teachers criticized Wang Luosheng.
On the contrary, several teachers have praised Duan Jingtian for his diligence in studying over the past ten days. Duan Jingtian’s state is indeed different from his previous careless state. He will closely follow the teacher’s thinking during class, and is very active in answering questions. The homework he brings up is also more neat than before. Although there is no visible improvement in his studies in a short period of time, if he continues to be like this, he will definitely be much better than before.
Duan Jingtian found that he was now very interested in studying.
Especially after being praised by his teacher, Duan Jingtian became more interested in studying.
Duan Jingtian knew in his heart that this was all thanks to Su Wan.
After eating the food made by Su Wan, he would feel energetic the whole day. He didn’t feel too full nor hungry, and he felt that his brain works better than before.
When Su Wan was delivering midnight snacks, she casually said a few words about how she thought one should study. Seeing that Duan Jingtian was studying slowly until very late, Su Wan said that studying is not just about spending a lot of time to make oneself feel at ease. Studying hard for one hour is better than studying carelessly for ten hours.
