The Blessed Farm Girl Has a Spatial Storage
Chapter 24: Qiao Jiaojiao and Zhao Zhuangzhuang

Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Qiao Jiaojiao and Zhao Zhuangzhuang

The Teacher’s lecture left the two little ones mesmerized.

Zhao Zhitong felt an overwhelming surge of energy, as if she wanted to jump up right then and spin the Teacher around a few times.

Qiao Muchen’s eyes also lit up as he cupped his fists and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Teacher. I will always remember your teachings."

Seeing Qiao Muchen cup his fists and bow to the Teacher in gratitude, Zhao Zhitong hurriedly imitated him, cupping her small fists and saying in her sweet, childlike voice, "Tongtong will also remember the Teacher’s teachings today."

Scholar Meng stroked his beard and smiled with satisfaction.

Suddenly, as if having made a firm decision, he looked at Zhao Zhitong and asked, "Young girl, are you willing to study under me?"

Zhao Zhitong, confused by the question, replied, "I am already learning from you, Teacher."

Scholar Meng smiled and explained, "What I mean is, are you willing to sit in the classroom and study with me, like the other scholars?"

Zhao Zhitong’s eyes instantly sparkled like little stars, and she nodded her head vigorously like a chick pecking at rice. "You mean going to school, Teacher? I’m willing, I’m willing! Mother said that once our family’s tofu business makes money, she’ll send me to school. I was so happy to hear that."

Scholar Meng chuckled. At first, he had always lamented that Zhao Zhitong was born the wrong sex. If she had been a boy, with good education, she would surely have had great achievements in the future. Alas, she was born a girl.

Later, the more time he spent with this young girl, the more he lamented. After lamenting, he began to frequently ponder: If he allowed this young girl’s talent to be buried in this rural village, would he regret it for the rest of his life?

In this world, it wasn’t impossible for women to achieve great things. He was now approaching sixty; why should he be constrained by gender and miss out on such a rare talent?

That would truly be regressing with age.

From then on, the idea of letting the young girl enroll in the school and formally become his student took root. However, he was not her parents, after all, and still needed their consent.

Now, hearing her say this, his heart couldn’t help but feel gratified. It seemed the young girl’s parents were understanding people.

Thinking of this, Scholar Meng patted Zhao Zhitong’s little head and said, "How about this, young girl: go back and tell your parents they don’t have to wait any longer. Let them find a suitable time to bring you to enroll and formally become my student."

Upon hearing these words, Zhao Zhitong was so overjoyed that for a moment she didn’t know how to express herself, simply staring at the Teacher in awe.

Qiao Muchen, at her side, was also happy for Zhao Zhitong, even though he considered her a rival.

However, the Teacher had said, ’When three people walk together, one of them is surely able to be my teacher.’ He felt that by studying with a rival, he could learn her strengths and avoid her weaknesses, thus making better progress.

He was happy for her for a good while, but seeing Zhao Zhitong show no reaction, he looked at her and saw the young girl grinning foolishly at the Teacher.

He quickly reached out his small hand, poked her, and reminded, "You should thank the Teacher."

"Ah, oh." Zhao Zhitong snapped back to her senses, glanced at Qiao Muchen, and hurriedly bowed to the Teacher. "Thank you, Teacher! Oh, thank you, Teacher!"

Scholar Meng stroked his beard and nodded with a chuckle. "Alright, off you go."

The two little ones bowed once more in thanks and walked out of the Teacher’s residence side by side.

Since class was about to start, Qiao Muchen went straight to the classroom. Zhao Zhitong, however, skipped joyfully to the kitchen to tell Sun Mei what had just happened.

At that moment, Sun Mei had already finished tidying up the bowls and chopsticks in the kitchen and was about to head back.

After hearing Zhao Zhitong’s account, she understood Mr. Meng’s intention: he did not plan to accept Zhao Zhitong’s tuition gift. Her heart filled with gratitude.

However, she didn’t rashly go to thank Scholar Meng. Instead, after giving Zhao Zhitong some careful instructions, she prepared to go home and discuss the matter thoroughly with Zhao Dong.

「——」

So, after dinner that day, Sun Mei wasn’t in a hurry to prepare the tofu for the next day. Instead, she pulled Zhao Dong aside to sit in the courtyard and talk about Mr. Meng offering to let Zhao Zhitong enroll in the school.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dong was overjoyed. "That’s wonderful! We were originally worried whether Scholar Meng would agree to let our Tongtong enroll in the school. Now we can rest assured."

Speaking of which, his tone suddenly changed. "However, the presentation gift for the Teacher cannot be skipped. Our tofu sold very well today. Tomorrow, I’ve also invited Shi Tou and a few others to sell with me, so money won’t be an issue."

Sun Mei nodded repeatedly. "Exactly, exactly. We must prepare well. In ancient times, the etiquette between teacher and student was highly valued. ’A teacher for a day is a father for life.’ We mustn’t be careless with the formalities. Being criticized by others is a secondary concern; slighting the Teacher is the major issue."

Zhao Dong fully agreed. "That’s right, that’s right. How about this: the day after tomorrow is the market day, isn’t it? I’ll go to the marketplace to sell tofu and take the opportunity to look for some gifts for the Teacher. I’ll also buy some brushes and ink for our Tongtong."

Now that she was going to school, brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones would be indispensable.

Sun Mei thought for a moment and said, "Husband, when you’re there, see if they sell any furs at the marketplace. If you buy some, I can make a pair of knee warmers for the Teacher."

Zhao Dong thought it was feasible and nodded in agreement.

Just then, Zhao Zhitong, having overheard their conversation, ran out of her room. "Daddy, when you go to the market the day after tomorrow, I want to go with you!"

Zhao Dong asked, "What will you do there?"

Zhao Zhitong hugged Zhao Dong’s neck and said in her sweet, childlike voice, "I’ll help Daddy sell tofu!"

Sun Mei chuckled. "You, sell tofu? I think you just want to go out and run around playing. Why are you so restless?"

Sun Mei thought for a moment. In her memory, the previous Zhao Zhitong had never left Zhao Village; that was because Mrs. Wang had been strict and hadn’t allowed it.

Now things were different. They had already separated from the main family, and it was just their family of three. It would be good for the child to go out and see more of the world. So, she agreed.

Having received her mother’s permission, Zhao Zhitong was overjoyed. She fetched a piece of calligraphy from her room and clung to Zhao Dong, urging him to look at the characters she had learned that day.

It was a small piece of paper with the fifth and sixth lines of the Thousand Character Classic written on it, precisely what the Teacher had taught that day. However, the handwriting on it was somewhat immature and clearly not the Teacher’s.

Sun Mei was a little curious and asked, "Tongtong, where did you get the paper? Did the Teacher give it to you?"

Zhao Zhitong shook her head. "No. Qiao Jiaojiao wrote this. He lent it to me to look at. I have to return it to him tomorrow."

Hearing this, Sun Mei recalled how, when she went to pick up Zhao Zhitong from the school after classes today, Zhao Zhitong hadn’t wanted to go home, insisting on going to play with Qiao Muchen. She couldn’t help but smile.

Children are so simple. One day they were at loggerheads, determined to compete and see who was better, and the next they’ve become good friends who can talk about anything.

But then she said, "Tongtong, hasn’t Mother told you not to give people nicknames? Now that you two are good friends, you especially shouldn’t call each other nicknames anymore."

Zhao Dong, who was happily listening to his daughter recite the Thousand Character Classic, caught Sun Mei’s glance and quickly chimed in with a smile, "Yes, your mother is right."

Zhao Zhitong, however, pouted her little lips and grumbled in dissatisfaction, "But he called me Zhao Zhuangzhuang first today!"

Sun Mei: "..."

Zhao Dong: "..."

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