"Grandpa the village chief, my father and mother said that you are a good person, you can read and break words, and you know a lot of truths, Ling'er wants to learn to read and write!"

The village chief stopped the tea bowl that had been brought to his mouth, and looked up at Ling'er with some surprise: "You want to learn to read?" ”

Ling'er nodded: "Yes, village chief grandfather, Ling'er is very smart, you just need to teach it once, Ling'er guarantees to know!" Ling'er can also sweep the floor and watch the fire, wash dishes and boil medicine, run errands to get things, and help the village chief and grandmother with work! ”

The village chief's wife laughed and said, "Really? The little girl is so capable! But ah, grandma usually doesn't have anything to do here, grandma is enough alone, and she doesn't need Ling'er to help! ”

"If you want to help, it doesn't matter if the village chief's grandmother calls Ling'er as a maid! Dad said that as long as the village chief and grandfather are willing to teach Ling'er to read and write, the village chief and grandfather will be Ling'er's master, and the village chief and grandmother will be the teacher's mother, and it is only natural to help the teacher and mother work! ”

The village chief's wife was happy: "Hehe, look at this little mouth is sweet, I am a little moved by the old woman!" ”

The father and mother glanced at each other, with a happy face, and the old lady quickly took out a red cloth bag from her arms: "Sister-in-law, our family has a child, although it is not a male baby, but we have been pointing at her for the rest of our lives!"

She has been clamoring for literacy for a long time, and we can't send her to the school, so we can only come to the old village chief if we think about it! This one... It's Ling'er's shackles, if you see enough, if it's not enough, we'll go home and get it immediately! ”

The old lady stuffed the cloth into the hands of the village chief's wife, and the village chief's wife hurriedly pushed it back: "I can't help it, our old man has not run a school for a long time, how can I accept you!" Big sister, take it back! ”

"Sister-in-law, you must accept it, our family is all counting on Ling'er, she must be the first to repay you and the old village chief if she has a chance, you can accept it!"

The two old ladies pushed around in the courtyard, each with their own reasons, until finally the copper coin fell to the ground with a snap, fortunately the old lady used the red thread to string the copper coin before coming, or it was sure to roll everywhere!

The village chief's wife and the old lady looked at the copper coins on the ground, they looked at each other, they wanted to pick it up but they didn't do it, and when they hesitated, the old village chief spoke, "Don't make any noise, let me test this girl first!" ”

Ling'er was overjoyed when he heard this, but the old village chief didn't veto, which means that he is a little tempted, so he must behave well. So she stood up straight and said solemnly: "Master, please ask, Ling'er will definitely satisfy you!" ”

The village chief stroked his beard and smiled, and said after a moment's silence: "Ling'er, you... Why do you want to read and write? ”

"Because Ling'er doesn't want to be illiterate, doesn't want to be deceived, doesn't want her father and mother to be bullied, and doesn't want to go out and can't find her way. Ling'er wants to make good money, provide for her father and mother well, and take her father and mother to travel around in the future! ”

"Oh? You are a female doll's house, why do you want to travel all over the world? ”

"Grandpa the village chief, haven't you been to many places too? The more places you go, the more people you know, not only can you see all kinds of scenery, but you can also increase your knowledge and broaden your horizons, so it's not in vain to be a person, isn't that good? ”

The village chief was stunned for a moment, then laughed, and the old lady said with a tiger face: "Ling'er, the village chief's eldest brother has tested you, you can answer well, don't talk nonsense, you know?" ”

Ling'er shrugged her shoulders and answered very seriously, this was originally her own idea, and although this era is also a patriarchal society, there are many women who take the lead and even go out to do business!

The old village chief waved his hand with a smile and said: "It's okay, it's okay, this girl has some ambition, unlike other male dolls, eight out of ten say that they want to be a big official, they want to eat well and dress well, and they want to marry a beautiful daughter-in-law!"

Hehe, let's do it, Ling'er, the old man writes ten words, only teaches you to read it once, and then explains it again; You have to memorize these ten words in a cup of tea, and then explain them to the old man! If you can have a good cross, the old decay will accept you, if not, then the old decay can't do anything! ”

The father and mother frowned, looked at each other worriedly, the village chief's wife looked at the two, thought for a while, and said: "Old man, Ling'er, this girl has never read before, will it be more if you teach her ten at once?" Or... Just teach five, right? ”

Ling'er said with confidence: "Thank you to the village chief's grandmother, Ling'er will definitely be able to write it down, please write it down to the village chief's grandfather!" ”

There was a slight look of appreciation in the eyes of the village chief, he asked the old lady to move the small table, took the four treasures of the study out, and Ling'er took the initiative to help study the ink, although the posture was rusty, but it was barely passable. When the ink was thick, the village chief spread out the paper, thought for a moment, and wrote a few large characters on the paper.

Ling'er took a look at it, and her heart was overjoyed, it was obviously two lines of poetry: "Thousands of mountains and birds fly away, and thousands of people disappear!" "It's exactly ten words, there are many strokes, and the font is unfamiliar, which is a good test for beginners.

The old village chief taught the ten words one by one in a serious manner, and Ling'er read it again, and then he explained the meaning of each word, handed the paper to Ling'er and said, "Give you a cup of tea, take it and remember it!" ”

Ling'er nodded seriously and took it, ran to the corner of the courtyard with the paper, and wrote on the ground with a branch while chanting words, looking quite serious. Several old people in the courtyard did not dare to speak loudly, for fear of disturbing her.

The old lady said in a low voice: "His father, Ling'er is okay, right?" I can't remember any of those ten words now! ”

Dad made a silent gesture: "Be quiet, Ling'er is so smart, there must be no problem!" ”

Over there, the village chief's wife poured a bowl of warm ginger brown sugar water for the old village chief, and said in a low voice: "Old man, I think Ling'er is a good girl, anyway, now that our grandsons have gone to the city to study, you are lonely alone, why don't you just accept her?" ”

The village chief glanced at the old lady, didn't speak, grunted and drank up the brown sugar water, the old lady wiped his mouth, and muttered: "Look at how hearted this girl is, she knows how filial piety you have before she apprentices, so you can be content!" ”

The old village chief glared at her unhappily: "What does the woman know, go get some food, don't neglect the guests!" ”

"Yes, yes, as far as you know, you know everything in heaven and on earth!" The old lady put the crockpot and went back to the house.

Ling'er estimated that the time was almost up, so she ran back with the paper: "Grandpa the village chief, I have memorized, you can test me!" ”

"Oh? Written it all down? ”

"Well, I made a note of it!" Ling'er was very small-chested, and the village chief looked at her suspiciously, hesitated, and pointed to the first word: "What is this reading?" How to explain it? ”

"Reading 'thousand' is the number we commonly use 1,200, such as 1,000 steamed buns and 1,000 copper coins!"

The village chief nodded with satisfaction, pointed to the most difficult trace and said, "This one?" ”

"The word 'trace', the trace of the trace, refers to the footprints left by people or animals when they walk by!"

The village chief was slightly surprised, and then pointed out the remaining words one by one, each word Ling'er explained accurately and clearly, the old village chief did not answer immediately after asking, but frowned and slowly put down the paper, knocking on the table with one hand as if thinking something!

Ling'er is worried that she won't overdo it, right? Father and mother were also a little anxious, and the old lady hesitated: "Village... Brother of the village chief, Ling'er... How many did you get it wrong? ”

The village chief looked up at his father and mother, thought for a while, and said: "Lao Yu is unprepared today, wait for two days, Lao Yu has prepared the three-character scripture and the thousand-character text for people to inform you, and then let Ling'er come over!" ”

The old couple didn't understand for a while, and the village chief's wife smiled and said, "Brother Yang, eldest sister, the old man of our family has agreed to accept Ling'er, are you not happy?" ”

The old couple was stunned for a moment, and immediately stood up happily: "Happy and happy, Ling'er, hurry, kowtow to the teacher!" ”

"No, we scholars don't have apprentices, Ling'er, you will be called Old Master in the future!"