Picking Up a General to Plow the Fields

Chapter 217: Calligraphy

She was a little embarrassed and flustered, fearing that Ah Jian would be suspicious.
Hurriedly, she smiled and said: “Don’t listen to me, keep teaching!”

Ah Jian smiled and started demonstrating the characters one by one, starting with Lian Ze.

As a kid who had just learned how to hold a pen, Lian Ze’s hand holding the brush was trembling and he felt very awkward., his body shaking.

“Sister, Brother Ah Jian…” Seeing his younger siblings staring at him with big, wide eyes, he felt even more embarrassed.

“You’ve just started learning, it doesn’t matter! Just relax a little and get used to it slowly.” Lian Fang Zhou hurried to comfort him.

Ah Jian also comforted him, saying: “Your sister is right, everyone is like this in the beginning!”

Lian Ze’s nervous heart was only slightly relieved but after taking two deep breaths, he slowly learned the three words Ah Jian showed him.

“Just write slowly like this.
Keep your hands steady, hold the pend tip, press down, don’t stray, and sit upright.” Ah Jian watched as Lian Ze wrote the three characters by himself.

Lian Ze looked at what he wrote and then at what Ah Jian wrote, feeling very discouraged.

Ah Jian patted him on the shoulder and encouraged: “It’s natural to be bad at first but it will be completely different after four or five days.
After one or two years, it will be extremely neat.
Reading and writing is not possible overnight! Learn well and take your time.”

Lian Ze scratched his head, finally feeling relaxed.
He smiled and agreed, practicing intently.

Lian Fang Zhou glanced at the character Ah Jian had demonstrated.
The strength of the stroke, the iron-painted silver and hook, the majestic feeling; she couldn’t help but praise it in her heart! However, she also sighed: Ah Jian’s identity was really not simple!

Ah Jian taught Lian Che and Lian Fang Qing in turn and finally arrived at Lian Fang Zhou.

Seeing that it was her turn, Lian Fang Zhou hurriedly sat up straight, straightening her posture, and smiled at him, her teacher, to please him.

Ah Jian flushed, scratching at his head as if he had encountered a big problem.

Lian Fang Zhou blinked at him in surprise, not understanding.

“That…” Ah Jian coughed, smiling hesitantly without knowing what to say.

Seeing Lian Fang Zhou’s wide eyes as she looked at him strangely, Ah Jian felt even more embarrassed.

He rubbed his hands and said: “Ah, yes, Fang Zhou, you, can you see if you can…”

Impatient, Lian Fang Zhou pushed the paper in front of him and handed him the brush, saying: “Write it again and explain the instructions for me!”

“Ah?” Ah Jian was taken aback but quickly nodded, smiling with relief: “Okay, okay! I’ll write it.
You are so smart; you will surely pick it up.”

Why did this sound so awkward, Lian Fang Zou wondered?

When Ah Jian finished writing, she suddenly realized the issue: “Ah Jian wasn’t trying to not teach her, he was just hesitant about holding her hand!

This was really—

Lian Fang Zhou couldn’t help but let out a puff of air, causing Lian Ze and the others to look at her.
Sternly, she said: “Nothing, go on, you all keep writing!”

Everyone wrote the characters ten times, one at a time, and it took more than two quarters of an hour to write before they could relax.

Lian Fang Qing let out a big ‘wheeze’ and put aside her brush, shaking her sore hands as she complained: “It’s really tiring! It’s so hard to write!”

Lian Fang Zhou glared at her, saying bluntly: “Even if it is difficult, you must write! If anyone dares to be lazy, they will be smacked by the board!”

Lian Fang Qing cried ‘ah’ and stuck out her tongue.

Third Aunt, who was chewing pine nuts with relish, spit out the skins and complained: “Fang Zhou, you and Qing’er aren’t going to be officials, you just need to learn a few words, right? Look at you, you’ve scared Qing’er!”

Lian Fang Zhou turned around and smiled at Third Aunt: “I think it is good for men and women to know more words and read more books.
Anyways, there is no harm in it! Third Aunt, why don’t you come learn too?”

Lian Fang Zhou’s response shocked Third Aunt and she hurriedly shook her head, smiling widely: “No, no need! I think it’s no good for me! You learn, you learn, haha!”

Third Aunt focused on eating the pine nuts and melon seeds in front of her, not daring to interrupt their studies again.

Lian Fang Zhou smiled slightly.
When she was scared, she always stopped talking.

Otherwise, Third Aunt would interrupt her from time to time to show her spirit, which was not always a good thing.

When the siblings were finished writing, they put together their four papers for comparison.
Lian Fang Qing’s writing was the worst and Lian Fang Zhou’s was, naturally, the most correct.
However, it was correct, but the style and brushwork were out of the question.

Lian Fang Zhou paid close attention to Lian Che’s work and was somewhat satisfied.

“My sister is amazing! The writing is so good!” Lian Fang Qing cried in surprise.

“Little flatter! Your words sure are sweet in your mouth!” Lian Fang Zhou snorted at her sister, smiling: “Compared to your Brother Ah Jian’s words on the side, where is elder sister’s good?”

Ah Jian smiled: “It’s hard to write in the beginning, Fang Zhou is really smart!”

“Yeah, yeah, Sister is really amazing!” Lian Ze and Lian Che said together.

Lian Fang Zhou was ashamed in her heart.
She had no skill with traditional Chinese characters but who could count the number of simplified characters she had written in her previous life? It’s not as impressive when you changed the soup without changing the medicine! She really was shameless.

“The three of you are also very good! Just practice more and you will be able to write in a while!” Ah Jian smiled at them.
Under Lian Fang Zhou’s suggestion, he commented on their work one by one and circled where they had done well.
After giving a few comments, except for Lian Fang Zhou, Lian Che had the most circles but Lian Ze and Lian Fang Qing also had some.

Lian Che had planned on studying at the school, so he wrote better than the others.
Lian Ze and the others felt that this was natural.

However, seeing that their own work was also worth of praise, the other siblings’ confidence also increased a bit, making them interested in continuing to learn.

There were so many things to learn and it was not good to do too much at the start, so they only learned these three words that night.

Seeing that her three siblings were in high spirts, Lian Fang Zhou let them practice for a while.
As they worked, she got up and went into the kitchen to boil a pot of water to wash her hands and feet.

Pushing open the door, the cold north wind swept across her face.
Lian Fang Zhou pulled her clothes tight, thinking: When the cotton harvest was sold, they needed to build a new, bigger house and the kitchen could not be placed outside.

Lit by the faint light of the window, tiny snowflakes fell from the sky.
They were densely packed and danced lightly to an elegant melody.
It made people happy to watch.