Chapter 37 Teaching Children
Mr. Zhuang asked the Bai family to take Bai Cheng and Bai Shan back, and left Manbao behind.
He went back to the room and took out a stack of papers for Manbao, saying, "Hand in the words you wrote as punishment tomorrow. Next time you fight, it won't be as simple as just writing a word as punishment."
Manbao agreed obediently, but he didn't think writing was a punishment, because writing was what they had to do when they went to school.
The Qian family members bowed and apologized to Mr. Zhuang repeatedly, and took the two children back.
Liu and her friends had not walked far when they looked back and saw the Zhou family members escorting Manbao and Qian back.
Zheng also looked back and couldn't help but say, "They have so many family members."
"That's right," said Mr. Bai, "Six sons are not the most born in Qili Village, but they are the most able to survive, so their family is the most prosperous."
Liu looked at Manbao who was supporting Qian and said, "Why is it that their daughter goes to school?"
Mr. Bai laughed and said, "Their family doesn't have the money to send her to school, but this little girl is smart and Mr. Zhuang likes her, so he accepted her as his disciple and put her in the school. She doesn't have to pay tuition fees, and even the books are hand-copied by Mr. Zhuang. I heard that when they became his disciples, Mr. Zhuang also gave them a set of pens, inkstones, and inkstones, so that's all they need."
After hearing this, Zheng said, "Life is a little harder for farmers."
Liu said, "That means this child is not only smart, but also well-behaved and lovable. Otherwise, Mr. Zhuang wouldn't love talent so much."
So he looked at his grandson again, his face darkened, and he went back to ask him, "The young lady from the Zhou family is younger than you, and she's still a girl, how could you hit her?"
Bai Shanbao felt aggrieved and raised his arms, saying, "She was the first to start. She even bit me."
Zheng was so anxious that she tried to roll up his sleeves, but when she saw that his arm was smooth and white without any marks, she withdrew her hand and looked at her mother-in-law.
Liu's face became even darker, and she asked, "Where did she bite you?"
Although there was no mark on his arm, Bai Shanbao still felt that the feeling remained, so he pointed to a place and said, "Here!"
Liu couldn't help but slap the table lightly and shouted, "Shanbao, your grandmother taught you not to lie since you were a child!"
Bai Shanbao was stunned, and burst into tears, shouting, "I didn't lie, she did bite me, if you don't believe me go ask her, she was the one who hit me first, and she also attacked me by surprise, she is the villain!"
On the other side, Qian was also teaching Manbao a lesson. She had checked and found that Manbao was not hurt, so now he could scold her without worry.
"You are a girl. If you have a conflict, you should talk it out with others. Why do you hit others?"
Manbao: "He's hitting the two heads."
"Then you should have separated them first, and then asked who was right or wrong. How could you hit them? They are guests, strangers in our village, and it is rude of you to bully them." Qian said with a sullen face, "What did mother teach you since you were a child? We should be a polite person. Just now in front of Mr. Zhuang, not only did you not apologize to him, you even made a face at him. Is this what mother taught you?"
Manbao felt a little aggrieved and his eyes turned red.
Qian turned her back and said, "You don't have to cry in front of me. Go and think about it yourself, facing the wall, whether what mother said is right or not."
Qian also wiped her tears and said, "I sent you to school so that you can study and learn. You are a girl, you can't go out to make money by showing off your knowledge, and you can't take the examination. Why did I send you to school? Isn't it for you to learn more etiquette and reason? If you go to school to learn how to fight, go home as soon as possible, and you are not allowed to eavesdrop in the school anymore."
Manbao's tears began to fall in strings. She felt so sad that she rushed over to hug her mother's legs and cried, "Mom, I know I was wrong. Don't cry and don't be angry."
Qian turned her head away and said nothing.
Manbao cried out of breath, "I really know I was wrong, please don't ignore me, I will go and apologize to him tomorrow..."
Qian's expression then softened a little.
Outside the house, Feng grabbed Ertou's ear and scolded him, "I asked you to pick up your aunt, but you got into a fight over a rock. Are you itching for trouble?"
Little Qian was also beating up Big Head, "I assigned you a task, but you were lazy and ordered your brother around. He's only a few years old, and you asked him to pick up your aunt. Luckily your aunt didn't get beaten today. What if you ran into a grown-up kid?"
Soon there were screams of ghosts and wolves outside, and Big Head and Second Head were both crying out in pain from being beaten.
In the evening, the three children who had made mistakes squatted in the kitchen together to boil water.
As punishment, the three of them had to boil the hot water tonight.
Of course, Manbao, who had never been in the kitchen, didn’t understand, so Datou was the one who lit the fire, Ertou was the one who watched the fire, and Manbao sat aside with his knees hugged, thinking.
In fact, she was just looking for Keke to chat. She wanted to confirm with Keke whether she had really done anything wrong.
The system flipped through a lot of educational books and put itself in the shoes of Manbao and Ertou. As the elder, Manbao's way of handling the situation when Ertou was being beaten was indeed wrong.
Hearing what Koko said, Manbao slumped his shoulders and said, "Then I'll say sorry to him tomorrow. Do you think he will forgive me if I give him some candy?"
The system said: "Gifts should be given to the other party. Maybe you can ask the other party tomorrow."
Manbao felt that he was right, so he withdrew his consciousness from the system. As soon as he came out, he saw Datou and Ertou with bitter faces.
Manbao has figured it out. She has always been a good child who corrects her mistakes. Now that she has made her decision, there is nothing to be sad about, so her spirits return.
Seeing her eldest and second nephews so depressed, she peeled off two candies and stuffed them into their mouths, comforting them, "It's okay, tomorrow the eldest and second nephews won't remember this, don't be sad."
Datou and Ertou got a candy unexpectedly, so they were not sad at all. Instead, they cheered up and whispered to Manbao, "Don't worry, aunt, we will find a deserted place in a few days to help you beat him back."
Manbao was unhappy, "It turns out you haven't realized your mistake yet, give the candy back to me, I won't give it to you anymore."
Datou and Ertou were stunned for a moment, then they immediately bit the candy into pieces with a "crunch" sound, and said to Manbao, "I've eaten it."
Man Bao was angry, "Spit it out!"
Big Head and Ertou chewed hard, then opened their mouths to let Manbao see that there was no sugar residue left.
Manbao said, "I won't give you any more candy from now on."
Datou was still smart. He immediately said, "Aunt, we know we were wrong. We won't fight again, and we won't go looking for that boy to settle the score."
Manbao reluctantly forgave them.
Meanwhile, Liu was forcing Bai Shanbao to kneel on the ground. She wiped her tears and said, "You have been smart since you were young. I thought you could inherit your father's legacy and study hard to bring honor to the family. But you, not only do you indulge in pleasure, you don't even know basic etiquette. Fighting is wrong, not to mention hitting a young lady. Not only did you not admit your mistake in front of the gentleman, you even glared at him and made faces..."
