Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Teaching Chinese Characters

An Ning went with An Guoming to the literacy class, while Lin Cuihua went out to the Big Willow Tree to chat.

An Sancheng and An Guoqing had been carrying stones all afternoon and were exhausted. After dinner, they went straight back to their room to lie down.

Her sister-in-law tidied up the kitchen, washing the dishes and sweeping the floor. Once everything was clean, she drew a basin of hot water for An Guoqing so he could soak his feet and ease his exhaustion.

As for her younger brother, An Guoping, he was undoubtedly reading again. He had to make the most of his time, because it would be impossible to read after dark.

When An Ning and An Guoming arrived at the literacy class, An Guoming sat with his friends again, while An Ning sat by herself on a bench.

A short while later, the educated youths arrived in a group.

This time, however, when Yang Jianguo saw An Ning, his usual swagger vanished in an instant. He hid himself in the crowd, trying not to be seen.

The other educated youths had also seen the incident where An Ning intimidated Yang Jianguo. While they hadn’t experienced it as directly as he had, they too felt this village girl was different. More than anything, she seemed a bit fierce.

As for An Ning, she didn’t spare them a single glance. She sat bolt upright, thinking, ’If they don’t teach us how to read, I’m leaving.’

’And this time, I’ll slip out quietly.’

After the group of educated youths sat down, a girl An Ning found vaguely familiar walked to the front. Her smile was a little shy, but her overall demeanor was poised and graceful.

"I’m Yin Xuemei, and today I’ll be teaching everyone to recognize a few Chinese characters."

’Chinese characters?’

An Ning’s attention was instantly captured. Her spiritual power focused intensely as she stared at Yin Xuemei’s every move.

Yin Xuemei picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a few characters on the blackboard.

When she finished, she turned around, using a small stick to point at the top two characters.

"Everyone goes to the supply cooperative to buy things. The items inside have labels telling you what they are. These two characters here are for ’soy sauce.’"

Down below, An Ning instantly recalled the glass bottle Lin Cuihua used for cooking, the one with the black liquid inside. ’So that’s how you write the characters for ’soy sauce,’’ she thought.

"Everyone, repeat after me: Soy sauce."

Yin Xuemei’s pronunciation was perfect, her Mandarin standard. Although she asked everyone to read along, the response was sparse. She was already preparing to move on to the next word.

But then...

"Soy... sauce."

An Ning’s distinctive, resounding voice stood out in the literacy class.

Yin Xuemei’s gaze followed the sound and met An Ning’s sparkling eyes.

In that single moment, Yin Xuemei seemed to understand the true meaning of a ’thirst for knowledge.’ Her lips curved into a small, gentle smile for An Ning.

An Ning’s reaction was completely different. A huge grin spread across her face as she beamed back with the most brilliant smile.

Yin Xuemei, stick in hand, pointed to the two characters for "soy sauce" again and had the class read them once more.

An Ning was still incredibly focused—so focused, in fact, that Yin Xuemei couldn’t help but elaborate.

"We can look at these two characters separately. The first one, for ’soy,’ can also be used in the words for the soybean paste we eat, or to describe a savory aroma."

Yin Xuemei wrote the new words on the blackboard and read them aloud. The only person in the entire room to earnestly repeat them was An Ning.

For a moment, it felt like a private lesson.

Amidst the group of educated youths, Yang Jianguo thought to himself, ’So that tough village girl really did come here to learn how to read.’

An Ning, of course, had no idea what others were thinking. She was simply doing what she wanted to do.

Her goal was perfectly clear: farming. Seeds would always come first.

But now, she also wanted to make money, because making money would help her farm better.

She saw literacy as the foundation for everything else. As for other kinds of knowledge, she felt she was in no way lacking.

An Ning’s earnestness inspired Yin Xuemei to be just as dedicated. A responsible person by nature, she went on to teach other common characters seen in daily life, such as those for "white sugar" and "fabric."

The lesson was over all too quickly. Yin Xuemei could clearly see the regret in An Ning’s eyes. She hadn’t learned enough. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

For the first time, Yin Xuemei experienced the rewarding feeling of being a teacher.

Holding her notebook, she walked over to An Ning and smiled.

"Hello, Teacher."

An Ning bowed deeply, her respect for her teacher endearingly earnest.

"Oh, please don’t say that. I only taught a few characters. I don’t deserve to be called ’Teacher.’"

Yin Xuemei gestured for An Ning to straighten up. "My name is Yin Xuemei. What’s yours?"

"My name is An Ning."

"That’s a beautiful name. Would you like to learn how to write it?"

An Ning nodded at once, her voice firm and resolute. "I do."

Yin Xuemei squatted down, using a bench as a makeshift desk, and wrote the two characters for "An Ning" in her notebook.

"Do you want to try?"

Yin Xuemei handed her pencil to An Ning, who took it and asked, "Do I just have to make it look like yours?"

"Yes, just copy it. It doesn’t matter how it turns out."

An Ning squatted down, took the pencil, and, stroke by methodical stroke, wrote the two characters for "An Ning" in the notebook.

There in the notebook, side by side, were two instances of the name "An Ning."

Yin Xuemei, who had expected to see a clumsy scrawl, stared blankly at the notebook. Which one had *she* written? For a dazed moment, she couldn’t remember.

"An Ning, are you sure you don’t know how to write?"

"I don’t. This is my first time."

Yin Xuemei looked down again at the two identical names in her notebook and recalled how An Ning had claimed the day before that she had memorized the multiplication table after hearing it just once.

"Did you really memorize the multiplication table yesterday after hearing it only once?"

"Yes. It wasn’t hard."

An Ning handed the pencil back to Yin Xuemei, thanked her politely, and got ready to leave.

Yin Xuemei watched An Ning leave with the young man, a theory forming in her mind. ’It’s like she has a photographic memory.’

’But having a photographic memory and being able to copy something perfectly... those should be different skills, right?’

Yin Xuemei looked at the two names in her notebook. There was truly no difference between them.

Yin Xuemei closed her notebook and headed back to the educated youths’ quarters.

Meanwhile, An Ning, who had left with An Guoming, was now deep in a discussion with him about making money.

"Second Brother, how do we make money?"

An Ning, with her complete lack of subtlety, asked a question that stopped An Guoming in his tracks.

"Little Sis, what did you just say?"

"I said, how do we make money."

An Ning repeated herself, her tone so clear and direct that a confused An Guoming had to ask, "Why? Yesterday you said you didn’t want to."

"Because I’ve discovered that making money will help me farm better."

"What? How is this about farming again?"

"Of course it is. I think everything relates back to farming. It’s the foundation of life itself."

Having said her piece, An Ning stopped walking and patted An Guoming’s shoulder. "Second Brother, you can’t forget your roots."

An Guoming’s mind was a complete muddle. ’What in the world is she talking about?’

But then again, he thought, ’Why should I worry about it?’

’Little Sis wants to make money, she has the capital for it, and she definitely has the skills. What am I getting worked up for?’

"Little Sis, let me tell you, if you want to make money, you came to the right person!"