Chapter 12: Liu Yong
Editor: Atlas Studios
At that time, Liu Yong was already nine years old. He had been learning from Shu Wanniang for more than two months, but up till then he could only recognize a small portion of the ‘Three Character Classic’, and even then, he would miss out a little here and there.
Although Shu Wanniang had a soft personality, she was excellent at judging people. If Liu Yong was just dull, she might have fought for him. However, Liu Yong was stubborn, ambitious, and impatient. He was not cut out for studying.
Shu Wanniang said to the patriarch, “Liu Yong learned how to read from me. He’s one of the few children who can recognize words faster and is also diligent. Every day, he comes to learn from me before dawn and only returns when it’s dark. Other than him, there are five other children in the village who often come over. As they’re of similar age and didn’t have any foundation, I taught them together. I only taught them three sentences a day. It was only later on, after they’ve built up a foundation, that I started to teach them one page a day.”
The patriarch was surprised, as he had only asked Shu Wanniang about Liu Yong. He didn’t understand why Shu Wanniang would mention the other five children. Was it to let him compare them?
Shu Wanniang continued, “Third Great Uncle’s grandson, Liu Li, is older, the most sensible, and the quickest learner among them. Every day, he would read the words repeatedly with me, memorize them, and then leave. I originally thought that he didn’t like to read, but later on, I saw that when he was working in the fields, he was also reading out loud. When he was free, he would often gesture those words with his hands.”
The patriarch, Liu He, said proudly, “Liu Li lost his father when he was young and has always been very diligent. He went to the fields to help his mother work when he was only four years old. He’s only doing this because he can’t bear to let go of the work in the fields. Unfortunately, he’s already 11 years old and his family is in a difficult situation…”
Shu Wanniang felt a little regretful, because she felt that Liu Li was the most suitable person to take the Imperial Examination, if the Liu family had to nurture someone. However, from the looks of it, the patriarch wasn’t a fan of the idea.
Shu Wanniang paused for a moment and said, “Every time Liu Li comes, he will bring a bundle of firewood over. Your grandson, Liu Ping, is also great. Every time he comes, he will help me fill up the water vat before leaving, while the other children fight to finish the work in my courtyard.” Shu Wanniang smiled embarrassedly. “When they come, my husband and I feel much more relaxed.”
The patriarch listened patiently. He felt that Shu Wanniang was knowledgeable as she was the daughter of a scholar, thus there must be a reason she didn’t mention Liu Yong. As such, he did not pursue the matter and only said casually, “It’s only right for them to be filial to you since you’re their teacher.”
Shu Wanniang nodded and said, “I know that they’re doing this out of filial piety, but it will inevitably affect Liu Yong, who is focused on his studies. In fact, there were several arguments when I was not around. Liu Yong felt that they were too noisy in the courtyard and it affected his ability to study.”
The patriarch’s smile froze. He leaned forward and asked, “Are you saying that Liu Yong didn’t help you out with the chores?”
Never one to badmouth others, Shu Wanniang looked a little uncomfortable. However, she still nodded and said, “That child has been seizing time to practice his calligraphy, studying from morning to night even when it’s busy farming season. Therefore, he can learn to read much faster than others. Others can’t catch up to him, so he asked me to teach him one-on-one…”
Shu Wanniang added, “He used to be very close to the other five kids, but recently, he’s not even willing to greet Liu Li and the others. When he found out that my husband could recognize even fewer words than him, he somewhat stopped greeting my husband too.”
Seeing that the patriarch’s expression was getting uglier, Shu Wanniang sighed and said earnestly, “Patriarch, I’ll only tell you this. I’ll naturally do my best to teach him since he’s learning from me. However, regarding your deploying the entire clan’s resources to support him alone, I can’t tell you for sure what’s going to happen in the future. Best I can do is let you know how he conducts himself.”
The patriarch asked, “Since he can learn to read faster than others, can he remember all the words he learned before?”
Shu Wanniang sighed and said, “This is the second key. He has to memorize so many words in a day. He might remember them on the second or third day, but five days later, he might not be able to recognize all of them. However, he refuses to go back and revise, feeling that it’s a waste of time, and that he might as well continue moving forward and come back to review it again in the future. When it comes to learning, one has to move ahead one step at a time. Yet, he only wishes to sprint forward. How then, can he build a steady foundation?”
Speechless, the patriarch stood up and bowed to Shu Wanniang. “The children have troubled you recently. I’ll go back and discuss it with them.”
Shu Wanniang sent him off.
Liu Yong was indeed not a suitable candidate for the Imperial Examination. Shu Wanniang couldn’t even figure out where he got the confidence that he could rely on the Imperial Examination to make a name for himself.
The Imperial Examination was currently extremely difficult. Every three years, only 300 scholars would be accepted. Among the 300 scholars, the aristocratic families accounted for the majority. There were also other scholarly farmers who were strong opponents. After all, with the disparity in educational resources, it was already not bad if more than 5 out of 300 scholars came from poor families.
And in this world, how many poor scholars participated in the Imperial Examination?
Liu Yong only learned how to read at the age of nine. With no books or a great teacher, on top of not being especially smart, how could he surpass others?
If he had a tenacious personality and a noble character, Shu Wanniang might have supported him. After all, diligence could make up for one’s dullness, and an excellent moral character could allow one to blaze a trail. However, it had only been two months, and already he had failed to conceal his emotions. Shu Wanniang naturally understood his nature.
Among the six of them, he was nine years old. Not to mention the oldest, Liu Li, even the eight-year-old Liu Ping would take the initiative to go back to help out his parents after memorizing those words. He would only take the time to memorize the words when he found the time after finishing his chores.
On the other hand, Liu Yong would stay in her courtyard from morning to night, squatting under the parasol tree to study and only leaving when it was dark.
When the other five children came to her place to learn how to read, they would help her do whatever they could, yet he despised them for making a din and affecting him. Every time she washed rice and cooked, he would frown and look unhappy.
Although Shu Wanniang had a gentle personality, she was not without a temper. She was considered his teacher, and he was eating and drinking at her house for free. In the end, he was displeased to see her do other chores than teaching him?
At that time, Shu Wanniang was pregnant with Mu Yangling, and pregnant women had a tendency to be sensitive and overthink. At night, she often cried with her back facing Mu Shi.
The most important thing in studying was tenacity. Sometimes, one had to repeatedly verify and ask questions. However, the fact that he was unwilling to even revise, showed that he was too eager for quick success. Shu Wanniang did not think that he would be able to succeed if she gave him a chance to study for the Imperial Examination.
If they were from a wealthy family, she naturally would not meddle in other people’s business. However, the Liu clan was too poor. Supporting one person to study for the Imperial Examination meant that they would have to live frugally for the next 20 years or even longer. The dowry of the girls waiting to marry in the family would decrease, and due to this they would not be able to marry into a good family.
Shu Wanniang didn’t want them to pay such a huge price to make such a decision, so she was partial to revealing some things to the patriarch of the Liu family.