Farming and Raising Cubs by Huang Ruo Chen Xi

Chapter 3: That Scholar is Unworthy of Being a Teacher!

Li Mumu pulled Gu Baiyuan and turned to persuade her: "Sister-in-law, we don't know that scholar, but we know Baiyuan very well. We can't wrongly accuse Baiyuan and hurt the child's heart because of what that scholar said."

　　Wang Cuizhen regretted it right after she finished scolding, but what should she do?

　　She was such a hot-tempered person. Now she looked at Gu Baiyuan's crying face, which looked aggrieved, with red eyes, but the look he gave her back was somewhat stubborn.

　　Taking advantage of the opportunity provided by Li Mumu, he said in a rough voice: "I just want to hear what he says!"

　　The original novel does not focus much on the Gu family's affairs, let alone these trivial matters of life.

　　Li Mumu really didn't understand what happened to Gu Baiyuan.

　　After entering the room and letting Gu Baiyuan sit down, Li Mumu poured him a bowl of water and said, "Come, drink some water first."

　　Gu Baiyuan had just picked up the bowl with his little hand when he suddenly gasped with a "hissing" sound, and his little hand loosened, and the bowl and the water fell onto the table, spilling water all over the table.

　　Wang Cuizhen immediately became angry, "How come you even have a bowl..."

　　Before he could finish his words, Li Mumu hurriedly pulled Gu Baiyuan's hand and turned over his palm, and saw red and purple bruises on his palm, and even bloodstains under the skin.

　　Wang Cuizhen's unfinished words shrank back into her throat, and she screamed in distress: "What's wrong with your hand?"

　　Then I heard Li Mumu say: "You just said that the master hit you?"

　　Gu Baiyuan cried so hard that he hiccuped. He drank a bowl of water to suppress the hiccups. He wiped his tears and said, "I didn't understand some of what the teacher said, so I asked him. After asking too many questions, the teacher thought I was talking too much and just told me to memorize it and I would understand it later. But I didn't understand the meaning, so I couldn't memorize it. I recited it with difficulty, so the teacher said I was not cut out for studying and that I had a blockhead. He said I was stupid and didn't know how to work hard, so he hit my palm with a cane."

　　"In class today, we were tested on the meaning of the classics, but I didn't understand some of the passages even though I had memorized them. I asked the teacher before, but he never explained them to me. Now I can't answer them." Gu Baiyuan sniffed, "I can't answer them, so others laugh at me. The teacher says I don't have a talent for studying."

"There are some questions that I don't think the teacher's explanation makes sense. When I asked the teacher, he said I was deliberately making trouble in class." Gu Baiyuan cried and trembled, and his little hand in pain also

　　"He then used the cane to hit my palm again."

　　"The teacher also told me not to go and make room for other talented people to study. I can't make a difference even if I study, so I might as well come back and plant crops. I was born to plant crops, and that won't change."

　　Li Mumu stood up, shaking with anger, and said to Wang Cuizhen: "That scholar is unworthy of being a teacher! Let's not talk about whether Bai Yuan is really not cut out for study as he said. He beat Bai Yuan like this and broke his hand. How can he hold a pen in the future? He is clearly trying to destroy Bai Yuan!"

Wang Cuizhen finally reacted after hearing what Li Mumu said. She was furious and rushed out with a broom. "Damn that old bastard! He wants to destroy our Bai Yuan. I'm going to fight him!"

　　"What happened?" The eldest brother Gu Shangyong and the second brother Gu Shangwei came back from working in the fields with their father and bumped into Wang Cuizhen at the door.

　　Li Mumu and Zhang Caiping quickly stopped Wang Cuizhen, and Li Mumu briefly explained the situation.

　　Gu Shangyong pulled Wang Cuizhen back again, "You can't go like this. If things really break up, will you really not let Bai Yuan go to school in the future? Xiucai is a scholar, maybe... maybe he is not what you think."

　　"Bah! I think he is just bullying people!" Wang Cuizhen cursed angrily.

　　"Don't forget, if we choose not to go, the remaining tuition fee will not be refunded," Gu Shangyong reminded.

　　After hearing this, Wang Cuizhen finally calmed down a little.

　　"Do you have any ointment at home? Use it to wipe Bai Yuan's wound first." Li Mumu reminded.

　　"Yes, yes, yes." Zhang Caiping came back with a bottle of medicine after a while. "I often get hurt while doing farm work at home, so I always have medicine for injuries."

　　Li Mumu first took Gu Baiyuan to clean the wound. Gu Baiyuan cried silently in pain, but he gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound.

　　After applying the medicine and bandaging, Li Mumu asked, "What's the situation with Xiucai? Is he the only one who can teach in this area? What's the situation at home with the children in his class? I'm not saying that Bai Yuan is wrong, but I think there must be some other reason why Xiucai treats them differently."

　　"There is only one teacher in our area. He passed the imperial examination and is a well-known scholar." Wang Cuizhen explained, "Anyone in the family who can afford a teacher will be rewarded."

　　Those who have money want to send their children to study with him. So the place is very popular. We also asked people to beg for a long time, and finally saved up the tuition, and he agreed to accept Bai Yuan. As for the other students, we don't know what the situation is. "

　　"Bai Yuan never told us anything when he came back, and we can't understand or comprehend those knowledge..." Gu Shangyong scratched his head and said helplessly.

　　"Bai Yuan, your teacher told you to make room for someone else. Are there any students who want to go there recently?" Li Mumu asked Gu Baiyuan, whose emotions had calmed down a lot.

　　"I also heard that there is a family in this town, which is quite wealthy, and they want to send their son here to study, but there are not enough places." Gu Baiyuan didn't think that deeply.

　　Li Mumu guessed, "The scholar probably thought that the family could give him more benefits, so he wanted to force Bai Yuan to drop out of school. This would make room for the child from the rich family, and Bai Yuan wouldn't have to pay back his tuition."

　　"Fuck him! He's a scholar!" Wang Cuizhen slammed the table, stood up, cursed, picked up the broom and rushed out again.

　　Li Mumu quickly grabbed Wang Cuizhen and said, "Sister-in-law, we are in town now and it is getting dark. We can't find him anymore. Let's go with Bai Yuan tomorrow and have a good talk with him."

　　"Bai Yuan, bring your book here so I can see what you have learned?" Li Mumu said.

　　Mother Gu was surprised, "Mumu, you also know these?"

　　Li Mumu thought of the original owner who was illiterate, so she lowered her head and put on a guilty and shy look, "My parents and elder brother always say that a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent, but I don't think so. I think reading can help me understand things and broaden my horizons. It just so happened that there was a scholar in our village. Although he never passed the exam, he read a lot of books. I secretly went to his house to listen to him read. I memorized the words and compared them with the words in the book. I would secretly ask him for advice when I had the chance. As a result, I read a lot."

　　"But my parents and the people in our village don't know about this. If they knew, they would definitely beat me. So... Dad, Mom, you..."

　　"Don't worry, we won't tell anyone." Mother Gu said quickly.

　　Gu Baiyuan went back to the room and brought out a copy of "The Analects of Confucius" and a copy of "The Great Learning".

　　These two books certainly cannot be fully covered in a thin booklet, and it is obvious that this is all Gu Baiyuan has learned now.