Inside Scholar ng’s study.
Scholar ng carefully examined the two pieces of calligraphy in front of him.
Zhao Zhitong stood with her little hands behind her back, standing straight and looking at the Teacher, her eyes full of anticipation.
Zhao Yue, on the other hand, stood uneasily beside Zhao Zhitong, his head lowered, staring at his toes, not daring to look at the Teacher.
After a while, Scholar ng looked at Zhao Yue and said with a chuckle, "Zhao Yue, did you write this piece of calligraphy?"
As soon as the Teacher spoke, Zhao Yue beca even more nervous. "Yes, Teacher."
Zhao Zhitong excitedly said, pointing to the other piece of calligraphy, "Teacher, I wrote this one myself. Can you tell us which one of us did better?"
Scholar ng laughed and said, stroking his beard, "Both of you have made great progress, especially Zhao Yue, who has improved a lot."
Zhao Yue’s face turned red with embarrassnt. He looked up at the Teacher quietly. "Thank you for your praise, Teacher."
Zhao Zhitong, on the other hand, stared at the Teacher with her big round eyes, expecting his evaluation.
Scholar ng laughed. "Let’s talk about your calligraphy first, young girl. Compared to before, you’ve made great progress. The layout is neat, the font size is uniform, and the main strokes stand out. However, the balance of the characters is not quite stable. You still need more practice and must not slack off."
Zhao Zhitong nodded happily. "Thank you for your comnts, Teacher."
Then Scholar ng looked at Zhao Yue and said, "Your calligraphy, Zhao Yue, has also made great progress compared to before. The writing has begun to show elegance, and the characters are clearly visible, but you still need more practice on bringing out the main strokes."
Hearing the Teacher’s affirmation, Zhao Yue felt as happy as if he had eaten sugar beans.
It was the first ti he had ever received praise. His eyes shining like stars, he nodded vigorously. "Thank you for your comnts, Teacher. I will work harder in my practice!"
In the end, the Teacher did not say who had the better calligraphy, only that both pieces had their rits and weaknesses, and the two needed to learn from each other and make progress together.
Upon receiving the Teacher’s approval and guidance, the two young friends thanked the Teacher and returned to the classroom.
Zhao Zhitong said sweetly to Zhao Yue, "This ti, let’s call it a draw. But I will continue to work hard, and I will definitely write better than you in the future!"
Zhao Yue looked up at her with his little face and snorted, "Just because you work hard, do you think I won’t? We’ll see who is better in the end."
At that mont, the Teacher ca in, and the students all returned to their seats and began class.
It was the last lesson for the afternoon, and when it was over, school was dismissed.
After school, Zhao Zhitong was supposed to go with her two friends to read books. But as soon as she left the school, she heard so parents who had co to pick up their children say that her grandmother and step-grandmother, Mrs. Wang, were fighting at the entrance of the village.
Zhao Zhitong wondered if it was true. At that mont, she realized that Zhao Yu, who always ca to pick her up, had not co today.
That ans sothing must have happened at ho!
"Qiao Jiaojiao, Lanlan, I won’t be going with you guys to read books today," Zhao Zhitong said, picking up her luggage box and running towards the village.
"Tongtong! We’re coming with you!" Qiao Muchen and Wei Shulan shouted, quickly following her.
Zhao Yue, who had just walked out of the school gate, also heard the news. Wanting to see the commotion, he jogged after them as well.
By the ti they arrived, the fight between her grandmother and Mrs. Wang had already stopped.
Mrs. Wang, who was in the wrong, had been pointed at and criticized by the villagers. Her face was swollen from the beating, which was very humiliating. By this ti, Zhao Baishan and Mr. Zhao, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, had called her back.
anwhile, her grandmother and the others were dusting themselves off.
"Grandmother, Grandmother!" Zhao Zhitong rushed over and imdiately threw herself into her grandmother’s arms, whispering, "Grandmother, are you hurt?"
Zhao Guifen was taken aback. "The young girl is already out of school?"
Zhao Zhitong’s eyes were red. "Yeah, yeah."
"Alright, let’s go ho first," Zhao Guifen said.
Even if they had won the fight, having others watch the commotion was still sowhat embarrassing. Now that her precious granddaughter was back, Zhao Guifen didn’t continue to scold Mrs. Wang. Taking Zhao Zhitong, the group headed towards the Zhao Family ho.
Seeing that everything was fine, Qiao Muchen and Wei Shulan also prepared to go ho.
Then, the two little ones bumped into Zhao Cai on the street. She was dressed ostentatiously and gossiping about Zhao Zhitong with other village children.
Zhao Cai said, "Let tell you, Zhao Zhitong is really bad. Her father purposely hard our tavern, and she’s a tattle-tale herself.
"You all know Zhao Yue from our village, Butcher Zhao’s son, right? It’s all because Zhao Zhitong tattled on Zhao Yue to his father that he got beaten up. If you don’t believe , you can ask them. They used to be Zhao Yue’s good friends and know everything."
The two boys Zhao Cai pointed to used to be Zhao Yue’s friends. But after the ink incident in the small grove, they abandoned Zhao Yue and ran away, so Zhao Yue didn’t befriend them anymore.
At this mont, for so reason, they seed to be in cahoots with Zhao Cai.
Not far away, Zhao Yue happened to hear Zhao Cai’s words.
He didn’t like that annoying girl. He found her very irritating and always clashed with her. However, hearing other people badmouthing the annoying girl behind her back now made him uncomfortable.
So, he imdiately rushed up, saying fiercely, "Hey! What nonsense are you talking about!"
Zhao Yue’s sudden appearance startled the few who were misbehaving.
Seeing it was Zhao Yue, they were no longer afraid. Zhao Cai knew Zhao Yue didn’t like Zhao Zhitong, so she imdiately said proudly, "If you don’t believe , you can ask Zhao Yue. Zhao Yue, tell , isn’t Zhao Zhitong a tattle-tale? Didn’t she cause you to be beaten by your father?"
Being exposed on the spot about being beaten by his father, Zhao Yue was furious. "Shut up! At such a young age, you’re acting like a gossiping woman from the streets. Really ugly."
Being called a gossip and told she was ugly, Zhao Cai’s expression turned very ugly, and she imdiately beca upset.
At this ti, Qiao Muchen and Wei Shulan also ca over, Wei Shulan holding a long wooden stick in her hand.
Wei Shulan shouted angrily at them, "Hey! Are you the ones spreading rumors? I can’t stand people who spread rumors!" She even waved the wooden stick in her hand as she spoke.
Many village children knew Wei Shulan was the child of Country Gentry Wei’s family. As a result, the children watching the commotion were frightened and scattered in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, only Zhao Cai was left.
Though Qiao Muchen appeared delicate and small, she was quite scary when angered.
Looking at Zhao Cai, she said, "You’re ugly, yet you still gossip about others. You’re shaless! If we hear you badmouthing Zhao Zhitong again, we’ll beat you up every ti we see you!"
Zhao Cai pouted, her eyes red, looking like she was about to cry at any second.
The three little ones still warned her fiercely.
Zhao Yue bared his teeth, saying fiercely, "Get lost!"
He already sowhat resembled his father, Butcher Zhao. He wasn’t a delicate-looking boy, and now, acting like a bully, he was quite scary.
"WAH!"
Then, Zhao Cai was successfully frightened into tears, crying loudly as she ran ho.
"Hmph! I can’t stand these kinds of gossiping won," Zhao Yue snorted coldly, glaring at the retreating Zhao Cai.
The three of them ford a united front for the first ti, standing up for Zhao Zhitong on the street.
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