Chapter 77: Chapter 76: The Girl Genius
Tang Shunyan saw such a small child, Wuwa, who could write such neat characters on the ground and expressed amazent. He couldn’t believe that even after studying for so long, he couldn’t write characters as neat as these.
“Wuwa, you can write characters? What is this word?”
Ye Shiqi had learned Chinese painting in her past life and achieved a bit of success with brush calligraphy. When people abroad laughed at her for it, she didn’t care.
At this mont, only a few months old, writing characters neatly on the ground posed no challenge for her.
Instead, it was her ability to write that shocked everyone in the courtyard. Hongji knew his daughter’s secret but didn’t expect that she could not only paint but also write. Seeing other people’s reactions, he thought to himself that this was bad; his daughter’s otherworldly skills would definitely lead to others discovering so secrets and he would have to cover them up with lies.
Tang Shunyan had read the ‘Three Character Classic’ and the ‘Thousand Character Classic,’ but he had not yet finished these two books and was unable to recognize many characters.
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Many people in the courtyard watched the interaction between the two children. Maids and old won who worked in wealthy families recognized a few characters.
The housekeeper, out of curiosity, ca over to look. What he saw startled him, and he involuntarily read out the few characters on the ground, “Ye Shiqi.”
“Housekeeper, is this the little sister’s na?”
“Not sure, you’d have to ask the child’s mother and father.” The housekeeper’s heart churned like turbulent waves; a child only a few months old being able to write was nothing short of a genius, wasn’t it?
If he had not co to the Li family’s ho today, he would have never known about the child’s talent—what a pity that she was born a girl…
Mrs. Li looked at Hongji, both surprised and puzzled, and said, “Husband, what is going on? Can the child write already?”
The people of the Ye family did not understand what was happening; usually, they only heard Hongji telling stories to the children.
They hadn’t heard anything about them writing, nor had they heard about the children being nad—which had not been ntioned by him.
It’s customary for the grandfather to na the child, and if the grandfather didn’t do it, then the father would choose a na.
“Oh, only Wuwa has been nad; the other children haven’t been nad yet. Wuwa’s mom left to beco a wet nurse when she was very young.”
“Every night I tell the children stories and I also teach Wuwa how to write her na. Wuwa has always been so well-behaved and understanding, so I picked an easy-to-read and nice-sounding na for her.”
“I’ve heard that daughters from wealthy families are adept at Qin, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting, and I hope that Wuwa will also be skilled in poetry and chess one day, so I nad her Ye Shiqi.”
The words of Hongji left the rest of the Ye family dumbfounded, yet before they had ti to say anything, they found it hard to believe that such a small child, only a few months old, could write characters better than they could as adults.
But the truth was in front of them; normally they didn’t pay attention to Wuwa, and when Hongji taught her at night behind closed doors, they had no idea. They had heard the storytelling, which was indeed true.
The people who followed the Young Master to the Li family gazed at Mrs. Li with eyes full of envy; their mouths agape in circles, but they couldn’t utter a word.
At this mont, Hongji’s father stared blankly at Ye Shiqi, feeling regretful in his heart. If only this girl had been a boy, their family could have had a scholar. What a waste that she was born a girl.
When Mrs. Li returned ho this ti, with both a carriage and horses, the villagers grew very curious. Those who were idle gathered around the entrance of her ho to peek inside, and so with sharp ears caught bits of the conversations. Very quickly, the news spread throughout the village.
They said that Bushen Village had produced a female genius; a girl only a few months old could write characters that the sons of great clans and wealthy families couldn’t even recognize.
The calligraphy is beautiful, isn’t it? Being from the sa village, so people are envious, while others wear a pride akin to that for their own children, showing off when visiting relatives.
There are even rumors that on the day Mrs. Li gave birth, she was stung by a wasp on the mountain. It’s said that this insect was sent down by Heavenly immortals, marking the birth of a female prodigy.
Others claid that it was because Mrs. Li found so wild chicken eggs and ate them after giving birth, which is why her child turned out to be so clever.
Yet another person countered that everyone in the Ye family had eaten from that sa pot of wild chicken eggs, and none of them beca any smarter.
Hongji’s explanation made Mrs. Li feel how hard her husband worked at ho, both as father and mother, and she said to him gratefully:
“My husband, you’ve worked hard!”
“It’s not hard, the kids are behaving themselves, haha, and listen, wife, they weren’t playing with the knives just now—they were following to learn carving.”
Hongji felt a warm heart from his wife’s look; he knew she cared for him, and that was enough.
“Learning to carve? Isn’t that mischief? They’re so young, what if they hurt their hands?” Mrs. Li, worried about her children, looked at her husband reproachfully, thinking him rash.
“Wife, I’ve thought it over. I know how to carve and thought to teach a few of the girls, so they can learn a craft as well,” Hongji said with a chuckle, unconcerned by his wife’s reproachful gaze, “and you know, wife, these past twenty or so days, I sold so wooden Bodhisattvas that I carved, our family isn’t that poor anymore.”
“Is that so? They’re too young; let them grow a bit more before they learn,” Mrs. Li replied upon hearing her husband’s words, realizing all the money her husband earned at work went straight to her mother-in-law’s pocket. Their family wasn’t poor, just the two of them were.
Upon hearing his wife’s words, Hongji rubbed his cloth turban, in which he tied up all his long hair at the top of his head.
“Right, wife, none of the other kids got the hang of carving, but Wuwa learned the best. I polished and painted all of her carvings; I’ll show you,” he said.
Hongji, treating it like a prized treasure, retrieved a small box from his toolbox and presented it in front of his wife and children, opening the case to reveal it was full of tiny toys—little wooden figures and various animals.
Mrs. Li couldn’t believe that her youngest child had carved the toys in the small box.
With a look of surprise and slight disbelief, she asked her youngest child, “Wuwa, did you really carve these?”
“Mhm,” Ye Shiqi nodded.
“These are Wuwa’s carvings; Siwa’s don’t look as good,” Siwa said as she excitedly played with the toys from the small wooden box, smiling without a hint of jealousy towards her sister, her expression was so cheerful.
“Ye Shiqi little sister, could you give these toys?”
“No, these are Wuwa’s,” Siwa said as she tried to snatch the small wooden box back.
Tang Shunyan was still a child, rely two or three years old—precisely the age for loving toys. He had never seen such little toys before, and they were carved by his little sister; he longed to possess and treasure them.
“You’re just a kid, what do you understand? Young Master Tang shouldn’t be grabbing toys. Did you hear that?” Mrs. Lai, who hadn’t had a chance to speak and was usually unconcerned, beca cautious and careful today in the presence of so many servants from the wealthy family.
“Mhm,” Ye Shiqi said generously, taking Siwa’s hand to keep her from snatching.
Siwa, scolded by her wet nurse, timidly lowered her head and held tightly to her younger sister’s hand.
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