<Liu Yizhu> did not expect that when he came back last month, <Li Mingwei> was copying books, and when he came back this month, she was still copying books. He went forward and took the pen from <Li Mingwei>'s hand, "Let me do it."
"No."
<Li Mingwei> quickly snatched the pen back. If it was done in <Liu Yizhu>'s handwriting, Mr. Jin would recognize it at a glance. He would get unhappy again and make her copy even more books. She was just about to finish copying them.
<Liu Yizhu> did not want to snatch it from her forcibly either, so he could only pull up a stool and sit next to her to fan her, as it was still a bit hot even though it was almost autumn.
He observed <Li Mingwei>'s speed, which was much faster than before. She copied every day, but still hadn't finished copying after more than a month. That shouldn't be right. Was she delayed by doing embroidery work?
Soon he realized why. Because as <Li Mingwei> was copying, she went to copy on the bed. She yawned, pulled the quilt, and fell asleep very quickly before <Liu Yizhu> could even react.
"This..." <Liu Yizhu> looked outside. It was almost noon now, but it shouldn't be time to take a nap this early, right? She copied books too late last night and didn't sleep enough?
Old Lady Wang finished cooking lunch and poked her head in from outside. Seeing <Li Mingwei> lying on the bed again, she was already used to it and directly ignored her, calling her son out to eat.
"Son, let's eat first."
<Liu Yizhu> hesitated for a moment before going out. Old Lady Wang had already skillfully served rice and dishes for him, keeping them warm in the pot.
He was a little worried, "Mother, has <Li Mingwei> been like this recently?"
"Ah, I check on her from time to time, and she falls asleep. I told her not to copy anymore, but she wouldn't listen. Occasionally she also takes some embroidery work. How is she not tired? When she finishes copying these books, she will probably be fine."
Old Lady Wang had already asked Mr. Jin. There would be no more copying after she finishes these books.
"Mr. Jin said that she is also afraid of the cold in winter, so it's better to let her finish copying now to avoid her feeling worse in winter."
<Liu Yizhu> thought about how she did spend most of the time last winter warming herself by Mr. Jin's stove. After the meal, he went and bought some charcoal and brought it back to prepare for her. Since she is so afraid of the cold, these things still need to be prepared for her.
<Li Mingwei> has no strength, and his mother is old, so he should do what he can with physical labor.
Carrying the charcoal back, <Li Mingwei> had woken up and was eating. After putting down the things, he washed his hands before finally having time to ask her.
"Besides being sleepy occasionally, do you have any other discomfort?"
<Li Mingwei> shook her head, "No discomfort, just a little tired from copying books for too long. I'll be fine after sleeping for a while."
She stood up and hopped around, "Look at me, I can eat and sleep well, lively as a flea."
<Liu Yizhu> hugged her and weighed her. Compared to last month, there seemed to be no difference. He frowned, "You didn't grow at all in a month, but you can still eat a lot."
"Really?" <Li Mingwei> touched her belly. It was still very flat. It seemed that she didn't gain weight. She pouted, "But I can eat a lot, how come I'm not growing?"
She shouted to the kitchen, "Mother, don't I eat a lot?"
Old Lady Wang stuck her head out of the window, "Eat a lot? When have you ever been able to eat a lot? Tell me when you can eat half as much as me, then I'll say you can eat a lot."
<Li Mingwei> pouted and silently lowered her head to eat her food.
Old Lady Wang took out two broken bamboo baskets from the kitchen, put the charcoal brought back by <Liu Yizhu> in them, and put them in the utility room for later use.
As she walked out of the utility room, she picked up the carrying basket that <Liu Yizhu> had used and glared at him, "My nice basket, you took it to carry coal, now it's all black and dusty, I have to wash it again."
<Liu Yizhu> stopped chopping firewood, "Let me wash it for you."
"I want you to wash it for me!"
Old Lady Wang humphed twice and went to wash it herself.
<Li Mingwei> laughed at <Liu Yizhu>. He also had a day of being scolded by his mother, haha!
Seeing her laugh so happily, <Liu Yizhu> couldn't help but glare at her to make her behave. <Li Mingwei> immediately raised her little hands, "I'll help you chop firewood!"
"<Liu Yizhu> mimicked Old Lady Wang's tone, "I want you to help me chop!" <Li Mingwei> was amused beyond words. How cute he is!
This made Old Lady Wang even more angry. She looked everywhere for a stick. It had been too long since this boy was disciplined. <Liu Yizhu> threw down the axe and ran over to pull <Li Mingwei>'s hand, "Run quickly, be careful of collateral damage later."
<Li Mingwei> ran into the room with him and closed the door, laughing at him, "You're still afraid of getting hit at your age."
<Liu Yizhu> pinched her little nose, "You're thinking too much. My mother has never hit me before. She just waves the stick to scare me."
He walked to the desk, raised his eyebrows and said, "Let me copy for you for a while?"
<Li Mingwei> kind of wanted him to copy, but was also afraid of being scolded by Mr. Jin, so her face was hesitant.
"It's fine, I'll tell Mr. Jin before I leave tomorrow. He won't say anything about you."
"Okay then."
Since he said it like this, <Li Mingwei> certainly went to rest without hesitation.
<Liu Yizhu>'s copying speed was much faster than hers. Because he had copied these books so many times, he knew them backwards already. He didn't need to look at the books and could just write directly. In just one afternoon, he finished copying what she had left.
However, it was already late, so they sorted everything and took it to Mr. Jin the next morning.
<Liu Yizhu> went ahead and handed the things to Mr. Jin. Mr. Jin flipped through them and did not say anything, just took them. Only then did <Li Mingwei> come out from behind him.
Mr. Jin smiled immediately, "What are you afraid of?"
<Li Mingwei> stuck out her neck, "I'm not afraid!"
Mr. Jin saw through but didn't say it. He asked them to sit down and poured them tea, inquiring about <Liu Yizhu>'s recent situation at the academy.
Then he said, "One of your fellow students is the son of the county magistrate, right?"
"Yes, what's the matter?"
"If you are still on good terms, could you please help me ask him what the process would be if I don't want to teach here anymore? Will they recruit new people to take over from me? Or do I need to find someone to replace me myself?"
"Mr. Jin..." <Li Mingwei> was stunned for a moment and asked, "Are you leaving?"
Mr. Jin shook his head and stroked his beard. "It's not that I want to leave. It's just that at my age, there are more and more children at the school, and my energy is no longer enough."
"After all, I was recruited by the county government. I'm thinking of asking the county government first, and then consider other options. Even if they first recruit someone to come and share the workload with me, that would work too."
There are new children coming every year who have to start over from the beginning. There are too many classes to teach every day and the schedule can't be arranged properly either.
Maybe if he were younger, he could still push himself harder. But now he is old and should also consider retiring to rest.
Seeing the streaks of white in his hair, <Li Mingwei> sighed. He is already this old. He really shouldn't work so hard.
<Liu Yizhu> agreed and went to find <Tang Jue> at the Tang family with <Yang Jingyuan> after returning to the academy in the afternoon. <Tang Jue> was also surprised when the servant led him in.
"Brother <Liu Yizhu> is also here to drink with me?"
"No, I'm here to ask you a favor."
<Liu Yizhu> conveyed Mr. Jin's request. <Tang Jue> did not delay and immediately went to ask his father after finding out where he was.
Soon <Tang Jue> came back, followed by his father. <Liu Yizhu> and <Yang Jingyuan> stood up to salute <Tang Shan>.
"Magistrate Tang."
<Tang Shan> waved for them to dispense with the proprieties. He looked them up and down carefully, and soon identified his target. "You are <Liu Yizhu>?"
<Liu Yizhu> didn't understand why, but still bowed and saluted, "Yes."
