Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 162 Interest Classes

"Did you see Ci'en hit the other brothers?" Jing Yan asked.

Zhizhi pouted: "He deserved to be beaten. He didn't study hard enough. Brother Ci'en taught him twice and he still couldn't understand. He deserved to be beaten."

Zhang Jingyan... well, she forgot, her own daughter wasn't exactly a pushover either. But since she also approved of Ci'en's educational methods, she didn't need to worry. Thinking of this, she settled down and watched TV with Zhizhi. Hmm, as long as I can't see it, I won't be bothered.

With so many people, we're too lazy to cook at home. We eat breakfast at home, and the other two meals are eaten at restaurants. The kids also like going there because it's a big place with a TV, and it's convenient to run around. Most importantly, there's a lot of delicious food.

Jingyan never skimps on her child's food. She's reluctant to sell the braised pork and ribs in the shop, but whenever there's a holiday, she buys extra pork bones to braise along with the pork. Now that corn is in season, she also makes corn and pork bone soup every few days, and it's quite delicious.

As for the meat skewers, they are really free for them to eat. If we make this kind of food ourselves, wouldn't it be a waste to let the kids not eat it?

The children enjoyed the meal, but the uncle's family felt embarrassed, especially after He Ci'en privately told him about the treatment they received at their aunt's house, making them feel that the allowance was too low. As an elder, he couldn't say anything to He Zhijun and Jing Yan, so he could only go to their grandmother.

"Mom, could you help me estimate how much Ci'en spends at Zhijun's house each month? We didn't know before, but now that we do, we have to make up for it no matter what. How can an uncle take advantage of his nephew's family?"

Grandma waved her hand: "There's no need to be so strict with family members. Jingyan likes Ci'en and raises him like her own child. You just need to appreciate her kindness. She's not short of money now, unlike you all who live on those meager allowances."

What Jingyan is doing for Cien now, Cien will repay in the future; you don't need to interfere. I don't know how you raise your child, but I support Jingyan's concept of raising her with abundance. She should do what she's capable of. You can't just grow older and still not understand social etiquette. Jingyan is better than many in our family in this regard, and I hope Cien can learn these things from Jingyan so that her future path will be easier.”

The uncle and aunt exchanged a glance and could only nod in agreement. Indeed, their retirement pensions were barely enough to support five people and pay for their three children's schooling. It was truly a struggle for them to force themselves to provide for Jingyan just to save face. In that instant, the once straightforward old leader felt the predicament of being short of money for the first time.

The three-day holiday ended quickly. Before parting, Jingyan started packing large bags of things for everyone. Each family received a bag of sausages that Sister Wang had made at home, and they also picked a lot of vegetables from the garden. In addition, they shared some hazel mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms that had been mailed from Beidahuang this year.

Everyone had something to carry, which made Cui Hongru feel a little helpless. She joked, "I haven't felt like going back to my parents' home for many years. I never thought I would experience it here with my own daughter-in-law."

These words made Jingyan feel embarrassed, but her grandmother came to her rescue: "Jingyan is filial. You all need meat coupons to buy meat. Who can afford to eat meat every day these days? She can get some meat for you to prepare, so you can have some meat every now and then when you go back. The mushrooms and wood ear fungus from the Great Northern Wilderness are really good stuff. It would be nice for you to take some back to add to your dishes."

"I'm getting old, otherwise I should be the one taking care of these things. Jingyan is helping me out of her own pocket, and I, as an old woman, am grateful. You don't need to feel like you're taking advantage of Jingyan, because I will reimburse her myself. Don't feel resentful or think that I favor her more; after all, it's what she deserves."

The families nodded in agreement. Cui Hongru smiled and said, "Mom, you can give those things to whomever you want. We won't have any objections. We're all grandparents now, we're not short-sighted. Even if you leave everything to Jingyan, we won't be unhappy. When we get old, what we've saved up will be left to Zhicheng and Zhijun, won't it?"

He Zhicheng scratched his head: "Since ancient times, whoever parents live with and take care of them should also be the family. Grandma lives with Zhijun, so it's only right that your things be left to your younger brother and sister-in-law. My husband and I won't have any objections. These material possessions won't affect our brotherly relationship, so please don't worry."

Zhou Jie nodded in agreement. Seeing everyone's expressions, Grandma was also satisfied: "Our children are all good children. In the future, we should help each other and work together as a family. How can we not prosper? Alright, it's getting late. Let's hurry to the dock to catch the boat. Jiao Xu and the others still have to drive back to Yangzhou."

After the family parted ways at the dock, life returned to normal. Jingyan took An'an and Zhizhi to the Cultural Palace and enrolled them in several trial courses, including Go. However, the two children couldn't sit still and sneaked out after less than half a class. Seeing the two children sneaking away furtively, Jingyan knew that this skill was doomed.

Zhizhi went to a trial class at the dance class, and she was interested. However, An'an followed the children of all ages through the lesson, then ran out with a pained expression and rushed into Jingyan's arms like a fledgling swallow returning to its nest, her voice trembling with tears: "Mommy, I don't like it! We had to stretch our legs and twist around, it was so weird!"

Jingyan patted his head and promised, "It's okay, let your sister learn this. If you don't want to learn, that's fine too."

The teacher led Zhizhi out, but upon hearing Jingyan's words, she said, "Zhizhi's mother, your Zhizhi is not suitable to learn to dance right now."

Jingyan stared blankly at the teacher, who smiled and explained, "We recommend that children start learning to dance at least at the age of five. Your Zhizhi is only three years old. Her bones are soft and fragile, so it's not suitable for her to start learning so early."

Jing Yan sighed, took the child's hand from the teacher, and thanked the teacher with a smile: "Thank you for your trouble, teacher. I will bring Zhizhi over again when she is five years old."

The teacher smiled and said, "Children this age are very sensitive to color. If you are interested, you can try a painting class first. They are not strict about the age of children."

Jingyan felt her view suddenly opened up, and she took the two children's hands and walked towards the classroom next door. Well, it just so happened that a class was about to start. Jingyan spoke to the teacher, who was very easy to talk to and agreed to let the two children audit a class. The teacher arranged for the two children to sit at the same desk and even lent them her own drawing paper and colored pencils.

Jingyan stood outside the door, occasionally glancing at her two children through the window. Hmm, not bad, they can finally sit still. Each class is an hour long. When class ended, Zhizhi and An'an rushed out with their drawing papers, eager to show them to Jingyan. Jingyan squatted down, took the drawing papers, and thought, well, although the drawings were quite immature, the color matching was indeed good, with red flowers and green leaves, which looked quite festive.

After offering insincere praise, the two children laughed heartily. Once most of the children had left, the teacher approached and asked, "Hello, sir, would your child like to learn to draw? They're still young, so you can start with simple techniques, focusing on color matching. After about a week, they should be able to draw simple flowers and birds independently. Would you like them to give it a try?"

Jingyan asked the two children about their wishes again, and they really liked it. According to Zhizhi, there were many children, so they could draw and play together. Although she didn't seem to see anyone playing together after class, it was rare for the children to have something they were interested in. Jingyan generously signed them up for ten lessons each at five yuan a day, which would be ten yuan for both children. They agreed to one lesson a week, on Saturdays.

Jingyan actually just wanted to lay a foundation for her child first. Later, she preferred to find a suitable teacher on the island to teach him, otherwise she felt it was too troublesome to have to leave the island every week.

When the mother and her two children returned home, the two children proudly showed their paintings to their great-grandmother, who was very impressed and said that the two children were talented. He Zhijun took the painting, looked at it, and handed it to his grandmother with a speechless expression. "Grandma, are you so shameless now? When I first started practicing calligraphy, you criticized my handwriting as worthless."

Grandma glared at him and said, "How can that be the same? You were so old back then, and after practicing for half a year, your handwriting was still like chicken claws. Look at Zhizhi, she was only three years old, and her handwriting was much neater than yours when you were six. And she still complained that I scolded you."

He Zhijun… met Jing Yan’s curious gaze and argued somewhat embarrassedly, “How could my writing be that bad? I remember it was actually quite good…”

"That's right, it's written very well. You even proudly called it cursive script, but I can't even recognize all the characters. You can imagine how messy your writing is," Grandma continued to complain.

Jingyan then spoke up: "Zhijun's handwriting is very good, isn't it? I've seen his family letters and his notes; his handwriting is very beautiful."

"That's because his father whipped him until he was obedient, so he could sit down and practice calligraphy properly. You haven't seen your father-in-law's and older brother's calligraphy; that's what you call good calligraphy. Zhijun's calligraphy now is just presentable." Grandma shook her head.

Jingyan lowered her head. Well, if Zhijun's handwriting was already considered unacceptable by her family, then her own handwriting must be even worse. She decided to keep quiet and avoid making herself uncomfortable.

Grandma seemed to remember Jingyan's handwriting and explained with a smile, "Your handwriting is indeed not very good, but you haven't practiced it properly. Look at how much your handwriting has improved in the past few years. It's neat and clean, but it lacks a certain spirit. However, schools don't require calligraphy these days. As long as the handwriting is clear and neat, it won't affect the exam. Unlike back then, when good handwriting could earn you two extra points."

Zhizhi and An'an go to the Cultural Palace for painting classes every week. Just as Grandma said, there are eight or nine-year-old children there whose handwriting is not as good as Zhizhi's. Of course, there are also some who are very good, but these two children are not inferior to the group of students at all. They are also the youngest and are very much loved by the teacher.

With teachers who liked them and classmates who admired them, the two children's interest in class soared to unprecedented heights, and their progress in drawing was also rapid. In just over a month, they were able to draw simple flower and bird sketches quite well. It was then that Jingyan suggested finding a drawing teacher on the island to teach the two children, since going off the island once a week was a waste of time for Jingyan.

He Zhijun shared the same idea. There's a difference in focus between a teacher who teaches over twenty children and a teacher who only teaches two. However, since the children in the family are mostly raised independently, they tend to be very opinionated. It's best to ask for their opinions on such matters.

Jingyan initially thought that Zhizhi, with her lively personality, wouldn't want to study at home, but to her surprise, she was the first to agree. Curious, Jingyan asked her why, and learned that it was because both children were making rapid progress in drawing, and Zhizhi was also very cute.

Even with parents accompanying her outside, some naughty boys would still pull her braids or pinch her cheeks during class. Several times, Zhizhi wanted to hit them, but remembering how she had made the child cry, had to call their parents, buy medicine, and her mother had to apologize, Zhizhi ultimately held back her fists.

Telling the teacher isn't a long-term solution. Once or twice is fine, but if it happens too often, she'll be seen as a tattletale. Not only will others dislike her, but even Zhizhi herself feels ashamed of what she's doing.

They had originally planned with An'an to one day stall their mother and secretly beat up those two little boys to vent their anger, but since their mother wanted to find them a private teacher, they decided not to take the risk.

After learning the reason, Jingyan felt somewhat inadequate. Her children were so young, yet she had neglected them, leaving them to solve everything on their own. What would happen when they grew up? After much agonizing reflection, the following week in class, Jingyan had Zhizhi point out which two boys were involved. Then, while the children were in class, she spoke with the parents of the two children who were with them, explained the situation, and said:

“Although my child is young, he has been taught the proper separation between boys and girls since he was little. Your child doesn’t know his place and has crossed the line. If it happens again, and my child hurts him, don’t come to the teacher to complain. When we get home, I will make it clear to my child that if he encounters someone who is causing trouble for no reason, he should be beaten up. I will not show any mercy.”

The parents of the two children were stunned by what Jing Yan said. One of the men was a little curious: "Are you sure your child can beat mine? They shouldn't be that old, right? My child is already eight years old and in elementary school."

Jing Yan raised an eyebrow and said, "One is three years old and the other is five. They can't really plan their moves, but they can still pinpoint the weak points of the body. If you're really curious, you can let your son try it out on you."

The man said, "You're not exactly gentle as a mother either. No wonder you said your child can fight. But she's a girl, after all..."

"Stop! I'm proud that my child can fight. Don't tell me about being gentle, virtuous, kind, and generous. I don't have that kind of manners, and I don't intend for my child to have them. I won't offend others unless they offend me, and if they do, I'll retaliate tenfold." After saying that, Jing Yan waved her big fist at the parent: "Also, I can fight too."