“If there is no further questions, I’ll go to write a receipt for you so you can pay the tuition fee first. His name is Xiao Baofeng, right? Any chance you might know which three characters are they?” said Scholar Wong who was sounding Ye Xiaoxian out to see if she could really read.

  Ye Xiaoxian answered, “Xiao is the musical instrument, Bao is for jewel and Feng is for wind.”


  She surely could read.

  When Scholar Wong went to write the receipt, Ye Xiaoxian said to Xiao Baofeng outside the door, “Baofeng, I guess you know what your teacher just said, don’t you? You must study diligently when you go to school and only in this way can you learn more things. This first step is to be literate and after that, you can start to learn The Book of Songs. The poems in it are so beautiful. Like the verses:

  ‘Guan! Guan! Cry the fish hawks,

  on sandbars in the river;

  a mild-mannered good lady,

  fine match for the gentleman.’


  Or

  ‘At first, when I set out,

  The willows were fresh and green;

  Now, when we shall be returning,

  The snow will be falling clouds.’


  Xiao Baofeng asked, “Sister-in-law, what are those……talking about?”


  “The first verse talks about a beautiful girl. If you think a girl is pretty, it’ll sound plain by simply saying that she is ‘pretty’. But if you can read such poems aloud, you’ll be considered as a man of literary talent.”


  Xiao Baofeng then chuckled, “I see. So Sister-in-law is……a mild-mannered some sort of good lady and my brother is the willow or the snowing clouds!”


  “Haha……”


  Ye Xiaoxian’s conversation with Xiao Baofeng were all heard by Scholar Wong. Scholar Wong was writing the receipt when he heard Ye Xiaoxian read verses of The Book of Songs and he was stunned. He did not expect Ye Xiaoxian to know such things.

  When he heard that Ye Xiaoxian recited “At first, when I set out, the willows were fresh and green”, his heart even fluttered.

  But when he heard Xiao Baofeng called her “Sister-in-law,” Scholar Wong suddenly had a sense of loss.

  The girl was so young yet she had already been taken.

  He was wondering what kind of a lucky fellow could marry such a beautiful and smart young woman.

  When Scholar Wong got the receipt ready and gave it to Ye Xiaoxian, Ye Xiaoxian then said to him in order to show her courtesy, “Sir, our Baofeng depends all on you from now on. You might as well be a little stricter to him. If he doesn’t study hard, please feel free to punish him. Don’t go easy on him.”


  “Right, yea, sure!” Scholar Wong stuttered a little.

  Ye Xiaoxian smiled towards him and then asked, “Sir, do you have any pen, ink, paper and inkstone? I want to buy some from you because I also have a young sister back home and I want to teach her to read.”


  “Sure, sure. I have extra left and I’ll share some with you.” Scholar Wong then went inside to fetch some of these materials.

  Ye Xiaoxian then said to Baofeng, “Baofeng, then you stay here and go back home after school. Don’t dawdle on the way home and be sure to go back home on time. Okay?”


  “Yes, Sister-in-law.” Baofeng was feeling both nervous and excited.

  “Work hard and diligently and try your best to catch up. If you study well, you may pass the imperial examinations and be selected as a scholar and then you don’t have to work in the farmland. This will be an ideal life for you.” Ye Xiaoxian added.

  Scholar Wong went back in a minute and carried some brand-new writing materials. Ye Xiaoxian took them and gave him 20 coins.

  Scholar Wong did not want to take them but Ye Xiaoxian insisted.

  She had been left for a while yet he still turned around and glanced at her back.