Chapter 876: A Feeling of Utter Shame

In those days, people with a bit of education adhered to a certain saying: "To look at one's handwriting is to look at the person."

Simply put, if a person's handwriting was ugly, then the person themselves wasn't much of anything.

But if a person's handwriting was neat and beautiful, then they were likely a decent individual.

Of course, in Wang An's view, these were all rather nonsensical claims.

Wang An himself was a glaring example; anyone who saw his handwriting would be unable to call it ugly, yet in reality, Wang An as a person was truly not much of anything.

Hearing Wang An's words, Wang Dazhu glanced at the wall clock in the living room and said

"Then why wait until tomorrow? Just write them for him now; it's something that can be finished in a moment. Anyway, he's got nothing to do this entire summer break, so he can just stay home and practice his calligraphy."

After Wang Dazhu finished speaking, Liu Guilan chimed in

"Yeah, just write them now. Let Xiao Yi start practicing tomorrow. I reckon with the time over this summer break, he'll be able to get his handwriting more or less sorted out."

It must be said that although Wang Dazhu and his wife only knew a few common characters because they had attended literacy classes, they were one hundred percent supportive when it came to their children's education.

In fact, when Wang An was in school, Wang Dazhu and his wife had given their full support, but unfortunately, Wang An simply didn't study properly—to be precise, he didn't study well at all—which resulted in all their support going to waste.

Fortunately, Wang Dazhu and his wife had a younger son. Most importantly, the younger son's grades had always been very good, which provided the couple with some spiritual solace.

Hearing this, Wang Yi spoke up very sensibly

"I was actually thinking of going to the fields with you to pull weeds and hoe the land. Otherwise, with Big Brother in the mountains and Sister-in-law being pregnant, you two won't be able to handle all those crops on your own."

In this era, farming didn't have the herbicides of later generations, so the weeds in the fields could only be removed by hand.

Actually, the crops in Wang An's family fields were long overdue for weeding, but because the family had been busy building the house, it had been delayed until now.

However, the crops weren't too "wild," because when Wang An had been idle previously, he had used a four-wheel tractor to pull a cultivator for some simple processing.

The word "wild" (荒) was a local adjective; "wild" meant there were many weeds, and "not too wild" meant there weren't too many.

However, with the fields processed this way, the weeds in the furrows couldn't be reached; they still required a second round of manual processing.

It had to be admitted that the way Wang Yi spoke would make any parent feel deeply moved. Regardless of how you looked at it, this level of thoughtfulness was not something an ordinary child could manage.

Thus, after Wang Yi finished speaking, the whole family was stunned.

Wang An, in particular, suddenly felt a wave of overwhelming shame.

Mainly because in his previous life, every time he went to the fields to pull weeds or hoe, it was done under the orders of Wang Dazhu and his wife; the word "initiative" simply didn't exist.

Comparing the two, the gap between these biological brothers, Wang An and Wang Yi, was immense.

After a moment, Wang Dazhu said to Wang Yi

"You don't need to work in the fields. Just focus on your books and practice your calligraphy."

Liu Guilan added

"Yeah, as long as you study hard and get into university to make something of yourself in the future, you'll have everything. We don't need you for farm work."

It must be said that while Wang Yi was very sensible, Wang Dazhu and his wife were also quite supportive.

The things they said were things the vast majority of parents in this era could not say, and certainly could not do.

After hearing them, Wang Yi scratched his head and said

"Studying isn't that stressful. Our teacher said that only through labor can one understand many truths that aren't in the books."

Hearing this, Wang Dazhu and his wife couldn't help but look at each other.

Mainly because very few parents in this era were educated, so in the eyes of many parents, a teacher was a true intellectual.

And how could the words of an intellectual be wrong?

At this time, Wang An spoke up from the side

"It's fine to let Xiao Yi go to the fields for a few days. Let him experience the hardship of farming so he'll work even harder at his studies later."

Hearing this, Wang Dazhu and his wife nodded.

However, while Wang An said this, he was thinking in his head about how to hire a few people to go to the fields to pull weeds and hoe.

This way, Wang Dazhu and his wife could relax a bit, and the hired help could earn some pocket money; it would be a win-win situation.

But as for hiring people, he would need the consent of Wang Dazhu and his wife.

Otherwise, given their stingy nature when it came to daily living, they would absolutely be unwilling to spend the money.

After a while, Wang An said to Wang Yi

"Xiao Yi, go get me a few sheets of paper and a fountain pen. I'll just write them all out for you to save trouble."

"Aye, alright Big Brother."

Agreeing aloud, Wang Yi turned and went back into the house.

After entering, Wang Yi quickly returned with a notebook of white paper and a fountain pen.

Consequently, Wang An began to write down all the inspirational poems and phrases he could think of on the white paper.

Things like "The sword's edge comes from grinding, the plum blossom's fragrance comes from the bitter cold," and "If the effort is deep enough, an iron bar can be ground into a needle," and so on and so forth.

However, although Wang An's handwriting was impressive, his level of education was truly limited. Just as he finished writing, he saw Wang Yi frown and say

"Big Brother, this one is 'mò lì chū' (ground/tempered), not 'mò liàn chū' (practiced). And this one is 'tiě chǔ' (iron pestle), not 'tiě gùn' (iron bar)."

Hearing this, Wang An blinked and asked with a face full of confusion

"Is that so? Did I write it wrong? Which 'li' is 'lì'? The 'li' from 'powerful' (厉)? Or the 'li' from 'calendar' (历)?"

As he spoke, Wang An wrote both of the characters he mentioned onto the paper.

It must be said that although Wang An had attended middle school, before he was expelled, he was a genuine academic failure. It wasn't that he knew nothing, but the things he did know were truly few and far between.

Wang Yi, on the other hand, was quite patient. He personally took the pen and began writing on the paper.

At this point, Wang Dazhu couldn't help but scold Wang An

"Look at how you studied; you fucking studied it all into a dog's belly. You're not even as good as Xiao Yi, who only finished primary school. If I were your teacher, I'd whip you eight times a day."

Hearing this, Wang An said while writing

"Back when I was in school, I spent every day holding a shovel and a hoe working for the production team. I didn't even attend classes properly."

To be fair, although Wang An was making excuses for himself, what he said was actually the truth.

Because before the land was allocated to individual households, the system emphasized half-work and half-study; if you went to school, you only had classes for half a day, and you had to work for the other half of the afternoon.

Unfortunately, Wang Dazhu wasn't about to indulge Wang An, and snapped back

"So what? Everyone else attended class before working; were you the only one working?"

(End of Chapter)