The two little tots sat slumped on the ox cart. "Auntie, I don't want to go to the village school anymore."
"What's this? A few harsh words and you're already backing down? Some promise you've got..." She slapped the ox on the rump. "To the county town! We'll find the biggest academy there. I refuse to believe we can't get in."
Meng Anci's tears splattered onto the cart's planks, and Meng Anzhi's eyes reddened too.
Seeing how upset the two children were, Jin Shanyao plucked two ginkgo leaves and tucked one into each of their hands. "A tree goes through a great deal in its life. When it's young, the big trees bully it.
"If it wants to survive, it has to drive its roots into the ground. There are rocks and ants down there, as well as the roots of big trees. The little tree has to get past them all to draw up nutrients.
"When it grows a little bigger, its branches start growing every which way. To become a towering tree, it has to straighten its back every day and never dare slack off, or it'll grow up crooked.
"Once it's big enough to match the other trees, the real fighting begins. You see two trees standing still, but underground, their roots are locked in a fight to the death.
"All the while, they have to guard against humans chopping them down. If they're made into roof beams, at least their bodies stay whole. But if they're chopped to pieces and made into tables and chairs, or burned as firewood, that's truly miserable."
The two little tots listened, entranced, and gradually stopped sniffling. "Auntie, what do trees have to do with us?"
Jin Shanyao pressed her lips together and smiled. "Because you're little trees right now. Little trees get bullied by big trees. If you give up after a little setback, how will you ever grow into towering trees?"
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci nodded firmly. "Auntie, don't worry. We'll work hard to take in nutrients and strive to become big trees."
"That's right. Growing up is hard every step of the way. Before you become big trees, remember to watch out for bugs."
Meng Anzhi looked puzzled. "Trees can't move. How do they watch out for bugs?"
"That's easy. Birds like building nests in trees, so just ask them for help."
Meng Anci looked thoughtful. "So if there's something you can't do yourself, you should ask someone for help. And if you want them to agree, you need to know what they want and what we can give them, right?"
"Uh..." Did humans really make helping one another so complicated?
After the ox cart entered the county town, it took another half a cup of tea's time to reach Green Mountain Academy. Jin Shanyao was just about to knock when Meng Anci stopped her.
He tipped over the carrying basket, emptied out the venison leg, and stuffed the straw from the ox cart inside. Then he put the leg back, though this time he didn't put it all the way in.
He left half the meaty bone sticking out, then covered the leg with straw, clapped his hands, and stood up.
"Auntie, it's ready."
Jin Shanyao didn't understand why he'd taken the meat out and put it back, and she couldn't be bothered to figure it out. She hoisted the basket onto her back, rubbed her stiff face hard, forced a smile, and rapped the door knocker.
A middle-aged man answered the door. His first glance fell on the basket on Jin Shanyao's back, and his eyes brightened slightly. When he saw the two children with her, he understood at once.
"Miss, have you brought the children to begin their studies?"
Jin Shanyao put on a broad smile. "I heard Green Mountain Academy teaches well, so I brought the two children to give it a try. Are you still accepting beginners?"
"Green Mountain Academy accepts students year-round, but..." He glanced at Meng Anzhi. She nervously clutched her shoulder bag, then summoned her courage to greet him. "Good day, Master."
The man smiled gently. "Good day, little miss."
He turned his gaze back to Jin Shanyao. "I'm afraid you may not know, miss, but Green Mountain Academy doesn't accept female students."
"Huh? Why not?" It had never occurred to Jin Shanyao that the academy wouldn't accept girls.
"The Inner Rules of the Book of Rites says, 'At seven years of age, boys and girls do not sit together or eat together.' Miss, I'm not deliberately making things difficult for you, but I'm not the only one who runs this academy. If we broke the rules for her, I'm afraid the other students wouldn't agree."
Jin Shanyao was baffled. Why couldn't males and females sit or eat together? In the primeval forest, all kinds of trees grew crowded together, and the animals didn't separate males from females either.
Why did humans start separating them? No, she needed to buy a few more books and learn about human habits.
Meng Anzhi said, "Auntie, let my little brother go. I didn't want to go to school anyway."
Her voice was muffled and sounded a little sad. Master Zhao couldn't bear it. "Little miss, although you can't attend school, you can hire a teacher to come to your home and instruct you."
Meng Anzhi shook her head. She'd heard people in the village say studying was expensive. It wasn't easy for Auntie to earn money, and she couldn't cause her any more trouble.
"I like digging up herbs. From now on, I'll stay with Auntie and dig up herbs." She held back her tears and forced a smile.
Jin Shanyao felt stifled. Humans were ridiculous, separating males and females even when it came to studying. She took Meng Anzhi's hand and said solemnly, "I'll teach you myself.
"I've read lots of books and know every plant on the mountain. Whatever you want to learn, I'll teach you."
Meng Anzhi smiled and nodded. She had to work hard to grow into a big tree. She couldn't give up growing just because the school wouldn't accept her.
"Green Mountain Academy isn't like a village school. The tuition for beginners is a little higher." Master Zhao glanced at their clothes and continued, "Two taels of silver a year."
Two taels of silver wasn't much in the county town, but for people from the countryside, it was rather steep.
Jin Shanyao had wondered how expensive it could be, but it turned out to be two taels of silver. She readily agreed. "All right."
Master Zhao smiled. "It's a little late today. Just bring the child here tomorrow at three quarters past the hour of Mao." With that, he looked at the basket on Jin Shanyao's back.
Parents would privately give teachers food and monetary gifts so they would take extra care of their children.
Master Zhao was all ready to accept the gift, only to see Jin Shanyao lift the two children onto the ox cart and leave... Leave. He stood in front of the academy, unable to come to his senses for a long time...
Jin Shanyao didn't go straight back to Little River Village. Instead, she went to a bookshop and bought another pile of books in the order of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. The two little tots sat amid the pile, dumbstruck.
"Auntie, we already have lots of books at home. Why are you buying more?"
Jin Shanyao slapped the ox on the rump and paid it no more attention. She turned to face the little tots and casually flipped through a book. "These books are different from the ones I used to read."
All she'd read before were cultivation books of every kind. When had she ever read books for leisure? And she had to admit, books written by humans were quite profound. Take the Technique of Controlling People in her hands, for example.
It left her utterly bewildered. The book said: Gaze at the other person with eyes full of affection, tilt your head and stroke your chin, click your tongue from time to time, twirl your beard with your fingers, and run your tongue around the inside of your cheek.
Note: Your eyes should be like hooks, keeping the other person caught fast.
Uh... She knew every word, but the meaning was a little hard to grasp. She'd find someone to try it on someday.
Back in Little River Village, Jin Shanyao saw there was still some time, so she copied Old Woman Li next door and took a hoe to turn the soil in the vegetable garden, digging a hole with every stroke.
An ordinary woman would probably have tired after a few strokes, but Jin Shanyao wasn't human. Her body had an inexhaustible supply of Spiritual Power, and the little vegetable garden was transformed in the blink of an eye.
Following the sowing method used in the primeval forest, she grabbed some vegetable seeds and scattered them into the air... Away you go... Another casual toss... Done. No covering them with soil, no watering, and not a ridge or furrow in sight.
Jin Shanyao clapped her hands and turned around, only to find the two little tots staring at her in astonishment.
"What's wrong?"
"Auntie, have you always planted things like that?"
Jin Shanyao walked over to the well and poured two dipperfuls of water into a basin. "Is there a problem?"
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci exchanged a glance.
Meng Anzhi chose her words carefully. "Auntie, let's rent out the farmland."
Jin Shanyao shook the water from her hands and thought that she'd come to repay a kindness, not to farm. If they wanted to rent it out, then they could rent it out.
"All right, we'll do as you say." With that, she turned and went into the kitchen, where she put the dried lion's mane mushrooms in water to soak. "Anzhi, Anci, how about lion's mane mushroom dumplings?"
"Ah, dumplings! Auntie, do you really mean it?" Meng Anzhi's eyes lit up with delight.
She remembered how, for New Year's last year, Mother had saved up white flour for a long time but had only made a dozen or so cabbage and pork dumplings. She and her little brother had eaten three each, then couldn't bear to eat any more.
She'd never expected they could have dumplings when it wasn't even New Year's or a festival.
They had never eaten lion's mane mushroom filling before. The medicine shopkeeper had said it was a delicacy from the mountains and seas, but they didn't know whether it tasted as good as cabbage and pork filling.