"Eh?" Manbao blinked and tried hard to recall what she had just read in the book, scratching her head, she said, "It seems it wasn't just because he ate a piece of cake; it was because his daughter had contact with an outsider, sir, what is an 'outsider'?"
Mr. Zhuang chuckled, "That's even more nonsensical, an outsider refers to someone like me in relation to you, or the students in the school in relation to you. While there are differences between men and women, it's not necessary to guard against it to such an extent; if someone does, they're either a madman or a devil."
Mr. Zhuang said, "The former is a lunatic who really believes that, and the latter does it on purpose, trading their own daughter's life for a reputation. You should stay as far away from such a person as possible in the future. But I've never heard of such a story, where did you read about it?"
Manbao immediately replied, "It was from a book, titled 'Top 10 Evil Fathers in History'."
"Since it's history, there must be records of it, right? I wonder which dynasty's official the one you just mentioned was from?"
"A person from the Jiajing era of Daming."
Mr. Zhuang couldn't help but burst out laughing, stroking her little head, he said, "This just shows that it's all made-up, where in the world is there a Daming dynasty?"
Manbao blinked, but still believed in Keke, asking it in her mind, "Keke, did you lie to me?"
The usually silent system actually expressed a sense of pleasure, responding, "No, host. Just because your space doesn't have a Daming doesn't mean others don't, the absence now doesn't mean it will be absent in the future. It's just like with me, in this space, at this time, only you have me. But in the era of my inventor, I was not rare. I wouldn't say that everyone had one, but as long as you have money and are willing to buy, everyone can have one."
Manbao vaguely understood, but still summed up her understanding; that is, Keke didn't lie, but Mr. Zhuang was also correct, so she decided to listen to both of them.
She looked up at Mr. Zhuang and asked, "Then sir, do you know of any bad fathers in our history?"
Mr. Zhuang asked, "Why are you interested in this? You should know that 'a son does not speak of the faults of his father.' Even if a father does something wrong, rarely would anyone publicize it and let the father lose face, not to mention embarrassing the family. What good would it bring to oneself?"
Manbao was stunned, so Mr. Zhuang simply took the opportunity to lecture her on propriety, after a long discussion, he said, "Manbao, you are a clever child, and I know you love reading. Since that is the case, you should study hard. You've finished the 'Thousand Character Classic,' and now you should begin studying 'The Analects.' Once you've finished 'The Analects,' I'll teach you about 'Rites.'"
Manbao was dazed, when the system couldn't help reminding her, "Host, aren't you going to thank your teacher?"
Manbao came to her senses and immediately knelt down, "Sir, teacher!"
Manbao gave Mr. Zhuang a bow with her head touching the floor.
Mr. Zhuang regretted his words for a moment, but seeing her kneeling on the ground, calling him a teacher with a happy face, that bit of regret vanished.
Forget it, although she is a female apprentice, she is intelligent, lovely, and affords some solace.
Mr. Zhuang helped the child up and said, "You go home and tell these things to your parents."
"Why, teacher? Haven't you always told me not to talk to my parents about what happens here?"
Mr. Zhuang, stroking her head, said, "Since I've allowed you to kneel in respect, we should make it proper and official."
Mr. Zhuang stroked her head and sighed deeply.
When he first saw Manbao, she was just a little girl who could barely stand up by leaning on a wall, probably just eight or nine months old, barely able to stand steady.
Junior Ms. Qian came to cook, and since it was her first job, she cherished it, always arriving early, not only to clean everywhere, but also to chop wood, start the fire, and cook.
Therefore, it couldn't be helped that she neglected the child, and at that time Manbao crawled to the threshold of the classroom, floundering over to cling at the doorway and listen to him teach.
Initially, Mr. Zhuang was somewhat annoyed, feeling that Junior Ms. Qian wasn't competent, so he put down his book to pick up Manbao and went looking for Junior Ms. Qian.
He intended to tell Junior Ms. Qian to look after her child properly, but found her wielding an ax, sweating profusely while splitting wood.
Since Mr. Zhuang was hired by Landlord Bai to teach in this mountain village, his own family wasn't particularly wealthy; in fact, they too had experienced such poverty.
In his memory, his mother had raised him in the same way, so Mr. Zhuang hesitated for a bit, did not call out to Junior Ms. Qian, and turned around to bring Manbao back, allowing her to sit on the threshold.
Fortunately, the child was well-behaved. She just sat on the threshold, not crying or fussing, eating what was given to her, and when she saw the students reading aloud, she too began to babble along.
Late on, the first word she said was "Teacher," a claim Mr. Zhuang insisted on.
The child was truly clever; as a little one just over a year old and barely able to speak, she followed the students, reciting "Heaven and earth are dark and yellow..."
His youngest student was six years old. They'd read a passage ten times and remember it, but then forget it again the next day, yet this child's little head retained it all very clearly.
Of course, she only knew how to recite and didn't recognize the characters.
So Mr. Zhuang copied a Thousand Character Classic for her.
Late on, Mr. Zhuang grew even fonder of her, as he found that not only could Manbao memorize texts quickly, akin to never forgetting what she heard, she also recognized characters quickly.
After going through them a few times, she would remember them.
How could such a clever, adorable, and kind child not be a boy?
Mr. Zhuang lamented this more than once.
Then he couldn't refrain himself from teaching her, teaching her to recognize words, teaching her morals, even specially finding books for calligraphy practice, and giving the manuscripts to her to keep.
The decision to take her as a disciple was blurted out on the spur of the moment, but the thought had been there for more than a day or two. It was only his hesitation because she was a girl.
In reality, he was just a scholar who had been dismissed from an official academy, with ultimately limited knowledge. Why be too concerned about those empty accolades?
Could he really be like the bad fathers she mentioned, fishing for praise and recognition?
Mr. Zhuang rubbed Manbao's head more vigorously, making up his mind he said, "Go find your elder sister-in-law right now, and have your parents pick a good day to formally bring you to study."
Manbao walked away, bewildered.