The eldest aunt laughed, "Ink is always so smelly, it's rare that the one you use has a fragrance to it!"
Ling Chengyan smiled, "I happened to buy an old ink stick, just sitting in a corner where no one wanted it..."
Saying this, a thought suddenly popped into Ling Chengyan's mind. After learning in these days that the world had just gone through a turmoil, many old and ancient items were heavily damaged... Just like these two ink sticks she accidentally got, although they were missing corners and edges, it could be seen they were decades old, genuine good stuff, yet she only spent ten cents on them, the price of two steamed buns!
No one thought these were good things right now. If one could collect more with care, as long as the country prospers and people's lives thrive, in a decade, or a few years, they could be sold at a high price.
Returning to reality, Ling Chengyan felt a bit dumbfounded. If she had this mind to scheme for money, portraying a petty and lowly image, who knows how those bookworms would mock her upon seeing it.
"Yan, your calligraphy really looks nice." The eldest aunt sincerely praised.
She was illiterate and did not understand calligraphy but genuinely praised the beautiful and delightful appearance of the characters and graceful strokes without using any professional terms, making others feel happy and genuine.
The smile on Ling Chengyan's face deepened, she said, "If my father and brother heard this, they would definitely laugh, finding it amusing that even I could receive compliments someday."
Back then, her father disapproved of her rough calligraphy style, finding it too sharp and lacking in smoothness and restraint, thinking a girl should be more harmonious; but her brother would always spoil her with a smile, saying it was rare for a girl to live freely and let her enjoy a few more free years at home.
She understood both her father's worries and her brother's indulgence but never really took them to heart… Unexpectedly, when her father and brother died in battle, she carried the Ling Family Army's flag into battle and also failed to return alive.
Here, she skipped over courtship and marriage, directly becoming a wife and a mother.
At least she could comfort the spirits of her father and brother in heaven, assuring them that the daughters of the Ling Family wouldn't be bullied no matter where they ended up.
Upon hearing her mention her father and brother, the sister-in-law hesitated for a moment but still asked, "Has there been any letter from the children's grandpa and uncle?"
Ling Chengyan shook her head.
She was referring to her father and brother in her previous life. The sister-in-law was asking about her father and brother in this life.
Ling Chengyan taught Xiaoxiang to recognize characters and write calligraphy and gave a pencil to Hongling, asking her to practice writing with it and start by learning to write her own name: Wang Hongling.
Hongling enjoyed writing very much. At fourteen, like a primary school student, she earnestly learned to write, filling up a whole sheet of grid paper.
Due to her slow yet careful writing, Hongling's characters turned out fairly well-formed and readable towards the end.
Ling Chengyan praised her intelligence and dexterity, gifting her the pencil and notebook. She also assigned a few characters as homework: Sky, Man, Sun, Moon.
Watching her eldest daughter write so seriously, the sister-in-law felt somewhat guilty, "Both Hongling and Hong Zhi were delayed and didn't go to school. Nowadays, they surely would be sent to school for at least a couple of years to learn a few characters."
Hong Zhi was still young and ignorant; Hongling, now learning sewing, clearly realized the inconvenience of being illiterate.
Ling Chengyan didn't say much. In the Great Qi Country times, it was rare for girls to attend school; only wealthy families would invite tutors to their homes. Most girls were illiterate.
Here, women could attend school just like men, and even work as teachers, doctors, sales clerks... which already made Ling Chengyan feel this place was quite enlightened.
She smiled and said, "As long as they are willing to learn, let them come over in the evenings. I'm teaching Xiaoxiang anyway, teaching them together wouldn't take much more effort."
"Oh, that's wonderful," the eldest aunt happily agreed, considering that Fourth Sister-in-law's sewing skills were not very good, she planned to pay more attention to making clothes for the three of them.
After sending off the mother and daughter, Ling Chengyan boiled some hot water, washed Xiaoxiang, and they both went to bed.
The next day, Team Five's leader, Wang Fugen, came to find Ling Chengyan, "The team's scorer is going to take the college exams, the team granted them a long leave. We heard you are literate, could you take over as the scorer?"
Ling Chengyan thought that her uncle must have put in a good word for her, she didn't refuse, and accepted with a smile, taking over the book for recording work points.
Several aunts and uncles alike expressed envy, as being a scorer was a good job. Even when not working, one would earn 6 work points a day, with additional points for actual labor, essentially providing an extra source of income.
The eldest aunt pulled Ling Chengyan aside, whispering, "Ignore the gossip from those people."
Then she loudly called out, "Everyone, hurry and work, don't make things difficult for our sister-in-law!"
A few women pouted and walked away with shovels, while others laughed and cozied up to Ling Chengyan, engaging in chatter with the sisters-in-law.
Ling Chengyan, now the team's scorer, held the authority over work points, and everyone had families large and small; there was always sickness or an event. One never knew when they might need a hand - having more points recorded could translate into real grains during harvest.
Ling Chengyan was not overwhelmed by such flattering remarks, especially with two aunts to support her, making the atmosphere livelier and more interesting. Through these gossiping women, she learned quite a few useful pieces of information.
"What new things did Huazhi encounter when visiting her family the other day?"
This Huazhi sister's family lived in the commune street, more affluent than in Nanli Village, with more new occurrences.
"Not much, just that a cousin got engaged. What novelty is there?" Huazhi sister seemed to have little to say, casually waving it off, "She found a family in a red house, the groom works at the fishery company..."
"Wow, landed in the county town and with a state-run employee on a grain ration no less, that's quite a marriage!"
"Huazhi is already beautiful, her sister must be even prettier, maybe as stunning as a fairy. Otherwise, how could she marry into the county town? Tell us, what was the bride price for the county folks?"
Local customs dictated that marriages usually involved three main steps: meeting, preliminary engagement, and formal engagement.
Meeting meant an arranged viewing, preliminary engagement was an initial confirmation of the marriage, while the formal engagement was akin to offering bridal gifts in ancient times, later known as the bride price, all meaning the same thing.
"It was alright, not as exaggerated as a fairy," Huazhi sister modestly added before saying, "Regarding that matter, my aunt was still upset, no decent items were gifted for the engagement, only a foreign bike and a wristwatch, a women's watch at that, not suitable for my cousin brother to borrow for a date."
"A bike and a watch? That must be worth quite some money..."
"At least nearly three hundred, and you need tickets for them too!"
Ling Chengyan perked up at the mention of a watch and also heard mention of a radio, Huazhi sister said, "...turn it on and you can listen to operas, with some little speakers, the kids love it, leaning close without moving, but I don't quite get it either."
The rest was nothing special, but the radio piqued Ling Chengyan's interest. With that, understanding external news would be more convenient.
That day was for transporting and spreading fertilizer.
Ling Chengyan had adapted more, wrapping her head and face well, working steadily with the others, counting heads for attendance at midday, and again before and after the afternoon shift, smoothly completing the work points recording.
During this, an aunt suddenly started her period, hurrying home to change clothes. Ling Chengyan didn't dock her work points.
Sure enough, upon returning home, soon after a young girl brought a big bowl of winter melon sauce and a bunch of spring onions: "Auntie, my mom asked me to bring it over."
As expected, it was from the aunt who went home to change clothes during the day. She received the sauce and onions with a smile, washed the bowl clean, and offered two salted fish, "Here, try some fish I've pickled, let your mom have a taste."