Beisitian used to take care of Luo Anping, attending to his daily needs and keeping things tidy every day, but she never taught him like she did today.
Mrs. Qin felt strange hearing Beisitian instructing like this and glanced at Luo Xudong, feeling as if it was just like when he used to teach the children.
However, ever since he became paralyzed, he seemed to have rarely spoken.
Luo Xudong listened to Beisitian's persistent guidance, looking dazed as his eyes turned towards the outer room, only to be blocked by the door curtain!
In the past, this daughter-in-law was the most timid, easily scared into tears by a single word from Mrs. Qin, and it was considered good enough if she could manage a complete sentence with others outside. Expecting her to chat with people, let alone inquire about something, was unrealistic.
Luo Xudong knew that this child lost her mother at a young age and was raised by her stepmother. Her stepmother was not easy to get along with, and there was no shortage of daily beatings and scoldings, with plenty of chores and rarely a proper meal to eat, especially after the stepmother had her own children, the situation worsened.
When Beisitian was twelve, her stepmother couldn't wait to sell her off, claiming to have found a good marriage for her.
When Beisitian's father inquired, it turned out there was nothing good about the marriage; the other party was about his age, not only a cripple but also mentally challenged. The child was only twelve, and marrying there would ruin her entire life!
Beisitian's father refused to agree, let the stepmother fuss over other matters, but not this one!
After over a month of fussing, the stepmother didn't get her way, and eventually, the matter was dropped. Who would have thought that Beisitian's father went up the mountain to gather herbs and was licked by a bear, and he never returned!
With her father gone, could her situation get any better?
The stepmother immediately planned to restart the previous marriage arrangements, not caring about the other party as long as they offered a generous bride price!
Luo Xudong had a good relationship with Beisitian's father. He was often treated by him after getting injured while hunting in the mountains. Beisitian was a pitiful child, so after consulting with Mrs. Qin, they decided to promise the child as a bride to their eldest son.
Firstly, to repay Beisitian's father, and secondly, to secure a wife for their eldest son in advance.
At that time, Luo Xudong was sixteen, already in the military, and they thought of throwing a banquet for the two children after his discharge, but he never returned.
Growing up with her stepmother, Beisitian was accustomed to being bullied and spoke softly, with her head down. Initially, they thought time would eventually straighten her out, but they found she was like Liu Bei's incompetent son, A Dou!
Luo Xudong did try to enlighten her, but with high aspirations, even though he stayed in the countryside, he was proud and wanted to raise his son well.
Unfortunately, while hunting, he encountered a wild boar and fell down the mountain while escaping, breaking his leg, and he became listless, as if deflated.
The villagers said Beisitian was a jinx. As soon as she joined the Luo Family, she was blamed for her husband's death and her father-in-law's paralysis, saying she was tough and unlucky!
Others spoke of this as idle gossip, but to the young girl Beisitian, just over ten years old, it was like sharp arrows piercing her heart, making her even more self-conscious and less inclined to speak.
Fortunately, Mrs. Qin became pregnant again, bringing some joy into this shadowed household.
This is also why, although the villagers found Beisitian unlucky, the Luo Family did not agree. They believed the arrival of their youngest son was thanks to Beisitian, otherwise, with two pillars of the household fallen, how could Mrs. Qin withstand it!
Luo Xudong had personally experienced it and knew well that such adversity could indeed change a person dramatically. The old Luo Xudong was not what he appeared now.
Beisitian's father was a barefoot doctor with some education. He settled in this small mountain village because her mother was seriously ill back then.
Hearing Beisitian instruct Luo Anping just now, he couldn't help but sigh, thinking: patience yields rewards. Old Bei must have taught this child well, previously all delayed by the stepmother!
Beisitian never imagined that her simple words could evoke such deep reflections and rationales for her changes in the people in the room. If she knew, she would have laughed.
After Luo Anping finished his meal, it was already very late. Sometimes at night, they lit oil lamps or candles, although they had electric lights, the power was often out. In a whole day, there was rarely a few hours of electricity, and even when there was, many couldn't afford to use it.
Luo Anping wrote by candlelight, and although Luo Xudong had lost his will, he didn't want to see the child waste away. Without the same eagerness he had while teaching the eldest, he simply intended to guide Luo Anping at the start.
The west room was dark, and Beisitian, already washed up, lay on the bed, turning her head to see the light coming from behind the door curtain of the east room. Her heart itched, and she too wanted to learn to write!
She wasn't illiterate. In her previous life, while in the inner chambers, although not proficient in everything, her Flower-Pinning Small楷 writing was praised endlessly by her teachers. She wanted to learn the characters here!
Simplified characters and penmanship!
If conditions allowed in the future, she also hoped to truly understand Western culture. In her past life, she had lingered in coastal areas for a while and picked up some broken Western language while dealing with big-nosed, yellow-haired white-skinned people. This life was an opportunity to make up for it.
Every time she thought of this, Beisitian became excited, eager for her injuries to heal quickly so she could move freely and perhaps ask Luo Xudong to teach her!
But this was not something that could be rushed. No matter how excited Beisitian was, the only thing she could do at present was sleep!
Over a month passed like this, and Beisitian could already stand. Her swift recovery was largely thanks to Luo Anping.
The herbs he collected last time were a great help because of their variety, speeding up her healing process considerably.
Although she could stand, she still couldn't handle heavy or strenuous tasks, so most of the household chores were still done by Mrs. Qin.
However, cooking was manageable for her. She could make excellent medicinal cuisine, and she had long wanted to nourish this body properly, so as soon as she could stand, she took over the cooking.
"It's just the same stuff every day, what's there to fuss over!" murmured Mrs. Qin, but she didn't interfere. Who wouldn't be happy to have someone else willing to cook?
Beisitian smiled without saying a word, plucked and cleaned the root of the Winter and Spring Ivy and threw it into the water that started to bead. The temperature was just right at the moment.
The root of Winter and Spring Ivy is for boosting energy and shouldn't be tossed into boiling water directly; otherwise, its effectiveness would be lost.
"Can those tendrils be eaten?" Mrs. Qin called out.