The Favorable Feelings Brought by Small Details
“Learn from Mother.” Ye Muyu carried the bowl and chopsticks in.
Before she entered, she was surprised to see Chu Jin not slacking off. Instead, he took the paper, ink, brush, and inkstone to the study room.
“Why did your brother suddenly like to study?” Ye Muyu asked after entering the kitchen.
“Mother, I don’t know either. Before dinner, father taught little brother and me how to read.”
“Oh right, mother, father asked me to learn how to read from him. He also said that Mother, you want to learn too.” Chu Ziluo raised her head and asked.
Ye Muyu thought to herself, ‘So that’s how it is. Chu Jin must have been motivated when comparing himself with others. This is a blessing in disguise.’
Ye Muyu finally answered Chu Ziluo’s question, “Yes, Mother will also learn from him. In the future, you will learn to read and write every day.”
Ye Muyu had not thought about teaching Ziluo how to read. When she heard that Chu Heng had taken the initiative to bring it up, she felt that other than being stingy, Chu Heng had many redeeming qualities.
“Mother, I will study seriously.” Chu Ziluo quickly expressed her stance and then reached out to wash the dishes.
Ye Muyu did not stop her and just wanted to see her ability to wash dishes.
She walked to the side and started the fire in the medicine stove. Then, she washed the medicine jar and put a new bag of medicine in. She placed it on the medicine stove and started to boil it. It would take at least an hour.
Chu Ziluo was very skilled at washing the dishes. It was obvious that she had washed them countless times.
Ye Muyu once again lamented that this child had suffered in the past, so she could not help but dote on her more.
She went to find a clean cloth and wiped Chu Ziluo’s bowl clean before putting it in the cupboard.
“Mother, why do you need to use a cloth to wipe the bowls and chopsticks clean? “Chu Ziluo asked curiously.
“You see,” Ye Muyu explained softly, “After washing the dishes, if you put them on top of another bowl, won’t it dirty the next bowl?”
“Not only will drying the bowls make them cleaner, but they won’t be dirtied for the second time. This way, they’ll be very clean and beautiful. Only when others see them will they dare to eat with our family’s bowls and chopsticks.”
“The people in the city, scholars, and families with status, they never eat at our house, right? Instead, they go to the county restaurant with your father to eat, right?”
“The more noble a person is, the more they care about cleanliness.”
“We country bumpkins work in the fields. If we feel that there is soil on our legs, we won’t care.”
“But won’t the girls in the city unhappy even if there’s only a little mud on their shoes?”
“Ziluo, mother wants to teach you the first principle. If you want to be respected by others, you have to learn to respect others.”
“The people in the city love cleanliness, so we have to clean up the house before we can entertain others.”
“Even if the people from the countryside come to visit, we must eat clean things, which is also a respect for people.”
“Mother, I think I understand, but I don’t understand all of it.” Chu Ziluo scratched her head in confusion.
“Then I’ll give you an example.”
Ye Muyu took out two bowls. There was a black stain at the bottom of one bowl.
The other bowl was clean and empty.
Ye Muyu washed the two bowls in front of Chu Ziluo and poured a cup of tea for them.
“Zi Luo, if you were a guest and saw these two bowls, which one would you choose?”
“Mother,” Chu Ziluo suddenly realized, “I will choose the bowl that was clean before.”
“Because I don’t know what’s in the dirty bowl. Even if I wash it clean, it still feels a little dirty.”