Philosophy

In the dining room. The corner of her right eye caught the figure of a scholar who was already sitting at the dining table, next to her father. She stood awkwardly. Afraid to look at the scholar. Especially looking into his eyes. Still looking down, she walked over to the seat next to her mother, grateful that her seat wasn't directly opposite the scholar.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up at her mother who was busy scooping rice from pot to bowl to share with everyone at the dinner table. When she was done, she sat down in her seat.

Chao Xiang as the head of the family, invited to eat "Let's have breakfast" then he turned his head to the left "Sorry Mr Shi, this is all we can offer" he said with a slightly embarrassed face, considering his family's financial ability.

Bo Lin's eyes looked at the food on the table. There is porridge, dumplings, and fritter of twisted dough. For him this food was more than enough to fill his stomach. He does not need more and luxurious food to fill his stomach, as long as the food is good, he will eat whatever is in front of him. "What are you said, Mr Shu, with this kind of food, it's enough not to starve my stomach" His reply wanted to make Chao Xiang not be too shy towards him.

Chao Xiang smiled at Bo Lin's answer. Without hesitation he took the fritter of twisted dough with the chopsticks he was holding and put it into Bo Lin's bowl "Here Mr Shi, there's still some porridge if you want to add more, and don't hesitate to ask more"

"Ah… of course Mr. Shu" replied Bo Lin with a small smile. He's not the type to eat a lot but yes one bowl of porridge is not enough to fill his stomach. Usually, he would eat two bowls of porridge in the morning.

Everyone ate quietly, except for Qing Yang. Her heart was still beating fast and would occasionally glance at the scholar. She hoped to quickly finish her porridge and return to her room. But again, she had to be disappointed with it, when her father told her "Qing Yang, later I will go alone to the forest, you help mother at home" her mind immediately imagined washing dishes in the kitchen and then cleaning the house. While her mother would wash clothes in the river.

This made her heart uneasy, so it was only her and the scholar at home. Her face panicked, glancing at her father, she wanted to argue but she didn't want to. Because She don't want to be seen as a child who is disobedient to their parents. So, she just nodded in agreement. "Okay Father"

Bo Lin didn't pass the moment when Qing Yang answered her father. Her face looked red with embarrassment. 'Maybe she's still embarrassed about what happened this morning' he thought to himself.

Bo Lin got up from his seat when he saw Chao Xiang standing up. As a guest he certainly knows the manners he must do. Walked after Chao Xiang to pick up equipment to collect medicinal herbs. At the gate he said "Be careful Mr. Shu, hopefully there are many medicinal plants you can find in the forest"

"Thank you, Mr. Shi, sorry to have to leave you alone at home and I hope you can study in peace" Chao Xiang said then turned and left while waving to Bo Lin.

Qing Yang's mother had already gone to the river to wash clothes. She went into the kitchen, stood at the kitchen door, looked around. She folded her sleeves up to her upper sleeves. Hoping not to get her clothes dirty when cleaning cooking utensils.

Her age is still relatively small. So, she tries to clean what she can clean. The rest will be cleaned by her mother when she comes home from the river.

Time passed, she was busy sweeping the front yard when she heard the voice of a scholar next to the house reciting a poem

The ripples of the San Lung River are calm

Elegant wind blowing

The chirping bird is full of courtesy

When the sun brings warmth to the soul

Qing Yang listened carefully to the verses, she was eager to know the meaning of the verses but didn't dare to ask. So, she just watched the scholar from a distance, still sweeping the yard.

But those verses brought her to a calm she had never felt, as if a whisper was whispering in her ear. Filling her empty mind with tenderness and serenity. Without her knowing she was standing still in place, her eyes tightly closed with her head tilted slightly, her lips in a small smile. Her chest rose slowly, a breath of fresh air but a slightly salty taste on the tip of her nose. The taste left by the sea. And slowly she exhaled, she did that several times.

Bo Lin who was reciting a poem accidentally looked at her. Seeing her standing still, his brows furrowed. He stopped reciting poem for a moment, his mind recalled what happened this morning "maybe Miss Qing Yang likes the poem he recited?' He decided to continue reciting the poem he was reading.

Drifting away with her serenity. She felt someone touch her right shoulder. Her brows furrowed, she slowly opened her eyes and only to find the scholar standing in front of her with a worried face. The calm she felt disappeared instantly without a trace. Replace it with panic.

"Miss Shu are you alright?" asked Bo Lin wanting to make sure.

"Ah…. I'm fine Mr Shi." Qing Yang immediately replied to the scholar's question in the hope that the scholar would not see the panic on her face.

Bo Lin tilted his head to the right as he read the expression on her face and smiled a little "Miss do you likes to listen to Poem?"

The question immediately seeped into her heart. Making her brows furrow in incomprehension "P-Poem Mister?" she stammered.

"Yes Poem" replied Bo Lin with a smile and nodded. "What I'm reciting is poem" he informed her "It seems that Miss is very impressed with the poem I recited" Bo Lin without hesitation conveyed his conclusion.

"Oh, it's called poem," she said, nodding. "Are all the poems that sound like that, Mr Shi?" she asked curiously. Her eyes stared intently at Bo Lin meaningfully.

"Hmm... not always, depending on the meaning of the poem you want to convey" replied Bo Lin gently. "There is peace, there is sadness, there is joy, there is hatred---" Bo Lin's words were cut off by Qing Yang's rebuttal.

"Hatred?" her frowning face looked at Bo Lin waiting for an answer.

"Basically, poetry will bring people to the knowledge that the poet wants to convey about the experience it felt when making it. As with life experiences, there is happiness, there is sadness, hatred and so on. The poem is based on the feelings felt by the poet at that time. And each person has their own meaning in the poem it hears and reads. But still not too far from the true meaning that the poet intended to convey." Bo Lin explained the details to her, although he didn't know how far the little brain was, the little girl in front of him could understand what he was saying. but he was sure that Qing Yang could take the essence of his explanation.

"Oh, so…. Then will I be able to compose poem too?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course, you do" Bo Lin replied simply.

A smile spread across Qing Yang's face. it never occurred to her that a commoner like herself could also compose poem.

Seeing Qing Yang's expression, he smiled and asked, "Do you want to learn to write poem?"

Qing Yang's eyes widened, and she unconsciously nodded her head.

"For that you have to study philosophy first Miss Shu" said Bo Lin, looking down, his fingers poked the tip of Qing Yang's nose with a smile.

"Can you read and write?" to which Qing Yang shook his head immediately and Bo Lin smiled.

"Come with me," said Bo Lin, who turned around and walked to the place where he was studying.

She followed him from behind. She saw that there were several books on the roots of an oak tree. Her heart was wondering, 'are those all-philosophy books?' even though she didn't know what philosophy was, but she couldn't wait to learn.