chapter11

She remembered the time she had agreed on with Uncle Wang. It was almost time for her private tutor to come teach her. Thinking that she would soon learn how to read, Ran felt much happier.

She walked quickly to the door with a bright smile on her face. Before the door even opened, her soft voice rang from behind it, "Is that Louis? Come in…" When she saw who was standing outside the door, her bright smile froze.

Her words got stuck in her throat. She stared wide-eyed at Simeon standing at the door. "Scholar Simeon? Why are you here? Wasn't it supposed to be Louis teaching me?"

Ran blinked and asked curiously. "Louis didn't finish his homework. The teacher punished him and made him copy text, so he doesn't have time to teach you," Simeon said as he looked at her dazed expression, his eyes showing a hint of amusement.

She looked much prettier than the first time they met. Maybe it was because she'd been eating well. Compared to when she first arrived, she looked very different now.

Her face wasn't thin and dark anymore. It was pale and soft, making people feel happy just looking at her. He didn't know why, but during the past half month at the academy, she would often come to his mind.

It was supposed to be Louis who came today, but once he heard Ran wanted to learn to read, he checked Louis's homework. Then he made up an excuse to keep Louis at home and came to teach her himself. "So… you're here to…"

She had just found someone knowledgeable to teach her. Was it going to end before it even started? Thinking Simeon might be here to stop the lessons, Ran suddenly felt disappointed.

Her bright smile faded. The light in her eyes dimmed. Seeing how down she looked, Simeon felt like a big hand was gripping his heart tightly.

His chest felt heavy. He quickly said, "Louis doesn't have time, so from now on, I'll be the one teaching you to read. Is that okay?" He looked at her with a bit of nervousness in his eyes.

"Really?" Ran was naturally happy to hear he would teach her. But then she remembered he was taking the imperial exam next year. So she asked with hesitation, "Aren't you taking the exam next year? Will coming here to teach me take away from your study time?"

"It won't!" Seeing her concern, Simeon didn't hesitate at all. "Teaching you isn't hard. It won't interrupt my studying."

"That's good!" Since he agreed, Ran let out a sigh of relief. She stepped aside with a smile and said, "Come in!"

Ran led him to the courtyard. She poured him a cup of water and asked with a smile, "What should I call you then? Scholar Simeon or Teacher Simeon?"

Ran wasn't a stranger to Simeon. When she had just arrived in this world, he was the first one to find her. He was also the first to give her a bowl of porridge and a steamed bun.

After finding out she had no registration or household pass, he helped convince the village chief to process her documents. Ran was truly grateful to him. So even though they hadn't met often, she didn't feel awkward around him.

"There's no need to be so formal. Just call me Simeon," he said with a smile. "Then can I call you Ranran from now on?" "Of course you can!"

Ran didn't care much about how people addressed her. Simeon had helped her so much, calling her Ranran was no big deal. "Ranran," Simeon softly called out again.

His deep and pleasant voice was like a small brush gently sweeping across Ran's heart.

Ran touched her ear. It felt a little itchy.

"The weather is nice today. Can we study in the yard?" she asked.

The sun was warm, shining on her body. The table from the room was just right under the peach tree in the yard.

The room had poor light. If they studied inside, they would need to light a candle to see clearly.

"That's fine!" Simeon nodded without hesitation. He then handed the cloth bag to Ran.

He walked into the room and moved the table outside to the empty space under the peach tree.

Ran quickly ran back to the room. She took out the writing tools and primer book she had prepared.

She placed them on the table and looked at Simeon with eager eyes.

Simeon saw the clean paper and writing tools. His eyes flashed but he said nothing.

He hid his feelings, looked up at her expectant face, and smiled softly. He opened the book and began teaching seriously.

Ran watched him write two large characters on the paper. Her eyes showed confusion.

"These two characters are your name—Ran!" He said when he saw her confused look.

"Ran!" she read aloud carefully, one character at a time.

"Now, learn these two characters first. When you master them, I will teach you others!"

Simeon took a stack of rough paper from the cloth bag and placed it in front of her.

He took away the clean paper in front of her and put it aside.

Seeing this, Simeon smiled and explained, "You just started learning. Practice on this cheap rough paper first. When you improve, then use the clean paper."

"Okay!" Ran smiled and nodded. She did not take the brush on the table.

Instead, she took out a pencil from her bag and copied the characters on the paper.

Simeon watched her hold the pencil. The handwriting was neat and clear.

She could draw small squares and erase lightly. Simeon was curious and asked, "Ran. What kind of pen is this? I have never seen it."

"This is a pencil and eraser. It is special to my hometown. I brought it from there. They don't have it here!"

Ran was not afraid of being discovered. She carried a backpack tightly all the time. No one knew what was inside.

"It looks good!" Simeon took one in his hand but found it hard to hold.

He glanced at how Ran held the pencil. Imitating her, he wrote a few words and found it quite good.

Soon, Ran learned her name. She placed the neat characters in front of Simeon.

She looked at him expectantly and said, "Done! I learned it! Teach me some other words!"

"Okay!"

He was not surprised that she learned so fast. From how she held the pencil, he could tell she could read.

She just could not write their Da Gan characters well yet.

Seeing her neat handwriting, his guess was confirmed. Ran was not only literate but also well-educated.

But who was she really? Where did she come from?

Simeon kept these doubts hidden and continued teaching her seriously.

In just half a day, Ran learned more than one hundred characters.

Her writing was still a little messy, but she could recognize all the characters.

As for writing, she needed more practice. She was used to simplified characters, so the Da Gan characters were hard for her.

Simeon sat on a chair reading. Ran sat at the table, practicing writing carefully.