My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 11 Literacy

The next day, Mu Shaoying—no, I should call him Lin Ziping now.

She woke up in bed to find the sunlight streaming into the room, creating a warm and peaceful atmosphere. As she sat on the bed lost in thought, she heard a knock on the door.

"Is the young master awake?" Lin Ziping heard Granny Liao ask softly from outside the room.

"Granny, I'm up." Lin Ziping threw off the covers and got out of bed.

When Granny Liao pushed open the door and saw that Lin Ziping had already gotten out of bed, she quickly put down the hot water in her hand and went to help her get dressed.

Although my hands are still a little red and swollen, they no longer hurt, and I can't feel any pain on my body or face.

Lin Ziping avoided Liao Mama's hand as she helped her get dressed, and said, "Mama's hand doesn't hurt anymore, I can do it myself."

"Although your hand doesn't hurt anymore, it's not fully healed yet. I know you care about me, young master. Please wait a couple of days until it's better before you dress yourself." As she spoke, Granny Liao continued to dress Mu Shaoying.

After washing up, Granny Liao combed Lin Ziping's hair: "Did you have a nightmare last night, young master? You kept crying and I couldn't wake you up. What did you dream about? Tell Granny and you won't be scared anymore."

last night……

Should he tell Granny Liao that he wants to go home, to return to Mu Shaoying's work and life in another time and space, and to see his mother again?

Lin Ziping recalled the conversation between Lin Zhong, Steward Tao, and Zhu Zi last night, as well as Zhu Zi's words that the original owner came here with her uncle two years ago, and that her uncle left the palace five years ago. At that time, the original owner might not have been born for long, and that Granny Liao also knew the original owner's family.

After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Granny, I dreamt of my mother, but now I can't remember anything. Can you tell me about her?"

The hand combing her hair paused for a moment, and after a long while, Liao Mama sighed: "I didn't see your mother much, but she was a very good person. She knew that when the master was working in the palace, she would often send things to the palace. When I left the palace, I only saw the master with you."

Lin Ziping suppressed the urge to continue asking the others why they had come to Qingyang and instead inquired about the whereabouts of the original owner's uncle.

After combing Lin Ziping's hair, Granny Liao put down the comb and said, "Master and Steward Tao left early this morning. Before they left, they told you to finish the homework that Teacher Li assigned."

Lin Ziping then remembered that he had fought with He Jinbao and was punished by copying books, but he couldn't read!

"Granny, where is Zhuzi?" Lin Ziping asked hurriedly.

As Granny Liao tidied the bed, she turned and said, "After the young master finishes breakfast, I will have Zhu Zi go to the study to serve him while he reads."

After breakfast, Zhu Zi was already waiting for Lin Ziping in the study.

"Pillar, take good care of the young master." Granny Liao said to Pillar. After Pillar bowed in agreement, she said to Lin Ziping, "If the young master needs anything, he can ask Pillar to call me. I'll be waiting in the next room."

Lin Ziping nodded in agreement and watched Liao Mama leave.

He walked into the study with Zhu Zi, who pulled a rattan cane from the bottom of the bookshelf, knelt on the ground, and held the cane up with both hands: "Please punish me, young master."

Lin Ziping frowned, puzzled. What should be punished?

Does the custom of beating people up still exist in this day and age?

Seeing that Lin Ziping remained silent for a while, Zhu Zi held up the rattan cane and handed it to Lin Ziping, saying again, "Please punish me, young master."

At this moment, Zhu Zi was practically prostrating himself, his body trembling. Seeing this, Lin Ziping quickly asked, "What wrong have you done?"

Zhu Zi looked up at Lin Ziping in surprise and said, "This servant failed to protect his master."

After saying that, he quickly lowered his head.

Lin Ziping was puzzled. When the original owner of this body fell into the water, Zhu Zi was right next to her and could be said to have failed to protect her. This time, when he was fighting with He Jinbao, Zhu Zi wasn't with him either. Should he call on Zhu Zi to help block the enemy's punches when he was fighting? What kind of failure to protect the master is this? If it's the Lin family rules, then why didn't Steward Tao and Granny Liao punish Zhu Zi? And Zhu Zi looks very scared now, which is too strange.

Seeing that Lin Ziping didn't speak, Zhu Zi became apprehensive, and sweat began to bead on his face.

Seeing this, Lin Ziping stopped thinking about why and comforted him, saying, "This time it was my fault, why should I punish you? Get up and help me find the book that Master Li asked me to copy."

Seeing that Lin Ziping had no intention of punishing him, Zhu Zi quickly got up, put down the rattan cane, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Lin Ziping's expression was normal. He then found a book and placed it on the desk: "Young Master, Master Cheng is currently explaining the Three Character Classic."

After listening to Zhu Zi's words, Lin Ziping looked at the book cover and saw that it contained three characters, which must be how the "Three Character Classic" was written in this era.

Open the book and have Zhu Zi read it aloud. Lin Ziping then writes it down in Chinese characters on a piece of paper. After Zhu Zi finishes reading, he matches the characters with the contents of the book. The number of characters matches, and they begin to recognize the characters. After flipping through the book a few times, they can generally recognize the characters.

As Zhu Zi ground the ink, Lin Ziping felt a pang of anxiety. His handwriting was different from the original owner's. He asked Zhu Zi to find some of the original owner's old handwriting to look at. Fortunately, the original owner was still young, and his handwriting was about the same level as Lin Ziping's current. He secretly observed Zhu Zi's ink-grinding method, and once he felt he had mastered it, he sent Zhu Zi out so he could bury himself in practice.

Time flies, and before you know it, it's noon. The table is piled high with papers for practicing calligraphy. Rubbing his aching wrists, Lin Ziping stands up to stretch. He hears voices outside; upon closer listening, he realizes it's Xiaoya and Zhuzi.

"Brother Zhu, why didn't you go in to serve the young master?" It was Xiao Ya's voice.

Zhu Zi said, "Young Master is reading. Let me out and don't disturb him."

"Brother Zhu, didn't you say before that the young master needed you to serve him while he read? And last time you said the young master was very fierce and told me to be careful. I think you were lying. The young master is very good and has never punished me." Xiao Ya said to Zhu in a low voice.

“I’m not lying to you.” Zhu Zi suddenly raised his voice. “Before the young master fell into the water, whenever he was summoned by Young Master Jinbao, he would always punish me upon his return. When Granny Liao wasn’t around, she would always have a gloomy face and beat or scold me in the study. Look, these are the bruises from when she beat me last time, they haven’t healed yet…”

The sounds outside grew fainter and fainter until they could no longer be heard. Lin Ziping was puzzled. The original owner's uncle said that the original owner was timid and cowardly, but Zhu Zi described the original owner as irritable and easily angered. When he was bullied by He Jinbao, he swallowed his anger. Why would the original owner, who was only a few years old, have such a multifaceted and extreme personality?

Lin Ziping returned to his desk and wrote the names Mu Shaoying and Lin Ziping on two separate pieces of paper using Chinese characters. He stared at the paper with Mu Shaoying's name on it for a long time, then folded it in half, smoothed it out, and placed it in a book on the top shelf of the bookshelf. From now on, it would be Lin Ziping's name.