Luo Changqing nodded with satisfaction. Du Zhao tilted his head and looked at him in confusion: "Aunt, uncle, it's very late. Aren't you going back for dinner?"
In fact, he was hinting that Luo Changqing should leave, so it would soon be time for him and his aunt to have dinner.
Although the clever little Du Zhao was young and didn't understand much about adults' affairs, he knew very well that his aunt seldom had meals with his uncle. Even if they did eat together, it was only during important occasions like festivals and so on, just to show their appreciation.
Luo Changqing was a little embarrassed by his question, but soon his expression returned to normal. He asked him with a straight face: "You have been playing outside with your aunt for so long in the past few months. Have you fallen behind in your studies? You will have to support a family in the future. You can't neglect your studies and lose your ambition by playing around."
Little Zhaozhao shook her head like a rattle and said unconvincedly, "I didn't neglect my studies. Before I left, my aunt asked the teacher to assign me a lot of homework, and I studied while playing."
"Then uncle wants to test you." Luo Changqing said, "First, show me your books and homework."
Which child likes to be checked on his homework? Even Du Zhao, who did not find studying difficult, did not like being tested on by surprise. However, he was a sensible child after all, so he could only take his schoolbag with a puffy face and hand it to Luo Changqing.
Luo Changqing took out several books and opened the top one, only to find that this was not an ordinary book for young children to read and learn to read, but a homemade... sketchbook
The reason for the uncertainty is that this sketchbook is rather rough, with both pictures and words on it, and the words are written inside the drawn circular frame, which is weird and different from the popular sketchbooks on the market today.
If Luo Changqing had traveled through time to the modern era, he would definitely recognize that this was an ancient version of "comics", but he was just a native ancient person, so he just thought that this picture book was weird.
However, after he saw the words and paintings in the sketchbook clearly, the expression on his face changed.
The title on the right side of the picture book was written in large black font: "Beauty Trap and Two Peaches Killing Three Warriors", and then there were several small figure paintings next to the title.
The first painting depicts two young women, one of whom is a wealthy woman wearing a brightly colored skirt and a golden hairpin, while the other is a maid wearing a simple cloth skirt and a thorny hairpin. There is a line of words written next to the heads of the two characters: One day, Tao Li Niang took her maid out for a walk.
The second painting showed five people, two of whom were obviously Tao Liniang and her servant in the first painting. They were hugging each other, trembling with fear on their faces, and opposite them were three burly men dressed in black, with their faces covered and holding big swords. They were obviously not good people.
In the round frame next to the head of the burly man in the lead, there was a line of words: This road was built by me! This tree was planted by me. If you want to pass by here, you have to leave money to pay for your passage!
There was another line of words next to the head of the other masked bandit: Hehehe… These two women are prettier than Li Laocai’s daughter, so we have to keep them as our wives!
The third painting still showed five people. Tao Liniang was still hugging her maid. She raised her head in panic but with strength, and asked tearfully: But there are three of you and only two of us. So which two heroes’ wives should we become
The three masked robbers looked at each other, and a line of words appeared in the middle of their heads: Of course it's me! Obviously, these three people said this at the same time.
Then the fourth picture shows three robbers fighting, cursing and killing each other: I am the boss! I must have one lady! Another said: I was the one who suggested to go out to do the work today, so I am the one who deserves the credit! The last one said: I am the most powerful, and I will chop off any of you who don’t agree to give me one!
In the fifth painting, three robbers are holding swords and lying on the blood-stained ground. They are obviously killed by each other and died together due to injuries.
The sixth painting shows Tao Liniang and her servant, who survived the robbery, fleeing back to the city in panic to report to the police, and later received a reward for the robbers.
Luo Changqing looked at the small figure painting with simple but extremely vivid strokes, and a story told with just a few lines of words. The allusions of the beauty trap and the two peaches killing three men were explained in a simple and easy-to-understand way. It was interesting but not obscure. Whether it was a few small paintings or a small story, they were the type that could easily attract children and were very popular with children.
This is the real "edutainment"! Luo Changqing was somewhat shocked and admired. I wonder which teaching expert created this book
He quickly flipped to the cover of the picture book, but didn't see the author or editor. He flipped to the front and back pages, but there was no indication of who wrote the picture book.
Luo Changqing had no choice but to hand the picture book to Du Zhao. He suppressed his excitement and asked, "Zhao'er, who wrote this picture book?"
Du Zhao took a look and said, "It was done by my aunt."
Luo Changqing was stunned, as if he didn't hear his words clearly, and asked again: "Who are you talking about?"
Du Zhao looked at him in confusion and said, "It was my aunt! When we were playing outside, it sometimes rained and we couldn't go out to play. My aunt was bored, so she drew these pictures for me to see and made up some short stories. She said she wanted to teach me what the Thirty-Six Stratagems are so that I wouldn't be cheated in the future."
Luo Changqing finally realized that he had not heard wrongly. This picture book was indeed written by Xu Shichu. He was stunned for a while. He thought Xu Shichu just had some business talent and was a smart person, but he never expected that she also had literary talent, could draw, and write interesting short stories to teach her nephew.
Luo Changqing seemed to get to know Xu Shichu all over again. She was indeed not an ordinary woman. When you thought you had recognized her abilities, you would be shocked again by her new abilities not long after. She was like a treasure. There would always be surprises if you kept digging.
He flipped through the picture book in his hand again. He had finished reading the first story of the beauty trap and the two peaches that killed three warriors, so he turned to another page.
The title reads "Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain", and it is obvious that this short story is about this strategy.
The few small paintings were still cute, interesting, simple and clear. The short story was about neighbors Xiaopang and Lanlan who both wanted to play with the puppy. Xiaopang relied on his strong body to occupy the puppy and wouldn't let Lanlan get close. Lanlan rolled her eyes and said that the owner of the most delicious pastry shop on East Street had a happy event at home today and was distributing snacks on the street. If you go too late, there will be no more.
When Xiaopang heard this, he immediately left the puppy behind and ran towards East Street with drooling, while Lanlan contentedly started playing with the puppy.