A reborn mother longs for her daughter's happiness.

Chapter 111 The Charm of Classical Chinese

The bell rang for Chinese class, and the students quickly returned to their seats like birds returning to their nests. On the podium, the Chinese teacher, carrying a thick textbook, walked in with steady steps, her face bearing that ever-present, enigmatic smile.

"Class, today we're going to learn a new classical Chinese text. Classical Chinese is like an ancient code; we need to decipher it and see what wisdom our ancestors hid in it." The teacher said, writing the title of the text on the blackboard.

Li Shiqing sat in her seat, her eyes sparkling as she stared intently at the blackboard. Her pen was already in hand, and beside her lay a well-worn classical Chinese dictionary. She had a special fondness for classical Chinese; those ancient characters were like mysterious treasures to her, and deciphering the meaning of each word was like finding a dazzling gem.

Liu Yixin sat behind Li Shiqing. She poked Li Shiqing's back and whispered, "Qingqing, this looks really difficult. You'll have to help me later."

Li Shiqing turned around and gave her a confident smile: "Don't worry, I'm here!"

The teacher began explaining the text word by word, and the students listened attentively. The only sounds in the classroom were the teacher's melodious voice and the scratching of pens on paper. Suddenly, the teacher asked a question: "Which student can explain the usage of the word '之' in this sentence?"

The classroom fell silent instantly, and the students all lowered their heads, afraid of being called on by the teacher. Just then, Zhang Chen raised his hand high and said loudly, "Teacher, I think the '之' here is an auxiliary word, used between the subject and predicate to cancel the sentence's independence."

The teacher nodded approvingly: "Zhang Chen answered correctly. It seems you prepared very well." Zhang Chen scratched his head a little shyly. As he sat down, his gaze unconsciously fell on Li Shiqing, meeting her eyes. They smiled at each other. In that smile, there was the joy of answering the question correctly, and also a hint of tacit understanding.

After class, the students began to discuss the difficult points in the text in groups. Li Shiqing, Liu Yixin, and Zhang Chen naturally formed a group. Zhang Chen looked at Li Shiqing and said with a smile, "Shiqing, did you also think of that answer just now? Your eyes are sparkling, as if you have something to say."

Li Shiqing replied with a grin, "I did have some ideas, but you were quicker. Were you secretly studying classical Chinese at home, hoping to impress everyone in class?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen smiled and leaned closer to Li Shiqing, saying mysteriously, "Actually, I had a dream last night. I dreamt that an old man with a white beard was explaining classical Chinese to me. When I woke up, I felt like my thoughts were flowing freely. Maybe it was the God of Literature descending to help me!"

Li Shiqing was so amused by his appearance that she almost dropped her pen. She laughed and said, "You're just bragging. There's no such thing as a miracle."

Liu Yixin, watching them from the side, couldn't help but laugh: "You two, stop fooling around and tell me how to learn this text."

Zhang Chen quickly sat up straight and said seriously, "Okay, let's begin. But to be honest, classical Chinese can be really a headache sometimes. The meanings of those words are so varied, and it's easy to misunderstand them if you're not careful."

Liu Yixin chimed in, "Exactly! Every time I see those long sentences, I don't know where to start translating them. Qingqing, please share your secrets with us!"

Li Shiqing picked up her textbook and said seriously, "Actually, there's no secret. You just need to read and memorize a lot to develop a feel for the language. For example, with this text, we should read it through several times to familiarize ourselves with the general content, and then we should analyze the meaning of each word. If we encounter any unfamiliar words, we should look them up in the dictionary or guess their meaning from the context. For example, with the word '之' we just discussed, we can look at the words before and after it and the sentence structure to roughly guess its usage."

Zhang Chen and Liu Yixin both nodded thoughtfully.

Zhang Chen continued, "Well, I think we can also find some short stories in classical Chinese to read. This can both increase interest and help us learn. I read a comic book version of 'A New Account of Tales of the World' before. The stories in it are very interesting, and it also has the original classical Chinese text and translation, which is very helpful for understanding."

Li Shiqing's eyes lit up: "That's a great idea! How come I didn't think of that? I have a copy of 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio' at home, which is also written in classical Chinese, but I haven't started reading it yet. Once I've finished reading it, we can discuss it together."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen immediately perked up: "That's great! The stories in *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio* must be very exciting. We can read and discuss the classical Chinese texts together; we might even learn a lot." As he spoke, he took a notebook out of his bag and handed it to Li Shiqing. "These are some explanations of classical Chinese words and phrases and grammar points that I've compiled. Take a look and see if they're useful; consider it preparation for reading *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio*."

Li Shiqing took the notebook with some surprise, opened it, and saw that it was filled with neat handwriting. She looked up at Zhang Chen and said sincerely, "Thank you, Zhang Chen, you organized it so carefully."

Zhang Chen scratched his head and said with a smile, "You're welcome. Let's all improve together."

Liu Yixin, feigning jealousy, said, "You two stop praising each other. I'm still here."

Zhang Chen and Li Shiqing exchanged a glance and then laughed.

Just then, the school bell rang again. The Chinese teacher walked in and, seeing the students still discussing enthusiastically, smiled and said, "It seems everyone is very enthusiastic about classical Chinese, which is a good sign. Let's continue the lesson and see what other treasures await us to discover."

During the rest of the class, Li Shiqing, Liu Yixin, and Zhang Chen were all exceptionally attentive. They listened to the teacher's explanations while taking notes in their textbooks, and occasionally exchanged notes with each other. Their eyes were filled with a thirst for knowledge and encouragement for one another.

After school, the three of them walked out of the school gate together. Zhang Chen said to Li Shiqing, "Shiqing, thank you for your explanation today. I feel I have learned a lot."

Li Shiqing waved her hand: "You're welcome. We're all classmates, so let's learn from each other. Remember to bring your comic book of 'A New Account of Tales of the World' for me to see tomorrow."

Zhang Chen smiled and agreed, "Sure, I'll definitely bring it. See you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow!" Li Shiqing and Liu Yixin replied with smiles.

Their figures gradually faded into the distance under the afterglow of the setting sun, but their exploration of classical Chinese texts had only just begun, full of youthful vitality and enthusiasm for knowledge, writing their own stories in this ordinary yet fulfilling campus life.