Teacher Tang, the Life Mentor (3)

Teacher Tang was very patient and replied, “Three and a half years old is not too young. In the city, you can already attend kindergarten at your age, it’s already the age for enrollment. Unfortunately, our village does not have the facilities, so I can only teach you based on your aptitude.”

So it turned out that there were other children like her, forced to attend classes at such a young age.

Jiang Xiaoman finally felt a bit better and stopped crying.

Teacher Tang continued talking after she calmed down. “We have a common teacher called Confucius. He said that interest is the best teacher, and there is no end on the road to knowledge. It is different when the Teacher forces you to study and when you wish to study out of your own will. I can force you to study, but what I want is for you to develop the desire yourself.”

“Why?”

Jiang Xiaoman had always had endless questions. Teacher Tang’s lessons weren’t like the system’s, who just told her directly what to do. She also couldn’t use her simple logic to figure it out, so she had to keep asking questions.

Teacher Tang continued explaining without turning impatient.

“In the future, if a Teacher cannot stay by your side to teach you anymore, you can be your teacher and urge yourself to continue studying with perseverance. The teacher can only teach you up to the third grade, after that, you will have to go to school somewhere else outside the village. There are better schools and better teachers out there. There are some external factors that we can’t do anything about, but it will be alright as long as you stay true to your heart.”

Jiang Xiaoman asked again, “Teacher Tang, why can’t you keep teaching me?”

It was a heavy topic that he didn’t want to discuss with children.

In the past, the school had up to the sixth grade. There were many people back then, and the nearby villages sent their children to study in this school. They barely managed enough for six grades. Now there were fewer and fewer people, and the more senior grades were no more. After the third grade, everyone had to go study somewhere else.

Teacher Tang smiled and said, “Because my knowledge is limited, I can only teach you so far. You have to learn the rest by yourself.”

Jiang Xiaoman was dumbfounded.

The Teacher Tang in her mind was a very amazing person. Even whenever Grandma mentioned him, her tone would inexplicably turn milder. Grandma told her seriously to respect Teacher Tang, and said that he was someone with high morals and a stellar reputation.

Jiang Xiaoman didn’t understand what high morals and stellar reputation were, but she knew that Teacher Tang was the friendliest, most gentle person in the village. He could explain the principles behind things well, and explain complicated things in a way that is easy to understand. She enjoyed talking with him.

Even now, for example, Jiang Xiaoman had previously planned not to come to school again tomorrow. But after Teacher Tang talked to her, she was no longer as determined to do so.

She was afraid that Teacher Tang would be sad and whispered, “I don’t want to. It’s enough for me to learn from Teacher Tang…”

Teacher Tang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After thinking for a while, he decided not to linger on this issue anymore.

“Xiaoman, last time, where did you learn about the idiom ‘haste makes waste’?“

“I… My friend told me.”

Oh, so it was her friend. A child’s friend would probably just be another child. It was no wonder she only had a partial understanding.

Teacher Tang said, “There’s a little problem with your understanding. I will explain it to you again today, and I will also tell you another story. After you listen to it, you will understand why you must learn some things by yourself.”

Jiang Xiaoman liked listening to stories the most. “What story?”

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

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