After my soul inhabits the body of a farmer's son in an alternate dynasty, I have no System, no golden finger, no photographic memory, and not even a healthy body. The one thing I can be grateful for is the five thousand years of Chinese civilization, which illuminate the road ahead.
Build an ancestral hall, set family rules, pass the imperial examinations, enter government service, and become a high-ranking official. Even an ordinary person can live an extraordinary life.
As a son, lead my family to the pinnacle of success. As an official, lead the people out of poverty and into prosperity. As a minister, work for the good of the nation and the happiness of its people.
Male lead: Frail and sickly, a gentle soul, and a loyal official. What he wants from the female lead: for her to be powerful enough to overshadow the ruler, with the authority and a long life to match.
Female lead: Energetic, mature, and a general. What she wants from the male lead: for him to have neither power nor influence, but to be famous and short-lived. (She appears later.)
Theme: Bring honor to the family and speak up for the people. Pass the imperial examinations, enter government service, and become a high-ranking official.
Why is using a sandbox so complicated? Wouldn't it be better to dip a wooden board in water and practice calligraphy with a brush? In fact, the ancients also used very thin large square bricks, marked with a nine-square grid or a rice-shaped grid, to make a tabletop for dipping it in water to practice calligraphy. Even ordinary wealthy households do not have the luxury to use paper to practice calligraphy. Even the calligrapher Qi Gong, after he became famous, used old newspapers to practice his calligraphy. Also, before liberation, my mother and uncles were admitted to school as soon as they learned how to write their own names before they went to school. There was no age limit for going to school, so they all went to school at the age of five. My relatives went to school earlier, at only three years old, which is equivalent to the age of the Miao Miao class in kindergarten. There are also those who go to school in their teens because their families are poor or for other reasons. Therefore, some of my mother's classmates are younger than her, and most of them are two or three years older than her.
Chapter 24 starts, why is it locked? Didn't say why.