Free Web NovelChapter 263: Chapter 264: Private School
Song Xiuyang was miserable. For the past two years, the Le Family hadn’t let her touch a single Silver Tael. They bought whatever she needed directly for her, so she truly didn’t have a single copper coin to her name.
She had told the Le Family time and again that she was too far away from her younger brother to possibly send any Silver back to her maiden family.
But it was useless no matter what she said. The Le Family would just placate her, saying they would discuss it next time, but "next time" never came.
With the people Xie Ruyi had sent to watch her, Song Xiuyang could only wait out the banquet in a small side room. By the time she emerged, everyone had long since dispersed.
Gu Wenheng walked with Gu Sanbu to the village’s private school. As they went, Gu Sanbu remarked with a sigh, "The village only looks like this today because of you."
"We’ve already discovered a few promising sprouts in the village who are quite good at their studies. The Scholar said they’re still young, but they can all try taking the examinations next year."
Gu Wenheng asked, "Besides the children who are good at studying, are other people also coming to learn how to read?"
Gu Sanbu pointed to a side room. "People come sometimes, but they’re often busy with their own work, so they only show up sporadically."
Speaking of which, Gu Sanbu shook his head. "Most people still feel that becoming literate isn’t very useful. They aren’t like those children, planning to walk the path of the imperial examinations, so they see no need to waste time on it."
"I’ve told them repeatedly that if they’re literate, they can at least read the signs when they travel."
Gu Wenheng asked, "What about the village girls? Didn’t we also bring over a nanny who is literate and can do arithmetic?"
At the time, Gu Wenheng had put in a great deal of effort, asking around everywhere just to find such a person.
Gu Sanbu replied, "The older girls are all kept at home to help with chores. Instead, their parents send over the toddlers who are just learning to walk. There was a huge fuss about it at the time."
"Now Nanny Liu doesn’t exclusively teach the girls. She goes straight to the introductory class to help teach the children who have just enrolled."
Gu Wenheng silently shook his head. ’The prejudice against women in this era is still too strong.’ He could tell from the Old Clan Leader’s tone that he considered it a perfectly ordinary and unremarkable matter.
"Since you’re back today, there’s something I wanted to discuss with you. You saw those other village heads; some families from the surrounding area want to send their children here to study, but we don’t know how to handle the tuition fees."
Gu Wenheng asked, "Are there many children who want to come? After all, we only have Scholar Zhou holding down the fort right now. If there are too many students, he won’t be able to look after them all."
"In the end, I’m afraid it will be our own village’s children who are negatively affected."
How could Gu Sanbu not know this? He had been pestered about it for days. "We all share the bond of having fled the disaster together. If we refuse them outright, I’m afraid the other villages will hold it against us."
"Here’s what I was thinking: I want to have Shulin give up his position as village head and become a teacher here too."
Gu Wenheng raised an eyebrow at him. "Would Uncle Shulin agree to that?"
You have to understand, as the village head, he gets a salary from the county government. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough to support a family.
Becoming a teacher would also provide an income, but it wouldn’t be as easy as being the village head.
Gu Sanbu said, "He’ll be willing."
Gu Wenheng was speechless. ’So you haven’t even discussed it with him? You’re just going to throw your own son into the pit?’
"I think it’s best for Uncle Shulin to remain the village head. Everyone respects him."
"I’ll figure something out about the teacher situation. But the children from the other nearby villages can’t get the same treatment as the children from our village."
Gu Sanbu nodded. "Of course. We can base the fees on what outside private schools charge and then reduce them by a tier or two."
"..."
"Then the school grounds will have to be expanded. When the time comes, I’ll..."
Gu Sanbu immediately cut him off. "You don’t need to worry about any of that. It’s just two rooms. We can have every villager spare two days of their time, and the buildings will be taken care of."
Everyone is used to farm work. For the sake of their descendants, they won’t be stingy with a day or two of labor.
Just as he finished speaking with the Old Clan Leader, Gu Yuanshui came over and pulled him toward his house.
"My older brothers are all here." As soon as Gu Wenheng stepped inside, he saw that it wasn’t just his brothers; several of the Gu family’s daughters-in-law were waiting as well.
He walked straight over and sat down beside Jin Qianqian. "What’s all this about?"
Jin Qianqian shook her head slightly. She had only just arrived herself and was also curious.
"Seventh, you’re not usually home, so there are some things you might not know." The moment Gu Yuanjin spoke, a bad feeling washed over both Jin Qianqian and Gu Wenheng.
And sure enough... "Our dear father is secretly preparing to take a new, younger wife."
Gu Wenheng immediately frowned. "Since when?"
Jin Qianqian looked at her sisters-in-law. "Does Mother know?"
Hong Daya shook her head. At a time like this, who would dare bring it up?
To be honest, the sisters-in-law had been on edge these past few days. Now that the family had more Silver, they were terrified their own husbands might also bring some sort of trouble into their homes.
"We only found out because Liang Xiaojun privately gave us a heads-up," Gu Yuanshui said through gritted teeth. No one knew better than the brothers how much their mother had endured over the years.
Furthermore, as men, they saw Gu Dashishi’s actions not just as a betrayal of Li Cuicui, something that left the brothers feeling sick to their stomachs, but also as a grave injustice to Li Cuicui, who remained completely oblivious.
Gu Wenheng’s expression turned serious. "Explain."
Gu Yuanhuo, ever the hothead, rushed to blurt everything out.
It turned out that a few days earlier, Liang Xiaojun had finished his tofu deliveries in the area and specifically sought out the brothers to intercept them.
"Uncle Dashishi has been going to Shengdong Village a lot recently. People have been quietly telling me... he’s gotten involved with He Guwu from the village." free𝑤ebnovel.com
At the time, Gu Yuanjin couldn’t believe it. "Are you sure you’re not mistaken? My father rarely ever goes over there."
But Gu Yuanshui grabbed him and asked Liang Xiaojun, "What exactly did you hear?"
Liang Xiaojun explained, "My father and I deliver tofu to the villages around here, right? Well, yesterday, when we got to Shengdong Village, people started curiously asking me if I knew you brothers."
"I immediately felt they were doing it on purpose. For miles around, who doesn’t know that these tofu products come from our village, and that the only people selling them around here are our own villagers?"
"My dad even joked with them at the time, telling them he was a clan uncle from your family."
"That just got them even more worked up. They were all asking when Uncle Dashishi was going to bring He Guwu back, saying that all this sneaking around was going to affect their village’s reputation."
"My dad and I were both stunned. Since when did Uncle Dashishi get so bold as to go behind Aunt Dashi’s back to see a widow?"
"We insisted they had to be mistaken and even started arguing with them."
"But they just turned it around on us, saying that we’d all fled the disaster together. Even if they couldn’t remember names or tell families apart..."
"...how could they possibly mistake Uncle Dashishi’s hunched back and his obviously expensive clothes?"
"My dad knew this was a serious matter, so he sent me to come and tell you."
