Grandma Li was terrified. She tapped her pipe against the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and began to scold her grandson.

"Look at you all, so wild and unruly! You almost lost your lives! All you do is play around all day, never doing anything serious!"

Jiaxi and Jia'an, having narrowly escaped death, were still shaken and hung their heads, not daring to utter a sound.

Jiayin watched the spectacle with her fingers in her mouth, her dark eyes filled with schadenfreude.

Those around wanted to plead for leniency, but remembering the danger they had just faced, they all kept quiet.

Only Wu Cuihua, who was standing by the door, pouted and muttered.

"So what if he fell into the water? What's the big deal? He didn't die! My son is still out there working hard to earn money!"

"Shut up! Have you forgotten what I said?"

Li Lao Er snarled, his face fierce, which frightened Wu Cuihua so much that she shrank back and dared not speak again.

Old Mrs. Li glanced at her with a dark expression, then turned her gaze to Li Lao Er.

"Second son, from now on you will be in charge of teaching Jiaxi and Jia'an to read and write. They don't need to be very successful, as long as they stay at home and do something productive, it's better than them running around outside all day!"

After saying that, she looked at Jiaxi and Jia'an.

"From now on, none of you are allowed to leave the house without my permission, understand?"

Jiaxi and Jia'an were quite frightened, so they dared not refuse.

So, they were allowed to rest for another night, and the next morning, Li Lao Er took out a primer and started teaching it seriously.

The sound of students reading aloud echoed in the Li family's courtyard. The village chief, who happened to be walking next door, heard it and couldn't help but come over to see what was going on.

"Hey, Yusheng, what are you busy with?"

"Village chief, what brings you here? Please come in and sit down!" When Li Lao Er saw that it was the village chief outside the door, he quickly invited him into the house.

Hearing the commotion, Old Lady Li also carried Jiayin out of the inner room and called for Hongying to pour tea.

"I heard the sound of reading coming from your courtyard, and I thought a teacher had come. I never imagined it was your own family school!"

The village chief chuckled as he accepted the tea offered by Hongying, and a thought struck him as he continued to praise her.

“Yusheng’s teaching is quite good, but there are too few students. As the old saying goes, whether you herd one sheep or two, it’s all the same. How about… we gather all those naughty kids in the village together and have them study with your children?”

"Ah, I'm afraid that's not a good idea..." Li Lao Er hesitated. After all, he had never formally attended school, only studying with his elder brother for two or three years.

These days, it's fine to teach my own children, but if I were to bring along other children, I always feel like I'd be hindering their development.

The village chief quickly reassured them, "Oh, there's nothing wrong with it! They're all children from our own village. As long as they learn to read and write, they won't be completely illiterate. There's no need for them to take the imperial examinations."

He slammed his fist on the table excitedly, eager to finalize the matter immediately.

"Okay, I'll go ask around in a bit and see if any family is willing to send their child over. They can offer some grain as a tuition fee. Although everyone in the village is close-knit, it wouldn't be good to let Yusheng suffer for nothing."

Li Lao Er looked at his mother with a troubled expression. The village chief had already said so, and he didn't know how to respond.

However, to everyone's surprise, Grandma Li readily agreed.

“I am honored that the village chief thinks highly of my second son. Since that’s the case, I will accept on his behalf.”

"Great, that's wonderful! I'll go tell the villagers right away!"

The village chief, always decisive and efficient, immediately set off excitedly to speak to each household.

Li Lao Er was somewhat dazed. In the blink of an eye, he had become a teacher? His family was overjoyed when they heard the news.

But it was Wu Cuihua who started complaining at this very moment.

“Mother, you agreed too quickly! What can a little grain do? You should at least take the money! Fourth Brother only went with Chief Escort Liu and he got ten taels of silver! Second Brother is a teacher, he should earn more than Fourth Brother.”

At this point, she suddenly thought of Jiayi and added, "By the way, Mother, does Jiayi get a share of Lao Si's wages...?"

Before she could finish speaking, Li Lao Er couldn't listen anymore.

"What nonsense are you spouting? All you ever do is scheme against your brothers. What do you care about besides food and money?"

Li Lao Er's originally good mood was completely ruined by Wu Cuihua.

Suddenly remembering that Wu Ergou seemed to have been walking around the village these past few days, he looked at Wu Cuihua with a cold gaze.

"Has Er Gouzi come back asking you for money again? Are you thinking of taking the family's money to help him out?"

Wu Cuihua was startled when he saw through her thoughts with a single sentence, and hurriedly said guiltily.

"No, no! I didn't!"

Li Lao Er looked at her with a cold face.

"Hmph, better not! If I find out you stole money from him, I'll break his legs and divorce you and kick you out of the house!"

Wu Cuihua was terrified; her face turned pale, and she obediently shrank back into the house.

The news of Li's son falling into the water was known to everyone in the village. They were all at home scolding their own children and grandchildren when the village chief came to talk about sending the children to Li's family to study.

This is certainly a good thing. Someone will take care of the child, and he can learn a few words. It's much better than running around wildly outside.

So, after some counting, there were actually eight or nine!

As previously agreed, each family sent five catties of sorghum to the Li family as a donation, and every household expressed their gratitude and praise to Li Lao Er.

The Li family didn't mind having too little sorghum, and happily harvested it, then tidied up the empty room to use as a classroom.

On the day the class started, the whole village came to watch the excitement. Everyone craned their necks and squatted in the yard, not minding the cold north wind.

The mischievous kids who used to spend their days climbing trees to steal bird eggs and catching small fish in the river are now sitting upright in their chairs, hands behind their backs, swaying their heads as they read along with Wu Lao Er. They look quite respectable!

The sound of students reading aloud echoed in the Li family's courtyard, accompanied by the chirping of sparrows in the treetops. Even the winter sun seemed to warm up a bit, creating a surprisingly warm and loving scene.

Everyone smiled with satisfaction and sighed softly. It was all thanks to the Li family that Qingshui Village had become more and more vibrant, and life was getting better and better!

At first, Li Lao Er was a little reserved. Being stared at by so many eyes made him feel uncomfortable, as if insects were crawling all over him.

But when he tried to teach these children the way his older brother had taught him, he miraculously calmed down and stopped feeling nervous.

One day, two days, three days passed, and the naughty boys gradually got used to reporting to the Li family every day, and Li Lao Er (Second Brother Li) began to resemble a teacher more and more.

He discovered that two of these children were indeed very talented.

Whether it's writing or doing arithmetic, I understand it immediately and can learn it in no time, which makes me feel even more proud and satisfied.

Of course, he also deserves credit for this; he abandoned the wooden stick and used copper coins directly as arithmetic tools.

The children were unusually excited, as if they had lost money if they had miscounted, so how could they not learn well?

In the evening, the women from each household would often come together to pick up their children from school, and stop by the Li family's house for a while to chat and pass the time.

Mr. Li Lao Er was naturally their first subject of praise.

"Mr. Li, you've really worked hard. Our blockhead son can actually write his own name now!"