Chapter 729 A Dream of Youth 261

"Liu Ya studied with Qing Shan and did better than Si Zhu. At the time, I just thought that if I studied more, my husband's family would think more highly of me. Now that I see Ning Jie'er has made such a name for herself, I thought, why don't we let Liu Ya and the others follow Ning Jie'er to learn medicine?"

My second uncle was honest and upright, but he also thought about his own children and grandchildren.

"Even if you don't become an official, you can learn a skill and have something to rely on." A skill can sustain you for a lifetime and can be passed down to future generations, so you can always have food to eat.

He's incompetent; all he's ever done is tend the fields. But you can't expect your descendants to toil in the fields like him, can you?

Whether it's a boy or a girl in the family, he wants them to be successful so that they can support each other and live a better life.

Mrs. Wu held her sewing basket and embroidered a small garment without saying a word. Her eldest granddaughter was about to give birth, and she felt more at ease making the garment herself. The fabric had been pounded in the river several times, making it the softest material.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Second Uncle shifted to a more comfortable position, his back aching from a long day.

"What did you say? Didn't you already make a decision?"

Madam Wu sighed, "You've calculated so much, but why don't you think about the fact that Ning-jie is now a high-ranking official like Wang-zhi? She's no longer an ordinary grand-nephew. Officials are always very busy; how could she possibly find the time to teach Liu-ya and the others?"

Second Uncle scratched his forehead. "I'm just discussing this with you. I'm not just thinking about having Sister Ning personally teach Liu Ya and the others. Didn't you say that Sister Ning opened a school in the capital?"

That's what I'm thinking of: sending Liuya and the others to the school there to learn some skills. If they can't become officials, they can come back and become traditional Chinese medicine doctors. "Being a traditional Chinese medicine doctor is very lucrative. Then Liuya and the others will be the best traditional Chinese medicine doctors in town!"

Only then did Madam Wu begin to waver, but she still looked worried. "The other children are fine, but Liuya is almost old enough to be married. Is it really a good idea to send her out to learn a trade now?"

Moreover, the capital is a long way away, and I don't feel comfortable sending my child out there."

The farthest they had ever been was to a small town or the next town. The capital was far away, and even if their children were bullied, there was nothing they could do to help.

Madam Wu didn't care much about whether women should show their faces in public. Those noble ladies wore veils and hats when they went out and followed all sorts of rules. They, as country folk, didn't care about such things. They all had to go out to work or sell goods.

It was only when she was young that the social atmosphere wasn't so open, and there weren't many women on the streets, but there were plenty in the fields and mountains. And nowadays, people are more tolerant of women going out.

It would be best if any child in the family, regardless of gender, could learn a skill. If it's inconvenient to teach a man, then teaching a woman can earn a good amount of money.

Women are human too, and they can get sick.

Second Uncle waved his hand, "What's the big deal? Liu Ya is only two years older than Ning Jie'er. It's still a long way off before she gets married. It's not too late for her to learn a couple of skills first."

Furthermore, family members should help each other. I hope that they will become successful and have been helping the family over the years. I also hope that they will contribute to Qingshan and the others' studies and exams.

Not only our family, but the entire Xie family has benefited from this glory. The Xie family rose to prominence thanks to Wang Zhi and his family, and they are also Wang Zhi and his family's support.

Liu Ya and the others are all juniors in our family, so we can just ask the third branch to take care of them. Besides, we're not doing nothing; we can give them some of our savings..."

The second uncle carefully counted how much money his family still had. He and his wife wouldn't be able to work for many more years. The eldest son in the family wasn't as capable as the second son, and most of the fields in their hometown were cultivated by him and the eldest son. In the end, they would definitely leave more of the houses and land in their hometown to the eldest son.

Erlang paid for most of the money to buy the courtyard in town, so the courtyard should rightfully belong to Erlang.

The money for the public school now mainly comes from the pickle shop. Liuya is the eldest son's child, and the second son's family also has a little girl. We still need to discuss with them whether to send the child to learn a skill.

If he goes, the money will come from the public funds, and he will also ask his third wife to take care of him.

Thinking this, the second uncle got up, put on his coat, and went out. Wu glanced at the rain outside and slapped the second uncle in an annoyed tone, "Why are you in such a hurry? It's still raining outside."

“These days, visitors come one after another, and it seems like there’s no end in sight. If we want to ask the third branch of the family for help, we need to hurry up, lest we drag it out and they’re about to leave before we can even ask.”

My second uncle has always been a man of action, never hesitant or indecisive.

Wu shook her head, still intending to go along. Just as she stepped out of the courtyard gate, she saw Li, from the eldest son's family next door, also coming out with an umbrella.

Her great-uncle, who was standing next to her, still looked tired, and his clothes were askew, clearly indicating that he had been pulled out of bed by Li.

After all, everyone had been busy with the funeral these past few days and hadn't slept well. Now that they were finally done, of course they went straight to sleep.

"You're sleeping like a log!" Li pinched her great-uncle's arm hard, successfully waking him up with the pain.

The middle-aged man next to him subconsciously rubbed his arms. Despite his age, his mother was still as strong as ever. When he was a child, she could whip him with willow branches until he cried and ran all over the village.

I remember that it seemed that he didn't want to learn arithmetic from his cousin Wangzhi. After all, he was really dizzy and refused to learn even after being beaten.

Farming is great; you can even go up the mountain occasionally to catch rabbits or pheasants to sell for money.