Jiang Zhi first discussed the matter of setting up a school in Xujia Village with Xia Xiucai.

Originally, I was worried that Xia Xiucai wouldn't teach this group of farm children who had no prior education, but to my surprise, he readily agreed and even said that he would teach them poetry and prose in the future.

Jiang Zhi's lips twitched involuntarily, and she secretly lamented, "My goodness, teaching these farm kids to recite poetry is probably more difficult than teaching calves to plow the fields!"

But a sense of challenge welled up inside me. It's always good to have dreams, and reading more books is always beneficial.

She began to imagine the future of Xujia Village, where men and women would no longer greet each other with simple words, but would speak in classical Chinese phrases.

They stood at the edge of the field, recited a couple of lines of poetry, and then picked up their hoes, filling every plot of land with poetic charm.

What's even more interesting is that those farmers who went barefoot to the fields carrying buckets of manure also exuded a scholarly air.

What a unique sight that will be!

Jiang Zhi laughed inwardly, as if she were seeing a Xu Family Village unlike any other, a village full of cultural atmosphere.

As agreed with Xia Xiucai, Xujia Village will hold a village meeting after the workshop stops operating.

The village currently has a population of 190, with 175 actually present.

Apart from the Huang family, the Ma family, Wu Yang, and others who work at the pharmacy, as well as those who go to the market in town a few days ago, everyone else came.

Even Lianhua, who had just finished her postpartum confinement, came to participate, carrying her baby and accompanied by Da Xiang and Xiao Xiang.

The first thing, which was undoubtedly the most exciting thing for the whole village, was to give money to the people who worked hard in the workshop.

In front of everyone, Xia Xiucai solemnly took out the general ledger, while Wang Xiaoju also took out her own small ledger. They tacitly checked the accounts together.

Every time the abacus is turned, it means that a family will receive a reward.

Everyone had already received their wages once before, and now several months have passed. This time, the settlement will be settled, with some families receiving one or two taels of silver and others receiving two or three hundred coins. All other profits will go into the fund pool.

At this moment, everyone's faces were filled with uncontrollable joy.

A huge basket was placed in the center, filled with strings of copper coins, gleaming with an alluring light.

The smiles of the entire village were like blooming flowers, blossoming in the sunlight.

For them, these copper coins were not just money, but also a symbol of hard work and a hopeful vision for the future.

In addition, there are dividends from each company.

Although it wasn't much, when divided among the people, each household could still receive tens to hundreds of coins.

In their eyes, those few dozen coins were equivalent to more than ten kilograms of grain, enough for a family to eat thin porridge for a month.

The head of each household would happily go over to collect the money when their name was called, one trip after another, as if they would never run out.

However, the other migrant families who arrived later could only sit outside and watch longingly.

They were not qualified to work in the workshop, so naturally they could not share in the profits. The longing and envy in their eyes were impossible to hide.

It's not Jiang Zhi's fault for being stingy. They've only been here for three or four months, so they certainly can't share the money, otherwise the original villagers will be dissatisfied.

Why did we not participate when everyone was working hard and doing heavy labor, but now we only want to share the villagers' welfare?

They can only have the possibility of sharing benefits if they first integrate themselves into this large group.

However, this opportunity will come soon.

The second thing was to help three displaced families repair their houses. This time, the Shi family also needed to have their houses repaired, as Shi Houzi volunteered to do so.

The stone monkey's thin figure stood alone in front of the entire village.

His face turned bright red, and the veins on his forehead bulged. As if he had used all his strength, he said in a slightly trembling voice, "Uncles, aunts, and sisters-in-law, my house is really uninhabitable. Please help me repair it."

I am not able to repay everyone's wages right now, but when I grow up, I will definitely remember your great kindness!

No sooner had he finished speaking than he knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly to the entire village.

His forehead slammed heavily against the ground, with unwavering determination and resolve.

Building or repairing a house is a very important event for every family.

In any other place, even if the stone monkey wanted to, it simply wouldn't be able to withstand such pressure on its own.

Unless they suddenly receive unexpected wealth later in life, their family may never escape their predicament.

However, without a good education from childhood and without the positive influence of the surrounding environment, he will eventually be dragged into the mire by his family's predicament in a daze and become a person who just gets by.

Just as the stone monkey knelt down and kowtowed, the people around him rushed over and helped him up.

Madam Qin sighed, "Stone Monkey, just speak properly! Why are you kneeling like that? You're making me cry!"

Tears are no good, as they will wash off the rouge she just bought, which cost her a hefty fifty coins, and she's already feeling the pinch!

Tian Gui gently patted the stone monkey on the shoulder: "Good job, we'll help you fix it!"

Others from Xujia Village also offered their help.

The women of the Shi family sat in the crowd, their faces full of confusion and silly smiles, not knowing what the stone monkey was doing.

Shi Lao Da and Shi Lao Er obviously knew, and they were equally at a loss, one tugging at his clothes and the other scratching his head.

Jiang Zhi remained seated the entire time, trying her best to control her excitement.

Stone Monkey had told himself before that he wanted to repair his house, but he was worried that the villagers wouldn't help.

Jiang Zhi did not agree directly, but said, "You need to learn to proactively express your needs and at the same time express the rewards you are willing to give."

If someone is willing to help you, they will; if they aren't, you haven't lost anything, and you can find another way to solve the problem.

"Tomorrow there will be a large meeting, and you'll say this to everyone on stage..."

Jiang Zhi taught him how to express his difficulties and how to ask for help.

I thought the stone monkey would just say what he said earlier, asking everyone to help repair the house and repaying the debt slowly in the future.

I never expected him to kneel like that. The effect was so good that Jiang Zhi almost couldn't hold back.

For vulnerable families like the Shi family, whose intelligence is insufficient, simply providing them with material assistance cannot fundamentally solve their problems.

They need to understand that these things are not given away for free; more often than not, they require their own efforts.

Especially for the stone monkey, he needs to learn to shoulder the burden of the whole family with his tender shoulders and learn how to deal with all kinds of difficulties in life.

This time, including the Shi family, a total of five households need their houses repaired. Compared to last year's village-wide renovation, this is just a small matter.

These five households all use the work point system. They don't have to worry about meals for everyone. They can take over work and repay work later, or they can be compensated at a rate of fifty coins per work point.

Several displaced households agreed to return the work points, but no one mentioned the Shi family; they would just keep an account of it anyway.

After everyone finished talking about repairing the house, Jiang Zhi said, "There is another important matter this year, which is to build a school."

Wow!

The crowd immediately began whispering among themselves: "Are they really going to build a school?"