The villagers began to applaud out of respect.

The village chief clapped his hands and said, "First of all, we have to thank the Xu family. If it weren't for the Xu family's understanding and righteousness, it would be a problem whether the children in the village could have enough to eat, let alone go to school!"

After hearing what the village chief said, the villagers all agreed in their hearts and looked at the Xu family with gratitude.

"Now, I'll let my brother say a few words to everyone," said the village chief.

There was another round of enthusiastic applause from below.

The old man walked up to the village chief with a smile and said, "First of all, I want to thank you all on behalf of everyone in my family!"

The people below looked at each other in confusion. Xu Daniu said, "Uncle, we should all be thanking your family. Why are you thanking us instead?"

"Yes, uncle."

The old man said, "Everyone, listen to me first. All along, every decision my family has made has been unconditionally supported by everyone. Even when asked to sell your ancestral land to dig a pond, you agreed without hesitation. It is your cooperation that allows us to proceed smoothly."

"Uncle, you can't say that. Everyone has benefited. If it weren't for your family, we would still be eating coarse food!"

"Yes, our lives are better now, and the children will be able to go to school soon. I never dreamed of such a day, and it's all because of your family. If your family has any suggestions in the future, I will be the first to agree."

"Yes...Uncle, we will listen to you from now on..."

…

In an instant, shouts from the big guys kept coming from below.

The old man was also feeling emotional, thinking about how much the villagers trusted their family, and he couldn't let them trust the wrong people.

So he continued, "I know what you all want. You can send your children to school tomorrow. We've already found a teacher, and they'll be here this afternoon. And one more thing: I want to make sure both boys and girls can attend the school. Is that okay with you?"

When the villagers heard this, they were all furious.

"Girls can also go to school?"

"It seems there hasn't been such a rule since ancient times?"

"Yeah, even if a girl can read, she can't take the imperial examination!"

"yes!"

Listening to everyone's discussion, the old man immediately said, "Everyone, please be quiet for a moment."

Suddenly, the noise below became smaller and smaller until it disappeared.

"I know some of you find it hard to understand, but think about it: why do girls from wealthy families have to learn the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting? If there were no benefits, they wouldn't bother with it. We may be just a farming family, but if girls in our village could read and study, they would be highly sought after in the future. Who wouldn't want to bring home a literate daughter-in-law? It would bring honor to others. As parents, we should give our children more opportunities. Who says girls who can read are useless? Look at my daughter Qibao! She can read and knows a lot. It was she who suggested building a school in the village."

"So it was Qibao who brought it up. Qibao does look different from the other girls in the village. Could it be because she can read?"

"Well, last time I passed by the Xu family's door, I saw Qibao teaching others to read, and even noses and eyes."

"It's rare to find literate farm girls these days. If all the girls in Xujia Village could read, it would be a great thing for the whole village. I guess matchmakers would be everywhere."

"Now that you mention it, it's true. My girl is very smart. I'll go back and ask her. If she's willing, I'll send the child over tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll deliver it too. Our village is the first to do this. My girl is usually very hardworking. If she can learn to read, she will be better than the girls in other villages!"

Qibao was a little surprised as she listened to everyone's discussions. Although no family in the village had ever treated girls harshly, boys were still considered more important in ancient times. She didn't expect that the villagers would accept this so quickly and think of the benefits of it.

Qibao may not know that the old man always praises his granddaughter to everyone at the construction site, saying that she has many ideas and is smarter than his grandsons. Gradually, everyone is subtly influenced and thinks that Qibao's intelligence is due to literacy.

The old man said happily, "Okay, it's good that everyone has this idea. Let's show outsiders that any girl in our Xujia Village can read. Just think about how proud you as parents will be!"

"Yes, I will send my daughter and son here tomorrow!"

"Haha, I'll give it to you too. Just imagine how interesting people's expressions will be when they find out that every girl in our village can read!"

The village chief was also a little surprised. He had never heard the old man say that the girls in the village should learn to read together before. He just found out about it. But since everyone agreed, he was relieved.

At this moment, Shopkeepers Hong and Tong arrived together in a horse-drawn carriage.

The villagers also saw it. The person driving the cart was a clerk from their shop. There were many people the villagers didn’t know him, and they all looked over curiously.

The Xu family knew him and hurried forward to greet him.

After Shopkeepers Tong and Hong came out of the carriage, they said with a smile, "Congratulations on the completion of the Xujia Village School."

The old man smiled and said, "Thank you very much, thank you very much, both of you shopkeepers, for coming all the way here to congratulate us!"

Shopkeeper Hong smiled and said, "It's not a big deal. Look who I brought with me!"

At this time, two people got off the carriage. They were He Jie and his mother.

The old man had never seen it before, and was stunned for a moment.

Seeing this, Xu Laosan immediately stepped forward and introduced, "Everyone, this is the teacher we hired for our children. He is a Tongsheng (Tongsheng) scholar. If it weren't for the misfortune in Master He's family, with his knowledge, he would probably be a Juren (School Master) by now."

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