"Miss, why are you sitting here?!"

Seeing that Jiang Shuwan was carrying a small stool, Qingxing quickly replaced it with a rosewood chair made of huanghuali wood, and had someone serve her tea and snacks, and even lit a hand warmer for her.

This made Jiang Shuwan feel quite embarrassed.

She doesn't look like a student attending a class at all; even the head of the teaching department isn't as comfortable as her.

Moreover, all the maids had a small stool, and she wanted to experience it too, and also to reminisce about her school days when she was a child. Unexpectedly, Qingxing nipped her in the bud.

"It's alright, Madam Zhang, you can go to class."

Seeing Zhang Niangzi looking at her with trepidation, Jiang Shuwan quickly offered a few words of comfort.

She was just there for the fun of it, so she couldn't let it interfere with other people's serious classes.

"Yes, young mistress."

Although Zhang Niangzi said this, she was still somewhat nervous.

Two days ago, Jiang Shuwan gave her a "board" about the size of a stool. She didn't know what was coated on it, but she could write on it with just a piece of charcoal.

This board is very convenient to use; once it's full of writing, you can just wipe it clean with water.

However, it was different from when she used a brush pen before. It took her two days of practice to write characters that were barely legible.

And every time I finished writing, my hands were covered in black grime.

Zhang Niangzi had no complaints about this.

Her family was relatively well-off when she was young, and her delicate hands were always holding pens or needles, never black charcoal.

However, her family later fell into poverty and struggled to make a living. She had no other survival skills, so she only studied with her father for a few years.

Being a female tutor is fine, but nowadays only wealthy and influential families are willing to hire a tutor for their daughters.

Such families would typically hire a tutor with official titles or honors.

Girls who are too young to be separated from their male relatives usually study with the brothers in their clan.

When they get older and leave the clan school due to the distinction between men and women, there is no need to hire female teachers specifically to teach them.

After all, women are not men. To take the imperial examinations and seek fame and fortune, it is already difficult enough to be literate and compose a few poems.

So even though she was literate, she couldn't find a job as a female tutor.

She can only earn money by doing embroidery at home every day. She has a son and a daughter, and life is difficult.

The old scholar introduced her to Jiang Shuwan's place to teach the servants to read. She worked for one hour a day, five days on and two days off, and earned three taels of silver a month.

That's three taels of silver!

It's enough to support their whole family for a month with some left over.

Not to mention, Jiang Shuwan also said that if she was willing to work overtime, she would be given extra overtime pay.

As a woman who couldn't show her face in public, she naturally cherished the money she earned.

However, she was slightly puzzled. The young mistress of the master's house dared to do something that no one had ever done before, such as hiring a female tutor to teach the servants to read. Why was she so stingy with pen, ink, and paper?

Thinking it over, Madam Zhang glanced at the "female students" present.

The room was filled with female students of varying ages and social statuses, including favored head maids and ordinary junior maids.

At this moment, everyone has only a small board and a piece of charcoal in their hand; it's just too pathetic...

She noticed that the young mistress of the house was wealthy, and it wasn't that she couldn't afford to provide these maids with writing materials...

Zhang Niangzi couldn't understand it.

Moreover, these female students are in very different states.

They were full of energy, their eyes were shining, and they exuded confidence from the inside out.

That's strange!

The head maids of noble families lived more dignified lives than the young ladies of ordinary families. The head maids were confident because they were truly living well.

Young girls are often timid, introverted, and have low self-esteem.

These ordinary little girls in the courtyard all walk around with their heads held high, looking like they have a bright future ahead of them.

They must have great confidence in the young mistress of the master, feeling that their lives with her are promising, which is why they are in such high spirits.

Moreover, it also indirectly proves that the young mistress of the master treats them well on a daily basis, which is why they have developed such a confident and proud demeanor.

The young mistress of the house must be a kind and generous person!

If she was hired to teach these maids to read, then she must be training them; therefore, it's even less likely that she would be stingy with a few coins for ink and paper...

Thinking about it, Zhang Niangzi couldn't help but show a hint of doubt on her face.

However, she didn't ask. Jobs were hard to find, so she focused on her classes.

Opening the lesson plan, one finds not reading materials like the "Three Character Classic," but rather phrases and sentences closely related to the girls' work and daily lives.

The little girl was very familiar with all sorts of things, such as stools, bowls, plates, corner lamps, silver coins, and banknotes.

This was the first time I had ever seen the characters.

Zhang Niangzi taught them carefully and patiently, and all the maids learned very diligently.

Seeing that the teachers and students were all very respectful, Jiang Shuwan nodded in satisfaction.

Especially Qingxing, this girl grew up with her, and she did teach her to read when they were little.

Qingxing was also clever, and she was a natural paparazzi, always eager to gather information.

He didn't like recognizing characters, so he studied sporadically.

In her previous life, Jiang Shuwan was a lazy bum. Qingxing wasn't serious, and she was too lazy to chase after her to feed her.

Anyway, Qingxing wouldn't go hungry if she stayed with her.

But now the situation has changed.

In her previous life, she married into the Earl's family. The Earl's wife felt sorry for her living a life of widowhood and generously gave her the power to manage the household.

She was also given many talented people to use, all of whom were the Countess's confidants.

Because the aunt treated her well, even her trusted confidantes dared not do anything wrong.

Therefore, she managed the household affairs with exceptional ease in her previous life.

Now that she has entered the Marquis's mansion, she is vying with the Wen family for control of the household, and she has some useful servants and talents.

But she herself couldn't find many useful ones.

Granny Tao is a good person; she was originally a head maid and manages her dowry and storeroom.

She is literate and good at accounting, making her a key subordinate. She will surely have a place as the head nanny in the future.

Qingxing was a bit younger than Granny Tao; she couldn't do accounting and her literacy was barely passable.

They are promising reserve cadres for the future.

That's all that's left!

Aside from Granny Tao and Qingxing, she couldn't find a single maid or nanny who could help her manage the inner quarters.

It wasn't that these maids and nannies were stupid or dull; rather, they were originally low-ranking servants in the Jiang household and had little knowledge or experience.

Most importantly, they were all illiterate.

This wasn't a problem in the Jiang family. The Jiang family was a family of fifth-rank officials, with a small population and not much to do. Even if they were illiterate, they could still do their jobs well.

Now that she has married into the Marquis's household, she will be able to support them as stewards in the future.

With such a large population and numerous affairs in the manor, it's impossible to rely solely on memory, right?

As the saying goes, a bad pen is worse than a good memory.

For example, all the women under the Wen family, whether they were storeroom maids or head maids, were literate.

Teaching her subordinates to read was Jiang Shuwan's top priority, and it was also the first thing she did to cultivate her trusted confidants.

That's why Madam Zhang came to the mansion.