The last day of July is a good day.

This day is the day of the groundbreaking ceremony of the academy. Most of the villagers stopped their work, and some workers also had a half-day off. Yesterday, the village chief informed them to go there today, and sweet porridge would be cooked for the groundbreaking ceremony of the academy, so they went there early this morning to eat sweet porridge.

Building the academy is a big event. They heard that the county magistrate would come, and this is a great honor for their Caojia Village. Although the academy is not built in their Caojia Village, it was built by the people of their Caojia Village. Even their own families paid for it. Most people in Caojia Village also regard this as their honor.

In the morning, the people of Caojia Village had smiles on their faces. The whole family, young and old, went out together. When they met someone who was going there, they all went there together. Along the way, more and more people came.

There were also a few people in the village who saw other families going out with smiles. When they were called to go with them, the old grandmother found an excuse to avoid it. When the people left, she looked unhappy. Let the children of the family go to school? Their family would not waste that money. The stern-eyed grandmother didn't miss the look of her daughter-in-law. She glared at her and said in a deep voice, "No one in the family is allowed to go. If anyone goes, I will punish you when I see you back." The boy holding the child in front of him lowered his head and dared not say a word. The child looked at him eagerly, and was pulled by his grandmother, but he didn't dare to say a word.

Several large pots of sweet porridge were cooked on the temporary stove. Someone came here to cook porridge before dawn. By dawn, several large pots of porridge had been cooked. Chen Hong was not the village representative for nothing. He brought people here early in the morning to make profits. Landu directed everyone to work, and he himself never stopped working.

At this time, some people from the village had already come, and people from the neighboring villages would probably come later. They had sent invitations to the shops and mansions that had donated money to the town the day before, and people from the town would come soon. Even the county magistrate had agreed to come. This matter could not be messed up at the beginning, and it had to be done well.

In order to avoid people coming to the village to see, the village was also cleaned yesterday, and it looked tidy and clean. Today's Caojia Village has changed its appearance. People no longer have a sad look on their faces, but more laughter.

"Chen Hong, is the porridge in the pot ready? If it is ready, pour it out in a bucket. "Cao Xiangnan also came early, as there were many things to do here.

"Okay, okay, I'll serve the porridge now." Chen Hong replied.

Master Feng also came with the workers, and they would start working in a moment. Cao Xiangnan and Master Feng stood there talking about the academy. Qi Wanfeng and Sun Bailian also came with several children from their family. Liu Baishu and Gan Weilin came later. Wang Dahu and Gan Weiqi came here early in the morning. Wang Dahu strode over when he saw Liu Baishu and his group coming.

Cao Xiangnan also saw Qi Wanfeng and his group coming, walked over, said a word to this man, and had to go about his business. Qi Wanfeng also understood her husband, "You go and do your own thing, I'll take care of the children, don't worry. "He said.

"I'm not worried about those naughty boys, I'm worried about you." Knowing that everyone was there and the children would be fine, Cao Xiangnan was worried about the person with a big belly. He told Qi Wanfeng to be careful too, and then went to take care of his own things. Seeing

her husband who had left, Qi Wanfeng had a gentle smile on his face. Seeing his eldest brother Mo Chen Li walking towards him, he and his eldest brother Mo didn't have a good relationship in the past, let alone now. He would call him "eldest brother Mo" whenever they met.

"It's been a few months, and your belly is so big. "When Chen Li saw Qi Wanfeng's big belly, a hint of jealousy flashed in her eyes. Qi Wanfeng was lucky now, living the life of a young lady. With a smile on her lips, Chen Li talked about the children in his family, "When the academy is built, my eldest brother also wants to send his children to study here."

"That's a good idea. "Qi Wanfeng didn't understand why his elder brother, who usually never spoke to him, was pulling him to do something, but later he understood what his elder brother meant.

The youngest child in his elder brother's family is eight years old this year, and he needs to pay half of the tuition to send him to school. The middle child is nine years old, and the oldest child is eleven years old, so he needs to pay the full tuition. His elder brother meant that they are family members, and can the children come to school without paying tuition?

Even Sun Bailian, who was standing aside, heard what he said and sneered, "Chen Li, this academy does not belong to anyone, and whose children come to study have to follow the rules. Wanfeng can't make the decision on these things, and it's useless for you to talk to Wanfeng. If you are reluctant to spend some money, don't send your children to study. "

He didn't like Chen Li. In the past, Wan Feng had been bullied by his two brothers in the Cao family compound. Now that the academy has been built, you want to send your children to study without paying tuition? That's a nice thought!

He knew about the division of the family in the Cao family compound, and he really didn't like Chen Li's part.

The sun rose in the east, and the sound of horse hooves could be heard. The first carriage came in, followed by an endless stream of carriages coming towards them. Cao Xiangnan, Cao Gangli and several village representatives were here to welcome the people who came. The two The deputy village chief and his men were in the back receiving the distinguished guests.

Shopkeeper Liu also took the time out of his schedule to come. When Cao Xiangnan saw him coming, he hurried to greet him.

The merchants in the town don't sell the face of Caojia Village, but they sell the face of Shopkeeper Liu. Shopkeeper Liu and Cao Xiangnan are old acquaintances. Knowing that Cao Xiangnan was busy today, he waved and let him go about his business. He turned around and started talking to the familiar bosses and shopkeepers.

Seeing someone talking in Liu Zhan's shop, Cao Xiangnan instructed the deputy village chief Sun Yanmiao to entertain these distinguished guests.

A luxurious carriage slowly came in, opened the curtain, and it was the county magistrate who came.

"Big master, you are here. "Cao Xiangnan and Cao Gang were welcoming people here, and when he saw the chubby figure getting off the car, he hurried to greet him. No matter how small a seventh-rank official was, he was still the highest official in Fenshui. Just for the sake of the two hundred taels of silver, Cao Xiangnan was willing to flatter County Magistrate Wang.

County Magistrate Wang put on his official airs and got off the car. Just happened to catch a glimpse of the bearded man standing behind him. He paused and quickly put down his airs. He almost forgot that there was a big shot hiding in Caojia Village. His tone of voice changed immediately, and he said, "Building a college is a good thing. I should come over and take a look. "

Wang Dahu didn't mean to scare the timid seventh-rank county magistrate. Isn't their general here? What would happen if the timid county magistrate knew that their boss used to be a general? He thought with some malice in his heart. When he

received the glance from their boss, he looked innocent.

Cao Xiangnan led a group of people to walk on the open space where the academy was to be built. He roughly explained to everyone how the academy would be built. His words were full of gratitude for everyone's generous donations and great help. He also specifically mentioned, "...when the academy is built, we will let the master engrave the names of all the people who contributed to the construction of the academy on the wall at the entrance, so that everyone who enters the academy in the future can see this wall. "

Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, the last of the four classes is merchants. In this era, the status of merchants is also very low. Now they only need to spend a little money to leave a name in the academy and be known by everyone in the future.

At this moment, many people were thinking, did they give too little money at the beginning? Should they give more money later, so that the name will look better when engraved here? Even the county magistrate came in person, so building a college must be no joke, more is better than less, and many people have made up their minds secretly. Even Cao Xiangnan himself

did not expect that he would receive a lot of funding later.

At this moment, many villagers came and stood outside to watch. Many villagers have only stayed in this small village all their lives. When have they seen so many masters and so many carriages? Not to mention that even the county magistrate came, their eyes were full of curiosity that could not be concealed.

The village chiefs from the neighboring villages also came over, but even those who wanted to come forward were too embarrassed to do so.

There were long firecrackers on the ground, which crackled when lit. The children nearby were holding their children and screaming, and the adults all had smiles on their faces.

"Grandpa, please come and dig a handful of soil for the academy." Cao Xiangnan followed the modern groundbreaking ceremony and tied a small shovel with red silk and gave it to County Magistrate Wang. After explaining it to him, he asked him to dig the first handful of soil.

The others saw that it was County Magistrate Wang who was digging the first handful of soil, and no one had any objections.

At this point, the ceremony was over, and they couldn't invite anyone to come and not even give everyone tea.

"We have set up a table in Yipinzhai. Please come to Yipinzhai for tea." Cao Xiangnan had communicated with the storekeeper Liu yesterday. After everyone came to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony today, he took everyone to Yipinzhai for tea.

It was also morning tea time. Yipinzhai now has morning tea every morning.

First, send County Magistrate Wang to the carriage. County Magistrate Wang's carriage left first, and then the others got on the carriages one by one, and the carriages followed back to the town.

Cao Xiangnan turned back and told Li Zheng that Master Feng was at the Gai Academy, so it would be fine if he went back for a while. Since everyone was here, he didn't have to worry about any trouble. So he and the village chief Cao Gang took two people with them, and Wang Dahu acted as the driver, and they went to the town.

At this time, everyone was eating sweet porridge. There were many people coming, and many brothers in the village helped voluntarily. After letting the children eat first, everyone started to eat. Several large pots of sweet porridge were very sticky and were all cooked with rice.

People from neighboring villages also came and ate two large bowls of sticky and sweet sweet porridge. They said that Caojia Village was living a good life now, and their words were full of envy. The young brothers gathered together and talked about how they would send their children to study in the academy after it was built.

After eating the sweet porridge, everyone seemed reluctant to leave.

"Wanfeng, you and Bailian take the children home first, and take my two boys to your house. We still need to clean up here, so I'll stay here until we're done." His two boys were also here. His husband went to the shop in the town to sell food, and the children couldn't be left without someone to look after them. Chen Hong asked Qi Wanfeng and Sun Bailian to take the children home first.

"If there's anything else to do, I'll stay and help. Wanfeng, you and Baishu take the children home." Sun Bailian also stayed because there was work to do.

"Okay, come to my house for lunch later."

"Okay."

Qi Wanfeng wanted to stay. Not only did everyone not want him to work, but the children also needed someone to look after them, so he simply took the children back. Liu Baishu did not go to the town with them. He stayed in the village just in time to help look after the children.

After the people from the neighboring village had eaten the sweet porridge, they also took their children back.

Several large pots of sweet porridge were finished, leaving only a little porridge water in the bucket. The people who stayed put away packed up these things.

In the first half of the day, everyone stopped what they were doing and came here. Once the work here was done, everyone went back to do their own things. If they did not work in the morning, they would not have lunch at noon. Today, everyone went back to their own homes to have lunch and waited until the afternoon to work for half a day.

The guys in the garment workshop also had a holiday and would not start working until the second half of the day.

In Yipinzhai, there was a private room upstairs that had been reserved a long time ago, and everyone was arranged to drink tea in the private room. A lot of snacks were served on the table. Many people here had come to Yipinzhai for morning tea, but County Commander Wang had never been there.

Everyone came to his place, and the shopkeeper Liu would help greet everyone.

"Master, please try this small steamed bun, with thin skin and meat filling, and it is tender and juicy when you bite into it." Cao Xiangnan saw that County Commander Wang liked it after the first bite. He was very familiar with these snacks and introduced them to County Commander Wang one by one.

I didn't have the chance to sit with Wang Xianling before, but today I took this opportunity to sit at the same table with Wang Xianling and drink tea.

"Delicious, delicious, it tastes good." Wang Xianling can grow so fat, 70% of it is from eating, and the remaining 30% is from lying down after eating. He eats a small steamed bun in one bite, and can eat two steamed buns in one breath.

Cao Xiangnan didn't even move his eyebrows. Seeing that Wang Xianling had finished eating, he asked someone to serve.

However, Cao Gang's eyes took a second look at Wang Xianling who was sitting there eating like a pig, and then saw the chopsticks in Cao Xiangnan's hand. The two people's eyes met, and Cao Xiangnan smiled at Cao Gang.

"..." Cao Gang.

Wang Dahu and Gan Weiqi, who had come with them, started eating downstairs. Seeing these small snacks, Wang Dahu took two bites and asked people to order another portion of each, "Take it away when I leave."

Seeing everyone looking at him, Wang Dahu hurriedly greeted them, "Eat, eat, eat, don't be polite."

Until the people upstairs finished eating and came downstairs, Cao Xiangnan and Cao Gang Liu, the shopkeeper, sent everyone away.

Cao Xiangnan said goodbye to Liu, the shopkeeper, and they also got on the carriage and went back to Caojia Village.