"Liu Ermo?"
Ermo stepped forward and bowed, "This humble servant, Liu Ermo, greets Lord Su." After rising, he remained neither servile nor arrogant, his eyes never wavering.
"Your surname is Liu?" came the man's questioning voice. Ermo braced himself and replied, "Yes, my ancestor was surnamed Liu, but changed his surname for other reasons."
Su Yi didn't pursue the matter too much; he was just a little surprised.
Those called out were all relatively important figures in the government office. After the roll call, Su Yi casually said a few words and dismissed the group, clearly dissatisfied with his position as county magistrate.
This didn't surprise anyone, since being demoted from a high-ranking official in the capital to a county magistrate was a huge change that no one could accept.
The former county magistrate had long since moved on to another post. The county clerk, registrar, and clerk were handing over the files. Su Yi glanced at them casually and tossed them aside. "I'm tired and sleepy today. We can talk about it another day."
After speaking, ignoring the stares of others, he got up and led his men back to the magistrate's mansion next to the yamen. The mansion was fully furnished, and they could move in as soon as they brought their bags.
After he left, the group shook their heads with difficulty, saying, "I'm afraid this guy is difficult to get along with."
"It's the ordinary people who suffer the most."
After the two men finished their business, they immediately ran home, grabbed their teacups, and gulped down two cups of tea. Liu Huan, seeing this, asked, "What's wrong? Weren't you going to pick up the new magistrate?"
Ermo quickly composed himself and turned around, looking miserable, and said, "It's because a new broom sweeps clean, but Brother Chu said that's how it is on the first day of every new office."
Liu thought about it and agreed, "That's good. If they really bully people, then you can quit. Our family doesn't need that little bit of money."
Ermo felt warmed by these words, "It's okay, sis. I'd be bored staying home all day if I didn't do anything, besides..."
He glanced shyly at Qiuju, who was sewing clothes beside him, and said, "If a man doesn't have any ability, how will he get a wife in the future?"
Hearing this, Qiuju blushed, put down her clothes, and walked away.
Ermo chuckled like a fool, making everyone laugh.
Liu Huan pretended not to see it, "If you like it, that's fine. Your sister is just giving up. I don't want to do anything. I just want to sleep in at home and pick up those two kids from school in the afternoon."
Ermo immediately replied, "No need!"
Realizing she had overreacted, she smiled and said, "I'll go pick them up; they get out of school around the same time I do."
Liu Huan thought it was a good idea, but even though it wasn't far, she was still worried. What if human traffickers took advantage of this opportunity?
Ermo breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Liu Huan didn't go out, he would probably go back in two or three years, and then things would be peaceful again.
He clearly remembered what Cheng Ge said when he found him. In his opinion, Su Yi was a treacherous villain. Since Liu Huan had recognized him as her younger brother, he had the responsibility and obligation to protect the mother and her two children.
The next few days were uneventful. Whenever Ermo encountered Su Yi or Changbai, he would make an excuse to leave first. As a constable, he actually encountered the two quite often.
A few days later, the yamen had a lot of cases piled up. Su Yi began to deal with the disputes and the handover of the yamen. To outsiders, this was just accepting reality.
Su Yi was looking at those trivial matters when Changbai came in from outside. "Master, this is an invitation from Dean Wu of the academy. He would like to invite you to visit the academy."
Su Yi originally didn't want to go, but he thought that instead of seeing which wife was cheating on him or which family had taken over whose land, he might as well go out for a walk.
He left the cases behind and said, "Let's go, let's go now."
Changbai hadn't expected him to go so soon, so he could only say, "Oh, okay."
Su Yi understood what the dean meant; he simply wanted to confirm the date of his visit so that the academy could make proper arrangements to prevent him from seeing anything he shouldn't.
If that's the case, what would he do?
The academy was quiet at the entrance, with two young boys around ten years old guarding it. I wanted to stop them, but seeing their splendid attire and imposing demeanor, I dared not speak.
Changbai took out the token, and the two knelt down to pay their respects before being allowed to pass.
Upon seeing the person enter, he hurriedly said, "The new magistrate has arrived. Go and inform the dean quickly."
After Su Yi and his companion entered, they saw a wall separating the school, with a closed circular archway in the middle. The plaque read "Women's Academy, Men Not Allowed."
That place where they were was a boys' academy.
The two strolled leisurely when Dean Wu, having received the news, rushed over without even eating a few bites of his meal.
"This humble official greets Your Excellency, the County Magistrate."
The headmaster of the academy was a person transferred from the county government and was also a minor official.
Su Yi smiled and said, "Dean Wu, please get up. I was just delivering the invitation today and happened to have nothing else to do, so I came today. I hope you don't mind."
The dean wiped the fine sweat from the edge of his hat and said sheepishly, "No, no, it's an honor for the academy that the magistrate could grace us with his presence."
Su Yi: "Then I'll trouble Dean to show me around."
"This way, please."
The dean, accompanied by several teachers, toured around with Su Yi. They passed a school where several students were eating.
The dean explained, "These are the students in our preschool class. Some of them have their families bring them food, while those who live far away eat in the cafeteria."
Su Yi glanced at it and left. Inside, the little boy who had almost buried his head in the bowl whispered, "Anzhi, did you see that? The current county magistrate is so tall and handsome."
An Zhi, sitting across from him, continued eating without looking up. "I don't know, and I'm not interested."
"Alright then, Anzhi, let's finish eating quickly and go take a nap. We have Mr. Qiao's class in the afternoon, and we'll get scolded if we doze off."
...
After touring the entire boys' academy, the headmaster said, "Would you like to have a meal, sir? I have already ordered someone to prepare it. Please have a meal before you leave."
Su Yi turned around, her tone lazy yet irresistible, "Isn't there a girls' academy? Let's go check it out while we're at it."
The dean had no choice but to lead the group back to the girls' academy.
...
In the girls' academy, in a corridor far from the school.
An Ran had just finished eating and was about to go back to her dormitory for a midday rest. She and An Zhi usually went back in the evening, and after eating the lunch that Aunt Qiu Rong brought them, they would rest at the academy, otherwise they would not have enough time to rest and she would fall asleep.
"Liu Anran, you stop right there!"
It was Zhang Anxin and his group who had been waiting here for a long time.
An Ran hated that her name contained the character "An" just like hers, and she hated her even more because her mother would often speak ill of her family.
He said irritably, "A good dog doesn't block the way!"
Zhang Anxin grabbed Anran's arm, "How dare you call me a dog? Where's your lackey?"
An Ran gently pulled her sleeve away from her hand and said sarcastically, "Don't pull my clothes, you can't afford to pay for them if they get damaged."
Don't be fooled by the cheap tuition and book fees at the academy; the students are actually quite expensive.
After paying the money for Anxin, Anxin's mother went back and kept cursing and grumbling, repeatedly telling her, "You only have these two sets of clothes. If you don't take good care of them, you can forget about going to school."
An Ran disliked her, so naturally she would say things that hit her sore spots the most.
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