"Don't push! My house is still here."
After a while, Shen Ying was surrounded by excited villagers.
Even Chi Sanhua and the others were frightened by the scene, and they quickly protected Su Tai and went into the house.
When Shen Ying was rescued from the crowd, he found that his hat was crooked and one of his shoes had fallen off. He was so angry that he screamed.
After receiving Su Tai's instructions, the maid hurried to the backyard to get a pair of new shoes for Shen Ying to change into.
After Shen Ying changed into new shoes, he felt better and hurried to find Su Tai.
"Xiao Tai, there is one more thing. Mr. Chu and Mr. Xi both said they want to settle down here. They also want to take the imperial examination, as well as Mr. Zhou.
This matter involves other people's future, I can't stop them, so I agreed to everything. Several gentlemen were working very hard to prepare for the exam. I was worried when I saw their hard work, so I didn't dare to ask them to give extra lessons to their children.
Now the villagers are flocking to send their children to the village school, and I really can’t handle it! ”
Letting a child study is a very good thing, so why does it make him so worried?
Shen Ying really couldn't understand.
Su Tai felt uncomfortable listening to this, "Uncle, those children can't take the exam this year even if they are sent here now. Please talk to everyone. If the children really want to study, they can learn to read at home first, and then send them to the imperial examination after the exam. Don't let the little ones fail the exam and affect the older ones. If you say this, they will definitely stop!"
If you say that the teacher has to step down and has no time to teach so many children, the villagers will definitely talk about it behind his back. But if you say it another way, no one will have any objection.
Shen Ying couldn't help nodding, still worried, "This can only delay it for a while, and we still have to face the problem of the shortage of teachers later."
What was even more frightening was that he could already foresee that after the imperial examination, it would be hard to find a teacher, and it would be harder than climbing to heaven for their village to find a good teacher again.
Su Tai was not that worried. "Uncle, you can ask Da Gou about this matter. Didn't they go to other places to sell the goods this time? He is knowledgeable and experienced. Tell him your concerns and Da Gou will find a way to help."
After receiving Su Tai's instructions, Shen Ying left in a hurry.
Su Tai also wrote a letter and asked Yu Dong to deliver it to Shen Yi.
In the evening, Shen Congrong came back from the village school.
Seeing that he was holding several books in his hands and his hair was covered with snow, Su Tai hurried over to brush the snow off his body and scolded him, "Why don't you hold an umbrella? This won't do. Go change your clothes."
Shen Congrong's two followers explained tremblingly: "Madam, the eldest master said that the village school is close to home, and it is too troublesome to hold an umbrella. I can't catch up with the eldest master."
"It's okay, just be more careful next time."
Su Tai sent them away.
He walked straight into Shen Congrong's room, only to find that his precious son's room had an entire wall of books, ranging from Records of the Grand Historian to Hundred Family Names, as well as many miscellaneous books on travel notes, astronomy, geography, etc.
"Have you read all these books?" Su Tai's face was full of shock.
Shen Congrong nodded slightly, a little embarrassed, "Some of these books were recommended to me by the teacher, some were bought for me by Xiao Twelve, and some were bought by me at the Dahe Town Study."
Su Tai sat down slowly, her eyes still unable to move away from the books on the bookshelf, and her tone of voice was a little distressed, "Did you use the money your mother gave you to buy books?"
Among the children, the eldest, Shen Yuezhang, is a daughter. She is the oldest and has the demeanor of an elder sister. She is thoughtful and considerate and is the most trusted by the couple.
The twins are the youngest, naughty and sweet-talkers, and usually get the most attention from the couple. Only the second child is gentle, does not fight or compete, is the most well-behaved, but has the least sense of existence.
When she was busy, she sometimes couldn't take care of so many things and didn't even realize that such a big change had taken place in her son's room.
Shen Congrong pursed his lips and explained: "There is also money given by my grandparents and my sister. I can't buy so many books with my money."
Su Tai had no doubt about this. In this era, reading was an extremely luxurious thing. From books to pens, ink, paper and inkstone, even slightly better ones would cost several taels of silver.
Books like the Records of the Grand Historian on the bookshelf are estimated to weigh four or five taels each, and some even weigh more than seven or eight taels.
She gave her children one or two taels of silver every month. The eldest son did not spend money recklessly like the twins, so he probably saved it for buying books.
Su Tai felt sorry for him, so she went back to her room and brought back a bag of silver. "Here is a hundred taels of silver. You can use it however you want. If it's not enough, tell mother."
Shen Congrong was overjoyed, "Thank you, mother! Actually, I had my eyes on a set of ancient book annotations before, a complete set of twenty books, and the shopkeeper said that he would not sell it for less than eighty taels. My eldest sister gave me twenty taels of silver before the New Year, and on the second day of the New Year, my grandparents and uncles and aunts all gave me New Year's money, so I can get thirty taels together, and I have saved before, so I am just a little short.
Now my mother has given me one hundred taels, and it is finally enough!"
The joy on the child's face made Su Tai so happy that she wanted to give him another thousand taels of silver.
Because Shen Congrongcheng couldn't wait to go to Dahe Town to buy books.
Su Tai decided to accompany him.
The mother and son rode in a donkey cart and came to the study in Dahe Town under the protection of their entourage.
There is only one study like this in the entire Dahe Town, and it is owned by the Pu family.
As soon as Shen Congrong got off the carriage, he couldn't wait to pull Su Tai to the study, "Boss, the set of ancient book annotations that I asked you to leave for me is still there!"
The shopkeeper knew Shen Congrong and immediately responded with a smile, "I dare not not keep the book that Master Shen wants! The things are put away separately, please wait, I will go get it."
While the shopkeeper was getting something, Shen Congrong took Su Tai to the side and sat and waited.
Su Tai knew at first glance that her son was a frequent visitor here. After sitting down as he asked, she discovered that there were tables and chairs on one side of the study against the wall, and there were actually many people sitting there reading quietly without saying a word.
Su Tai was startled.
Shen Congrong lowered his voice and explained, “Mom, they are all people who really like reading, but their family is not so wealthy that they can’t buy all the books. The Pu family is kind and righteous and gave them the opportunity to read books for free, but the premise is that they have to help the study copy a book a month.”
"This request is not excessive." Su Tai was curious and looked at them again.
Just then, a young man stood up from the corner and walked towards the counter.
When the shopkeeper appeared, he immediately handed the book over and said, "Shopkeeper, would you like to take a look at this one?"
The shopkeeper took a closer look and nodded with satisfaction, "Not bad! Xiong Feng, you are not a novice anymore. If you copy books faster, you can earn two or three taels of silver by handing in one more book every month. You don't have to spend money on pens, ink and paper, and you will have a lot more money on hand."
"I understand. Thank you for your care, shopkeeper." Xiong Feng said as he carefully put the book down and returned to his seat. (End of this chapter)
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