Just as we had arranged for Lixiang and her daughter, A Bing and Deng Xue came back with a dozen children.
Uncle Yonghui and the others were all shocked to see the two men coming back with two carriages of children.
"Whose child is this?"
"You, where did you two get it?"
"Why are they all girls?"
The oldest of the children was eleven or twelve years old, and the youngest was only six or seven years old. They were at the age where they seemed to understand but not quite know what was going on. They watched helplessly as they were being sold by their parents and relatives, but they didn't quite understand the meaning of being sold. They only knew that they would never see them again.
He had managed to stay calm and collected all the way on the road, and that was already his limit. But when he saw so many people around, he became even more frightened, and the timid one just burst into tears.
One person took the lead, and the rest followed suit, howling. For a moment, the scene was in chaos.
"Why are you still crying?"
"What did you two do to them?"
The villagers pointed at the children and talked about them, but no one thought that the two men were doing anything bad like kidnapping and selling children.
When the children started crying, A Bing and Deng Xue were at a loss as to what to do, so they quickly asked for help from Uncle Yonghui and others nearby.
"Oh! Uncle, aunt, these are children we bought. Don't just stand there and watch. Come on, help comfort them! If they cry like this, people will think we're kidnapping and abusing them!"
"Bought them? Why did you two buy so many girls?" Aunt Li asked while nimbly picking up a doll to coax her.
The other aunts who came out after hearing the noise also took action and joined the group of people coaxing the children.
"Oh! They are not all girls! There are a few boys here!" said an aunt, holding a boy covered in mud and with a dirty face in her arms.
There were only three boys among the dozen or so children, all of whom were covered in dust and dirt, so they really didn't notice it just now.
While the women were coaxing the children, Uncle Yonghui and his men finally surrounded A Bing and Deng Xue and understood the whole story.
When Uncle Yonghui heard that another place had been struck by a disaster, he sighed and said, "Oh! These natural disasters really happen every year!"
"Yes! They have all fled to the capital, I'm afraid the situation is quite serious." Old man Luo also said earnestly.
Unlike men who care about natural disasters, the women were heartbroken and burst into tears when they learned that these dolls were sold by their parents and relatives.
"These are just pieces of flesh that fell off my body. How can I bear to part with them?" Aunt Li said as she caressed the little girl in her arms with pity.
Mother Dashu gritted her teeth and said bitterly, "There are always those who are biased to the point of being out of their minds!"
She had just asked about the little girl she was holding. Besides her, there were two older brothers and a younger brother in her family. Her parents couldn't bear to part with her brothers and younger brothers, so they sold her and used the silver to exchange for food to save the lives of the whole family.
The aunts present had all given birth to children and were very good at coaxing them. Soon the children stopped crying, but their stomachs were rumbling with hunger and they were all shouting that they were hungry.
When they were sold, the porridge stall had not yet started distributing porridge. After being tossed around among the refugees for a long time and sitting in the carriage for a long time, they didn't even have a sip of water on the way and their stomachs were already empty.
"Okay, okay, I'll take you to eat something." Aunt Li took the child and walked into the yard.
"God has mercy on them! How long have they been hungry? They are so skinny and bony."
The other aunts also hurriedly took the other children with them, fearing that if they continued to be so hungry, the children would starve to death.
When A Bing and Deng Xue saw that Aunt Li and the others had taken the child over on their own initiative, they both breathed a sigh of relief and went into the house to report to Tian An.
Uncle Yonghui thought about it and followed them.
Inside the house, Tian Anzheng, Zhao Yiming, Mr. Han and An Rong were discussing the construction of a school.
Tian An thought that she might take in more children like this in the future, so she might as well build a bigger school in one go.
He also described to the three people the management and education model of the current fully enclosed college.
The three of them listened attentively, but after listening, they couldn't help but reveal expressions of worry and regret.
"It would certainly be great if such an academy could be built. An An's ideas in all aspects are also very perfect, but the money and effort required would probably be a lot." Mr. Han frowned.
He has now completely given up his official career, and it would be great if he could make some achievements in education.
However, although Tian An's idea was good, it was extremely difficult to implement. Especially since all the students in this academy were in this situation, which meant that they could not receive tuition and had to bear all the expenses themselves.
If this continues, even mountains of gold and silver will not be enough to fill it!
An Rong also nodded and said, "Regarding your question, sir, most of the students in the academy are from poor families, or are girls. Girls, needless to say, are not qualified to become scholars at all.
Not to mention them, even the boys don't stand much chance.
When teaching, teachers hope that their students can achieve something and also make a name for themselves.
If I ask them to teach children who already have little hope, I'm afraid no teacher would be willing to come."
Zhao Yiming said nothing. Although what Mr. Han and An Rong said made sense, he felt that since Tian An proposed such a college system, he must have a plan in mind.
Sure enough, Tian An then talked about the educational direction of all-round development of morality, intelligence, physical fitness and aesthetics, and teaching students in accordance with their aptitude.
“There’s a saying that goes, ‘Given my talent, it will be useful.’ Not every child is suited to studying, but that doesn’t mean every child who isn’t suited to studying has no future.
When we teach, we cannot simply ask students to adapt to our teaching methods. Instead, we should improve our teaching methods based on the students' learning methods.
Since these children are not suitable for studying and pursuing a career in politics, let's start somewhere else!
There is also a saying that goes, "There are top talents in all thirty-six trades." Is it true that they can't find a trade that suits them?
The imperial examination is held every three years. How many positions are there waiting for you in the civil service? Why bother trying so hard to earn even a small official position?
"But the purpose of teaching in the academy is not to become a scholar. Is it still an academy?" Mr. Han said in a rigid manner.
Tian An stood up and said, "Sir, those who have spent their entire lives taking the imperial examinations but never passed them until they died, if they had chosen another path early on, would they still have lived a mediocre life?
Learning martial arts can help you go to the battlefield to kill enemies and defend your country, learning medicine can help you save lives and be respected, learning agriculture can help the people have enough food to eat, learning business can make yourself rich and make the country prosperous, and so on. Which of these is not good? Why do you have to become an official to bring honor to your family?
Even the best colleges can’t guarantee that every student can get into high school! What about those students who can’t?
Are we going to keep studying but fail the exams, wasting our family’s money and the country’s resources, and finally be left behind in the long river of history?
"All things are inferior except for studying. These are just lies told by those who are lazy and want to numb themselves and their families."
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