"There's no reason, I just don't miss you anymore." Anping answered perfunctorily.
"But there has to be a reason, right?" Wan Xueying pressed. "Didn't you study hard before?" Then she said earnestly, "Why should we two siblings hide things? Can't we just say whatever's on our mind? I want to hear the truth."
"I...I just feel so useless. I can't help my family, and I'm a burden to Xiaofan."
"You don't need any help at home right now. Don't we have Dad and me?"
"It's because I have to rely on Dad and you that I feel useless." The family is getting better and better, but this good thing has nothing to do with him.
Wan Xueying smiled and said, "Who said Big Brother is useless? All you need to do now is study hard, and that's all you need."
"But I'm not good at studying either." Anping lowered his head in shame.
"Who said that? Gu Ming praised you and Xiaofan to me before. How could you be a burden to Xiaofan?"
"In the beginning, I could barely keep up with Mr. Gu's lectures because I had learned some from others. But gradually, I couldn't understand more and more, so Mr. Gu had to go back and explain it to me again, sometimes several times. This would delay Xiaofan's learning of new knowledge. In the long run, Xiaofan would be even more burdened by me." Anping felt more and more ashamed as he spoke.
"So that's why you don't want to continue studying?" Wan Xueying asked.
"Yes and no." Anping nodded and then shook his head.
"So is it yes or no?" Wan Xueying was a little confused.
"That's just one or two of the reasons. I didn't want to study because I found that I didn't enjoy reading as much as I thought."
"Don't like reading these books?" Wan Xueying sympathized with this point. She also didn't like reading these books. Then she asked, "What books do you like to read?"
"I like reading medical books. I want to become a doctor and save lives."
Wan Xueying frowned slightly. "But how can you guarantee that you will like reading medical books? What if you find that you don't like it after reading for a few days?"
"If I don't like a book, I won't read it anymore."
"Brother, please don't say such angry words. Studying doesn't necessarily mean passing the imperial examinations. Studying can help one understand the truth, know one's words and deeds, distinguish right from wrong, and learn various skills. So, I will only support you in studying when I know you still want to study. If you like to read medical books, I still support you. I have medical books and I can show them to you first. But the prerequisite is that you truly like it, and you are not giving it up for Xiaofan."
"I really wanted to be a doctor, especially when my mother was sick. I thought, how great it would be if I were a doctor. Not only could I treat my mother, but I could also treat more poor people."
"You don't want to make money and provide free medical care to the poor, do you?" Anping's ambitions were even greater than Wan Xueying had imagined. But if he didn't intend to make money and just be a good person, then forget it. It would be better to just farm and at least support himself and his family.
"No, no, no," Anping said, his face flushing slightly. "I just... I just want to charge less for treating poor people."
Wan Xueying nodded and said, "A doctor's heart is full of compassion. If you can really become a doctor, I hope you can still remember what I said today."
An Ping nodded heavily, and said firmly as if he was making a vow: "I can do it."
It seemed like he really wanted to be a doctor, but Wan Xueying had something else to say: "Even if you want to be a doctor, you still have to study. Otherwise, how can you learn medical skills? How can you write prescriptions for people?"
"But……"
"But you're still worried about delaying Xiaofan, right?" Wan Xueying continued his hesitant words.
"yes."
"Don't worry about that. I'll send Xiaofan to a better school later, and you can continue studying with Mr. Gu." Gu Ming's words to Wan Xueying were meant to indicate his concern for Anfan's limitations. If Gu Ming had only taught Anping to read and write, he wouldn't have had such concerns.
"Is this okay?" It seemed as if Xiaofan was sent to school because of him.
"Mr. Gu still has to take the imperial examinations, so he doesn't have the energy to teach Xiaofan. If you don't want to take the imperial examinations and just want to learn to read, it will not only help you, but also help Mr. Gu."
Sure enough, after Wan Xueying told Gu Ming about this matter, Gu Ming also thought that this arrangement was the best.
Wan Xueying also asked An Fan for his opinion. Although An Fan was young, he acted like a little adult, analyzing the pros and cons with Wan Xueying.
Finally, he thought it would be a good idea to go to school, where he could learn more knowledge from different teachers and make friends with classmates of the same age.
Of course, this is mostly the result of Wan Xueying's guidance.
When Wan Xueying discussed with Shen Yu which school to send An Fan to, Shen Yu smiled and replied, "Not to mention Ningjiang County, there aren't many good schools or academies in the North. I don't think we should rush this matter. Let's talk about it after the Shen family arrives."
"You mean that after the Shen family arrives, they will open schools and academies?"
"That's what my father meant in his letter. The main thing is that the Shen family has produced many scholars and juren over the years, and even three jinshi. They were implicated in the Duke's Mansion incident and could no longer serve as officials, but the emperor showed leniency and did not remove their honors. My father and some relatives planned to open schools and academies for them to teach. It just so happened that I wrote to them to discuss the family's relocation north. They felt that there were no good schools and academies here, so why not ask them to come here and try it out."
Wan Xueying's eyes lit up after hearing this, "That would be great if that's the case."
Wan Xueying had expected many people to come with the Shen family on their northern migration, but when she saw them, not only she, but even Shen Yu was stunned. He couldn't help but ask the leader of the team, his eldest brother, Shen Rong, the son of the Duke of Yuanping, "Brother, are these all from our family?"
"Yes," Shen Rong nodded, "but some of them are not our relatives, but skilled craftsmen our family has hired over the years. Because we are building a new city, my father and my relatives asked me to bring them along. Maybe they can be of use."
"What are they good at?" Shen Yu was very curious about this.
"Agriculture, medicine, industry, commerce, even sericulture, weaving, dyeing, and making pottery and porcelain, almost everything you can think of is available." The Shen family certainly knew that there would be a competition with the Cui family, so they not only sent Shen Rong over, but also sent all their best talents over.
There are a total of 2,000 people, covering all aspects of life. It is indeed worthy of being one of the most powerful families in Da Yan.
Wan Xueying deeply felt that with such a large group of people, any place could be regarded as a city.
Just as she was lost in thought, Shen Rong asked Shen Yu, "Is this Miss Wan?"
"Yes," Shen Yu hurriedly introduced, "Brother, she is Xueying."
"Hello, Mr. Shen!" Wan Xueying bowed slightly to him.
"Miss Wan is polite!" Shen Rong returned the greeting and nodded. "My parents have said that Miss Wan is a rare and good girl in this world. They asked you to treat her well."
This was more than just an endorsement for Wan Xueying. Wan Xueying was a little confused, not expecting the Shen family to accept her so easily. Shen Yu smiled foolishly and said, "Dad and Mom are right, Xueying is indeed a rare and good girl in this world. I will definitely treat her well."
"That's good." Then, Shen Rong introduced several influential people from the Shen family that he brought with him to the two of them.
Wow, in addition to a large number of scholars and juren, three jinshi, one of whom was a fourth-rank official in the court, were all here.
Wan Xueying and Shen Yu naturally treated them with great courtesy.
More people is good, but how to arrange for two thousand people to come at once?
"Brother, how did you get here? How did you solve the problem of food and accommodation on the road?" Shen Yu couldn't help but ask Shen Rong.
"Don't mention it. It was better when there were post stations and inns. It was so hard when there weren't any. But," Shen Rong added, thinking of Shen Yu's long journey in exile, "it must have been easier than your time."
Well, Shen Yu also figured it out. People like his elder brother are definitely better off, but it’s hard to say about those craftsmen, guards and servants.
But the problem still remains: how are we going to find food and lodging for these two thousand people? This isn't a road trip, so we'll just have to make do.
"Or, let them find a place to build a house first?" Shen Yu suggested when discussing with Wan Xueying.
"That will take time." Wan Xueying thought for a moment, "I think we should go to the villages that were previously destroyed by the bandits and see how many houses are still habitable. If possible, we can settle these two thousand people in those villages first."
If they were only staying for a short time, those heavyweights could certainly live in Wan Xueying and Shen Yu's mansion. But this time they planned to stay for a long time, so it would be better to separate from the beginning.
As for whether Shen Yu wanted to live with Shen Rong first, that was a decision for the two brothers, and Wan Xueying didn't intend to get involved.
At this moment, Shen Yu also thought that Wan Xueying’s suggestion was very good, so he took Shen Rong and others to the village for a few rounds.
After a while, I found that there were not many people left in these villages, and most of them were those who had fled famine before.
Most of the houses were destroyed, but there were some empty houses that could be occupied after simple repairs.
After discussing with several relatives, Shen Rong decided to wait until he met with the Cui family to discuss the construction of the new city. For now, they would settle down in these villages, and he even selected a house for himself.
The Shen family settled down like this.
The construction of a new city has become urgent, otherwise it would be unreasonable for so many people to be idle.
They also faced a serious problem: they couldn't rely solely on the Cui family's money. They had already stated that they would only cover the cost of building the new city. As for how the Shen family would support themselves, they would have to rely on themselves to make money.
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