However, in the ancestral hall of Xujia Village, two enrollment notices were casually placed on the table, and several clan elders were also there, all of them with conflicted expressions.
Xu Yaozu also stood aside without saying a word.
Of the two admission cards, one was clearly much more prestigious than the other. The teacher who delivered the admission cards also mentioned that Dean Li had personally inscribed the name on the other admission card.
It was the admission card of the last student selected to become the dean, and it bore the name Jiang Jingyi, not Xu Yaozu.
Everyone knows that becoming Dean Li's student guarantees him academic success, so why doesn't such an opportunity fall to Xu Yaozu?
Jiang Jingyi, a child who lost his mother and never went to school, why would Dean Li take a liking to him?
The more Xu Yaozu thought about it, the darker his heart became, and he clenched his fists tightly under his sleeves.
“No way! Jiang Jingyi is an outsider, not even from our Xu Family Village. Why should he become Dean Li’s student at Shifang Academy?” an elder of the clan said discontentedly.
“But the names are already written on the enrollment card, aren’t they? Can they be changed?” another elder sighed heavily.
“Then tell him to give this opportunity to our Yaozu,” Xu Dagui said immediately, slamming his hand on the table.
"Jiang Hua, that wretched girl, is my daughter. Even if we sever ties, she's still my daughter," Xu Dagui said with a stern face. He was furious, thinking about how Jiang Hua had been threatening him with the letter severing ties.
"We'll go find her then, give her some money, and ask her to persuade that motherless bastard to give the opportunity to his younger brother."
Xu Dagui had already made his plans in his mind. Anyway, his family had started making money now, since Lin Shuyan and Young Master Ye had also opened a shop together in town.
It was precisely because of this that Xu Dagui quit his job at the town's docks and instead tended to a few acres of land at home, for which Yan Yan would give him money.
"Alright, let's do as Da Gui says." Xu Wanli gritted his teeth and slammed his hand on the table, making the decision.
He had been putting up with Jiang Hua for a long time, and now that Jiang Xingzhou was gone, all that was left at home was Jiang Hua and that child. He wondered who would stand up for her.
“If they are unwilling at that time, then they don’t need to stay in Xu Family Village.” Xu Wanli’s voice was gloomy.
"Village Chief!" Uncle Liu's heart skipped a beat as he looked at Xu Wanli.
This is the first time I've felt that the village chief is so unfamiliar.
"Old Liu." Xu Wanli suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked at Uncle Liu.
“Your family has a good relationship with her and you’re close to her. You should try to persuade her.”
"How can this be? Village Chief, this was clearly Jiang Hua's stepson who got Dean Li to accept him based on his own merits." Uncle Liu rejected Xu Wanli's words without even thinking.
"What are you doing! Are you even a member of Xujia Village anymore?!" Xu Dagui retorted angrily.
The other elders echoed this sentiment, believing that Xu Yaozu's ability to become the dean's last student was the most important thing.
“Village chief, I’m just stating the facts. Anyway, Yaozu went to Shifang Academy, didn’t he? It’s not much different; they’re all from the same academy,” Uncle Liu advised again.
"No way! Why shouldn't such a great opportunity go to Yaozu!" Xu Dagui was still shouting.
“Village chief, elders, as you all know, so many people want to receive the teachings of that abbot, but no amount of money can buy them.”
"That's settled then, Lao Liu. If you're still a resident of Xujia Village, then do as Wanli says." One of the elders left these words behind before getting up shakily and departing.
"Yaozu, go back and focus on your studies. Leave the rest to us," Xu Wanli said, patting Xu Yaozu on the shoulder.
Xu Yaozu nodded and left.
Throughout the entire conversation, he kept his lips pursed and didn't utter a single word, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.
After returning home, Jiang Hua and her companion did not rush to ask Xu Wanli for their school admission cards. Instead, they first put the things they had bought into the kitchen.
Is Huahua home?
Uncle Liu's voice rang out from outside Jiang Hua's courtyard gate.
“Stepmother, Grandpa Liu is here.” Jiang Jingyi quickly moved a stool out to invite Uncle Liu to sit down.
"Uncle Liu, is something the matter?" Jiang Hua saw Uncle Liu looking worried as soon as she came out of the kitchen.
“Huahua, your son Ayi has been selected by the dean, but the village chief and the others want you to give up your spot to Xu Yaozu,” Uncle Liu said with a troubled expression.
"I'm so angry! I'm so angry!"
Before Jiang Hua could respond to Uncle Liu's words, she heard Aunt Liu walking in from outside, cursing and throwing her empty basket on the ground.
"Auntie, what's wrong?" Jiang Hua went up to her and asked.
“They’re not even from the village. They’ve taken over that bamboo forest in the mountains and won’t let me go dig bamboo shoots.”
"They said that the bamboo shoots in the mountains have been contracted out to that young master Ye," Aunt Liu said indignantly.
"Auntie, sit down and have some water to calm down. If we can't find this side of the mountain, we'll go somewhere else. Besides, we have enough bamboo shoots at home," Jiang Hua said, pouring her a glass of water.
"I just can't stand them, they're so awful. They're implying that you're not from this village." Aunt Liu took the water from the cup and drank it all in one gulp.
After sitting down, she noticed her husband was there too: "Weren't you supposed to be at the ancestral hall discussing something? What are you doing here?"
Uncle Liu sighed and recounted what had just happened in the ancestral hall.
"What? This is really too much! This is taking advantage of the fact that your man isn't here!" Aunt Liu said, rolling up her sleeves.
"It's alright, Auntie, we can just move to another village," Jiang Hua said nonchalantly.
"I'm just afraid of implicating you and Uncle Liu, making it harder for you to get along with everyone in the village in the future."
"There's no need to get along anymore. We might as well move out. We've already fallen out anyway," Aunt Liu said angrily.
"Sigh." Uncle Liu sighed. What the village chief and the clan elders had said today had made him consider the same idea.
His wife's words just now caused him to fall out with the villagers again, which only strengthened his resolve.
Even if he has never been to school, he still has basic moral principles. What is not his own is not his own, and he cannot force it. He will not do anything that violates his moral bottom line.
What kind of behavior is it to bully a mother and child? And to be the village head, shouting that he would drive them out of the village, what kind of talk is that?
And Xu Yaozu too, as a scholar, is it enough to just keep quiet? In the end, isn't he the one who benefits from this?
The village wasn't like this before, but now, under his leadership, it's become increasingly chaotic and disorderly.
"Auntie, to be honest, Ayi and I are indeed planning to move away from Xujia Village."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
