"Hey, where's Xiao Jiang?" Aunt Liu looked around but couldn't see Jiang Xingzhou, so she asked.
“He has to go out for a while, he’ll be back in a bit,” Jiang Hua replied.
"Oh, I see. You two just got married and you're already going on a long trip." Aunt Liu sighed and said, "It must be hard on you, having to run your stall and take care of the child at the same time. You two are less than ten years apart."
“Ah Yi is very obedient, it’s alright. Setting up a stall in town won’t be difficult,” Jiang Hua said with a smile.
“Sigh, someone has to hold the family together, right? Ah Yi is old enough to go to school, you should think about that too.” Aunt Liu said again, as if she had remembered something.
"I don't know if Xiao Jiang has discussed this with you before. If the family is well-off, it would be better to send him to school, like Xu Yaozu, who is the only capable one in the village."
“This.” Jiang Hua looked at Jiang Jingyi. Jiang Xingzhou had not mentioned to her that the little one should go to school.
However, it wasn't impossible. Before he left, he entrusted all the affairs of his family to her and gave her two hundred taels of silver, which would be more than enough to send Jiang Jingyi to school.
“Auntie, let me think about it some more. Besides, there needs to be a school that will accept him,” Jiang Hua said.
"Oh, what are you still thinking about? I heard from my husband Tianming that the famous Shifang Academy in Qingshi Town will be coming to the village to recruit students on the fifteenth of next month. I think it's called something like 'selecting the best students,' but I don't really understand it," Aunt Liu said quickly.
"Shifang Academy is the most famous academy in several surrounding counties, mainly because the headmaster of Shifang Academy is the former tutor of the current emperor."
"After arriving here, I set up an academy. Many high-ranking officials and nobles in the town and county wanted to spend money to send their children in, but the headmaster didn't even look at them."
"The fifteenth of next month? That's still half a month away, plenty of time," Jiang Hua said, then waved to Jiang Jingyi, who was sitting at the door of the inner room reading a book.
"stepmother."
"Did you hear what Aunt Liu just said? Someone from Shifang Academy will be coming to recruit students. Do you want to give it a try?" Jiang Hua asked him.
“Why not give it a try? All the kids in the village will be going anyway,” Aunt Liu said first.
"Grandma Liu, will Xu Yaozu go over there?" Jiang Jingyi suddenly asked.
"Of course he's going! Why wouldn't he go? Shifang Academy is a place that every scholar would fight tooth and nail to get into. He's already back from the school in the next village and now he's studying at home every day," Aunt Liu said.
“Stepmother, I want to go too. I want to pass the imperial examinations so they can’t bully you anymore,” Jiang Jingyi said earnestly.
"Oh, so ambitious! Hurry up, let's produce another scholar from Xujia Village!" Aunt Liu chimed in.
"Then it's your decision." Jiang Hua didn't interfere, just as Jiang Xingzhou had silently cooperated with her before, without saying much.
"Okay." After replying, Jiang Jingyi walked back to his original spot and sat down to read.
"This child seems quite easy to take care of." Seeing Jiang Jingyi like this, Aunt Liu couldn't help but sigh again.
Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves grew closer, and then a carriage stopped in front of the courtyard. The carriage attracted many villagers to come and watch.
In such a remote place as Xujia Village, not a single horse-drawn carriage is seen coming in all year round, so this has become a rare sight.
"Huahua, is this where they came to see you?" Aunt Liu asked, looking at the carriage with some surprise.
"Miss Jiang, do you still remember me?"
Jiang Hua looked at the waiter who jumped down from the carriage and nodded.
“Miss Jiang, my name is Sun Nian. You can just call me Xiao Sun,” Sun Nian said respectfully.
"You came to see me today? Is there news from your employer?" Jiang Hua asked.
"Yes, the shopkeeper asked me to invite you over; it's urgent," Sun Nian replied immediately.
"Okay," Jiang Hua replied.
"Auntie, I have to go to town. Do you have time?"
"Yes, yes, you don't need to go to the fields today," Aunt Liu said quickly, thinking that Jiang Hua wanted her to take care of Jiang Jingyi first.
“Then Auntie, let’s take the carriage to town together,” Jiang Hua suggested.
"How can that be?" Aunt Liu quickly waved her hand in refusal. She was just a countrywoman, and the carriage looked so precious; it wouldn't be good if it got dirty.
"Auntie, let's go together. We can go for a stroll in town together then," Jiang Hua persuaded.
"Auntie, please come up with us. Our shopkeeper isn't a stingy person and won't mind these things."
Seeing that Sun Nian had already said so, Aunt Liu did not insist any further and had no choice but to agree, getting into the carriage with Jiang Hua and the others.
"Oh well."
After the carriage sped away, the crowd dispersed, and then a few people began to harbor ill intentions.
"Hey, Da Hua, where did Jiang Hua get such a great ability to actually ride in a carriage?" Qin Lianlian, a widow at the village entrance, asked as she approached.
"Tsk, who knows if she hooked up with some rich old man in town?" Li Dahua spat and said disdainfully.
“However, didn’t Liu also get on the carriage along with them?” Qin Lianlian added.
"Everyone in the village knows that Liu treats this girl like her own daughter. What's wrong with helping her cover it up? She might even get hush money!" Li Dahua said contemptuously.
"If Jiang Hua runs off with one of the gentry in town, will Jiang Xingzhou ask Madam Xu for the fifty taels of silver back after he finds out?" Qin Lianlian guessed.
"What does it have to do with us? We didn't take those fifty taels of silver," Li Dahua said indifferently.
“Dahua, you can’t say that. Xu Yaozu’s education costs a lot of money. I heard he wants to go to Shifang Academy next month, so he’ll have to spend some more money,” Qin Lianlian said.
"And then?" Li Dahua looked at Qin Lianlian, puzzled.
"Don't you understand this?" Qin Lianlian explained anxiously, "If the Xu family doesn't have that fifty taels of silver, your husband will have to ask the villagers to raise money for them."
"It seems that's true. This won't do. I have to go and talk to that old woman Xu and tell her to keep her daughter in line."
Upon hearing Qin Lianlian's subsequent words, Li Dahua immediately became displeased and turned to walk towards Xu Dagui's house.
Jiang Hua boarded a carriage, and what usually takes an hour was now completed in just one hour, bringing them to the entrance of Mingyue Tower in Qingshi Town.
"Miss Jiang, our boss is waiting in the private room on the second floor."
Upon seeing Jiang Hua and the others enter, Manager Bai immediately went to greet them.
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