Chapter 2137 Suggestions
Cui didn't speak for a long time.
There were not only children in the charity hall, but also widows who had been driven out and had no means of livelihood, as well as some elderly people living alone. It was just that because of the smallpox epidemic, the survival rate of children was higher, so more children were accepted into the charity hall.
The number of people in the charity hall now is about four times that before the disaster.
Cui took over the charity because she felt that Yang Heshu was too overworked, and she also really loved the children there.
But she thought that ensuring they had food and clothing and letting them go home to divide the land when they were fourteen was already the limit. But Bai Shan said, do we also need to hire a teacher for them?
Cui rubbed her forehead, feeling that her dowry might be in danger.
However, since this was Bai Shan's suggestion, even though she had a headache, she still asked, "Do you want to hire a teacher to teach them how to read and write?"
"It's too expensive to teach them how to read and write, but if I were to choose a few particularly bright and clever ones and train them, it would be a good idea. They might even be able to help me in the future."
Cui raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you supposed to be able to read and write?"
Bai Shan said, "You can teach them some carpentry, sewing or embroidery. Arithmetic is also good. Farming is also good. These can all be learned."
Cui was surprised, "Farming?"
Bai Shan nodded. Seeing her surprised expression, he was also surprised. "Xuesao, you don't think they all know how to farm, do you?"
He said, "Farming is not that easy. They are still children and certainly haven't had time to learn. For example, they need to learn farming seasons, when to sow seeds, when to transplant rice, when to fertilize, when to water, how to judge whether crops have insects and what kind of insects they are. These are all things they need to learn from experienced farmers."
"If their parents and elders were still around, they would naturally learn these things little by little through labor, but now that they have lost their parents, they definitely don't know these things."
Cui:...She thought this was a well-known fact. After all, she just had to follow it.
Bai Shan didn't think so. He grew up in the village. Even if he saw it once a year, he would always make the wrong judgment the next year.
Even now he couldn't understand why his father-in-law could squat by the field, touch a handful of soil and know when to plant seeds without frost destroying them.
However, the Zhou brothers were able to learn this skill, and Zhou Sige bluntly said, "Only my eldest, second, and third brothers have learned this skill. I haven't learned it yet."
Old Zhou said bluntly, "If we let the fourth, fifth, and sixth sons farm on their own, they'll be starving in less than three years."
Obviously, not everyone can farm. Even Zhou Silang and his friends, who have been farming for so many years, cannot complete an entire farming season independently.
"Since we plan to give them land to farm when they turn fourteen, we must ensure that they can farm on their own."
Bai Erlang felt very sympathetic towards the children in the charity hall and said, "Farming is hard work."
Liu Huan and Yin Huo had never planted anything before, so they could understand his meaning for the time being and simply asked, "Why can't we just hire a teacher to teach them how to read and write?"
Manbao, who had been silent the whole time, said, "It costs too much."
Liu Huan and Yin Huo wondered, is it a big expense?
The two people who didn't want to eat meat couldn't understand. After all, they were born to study. It was a must and a must. They knew that children from ordinary families rarely studied because it cost money. But didn't they have Lord Yang and Madam Yang?
It shouldn't cost them much, right?
Doing good deeds, Liu Huan, who had a lot of money, said generously after receiving the luggage sent by his family: "Why don't I donate some money too? How much does it cost for them to study for two years?"
Bai Shan glanced at him and ignored him, saying to Cui, "Xuesao, you can discuss this with each family. It shouldn't be difficult for each family to send a few people who can read, do arithmetic, embroider, sew, and work as carpenters to teach the children in the charity hall. Also, those who are older now and want to go back to farming can ask the old farmers in the village to teach them for two years. When they turn fourteen and return to the village, they will be given land, crops, and tools to support themselves, so they won't have to worry about anything else."
Cui felt that this was a big project, but she was inexplicably excited.
She turned around twice and said, "Your idea is good. Let me think about it and make a decision."
If you want to do this, you have to do it for a long time, not just one or two years, at least twelve years, or even longer.
But they might not be able to stay in Xiazhou for that long, so they had to establish a rule so that even if they left, this thing could continue. Otherwise, once they left, things would be interrupted, and the children who were halfway through their studies would be left with nowhere to go. By then...
Cui fell into deep thought.
Seeing that she was thinking, Manbao and the others didn't disturb her and turned away.
When they got out of the yard, Manbao asked them, "Where did you go today?"
Bai Shan said, "I was just walking around the city. We were walking around the streets arranging patients, and I knew some families had some resentment towards Brother Yang, so I wanted to see how Brother Yang comforted them, and ended up walking and arriving at the charity hall."
He said, "What my sister-in-law said is right. There are a lot more people in the charity hall than before. I remember that the charity hall was also vacated to accommodate disaster victims before, but now there are more people living in it than during the disaster."
"so much?"
Bai Shan nodded. "Most of them are children who lost their parents and were forced to leave. Some were driven out after losing their fathers or mothers. Some were even..."
He paused and said, "They were abandoned while their parents were still alive."
Manbao was stunned and asked, "Why?"
Bai Erlang was angry, "Because they left too many pockmarks on their faces."
He is still angry. "We spent a day in the charity center. There were nine children there who were abandoned by their parents because they had too many acne scars on their bodies."
Bai Shan also sighed. At that time, he thought that being able to survive was a blessing. Who could have thought that after surviving, someone would abandon their child for such a reason?
"The manager of the charity said that the children found their way back when they were first abandoned, but were later abandoned again. Three were thrown directly into the woods, but were found and taken away by mountain people who were looking for wild vegetables. That's why they didn't get hurt," Bai Shan said. "Because of this, Brother Yang arrested several people, but didn't let them take the children back. Instead, he sent them all to the charity and issued severance letters for them."
It was also because Yang Heshu intervened that the manager specifically mentioned them when they were looking after the children in the charity hall.
Bai Shan asked Man Bao, "Can't the acne scars on their bodies be removed?"
The images of those children flashed through his mind. Although he wouldn't be scared,... it really had a big impact on them. When he went to see them, the nine children were always alone in one place, basically not looking up at people.
Manbao frowned and said, "There is currently no way to remove acne..." Or she could discuss this aspect with Teacher Mo in detail.
Woohoo, finally on time, good night
(End of this chapter)
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