Chapter 474 Finding a Teacher for the Children
Du Wanchun had Granny Zhuang take Xiao Mianmian, Yi'er, and Yu'er into the house.
The six scholars were led to the front yard of the Zhou family's residence.
Du Wanchun slowly walked over, glanced at them, and finally her gaze fell on the scarred man.
The man always kept his head down, as if he didn't want anyone to see his face.
"What's your name? Where do you live?" Du Wanchun asked him.
The man lowered his head even further and said in a hoarse voice, "My surname is He, and I live in Linzhou Prefecture."
"Linzhou..." Du Wanchun muttered softly, then looked him over for a moment before asking, "What books have you read?"
The man paused for a moment, then slowly said, "I've read so many books that I don't know which one to mention right now."
At this moment, a tall, thin man standing to the side suddenly sneered, "Judging from your appearance, you probably haven't been to school. Young man, this is Master Zhao. If you don't have any real skills, don't come here to pretend to be someone you're not."
This man, also from Linzhou, surnamed Wei, was a scholar.
He harbored resentment towards the scarred man from the moment he entered, thinking that the man was a vicious thug.
He was especially displeased when Du Wanchun interrogated him relentlessly.
Du Wanchun glanced at this scholar Wei, who was tall and thin, and indeed possessed the refined and handsome air of a scholar.
Unfortunately, this mouth is somewhat disliked.
She didn't say anything, walked past the scarred man, and slowly looked the rest of the people over.
He then went to the front hall and slowly sat down, saying, "Our Zhou family is currently recruiting two gentlemen. The most capable will be chosen, and we ask for your cooperation in the selection process."
"Yes, Manager Du."
The six scholars agreed in unison.
Most of these people came from poor families, and some failed the imperial examinations several times, so they could only farm at home while studying hard.
Everyone says the Zhou family is wealthy, and they give more silver than most wealthy families, which is much better than farming at home.
They would naturally prefer to teach here.
Moreover, there was another scholar who had passed the imperial examinations in the third round of the imperial examinations, and they wanted to take a shortcut through Zhou Ruiyuan to enter officialdom as soon as possible.
Du Wanchun first distributed the test questions that Zhou Ruiyuan had written in advance to them. There were three books in total, with ten questions in each book. She was not in a hurry to ask for the answers and gave them three days.
You can return the completed answer sheet to her here three days later.
Nan Fengling was responsible for handing the booklet to them. When she passed the scarred man, she paused for a moment and was slightly taken aback when she saw the calluses on his hand.
"Third sister-in-law," Du Wanchun called softly to her.
Nan Fengling snapped out of her daze, quickly handed the booklet to the scarred man, and turned back to Du Wanchun's side.
After distributing the booklets, Du Wanchun told them to go home and come back in three days.
These people were all from out of town. After leaving the Zhou family, they returned to their respective inns. Only the scarred man found a small alley, wrapped himself in a tattered cloth, and went to sleep.
After they had all left.
Nan Fengling's expression hardened slightly as she said, "Sister-in-law, that man just now knew martial arts; the calluses on his hands were clearly from long-term sword practice."
Du Wanchun was not surprised at all; instead, she smiled and said, "That's a good thing. If we hire him as a teacher, he can not only teach the children literature but also martial arts."
Nan Fengling asked doubtfully, "Sister-in-law, how can you say it's a good thing? If he's a vicious fugitive, aren't we just inviting a wolf into our house?"
Du Wanchun looked up at her and smiled, "Just as Xiaomianmian said, you can't judge a book by its cover. But your concerns are valid. Let's wait and see."
Nan Fengling nodded slightly, "Alright, I'll send someone to keep an eye on them."
Du Wanchun tacitly agreed, "Don't let them find out."
Nan Feng raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Sister-in-law, you can rest assured about my handling of things."
Du Wanchun smiled and led her into the house, "Before that, we have to eat the cold rice cake that Ruiyuan just made."
Nan Fengling's eyes shone brightly, and he nodded repeatedly with a smile.
Although Du Wanchun, the third sister-in-law, was a princess, she did not act like one at all during the years she lived in the Zhou family. She not only respected Aunt Zhou very much, but also respected Du Wanchun.
In her opinion, whatever her sister-in-law said was right.
As time went by, she had come to regard Du Wanchun as her own sister.
Du Wanchun had long regarded her as a younger sister.
The two of them went to the kitchen with smiles on their faces to eat cold rice cakes.
At night, while holding little Dongdong and feeding him egg custard, Aunt Zhou asked Du Wanchun, "Wanchun, the questions in that booklet aren't difficult. If you're quick, you can answer them in one night. Why give them three days?"
Du Wanchun smiled and replied, "Mother, these three days are just the right time to test their character."
Nan Fengling picked up where she left off and whispered to Aunt Zhou, "Mother, my sister-in-law asked me to send someone to keep an eye on them."
Aunt Zhou suddenly realized, "That's good, so as to avoid bringing in some people with impure intentions that might affect our Yi'er and Yu'er."
As she spoke, she took a handkerchief and wiped Xiaodongdong's mouth.
It's getting late now, and everyone has finished their dinner and is getting ready to go to bed.
Du Wanchun glanced at the door and saw that Zhou Ruiyuan had not returned yet, so she coaxed Xiao Mianmian, Yi'er, and Yu'er to go wash up.
Nan Fengling helped her fetch water for the three children.
Since Lian'er and Xiao Liuzi left, there are far fewer people to help with the work.
Fortunately, they were used to doing things themselves, and rarely asked servants to do anything they could do themselves.
Du Wanchun was afraid that they would hear things they shouldn't hear, so most of the servants in the mansion stayed in the front yard.
As night deepened, a small commotion arose in an inn not far from the Zhou family's residence.
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