When Magistrate Ling saw Master Ding bow to him, he pretended to cough and said, "Master Ding, please accept my condolences."
Master Ding hurriedly replied with trepidation, "Yes, yes, thank you for making this trip, sir. I am truly ashamed."
Master Ding was much more cautious in his attitude toward Magistrate Ling than he was toward Yan Qingqing.
Who could blame him when Magistrate Ling came from a prominent family? Although his rank was not as high as Yan Qingqing's, in terms of influence and connections, Yan Qingqing could not even come close.
Magistrate Ling said nonchalantly, "You don't need to be nervous. Mingzhao has sent people to offer their condolences, so it would be inappropriate for me not to come."
"Let's go, take me to offer incense to the old lady."
After saying that, he entered the Ding family's residence without speaking to Yan Qingqing.
Yan Qingqing was a little confused. She shouldn't have offended Magistrate Ling recently, so why did she feel like he had a problem with her?
However, Yan Qingqing didn't dwell on it; if they didn't want to talk to her, they just ignored her.
When Magistrate Ling saw Yan Qingqing leave directly, his face immediately darkened.
She's ignoring him completely. Should I ask him for favors in the future?
Or perhaps she now feels that his position is too low to handle anything significant for him, since he is currently just a minor seventh-rank county magistrate.
Thinking of this, Magistrate Ling had an idea: should he submit a memorial to the Emperor to move him up in rank?
When Yan Qingqing got home, it was still early, so she asked someone to invite Li Kaishan over.
Li Kaishan is very busy now, as he needs to make decisions on all kinds of matters, big and small, in the village.
But when he heard Yan Qingqing ask him to come, he put down what he was doing and rushed over.
When he arrived, Yan Qingqing was already waiting for him in the flower hall.
Li Kaishan didn't stand on ceremony and sat down on a chair to the side, asking with a smile, "Qingqing, is there something you need from me?"
Yan Qingqing nodded and said, "Actually, I've wanted to discuss this with Uncle Village Chief for a long time, but the conditions weren't right before, so I never said anything."
Upon hearing that this was a serious matter, Li Kaishan quickly pressed for details, saying, "Tell me, I'm listening."
Yan Qingqing said, "I want to build a school in the village so that children from Canghe Village and nearby villages will have the opportunity to study."
Even if it's not for the sake of pursuing officialdom, knowing a few characters is still good.
Li Kaishan was somewhat shocked upon hearing this. Building a school? This was something he had never dared to even dream of before.
If a school were built in their village, wouldn't all the children in the village be able to go to school and learn to read and write?
If everyone in the village could read, their village would be truly invincible.
In this era, scholars were highly respected.
This was especially true for ordinary people, because their only way to change their social standing was through studying and taking the imperial examinations.
But studying is not something that can be done overnight, and it also depends on talent.
Seeing that Li Kaishan was deep in thought, Yan Qingqing did not urge him.
Li Kaishan quickly came to his senses, slapped his thigh, and said with a smile, "If our village could really open a school, that would be a great thing for future generations."
To be honest, I never dared to think about it before, but now we do have the conditions to do so.
Whether it succeeds or not, I thank you on behalf of the children in the village.
After saying that, Li Kaishan bowed to Yan Qingqing.
He was genuinely grateful to Yan Qingqing.
Without Yan Qingqing, Canghe Village would not have the good life it has today, nor would it have had the opportunity to open a school.
Yan Qingqing quickly stepped forward to help Li Kaishan up and said to him, "Uncle Village Chief, you don't need to do this."
As a member of Canghe Village, this is what I should do.
I've already paid for the school building, but the rest will require your help, Uncle Village Chief.
Li Kaishan repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Yan Qingqing and assured her that the matter would be handled perfectly.
After leaving the Li family's gate, Li Kaishan ran all the way home to get his newly bought gong.
Building a school is a major event in the village, and the whole village must know about it.
This is a tremendous good thing for the entire Canghe Village, and there is no doubt that everyone supports it.
Most villagers weren't as wealthy as Yan Qingqing, but they were all willing to contribute to building the village school.
Li Kaishan went to great lengths to find the best feng shui spot in the village.
Then they asked someone to choose an auspicious day and started construction.
The construction of the school was made possible not only by the villagers of Canghe Village, but also by the strong laborers sent by people from several nearby villages.
Their goal was simple: once the school was built, many children from their village would want to come and study there, which would be cheaper than going to college in the county town.
In particular, the village chiefs from several villages came in person.
Several village chiefs surrounded Li Kaishan, asking him all sorts of questions.
Village Chief Yang of Dayang Village: [Village Chief, what brings you to the idea of building a school all of a sudden? This is a big deal!]
The village chief of Wangjia Village chimed in, "Yes, yes, it will be so much more convenient for the children to go to school after the school is built in the village."
Li Kaishan replied with a smile, "This wasn't my idea; it's just because our village has a wise and discerning official."
She paid for all the money to build the school.
The village chiefs from the other villages were incredibly envious after hearing this. Why didn't their villages have such a capable person? He truly brought blessings to the entire village.
Li Kaishan often dealt with these people, so he naturally knew what these seasoned veterans were thinking.
So he said, "Alright, you've all done your part. I'll talk to Mingzhao later and make sure you don't work for nothing."
"The children in your village should at least benefit from this."
Upon hearing this, the village chiefs all grinned, revealing their bright white teeth.
With Li Kaishan's words, they were all relieved.
In fact, building a school wouldn't cost much money; Yan Qingqing's goal was simply to ensure that children from the surrounding villages could attend school.
She no longer had the capacity to give any more.
Although Li Kaishan was in charge of overseeing the construction of the school, the construction work was entrusted to Li Sanniu.
The blueprints were naturally produced by Yan Qingqing.
Yan Qingqing did the math and concluded that building ten schools should be enough, since it was impossible for all the children to attend.
In addition, there were the students' dormitory and the canteen.
Li Sanniu showed Yan Qingqing the blueprints and gave her his suggestions for changes. Yan Qingqing thought they were good, since the house hadn't been officially built yet and it was still possible to change the plans.
Li Sanniu was overjoyed to have gained Yan Qingqing's approval. He looked at Yan Qingqing and said with a smile, "Second Sister-in-law, your status in our Canghe Village is quite extraordinary now."
His reputation is renowned not only in our Canghe Village, but throughout the entire Great Yan Dynasty.
Yan Qingqing said "Oh," looked at him with a smile, and asked, "How come I didn't know? It can't be that exaggerated, can it?"
Li San Niu was not lying when he said that.
Li Sanniu immediately told Yan Qingqing about the news he had heard from the merchants.
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