Now that the scholar's wife is pregnant, Xia's mother is overjoyed.
At the beginning of the year, Magistrate Zhang publicly reprimanded Scholar Xia, which was a wake-up call for him.
The county government also registered his academic degree as a scholar and exempted the Xia family from taxes.
Xia Xiucai's mood has improved a lot in the past six months. He is enthusiastic about teaching, while Xu Gensheng, who is always illiterate, is criticized by name.
Although they occasionally recite poems about nature, this is also a way for scholars to express their aspirations through song.
Having a baby is a joyous occasion, and miscarriage is not necessarily a bad thing.
When Shi Houzi was selling firewood at his family's house, his aunt was already heavily pregnant, but then her belly shrank again without him noticing.
In the sweltering summer, a stillborn child was born. Old Shi wrapped it in straw, tied it into a bundle, and hung it directly on a tree by the roadside where the villagers usually walked.
It wasn't until the villagers saw that "thing" that they realized the Shi family had given birth to a stillborn child, and all the women in the village were terrified.
This was originally an ancient custom in certain parts of Ba County. The resentment of infants who died young was so strong that they needed to be hung on trees so that passersby could see them and allow the children to be reincarnated as soon as possible.
The fact that the Shi family gave birth so quietly was quite alarming.
Jiang Zhi would be happy if other families had children, but his family's situation was not suitable for having another child.
According to village custom, each new mother receives a chicken, and the Shi family does too, and they can eat chicken for three months straight.
Along with the chicken, rice and noodles were also sent, along with herbs that Jiang Zhi had Tian Gui help dig up. She instructed the Shi family to make sure the new mother ate a bowl of chicken soup with added herbs every month to help her recover.
The medicine was delivered secretly, without letting anyone else in the village know, and without telling the Shi family the real purpose.
At the Xia family's house, Jiang Zhi returned the bowls and plates and casually asked why Xia Xiucai and Xia Yuan weren't home.
Xia's mother said, "He took Xia Yuan to town. Yesterday, Song Tingzhang invited him to a poetry gathering!"
"Ah, you can write poetry?" Jiang Zhi suddenly realized.
Xia Xiucai's mental state is beginning to recover, and his interpersonal relationships are slowly returning to normal.
Although the three scholars in Pear Blossom Town had become wealthy landlords, they still occasionally dabbled in literature. Old Song then started taking Crazy Brother there.
This is a good thing. As long as it doesn't provoke Crazy Brother, Jiang Zhi is happy to see Xia Xiucai expand his network: "Sister-in-law Xia, when Xia Xiucai returns, please let him know. I need to discuss something with him. I have a lot of things to do at home, so I'll head back now!"
Xia's mother agreed, "Okay, we'll let him come to your house when he gets back."
Now that Jiang Zhi lives in her own home, it's convenient for her to discuss anything.
Back at the new house, Errui returned the items, and Qiaoyun, along with Tan Shi and Hexiang, sorted through the gift boxes given by Song Tingzhang and the others.
Nini had already run over and was sitting with Caixia in the open hall inside the gate, each eating a pastry.
Wang Xiaoju's son, Xu Leizi, hid behind a doorpost by the gate, tilting his head and peering inside with longing eyes.
The child is not yet six years old, a little younger than Nini, but he is timid, cries easily, is a picky eater, and gets sick all the time, which makes Wang Xiaoju very angry.
Jiang Zhi walked over and patted Lei Zi's head: "Lei Zi, go inside and play with Nini and the others!"
Lei shook his head, turned around and ran away.
A moment later, Wang Xiaoju was seen rushing over, carrying a box of pastries in one hand and Lei Zi, who had run away, in the other.
Upon seeing Jiang Zhi, he complained, "Auntie, look at this child, what kind of future does he have? He said he saw Nini and Caixia eating cakes and he wanted to eat some too, but he didn't dare to come in. He insisted that I bring some snacks from home so we could eat together."
Seeing Wang Xiaoju blush with worry because of her weak son, Jiang Zhi was speechless. This child... really doesn't seem like Wang Xiaoju!
"Xiaoju, let Leizi come over to play more often from now on! Nini and Caixia will have another playmate!" Qiaoyun came over, smiling, and led Xu Leizi into the yard.
Caixia ran over and pulled him, "Brother, have some sugar cake!"
Nini pouted, "He just cried, you crybaby!" She looked down on her cousin, who was half a year younger than her.
"Wow!" Xu Leizi cried again!
Wang Xiaoju was so angry that she raised her hand to slap her: "You spineless coward, you cry over just one word from Sister Ni."
Jiang Zhi stopped her: "Children are weak and cry easily. Hitting them won't work. If they run and jump more, they'll eat more and naturally stop crying."
Lei Zi was taken there by Qiao Yun, and soon he was playing with Nini and Cai Xia.
Wang Xiaoju said somewhat awkwardly, "Auntie, Leizi will probably be coming over quite often from now on!"
Jiang Zhi laughed and said, "Come on over. I don't need to feed you. Anyway, there are only a few children in my family, and they can go to school together in the future."
Upon hearing the word "school," Wang Xiaoju's eyes lit up immediately: "Auntie, are you really going to open a school?"
Jiang Zhi nodded, but said, "It's not certain yet. We need to discuss it with everyone. After all, if we want a school, we need separate classrooms first, and those can be built."
The night school in Xujia Village was somewhat irregular; people would just gather together for a short while in the evening.
Xia Xiucai sometimes chatted about local customs, sometimes taught arithmetic, but most of the time he only explained one or two words, which was far from being a true cultural education.
Now there are more than 20 children of all ages in the village. Some are eager to learn and come every day, while others don't like learning and don't participate. Jiang Zhi thought it would be good to start a class.
Divide the learning process into first grade and second grade, and the content taught can be more in-depth.
However, this is just my own idea, and I still need to discuss it with Xia Xiucai.
After all, there will only be one teacher for multiple grades in the school in the future, and he will need to take on the responsibility alone. What if Crazy Brother can't handle it?
Wang Xiaoju is the kind of person who always looks for trouble when there's nothing else to do.
Although the workshop had only been shut down for a few days, she, as the supervisor, felt bored and listless. When she heard that they were going to build classrooms and set up a school, she immediately clung to Jiang Zhi and wouldn't leave, insisting on finding out what it meant.
Jiang Zhi now frequents the county government office, and everyone believes whatever she says; perhaps this is what the county magistrate ordered to be done.
So while Jiang Zhi was working, she explained to the people in the open hall how schools in big cities operated.
Upon hearing that both boys and girls needed to go to school, He Xiang quickly asked, "Madam, can I go to school?"
During the past few months, He Xiang had been staying in the mountains and was very envious of Qiao Yun's ability to keep accounts.
Jiang Zhi naturally hoped that all her servants were literate, so that she, as their mistress, would have a good reputation. At the very least, she didn't want anything she had written to be used to start a fire.
She nodded to He Xiang: "As long as you finish your chores at home, you can go to the classes when you have time!"
He Xiang was delighted: "Madam, I will definitely take good care of things at home."
Jiang Zhi then looked at Madam Tan: "From now on, both Da Xiang and Xiao Xiang will have to learn to read!"
Madam Tan moved her lips, thinking that it was useless for girls to learn to read and write; it would be better for them to learn to make insoles so that men would like them when they got married.
However, what she had seen and heard in Xujia Village these past few days had repeatedly shattered her understanding, and if she said "no" again, the lady would be unhappy.
So, Madam Tan lowered her head and said, "This servant will make Daya and Erya study hard!"
"Remember, those are the big and small incense sticks, don't get them wrong again!" Jiang Zhi corrected him patiently.
Mrs. Tan agreed readily today, which is a good sign. It's okay to be slow, as long as things can be improved.
"Yes, it's Da Xiang and Xiao Xiang!" Madam Tan quickly corrected herself, reminding herself that when she saw her daughter again, she must remember not to call her Da Ya or Er Ya anymore.
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