The family now owns four shops. One is a general store that sells all sorts of things; another is a sweet potato seedling shop, which now sells not only sweet potato seedlings but also other seeds and vegetable seedlings, turning it into a seed shop.
The third shop is the bookstore that Yue Jiuyue wanted to open last year. It contains not only various mythological stories and idiom stories that Yue Jiuyue wrote throughout the winter, but also various enlightenment books written by other family members, including "Women's Precepts", as well as Lin Chaobei's imaginative story collections.
The fourth shop was a soap workshop that Yue Jiuyue had set up after Lin Chaodong left. It was a shop that sold soaps, and in the future, there might also be scented soaps, or if the Zhou family could make various cosmetics, they could also put them in the shop to sell.
The three shops in front were all looked after by Lin Chaonan alone. Lin Chaobei had also visited for a while last winter, but he suddenly wanted to write stories. During that time, even the position of shopkeeper had no appeal to him. He just focused on writing behind closed doors.
Yue Jiuyue had no idea when Lin Chaobei had gotten the idea of becoming a shopkeeper again. He had clearly been looking forward to making a living by writing stories. Was it really just a passing fad?
Regardless of whether it's just a passing fad, it's fine if Lin Chaobei can help her look after the shop for a while. She can take this opportunity to think about whether there's anyone in the family suitable to manage the shop. With Lin Chaobei supporting the preparations before the shop opens, it will give her some transition time.
Of course, if Lin Chaobei's decision this time is not just a passing fancy, then the shop can simply be handed over to him to look after. It's always easier and more reassuring for her to have family members around than for outsiders to use it.
Sigh! The reason she seems so busy every day lately is because without Xiaoman'er and Dazhuang, the house suddenly feels much quieter, which Yue Jiuyue is still not used to.
Just as Yue Jiuyue was lamenting how quiet her home was, Village Chief Lin came knocking on her door again.
This time, it wasn't about asking those people in the county town, but simply for the people in the village, or more precisely, for the children in the village.
It wasn't long before the village found out that Yue Jiuyue had a tutor, but at that time, no one was too embarrassed to visit. Later, they were busy with spring planting and clearing land to plant sweet potatoes. They only stopped for a while recently, but some people are still clearing land.
After all, the only crop that can grow regardless of the type of land is the sweet potato. And for farming families, nothing is more important than crops and grain.
“Chao Nan’s mother, I came here this time to ask if your teachers accept students? Tuition fees are negotiable, food and money are fine too, as long as it’s a little cheaper than those academies.”
The last sentence was spoken by Village Chief Lin in a very soft voice, so soft that only Yue Jiuyue could hear it.
After all, he was blatantly trying to take advantage of the situation, and he even took the initiative to ask for a lower tuition fee, which made his old face turn red.
I've never done anything so shameless in my life. This is truly the first time I've ever been so shameless.
"Does the village want the children to learn something?"
Yue Jiuyue asked.
If it's just about wanting the children to learn more, that's fine. But if someone has ambitions that are too high, Yue Jiuyue really wouldn't dare to accept the offer.
What if people think that Master Huang ruined their child's future?
Although Master Huang used to be quite powerful, that's all in the past; a hero doesn't dwell on past glories.
"Yes, we just want to make sure the children in the village aren't like us older generation, who are blind all their lives. We want them to have more choices when they grow up, even if they become shop assistants. Isn't that easier than carrying bags?"
And those young ladies, if they could learn needlework from your family, they'd have a skill to rely on when they grow up, and it would be easier for them to find husbands, wouldn't it?"
Village Chief Lin spoke with sincerity, but in Yue Jiuyue's view, his considerations were too one-sided.
"Village chief, elder brother, it's not that I disagree, nor is it a problem with tuition fees. Let's talk about the children's issues first."
The problem is probably not so big for boys. As long as the tuition fees aren't too high, I believe every family would be willing to support one or two children to learn to read. But what about the other children? Which family would so blatantly favor one or two of their children? Wouldn't the mothers of the other children have objections?
Now let's talk about girls. Needlework is a good skill, but to learn needlework, you must take good care of your hands. They don't have to be fair and tender, but at least they shouldn't be able to snag the thread, right? If your hands are too rough, the threads and fabric you crochet will be a mess, so how can you embroider?
But which family would be willing to let their daughters not do any work, treating them like royalty every day without doing any chores? Even if there were such families, they certainly wouldn't be all of them, right?
No matter how you look at it, bringing this up is just stirring up family conflicts in our village. If it really escalates, who will be responsible? The village chief?
Anyway, she won't take responsibility, and she doesn't even have any plans to open a private school in the village yet.
The village must have its own private school, but not now.
The best time to open a private school is when every household in the village has enough money to spare and no longer haggles over a few copper coins or a few pounds of grain.
"Forehead……"
Village Chief Lin was speechless at the question.
It's the kind of speechless silence that leaves you speechless.
He simply thought that teaching the village children to read and write and to do needlework was a wonderful thing, but he never expected it would cause family conflicts. After all, it was normal for the whole family to support one person to study in the past, and now being able to support more talented people, even if they don't go on to take the imperial examinations, is extremely beneficial to the whole family.
"Sigh! It was my oversight. Let's wait for the village to discuss this before making any decisions."
Village Chief Lin sighed and left.
He simply thought it was a good thing for the children in the village, but he didn't expect that his good intentions would almost lead to something bad.
They all live in the village, and he is also a part of the village. How could he not know what kind of trouble this "favoritism" would cause?
Otherwise, they wouldn't be the only family in the entire village with an educated person.
The reason why other families did not support their children to study was not because they did not know that this was the only way for them to get ahead in life, nor did they not know that even passing the imperial examination to become a student would be a great achievement that would bring glory to their family.
The reason for this is nothing more than "favoritism".
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