There was a hint of grievance in his voice. Tong Wenyao looked at his face and saw a trace of heartache in his eyes. She helped him make a decision and said, "In that case, you can spend the New Year here. It will be more lively with more of us."
After hearing this, Wen Ziyu said with some reserve, "Will it cause you trouble?"
Seeing the cautious and tentative look on Wen Ziyu's face, Tong Wen Yao felt a little distressed. She used to be like that, but now she has a family who loves her.
"No, didn't you say before that you would join the army? After the New Year, my second uncle and my eldest brother will go to the border, and you can go with them then."
Wen Ziyu's face was dim and unclear. Tong Wenyao thought he was in so much pain that he couldn't stand it. Then she continued, "Do you want me to prescribe some painkillers for you?"
He shook his head and said, "No, I'll listen to you."
At first, I thought Wen Ziyu would only be here for a few days, so he only brought two sets of clothes. Just now, Tong Wenyao saw that the clothes he was wearing were relatively thin, so she said, "Dongzi, go to the county and buy two sets of clothes in his size. They should be thick and cold-resistant for him to wear."
After hearing this, Wen Ziyu said, "No need, I'm not cold." Tong Wen Yao glanced at Dongzi, and he immediately understood and ran out.
"Here, just listen to me."
Xing'er said from the side, "Miss, the village chief is here." As soon as she finished speaking, Xiaohua brought Wu Qing in, "I came here to thank you for saving our people. If it weren't for you, many people in the village would have been eaten by wild boars."
Wen Ziyu glanced at Tong Wenyao and said, "I have to be loyal to the person who entrusted me with the task. The Tong family has already given me money, so I can't ask for more from you."
Wu Qing was dissatisfied after hearing this: "What the Tong family gave is the Tong family's, and what we gave is ours."
He declined after hearing this, "That's not necessary. In that situation, anyone else would have saved her too."
Tong Wenyao said from the side: "Aren't wild boars taken to the town to be sold? Why not give him one-third and let the villagers divide the rest? I wonder what the village chief thinks."
After hearing this, Wu Qing glared at her and said angrily, "Are we such people? At least give him two-thirds!"
Wen Ziyu said directly: "One third is fine, I don't want the rest."
Wu Qing patted his hands and said with tears in his eyes: "Thank you very much. I will send you the money when the time comes. Food will also be provided by our villagers. You can rest assured to stay at the Tong family."
Tong Wenyao smiled and said after hearing this: "Grandpa Qing, we can cook his meal together in the backyard. There is no need to trouble the villagers."
Thinking of the village school before, she said: "Speaking of this, Grandpa Qing, how about using the money from the wild boar to build a village school? After the New Year, a teacher will come."
When he heard Tong Wenyao say this, his eyes lit up instantly and he slapped his thigh and said, "Are you telling the truth?"
"How dare I lie to Grandpa Qing! But we still need to do a statistics when the time comes. If there are a lot of people, we will have to go to the county to hire a teacher." Wu Qing hesitated after hearing this and said, "If we hire one teacher, the villagers can still afford it, but if we hire two, then I'm afraid the children in the village will have no money to go to school."
Tong Wenyao said, "Grandpa Qing, here's what we're thinking. Our Tong family will pay for the tutoring for the master and his wife for three years, and after that, your village will pay for it. How about that?"
Wu Qing was a little bit incredulous and asked, "You mean to let the children in our village study for free for three years?" Tong Wenyao smiled and said, "The teaching is free, but you still have to provide the pens and paper."
She continued, "After three years, it will be up to you to decide whether to have just one teacher or two. All children in the village, regardless of age, can come and study."
Tong Wenyao felt that even though they had already started teaching in the village, movable type printing couldn't be neglected. And paper was a must! They could then be provided with free paper for their studies. There were plenty of bamboo trees in the mountains behind them, enough to stretch across several hills. She remembered that bamboo paper was also used in modern times, so she thought she could give it a try after the Lunar New Year.
Wu Qing said, "But now the only source of income for the village is your spicy noodle workshop. Even making kangs is a chore now rare."
"Grandpa Qing, does the bamboo forest on the back mountain have an owner?" Wu Qing pondered for a moment and said, "It used to be owned, but now it belongs to the government. We villagers usually go up there to dig bamboo shoots, so it's nothing serious."
"Grandpa Qing, we can lend money to your village. When the time comes, whichever bamboo forest you choose to buy, I have a secret recipe for making paper." After hearing this, Wu Qing's hands trembled as he tried to find a chimney to smoke a cigarette, his face looking a little distracted.
Tong Wenyao waved her hand in front of him and said, "Grandpa Qing, don't you want to do business?"
His eyes refocused as he looked at her and said, "I never thought that there would be a time when smoke would come out of the ancestral tombs of our Wu family." The secret recipe of paper was all in the hands of the aristocratic families. With this, the Wu family believed that it would not be long before they would become an aristocratic family. He didn't expect that she would casually say that she wanted to write down the secret recipe. In fact, she could run her own business, but he didn't expect that she would be willing to help the Wu family.
After thinking for a moment, Wu Qing said, "Since you said this, then please ask the village elders to talk to them together and make a decision when the time comes." Wu Qing felt that since she was willing to help them, he would not let her down.
"Xiao Huaizi, go call Second Grandpa, Third Grandpa, and Fifth Grandpa." Tong Wenyao said, "In that case, let's go to the study and talk."
"Well, that's as it should be."
In the study, Tong Wen Yao was sitting in the main seat, with Xing'er pouring tea beside her, "Grandpa Qing, try this tea, it's Luochundai, a tea unique to Beijing." If there was anything Second Aunt liked, it would be Luochundai. After making money, Second Aunt directly asked someone to buy Luochundai in Cangzhou, and she would drink it almost every two or three days, and she also told her that this was her life-saving medicine!
Tong Wen Yao tasted it and found it slightly sweet. The tea was not very strong and even had some green color. When she put it in water, it looked like cute and playful elves.
After a while, Xiao Huaizi ran in first, followed by the second elder and the fifth elder.
The elder of the Five Clans spoke up and asked, "The Third Brother will be here soon! He asked us to come over first. I heard from the eldest brother that you want to build a village school?"
"Well, so we are discussing it now."
The second elder disagreed, "How much will that cost? Have you ever calculated it? In my opinion, it's better to go to the county to study. They teach more."
When Wu Qing heard the second elder say this, he directly ordered: "Second elder, if you don't want to do it, don't send your grandson to school in the future."
"Hmph!" He turned his head away and stopped talking.
Tong Wenyao took a look and said directly: "I was the first to propose the establishment of a village school. If some of you don't want to, then we can invite teachers to teach them at home and we won't run the village school anymore."
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