"Sister-in-law, has Shuiqing said when the bookstore will open?" Zhang Hui asked with concern.
Is it called "opening for business"? She didn't really understand; she only knew that shops in the prefectural city and towns were called "opening for business".
Zhao Lan also looked at Wang Guifen with concern, hoping to get some information from her.
Their family knew the importance of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but it was already a great achievement for them to support Changlin's education; they simply couldn't afford to support another child.
With many children in the family, even if we have more money now and can earn more in the future, who will go to school for so many children? No matter who is chosen, there will still be many children left without access to education.
Now Fan Jin is willing to teach children to read, write, and do arithmetic, both boys and girls, without charging tuition fees. However, they have thought it through: if they don't have money, they can provide some food; if all else fails, they can use their strength to help with chores. They absolutely cannot let anyone teach them for free.
Wang Guifen shook her head. "I also really wanted to know when the academy would open, but I was too embarrassed to ask. It was originally Fan Jin who took the initiative to teach the children in our village to read and do arithmetic so that they would be better off. Asking about it would sound like urging them to open up, so I didn't ask."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Hui immediately nodded in agreement: "Yes, sister-in-law, you're right. Let's wait a little longer. We've come this far, a little more time won't make a difference."
"The school building is finished, but don't we still need to prepare a lot of things, like tables and chairs? Otherwise, how will the children write?" Zhao Lan suddenly thought of something and asked with concern.
Wang Guifen explained with a smile, "Lanlan, you've been working at the herbal medicine shop all this time, so it's normal that you don't know about the bookstore."
My father and a few other village leaders have agreed that since it's busy farming season, they need to plant medicinal herbs and winter wheat. Once that's over, they'll go up the mountain to cut down trees and find stones. They estimate they'll be going up the mountain in the next couple of days to look for suitable wood and stones.
Zhao Lan didn't understand. She knew that they were looking for wood to make tables and chairs, but what were they looking for stones for?
“Sigh, there are no carpenters in our village, and we can’t afford to make so many tables and chairs. Dad, Uncle Fan, Old Master Wang and a few other old men came up with a compromise: to saw a few pieces of wood of similar height to use as supports, and put bluestone slabs in the middle. The bluestone slabs are smooth and shiny, and we can dip water in them to write on them, which saves on ink and paper. Otherwise, how many people in the village can afford paper, ink and brushes?”
Then find stones of different heights to use as chairs, so that tall people can sit on low stones and short people can sit on high stones, making it easier for them to write. Wang Guifen knew these things best and explained them to the two of them in great detail.
She had already mentioned it to Shuiqing that afternoon.
They provided the money to buy the bricks and tiles, and they also provided the teachers. We can't expect them to provide everything from the tables and chairs to the writing implements, right? That would be ungrateful!
That's what her father and the other elderly people in the village thought. They've racked their brains a lot to come up with a solution, and she thinks it's very feasible.
Zhao Lan also thought it was a good idea after hearing it!
There are ways to make money even when you don't have any, and this method is quite good.
The three sisters-in-law chatted for a while before starting to prepare dinner.
They grow a lot of potatoes, and the villagers even exchange cornmeal for potatoes, so they don't lack food. These days, people who don't grow potatoes use the money from selling rabbits to buy grain, but they don't have to spend that money.
However, they did not deliberately save money. After earning more money, the head of the household bought a lot of oil and salt. In addition, they would occasionally exchange pork for pork and save all the lard rendered from it for cooking.
In the past, when cooking, we would just boil the food in water and then add a few drops of oil when it was time to take it off the heat. The broth would look like it had a layer of oil floating on top, but there wasn't much oil in it, and the food didn't taste very good. The same went for salt; we were reluctant to use too much. We didn't dare to make or made very little salty dried goods like pickled fish or meat.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
