Chapter 39 Discusses the Matters of the County Private School
This year's Spring Festival is relatively late. After the Laba Festival, it was more than ten days later before the Little New Year.
The shop is also closed for half a day today. Yang Qiaomai had asked him for leave a couple of days in advance, saying that she was busy moving today and was afraid she wouldn't be able to come to the shop to help.
He even specifically asked if he needed any help.
Yang Qiaomai only said that there wasn't much stuff at home, and that a few people in her family could handle it.
Guo Baiwen let him go.
As the Lunar New Year approaches, the temperature in the county town is getting lower and lower.
The colder the weather gets, the more Grandma Guo likes to sit in front of those two big pots.
Even when the store closed for a break, they never came out from the storefront.
According to her, even lighting your own brazier costs money.
Anyway, we're all just using fire for warmth.
It doesn't matter where you sit.
Fortunately, Guo Baiwen bought a chair with a backrest from carpenter Hu. The height was just right in front of the big pot, so he didn't have to stand up to get the vegetables or cook them.
Guo Xiaohua also made a cushion for her grandmother to sit on, and she specially filled it with new cotton.
It's fluffy and soft to sit on, and it's so warm.
Grandma Guo has now gotten used to the daily routine of opening the shop, and she can chat with her familiar customers while she's cooking the vegetables.
Fortunately, there weren't many people today, so even though Yang Qiaomai took the day off, she was still able to manage.
Thinking that he could rest in the afternoon, Guo Baiwen was sitting behind the counter at the entrance of the store, calculating the bills for the week.
He had previously stacked the hundred sheets of paper he bought together and then asked Guo Xiaohua to bind them into a thread-bound notebook that was easy to flip through horizontally.
Because a table was prepared in advance, it was very convenient to check the various accounts every week.
At first, because the quill pen had a soft tip, he wasn't very skilled at using it. The first few sheets of paper would often end up with a blob of ink that was impossible to read.
Later on, I could only guess, or calculate a rough estimate using a formula, and then fill it in with Xiaohua's eyebrow pencil.
However, after using the brush for a long time, he wore out two feather brushes, and gradually his characters became straight and even.
But apart from the neat, legible handwriting resembling that of an elementary school student, there has been no other progress.
Guo Baiwen also discovered that when he was calm and not in a hurry while facing the "True and Cursive Thousand Character Classic", he could imitate the regular script quite well.
But it was only 'like'; he himself knew that holding the quill pen was more like 'drawing' characters than writing them.
Often, he would have already written a stroke, but then he would see a pause or ending stroke in the book, and he would then belatedly pick up his brush and add a few more strokes to the completed character.
The final result looks the same as in the book, but it's actually not what it says at all.
He hasn't started practicing running script yet; he's afraid that if he tries to run before he can even crawl, he'll fall flat on his face.
It's really difficult to learn calligraphy by just blindly studying books on your own.
He didn't know if the method he had figured out was correct or even usable.
At times like these, Guo Baiwen would especially miss the information explosion of his previous life.
Although there are many unorthodox calligraphy tutorials in short videos, if you want to learn on your own, you can still find some legitimate teaching videos suitable for beginners by carefully searching through that pile.
It's better than being someone who hasn't even scratched the surface, not even a half-baked expert, and can only rack their brains and guess.
After calculating the week's bills, he glanced at his handwriting one last time, couldn't help but sigh inwardly, and then closed the notebook.
Just as I finished tidying up my writing materials, I suddenly noticed that Grandma Guo was talking to a regular customer on my left about the private school in the county town.
He was startled.
I instinctively looked in that direction.
Grandma Guo, oblivious to his gaze, was engrossed in chatting with others, "Really! That private school you mentioned actually accepts short-term students!"
"What's there to say about whether it's true or not!" The man clearly lived not far from the private school he mentioned, so he spoke with great certainty. "Putting everything else aside, when I went out today, I saw Master Li from that private school putting up a notice on his door announcing enrollment for the first month of the lunar year!"
It turns out that this private school does not have a fixed 'start of school season' for enrollment.
Although enrollment is mostly rolling admissions, new students are usually admitted in the first or second month of the lunar calendar or after the autumn harvest. However, if someone wants to enroll temporarily, they can be flexibly enrolled.
Moreover, since there are quite a few people in the town, they don't just choose to study in private schools or academies for the sake of taking the imperial examinations.
Larger schools usually divide the classroom into two separate areas for teaching.
One type is called a "Mengguan," which is used to help ordinary families with their children's early education. It has a relatively large number of students and the tuition is relatively cheap. It simply teaches literacy and arithmetic.
Even if these people didn't learn very well at the beginning, they could still use that knowledge to become an accountant or a manager/clerk in a pharmacy.
They earn more each month and each year than illiterate people.
If you have good talent, the teacher will recommend you to study at the scripture school if he thinks you have good talent.
The number of people in this academy is relatively small, and the material taught is more difficult, mostly the Four Books and Five Classics, which are related to the imperial examinations.
Tuition fees are naturally not cheap either. I heard that even the cheapest school charges ten taels of silver a year for tuition!
Moreover, the amount of money spent on tuition will vary depending on the level of the private school and the teacher's skill.
The private school mentioned by this diner was only open to beginners because the teacher was an old scholar and he was the only teacher there. The fees were not expensive.
But it still costs three to five taels of silver a year.
These are similar to what Hu Qingshan said before.
But what's different is that, besides the difference between the Mengguan (a primary school) and the Jingguan (a secondary school), there are other kinds of news as well.
Although the repair money could be paid with grain or cloth, ordinary families simply couldn't come up with that much money all at once.
Therefore, the Montessori school further divided students into two categories: quarterly students and monthly students.
From the very beginning, if you just want to get rid of being "blind with your eyes open", and you have relatively more money, you can directly sign up for two seasons of literacy and arithmetic courses. If you learn to keep accounts within six months and can recognize about five hundred to one thousand characters, then you've graduated.
Those who are short of money can also study on a monthly basis, paying intermittently for a few months each year. Even if the schooling period is longer, spending two or three years can still be considered a successful start to education.
Short-term courses like these are open to both adults and children, with only different class divisions, and anyone can enroll.
After hearing his explanation, Grandma Guo smiled broadly, like a blooming flower.
He kept pressing for answers, "Really? There are even short-term programs?!"
"Wow! You can even do that! You know so much!"
"You guys are really well-informed; this old woman knew absolutely nothing about it beforehand—"
Although she had many questions, her response clearly satisfied this regular customer's desire to be admired.
Not to mention there were other diners in the middle, who chimed in and chatted amongst themselves.
So, whether it was something she knew or something she heard, whether it was true or false or only partially true, she told Grandma Guo everything.
Guo Baiwen sat behind the table listening to their conversation, and he felt that it wouldn't be long before he was called in for a talk by Grandma Guo.
As expected.
They didn't even wait until dark.
After seeing off the last customer at noon, Grandma Guo couldn't contain her excitement and started talking to him about sending him to a private school for a short period of time.
Guo Xiaohua stood to the side, clearing away the dishes while making faces at him with glee.
Ever since she accidentally let slip in a conversation that her family was planning to send her to learn embroidery, the girl has always wanted someone to be like her.
Seeing that her own brother was about to be sent away to study by his grandmother.
Moreover, judging from the conversation among the group of people today, it's possible that the prince will be sent to school before her.
The little girl was absolutely laughing her head off!
Although Guo Xiaohua's smile is quite endearing, smiling like that at this moment only makes people grit their teeth in annoyance.
Guo Baiwen didn't tolerate her either, and retaliated by making a face at her with his teeth bared.
However, his position is not very good.
That face was facing Grandma Guo.
And so, they were caught red-handed right then and there.
Grandma Guo put on a stern face and looked at him with some displeasure. She said seriously, "Wenzai, Grandma is talking to you!"
Upon hearing this, Guo Baiwen immediately lowered his head and replied obediently, "I know, Grandma, I'm listening."
Seeing his expression, Guo Xiaohua, who was standing behind Grandma Guo, smiled even more happily.
Humming a tuneless, cheerful little tune, she finished clearing away the dishes and then took one last look at Guo Baiwen, who was being kept behind by his grandmother to talk.
He ran faster than anyone else, carrying the wooden basin, leaving Guo Baiwen with only his receding figure.
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Author's Note: Tomorrow is the National Day holiday! Wuhu! Take off!
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