Chapter 268 Asking for a few places
Sang Luo opened a literacy class and a private school for the employees in Daxingzhuang. The registration period was two days, with more than 110 places available. She expected that it would be great if 20 to 30 people could come. After all, in the farming era, except for children of a few years old, no one, regardless of gender or age, had an easy life.
Even if she asked the workers to learn at night after work, after a tiring day, how many people would have the energy to take a break and learn something they are not even sure they can use in the future?
Just like what Chen Dashan said, you may not be able to understand something until it happens.
However, the reality was quite beyond Sang Luo's expectations. In addition to people like Gan Erlang's wife and Zheng Danniu who had included themselves in the plan from the beginning and signed up immediately, Daxingzhuang was also very supportive.
It’s really awesome.
I don't know if they had discussed it together, but anyway, after dinner on the first day, several families came to the Shen's house.
Except for those who were already literate, such as Zhou Cunzheng, the shopkeeper Xu and his wife, and Lin Jiuniang, or those who were older, such as Old Lady Xu, Old Man Chen, Mrs. Chen, Old Man Lu, Mrs. Lu, and Uncle Xu, almost all the middle-aged and young generations were mobilized.
This is not a one-step process, and I was inevitably hesitant and nervous during the process. I felt like Qin Fangniang and Zhou Cunzheng's wife, thinking that I was 41 or 42 years old, a grandmother, and whether I could apply. After getting Sang Luo's answer of course I could, I was worried that I would not be able to learn well.
There are people like Chen Youtian, who were forced by his parents and wife to study, and he only learns as many words as he can.
There are also people like Gan who come to ask whether the family has one formal worker and one apprentice, which counts as four places or two places. There are already several children studying there, so she and her husband, as well as her younger uncle and his wife, can still enroll in school.
In the past few years, people in the mountains had the opportunity to learn, but never really realized the need to learn to read, or put survival far ahead of that. Strangely, there is a consensus that Sang Luo, a female worker in the vermicelli workshop, encourages them to learn, and they should also seize this opportunity to learn.
So even though they were unsure whether they could learn well at their age, they encouraged each other and participated.
The ideas were very practical. The Chen family knew that they might have to help Sang Luo with some problems in the future. Even if they were just managing the workshop, it would not be good if they were illiterate. As for the other families, they all believed that Sang Luo's business could become bigger. If it became bigger, would they need people? If they needed people, but you were illiterate and others were, would Sang Luo hire you or others?
So don't let Sang Luo make this choice, and don't be the one who is abandoned! When everyone meets, ask, what are your family's plans? They discuss in groups of three or five. Well, regardless of gender, almost everyone who has not gone out to do business has participated.
After everyone left, Shen Ning counted the names of those who had signed up: "Sister-in-law, plus Aunt Gan's mother and daughter, and Sister Da Niu's aunt and nephew, there are twenty people now."
There were already twenty people on the first day!
On the second night, the Golden Crow sank to the west. Chen Ning counted again and there were forty-three people!
Sang Luo looked at them one by one. Apart from the twenty people who had registered initially, the only ones over the age of sixteen were the three sons of Zhou Laizi, several grandchildren of Old Lady Zhao, and the eldest sons of the other two farmhands. The rest were mostly half-grown children.
There were even fewer girls. There was Zhao Dalang’s eldest daughter, one, Gan Erlang’s daughter Pan Niang, and Zhou Ge’s sister Zhou Kui, and there were no more.
Outside of Daxing Village, there are still few people who are willing to let girls learn to read and write.
Even if they don't want money, even if the classes are held at night, those who can't recognize it will think it's unnecessary, and those who can recognize it will prefer to give the spot to the boy in the family.
Sang Luo was silent for a while.
Chen Ning looked at the three girls' names that looked particularly pitiful among a bunch of boys' names, and felt an indescribable suffocation. He puffed up his cheeks and let out a long breath before he felt the blocked feeling in his chest ease a little.
Sang Luo patted her shoulder: "Take your time."
Before the roster was put away, Mrs. Lu leaned out from the second courtyard door and asked, "Is A-Luo here?"
Sang Luo called out and went over to greet her: "Grandma Lu, why are you here at this time? Come in and sit down."
"What are you doing here?"
It wasn't that she asked something strange, it was just that it was getting dark and all the villagers had signed up here. Mrs. Lu chose this time to come here alone, so she must not be just visiting.
“Hey.” Mrs. Lu responded, looked at Shen Ning, and felt a little embarrassed to speak.
Shen Ning was smart, and greeted Mrs. Lu with a smile, then said to Sang Luo, "Sister-in-law, I'll go check on Ayao and Qianbao, they're almost awake."
After Sang Luo nodded, she turned around and went into her elder brother and sister-in-law's room.
Mrs. Lu felt a little embarrassed. She followed Sang Luo to the side hall and then said, "I came here because I have something to think about..."
Mrs. Lu didn't know what word to use after the word "think".
It is wrong to use the word "ask", it is wrong to use the word "support", and it is also wrong to use the word "beg".
She was stuck there, not knowing how to proceed.
Sang Luo looked at her and said, "Let me guess, are you here for Shuanzhu's brothers and sisters?"
Every family in Daxing Village was busy signing up. Not to mention the children, who were already attending the basic and advanced classes, the adults all came to study actively and enthusiastically this time. Only the Xu family, the Wei family and the long family of Lu did not participate.
The Xu family and the Wei family do not need it, but the eldest branch of the Lu family is the outlier in Daxingzhuang. They live in Daxingzhuang, but are slightly outside the core circle of Daxingzhuang.
Mrs. Lu couldn't really say it, but after Sang Luo talked her out of it, she nodded awkwardly, "Yes, I shouldn't have asked this question after what happened back then, but...these children are good after all, and they have learned a little in the village and in the valley. As a nurse, I want them to continue to learn a little more and not fall too far behind their friends who grew up with them. After thinking it over again and again, I still shamelessly came to ask you if I can get a few places."
At the word "ask", Sang Luo shook her head.
"Grandma, you don't have to be like this. I have no prejudice against Shuanzhu and his siblings. Isn't Shitou taking classes in the daytime class?"
Mrs. Lu nodded: "Yes, I know that too. If you care about it, Shitou can't continue to learn from Aning and Xiaojin."
It was also because of this that Mrs. Lu dared to make this trip. Everyone was reluctant to associate with the eldest brother, but he was nice to the children. Even the Xiaojin brothers had never used the past events to show their displeasure to Shuanzhu and the others, and they just treated each other as they should.
In fact, Shitou also taught his brothers and sisters at night what he learned during the day, but he was not very good at learning. He could teach some things, but he couldn't explain some of them himself.
Sang Luo did not let Mrs. Lu embarrass herself any further and said, "I have agreed to this matter. If Shuanzhu's brothers and sisters are willing to learn, they can come. I will add his brothers and sisters' names as well."
Before she put down her pen and ink, she added four more names of students.
Mrs. Lu couldn't read, but when she heard Sang Luo's agreement, she was so excited that she didn't know what to do and kept thanking her.
Sang Luo smiled, "It's not a big deal. Classes will start at 12:00 tomorrow night in Xiao Jin's room. There are no desks yet, so you can ask Shuanzhu and the others to bring their own stools. As for the books, they will start with the Thousand Character Classic, and they should have them all."
"Yes, yes."
Mrs. Lu responded repeatedly and thanked them again and again before leaving the Shen family happily. She turned around and went to the farthest corner on the other side of Daxing Village, where the fields and houses were allocated to the eldest branch of the Lu family.
Farmers have two meals a day, and this time is when they can take a break after a busy day. Lu Dalang is not outside, probably inside. After coming back from the mountains, maybe it's because his voice is hoarse and he can't speak well due to years of hard work, or he is holding a grudge or something else, but his relationships with the old couple of the Lu family, the second and third brothers Lu, and his own children are all a little weird.
Mrs. Lu knew what happened when the eldest brother's family went into the mountains, and she had long lost heart. When they were brought out again after a few years, although she didn't hear what Shuanzhu and the others said, she saw that the children were very indifferent to their father. She guessed that the eldest brother had not made any progress in the past few years, and she was afraid that the life in the mountains was difficult and he was becoming worse and worse, which led to the alienation of his children and they disliked him even more.
So when she saw that Lu Dalang was not there, she didn't care and just went to visit her grandchildren.
The children were working diligently. They were chopping firewood with their trunks, Tiezhu was repairing farm tools, Shitou was writing the words that Huzi had learned during the day on the sand table, and Da Niu was sewing shoe soles. She was an experienced hand at this and did not need to use her eyes much, and could do it even in poor light.
Seeing Granny Lu coming from a distance, the brothers and sisters stopped, and Hu Zi even took a few steps to greet her: "Grandma, why are you here?"
Mrs. Lu couldn't hide her smile: "You guys knew that the village was going to run a school, right?"
The brothers looked at each other and Hu Zi nodded.
Mrs. Lu felt a little sad. Her grandchildren had only studied for a few days in the valley before Wang Chunniang committed suicide. The children had to look after their mother and were too embarrassed to go out, so their studies, which had just begun, had to be put on hold.
Huzi was fourteen years old and had grown taller than her. It was difficult for Mrs. Lu to pat her grandson on the head, so she patted Huzi on the arm instead and said, "During the day, you brothers have to do farm work and have no time to go to the small class. Ah Xu taught you, but you refused to go after a few times, saying that you wanted Shitou to learn while you were teaching. Shitou himself hasn't learned it very well yet."
Hu Zi heard this and said, "Grandma, Ah Xu is preparing for the provincial entrance exam. The things he is learning are too difficult. He doesn't have a teacher, so he just follows Ah Ning to learn. If he doesn't understand something, he has to ask Xiao An, Wen Bo and others at night. I just learned to recognize a few words. What am I doing taking up his time?"
The brothers were busy reclaiming land during the day and had no time to study. At night, after they went a few times, Hu Zi discovered that this conflicted with A Xu's important study time.
"Yes, yes, I know you are doing this for Ah Xu's sake. Let's not talk about this. I want to say that the new school in our village only starts classes in the evening. I just went to find your sister-in-law Ah Luo and registered the names of all of you brothers and sisters."
Hu Zi blurted out: "Aren't the quotas only for workers from Sister Luo's house, shop, and workshop?"
When Mrs. Lu heard Hu Zi's words, she knew that the children, who were keeping silent, actually wanted to go too.
This matter has been accomplished.
She smiled, "That's right, so grandma went to talk to your sister-in-law A'Luo and asked for a few places for you. They're all from the same village. Your sister-in-law A'Luo smiled and agreed, and your names were all on the list. You will have class at 10 pm tomorrow night at Xiao Jin's house. There are no desks yet, so you four brothers and sisters can just bring two stools with you."
"By the way, from the Thousand Character Classic, you should bring the original bamboo slips with you."
"That's it. Xia can walk now and needs someone to take her with her. Grandma's going back first. You guys remember to go on time tomorrow." Xia was Lu Erlang's daughter. Because she was born in the evening, Lu Erlang carefully chose the name Yunxia for her.
Mrs. Lu came and went like a gust of wind. When she was far away, the brothers and sisters were still a little dazed. Tiezhu turned his head to look at Shuanzhu and said, "Brother, did grandma really tell Sister-in-law Aluo that she signed us up?"
Don’t you just ask for a quota without saying who will use it?
"I told you, didn't you hear that all the names are on the list?"
"I heard it." They just didn't dare to believe it. Even though Shitou had been studying at the Shen family, they brothers didn't dare to go there. They were too embarrassed to go there.
Shuanzhu looked in the direction of the Shen family in the distance, then suddenly turned around and picked up two empty baskets, and called out to Tiezhu: "Come and carry the firewood."
Tiezhu was stunned for a moment. Before he could react, Huzi already knew what his elder brother meant. He perked up and went to help. While carrying firewood, he turned around and said to Tiezhu, "Second brother, what are you standing there for? We are not helpers in A-Luo's family. We can't just sit in on the class for nothing."
Tiezhu came to his senses and hurried over to help. Soon the two brothers were carrying two full loads of chopped firewood and were heading towards Shen's house.
Hu Zi stood there grinning, and his nose felt a little sour again. The girl came to Hu Zi's side without knowing when. She murmured, "Grandma just said, is my name included?"
Hu Zi laughed and said, "Yes. Sister, you should also go and learn more from Aning, whether it's learning to read or other things."
Shitou looked in the direction of the house and whispered, "Yes, Sister Aning is amazing."
Learn from Shen Ning?
The big girl pinched the half-finished sole of a shoe in her hand and couldn't help but look in the direction of the Shen family.
Before her eyes flashed the image of Shen Ning lecturing a group of children in the pavilion of the Shen family from afar, and the image of several times when her family sold things to the Shen family in the past. While listening to the weight reported by the Shen family's helpers, she wrote down very beautiful words in the account book. In a moment, she had calculated the price, took out several strings of copper coins from the cash box beside her, and neatly took out a suitable amount and handed it to her eldest brother, smiling and asking her eldest brother to count it.
Lu Danniu has been a soft-hearted person since she was young. When she thought about how high this goal was for her, her heart and back suddenly became tight.
Can she learn Shen Ning?
Hu Zi looked at her, and she subconsciously raised her hand to touch the skin on the side of her neck that was covered by her black hair, and then nodded: "Okay."
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