Qianqian thought it would be lonely for a girl like her to go to school all by herself.
"From now on, you'll teach Xiaoya to read, okay?"
Wei Yuyan patted Qianqian's head. Although she didn't need a few hundred coins, Xiaoya was not related to her.
Despite having such a good relationship with Sister-in-law Zhang, she never mentioned paying tuition for Xiao Xuan.
If Zhang Da Sao were to pay for Xiao Ya's share, she would inevitably feel uneasy. In short, it was a thankless task.
"Okay, then after school I'll teach Sister Xiaoya to read."
Qianqian jumped around happily, completely without any worries.
For the next few days, Wei Yuyan immersed herself in making book bags at home, one for Qianqian and one for Xiaolei.
"Yu Yan, stay home~".
Early in the morning, Sister-in-law Zhang came to find Wei Yuyan.
"Hey, Sister Zhang, Xiao Xuan, have you had breakfast yet? I'm having pumpkin porridge. Sister Xiuhua gave me this pumpkin, it's so sweet."
This morning, Wei Yuyan cooked a thick pumpkin porridge and stir-fried pickled green beans with chili peppers to go with it.
"I've already eaten. We also had porridge this morning. I came to find you to go to school together. It's almost time."
Sister-in-law Zhang didn't go to sell steamed buns today; she'll be busy again in a couple of days, so she came to find Wei Yuyan to go together.
"Okay, Xiao Lei and Qian Qian, hurry up and eat."
Wei Yuyan quickly finished her pumpkin porridge and went back inside to get the money.
The tuition fee I inquired about before was 300 coins, but Wei Yuyan brought 330 coins with her. When she comes back, she will also need to buy some eggs and tofu.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be much food at home, and Wei Yuyan would get tired of eating eggplant and green beans every day.
"Ready? Let's go."
Wei Yuyan carefully put the silver away and urged the children to hurry up.
"They've arrived."
They dawdled and finished eating before leaving the house.
"Xiao Lei, Qian Qian, and Xiao Xuan, when you see the teacher later, you must greet him, okay?"
"The Master taught you knowledge; a teacher for one day is a father for life. You should respect him as you would your own father."
Wei Yuyan thought for a moment and decided to inform the children in advance so as not to be disrespectful to their teacher.
"Understood, sister-in-law."
"Understood, sister-in-law."
"Okay, Auntie."
The three children answered in unison.
"Does the teacher live in the school?"
Wei Yuyan watched as Sister-in-law Zhang led her to the school.
"That's right, the school is the teacher's home. Right now, the school only has one teacher, Teacher Wei."
"He can stay here and keep an eye on the school, preventing outsiders from causing trouble or anything like that."
As she explained, Sister-in-law Zhang raised her hand and knocked on the door.
Who is it?
A man's voice rang out, and then the door was opened.
There stood a middle-aged man in a long robe, with fair skin and a scholarly air about him.
"Master Wei, classes will start in a few days, right? We've come to pay our tuition fees."
Sister-in-law Zhang began to speak.
"Come in."
Master Wei turned and walked inside, and everyone followed.
Wei Yuyan looked around the courtyard and found that it was a two-courtyard house.
Presumably, the front was for classes, and the back was for the daily life of the Confucian scholar.
"These two rooms in the middle are for classes, the one on the far left is the toilet, and this is my study."
Master Wei gave a brief introduction and then went into the study.
"What's your name? How old are you? Where do you live?"
Master Wei opened a booklet, picked up a pen, presumably to make a record.
"Zhang Wenxuan, nine years old, son of Zhang Licai from Wujia Village."
Sister-in-law Zhang registered first.
"It costs 300 coins a year. You can buy your own paper and pens, or you can buy them from me. They're not expensive."
Master Wei pointed to the many papers, pens, and inkstones placed beside him.
"Then let's buy it here."
Sister-in-law Zhang gritted her teeth, thinking that a few dozen coins wouldn't make a difference, since the things at Master Wei's place weren't expensive.
There were cheap and expensive options, but Sister Zhang chose the cheapest one, which cost only a few dozen coins.
"Wu Qian, ten years old, Wu Lei, twelve years old, Wu Chen's younger brother and sister from Wujia Village."
Wei Yuyan echoed what Zhang Dasao said.
"Six hundred coins for two children."
Master Wei looked up at Xiao Lei and Qian Qian, then registered them.
"Where are the brush and ink?"
Master Wei looked up at Wei Yuyan.
"The writing brush and ink have already been prepared at home."
The writing brushes and ink that Wei Yuyan bought in town last time were much better than those here; you get what you pay for.
However, if Master Wei's books were sold at a high price, no one would want to go to school.
"Alright, class starts at mid-morning on the first day of the eighth lunar month. Don't be late."
Master Wei put away the money, put down the booklet, and gave some instructions.
"Master Wei, may I ask if you will be distributing books?"
Wei Yuyan didn't see any books being distributed.
"No, enlightenment doesn't require books; it only teaches literacy. We have two classrooms here."
One is for enlightenment, mainly teaching literacy, and the other is teaching the Three Character Classic.
At that time, I will be given a copy of the Three Character Classic, but that book will be reused and I will have to return it.
After I finish teaching the Three Character Classic, if they want to learn more, they'll have to go to town; I don't have that much time to teach here.
Master Wei was already busy enough teaching two classes a day; if he had to teach three, his throat would probably be burning up.
"Okay, I understand. Also, is it okay if my Qianqian wants to study for two years?"
Wei Yuyan was worried that, as she had inquired, she could only attend for one year.
"We'll see. We've taken in two girls this year. If another girl joins next year, it will be convenient for your Qianqian."
If she doesn't go, and the room is full of boys, I won't be able to handle it either.
Master Wei stopped there; it wasn't that he didn't want to accept female students, but rather that there were simply too few girls who wanted to study.
It's impossible to have a room full of boys with a girl inside; that would be disgraceful.
"I understand now, thank you, goodbye."
Wei Yuyan nodded, understanding the situation, and took her leave with her child and teacher.
"Xiao Xuan, it wasn't easy for your parents to send you to school. Study hard when you get there, okay?"
Sister-in-law Zhang kept giving instructions to Xiao Xuan on the way.
"I understand, Mother."
Xiao Xuan nodded emphatically.
"Oh, by the way, did you and Sister-in-law Xiuhua manage to buy any fabric last time?"
Wei Yuyan hasn't seen her sister-in-law Xiuhua these past two days.
“I bought them, but they were all made of blue fabric, so I only bought one set for Xiaoxuan. Your sister-in-law Xiuhua only bought one set for Lifu.”
Sister-in-law Zhang answered with a smile.
"Wouldn't Xiaoru be unhappy?"
Wei Yuyan thought that if she only bought new fabric for Xiao Lei, Qianqian's mouth would be drooping to the sky.
“I promised Xiaoru that I would make her new clothes for the New Year, and she won’t be angry anymore.”
Sister-in-law Zhang was thinking that she would save up some money over the next few months and buy her daughter new clothes for the New Year.
"Yes, Xiaoru would definitely look beautiful in red."
Wei Yuyan thought that Xiaoru's skin was fair and she would look even better in red. Qianqian had gotten completely tanned this summer, and she hoped she could get her fair skin back by winter.
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