Qi Mingyu continued, "In the past, when this happened, the Chi family would give me money without saying a word."
With the money, I could buy things and give them to the headmaster and instructors, so they could help me out privately.
Without the Chi family, I can only watch helplessly.
As for our family, let's not even talk about it. What do we have left besides a mountain of debt?"
Shen and Old Man Qi remained silent upon hearing this.
No matter how eloquently Qi Mingyu spoke, it couldn't change their dissatisfaction.
Seeing this, Qi Mingyu was not discouraged:
"On the other hand, the people of Chijia'ao are mountain dwellers and hunters. They do not own any land and their income depends on hunting, which is not stable."
However, after Chi and Li returned, at a time when everyone was struggling, they actually felt like things were getting better and better.
In the past, the people of Chijia'ao would have been even more distressed than we were on days like this.
But now, they're not sad; they're making money. They can make a fortune from charcoal.
What does this tell us?
"What else can it prove? It's just blind luck, a stroke of good fortune!"
Qi Mingyu, who was walking along peacefully, turned around and glared at his mother upon hearing this.
"Mother, you really are living up to the old saying, 'Long hair, short wit.'"
Fine, I'm too lazy to listen to all this.
I've thought about it carefully over this period of time, and I believe that Mrs. Chi is a woman who brings good fortune to her family and husband.
Wherever the Chi family is, prosperity follows.
I think if we can go further in the future, we need to bring them back.
Regardless of her identity, all I know is that with her around, our family will prosper.
Whether I can pass the imperial examination and become a high-ranking official in the future may also depend on her.
"It's not as exaggerated as you say. If the Chi family were truly prosperous, how could our family have ended up like this?"
Shen would never admit it. If she admitted that she was pushing the women of the Wang family away, wouldn't that make her look stupid?
But she's clearly not stupid. If she were, how could she have given birth to such a smart son as her second child?
"Our family is in this state because she divorced me, and also because our family pushed people away."
Mother, think about it carefully. Before I married her, what did our family have?
A dilapidated thatched hut with only four rooms, leaking wind and rain.
In the kitchen, there were hardly any grains of rice left in the earthenware jars; they often didn't know where their next meal would come from.
To put it bluntly, even mice wouldn't bother visiting it.
You could say that everyone in Qijia Village is better off than us.
At that time, my older brother was still alive.
Our family gets a few taels of silver every year thanks to him.
Now that my older brother is gone, what do you think our family has left?
Madam Shen was unwilling to listen to her son belittle her family and to flatter him.
He immediately stiffened his neck and retorted:
“We are a family of scholars, with more than ten acres of fertile land. We don’t have to pay taxes or perform corvée labor.”
Upon hearing this, Qi Mingyu chuckled, then looked at his mother seriously:
"Yes, I am a scholar, and my family is exempt from taxes and corvée labor."
But this only means that the family doesn't have to pay those exorbitant taxes and levies.
The yield from ten acres of fertile land is not even enough to cover my expenses for a year at the county school. Does Mother think that's remarkable?
The books I used, apart from primers, each cost one or two ounces.
Every year, the cost of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones is no less than five taels.
In addition, how much money is needed for tuition and meals and lodging at the county school?
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