Chapter 140 Chapter 140 Banquet
As Fu Wenxiao and Yu Li returned to the county town, news about Fu Wenxiao becoming the top candidate in the college examination also came from the provincial capital.
Because the provincial capital is quite far away from Shanping County, it would take several days for the news to reach here.
Upon hearing the news, Shanping County suddenly became lively.
This is a small three yuan!
This was the second minor top three scholar in Shanping County after Mr. Wang. Many scholars were shocked and went to the Fu family to congratulate them. Neighbors, relatives and friends also came to congratulate them.
At this time, no matter what grudges there were in the past, everyone just wanted to come and share in the joy.
Especially those who have scholars in their families, they wish they could inherit Fu Wenxiao's literary influence and have a scholar in their family. They dare not even think about becoming a top scholar, but they can still think about becoming a scholar.
The Fu family had guests coming to congratulate them every day, so Fu Wenxiao and Yu Li had no choice but to stay at home to entertain them.
At the same time, Yu Li also had to stop some of the more extremely fanatical people from rushing towards Fu Wenxiao.
Those scholars were fine, as they were more or less restrained and refined. Even if they felt that by coming to the Fu family, they could get some exposure to the literary atmosphere of Xiao Sanyuan, they would not make any moves.
I am afraid that those who are more superstitious think that as long as they touch the top of the case, their children can be blessed with the happiness and literary spirit of Wenquxing. When they see Fu Wenxiao, they will make moves and suddenly pounce on him, and even Fu Wenxiao won't be able to react.
It's really crazy.
At this time, only Yu Li could stop the man quickly.
Faced with this kind of thing, Fu Wenxiao was also helpless.
These people had no ill intentions, they just thought that Fu Wenxiao was good at studying and wanted their children to become successful, so they brought their children to Fu Wenxiao, hoping that they could learn some literary talent from him so that their children could pass the imperial examination and become a scholar in the future.
And there are actually quite a few people who believe this.
Yu Li was shocked by their superstition. It turned out that Fu Wenxiao's first place in the prefectural examination last time was nothing. This time, the first place in the college examination simply drove them crazy.
Fortunately, apart from these extremely superstitious people, other people are quite normal and no one does anything physical even if they are excited.
After seeing off all the guests, Fu Wenxiao suddenly turned around and hugged Yu Li.
He whispered, "Ali, luckily you are here."
Yu Li patted him and assured him, "You are my partner, I will protect you and will not let others do anything to you."
This is the man she chose, her partner, and only she can touch him. How could she let outsiders take advantage of him?
This kind of thing must never be tolerated.
Fu Wenxiao lowered his eyes and smiled when he heard that. He really liked her words "You are my partner".
He likes the word "husband and wife" more. Partners must be absolutely loyal, have absolute trust, stay with each other and cannot betray each other.
That's great! He also can't tolerate betrayal.
After a few days of this, Fu Wenxiao finally became a little impatient and announced to the public that he wanted to concentrate on his studies, and kept the endless stream of guests coming in.
In fact, most of the people who were supposed to come in the past few days have arrived, so there is no need to receive those who come later and are not close to us.
However, if people from Qingshi Village come to visit, the Fu family will still receive them.
The village chief came and was so happy to see Fu Wenxiao that he didn't know what to do. He kept praising him and asked him when he was going to return to the village to hold the banquet.
The last time Fu Wenxiao became the first in the provincial examination, the village wanted to hold a banquet to celebrate, but Fu Wenxiao refused, saying that they would wait until after the college examination.
At that time, the village chief was quite worried, fearing that Fu Wenxiao would fail the college entrance examination, but he still held out hope.
What if? What if Fu Wenxiao passed the entrance exam?
At this moment, knowing that Fu Wenxiao had actually passed the college entrance examination and had even ranked first, the village chief was overjoyed. When he received the news, he danced with joy.
If he hadn't known that the Fu family must be very busy these days, he would have come over to ask Fu Wenxiao when he would return to the village to hold a banquet to celebrate.
The village chief said, "The elders in the village are very happy to know that you have passed the imperial examination. They said they want to hold a banquet in the village to celebrate and invite the scholars and students from the nearby villages to come and have a feast... You don't have to do anything, you just need to go back and have a feast when the time comes."
After Fu Wenxiao passed the college entrance examination, he became a scholar.
This is the first scholar in Qingshi Village. Their Qingshi Village also has a scholar. The whole village is happy about it, especially the village chief and the elders, who all know what this represents.
Therefore, everyone in the village was willing to contribute money and effort to hold the wedding banquet, as long as Fu Wenxiao would be back by then.
Fu Wenxiao had no opinion on the villagers' plan to hold a banquet to celebrate, so he naturally wouldn't pour cold water on them.
He said, "Village Chief, you guys discuss it. Tell me when you've decided on a date. Then my mother, Li Niang and I will go back."
The village chief happily agreed.
When the village chief left, Yu Li brought him one hundred taels.
The village chief was startled and waved his hands quickly, "No, no, the money for the banquet is paid by the village treasury, why should you pay for it?"
Moreover, it cost less than one hundred taels to set up the banquet. The pigs slaughtered for the banquet were raised in the village, the fish were caught from the village pond, the vegetables were grown by the villagers, and the tables and chairs were all provided by the village. The labor was still done by the villagers, so there was no need to pay them any hard work fees, just money to buy some wine, firecrackers, etc.
"Village head, please accept this money." Yu Li said, "This money is not for the wedding banquet, but for building a village school. When the school is built, I hope that all the boys and girls in the village who want to learn to read and write can go in."
There is no village school in Qingshi Village because there is not even a single student in the village, so naturally there is no one to set up this school.
Seeing that Yu Lao Da had taken the exam for so many years and still failed to pass the examination to become a student, the villagers did not dare to send their children to school easily.
The village chief was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously looked at Fu Wenxiao. Seeing him smiling, he knew that he agreed. But...
"Li Niang, it's fine for boys, but why are girls also allowed to go to school?"
The village chief was really puzzled. No village school allowed girls to read and write. Girls did not have to take the imperial examinations, so what was the point of reading and writing?
Although the village chief didn't say it, Yu Li could see that his thoughts were also the thoughts of many people, the thoughts of people of this era.
They all think that it is useless for girls to read and write, and even begin to misinterpret the meaning of "a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent."
Just like Boss Yu, even though all the boys in the family were educated, he never thought of teaching Yuqin to read and write. He probably thought it was useless for girls to study.
Yu Li frowned and wanted to say something but held back.
She said, "Village head, if the village school is willing to accept girls, I will invest more money later to allow the village school to provide a free lunch for the children."
Having said that, she turned her head and looked at Fu Wenxiao.
Fu Wenxiao continued her words, "Village head, please keep the money first. I will draw up a charter when I have time. When the village school is open, we will run it according to the charter."
The village chief looked at him in surprise. He didn't expect Fu Wenxiao to really support it and even draft a charter.
He hesitated for a moment, but finally accepted the money.
It was not for any other reason, but because Yu Li said that lunch would be provided free of charge to children attending school. Just for this free meal, I am afraid that everyone in the village would be willing to send their daughters to the village school, so that the family could save a lot of food.
After the village chief left, Yu Li looked at Fu Wenxiao and saw him smiling at him.
He took her to the study and came to the desk.
Fu Wenxiao spread out a piece of paper and began to grind ink. He tilted his head and smiled at her, "Ali, you want the girls in the village to learn to read and write like the boys, right?"
Yu Li hummed, "It's not about learning to read and write, I just want them to learn a few words so they won't be illiterate."
She knew how shocking and puzzling this move would be in the eyes of the world, but she still wanted to do it.
Just like her younger sisters, they all left the village and even earned some money, but when they wanted to learn to read, they had no channels to learn.
In this world, only men can read and write, while common women cannot read a single word. Rich families are willing to let their daughters learn to read and write, but not so that they can do work, but more to increase their bargaining chips in the marriage market.
If a common woman wants to learn to read and write, who can she turn to for instruction?
Those men certainly would not want to teach them, as they felt it was disrespectful and a disgrace to their status as educated people.
Why would a literate young lady from a wealthy family teach common women? They were of different classes, and they would not lower themselves to pity those common women.
What Yu Li needs to do now is to give the girls in the village a chance to learn to read.
She knew that there was not much she could do at the moment and that she could only enable the girls in a small village to go to school.
However, in this world, she will live a long time and can do many things. In the future, there will definitely be opportunities for more girls to read and learn to read.
Thinking of this, Yu Li looked up at the man standing in front of the desk, thinking that this man should be able to understand her.
The expression on his face was gentle, and his black jade eyes were smiling, reflecting her figure. It was as if he kept her in his heart, and it was as if he was infinitely tolerant. No matter what she wanted to do, he would support her.
My heart skipped a beat, and I felt a sudden surge of unspeakable emotions.
Yu Li wanted to say something but paused. She didn't know what kind of feeling that was, but it didn't make her feel uncomfortable. Instead, it made her feel happy.
It seemed like suddenly, I felt very happy.
Fu Wenxiao smiled and said, "Then let's draw up a charter together."
Yu Li hummed, then asked: "Don't you think it's weird for me to do this?"
"I don't think so." Fu Wenxiao held his sleeves and ground the ink calmly, "No matter what you want to do, I will support you, as long as Ali is happy."
Yu Li was stunned, looked at him intently for a while, then walked forward and hugged him.
She just wanted to do it all of a sudden, for no reason.
Fu Wenxiao suddenly froze, then slowly relaxed his body. He wanted to turn his head, but was afraid of scaring the girl behind him. He clenched his hand that was grinding ink tightly and tried hard to restrain himself.
"Xiao Ge'er, you are so kind." Her voice came vaguely from behind, "I am very happy..."
Fu Wenxiao put down the ink stick, turned around, and hugged her in his arms.
"Ali..." His voice was a little hoarse, "Can you call my name?"
Yu Li buried her face in his arms and called out, "Fu Wenxiao?"
"wrong."
"Wen Xiao?"
He smiled, "Okay."
"What about Ah Xiao?"
"That's fine." He smiled and said, "You can call me whatever you want."
Yu Li let out an "oh" and leaned against him quietly for a while. When he let go, she looked up at his face and found that the tips of his ears were red. She thought he must be very happy now.
She touched her chest and seemed to be happy.
**
The village quickly decided on a date for the wedding banquet, which was set for the sixteenth day of next month.
It is said that this was an auspicious day specially chosen by the fortune teller by the village chief, who informed the villagers and also asked someone to notify the scholars and students in the nearby villages. They all said that they would definitely go there by then.
Nowadays, Fu Wenxiao is well-known in Shanping County. All the scholars want to visit him and ask for his advice on writing.
Even if I don't give him advice on my writing, it would be a good thing to make friends with him.
They all understood that Fu Wenxiao would go further in the future, so if they didn't hurry up and make friends with him now, when would they?
Taking advantage of this time, Yu Li delivered the things he brought back from the provincial capital to everyone.
Fu Wenxiao still went with her.
Everyone was very surprised by their arrival and congratulated them. Fu Wenxiao's passing the exam was a happy event for their relatives and friends. They were now friends of the scholar, and it was an honor to tell others about it.
What surprised them even more was that Fu Wenxiao's attitude towards them had not changed at all.
He did not become arrogant just because he was a scholar, and he did not distance himself from these common people.
Everyone in the butcher shop was very happy. When the two men left, Zhang Fu cut a large piece of meat for them to take back.
Yu Li did not refuse and said, "Brother Zhang, on the 16th of next month, our village will hold a banquet to celebrate Ah Xiao's passing the imperial examination. You can also go and have a drink together."
Zhang Fu smiled and said, "Okay, we will definitely go!"
Then he said that the meat for the banquet in Qingshi Village would be provided by his butcher shop, and he would carry a pig over.
Yu Li couldn't refuse, so he had to agree.
She knew that Zhang Fu and the others were genuinely happy for them, and there was no need to push the relationship between them anymore. She could just accept it and return it to them when she had time.
Leaving the butcher's shop, they went to a shop on East Street.
This is Yujin's new store.
The shop sells things from the capital city, including rouge, powder, clothes, jewelry, and some small items. The main products are the brand names of the capital city, and they are very popular in Shanping County.
When Yu Li came over, Yu Jin and Sun Fangniang were in the store. There were several female customers in the store, all choosing rouge and powder.
Yu Li was surprised when he saw those rouge and powder.
When she was in the provincial capital, she witnessed women's love and pursuit of rouge and powder, and thought that Yu Jin could do this business. But after she came back, she found that Yu Jin really did do this business.
"Sister, brother-in-law!"
Yu Jin and Sun Fangniang were very surprised to see the two people coming.
Sun Fangniang was asked to entertain the guests, and Yu Jin took them to the backyard of the shop. In addition to being a warehouse, the backyard also had rooms for people to rest.
Yu Jin first congratulated Fu Wenxiao on passing the imperial examination. Knowing that they had specially sent something over, he said a little embarrassedly, "How can we let you send it? We should go there..."
Knowing that their eldest brother-in-law passed the imperial examination and got first place in the palace examination, the Yu Jin sisters were extremely happy.
They went to Shuying Lane as soon as possible, but they didn't expect so many people to visit the Fu family. They left after staying for a while and didn't have a chance to talk to their eldest sister.
Seeing Yu Li coming over now, I felt very happy.
Yu Li took out the things he brought and said, "I bought a lot of things in the provincial capital this time, including some rouge, powder and perfume. These are very popular in the provincial capital and there are many varieties. I thought at the time, Ah Jin, you can open a rouge and powder store, but I didn't expect that you have already gone to the provincial capital to purchase goods..."
Previously, Yu Jin said that he wanted to open a new store, but he was not sure what the store would sell, so Yu Li did not ask much.
After seeing this, she felt that her sister was very smart and courageous. The store had just opened, but she had already stocked so many goods from the provincial capital.
There are many wealthy people in the county, especially those who have a greater demand for rouge and powder, so this business can still be done.
Yu Jin said, "The last time I went to the city, I found that the rouge and powder in the city were very popular, so I thought about importing some to sell in the store."
When she saw what Yu Li brought, she was very surprised.
There are so many types of rouge and powder in the provincial capital. It seems that she can add more items to her store.
The two sisters talked about things in the store for a while, and then talked about the banquet in the village next month.
"We will all go back." Yu Jin said with a smile, "This is my brother-in-law's big wedding, how can we sisters not go? I have talked to the village chief, and I will also give some money to hold a banquet so that everyone can have fun."
There were many people who contributed money to the wedding banquet this time. Not only did the village treasury contribute, but also some wealthy families in Qingshi Village contributed generously, saying that this was a happy event for the village and they had to show their support. At the same time, they also wanted to share in the scholar's good fortune.
Yu Jin was not trying to share in the good fortune, she was simply trying to support her brother-in-law.
Yu Li touched his sister's head and talked to her about the village school.
Yu Jin was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Sister, have you drafted the charter?"
"It's almost ready." Yu Li said, "After the wedding, I will discuss with the village chief and try to set up the village school before winter."
Then he told her some rules of the village school.
Yu Jin listened silently and found that the rules were well drafted, trying to ensure that every boy and girl could go to the village school, and the girls' parents would not stop them from going to school halfway.
Unless their parents are willing to give up some of the rewards given to their children by the village school.
"That's great." Yu Jin smiled and said seriously, "Sister, when I make money in the future, I will also contribute..."
After the village school is opened, can we also open one in the county town?
Yu Jin suddenly had an idea. She wanted to open a private school in the county town specifically for girls. She would not only teach them to read and write, but also teach them other things, no matter what, arithmetic, needlework, handicrafts, etc., so that they could make a living.
When Yu Jin told Yu Li about his idea, Yu Li was very happy, "Okay, this is a good idea, Jin Niang is awesome!"
Yu Jin was a little embarrassed and said, "Actually, I was also inspired by you just now. There are many miserable girls in the county town. Some of them are also so poor that they can't even afford to eat, and are despised by their families... If they are given a way to live, they will definitely be able to live well."
"Besides, my shop is always short of staff. I will open more shops in the future. It is impossible for Fang Niang and I to manage it alone. Ah Yin will also open an embroidery shop in the future and recruit embroiderers..."
Having said that, she felt that there was really not enough manpower.
She also wanted to find some girls who could write and count to help her look at the account books and manage the shop, but she herself could not write or count, let alone other girls. Those girls who could write and count were all from rich families and would not come to her shop to help.
In this case, we can only train our own people.
Thinking about this, Yu Jin realized that there were still many things to do in the future and he would be too busy to spare a moment.
But she didn't feel a headache at all. Instead, she was full of fighting spirit and hope for the future.
It just so happens that her business has just started, so she can do things slowly, step by step. She believes that things will get better and better in the future.
**
In the following days, Yu Li would come to Yu Jin's shop from time to time.
If she was busy, she would lend a hand; if she was not busy, she would call her sisters together and teach them to read and write.
In a blink of an eye, it was time for the wedding banquet in the village.
Early in the morning, the Fu family members were busy.
Fu Wenxiao changed into the royal blue flower-patterned gown made by Zhou, with a beautiful jade hanging from her waist. She had an upright posture, and looked like a jadeite, solemn and elegant.
Yu Li couldn't help but look at him a few more times.
Although I knew he was good-looking, it was the first time I felt so intuitively the charm of a high-quality human male. He is one in a million.
Before she could take a closer look, Yu Li was pulled over by Zhou to be dressed up.
Zhou said, "There must be a lot of people coming today. You and Xiao'er must be well prepared and not be too casual."
Yu Li said "Oh". Although she was impatient to dress up, today was indeed different from the past, so she decided to dress up anyway.
Soon, Yu Li, who had been tormented by Zhou, came out. Fu Wenxiao turned around to look at him, and then was stunned.
Unlike her usual simple attire, she wore a white jacket with a pastel green collar embroidered with bamboo leaves and plum blossoms, and a moon-white embroidered skirt. She wore pearl-like jewelry on her ears, neck and wrists, and rings around her waist. She looked fresh, beautiful and graceful, like a colorful painting of a lady.
Fu Wenxiao didn't come back to his senses for a long time.
Zhou covered her lips and smiled as she asked the two children, "Look, isn't Li Niang pretty?"
The two children who were also dressed up like the two golden boys and jade girls under the seat of Guanyin screamed.
"My little aunt is pretty, and my little uncle is pretty too!"
Although they are young, they know what is beautiful and what is ugly.
Yu Li felt embarrassed by their praise, so he turned to look at Fu Wenxiao, and seeing him looking dazed, he asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Fu Wenxiao came back to his senses and said, "It's okay."
He coughed lightly, and seeing that Zhou and the two children were not paying attention to this side, he took Yu Li's hand and whispered: "A Li is very beautiful."
Meeting his gaze, Yu Li was stunned for a moment, then said vaguely: "You are pretty too."
She touched her face and it seemed a little hot.
After the family packed up, they took a boat back to Qingshi Village.
When they returned to the village, they found it was very lively.
Today the village banquet is held at the ancestral hall. There is an open space in front of the hall. The villagers moved their own tables and chairs there and filled them up.
Before setting up the wedding banquet, the village chief and clan leaders informed their ancestors of today's happy event, saying that Qingshi Village finally had a scholar, and asked their ancestors to bless the village to produce more scholars.
As soon as Fu Wenxiao appeared, many people came over to talk to him.
The village chief, clan elders, and other elders, as well as those who wanted to take the opportunity to come and touch the scholar and share in his good fortune.
Yu Li blocked these people without any hesitation and said seriously, "Don't touch me, it's not good."
The person she blocked was a little annoyed, "What are you doing? The scholar didn't say anything."
Yu Li said confidently: "This is my husband, I don't like it!"
She just didn't like anyone touching her or doing anything to her.
Before the man could speak, Fu Wenxiao turned around and looked at him with a solemn expression. He said, "Li Niang is right. If she is not happy about it, I am not happy about it either. I hope you can forgive me."
Everyone was stunned.
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