Chapter 141 Chapter 141 Please
Fu Wenxiao is the absolute protagonist today, and this banquet is also held for him.
In addition to the villagers of Qingshi Village, those who came to the banquet also included people from nearby villages, people who were related to Qingshi Village, and invited scholars. In short, there were a lot of people, including all kinds of people.
When there are many people, there are many things to do.
Everyone wanted to catch a glimpse of the scholar and learn some literary influence from him.
Such acts of secretly touching a scholar to get some literary inspiration are not uncommon. Some scholars would look displeased and scold harshly, while others would be tolerant and just laugh it off.
But they didn't expect that this time, the wife of a scholar would protect her husband very closely and would not let anyone get close to her, let alone touch her.
What was even more unexpected was that Fu Wenxiao would publicly state that he supported his wife and believed that whatever his wife said was what he believed, and he would also dislike anything that his wife disliked.
He looks like a henpecked man who only listens to his wife.
Everyone was stunned by Fu Wenxiao's words.
They looked at him in disbelief. This scholar had excellent literary talent and a great bearing. He didn't look like a useless man who was easily influenced by others. How could he say such unmanly words in public?
Fortunately, the village chief came over to smooth things over and the matter was quickly resolved.
Even so, many people still looked at Fu Wenxiao and Yu Li with somewhat subtle eyes, and then some women turned around and looked for their husbands, pulling his ears and nagging.
"Look at that scholar. He is a scholar, but he still respects his wife so much. What about you?"
Thinking back to what Fu Wenxiao had just said, and his obvious attitude of wanting to protect his wife, the woman became even more dissatisfied.
The husband smiled and said, "How can I compare with the scholar? The scholar is a man of great talent. I heard that he is so knowledgeable that even the county magistrates look up to him. He must be an extraordinary person, and naturally different from ordinary men like us."
The woman would not let him fool her, she sneered, "Yes, the scholar is so capable, but he still loves his wife so much. You incompetent people can only yell at us women, it's really shameful."
What can the husband do?
He could only smile along and said that in the future he would be like the scholar, listen to his wife and protect her.
What happened before was just a minor incident and it passed quickly.
There are only a very small number of people like this who want to touch the scholar and get a taste of his literary talent. Most people respect the scholar Fu Wenxiao very much and dare not offend him easily.
Yu Li waited for a while, and seeing that the people surrounding Fu Wenxiao were relatively reasonable, he went to look for a few sisters.
After taking a few steps, he was stopped by someone.
The ones who stopped her were the middle-aged women from Qingshi Village. They smiled and congratulated her on becoming the wife of a scholar, and then couldn't wait to ask about the village school.
"Li Niang, I heard that you and Mr. Fu are going to open a village school in the village. Is this true?"
"Does this village school really accept both boys and girls?"
"I heard that they also provide a free lunch? Is that right?"
"Oh, my eldest daughter is already fifteen years old. Can she still enter the village school at this age? What age does the village school accept?"
"My little baby is just two years old, can you keep him?"
"Li Niang, and my family..."
A group of people asked questions all at once, surrounding her and asking non-stop.
Yu Li was not impatient, nor did he answer until they dropped the topic on their own. Then he spoke: "We have already drawn up a charter for this matter. The village chief will tell you in a few days."
But the ladies wanted to get a definite answer from her.
After all, the village chief said that this village school was funded by Yu Li.
In fact, everyone in the village thought that Yu Li represented Fu Wenxiao, and it was Fu Wenxiao who wanted to open a village school. However, Fu Wenxiao was surrounded by a group of scholars, and they did not have the courage to go to him, so they naturally came to ask Yu Li.
Yu Li said: "Aunts, please wait patiently for a few more days, the village chief will tell you."
In the charter she and Fu Wenxiao drafted, they also took all aspects into consideration. Fu Wenxiao also took into account some issues that she had not considered and helped to improve them. His brain was very useful. After drafting the charter for the village school, Yu Li felt that it was a bit like looking at the industrial plan of the village school, as well as the three-year plan, the five-year plan and so on.
It is really perfect to start a chain of village school industries.
If other villages also want to set up village schools, there will be absolutely no problem as long as they follow his rules.
Of course, Yu Li didn't plan to talk about these things today. She let the village chief arrange it. After all, this was a village matter, and the village chief would be in charge of the village school in the future. She didn't plan to get involved.
Seeing that she was firm in her attitude and refused to reveal anything, the ladies were very disappointed.
However, they knew Yu Li's personality, so they didn't force it and quickly changed the subject.
"Mother Li, you haven't been home for a long time. Please come back to the village when you have time!"
"It's autumn now, and many fruits are ripe in the mountains. We'll pick some for you someday."
"And chestnuts. I remember you loved eating chestnuts. In a few days we will go to the mountains to get some chestnuts and send them to you in the city."
"The fish in the pond are getting fat, so I'll give you a few when the time comes."
"When the weather gets cold, we can make bacon. I remember Li Niang also likes to eat this."
"Leave my mother..."
…………
A group of middle-aged women surrounded Yu Li and talked non-stop, each with a kind smile on their face.
Yu Li responded to them one by one. If others showed her kindness, she would naturally return the kindness.
Until the Yu Jin sisters came and called Yu Li away.
Yu Zhu smiled and said, "The aunts in our village all like my eldest sister very much. After my eldest sister moved to the county town, they would talk about her all the time. Sometimes they would even ask me and my third sister what my eldest sister is doing."
Yu Yin nodded, indicating that it was true.
Yu Jin couldn't help but laugh and said, "What's the big deal? Our eldest sister is so nice, it's normal to like her."
Every time she went back to the village to buy food, she was stopped by the aunts and asked about her elder sister and when she would be back.
Yu Jin was very calm about this. The eldest sister now was different from before, but in just one year, everyone liked her so much. Isn't it normal?
As the sisters were talking, they met Aunt Feng, her daughter Feng Yuanniang, and her granddaughter Da Niu.
When Aunt Feng saw Yu Li, she happily pulled her and said, "Mother Li, you're back! Oh, your child is so promising now. She even donated money to set up a village school. I couldn't believe it when I heard the news."
At this point, she became a little worried and asked in a low voice: "Mother Li, where did this money come from?"
Aunt Feng remembered that when the news of setting up a village school came, many people were privately wondering where Yu Li got the money.
It costs a lot to run a village school. First you have to build a house, then hire a teacher, and provide a free lunch for the children in the village school...
A lot of money will be needed to handle all these things.
Aunt Feng was worried that Yu Li would use all the money she earned from working in the county to run the village school. She was also worried that she would make money in an improper way. She was also worried that if the villagers knew that she was rich, they would ask her to lend them money or make things difficult for her.
In short, she was really worried about the child.
"You silly child!" Aunt Feng whispered, "Will Mr. Fu not take part in the provincial examination in the future? If you make money, you should save it first and help Mr. Fu take the provincial examination in the future. How can you spend it like this?"
Although she really wanted to set up a village school in the village, she felt more sorry for Yu Li and was worried that she would spend money recklessly.
But she didn't dare say this out loud, because the villagers were really looking forward to the establishment of the village school, not for anything else, just for the free lunch.
Yu Li was silent for a while, then said, "Aunt, don't worry. I have some money in my hand, which was given by the government. And Xiao Ge'er is a scholar now, so it's easy for him to make money."
If anyone else had asked, she wouldn't bother to answer, but since Aunt Feng was so worried, she decided to comfort her.
Aunt Feng was stunned. Why was the government involved?
But she was relieved. As long as the money was earned legitimately, it was not a big deal.
As for the fact that Fu Wenxiao was a scholar and made a lot of money, Aunt Feng didn't take it to heart. She had never heard of any scholar making a lot of money, otherwise how could there be the saying of "poor scholar"?
Unless the scholar opens a private school and collects the tuition fees.
When Yu Jin heard Aunt Feng's question, she became a little nervous and almost said that she was the one who gave the money.
Anyway, everyone in the village knew that she was doing business in the county town and had opened a shop, so it was normal for her to have money.
She knew that Aunt Feng was not the kind of person who liked to gossip. Even if her sister told her that this was a reward from the government, she would not spread it around.
There are indeed some gossipers in the village. At worst, we can wait until the day when the village school opens and invite Ge Yayi and others to come over. By then, they won't dare to have any ideas.
Thinking of this, Yu Jin smiled and asked, "Aunt, if the village school in our village opens, will you send Yuanniang and Da Niu to the school?"
"Of course!" Aunt Feng said, "It's not a bad thing for girls to know how to read. I also want them to learn more, so they won't be blind like us for the rest of our lives."
Of course, the free lunch in the village school is more attractive. If the children in the family can go to the village school, a lot of food can be saved.
Then Aunt Feng told them that everyone in the village hoped that the village school would be established as soon as possible, and they would send their own boys and girls there just to get a free lunch.
When Yu Jin heard this, she couldn't help but sigh at her sister's foresight.
Sure enough, a free lunch made the villagers willing to send their daughters to the village school.
Otherwise, how can girls learn to read and write? Even if the village school is free, they will not let girls go to school, thinking it is a waste of time. Girls can do a lot of work at home.
After talking to the Yu sisters for a while, Aunt Feng went to get busy.
Now all the women in the village go to help. There are restaurant chefs specially invited from the county town to cook, but the cleaning chores still have to be done by the villagers.
Almost all the women took the initiative to help, and no one was lazy.
"I'll go help wash the vegetables." Aunt Feng said with a smile, "I saw your parents helping over there earlier."
As the father-in-law and mother-in-law of the scholar, Yu Laoer and his wife were very honored today, and many people went to congratulate them.
However, although they were happy, their personalities remained unchanged, and they even took the initiative to help.
In the eyes of everyone, they are still the same as before, too honest.
After saying goodbye to Aunt Feng, Yu Li took his sisters to find Zhou.
Zhou was sitting in an open space near the ancestral hall. Several old ladies from the village were sitting and chatting with her. They were old and didn't need to help, so they were talking to Zhou with smiles on their faces.
The three Yu Jin sisters greeted Zhou sweetly and took Fu Yanhui to play with the brother and sister.
There were so many people here that the brother and sister were a little timid. They stayed close to Zhou and didn't dare to run around.
The brother and sister were very familiar with the Yu Jin sisters. When they saw them, they relaxed a little and played with Yu Yin, Yu Zhu and others.
Yu Li watched from the side. From time to time, villagers passing by would greet her or stop to talk to her.
They were all very welcoming and full of kindness towards her.
Yu Li responded one by one.
At this time, someone else came over. Yu Li looked up and found it was Yu Qin.
The Yu Jin sisters also saw her and were a little surprised, not knowing what she was doing there.
Speaking of which, this time the village was going to hold a wedding banquet, except for Chen who came back with her daughter and youngest son, the two brothers Yu Lao Da and Yu Jingde did not come back.
I don’t know if it’s because he doesn’t have the nerve to come back, or for some other reason.
Of course, what happens in the first wife's house now has nothing to do with the second wife. Since the family split up, the first wife and the second and third wives have been at odds with each other, and they try not to see each other except during the holidays.
If Mr. Yu and his wife were not still alive, I am afraid that the three brothers would never have any contact with each other until they die.
"Mother Li." Yu Qin came to Yu Li, looking a little uncomfortable. She whispered, "I, I'm getting married. The wedding will be held next month. If you are free, you can go to the wedding for a drink. It's at the Yang family in the county town..."
Yu Li looked at her strangely when he heard this: "You want me to attend your wedding?"
She thought Yu Qin hated her and wanted to never have anything to do with her again. Of course, whether she hated her or not had no effect on her.
"Yes." Yu Qin bit her lip, "I would be very happy if you could come."
As she spoke, she finally looked directly at Yu Li with a complicated expression.
The Yu Li in front of him was wearing beautiful clothes and pearl jewelry. It was obvious that they were not the style from the county town, and the price must be very high.
She stood in the crowd like a fairy. She could be seen from afar and could not be ignored.
I even felt ashamed just standing in front of her.
In fact, Yuqin had already arrived.
When Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao entered the village earlier, the villagers were stunned when they saw them.
The two of them walking together looked so good that they didn't seem like real people. They didn't fit in well in this village, but since they hadn't seen each other for more than half a year, everyone felt as if they didn't know them.
Yuqin felt a little sad, but mostly calm.
When she first saw Fu Wenxiao, she thought he was the son of one of the rich men in the city. As a young girl, she was no exception.
But when she found out that he was Yu Li's husband, the ugly and sickly man she had disliked before, she felt embarrassed and sad.
Later, she heard that Fu Wenxiao had recovered and was going to take the county examination. From the county examination to the prefectural examination, and then to the academy examination, he finally passed the examination and became a scholar, and even ranked third in the imperial examination. She then gave up all her thoughts.
She knew very well that she and Fu Wenxiao were like people from two different worlds.
The girl let go of her secret worries, became calm, and decided to accept the proposal of her eldest cousin Yang Hui and marry into the Yang family.
Yuqin knew very well that the Yang family chose her because they had their eyes on her two brothers, hoping that they would be able to pass the imperial examination and become scholars in the future.
Later, the Yang family was even more pleased with her when they learned that Fu Wenxiao, the top scorer in the county examination, was her brother-in-law.
When Yuqin realized this, she felt a little worried.
After all, she knew that Li Niang had fallen out with their first wife a long time ago. No matter how successful Fu Wenxiao was, they would not be able to get involved with him. If the Yang family knew about this, she didn't know how they would view her.
But Yuqin didn't expect that when the Yang family revealed their intention to marry her to her parents, her parents would agree so readily and even couldn't wait for her to marry him.
Although the Yang family is a merchant family, they are really rich. With the support of the Yang family, her two brothers will not have to worry about money when taking the imperial examinations.
She had some idea of what her parents were thinking, and apart from feeling a little sad, she didn't feel that bad.
She had gotten used to the fact that the elders favored her brothers. As a girl, although she was not loved as much, at least she lived better than her cousins from her second uncle's family and was brought up in pampered conditions.
The Yang family was interested in the scholar Fu Wenxiao, not her two brothers.
Now that the wedding date has been set, there is no point in her worrying.
Yu Qin came to see Yu Li today, actually she also wanted to invite her to attend her wedding. If the Yang family saw her coming, they probably wouldn't think too much about it, right?
-
Yu Li said: "We'll see what the situation is when the time comes. If you're not busy, then go."
Yu Qin immediately smiled and looked at her earnestly, "Then I'll wait for you." She twisted her fingers, "No matter what, we are sisters. I'll be very happy if you can come to my wedding."
Yuqin said, and then turned to Yujin and the other sisters and said, "Mrs. Jin, you guys should come along when the time comes."
Yu Jin said coldly: "It depends on the situation. If you are not busy, go."
Yuqin didn't care about her attitude. She still smiled faintly, said a few more words to them, and finally left.
Watching her walk away, Yu Jin said with a strange look on his face, "Big sister, I heard that the man Qin Niang is going to marry is from the family of Chen Xiucai's eldest grandson's wife, and the man is the brother of Qin Niang's eldest cousin's wife."
The wife of Chen Xiucai’s eldest grandson is Yang Hui, the daughter of the wealthy Yang family in the county.
After Yu Jin started doing business in the county, he came into contact with more and more people and became relatively familiar with the merchants in the county.
The Yang family was in the porcelain business and had their own cargo ship. Their business was very big and they were considered one of the top merchants in the county.
In those days, although the sons of merchants could take the imperial examinations, they were still inferior and looked down upon.
The descendants of the Yang family may not have much talent in studying, and none of them can make any achievements in the imperial examinations. Mr. Yang had to seek external help for his children. His daughter married into a scholar's family, and his son married a scholar's daughter.
Yu Jin guessed, "The Yang family is interested in Qin Niang, isn't it because of my brother-in-law?"
No matter what the Yu family did behind the scenes, in the eyes of outsiders, the word "Yu" cannot be written with two strokes. Yu Li and Yu Qin are cousins. If the eldest son of the Yang family marries Yu Qin, he will be a brother-in-law to the scholar Fu Wenxiao.
It’s beautiful just thinking about it.
"Really?" Yu Yin was surprised. "But if the Yang family knew that our family had been separated a long time ago, the relationship with my uncle's family would not be good..."
At this point, she couldn't help but frown.
Although she really didn't like Yuqin very much, she was also unwilling to see her living a miserable life after marrying into the Yang family.
Yu Jin curled his lips, "Whether it's good or not, it's the choice of uncle and the others."
She didn't believe that this marriage happened without her uncle's approval. The Yang family was very rich, and as long as Yuqin married into the family, her two cousins wouldn't have to worry about money if they wanted to continue taking the imperial examinations in the future.
Just like after Chen Xiucai's eldest grandson married the daughter of the Yang family, the Yang family was willing to sponsor the Chen family to take the imperial examination.
Yu Yin felt that her second sister was right, so she turned to her eldest sister and asked, "Sister, will you go?"
"It depends on the situation." Yu Li said the same thing, "If I'm busy, I won't go."
She is indeed very busy now and doesn't even have time to work in the butcher shop.
Yu Jin glanced at her. She was very conflicted about whether or not to attend Yu Qin's wedding.
She still had reservations about the first wife and would never be able to reconcile with her in her lifetime, but she also knew that Yuqin was just a girl, and if she and her sisters did not attend her wedding, she was afraid that the Yang family would look down on her, and she would have a hard time in the Yang family in the future.
**
The banquet began soon.
Yu Li did not sit with Fu Wenxiao, mainly because he was arranged to sit with a group of scholars. She took a look and saw that he seemed to be able to handle it, so she stopped paying attention to him.
When Yu Li sat down, he found that all the members of the Yu family were arranged to sit together.
Yu Li, Zhou, Fu Yanhui and the people from the second room sat at one table. Next to them sat Grandpa Yu and his wife, Chen's mother and son, and the people from the third room.
There were two tables just for them.
Seeing Yu Li, people from the third room came over to congratulate him.
Third Aunt Wang said flatteringly, "Li Niang, congratulations. I knew that Mr. Fu was a learned man. The Chinese character for "Fu" he wrote during the Chinese New Year was so beautiful. It was better than anything written by De Ge'er and Li Ge'er."
Yu Lao San agreed: "Yes, yes, your writing is much better than that of my eldest brother. My eldest brother has been writing for decades, but his writing of the word "Fu" is not as good as that of a young man."
The two of them talked to each other, trying to please Yu Li, not for any other reason, but because Fu Wenxiao was now a scholar, which was really amazing. They had some ideas and wanted to make peace with the second branch.
You know, Boss Yu took exams for more than ten years but couldn't even pass the exam to become a student.
Although it was the first time for the Yu Jingde brothers to take the exam, one failed the county exam and the other failed the prefectural exam. They didn’t know when they would be able to pass the exam to become a student, let alone a scholar.
Compared with the father and son of Yu Lao Da, one can imagine how important the scholar Fu Wenxiao is.
Yu Laosan and his wife also felt very regretful. If they had known that Fu Wenxiao had such great fortune, they would not have blindly supported the first wife but should have supported the second wife.
After listening to what their uncle and aunt said, Yu Jin and her sisters and others turned to look at Grandpa Yu and his wife, and saw that their faces were dark.
If it wasn't in public, I'm afraid Mrs. Yu would have lost her temper and hit people with a stick.
Of course, even if she hits someone, Yu Laosan and his wife are not afraid now.
Mr. Yu finally couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "Old Third, why are you talking so much? I can't even stop you from talking while eating!"
Yu Lao San turned around and said, "Dad, I'm talking to my niece." His eyes turned, "By the way, Dad, why don't my eldest brother and Jingde come back? This is a big happy event in the village. If they don't come back, are they dissatisfied with the village? Or are they ashamed to see people?"
Mr. Yu and his wife: "..."
At that moment, everyone present felt that the expressions of Grandpa Yu and his wife showed that they wanted to beat Yu Lao San to death.
Although he told the truth, the truth is the most hurtful. Mr. Yu and his wife could not bear it. They stood up in anger, and even their lips were trembling.
Before they could do anything, they saw the village chief and the elders going to toast Fu Wenxiao. When they passed by, they gave them a special look.
Mr. Yu suddenly lost all his thoughts and sat down quietly.
He was a man who cared about his reputation, so it was impossible for him to teach his son in public. He didn't dare to make a scene at such a time, unless his family didn't want to stay in Qingshi Village in the future.
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