In fact, Zhou Wan had already had a heart-to-heart talk with Jiang Qianqian last night.
The latter also understood Xu Yuehuai's hardships.
But with so many things to do and the inn struggling to survive, Jiang Qianqian was too embarrassed to bring up her trivial matter to embarrass Xu Yuehuai.
“If you’re unwilling to go, you should at least tell Grandma.” Zhou Wan said meaningfully, “Qianqian, it’s already difficult enough for us to get to the capital. Everything needs to be done step by step. She hopes that you will make something of yourselves.”
The little guy understands the道理 (principles/reasoning).
But reality...
Their private school was set up inside the Lin family ancestral hall. The children born into the family were naturally different from outsiders. They were united with the outsiders, and ever since the three little ones arrived, they have been ostracized, oppressed, and schemed against.
Jiang Qianqian naturally understood that having the opportunity to study today was extremely difficult, so she valued harmony in everything. However, she never expected that her forbearance would only result in her being bullied even more severely.
As for the other two, Ah Qi was aloof and no one dared to approach him.
Although Jiang Shichen also came from a poor and remote area, under Zhou Wan's tutelage, he possessed a refined and learned temperament. He was handsome and had a photographic memory, which quickly made him the object of envy.
Jealousy makes people ugly.
As a result, the three were isolated.
That day, the old teacher assigned homework, and Jiang Qianqian was preparing her brush, ink, paper, and inkstone when she suddenly saw a fat, large spider dart out of the scroll. The spider lunged at her, and Jiang Qianqian was so frightened that she stumbled and tumbled, almost falling into the pond behind her.
The old scholar was biased; he knew that the servants were teasing Jiang Qianqian and the others, but he ignored it.
Instead, he made sarcastic remarks to Jiang Qianqian.
He pointed at Jiang Qianqian, stroked his beard, and scolded, "What are you doing? You have disrupted class discipline time and time again. If it weren't for my impartiality, you would have been expelled long ago. It's already a blessing that a girl like you can study at a private school. Do you have to make things difficult for yourself?"
"Sir, I didn't mean to."
Jiang Qianqian tearfully recounted, "They were just teasing me."
She already knew who the culprit was—wasn't it the Lin brothers across from her, who were winking and gloating at her?
These two brothers are neither good at academics nor at martial arts.
They've been in private school for years, yet one still hasn't memorized the Three Character Classic, and the other doesn't know the Hundred Family Surnames.
This is completely different from the three little ones, whose studies have progressed by leaps and bounds.
Zhou Wan had been teaching them by example and instilling in them the Four Books and Five Classics, to the point that the three of them only felt bored in the team.
"It's them." Jiang Qianqian couldn't take it anymore and pointed to the ugly, grinning faces opposite her.
This is Lin Xiuwen, the son of the eldest branch of the Lin family.
Lin Xiuwen vehemently denied it, saying, "When did I put a spider in your possession? Which eye of yours saw it? That spider was walking around on four legs. You're framing me."
"I..." Jiang Qianqian was extremely anxious, but she was outnumbered and powerless.
She looked at Jiang Shichen for help. Jiang Shichen was naturally aware of everything. He turned around and happened to see a rat snake flicking its tongue on the wall. Without saying a word, he grabbed the rat snake, dragged it over, and threw it onto the collar of Lin Dunru, the second brother of the Lin family.
Although the rat snake is non-venomous, it's still terrifying.
Lin Dunru was pale and shouted loudly.
In a panic, he threw the snake away.
The serpent darted through the air, drawing a beautiful parabola, before suddenly landing on the old scholar's neck. The old scholar gripped his ruler, ready to pry it off.
But the startled snake coiled around his neck.
The old master immediately screamed, "This is an insult to scholarship! This is outrageous! Is this how I teach you the teachings of Confucius and Mencius every day?"
The old master tilted his body and fell down with a thud. Now, a child stepped on the ribbons of his clothes, and the child panicked, while the other children scattered like pigs.
There were those who were deliberately watching the excitement and didn't mind making things worse, so they deliberately overturned the inkstone and threw it at Jiang Shichen. Ah Qi reacted quickly and flew out to block Jiang Shichen.
Ink stains were everywhere, and a child pointed at Ah Qi and said, "Teach this arrogant bastard a lesson."
"You bastards, you think you're so powerful? Trying to become local bullies, huh?"
"Gentlemen, let's go!"
Each person shouted their own slogan, formed their own camp, and began to fight fiercely.
Seeing that things had escalated, Jiang Qianqian was afraid that things would be difficult to control. After all, this was someone else's backyard. She hurriedly tried to act as a peacemaker, but little did she know that she would get beaten up in the chaos.
Jiang Shichen didn't usually care much about Jiang Qianqian, but blood is thicker than water. Seeing Jiang Qianqian being taught a lesson for no reason, he was so angry that he grabbed a little guy and started punching and kicking him.
The child was beaten half to death.
Ah Qi had originally intended to win people over with kindness, but after arriving here, he realized that they were taking advantage of their numbers. He couldn't stand it any longer and raised his fist to teach them a lesson.
Whether the opponent chooses to fight one-on-one or in a group, Ah Qi can teach them a lesson they won't back down.
Soon someone arrived at the front yard. It was the steward. Seeing the mess, the steward rushed to the master's room and reported the situation in a few words.
Master Lin grabbed his concubine's hand and leaped up from the bed. "This is outrageous! Who dares to bully my precious son? I'll make them pay dearly!"
When Xu Yuehuai arrived, the three little ones were already kneeling obediently on the ground.
To increase the severity of the punishment, they even made them balance a wooden basin on their heads.
The wooden basin was enormous. Jiang Qianqian, being a girl, had already felt a sharp pain in her neck and her whole body was numb.
Even Ah Qi is almost at his breaking point.
Xu Yuehuai and Zhou Wan's third sister arrived. When the three women looked at each other closely, Zhou Wan felt extremely distressed and took a few steps to approach. Seeing that her family had arrived, A Qi spoke first, "Grandma, they are the ones who are bullying us by taking advantage of their power. You must stand up for us and seek justice."
Xu Yuehua frowned.
Recently, she's been busy with her studies, leaving early and returning late every day, so she rarely sees them. She's also preoccupied with her business dealings and has no idea about their situation.
Now that the three boys have been punished by kneeling, Xu Yuehuai should first reflect on his own actions.
"It's my fault. I didn't take good care of them and discipline them properly, which is why they made such a mess of this place. It's my fault, it's my fault."
Third Sister was ready to help the three of them up.
When Master Lin saw Xu Yuehuai arrive, he arrogantly touched his nose and contemptuously scolded, "Little widow, I made you study here out of pity for you, but I never expected these little rascals to be so naughty. Now look at what my place has become."
The room was in a mess, a complete mess.
Unable to suppress her anger, Xu Yuehuai pointed at Jiang Shichen, who was kneeling on the ground.
"You tell me."
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