Chapter 12, who can say for sure?
"At birth, human nature is good..."
Early in the morning, the school was filled with children, boys and girls ranging from four or five to twelve or thirteen years old, all sitting upright and obediently reading along.
The school in Linxi Town was built with funds allocated by the county and contributions from families in the town. After its completion, every family could send their child there for a month of introductory education, regardless of gender.
The students themselves pay for their own tuition, while the school provides the books, paper, and pens.
Because the schools in Linxi Town were open to both boys and girls, they were famous throughout the county, always full. Most remarkably, the number of girls in the schools was no less than the number of boys.
After all, no matter the era, there are always people who love their daughters, but hiring a tutor privately is too expensive, and few can afford it. Now that there are schools that accept female students, whether it's because they love their daughters, have good families, or are farsighted, as long as their circumstances allow, they will send their children there.
Without going into too much detail, knowing a few more words, recognizing a few more book titles, and being able to do a few numbers is always a good thing.
In their countryside, girls who have attended school are always more sought after when they reach marriageable age.
If one is also talented and learns a lot, one could become a female tutor in the future, teaching academies and doing math—this inspiration came from Master Zhao of Linxi Town School.
Master Zhao was a woman; her father was a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations. She had been studying and learning to read since childhood and had no intention of getting married until she met her husband, Master Lin, who was also her father's student and her junior fellow student.
Not long after their marriage, Zhao, the scholar, died of a cold. The couple relied on each other for survival, studying and earning money simultaneously for ten years. Finally, Zhao, who had been unable to conceive, became pregnant.
Seeing their life in dire straits, Master Zhao, who was frugal and thin, was struggling with an unstable pregnancy. His family even had to borrow money for her to stay healthy. Feeling hopeless about his future in the imperial examinations, Master Lin gave up completely and decided to find a proper job to support his family. Through a friend's recommendation, he came to Linxi Town, a place he felt a strong connection with, to become a teacher.
There are many people and students here, and the tuition fees are also high, which allows them to live a good life.
Initially, Master Lin was in charge of teaching, while Master Zhao only assisted occasionally.
Later, as the number of female students increased, Master Zhao's status rose, and he even hired people to help him. Master Lin, on the other hand, became an afterthought.
After all, there are many scholars in Si'an County, and male tutors are readily available, but excellent female tutors are truly hard to find.
"..."
Lin Fuzi, who could be replaced at any moment, walked out of his classroom. Through the open window, he looked at the well-behaved girls in the next class, then at the rowdy kids in that class, and let out a long sigh.
Master Lin had studied for over thirty years, earning the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations). He was a skilled teacher and held considerable authority among his students. However, no matter his status, children were still children, especially those who could attend school—mostly pampered brats from well-off families.
Aside from those who are naturally obedient, most of them are not easy to deal with and are unlikely to change their nature. They may be well-behaved in front of him, but the moment he turns his back, they start acting up again.
Master Lin sighed, then flicked his ruler, his face darkened, and he turned around.
The classroom was completely silent.
It wasn't because of Master Lin that he hadn't even reached the classroom yet, but someone else got in faster—by climbing in through the window.
During class time, only that little tyrant from the Song family would do something like that.
Mr. Lin didn't know whether to be angry or amused. He went back to the classroom and found it quiet. Even the mischievous children had picked up their books and were reading attentively, though some of it was just for show.
Who could blame them when one bully was more domineering than the next? The even more unreasonable and domineering Song Jin sat at the very front of the lecture hall, listlessly reading from his book. His lazy demeanor would have prompted Master Lin to give anyone else a few slaps with his ruler, but with Song Jin…
Lin Fuzi turned around and went to the next classroom, letting her 'make trouble' there.
Feeling reassured, Song Jin slumped onto the table, rattling off a string of words. She yawned widely, closed her book, and slammed her hand on the table: "Alright, dictation! Anyone who fails, get out and hang yourself on a tree!"
The students reluctantly closed their books and began racking their brains to memorize the text.
That Aunt Niu is something else. She should just punish her own child at home; why does she have to throw her out?
Who can say for sure whether Song Jin, who was sitting in front, or them, will be punished?
Song Jin thought, "It must be her again. If I hadn't been punished, I wouldn't want to play with these little brats. They're all dirty and smelly."
"Tsk, hurry up, all of you, hurry up and finish so we can go home early. Big Head, Stinky Feet, Crooked Eyes, Bully..." Song Jin disdainfully called out the slow-runners one by one, threatening, "Stop whispering. If you waste one minute of my time, and he wastes one minute of my time, that adds up to an hour of my time. Can you afford to compensate me for that..."
Students: ...
If we weren't outmatched
Tolerate
**
"Ten times"
"Ten times"
"Twenty times"
...
Song Jin yawned as she corrected the messy notebooks. In her opinion, these kids should just go home; their learning was a complete waste of money.
She quickly corrected the papers, and after all thirty students in the classroom had finished, she put them down, stretched, and yawned: "Go back and copy them. I'll check them tomorrow."
Big Head, who had won twenty times, rubbed his bright red head and complained, "You're coming again tomorrow?"
Song Jin raised an eyebrow: "No way?"
Big Head: "...Haha, how could that be? I was just concerned about you, Sister Jin Jin. How did you offend Aunt Niu? It's been almost ten days!"
Song Jin looked puzzled: "How many days is a 'xun'?"
Big Head shrank back: "Five, five days?"
With a slap, Song Jin patted the big, unintelligent head in front of her and said disdainfully, "Ten days in ten days? I think you want to change your name to 'Stupid Head'."
Big Head gave an awkward laugh, took his twenty copies of the punishment for copying the text for the day, and left. Seeing him leave, the others followed suit.
The classroom was mostly filled with five- or six-year-old toddlers just starting their education. They weren't usually very well-behaved, but when Song Jin, this little tyrant who had no sense of respect for elders or children, came along, they all became as obedient as chicks.
Song Jin leaned back in her chair, rested her hands on the desk, swung her legs, and stared at the writing on the simple blackboard at the back of the classroom. She couldn't help but yawn as she looked at it.
She's really not cut out for school.
But last time she arrogantly went up the mountain, her mother caught her red-handed on her way back, and she was sent to the school for reformation. Having not been up the mountain for five days, Song Jin was somewhat listless and eager to know the current situation there.
well
I really want to go up the mountain!
But Niu Tielan is now really determined. He sleeps in Song Jin's room every night and locks the doors and windows, so Song Jin can't escape and can only obediently accept her punishment. She spends her days wandering around town and causing trouble at the school; life is incredibly boring.
When Niu Tielan came looking for her daughter, she saw her daughter swinging her legs and covering her face in the classroom. The sight was truly distressing. She took a deep breath.
"Song Jinjin, get your ass out here!"
Song Jin jumped up, took the book off her head, ran out, and grabbed Niu Tielan's hand, giggling, "Oh dear, Mother, why did you come over? It's so sunny outside, you didn't even bring an umbrella or a hat, it's so hot! I'd be heartbroken if you got too hot!"
Niu Tielan said disdainfully, "Stop joking around. When you're making me angry, why don't you say you feel sorry for me?"
Song Jin: "Okay, okay, don't be angry, Mother is the most magnanimous."
Niu Tielan said disdainfully, "If you don't provoke me, I won't be angry. I brought you here to study, and this is how you study?"
Song Jin protested, "This isn't my fault, Mother! Even if I'm uneducated, what can I do in a classroom with a bunch of four- or five-year-old kids? You could at least send me to a ten-year-old class!"
Niu Tielan sneered: "I'd like to, but can you keep up?"
The ten-year-old class consisted of children who were already studying properly and were doing quite well. The teacher wouldn't dare let Song Jin, this troublemaker, in, especially since her educational level was only at the beginner level.
Song Jin muttered, "It's already good enough that I can recognize the characters I learned in elementary school."
She's learning traditional Chinese characters here, and there's no punctuation. She only studied it properly to read miscellaneous books; otherwise, she'd be a complete illiterate.
Seeing that she had backed down, Niu Tielan poked her forehead in annoyance. After she feigned pain, he got down to business.
"Alright, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. The town just came back and said that a prisoner has escaped into Panlong Mountain and they're currently trying to capture him. Everyone should be careful, especially if you see a stranger, be sure to report it..."
Song Jin became serious and immediately realized that those people had made their move that day, but it seemed there had been a bloody mistake, and someone had escaped.
That's not surprising. There are so many roads in the mountains, and these outsiders aren't familiar with them, unlike those locals who have been settled there for who knows how long and can easily find a way to escape through any pothole.
If they escape, that's one thing, but if they flee to nearby villages and towns, who knows what dangers they might face.
Niu Tielan glanced at Song Jin after finishing speaking, then looked at Song Jin's expression and understood somewhat.
Upon hearing this news, she knew it was most likely related to the wild monkeys that roamed the mountains every day, but she didn't know if they had any connection with the people from before.
Niu Tielan was still angry, but also helpless. She knew her own child well; she couldn't control her. She could only occasionally pull the rope to keep her in check and release her before the rope broke.
She thought for a moment and said, "Our tea garden is right on the hillside, and we need to harvest it soon. If anything goes wrong, we'll suffer a huge loss this year. You can go and take a look when you have time."
Just as Song Jin was thinking about how to slip away, she beamed with joy and immediately patted her chest to assure everyone, "Don't worry, Mother, I'll be right there. I guarantee our tea garden will be safe and sound. Just stay home and wait for my good news; I'll be back in a bit."
Niu Tielan scoffed, "How much longer is your 'a while'?"
Song Jin grinned, showing her white teeth, and tugged at the other person's arm, shaking it: "A little while is just a little while, Mom, why are you in such a hurry? Haste makes waste, just wait. By the way, Mei Mao and Er Er are staying home and not going anywhere..."
The mother and daughter walked slowly towards home.
Back home, Song Jin first gave instructions to the maids and servants, then muttered a series of instructions to Niu Tielan before mounting Xiao Hei and heading towards the tea garden at the foot of her family's mountain.
Unexpectedly, she was stopped as soon as she arrived nearby.
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