Chapter 75
Gu Xinxin bought herself two suits with a slanting-collar jacket and a skirt, and also bought a long coat.
Although the Gu family had land, Gu Xinxin didn't plan to work in the fields. Even if she did, she could tie up half of her skirt for the time being. A country girl wasn't like a rich girl in the city, who would lose her reputation if she dressed untidy.
There are many girls working in the fields with their skirts hugging their wide trouser legs.
Married women could even dispense with skirts, wearing only wide-legged trousers, which made it easier to work and walk. In the countryside, skirts seemed to be worn only by young girls.
She set the rules herself, so of course she wouldn't break them.
When it came time to pay, only Gu Chen had bought fewer clothes, so she saved half a tael of silver. Gu Qiuhe, being smaller, used less fabric, so she also saved half. Gu Xinxin and Old Lady Gu were left with just enough money, having spent almost all of it.
Gu Chen and Gu Xinxin discussed: "If I have more, I can buy a bracelet. You won't give me the money anyway. If I don't take it, Qiuhe will have half a tael left. One tael of silver is just enough to buy a silver bracelet."
Gu Xinxin was speechless. Why didn’t she buy it for Gu Qiuhe if she had the money?
"It's not safe for children to carry jewelry. What if someone snatches it away from you on the way?" Gu Chenshi had her own reasoning: "If you don't give it to them, they might beat you to death."
Gu Qiuhe no longer trusted Gu Chen, so she looked at Gu Xinxin. Gu Xinxin was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Young ladies from wealthy families are always accompanied by people, so they're not afraid. But we can't. Even in our village, I can't say for sure that no one will steal your things."
Gu Qiuhe pursed her lips, paused, and nodded: "Then give it to mother."
Gu Xinxin didn't want to give it to Gu Chenshi, so she asked Old Lady Gu: "You are the elder, do you want your stepmother to respect you?"
Old Mrs. Gu was quite clever and understood immediately. She quickly responded, "Yes, yes, I am the elder, Mrs. Gu Chen, so please give me your silver bracelet as a filial gift."
Gu Chen was so angry that her nose was about to smoke. Wasn't she not buying clothes in order to save money for jewelry? But as soon as Old Lady Gu asked, she had to give her things?
No one should buy it.
Gu Chen groaned, "It's not that I don't want to honor you, old man, but I'm afraid you'll get robbed too. Children don't have the strength, and old people don't have the strength either. People who rob things specifically target you old people and children. I'm also thinking about your safety. Forget it, don't buy anything, so that you won't be angry when you see it."
Everyone was happy, and Gu Xinxin was also happy because she saved a tael of silver.
It was a rare trip to town, and Gu Xinxin was just about to go to the grocery store when she heard someone shouting not far away, "Make way, make way!"
The people in the middle of the road moved to the sides. A young man pulling a cart rushed across the road, heading straight for the medicine store on the other side. Gu Chenshi looked at her with a sharp gaze, clutching her chest. "How scary! Why is the person on the cart covered in blood?"
"You're not from this town, are you?" someone asked with a smile. Gu Chen turned around and took a look before nodding, "Yes, we're from Xiaokaner Village down below."
"That man is famous in our town. The one pulling the cart is called Cheng Shansong, and the one on the cart is his father. He is the scholar in our town, and he runs the school in the town." The man introduced with a smile. Gu Xinxin was a little surprised. The dean of the school?
She had gone to the academy with Gu Xiangrong when he became his apprentice, but she hadn't gone inside, and therefore hadn't met the dean. That bloody guy just now...
"The dean of the academy was beaten like this?" Gu Chen was also surprised. In her mind, scholars were very precious, especially those with official titles. Although the title of "xiucai" was not a high-ranking one, it did give him the right to see the county magistrate without kneeling. How could such a person be beaten to a bloody pulp?
"It's hard to describe their family story in a few words." The man shook his head. "Almost everyone in town knows that Cheng Xiucai and Cheng Xiucai were originally two brothers. Their family could only afford to send one of them to school, so the eldest brother dropped out and gave the money to the second brother, Dean Cheng. Later, Dean Cheng passed the exam to become a scholar, but he wanted to take the next higher exam, but he ran out of money, so he simply came back and opened a school."
The school was quite profitable. After all, the new emperor had only been on the throne for five years. How should one put it? Newly enthroned emperors were generally diligent and valiant, and were also very ambitious to create a prosperous era. In fact, the new emperor of Daqing did a very good job. During his five years on the throne, the country enjoyed peace and prosperity.
The people live and work in peace and contentment, so many people are willing to send their children to school.
When the school started making money, the eldest brother's family came out and said that it was he who gave up the money for Cheng Xiucai to study, and now Cheng Xiucai makes money by relying on his study skills. In this case, the money earned should be given to him.
The two families have not separated.
Mr. Cheng could also support the eldest brother's family, but the eldest brother felt that the school should belong to him completely. He himself had received education, so couldn't he be a teacher and teach the students?
What he wanted was the school's land, the school's buildings, the school's students, the entire school.
Then Mr. Cheng couldn't agree. The children came to study because of him. How could he transfer the school to his elder brother who was not even a student?
The two brothers often quarreled about this, and the people in the town knew about it because many families also sent their children to the school. They must have felt that Dean Cheng was thoughtful and wanted to give Dean Cheng a fair evaluation.
If you argue too much, fighting is inevitable.
When Boss Cheng stopped studying, he learned carpentry. Whether he was good at it or not is unclear, but he definitely developed a lot of strength in his hands. Dean Cheng was a scholar, always sitting or standing, and he was weak.
Out of ten times the two brothers fought, Dean Cheng would be sent to the pharmacy eight times.
Gradually, the people in the town got used to it and after seeing it so many times, they were no longer surprised.
Gu Chen slowly opened her mouth wide, unable to believe it: "You dare to hit a scholar?"
The gossiper curled his lips and said, "What's wrong with the scholar? He's being held down by his own parents, and it's the brothers fighting each other. Even if the county magistrate came, he would still say that it's difficult for an honest official to judge family affairs."
The main problem is that Dean Cheng himself didn't report it to the police. When the village head and the head of the village came to visit, Dean Cheng said nothing happened and refused to let them mediate. What can others do?
Gu Chen's personality is such that she would let others suffer but would never let herself suffer. This was the first time she heard of someone like Dean Cheng, who could obviously suppress others but was willing to take a beating. She opened her mouth wide and couldn't close it.
He looked at Xinxin with great concern: "Will the clerks be corrupted by such teachers if they study in such a school?"
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