The two looked at each other in silence for a while. Lao Buyu picked up the pen, crumpled up the stained paper, and asked tentatively, "Madam's words... are they what I thought they meant?"
Shen Cui nodded and said, "It should be what you think it means."
Lao Buyu rolled his eyes, thought for a moment, pointed at Chen Cui and said with a smile: "Okay, Madam Mu, I said you have some family background. Well, it's not bad to run a college. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. I saw my senior brother's college was so prosperous earlier, and I was a little jealous. But I was dismissed by the court before I even got the official position, and I didn't get any salary. I really can't afford the capital... I wonder how many teachers you plan to hire, how many students you plan to accept, and where you plan to open the college?"
Shen Cui touched her nose again, but thinking about what the system said, we are confident!
She put her hand down and said confidently, "For the time being, we are not planning to hire any more teachers or students, so we will just leave it to the few of us. So we will stay in this old house, and we won't make any major changes. We will just put the things in order and hang a plaque."
Is this still a college? The school at the entrance of the village is more glamorous and lively than this one! Can this makeshift troupe be called an academy?
Lao Buyu choked again, and once again, he almost had "You really have the guts to do this" written on his face.
But after more contact in the past few days, both sides have a certain understanding of each other. Lao Buyu quickly digested it himself, and then said, "I understand."
Chen Cui didn't know what he understood. He couldn't possibly understand that she had a system to raise children for the imperial examination in order to complete the mission.
"Mrs. Mu wanted to collect money from the little fat sheep for food and lodging, and was afraid that the price of several dozen taels a year would cause gossip, so she came up with the name of the academy. It is normal for students to pay a higher tuition fee to study, eat and live in the academy."
After figuring it out, Lao Buyu looked at Chen Cui again, and there was no longer a look of mutual admiration and friendship between people of different ages in his eyes. Instead, it seemed that he had a little more respect for her and a little more inferiority!
It turns out this is possible! This reason is really good, and it seems to make sense both internally and externally!
Chen Cui suddenly understood, but she didn't show it on her face. She looked like "Master still understands me" and nodded calmly, "That's what I mean."
Lao Buyu started to think seriously and said, "My senior brother's name contains the character 'qing', so the academy he built is called 'qingzhu academy'. At the banquet before, I happened to hear the old lady calling the lady by her name, so why don't we use the character 'cui', and call it 'cuiwei academy'? Cuiwei is a kind of orchid, and orchid is a symbol of noble character."
There is one thing Lao Buyu didn't say, "Cuiwei" versus "Qingzhu", isn't this a chance for them to show off their abilities, just in case Wei Xi and Mu Erpang become successful in the future.
When people ask you where you studied before?
When you hear the name Cuiwei Academy, you will think of Qingzhu Academy in the same city, and subconsciously feel that Cuiwei Academy must be a large and grand academy that can be compared with Qingzhu Academy!
Everyone will be proud of it then!
The name is indeed a good name, and the farmers don’t care about the saying that a girl’s maiden name cannot be known to outsiders. The whole village knows the original body’s name, but it’s just... a little bit embarrassing!
The headmaster dared to name him like this because he is a famous scholar! It's simply a living signboard.
Who does she think she is? It would be fine if she really had the ability to teach and educate people, but she doesn't.
Thinking of this, Shen Cui's scalp tingled with embarrassment, so she touched her red face and did not respond.
Just as the Wei family's servants had almost packed up Wei Xi's things, Mu Erpang also came out, supporting Wei Xi.
Chen Cui and Lao Buyu exchanged glances, and they tacitly agreed not to speak anymore.
Later, the butler carefully checked the things that the servants had placed before he was ready to leave with peace of mind.
Before leaving, the housekeeper invited Chen Cui and Lao Buyu to one side, took out two red envelopes from his bosom, and said, "This is a little gift prepared for you two according to the family's rules. The master's portion is for the tuition, and the madam's portion is for the second young master's food and accommodation expenses in the future. In the future, every month, either the eldest young master or the younger one will send more expenses."
In general schools or academies here, tuition and miscellaneous fees are calculated on an annual basis. The Wei family’s meaning was also very clear, they wanted to pay on a monthly basis.
If I send money every month in the future, I will naturally be able to visit Wei Xi every month with a legitimate reason.
In fact, he also implicitly implied that he did not trust them and was afraid that they would neglect Wei Xi.
Chen Cui and Lao Buyu didn't care about this. They were just a makeshift team and there was no need for so many details. Wei Xi was in poor health and his family was worried about him, so it was normal for them to visit him every month. Moreover, Chen Cui had thought that the Wei family would leave one or two servants to serve Wei Xi, but it seemed that Wei Xi did not allow them to do so.
The two of them didn't say much, just thanked him and took it.
There was no heavy silver in the red envelope, only a soft layer, which was naturally the banknotes.
After finishing the task, the butler did not stay long. He turned around and saluted Wei Xi again, reminded him to apply the medicinal wine he brought from home on time, and then left with his men.
The servants in the room filed out again, and the room finally returned to its original state.
Wei Xi bowed to them shyly, "I'm sorry, Master Lao, I'm sorry, Madam Mu, and I'm sorry, Senior Brother Mu... I didn't expect that someone would come to our house later. If you don't want them to come every month, I will find a chance to tell them."
Chen Cui and Lao Buyu both waved their hands indifferently, one saying that this was just his family's concern for him and it was normal. The other road was only delayed for about half an hour, no big deal.
After saying this, the two of them turned their backs in sync and opened the red envelopes in their hands.
The Wei family was indeed a wealthy family, as each of them had a small silver note of ten taels in its red envelope.
Of course, this small amount refers to the face value of the silver note. The starting value of the silver note in this dynasty is ten taels.
But for Shen Cui and Lao Buyu, this was definitely a huge sum of money, not to mention that it was only one month's salary!
So they were both short-sighted. They discussed for a long time before coming up with a price of thirty taels a year!
After knowing the amount, the two of them put away the red envelope at the same time and had an eye contact - Lao Buyu wanted to give the red envelope to Chen Cui according to the original plan, but Chen Cui shook her head slightly, indicating that this part of the money was enough, and asked Lao Buyu to keep his share without worry.
Mu Erpang's face also turned red, and he whispered, "Brother Wei is older than me. In terms of age and talent, Brother Wei should be my senior brother."
Wei Xi stayed here for one night. He also listened to Lao Buyu explaining the enlightenment book to Mu Erpang the night before. He realized that he had been thinking in the wrong direction before.
But after understanding it, he didn't feel uncomfortable at all. He just thought that Mu Erpang must have some outstanding qualities that he didn't know about.
"Regardless of age or talent, since you entered the school earlier than me and heard my teachings earlier, you should be my senior brother."
Mu Erpang's face turned red and he looked at his mother for help.
Shen Cui had already finished the "discussion" with Lao Buyu. She reached out and patted him on the back, asking Mu Erpang to hold his head high and straighten his chest. "Xiao Xi recognizes you as his senior brother, so you have to act like a senior brother."
Lao Buyu also said, "The sect's rules are that those who enter first have a higher seniority, so Hanshan doesn't need to panic."
Since both of them said so, Mu Erpang no longer refused. He just thought that he was lucky to be able to become the master's disciple. The younger disciple who came later was also more talented than him and did not look down on him at all! Since you are someone's senior, you should put in 120,000% effort!
【System prompt: Training subject No. 1 has obtained the 'Striving for Progress' status. IQ +1, Charm +1, EQ +1. 】
Shen Cui raised her eyebrows in surprise, thinking that what the system said before was really true, healthy competition can really make people progress faster!
Since there were no outsiders around, Shen Cui shared with the two children the matter that she had just discussed with Lao Buyu.
Even though she was very frank with Lao Buyu when she talked about this matter earlier, that was because Lao Buyu himself was an unreliable person. Naturally, Chen Cui had no psychological barriers when she told him unreliable things.
She hesitated for a long time before she finished speaking to the two children, and finally said, "I don't have much knowledge, I wanted to ask the teacher to name it, but..."
But Lao Muyu stood up, which made her feel very ashamed!
Considering the need to maintain Lao Buyu's image in front of the children, Shen Cui changed the subject and said, "But this academy was originally established for the two of you. It is more meaningful if you name it."
Mu Erpang also had nothing in his stomach, and he blinked his big, lively eyes at Wei Xi.
Although Wei Xi was the later one in the academy, he is still an investor now, so when Shen Cui saw that Mu Erpang didn't want to be famous, she went to see him.
Wei Xi pondered for a while and said, "The Analects of Confucius says, 'Follow your heart's desire, but don't go beyond the rules.' I really like this sentence. When living in the world, the rules are in your heart. What you hear and see are not necessarily true. Only by 'following your heart' can you truly live for yourself."
He rarely spoke so many words in front of others. After he finished speaking, his face turned red, his eyes dropped, and he said in a lower voice: "Of course, this is just my idea. Sir, if you have a better idea..."
Chen Cui said no, "You started it very well. And 'follow the heart' means starting over. We all... have experienced some bad things before, more or less. After entering our academy, we will start over and develop in a new direction!"
Lao Buyu also nodded in agreement, not to mention Mu Erpang, who gave Wei Xi a thumbs up with both of his chubby hands!
Wei Xi's face turned even redder, but it felt really good to be praised by others. He raised his eyes again and laughed with everyone else.
Now that they had agreed on a name, Chen Cui naturally urged Lao Buyu to start writing.
The task of building the academy will be issued within ten days. It will take a lot of time to customize the plaque and clean up, so the sooner the better.
Lao Bu Yu said no more and just picked up the pen to write.
He had just written the word "follow your heart" and before writing "academy" at the end, he paused.
Wei Xi was watching from the side and his face also flushed.
Chen Cui didn't understand what was going on. She was about to urge Lao Buyu to continue writing, but she heard Wei Xi say, "I wonder what name you were thinking of before?"
Lao Buyu interrupted and told him the idea of the name Cuiwei Academy.
Wei Xi also said, "Then I think the name given by the teacher is better. It was Madam Mu who brought us together as masters and disciples. It is reasonable to name the academy after her."
Chen Cui, who was not in the situation, was still confused, "Didn't we agree to choose 'follow your heart'? Why did you change your mind?"
Lao Buyu pointed at the paper and let her read it herself.
He wrote it vertically, so the word "follow your heart" became the word "coward"!
If they go out and announce the name of the academy in the future, won’t people laugh at them?
No wonder even the famous person Wei Xi changed sides at the last minute.
Shen Cui looked at Mu Erpang, her eyes full of hope. As long as Mu Erpang stood on her side, it would be two to two, and she still had hope!
Mu Erpang didn't think of the word "cowardly" and said distressedly: "Cuiwei and Congxin are both good. If you ask me to choose, I will definitely not be able to choose."
Lao Buyu crumpled up the paper and re-wrote the sentence "Follow your heart's desire, without going beyond the rules" horizontally. Once the whole sentence came out, people naturally could not associate it with the word "cowardly".
"In that case, let's make this sentence the motto of our academy, or make it into a small plaque, or just post it in the house so that we can see it every day."
"Sir, you are wise!" Mu Erpang and Wei Xi, the new brothers, spoke in unison for the first time in such tacit understanding.
After they finished speaking, they all looked at Shen Cui and asked what she meant.
Chen Cui gritted her teeth and made up her mind. Between her own social death and the social death of her two children, she resolutely chose the former.
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