The two sat by the window on the second floor of the cake shop, with a bunch of bright red azaleas on the table.
Spring flowers are in full bloom. These were picked by Lu Yunfeng this morning when he went to the western hillside for a field survey. They look quite interesting on the table.
Qin Xiaozhou poured Sun Xunqiao a glass of milk. "This school only accepts girls. Moreover, girls cannot take the imperial examinations. They are only taught the most basic literacy and arithmetic, as well as some other handicrafts. If they want to study, they still have to go and learn from the master."
Sun Xunqiao slumped her shoulders. "Although I married a scholar, my husband went to study in the prefectural city after I became pregnant last month."
My uncle is a stingy man. He heard your school is free, and wanting to save a year or two of tuition, he sent his son to your school to learn to read before sending him to study under a master. He's got a clever plan.
The scholar's family was not wealthy. They had spent a lot of money supporting his studies in previous years, and now they didn't have much money left, so they came up with this idea.
Although she had some dowry, it was her personal property, which she would need for raising children in the future. She didn't want to give it to her husband's family. Besides, her husband, who was a scholar, was a man who cared about his reputation and wouldn't allow his family to use his wife's dowry. Otherwise, if word got out, he would be laughed to death by his classmates.
Qin Xiaozhou, seeing the commotion downstairs, summoned Jing Shu and said, "Go and tell the people at the gate that my school does not accept men. And women are welcome to apply to be teachers at the school."
Jing Shu was taken aback, then looked up sharply. "Yes, shopkeeper." After a moment's hesitation, she continued, "I can do arithmetic and I also know the laws and regulations regarding taxes for shops and businesses. I wonder if I could teach them?"
Her hands trembled slightly, clenching tightly. She was the daughter of a merchant and had once managed a shop. Just when she thought her life was in her own hands and that she wouldn't be used by her father as a tool for marriage, the local magistrate wanted to take her as a concubine after only meeting her once, which plunged her into despair.
She had stumbled and fallen along the way, and just when she thought she was going to rot in a ditch, Qin Xiaozhou appeared, like a ray of light illuminating her life.
This time, she wanted to try climbing up on her own.
Qin Xiaozhou was pleasantly surprised, "Of course, but you also need to manage this shop well and not favor one over the other."
Jing Shu's face flushed, her eyes shining. She bowed in thanks and turned to go downstairs. Sun Xunqiao asked in surprise, "You're looking for a female tutor?"
“Of course. It’s not easy for women to survive in this world. Their living space is squeezed infinitely, and they can only be trapped in a courtyard waiting for their husbands to give them handouts. Look, I only said that I wanted to open a school and offer just this one resource, and so many people came to fight for it for their sons. How many of these parents below are here for their daughters?” Qin Xiaozhou sipped her tea leisurely and gazed into the distance. “I don’t want men to plunder this hard-won resource that I have worked so hard to create.”
Sun Xunqiao was stunned. She suddenly remembered the rule that Qin Xiaozhou had set when he opened this cake shop: only women were allowed to enter. Because of this, it became a rare place for all the women in the county to relax.
Where there are no men, women can be freed from their shackles.
If this is true for boudoirs, it is true for textile factories, and it will surely be true for schools as well.
The woman before me is fighting for a place for all women in the world.
She rose and bowed for the first time, performing the proper etiquette of a scholar, dignified and composed. "Manager Qin, I wish you all your wishes come true. It's a pity I'm a timid person and dare not accompany you. I'm ashamed."
Qin Xiaozhou smiled, "You're also in the same industry. Since this cake shop opened, you've been a customer countless times. Isn't that a form of support?"
Some things can't be accomplished overnight. Let's take it slow. One day, we'll be able to stand tall and proud between heaven and earth, instead of hiding behind men and becoming someone's wife.
This might be considered outrageous, but all the women on the second floor just listened without anyone standing up to refute her, which comforted Qin Xiaozhou.
The school was built halfway up the mountain, and Qin Xiaozhou renamed the mountain "Lanyue" (meaning "Embracing the Moon").
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Wang laughed: "Who says women are inferior to men? Look at this woman, she has lofty ambitions, wanting to climb to the heavens and reach for the moon. She's trying to rival the heavens! This little county town is quite interesting."
The pageboy stood by with his head bowed. "Don't you think she's overestimating herself, young master?"
"In this world, there are those who are cautious and prudent, and there are those who are reckless and arrogant. That's what makes it interesting. If everyone were cautious in their words and deeds, where would those spirited and high-spirited people be?" Magistrate Wang picked up his pen and wrote the two characters "Lan Yue" on the paper.
"Go find a stonemason to carve it on a stone and send it to the Lu family, no, send it to Manager Qin as my congratulatory gift."
The page accepted it. The young master's calligraphy was priceless, yet he gave it away so easily. "Yes."
The two characters "Lan Yue" (揽月, meaning "embracing the moon") were powerfully engraved on a blue stone as tall as a person. Qin Xiaozhou solemnly placed the stone by the roadside on the south side of the mountain, so that anyone going to the school from now on could see it.
With the support of the county magistrate, the school enrolled nearly a hundred girls in just half a month, and people from other counties also sent their girls to study there after hearing about it.
After hearing about this, Shen Baishan approached Zhao Hanping and asked, "Do you have any suitable girls in your family who would like to go?"
He had countless wives and concubines in his harem, and many children. Apart from his few decent sons, Zhao Hanping, the mistress of the house, was in charge of the rest of the household. As a result, he didn't even know how old any of his daughters were.
Zhao Hanping counted carefully, "Seventh Aunt's ninth daughter is exactly eight years old this year, and Third Aunt's tenth and eleventh daughters are eight and seven years old respectively. All three of them are suitable."
Shen Baishan stroked his beard and said, "You've worked hard managing the household these past years, and Panyun has grown up to be of marriageable age. I plan to marry her off to the Wang family in Wanzhou."
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