The long queue at the college gate didn't gradually disappear until the afternoon.
Lu Yan stared in disbelief at the roster. "Thirty-seven people don't have desks and chairs in the classroom. How about we add six more desks to each classroom, and keep the rest for emergencies?"
Qin Xiaozhou nodded, "You can make the decisions about the school."
Lu Yan's face was radiant. The eleven-year-old girl was clever and intelligent. "Jinxiu, come with me. When you have time, you can study and learn to read with me."
Qin Jinxiu looked at Qin Xiaozhou with hopeful eyes.
Qin Xiaozhou rubbed her head and said, "Go ahead, and in two years bring Shitou to the county town so she can study there too."
Every morning at 7:30, students would enter the classrooms of the academy. The embroiderers would sit in the embroidery tower and work amidst the sound of students reading aloud. If you looked out from the west window, you could see the faint eaves of the academy halfway up the mountain.
Su Wanniang hummed a Jiangnan folk song again, and Li Zhen threaded pearls into a needle and embroidered them onto the clothes. When she looked up, she saw magpies chirping on the branches outside the window.
Everyone was delighted to hear this, and someone immediately embroidered the image of a magpie onto their clothes.
On the sixth day of the eighth lunar month, Lu Yunxing took the provincial examination, which was once again held in Fenggu County, and his family members once again accompanied him.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is just after the exams, and the house is filled with joy.
At the end of September, the Lu family was filled with joyous drumbeats as Lu Yunxing passed the imperial examination and became a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial examinations).
Wang Lan was overjoyed, but Lu Yunxing did not advocate for a grand celebration. "Just invite my uncle, great-uncle, and the village chief for a meal. It's not a big deal."
Lu Yunfeng nodded and praised, "Good, when you pass the imperial examinations and become a scholar or a jinshi, I will give you a grand celebration."
Before we knew it, autumn was drawing to a close, and Li Zhen went into labor on a crisp, clear autumn afternoon.
Although Ye Su didn't know anything about childbirth, Wang Li Shi did. She had arranged for a midwife early on and also invited the female physician Lan to oversee the process.
The next morning, as the sun rose, Li Zhen gave birth to a son.
Holding the child, tears streaming down her face, Wang Li carefully washed him and took him to show Ye Su and Wang Yining. "This is your younger brother. From now on, you will no longer be an orphan without a brother to rely on."
In this world, women will eventually get married, and whether they have brothers in their own family is also very important if they want to avoid being bullied in their husband's family.
Wang Yining gently touched her younger brother's face, "I will take good care of my brother."
Wang Li laughed and scolded her, "The autumn harvest is over, and your mother has given birth smoothly. You should go back to school tomorrow, and I will take care of your mother during her postpartum period."
Lu Yan was already able to manage the school and even had the students make velvet flowers. In the bleak late autumn, the first batch of velvet flowers was produced.
There are fluffy flower branches, as well as flattened petals, some adorned with pearls or tassels strung with pearls, making them incomparably beautiful.
Upon its release, velvet flowers quickly gained popularity among women in Fenggu County and even the entire Anhui province, becoming an instant sensation.
Winter arrived in the blink of an eye, and a cold wind was blowing. In the midst of a winter snowfall, Qin Xiaozhou received a letter from Zhu Xian, in which she said that she was five months pregnant and would give birth in March of the following year.
Qin Xiaozhou replied to the letter carefully, and also told Zhu Xian about what was happening at her school. She took out a wooden box and put two lotus branches, two hydrangea branches, two iris branches, two bird branches, two orchid branches... inside.
The wooden box was filled to the brim.
Whether Zhu Xian kept it for herself or gave it to her aunt, niece, or sister-in-law to enhance their relationship, it would be very useful.
She personally delivered it to the dock and handed it to Zhu Xian's manager, saying, "This thing must be stored carefully and not damaged."
The person in charge respectfully agreed.
In early November, Fenggu County welcomed its first snowfall.
Last year's snow disaster was severe, so this year people prepared food and firewood early and stored supplies for the winter.
Li Shaoming's family planted two more acres of radishes and cabbages. Now that there are many people in the embroidery workshop and the textile factory, and a school has been added, the vegetables from one acre of land will not last long.
This year, his family used all their land to grow vegetables, and his parents-in-law also joined them in growing vegetables. Their income was actually four or five taels more than in previous years.
Life at home gradually returned to normal, and Zhang Qingzhu became pregnant again in late autumn, finally fading away from the shadow of her mistress's untimely death last year.
Li Shaoming returned from delivering vegetables to the embroidery building and said, "Lu Yunfeng used to come to me. Today I'll go see him for a while too. It'll keep things from getting too distant if we keep in touch."
Zhang Qingzhu readily agreed, “The Lu brothers are our benefactors. My mother made some salted duck eggs. Although they are not valuable, they represent our goodwill. Also, take two jars of the peach blossom wine that my father brewed in the spring. The wine is not intoxicating, so let the Lu brothers’ wives try it.”
"Okay, sure."
In the afternoon, Qin Xiaozhou received two jars of peach blossom wine, which were sweet and mellow, and best enjoyed by women.
When Li Shaoming left in the evening, Qin Xiaozhou gave him two velvet flowers as a return gift.
Because of the wild boar infestation last year, Lu Yunfeng made early preparations for protection before winter this year. First, he took Zhao's two uncles to the end of Qingzhugou to dig three hunting traps, and then he reinforced the back door and the front door.
The snow wasn't thick this winter, and we had a peaceful and safe New Year.
On New Year's Eve, Wangjia Village was unusually lively. Lu Yunxing and Lu Yan set off fireworks and firecrackers on the road in front of their house, and the house was filled with laughter and joy.
Qin Xiaozhou brought out a tray with copper coins and silver ingots. She gave her younger brother and sister five taels of silver and a string of copper coins each, and Wang Lan and Zhao Fang ten taels of silver each.
He then picked up the last ten-tael ingot and gave it to Lu Yunfeng, saying, "You've worked hard this year."
Lu Yunfeng accepted it with a smile, "Thank you, Madam."
He then took something out of his pocket, wrapped in red cloth, and said, "This is for the lady."
Qin Xiaozhou opened it, and there was a silver bracelet inside.
Lu Yunfeng explained, "Gold bracelets are too flashy, this silver bracelet is just right, and wearing it won't attract attention."
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