The notice was posted quickly, and villagers began to gather around to watch. Although most villagers were illiterate, there were a few who could read.
Some people were reading attentively, while others were listening intently. Soon, the villagers learned that a market was going to be built in the village, and they would no longer need to go to the town to buy and sell things; they could do so directly in the village.
The villagers spread the news and discussed it extensively, but finding money to buy shops or stalls proved difficult for them.
Currently, most villagers have only managed to make ends meet and have no savings whatsoever. There are indeed very few people who can afford to buy shops or stalls.
Zhao Xian's purchase of a shop with five hundred taels of silver caused a sensation in the village. The villagers knew that he could make money no matter what he did, and since he spent so much money to buy a shop, it meant that buying a shop would definitely make money. Following him was definitely the right thing to do.
This is the effect of celebrities. Old Mrs. Zhao has made a lot of money making kimchi recently. With fifty taels of silver, she expects to be able to buy three shops.
Zhao Youzhu also paid for a storefront, planning to transform it into a front-shop-back-workshop model, with sales in the front and production in the back.
The villagers also know the principle that a good shop can support three generations. Last time, the imperial court bestowed 5,000 mu of fertile land upon Shuixian Village, and Shuixian Village began to prosper. If they could buy a good shop now, it would be hard to say that several generations would benefit.
As a result, some well-off villagers began to pay money to buy shops, and some merchants from other places came to the village to purchase goods. Seeing that Shuixian Village was building a trade market, they thought it was a rare opportunity and paid money to buy.
The project was expected to build around one hundred shops, and thanks to the efforts of out-of-town businessmen, all the shops sold out quickly.
Those who were a little slow to act began to regret it, blaming themselves for hesitating and missing such a good opportunity.
The shops were sold out, but some stalls remained. Each stall could be bought for one or two taels of silver, which most villagers could afford.
With a stall, you can do business in the market or rent it out to others and earn some rent.
The village head didn't expect the construction funds to be raised so quickly. With the funds in place, the construction of the Shuixian Village market started immediately.
Time flies, and winter soon arrived, with the weather turning cold.
After more than two months of construction, Ruan Fang's school is almost finished. Not only is the decoration of the school completed, but the desks and chairs for teaching have also been added.
The villagers were all quite impatient. They asked the village head when the school would open so they could send their children there to study.
The village head told the villagers not to worry, as there was still a teacher who had been invited from another place who had not yet arrived. As soon as the teacher arrived, the school would start immediately.
There is still one problem to be solved, which is Mr. Fang's Fang Family School. As soon as Ruan Fang's school starts, the Fang Family School will have to close.
This would cut off Mr. Fang's livelihood, which was something he did not want to see, but Ruan Fang had already found a solution to the problem.
Early that morning, the village head accompanied Ruan Fang to the Fang family school, which was empty at the time.
Since the new school is about to open, the students here have already left and enrolled in the new school. His school has not had any students for several days.
Mr. Fang was not a good teacher, but he had excellent handwriting and a deep understanding of calligraphy.
He looked up at the four large characters "Fang Family School" above the gate and fell into deep thought. He had written these four characters himself, and they had been hanging there for more than 20 years.
Mr. Fang knew that he was not good at teaching. Over the years, he had not taught a single scholar to pass the imperial examination, and he had only taught two students to pass the preliminary examination. Basically, it took more than ten years for him to produce a student to pass the preliminary examination.
He knew he was misleading students, but he had to continue teaching to make a living.
Because there was no other teacher in the village, he had a few students over the years. However, with the opening of the new school, he lost all his students, and his livelihood became a problem.
Mr. Fang sighed, and just as he was getting back to his senses, he saw the village head leading a girl toward him.
Ruan Fang has been in the village for more than two months, and all the villagers know her, including Mr. Fang.
He didn't know why the village head had brought Ruan Fang to see him at this time.
Upon meeting Mr. Fang, Ruan Fang bowed deeply, showing him great respect.
Although she was just a girl, she was the headmaster of the new school, and he had to treat her with respect.
Mr. Fang cupped his hands in greeting to Ruan Fang and said, "Is Headmaster Ruan here on important business?"
"I've heard that Mr. Fang has extremely high attainments in calligraphy. With the new school about to open, I wonder if Mr. Fang would be willing to teach at the new school and impart calligraphy to the children?" Ruan Fang asked.
Mr. Fang was overjoyed. He had been worrying about his future livelihood, but he never expected that the new school would invite him to teach. This was a great thing for him.
He didn't immediately respond, but frowned and slowly began to speak:
"Please allow me to consider this further before giving a reply. Please wait a moment."
In fact, Ruan Fang saw through the old man's thoughts in an instant; it seemed the old scholar was going to pretend to be profound.
Ruan Fang had no choice but to wait patiently. Since he had come to invite her, she should give him face.
After a long while, Mr. Fang turned his head, seemingly having made a very difficult choice.
"Since it is Headmaster Ruan and Village Chief Wang who have come to invite me, then I will respectfully accept their invitation."
"Thank you, Mr. Fang. The new school is about to open, and we have invited three teachers. You may go and get to know them."
Mr. Fang understood Ruan Fang's purpose in inviting him; for a village school, one teacher was basically enough.
The new school hired three teachers at once, and even had him teach calligraphy, which was clearly a way to give him a job.
I can no longer act like an old-fashioned scholar; I must learn to be grateful and do my job well in the new school.
Seeing that things were almost done, Ruan Fang left with the village head.
The newly built school is in the form of a courtyard house, but it is much larger than a traditional courtyard house. It has several classrooms and can easily accommodate two hundred students.
The school has dormitories for teachers, and even though Mr. Fang was a local, the school arranged a dormitory for him.
Ruan Fang walked into the schoolyard and saw an old man sitting in the yard, basking in the sun and reading a book.
"My esteemed teacher," Ruan Fang walked over and bowed deeply to the old gentleman.
"No need for formalities, please sit down," the old gentleman said.
"Thank you, my mentor," Ruan Fang said, sitting down on a chair nearby.
"Have we managed to invite Mr. Fang? Is he willing to teach at the school?"
“He agreed, and he should be coming tomorrow,” Ruan Fang said.
The old man nodded. Ruan Fang had worked very hard these past few days, and his eyes were full of heartache.
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