Ancient scholars were often a bit arrogant; I wonder if this Mr. Fang would be willing to teach his younger sister.
The school had already let out and the children had gone home. Mr. Fang tidied up the school and was preparing to leave.
"Mr. Fang, please wait a moment."
The old man looked up and saw Zhao Xian standing in front of him, so he stopped in his tracks.
"So it's Scholar Zhao! My apologies for not recognizing you. May I ask what brings you here, Scholar Zhao?"
Mr. Fang was quite polite to Zhao Xian, after all, his degree as a scholar was a fact.
"My younger sister is nine years old and has never been to school. I wonder if Mr. Fang has any way to enable her to go to school."
"Fang Family School has never enrolled girls since its founding. As far as I know, there is a girls' school in Dawan Town. Scholar Zhao, you can send your sister to the girls' school in Dawan Town."
That's one way, but if he sends his younger sister to the girls' school in Dawan Town, she'll definitely have to live in town, and she's too young; he's a little worried about that.
Another method is to ask the husband to go home and teach his younger sister.
Thinking of this, Zhao Xian spoke up.
"I would like to ask Mr. Fang to take some time each day to come to my home and tutor my younger sister. I wonder what Mr. Fang thinks?"
"Currently, there are seven or eight students in the school. These students are of different ages and need to be taught separately. There is really no time to teach them at home."
"Could Mr. Fang recommend a gentleman?"
"If Scholar Zhao is willing, he can go to Master Lin in the village. Perhaps he will be willing to come and teach your sister."
Zhao Xian had certainly heard of Master Lin. Master Lin was very intelligent back then. He passed the provincial examination when he was just over 10 years old and became the youngest Juren in Huizhou Province, thus embarking on his official career.
Master Kelin was young and impetuous, and not good at navigating officialdom. He offended his superiors and was framed. He was not only dismissed from his post but also imprisoned.
This ordeal lasted for ten years. After being released, Lin Fuzi returned home and remained secluded at home for more than ten years, relying entirely on his elderly mother to support him.
A year ago, his mother passed away, and Mr. Lin lost his source of income. Moreover, he was over forty years old and had no ability to make a living, making life very difficult.
A few days ago, he went to Mr. Fang and asked him to help him find a teaching job.
Because the villagers were unwilling to send their children to the Fang family school, and because Mr. Fang's condition was not good, the school's income was only enough to make ends meet, and there was no way to help Master Lin.
"Master Lin is very learned, but he is too straightforward and offended powerful people, which led to his current predicament. If Scholar Zhao were to ask him to tutor your sister now, there shouldn't be any problem," Mr. Fang added.
Zhao Xian felt that what Mr. Fang said made a lot of sense, so he planned to visit Master Lin's house the next day, invite Master Lin to his home, and have him teach his younger sister.
Since the kitchen and dining room in the workshop have been renovated and furnished, dinner will be arranged there.
To make the restaurant more festive, Qin Shiyu bought several red lanterns and hung them inside.
Zhao Xian asked Zhao Xiaoshan to bring over all the families of his eldest and youngest uncles. Today, Ruotong is returning home, which is a joyous occasion for the Zhao family, and they must celebrate it properly.
Two soldiers were sweating profusely in the kitchen, cooking dishes. Li Chun'e calculated that there would be many people eating tonight, so at least four tables needed to be arranged.
The kitchen was too busy, so Li Chun'e went to help. Yang Ruotong also wanted to help, and Li Chun'e tried to stop her but couldn't, so she let her lend a hand.
Yang Ruotong was very surprised that the kitchen in her home was so big, capable of cooking for forty or fifty people at a time. It was unbelievable.
The restaurant had four tables and forty or fifty chairs. Despite having so many tables and chairs, the restaurant didn't feel crowded; it was indeed quite large.
Dinner was very lavish. Some of the dishes were secretly purchased by Zhao Xian from the system. During this period, the family soldiers who were in charge of cooking had greatly improved their culinary skills. In addition, they had many seasonings that could not be bought in the market, so the dishes they made were perfect in color, aroma and taste.
The aroma of delicious food filled the kitchen and dining room, and everyone was busy preparing for this dinner.
Zhao Tieniu and Zhao Tiedan were the eldest son's two sons. They were very honest and didn't talk much. They didn't like going to crowded places. Seeing a pile of firewood outside the door, they found a machete and an axe and started chopping the wood.
The three daughters of the third son's family, Zhao Dani, Zhao Chunhua, and Zhao Xiaomai, are helping to pick and wash vegetables.
The aroma wafted from the kitchen, and they kept swallowing, trying not to let their mouths water; it would be so embarrassing if others saw them.
The eldest son's wife, Liu, also came over, and she and the third son's wife, Wu, helped chop vegetables.
Standing next to Liu was a girl, about fourteen or fifteen years old, who was arranging chopped vegetables on a plate and then taking them into the kitchen.
"Eldest daughter-in-law, who is this girl? I've never seen her before," Wu asked.
“This is my niece from my maternal family. She happened to be visiting relatives today, and I couldn’t leave her alone at home, so I brought her along.”
Wu immediately showed a strange expression and said with a smile, "Could it be that she's the wife you found for your Tie Niu?"
"Third Aunt, this is Tie Niu's cousin, don't talk nonsense!"
Wu smiled awkwardly. No one in the Zhao family liked Wu's mouth; she could say anything, whether it was something she was supposed to say or something she shouldn't.
Grandma Zhao, who was wiping the table nearby, sighed and picked up the conversation.
“I said, eldest daughter-in-law, Tie Niu is not young anymore, we need to find him a wife, this matter can’t be delayed any longer.”
“Mother, I also want to find a wife for Tie Niu, but our family is too poor. Which girl would be willing to marry into our family? Even if the girl’s family is willing, we can’t afford the bride price.”
Grandma Zhao fell silent. Her family had made a lot of money making kimchi recently, and she planned to talk to Zhao Youzhu and his wife. She said that if her grandson was short of dowry money when he got married, she could pay for it.
In rural areas nowadays, when arranging a marriage, the bride price is usually two taels of silver, and at most three taels of silver. She can afford to pay this bride price.
After all, it's money spent on his grandson's wedding; as long as the third son's wife doesn't know about it, that's fine.
The whole family was busy, looking forward to this dinner.
At this point, Zhao Xian began to notice the Zhao family. The differences were obvious. His third uncle's family were all wearing new clothes. During this period, they helped make kimchi and earned some money, and their family's conditions had obviously improved.
However, the clothes worn by my uncle's family were very old and patched. Tie Niu and Tie Dan were both strong and good at farming, but they could only make a living by digging in the soil and could not get rich.
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