He Tiantian, carrying her child, walked to the old locust tree. "Chief, we must hire this teacher, no matter the cost. If our village had more scholars like Zhao Yan, we would have escaped poverty and become wealthy long ago, instead of being as poor as we are now!"
While that statement makes a lot of sense, not everyone present thought the same way.
Mrs. Sun pursed her lips. Her family only had daughters, no sons. No matter how much education they received, it would never be her family's turn.
Then she said sourly, "What's the use of studying! Although Yan'er is successful, he's the only one from our village who has come up with such a talent in generations."
"Yes, if I spend money and my good-for-nothing child doesn't go to school, wouldn't that be a waste of money!"
"Isn't that right? In the end, all the money will go to outsiders, and you won't be able to spend a single penny of what you've worked so hard to save."
He Tiantian rolled her eyes inwardly. Oh well, most people in ancient times didn't have any educational philosophy.
“Chief, I have two daughters. But I think education is very important. I don’t expect them to be outstanding, I just hope they can learn some knowledge and have their own opinions on things,” He Tiantian continued.
Zhao Tingzhang looked at He Tiantian with bright eyes. He knew it... he knew that Wanzi's mother was different from the others.
Zhao Yan looked at He Tiantian with great excitement upon hearing this. These words... these were also said to him by Master Qin before.
He was under a lot of pressure during those days of taking the exam, and he was very afraid that he would fail and let his parents down.
Master Qin patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Studying is not just about passing the imperial examinations. Being overly eager for quick success is a major taboo for scholars. The essence of studying is to broaden one's horizons and expand one's perspective."
"Auntie..." Zhao Yan stepped forward respectfully and bowed with both hands in front of him.
Everyone was baffled by Zhao Yan's actions.
“Auntie, village head, you don’t need to go to such great lengths to invite a teacher. I am willing to teach the children in the village to read and write for free. I, Zhao Yan, have studied for so many years and have received kindness and help from everyone here. It is only right that I do something to repay everyone.” Zhao Yan spoke with great passion, as if he had made a very big decision.
Zhao Yanniang was shocked upon hearing this. She quickly stepped forward and grabbed her son, nagging him, "Yan'er, are you crazy! Your father and I will repay these favors ourselves; you don't need to. You should focus on preparing for the imperial examinations in the capital next year!"
Zhao Yan patted his mother to reassure her.
“Mom, I still have a year to prepare for the exam, there’s plenty of time. Besides, I can teach and prepare for the exam at the same time, it won’t interfere with anything.”
Zhao Yanniang wanted to say something, but seeing her son's resolute expression, she ultimately remained silent.
He Tiantian gave Zhao Yan a very approving look; she knew this kid was going to amount to something. Luckily, she had pulled him back in time.
Zhao Tingzhang was also very surprised and deeply moved.
Although he doesn't have a grandson who can attend school, he can send Zhao Xiaohe there.
Zhao Xiaohe used to love following Zhao Yan around reading and writing, but it was his fault as a father that he neglected his child's education.
"Good, it's a joyous occasion for the whole village to have Scholar Zhao. But we can't let him teach our children for free, can we? A pound of rice, a load of firewood, every household can contribute money if they have it, and labor if they don't, to send their children to study here," Zhao, the village head, announced excitedly.
The threshold for this degree program is quite low, much cheaper than the monthly tuition fees in the county.
The villagers who wanted to send their children to school seemed to see hope and cheered excitedly.
The children studied in Zhao Yan's yard. Aunt Zhao's house had three mud houses and a very large yard.
Quite a few families in the village sent their children to school, and the next day, a total of thirty-one children came to Zhao Yan's house.
It's all boys here, except for two girls, Lantern and Dumpling.
Moreover, the oldest among them is ten years old, and the youngest is only four years old.
Because the older children are already helping with household chores, they naturally can't attend school. And the younger ones can't attend either.
Looking at the children filling the yard, He Tiantian noticed that Zhao Yan had specially arranged for her two daughters to sit in the front row.
The children brought their own stools from home, and when they didn't have pens or ink, they used twigs to write on the sandy ground in the yard.
In ancient times, children would first begin their education by reading basic literacy textbooks such as the Three Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, and the Thousand Character Classic. Only after completing these could they begin studying the Four Books and Five Classics.
He Tiantian bought a copy of the Hundred Family Surnames from the mall last night for Lantern and Maruko, because Zhao Yan said he would start teaching them from this book.
First, children need to know the origin of their surname and be able to write their own names.
All 31 children were very excited, and on their first day of school, they all sat up straight.
This was also Zhao Yan's first time teaching so many children, and he was still a little unaccustomed to it. He stayed up all night preparing the lessons for today.
Looking at the little kids sitting below, Zhao Yan cleared his throat. "Alright, everyone, sit up straight. Classes will start promptly at 7:00 AM every morning, and you can go home after two hours of study each day."
"Today we will learn to write our own names, the character Zhao."
Zhao Yan dipped a small twig into the juice of amaranth on the front courtyard wall. The juice was red and could still be seen before it dried.
The children all craned their necks to look ahead, imitating the movements quite well.
The courtyard of the Zhao family was also crowded with adults who had lived most of their lives without ever attending school and all wanted to see what it was like.
Erhua's mother sent her youngest son, Zhao Dashui, over. She had three sons, but it would be too much to afford to send them all to school.
The Tao family sent Zhao Fengnian over, mainly because Da Niu got married and Tie Zhu was already thirteen. Only Fengnian was a little younger and could come to study.
Tao now has some money he has saved up, enough to afford the two-cent tuition fee per month.
At the entrance of the Zhao family's residence, Tao and He bumped into each other.
Tao only dared to greet He Tiantian after seeing that none of her daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law were nearby.
"Sister-in-law, I just saw your lanterns and meatballs. The two kids are studying very diligently!"
He Tiantian turned her head and saw Tao Shi. She said, "I just saw a child in the yard. His back looks so much like my sister-in-law's Fengnian."
"Sister-in-law, Fengnian is studying very hard. Did that old woman agree to let the child come to school?"
The two walked back side by side, Tao shaking her head with her head down in frustration.
“I don’t agree, but your older brother and I have saved up some money, which we paid for ourselves.” Tao recounted in detail what had happened when she returned from He Tiantian’s house last time.
They can also save some of the money they earn later.
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