Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye, and the rice seedlings in the field are growing vigorously, already bearing small ears of rice.
Nanqun spends all his time in the rice paddies, fearing that someone might come out and cause trouble.
Today is the start of the school year in the village.
Many families brought their own dry food.
Some carried half a bag of millet, while others brought potatoes harvested this year.
Yang Yang's mother carried half a bag of old white rice.
Although it is aged rice, it is white rice, a rare and high-quality grain.
Li Xunfang's family had limited means, so they only took half a bag of potatoes.
The villagers were surprised to see her and said, "Xunfang, why did you bring the girl here?"
In any family, only the boys were eligible to go to school.
“Auntie, Xunfang has no son, so isn’t the girl practically half a son?”
Li Xunfang was already used to the villagers' ridicule.
“What do you know? My daughter will get married in the future. If she has been to school, her future husband’s family will look at her with more respect and she won’t suffer mistreatment in her husband’s family.”
It's just that the imperial examinations are now limited to men; otherwise, she would definitely have supported her two daughters to go to school.
Even those families who originally planned to send only their sons hesitated.
Seeing that most people had arrived, Zheng Xinghai coughed, signaling everyone to quiet down.
"Our village's newly built school is opening today. This is our village's teacher. You can call him Mr. Pei from now on. Let's invite Mr. Pei to say a few words."
The people in the countryside are simple and honest, unlike those in the capital who are so formal and disciplined.
It was the first time Pei Nanqing had been asked to stand on a stage and speak to a large group of villagers, and he was a little nervous.
However, seeing the children's clean and innocent eyes made me feel less nervous.
They actually talked for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and Nanzhi, standing below, secretly gave them a thumbs up.
Some people are just born to be teachers, and Nan Zhi thinks Pei Nan Qing is the most suitable person for teaching.
If you let her stand on it, she'd probably be so embarrassed that she'd dig two big dents into her toes.
Zheng Xinghai continued, "The fact that our village was able to build a school this time is thanks to the help of all the villagers, and also thanks to Nanzhi."
The villagers were completely baffled; what did this have to do with Nam Gyi?
Nanzhi thought to herself: Please don't let me speak on stage, please don't.
Sure enough, I was called.
“Nanzhi has waived everyone’s tuition and fees and found a teacher for our village. We would like to ask Nanzhi to say a few words to us.”
Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Nam Zhi walked heavily onto the stage.
“Well,” Nan Zhi coughed, pretending to be profound, “our village has finally managed to have enough to eat and wear this year. I’m sure you don’t want your children to go out into the future and be laughed at for not even knowing their own names, or even for being a peasant.”
The villagers nodded in agreement.
"Although we are peasants, we will strive to be cultured peasants. We grow our own food, and even peasant children can become scholars. In the future, we will surely have a place in the imperial court!..."
Nanzhi only felt comfortable talking to herself and completely ignored the people around her.
When she came to her senses, she found that everyone was staring at her.
"good!"
Zheng Xinghai was the first to clap, followed by thunderous applause from the audience.
Pei Nanqing stared straight at the woman on the stage, realizing that he had underestimated her before.
She could actually bring herself to talk about the conflict between the poor and the aristocratic.
However, her words inspired the villagers to fight with great enthusiasm.
So what if they are peasants? Their children are not; they will all become great men in the future.
The two young men of the Nan family have already passed the preliminary examinations, and their children can too.
After his speech, Zheng Xinghai took charge of collecting everyone's grain and then handed it over to Pei Nanqing.
“Nanzhi,” Pei Nanqing called out to her, “I can teach these children, but they have no books, no writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones.”
Nan Zhi smiled and said, "You just teach, and I'll take care of the rest."
Pei Nanqing hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped, noting that the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were exceptionally expensive.
But what does this have to do with him? It's all Nanzhi's business.
“Weiguo,” Nanzhi said, “let’s go to the county town to buy books.”
The three of them, master and servants, arrived at the bookstore in the county.
"What would you like to order, sir?"
Nanzhi: "Are there any books here suitable for beginners?"
The boss went inside for a while, then brought out a stack of things.
"Please choose."
Nanzhi spent a long time choosing a book.
"Boss, how much is this book?"
Shopkeeper: "Each book costs five hundred coins."
"So expensive!"
The villagers could only earn a few taels of silver a year, and a single book could cost them half a year's income.
No wonder the villagers are reluctant to send their children to school.
The women working at the cured meat factory earned a little over nine hundred coins a month, which was barely enough to buy a book. But what about the others? They couldn't afford it at all.
“Young lady, our books are already cheap. In other bookstores, this one would sell for six hundred coins.”
Nan Zhi thought for a moment, "Boss, I want thirty-five books, can you give me a discount?"
Thirty-five books—that's a big business opportunity.
I never expected this girl, dressed so casually, to be able to buy so many books at once.
The shopkeeper chuckled and said, "Miss, we've already offered the lowest price. How about this, I'll give you a book as a gift. It's a book for beginners, and it costs eight hundred taels. You'll need it then."
Nanzhi gritted her teeth and took out the money; twenty-one taels of silver were gone just like that.
If only we had a photocopier, we could just buy one copy and then have many copies, though that would require spending money on paper.
However, in such backward places in ancient times, every book was a handwritten copy.
Therefore, the price is slightly higher.
Wei Min was carrying more than thirty books.
"Master, would you like to buy some more ink and brushes?"
Nanzhi: "I won't buy it."
Wei Guo and Wei Min exchanged a glance, knowing that their master had spent a lot of money today.
“If we provide them with everything they need, they will lose their desire to learn. They need to understand for themselves that the path of learning is arduous, and every book, even every drop of ink, is a precious treasure that is hard to come by.”
Wei Guo nodded, agreeing that his master's words made perfect sense.
Things that are easily obtained are often not cherished.
After leaving the bookstore, Nanzhi returned to the No. 1 Restaurant in the World.
"Is the master here?" Liu Dezhi asked Wei Guo at the door.
Wei Guo nodded, and then Liu Dezhi knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Liu Dezhi walked in and handed the money he had received earlier to Nanzhi.
"Master, this is last month's revenue, plus the money that Song Family Pharmacy sent over before, totaling two thousand taels."
Seeing the silver notes on the table, Nanzhi instantly felt better.
Having money just feels different.
"Master, Young Master He has sent some things."
Nanzhi asked in confusion, "Why is he sending things?"
Liu Dezhi then took out some silver notes from his pocket and handed them to Nanzhi.
Nanzhi counted it again; it totaled a full thousand taels.
Why did he give me money?
Liu Dezhi shook his head, "Doesn't the master know?"
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