Chapter 24
Chen Qingyan couldn't stay outside because of his leg injury, so Wang Ying quickly pushed him back to Chen Xi's house.
When Uncle Chen learned that he had been bitten by a snake, he was terrified. You know, in ancient times, venomous snakes were considered on par with wolves, tigers, and leopards; once you were poisoned, you basically had no chance of survival.
Fortunately, it was just a rat snake. The bite site was red and swollen, which looked a bit scary, but there was no danger to its life.
Chen Xi called over the village's barefoot doctor, who applied some crushed green herbal medicine and that was it. Wang Ying was still not reassured, so she went back to town to find a doctor to take a proper look.
The cherry trees that I originally wanted to transplant to the experimental field were not ready, so I'll have to wait until next time.
Da Shun called over the coachman and asked him if he would like to go to town to work.
The groom was in his early thirties, with tanned skin, thin and short. Years ago, he had married a young man, but she had a difficult childbirth and lost both mother and child. After that, he lived alone on the estate.
Because their family was small and their land was scarce, they lived a very frugal life and were often bullied by the people in the village.
Upon learning that his employer wanted to take him back to help, he was naturally more than willing and immediately went home to pack his luggage.
Er Shun also packed his clothes and bedding and went back to town with them.
Before leaving, Chen Xi and his wife held their second son's hand and repeatedly told him that once they arrived in town, he must listen to his employer, be diligent, and not be playful or cause trouble.
Chen Ershun said, "Father and Mother, don't worry, I will definitely do my job well for the master!"
As Wang Ying got into the car, she remembered the bag of wheat seeds she had brought from the experimental field and asked Chen Xi to take it down. "Do you remember the few acres of land I asked you to leave last time?"
"I remember, I remember."
"I selected these wheat seeds in advance. They will be planted together with the other wheat fields after the millet harvest. I will come back to check on them in a while."
"Don't worry, my lord, I will definitely plant it well for you!"
*
Uncle Chen was worried about his young master's leg injury, so he hurried back and arrived home before it got dark.
When Li heard that her son had been bitten by a snake, she was so frightened that she started crying. Wang Ying could only keep comforting her and telling her not to worry, as the snake was not poisonous.
After waiting for a quarter of an hour, Uncle Chen brought the doctor over. The doctor examined Chen Qingyan carefully and, after confirming that everything was alright, prescribed a remedy to nourish his body. Only then did Madam Li feel relieved.
"You're not allowed to go to the village again next time. There are so many insects and snakes there. What if you get bitten and hurt yourself?"
"Mother, this was an accident."
“Even accidents won’t do. Your health is getting better, and you still need to go to school to study and take the imperial examinations. Don’t always run around in the fields.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Qingyan's face turned pale instantly.
Wang Ying quickly changed the subject, saying, "Qingyan isn't fully recovered yet. The weather is getting colder every day, so it's not too late for him to rest a bit longer."
Li thought so too, and patted Wang Ying's hand, saying, "Once he recovers, you two should hurry up and have a child."
Now it was Wang Ying's turn to change her expression. She awkwardly withdrew her hand and said, "Qingyan must be tired after a day of running around. I'll take him back to rest first."
"Go quickly."
Once they reached the backyard, Wang Ying couldn't help but ask, "When are you planning to tell your mother the truth?"
Chen Qingyan kept his head down and didn't say anything. Although he was precocious, he was still only a seventeen-year-old boy. He was stubborn and proud, and he had never wanted to tell his family about such a shameful thing.
But now it's no use not saying anything. We can't keep putting it off forever. Are we going to keep pretending to be sick forever?
This...isn't this making people look down on you?!
"I'll go tell my mother later."
"There's no rush. You should think about your future plans first. If your mother finds out you can't take the imperial examinations, she'll definitely cry again. You have to let her know that you can do other things even if you don't take the imperial examinations."
"Then open a private school to teach."
There are now two schools in the town. One is run by an old scholar, and the other by a student who has passed the imperial examination. Both of them are only average in their studies and are not as good as Chen Qingyan.
"Once you've thought it over, I'll go find you a place to live tomorrow and settle on the private school as soon as possible."
"good!"
After calming him down, Wang Ying went to the front yard and made arrangements for the two people she had brought from the estate.
Shidunzi was responsible for taking care of the livestock, with food and lodging provided, and a monthly wage of one hundred coins. He lived in the place where Old Man Tian used to rest. He was honest and taciturn, and he would do whatever Wang Ying asked him to do.
In contrast, Er Shun was more lively, following behind Wang Ying and working very diligently.
The household shopping work isn't heavy. On ordinary days, we buy rice, flour, cooking oil, and run errands for the family. We only get busier during holidays when we have to prepare gifts for relatives.
Wang Ying planned to keep Ershun by her side and teach him more, because she would need someone to help her when she opened her shop.
*
Chen Qingyan finally opened up to his family and told them that he was unable to take the imperial examination.
Even though I was mentally prepared, seeing my mother's disappointed look still made me very sad, and my eyes instantly welled up with tears.
Seeing this, Wang Ying took his hand from under the table and patted it reassuringly, saying that it was not easy for him to muster the courage to say it, and that she must not upset him and cause him to have another relapse.
"Why didn't you tell me about something this important sooner? Quickly write to your fourth uncle and ask him to help you inquire!"
"If my fourth uncle could help, I would have told him already. There's nothing I can do..."
Upon hearing this, Madam Li nearly fainted, and tears streamed down her face. No wonder her son had fallen ill and never recovered after the county examination.
Wang Ying: "It's hard for anyone to feel this way. Since we can't take the imperial examination, we can do something else. We still have my second brother. In a few years, he will pass the imperial examination and become a scholar. It's the same for him."
Upon hearing this, Chen Qingsong's face turned pale. His studies were not as good as his older brother's, and he had been playful since childhood. He didn't even have the status of a student in the imperial examinations. He felt immense pressure.
After a long while, Madam Li finally stopped crying. "Alright, since there's no way to take the imperial examinations anymore, Yan'er, have you thought about what you want to do?"
"I want to open a private school to teach children to read and write."
Wang Ying said, "I also plan to open a shop, so that my family can live a more comfortable life."
Madam Li sighed, "I'm too old to help anymore. Do whatever you want. If you don't have enough money, I'll give you some."
Wang Ying breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, her mother-in-law didn't dwell on the matter anymore, otherwise Chen Qingyan would have felt even worse.
*
The next morning, Wang Ying went to town to inquire about any shops that were available for sale.
The storefront needed to sell vegetables doesn't need to be too big, since the experimental fields can only supply a limited number of vegetables, and what's being sold is something scarce.
Even wealthy families can't afford fresh vegetables in winter, so if Wang Ying can sell them, the price must be high, several times higher than usual.
Secondly, the store's location must be conspicuous, ideally visible to passersby as soon as the door opens, so that everyone knows what the store sells.
After much searching, they found the shop where Chen Biao's family had previously lost to the gambling den.
The gambling den owner had been trying to sell the items for over a month without success, and the price had dropped from sixty taels of silver to fifty taels.
After much deliberation, Wang Ying decided to buy the shop. The location was excellent, the size was just right, and nobody would turn down money. Besides, the Chen family had already been exiled to Cangzhou, so there was no fear of trouble after the purchase.
Wang Ying was very cautious when buying the shop. She specifically asked someone knowledgeable to help with the transfer of ownership, for fear of being cheated.
The transaction was simple. After making prior arrangements, we went to the government office to draw up the contract and paid the money. The shop was then officially transferred to our family.
On her way to the yamen, she happened to run into several of Huang Sanhe's constables. Wang Ying hadn't had a chance to thank him for what happened last time, so she decided to invite him to a restaurant for a meal.
"Young Master Chen is too kind. It's such a small matter that it's not worth treating us to a meal."
"You should thank him. If it weren't for Third Master's help, those guys wouldn't have been so scared that they confessed everything."
The yamen runners loved to hear this, and each of them put on a smiling face.
Seeing the land deed in his hand, Huang San asked, "Young Master Chen, are you going to buy a shop?"
"I just took over that empty shop on East Street and plan to sell some fresh vegetables and fruits from the south in the winter."
"Fresh vegetables from the south?"
“My fourth uncle is an official in Laizhou. The climate there is warmer than ours. Some farmers have built greenhouses to grow vegetables. I was thinking of bringing some over to sell in our town.”
"Oh my, that price must be pretty high, right?"
"Families who can afford to eat a few bites of vegetables in winter are not short of money."
“That makes sense. Then let’s wish Mr. Chen a prosperous business! We won’t drink anymore. I have official business this afternoon, and drinking too much will only cause trouble. Maybe next time.”
Wang Ying quickly told Er Shun to take out two hundred coins from his satchel and give them to him to drink.
Master Huang accepted it with a smile, "Young master, just call me if you need anything!"
After buying the shop, there's no rush to renovate or put up a sign. The temperature hasn't dropped yet, so we'll wait a few days until it gets colder before starting to sell vegetables. First, we'll help Chen Qingyan find a place for a private school.
The houses used for private schools were not particular; it didn't matter if they were in a remote location.
After all, what matters in running a school is genuine knowledge and skills; no matter how big the shop is, it's useless.
I looked at several houses but wasn't satisfied with any of them. They were either too dilapidated or too cramped. After much deliberation, I finally decided to partition off two rooms in my own backyard.
Based on her memory of the classroom, Wang Ying had a carpenter make ten sets of tables and benches and a flat wooden board.
A board coated with ink and hung on the wall becomes a blackboard. Writing with it is like having a natural white ink pen. Although the feel is not as good as modern chalk, it is still very smooth to use.
As the weather grew colder day by day, Wang Ying had someone build a perimeter of underfloor heating around the walls so that the house wouldn't be too cold in winter.
Chen Qingyan pushed her wheelchair to see the classroom and was drawn to the blackboard.
"What is this thing used for?"
Wang Ying picked up a chalk pen and wrote Chen Qingyan's name on it. "See? It's clear, isn't it? You can write it here to teach your child to read. When you don't need it, just wipe it off with a rag."
"Brilliant! This thing is incredibly useful. How did you come up with it?"
"Hey, I don't have that kind of ability. We use this kind of blackboard for school back home."
Chen Qingyan was stunned for a moment before realizing what he was talking about. "This should be made more widespread so that private schools can use it, so that children who can't afford books can also learn to read."
However, it's easier said than done. The more knowledgeable a person is, the more stubborn they tend to be. Ordinary people probably can't persuade them. The two looked at each other and gave up the idea of publicizing it.
Before they knew it, it was the end of September. Chen Qingyan's health had almost fully recovered, and she could walk on her own without needing a wheelchair.
With everything arranged, the private school officially began enrolling students!
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