Crossing the Unknown Country

Su He's family was also holding a family meeting, even grandpa and grandma came to discuss the sale of noodles today. The Su family knew that their abilities were limited, and they could do small business. Without a deep background, they didn't expect to make a big business. They would be satisfied if they could make it according to their abilities and sell it.

The eldest uncle also said: "We don't have anyone above us. If we become big, we will be hated. I just hope we can make enough money to send our children to academy, so that they can have a good future."

The adults all agreed with his idea, and the children listened to the adults' plan with starry eyes. Grandpa and grandma decided to let all four boys go to school. Now they have some savings, which they are going to use for their children's education.

Su He's father and uncle both said that their parents didn't need to pay, as they were all doing business and the money they earned was enough to support the children's schooling. Su He's grandfather asked Su He's uncle to go to the town to ask which academy was better, and send the children there when the academy agreed to accept them.

Su He definitely couldn't go. Now the academy only accepts boys, and girls learn at home. Most girls in the countryside mainly learn to wash clothes, cook, and mend clothes. Girls from ordinary families in the city learn embroidery and making clothes, while girls from rich families mainly learn piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

Su He didn't want to go to school either. Her current level was good enough for this era. It was just that it was a bit difficult for her to read traditional Chinese characters at first, but her family happened to have Shuowenjiezi, so now it's no problem. She studied medicine at home, helped her family with housework, and made things to earn money. These were enough to keep her busy. But now that her brothers were gone, she felt a little lonely at home.

The family started to get busy again. Uncle Su He started to look for academies and found out that there were only two in the town. The larger one was Qiushui Academy, which was run by an old scholar named Chai, and the other was Ruhai Academy, where a middle-aged student was teaching and was said to be preparing for the exam. Of the two, Chai's had more students, while Qian's had slightly fewer. The tuition fees were similar for the two schools, so Uncle Su He went to see both. He was also literate and thought it would be better for his child to go to Qian's.

Uncle Su He came back to discuss with Su He's father and gave his suggestions, mainly that Qian Tongsheng was easier to talk to and didn't look so old-fashioned. They discussed it with the children, and everyone also thought of Qian Tongsheng. Uncle Su He prepared to pay the money tomorrow and take the children to school.

Su He's father also said that they should go together tomorrow, since he wanted to go to the town to buy some food and grind some flour anyway.

Su He also wanted to go with him, return the copied books and settle the bill. He also told the bookstore owner Zhao to copy less because his brothers had to go to school and couldn't copy so many books.

Another option is to go to Uncle Jin at Huiyitang and ask her to answer some of the questions in the book.

If there is still time, go to the cloth shop to visit Aunt Zhou. After all, more courtesy is better. I rarely go to town in winter, but now that it is early spring and not too cold, I will go there more often.

The next morning, Su He's mother got up early and prepared a meal for them. When they got up, she quickly cleaned up, finished her meal, dressed neatly, and took her own schoolbag. This schoolbag was made overnight for her brothers by Su He, her mother, her grandmother, and her aunt. It was made in the style of a military bag, which was convenient and practical, and her brothers liked it very much.

The schoolbags were filled with pens, ink, paper, inkstone, pen washers, water bottles, and dry food for lunch. They also brought their own savings in case of emergency.

They took two cars to the town academy. On the way, the four teenagers were excited. They finally got their wish. This was something they had always wanted to do since they started studying, but it turned out that it was impossible to achieve due to their family situation. They could only bury this wish in their hearts.

They arrived at the entrance of Ruhai Academy and tied up their cars. The children looked carefully at the academy, which was where they would study in the future. It was a three-courtyard building with white walls, gray tiles, and eaves, like a landscape painting in ink and color, elegant and poetic, which was in line with the style of an academy.

The first courtyard is where the children go to school, and they go in and out from here. The second courtyard is the teacher's study and library, and children are generally not allowed to go through it. The third courtyard is where the teacher's family lives, and they mainly go in and out from the back door.