Crossing the Unknown Country

The whole family sighed that Su He was lucky. From copying medical books to find medicinal materials, to copying books from the bookstore, and the three pieces of cloth, all these were made possible by these few people. This little girl Su He was really lucky. Everyone said that they must take Su He with them more often in the future.

The next day, the village chief took his eldest son and several prestigious people in the village to measure the land with Su He's family. The land was directly connected, so they could save a courtyard wall. Since they were two brothers, there was no need to take advantage of the land. They could just discuss it with their family. After the measurement, the boundary stone was erected and the measurement was completed. The village chief would go to the town government office tomorrow to get the land deed done, so that everyone would be relieved.

They all sighed that the Su family was going to get rich. It was rare for two brothers to build a house together. They all smiled and congratulated Grandpa Su He: "You have raised two good sons and several good grandsons! It seems that studying is still a good thing!"

Someone asked Grandpa Su He: "Brother Renxiang, can you open a private school in the village, at least to teach the children a few words? If the village has money, we can give it to them, and if not, we can give them grain instead."

Grandpa Su He thought about it and said to the village chief: "Please find a house in the village. I will give the child a lesson every day for an hour. As for the tuition, forget it."

Someone said, "That won't do. This is not a one-day or two-day thing. This has been going on for months and years. There must be an explanation. Village head, your children have all been to private schools. You know this best."

The village chief cleared his throat and said, "My youngest child gets three taels of silver a month in town, and my older child gets five taels of silver. Our village is poor, and every household has no money. Besides, it's only one hour a day, so it's a hundred coins a month. Those who don't have money can use firewood or grass to make up for it. Anyway, your family has cows and plenty of food, so do you think it's okay? After all, the villagers are benefiting from your family, but we are all from the same village after all!"

Su He had no reason to refuse, so he gladly accepted the proposal. Finally, the village chief vacated the empty room at the outermost part of the ancestral hall for the children to use as a school, and the heads of the families had no objection. Every family that didn't have a grandson or a daughter wanted to send them to school. Who wouldn't envy the Su family's children as they rose step by step?

Everyone went home happily to tell everyone about this matter. They had to let the whole village know. They also needed to ask everyone to go home and prepare a sand table. Everyone was too poor to buy pens, inkstones, and paper. The village chief asked his eldest son to find a few strong men to check if there was anything in the house, and to move and tidy up. The children should bring their own benches to class tomorrow. The village only needed to prepare a table and a chair. The ancestral hall already had one, so they could just move it over and use it first, and then replace it with a new one. The villagers had no objection. It was reasonable for the children to use everyone's things.

The village chief still has prestige. After that, the whole village will know about it, and every family will discuss it. Many people stood in the street and talked about it. Some families did not want to send their children because they were afraid of spending money, but when they heard others say that this was a rare opportunity, they were a little tempted. And when they heard that they could use fodder and firewood to pay for the tuition, they were very tempted. In the end, only three or four families said that their children would not go. Two of them were stepmothers, one was a stepfather, and the other was that the parents were too lazy and asked the children to work. If they went to school, the housework would be delayed. Besides, it didn’t matter if they couldn’t read. They thought it was useless to learn to read for farming.

Grandpa Su He also had his own ideas. His family was originally an outsider in this village and had always been marginalized. This time everyone gave him such an opportunity, so he had to agree to it for the sake of his family.