Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

She could only recognize a few of these traditional Chinese characters by guessing, and the old man was not very enthusiastic in teaching her. The fact that she could recognize so many was probably because she had a good foundation.

The old man glared and said, "You've already got more than a hundred characters and you're still not satisfied. I, your master, only know a few hundred characters in general, not much more than you."

Zhou Guo was speechless. Then she remembered that the old man was not short of money. It seemed that he did not have a single book on him. When he entered the city and walked to the door of the bookstore, he did not even look at it, as if he did not like reading.

No matter what, Zhou Mai and Zhou Mi were officially enrolled.

On the day of enrollment, Li prepared bacon, a live chicken and several pieces of cloth as enrollment gifts. When the two came back, each of them got a set of writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone, which were much better than those they bought themselves.

The whole family is very happy.

Zhou Xing said: "Guoguo said she wanted to give me a gift, and I said that the gift would be given for free. I didn't expect that the teacher in the school was quite nice and could give me a gift in return."

A set of pen, ink, paper and inkstone is not cheap, and it’s so good.

Zhou Mai and Zhou Mi began their private school life of leaving home early and returning late every day. Every day after returning home, they helped with housework to the best of their ability, and after finishing the work, they started to do their homework. At night, they lit two bowls of lamps on the kang table, and the family huddled under the lamps to learn to read.

In order to save ink, each person held a smooth pebble and dipped the brush in water to write on the stone. Zhou Sulu and the others were too young to hold a pen yet, so they could recognize the characters first.

Once they recognized each other, the differences between them became apparent.

Zhou Guo was undoubtedly the one who could recognize words the fastest among them. He would never forget a word after reading it once. Zhou Mai and Zhou Mi frowned tightly and suddenly felt a lot of pressure.

Then there is little Zhou Su, who can remember things after being taught twice, and remembers them very well.

The only one left is Zhou Xing. Although Zhou Xing is not as good as Zhou Guo and Zhou Sulu, she is much better than Zhou Gu. If Zhou Gu learns one, she can learn five. Li Lai is still too young and can't even speak, let alone recognize words.

Li Wang is only slightly younger than Zhou Suli. He can recognize a character after being taught five or six times, which seems to be pretty good.

At this time, the old man was sitting aside, drinking tea, flipping through a book, and watching the fun. The book in his hand was always on the same page. After so many days, the first two pages were curled up, and he never turned to the next page.

Zhou Guo secretly found it amusing, seeing him flipping through the book and staring at it. Sometimes, his eyelids would gradually droop and his head would nod. Could books make people sleepy so easily?

After Li finished her housework, she would usually come over and learn one or two characters. She would dip her fingers in water and clumsily write on the table stroke by stroke. When she was not writing, she would listen while doing needlework. After listening for five or six days, she could recognize seven or eight characters.

The news that the Zhou family sent their two children to school spread quickly throughout the village.

Everyone was excited. In those days, there was probably not even one child in the whole village who could afford to go to school. The Zhou family was really rich. They sent two children there at once. And these were not the youngest ones, but the two older ones. Maybe when the younger ones grow up, they will also be sent there.

Is the Zhou family going to produce so many scholars all of a sudden?

How could they afford it? You have to know that even if a family like theirs tightened their belts, they couldn't afford to support one scholar, let alone so many.

Some people couldn't help but come to the door to find out the news.

Li sighed and said, "I'm not thinking of letting them take the imperial examinations. They'll study for so many years, and I can't afford it even if I sell myself. I just want to send them to school for two years. Anyway, we have a few acres of land and cows at home, so we can take care of it. There's no need for them to work too. Not only will they be able to get married after studying for a few years, but they may even be able to find a job as an accountant, which is much easier than working in the fields."

"Even if that's the case, the pens and paper used by the readers for the two of us wouldn't be cheap, right? And we haven't even mentioned the tuition."

Li said, "So, I let them go in with me. To be honest, I bought a set of books for them, one copy of each, and let them read one. I bought the cheapest pens, ink, and paper. When they entered school, their teacher gave each of them a set. There is no need to buy more of these things in the short term."

That being said, it seems to be more cost-effective.

Li added: "Our whole family will tighten our belts to support them for a few years, and everything will be fine when they come out. In this world, literate people will never lack food wherever they go."

Everyone nodded involuntarily. They had never even seen a book in their lives, so they naturally respected people who knew books.

When Wang Fugui and other fellow villagers heard the news, they couldn't help but start to think. If they only needed to study for two years, their families could afford the money. If they graduated, people would look at them with higher regard. But if they wanted to send their children away, most of their family savings would be gone, and they still had to wait until this year to build a house.

The group of people couldn't make up their minds. The Zhou family was no longer of value for reference. Their family was different now. There was an old man sitting at home. He never came back empty-handed when he went to the mountains. He was like the God of Wealth. Even if Zhou Guo could get 10% of his master's skills, it would be very impressive. Even if he only caught two rabbits every day, it would be amazing.

There is also Zhou Dacang. That kid joined the army and was promoted in just a few months. He is very capable and smart, and I'm sure he will have a good future. Their family can afford to support four, let alone two.

But it’s hard to say about these families.

As a last resort, everyone had to go to the village head and ask him for advice.

When the head of the village heard that the Zhou family had sent their two children to school, he sighed and said that it was different with an old man Zhao around. Even if there was no man in the family, they could still live a prosperous life.

After going to the headman's house, two families also decided to send their children to school, and Wang Fugui's family was one of them.

The rest gave up the idea. Even if they could graduate in two years, what would be the use? They couldn't become an official, and they couldn't even pass the examination to become a scholar. It would cost so much money, and they didn't know if they could earn it back later. It would be better to keep the money to build a better house, marry a few virtuous wives from good families, and buy a few acres of land. It would be much better than reading books that they couldn't eat or chew.

I also feel that the Zhou family is simply having too much to do and has nothing to do. In this world, life is so hard and money is so hard to make. They even send their children to school, but they only study for two years and then come back. They don't even know if anyone will want them to be accountants.

The old man was sighing at home, and the next day he sent his grandson into prison. Even if he couldn't afford to support him, the grandson would have a circle of literate classmates in the future, which was better than most people.

Zhou Guo's family didn't know that their action had disturbed many people's sleep. People are afraid of comparison. They were all about the same before, but seeing your family striding forward as if heading towards another smooth road, some people became anxious.