After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

It is often said that the poor study literature while the rich practice martial arts, but this does not mean that the poor study literature while the rich practice martial arts.

The truly poor are those who struggle to make a living every day. Being able to write their own name is already a remarkable achievement. Families who can afford to send their children to school are certainly not lacking in food and clothing, if not extremely wealthy.

Because the cost of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, plus the tuition fee for the teacher, was enough to feed the whole family for a year.

However, the path of martial arts is not just a matter of tuition fees. Those who practice martial arts expend a lot of energy and need to eat better and more.

Practicing only fist and foot techniques might be more economical, but if you also learn some of the eighteen weapons, then purchasing equipment would be a huge expense.

If you add horseback riding and archery to the equation, it would be an astronomical figure for ordinary families. The price of a horse could be compared to the price of a BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Audi in later generations.

A lower-end model costs about the same as a domestically produced off-road vehicle, while a top-of-the-line model might cost as much as a luxury car.

Therefore, the saying "the poor study literature, the rich study martial arts" is only relative, not absolute.

Of course, for Jiang Xiaoqi now, neither literary nor martial arts expenses were a big expense. He suddenly felt that the name of his servant was excellent—"Wenbin!"

"Young Master, did you call me?"

Wenbin took a stack of books off the bookshelf and was about to put them into the box when he suddenly heard his young master calling him.

"It's okay, let's keep packing! It'll save us from chaos on moving day."

Wenbin scratched his head and continued working.

Madam Chiang has indeed found several nice houses, some with two courtyards and some with three, just waiting for Jiang Xiaoqi to come back and choose one.

"Tan Gao, what's gotten into you that you came to study in this poor, remote place?! With your talent, even without a teacher, you could easily pass the imperial examination and become a scholar!"

"I have my reasons for coming, but why did you transfer here with me?" The handsome young man asked, looking through a travelogue.

“We’ve always stood together through thick and thin. How can you expect to get rid of me now? That’s not fair! I’m going to stick with you like glue, so that you won’t abandon your best friend the day you become successful!”

The young man, exuding an air of nobility, had a cunning look in his eyes. He waved his ivory folding fan with exceptional diligence, without a trace of sweat dripping down his face.

"Ah Hong, go back after a few days of playing around, or Uncle Wang and Uncle Shi will be angry!"

"Let him get angry! Who's afraid of who? He's got a long way to go, he can't possibly chase after us! My dad's not that free!"

The carriage clattered into Xinghe Prefecture and headed straight for the Chiang family school.

"come yet?"

"They're here!"

"What do you look like? How old are you?"

"These...two people have come, one is eight or nine years old, and the other is over ten?"

"Hey, did you even see clearly? I shouldn't have sent you in the first place. What kind of eyesight do you have!"

"You're not even as good as me! You're lucky you can see all this from that far away! If you got any closer, the teacher would have spotted you!"

The students in Class A started chattering again. "Ahem, quiet down!"

Everyone was so busy chattering that they didn't notice that Master Ding had already led the two into the schoolhouse.

"You two can sit behind them for now," Master Ding said, pointing to the empty seats behind Qiu Feng and Song Jinyang.

"These are your new classmates, Tan Gao and Zhao Hongxuan. They have both passed the county and prefectural examinations and are now, like most of you, students who have passed the preliminary examinations."

What Master Ding meant by this was that these two transfer students weren't admitted through connections; they were genuinely talented, so they shouldn't cause trouble.

Qiu Feng glanced at the two of them, then quickly looked down at his book again. Song Jinyang seemed thoughtful after hearing their surnames.

The surname is Tan. Who in the court has the surname Tan? The Prime Minister? No, that's not right! Why would a son of the Prime Minister come all this way to study?

However, the clothes worn by these two people were clearly of a northern style, especially Zhao Hongxuan, whose clothes and accessories seemed to be from the capital.

Zhao is the imperial surname, so how could this Zhao Hongxuan be a member of the royal family? Impossible! Nobles have officials or even great Confucian scholars in charge of teaching, let alone come to a small clan school like the Jiang family.

I was really overthinking it... However, although he couldn't possibly be a high-ranking nobleman standing on a cloud, he was very likely a son of an official.

"Jinyang, Jinyang, Brother Jinyang!"

"Huh? What?"

"What's wrong with you? You've been standing there in a daze for so long, and you won't listen to me! This is Master Ding's class, you're being too bold..."

"Song Jinyang's deskmate said helplessly."

"Um, sorry, I was just thinking about my sister Qingyu, worried that she might be bullied by the girls at the girls' school again..."

Song Jinyang made up a lie about his sister.

Upon hearing Song Qingyu's name, Qiu Feng smirked, not even glancing at Song Jinyang.

"Ah Gao, let's go out to eat, and while we're at it, let's get familiar with Xinghe Prefecture and buy some food and supplies."

"Why don't you just let Ping An and the others go? Aren't you tired after traveling such a long way?"

“Ping An and Xi Le have no idea what we want to buy. Besides, we don’t know the area well, so it’s better if we go together and look out for each other.”

"Alright, let's go together then. But if you need anything, just buy it all at once this time. I don't plan to come out often after this."

Tan Gao knew that his friend was in a playful mood again, and he really had a lot of energy... He wasn't going to be a fool to risk his life to accompany him!

"Okay, okay, I'll do whatever you say!" Zhao Hongxuan said obediently, but his eyes darted around.

The four men, traveling light and with few attendants, instructed the rest of the servants to make their own arrangements before walking out of the inn where they were staying.

Although they were in a hurry to rent a house, good houses are hard to come by. If they were going to live here for several years, they would have to choose one they liked, and it would be best to buy one directly.

"It's still early, let's go to the brokerage first and see if they have any suitable ones. If they do, we can move them sooner."

"Okay, I'll do as A-Gao says!"

After asking around, they arrived at the largest government-run brokerage firm in Xinghe Prefecture. The reason they chose a government-run firm was that they were new to the area and were afraid of encountering scammers. Government-run brokerage firms were more expensive, but they were also relatively more secure.

After the four entered the brokerage and explained their purpose, a clerk led them to see several houses. After looking at several properties of varying sizes, Tan Gao and Zhao Hongxuan were not very satisfied.

At this point, the shop assistant mentioned that two houses were for sale, one with three courtyards and the other with two courtyards, and they were adjacent to each other.

These two houses are in a good location, quiet yet convenient, and easy to go anywhere, but the price is a bit high. Zhao Hongxuan immediately became interested and dragged Tan Gao to see the houses.

Upon arrival, they discovered that the residence was not only spacious but also had a small garden. Most importantly, it was only two streets away from the Jiang family's clan school, a walk of just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

"We'll take this three-courtyard house!"

Seeing how readily the two men agreed, the broker hesitated for a moment, then stammered, "Um... young masters, another young master is coming to see these two houses today. That young master actually reserved them first..."

"What? You're selling this house to two different owners?!"

"No, no! I only made an exception to let you see these two places because I saw that you two hadn't found a satisfactory house yet. These two places were originally reserved by a distinguished person, but since the family hasn't come, the deed hasn't been signed yet."

"Without a deed, this house doesn't belong to him. Naturally, whoever pays the money first gets the house!" Zhao Hongxuan said angrily.

The broker had long regretted bringing people here. He had thought the two children would be easy to talk to, and even if they took a liking to someone, he could wait. If the other family didn't want them, he would still have a backup plan...

Who would have thought that they would encounter such a stubborn person... they could only give the driver a meaningful look.

"Ah Hong, how about we let them choose first? There are two houses anyway, and they might not choose the same one as us. Wouldn't that be a win-win situation for everyone?"

Tan Gao thought that a three-courtyard or two-courtyard house would be fine, since they didn't have many people. There were only a dozen or so people, including a coachman, servants, laborers, gatekeepers, cooks, shop assistants, and a few guards. Two courtyards would be enough.

"Sigh~ Alright, alright, Gao is so good-natured! Broker Song, when is that person going to look at the house? Don't let it drag on too long!"

"It's today too, but that young master is a scholar, so he'll probably have to finish his studies before he can come. It's about time."

"A scholar too? That makes things easier. Scholars can reason with people, saving our guards from having to take action!" Zhao Hongxuan raised an eyebrow.

"Uh! Yes, yes, yes! They're all civilized people; they'll persuade with reason, they'll persuade with reason!"

Song Yaren wiped the cold sweat from his brow: These kids nowadays are all so fierce!

Tan Gao and Zhao Hongxuan strolled around the courtyard while waiting for the others.

Suddenly, a series of light footsteps approached.