Chapter 362 : Qingming Hall (2)Translated byきつねonJuly 20, 2022

Mama Qu’s insight was more comprehensive than Yuxi’s perception. After Hao Dazhuang left, she asked Yuxi, “Madam, even if we can hire a teacher, what about the books?” Even if you had money, you couldn’t buy hundreds of the same books here.

Yuxi thought for a moment and said, “It’s simple. At that time, we will put up papers with big written characters and let them try to write according to the characters. I merely think of helping them survive through the winter and incidentally recognise a few words without forcing them to study carefully. Besides, it’s not like I want them to take the exams.”

Mama Qu had no other questions after listening to Yuxi’s explanation. However, Yuxi somehow got so excited that she immediately went to her study and started writing big characters.

When Zijin looked at Yuxi’s written characters, she commented, “Madam, your written characters are beautiful, but the ones who learn to recognise these characters will be boys. Isn’t this plum blossom font a little too feminine?”

きつね: These characters are written in plum blossom fonts. They are really pretty and look quite feminine.

Yuxi turned her head to look at Zijin. “Who said we are only going to teach boys? Girls can also learn to recognise characters!” After saying this, Yuxi felt that there was another problem. If the girls were also learning to read and write, they could not do it with the boys. Moreover, the teacher they hired would probably be willing to teach only boys, and certainly not the girls.

After pondering this matter, Yuxi stated, “Then we should find two houses.”

Mama Qu, who was more knowledgeable than Yuxi, pointed out, “If that’s the case, this will definitely lead to criticism.” Under this heaven, there had never been any girls’ school yet!

But Yuxi did not like hearing this kind of thing. “What are they going to criticise me for? If they want to criticise, just let them be. I have not done anything unacceptable to be seen. Besides, it’s only for this one winter. When the winter passes, the school will be over by then.”

Just as Mama Qu realised that Yuxi had made up her mind, she said, “The first thing Madam needs to do is to look for houses, and it’s best to find a big one and a small one.” Mama Qu’s meaning was awfully clear-cut. Everyone valued males and attached less importance to females. If they knew that Yuxi would not only provide three meals but also teach their children to read, they would indeed send their sons over. They would not necessarily drop their daughters there. Except for the young ones who still could not do any work might be told to attend to freeload for food. The older ones were expected to stay at home and do the housework.

Yuxi smiled. “We will accept the children if their guardians are willing to send them. If not, then it proves that they can still continue with their life with their own hands.” She only wanted to do some good deeds and accumulate some good fortunes. Still, she did not intend to be a benevolent person. Moreover, she didn’t have the financial resources to support everyone.

Mama Qu saw that Yuxi knew the score, so she did not say more but reminded Yuxi instead, “Madam, it is better to have someone talk to Manager Hao.” If Hao Daozhuang were not reminded, he would definitely accept boys only, not girls.

Hao Dazhuang froze when he heard Yuxi say that girls would also be accepted. However, once the school operated, boys and girls would study separately. When he thought more about it, he might as well herd two sheep rather than one. There were just boys and girls anyway!

When Yun Qing returned home, Yuxi told him about this matter. This made him wonder why Yuxi changed her mind so quickly. “How did you suddenly think of running a school?”

Yuxi told him about Hao Dazhuang’s concerns at the time. “I suddenly had a thought at that time where the children of poor families didn’t even have the opportunity to learn reading and writing. They have nothing to do this winter anyway and can only nestle at home. Why don’t we let them come to the school to learn something? In three months, they can learn eight hundred to a thousand words. By then, they can at least have the ability to read and understand simple things.” These children should at least recognise words used in military reports and so on!

Yun Qing nodded as he praised, “Your idea is excellent.” Running a temporary school was several times better than sending cotton coats and pants.

Yuxi added, “Thousands of people die in battle yearly in this border city. We can’t afford to send clothes to them all. Besides, this will be my first time running a school, and I also have no experience managing one. I’m sure I will be prone to make mistakes. So my intention is to limit the attendance to three hundred children.” These three hundred children would include both boys and girls.

Yun Qing knew what Yuxi meant. These three hundred children would be chosen from the homes of his soldiers who died in battle. He nodded. “It’s fine for you to handle this. If there are any difficulties, just talk to me.”

Yuxi was usually polite with others but not with Yun Qing. “Other things are fine, but finding teachers for the school is a little bit difficult. I have an idea. But do you think it’s feasible?” After saying that, Yuxi told him of her plan.

Yun Qing shook his head. “Your method is feasible for the little girls. But it won’t work for the boys. They are naughty and mischievous. We need to find someone who can hold them down.” After thinking about it for a while, Yun Qing said, “I’ll take care of this!”

Yuxi smiled. “Okay!”

Hao Dazhuang moved quickly, and it only took him three days to put together the list for Yuxi to check. Yuxi looked at the list. There were more than 260 boys and only 40 girls, which added to 300.

Hao Dazhuang stated, “Madam, these children do not live in the same place. It is fine for now, but when it starts to snow, it will not be appropriate for them to come and go every day. Those who are close can move to and fro on their own. But it won’t be appropriate for those who live far away.” He called it inappropriate since he feared accidents might happen when the children had a long journey between home and school. After all, they were small children. But if they let the children stay and not go back, there would be a lot of problems that come with it.

Yuxi smiled a little. It wasn’t that easy when one wanted to get something done. This school was not yet up, but there were already many problems. “Those who live close will go home as usual. While those who live too far away, we’ll talk about that then.” If those children couldn’t return home, they could let them stay at school, but the number must not be too large. Otherwise, it would be difficult to manage.

Hao Dazhuang gave Yuxi the list of things to be purchased, with each of them marked with the price and quantity needed above them, which had been written clearly.

Yuxi gave Hao Dazhuang a thousand taels of silver tickets and said, “Let me know if you need more once you have completely used this.” Doing good deeds was really a money-burning thing. The good thing was that the school would only be for three months, so she could still hold up for that long.

Hao Dazhuang took the silver ticket and asked Yuxi, “Madam, regarding the teacher matter?”

Yuxi answered, “You do not have to worry about the teachers. When things related to the school are handled properly, the teachers will naturally be around by then.” If they couldn’t find one, they could just find some people who could read and write to teach the children. Yuxi was not worried that these alternative people would hamper the students’ progress. At that time, she would tell them to use «Hundred Family Surnames», along with «Three Character Classic» and «Thousand Character Classic» to impart rudimental knowledge to the children. After learning these three books, the winter should almost be over.

It was hard to make such a big move without attracting attention. Even if Hao Dazhuang did not speak about it, those who wanted to send their children to the temporary school would. Soon, no one in the upper echelons of Yu City did not know that Yuxi was going to run a temporary school.

Er Nainai Zhao and Da Nainai Fu came to the door at the same time to ask about it from Yuxi. Er Nainai Zhao asked first, “Meimei, what is this temporary school of yours about?”

Yuxi briefly replied, “My Mother used to tell me to be virtuous and do good deeds. I heard many soldiers were not well off, so I wanted to send some food, quilts and coats. But when I thought about it, these things could only solve temporary difficulties and could not solve fundamental problems. This thought led me to open a temporary school. In this way, the children who attend the school will not only have clothes and food during the cold days, but they can also learn to recognise a few words. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Er Nainai Zhao said, “Meimei, the cost to open one will be very high!” With so many children, one would have to spend eight hundred to a thousand taels of silver, but of course, this was only a conservative estimate.

Yuxi responded with a smile, “The cost for these three hundred children is still within my reach. If there were more, it would be unbearable.”

Da Nainai Fu asked a crucial question, “Does General Yun know about this?”

Yuxi nodded. “I’m doing a good deed to accumulate merit for our family. How can he object?” These words seemed to say that Yun Qing opposed it, but it was useless for him to do so.

After listening to Yuxi, Er Nainai Zhao said, “Meimei, I also like to do a small part.” Er Nainai Zhao was ready to donate one hundred taels of silver. One hundred taels of silver were half a year’s of her pocket money.

Yuxi smiled and shook her head. “It’s only for a few months, so I can still hold out. If Jiejie wants to help these children, how about Jiejie send some rice and noodles to improve their meals?” She would certainly not going to accept the money they offered. The school was only for three months, and it wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it.

Er Nainai Zhao responded cheerfully, “That’s fine. I’ll buy more rice and noodles and send them over.” Er Nainai Zhao grew up in the border city and knew its situation better than Yuxi. It was just that only Yuxi could do these things while she couldn’t.

Seeing this, Da Nainai Fu also offered with a smile, “Then I will have someone send some meat and vegetables over to give to those children.” Ordinary people didn’t get to eat meat even once a month.

Yuxi smiled. “When the school is finally established, we will go and have a look at it.” Soon, her pregnancy would reach its first trimester, so it would be fine for her to go out.

Er Nainai Zhao looked at Yuxi’s pregnant belly and said, “It’s going to snow in a few days. Therefore, it will be very slippery outside. You can’t go out when you are pregnant.”

Yuxi smiled a little. “I will pay serious attention to my condition.” But she didn’t say she wouldn’t go to the school to see it then. The school she founded must be visited by herself before she could feel at ease.

Da Nainai Fu said, “If there is anything you need from us, just ask. As long as we can do it, we definitely won’t postpone it.”

Er Nainai Zhao also immediately took the same stand. In fact, she also knew that Yuxi did not even want to accept their money. Thus, what else could they need to help?

Yuxi smiled and shook her head. “There is nothing for now, but if there is, I will definitely not be polite with you guys.” Although Yuxi was unwilling to owe anyone a favour, if she couldn’t solve it, she wouldn’t be shy to ask for other people’s help to settle it.

Er Nainai Zhao and Da Nainai Fu originally came over to pry. They stayed for a while and then left the residence together. After leaving the gate, they went separately in the direction of their homes.

Zijin commented with a smile, “Ever since Madam arrived in the northwest, Madam has become much bolder, no longer the same as before.” In the past, Madam never dared to show her talent; even when angry, she wasn’t bold enough to display it in public. Hence, she kept her anger to herself. This time, for Madam to execute such a high-profile action had exceeded Zijin’s expectations.

Yuxi turned her pursed lips into a smile before saying, “You also know that was me from before.” In the past, if she had not been low-key and patient, she wouldn’t have had peaceful days. Now her situation was different. She was no longer under anyone’s control and no longer had to be afraid of anything. Naturally, she could do whatever she wanted to do. Furthermore, doing good deeds to build a good reputation would benefit them more than harm them.