Guan Danian and his wife didn’t dare to imagine what would happen if Qingshu were to be entangled by Wang Baozhu. They couldn’t expect Yang Ruxin to help, after all, the Yang family were her kin, and they were the ones who forcefully broke the original marriage agreement. Dani probably hated them to death by now.
Even though they wouldn’t just accept their fate, making a fuss about it wouldn’t look good either, and it would ruin their son’s reputation.
The couple barely slept that night, but they couldn’t come up with a solution. In the end, they could only think of sending their son to the academy as soon as possible, where there were mostly boys and he wouldn’t encounter such filthy people.
When they mentioned it to Guan Qingshu the next day, he took it seriously. He too felt a lingering fear, but he suggested that he would not continue his studies in the town, instead, he wanted to go to the county seat.
In the county seat, there were several private schools and academies, but the best was the official school, similar to today’s public schools. The teaching quality there was definitely better because it was run by masters appointed by the government, so they would be more knowledgeable about the trends in the Imperial Court’s examinations. Therefore, they could prepare students more specifically, which naturally increased the chances of ranking in the exams.
However, the eligibility for admission to the official school was high. But as Lianhua Town’s top scholar, he was certainly qualified to go. Only the living expenses in the county seat would be higher than in the town.
Of course, he had his reasons for going to the county seat—he didn’t want to stay with the Tong family any longer. He was increasingly aware that he really didn’t like Tong Lingling, and he couldn’t marry her. Even if Ruxin didn’t like him now, he didn’t want to marry someone else—it was better to have less contact in the future.
In Qingshu’s mind, as long as Xinxin remained unmarried, he felt as though he still had a chance. He had always thought that Ruxin’s change of heart was just to spite him. Once her anger subsided, perhaps she would return to her old self, waiting for him at the village entrance, stealthily stuffing food into his backpack...
"Go to the county seat? But..." Guan Tongshi was somewhat disapproving.
"I think it’s a good idea," Guan Danian waved a hand dismissively, understanding his son’s mind, "Let’s go to the county seat. Tomorrow I’ll accompany you to the county to get in touch with the academies. The sooner we can settle this, the better."
Guan Qingshu nodded with a smile.
Guan Tongshi could only sigh inwardly. She was conflicted, feeling on one hand that it would be good if her son could marry her niece. On the other hand, she somewhat felt that the Tong family’s social standing was a bit too low for her son, who was going to be an official in the future.
However, she quickly came to terms with it. After all, this was a decision made by the father and son. As a woman, she couldn’t make the decision alone, and this way, she could also explain it to her brother and sister-in-law.
The Guan family had made their decision, but the Tong family became anxious, especially Tong Lingling. Qingshu was the man she had set her sights on. What if other women started thinking about him? And if her cousin went to the county seat, wouldn’t her chances of seeing him become even rarer? No, she had to think of a strategy, so she went home that afternoon to ask her parents for help.
The Guans didn’t obstruct her and even hired Uncle Kuang’s mule cart to take her to the town.
Uncle Kuang had no objections; he was going to the town anyway that afternoon. Because Yang Ruxin had asked him to run an errand to buy jars to store the Divine Sauce, having previously made arrangements with the pottery shop, he was to pay the final sum today and then haul back ten jars. Since he was going to the town with an empty cart anyway, giving someone a lift was no bother, so he didn’t even charge for the ride.
Still, Guan Danian insisted on taking out five copper coins and handing them over.