Chapter 657: Sidestory – Childhood Sweethearts (1)
After Zhuang Qingning’s birthday celebration at Qingzhuyuan, Chu Jinzhou, as he had promised Zhuang Qingsui and Zhuang Mingli that day, began assisting them in preparing for the establishment of their respective schools.
Zhuang Mingli, who once studied under Fan Wenxuan and became the youngest scholar in the county as a young boy, enjoys a high reputation. Therefore, his school preparation went smoothly as many people were attracted to his school because of his fame.
However, the situation of Zhuang Qingsui was not that smooth.
For most of the ordinary people in the town and its surroundings, sending their daughters to school felt like a waste. First, girls couldn’t take the imperial examination to have a promising future. Second, it not only wasted time that could be used for productive work but also money on stationery.
There indeed were families who were well-off and willing to let their daughters learn to read and write. However, they believed it was inappropriate for their daughters to show up in public. They would rather have an elder or a female teacher come to their homes to teach their girls.
For a period, the school Zhuang Qingsui was preparing was nearly empty, without a single person signing up.
“Why not set up the school in the county town?” Chu Jinzhou suggested. “Many people in the county town have a broader vision and are more willing to allow their children to be more successful. Even if they don’t sit for the imperial examination, they are still eager for their daughters to learn more characters and gain more knowledge.”
“That makes sense.”
Zhuang Qingsui frowned, “But I originally wanted to broaden the horizons of ordinary people and let them understand the benefits of education. If the school is set up in the county town, the people there are already more knowledgeable. Although I can still teach there, it somewhat deviates from my initial plan.”
Zhuang Qingsui’s life since childhood could be described as full of ups and downs. She wishes that the grassroots, those living in extreme poverty, could also have more knowledge and more ideas to improve their lives.
Chu Jinzhou could understand her ideas.
After thinking for a moment, Chu Jinzhou looked up and said, “Sister Sui’s idea is certainly good, but many ideas have been ingrained in people’s minds, it’s not easy to change them. We have to give it time.”
“As you said, people in the county town have higher knowledge and are more open-minded. If you recruit these people as students, they will become your living advertisements. When others slowly discover the benefits of reading, the number of people sending students to class will gradually increase.”
“As for the villagers, if they see this as a trend in the county town, they may gradually accept it and be willing to send their daughters to school. Gradually, when everyone feels proud to send their daughters to school, you will achieve your goal.”
“This is like trends in fabrics. People in the prefectural cities pay attention to the trends in the capital city. The people in the villages naturally follow the county town. When they see that everyone in the county town is doing this, they would try to catch up with the trend.”
“However, this process will take a long time, and you may not be able to accomplish your goal alone. It requires continuous work over the years, and probably only after a hundred years, significant changes will appear.”
“Brother Jinzhou makes sense.” After thinking for a while, Zhuang Qingsui nodded forcefully. She felt a bit embarrassed and said, “I was in a bit of a rush, wanting to achieve success in one step. Everything needs to come gradually, otherwise, it’s like drinking poison to quench thirst.”
“There’s nothing that goes smoothly in the world, and no one has eyes in the back of their heads. If everyone could see through everything, wouldn’t everybody be a sage?”
Chu Jinzhou comforted her, “Being able to listen to others’ opinions and correct in time is already very rare.”
“However, to move the school to the county town, it will take some struggle. Fortunately, Mingli isn’t that busy now, so I could help with your affairs.”
Hearing Chu Jinzhou’s words, Zhuang Qingsui felt particularly warm in her heart. “Thank you, Brother Jinzhou.”
“Are you still being so polite with me?” Chu Jinzhou chuckled, seeing Zhuang Qingsui’s cute shallow dimples on her round face, and gently pinched her.
Zhuang Qingsui blushed instantly and instinctively took two steps back.
Only then did Chu Jinzhou realize his inappropriate behavior.
Men and women should avoid close contact after the age of seven. Although he and Zhuang Qingsui share a close bond from childhood and grew up together, such intimate actions are still inappropriate between grown adults.
“Sister Sui, I…” Chu Jinzhou apologized with an embarrassed expression, “I behaved as if we were still children, accustomed to playing around…”
“I am truly sorry…”
Having said this, he bowed deeply.
“It’s okay.” Zhuang Qingsui patted her cheek and forced a smile, “If anyone’s to blame, it’s my chubby face. My sister always pinches me when she sees me.”
“I was thinking that you two used to pinch my face all the time, and that’s probably why my face is chubby. It’s been pinched so much it swelled up and never got back down.”
Her playful words made Chu Jinzhou laugh involuntarily.
Having discussed the establishment of an academy in the county town, Zhuang Qingsui and Chu Jinzhou got busy with the preparations.
On one side was the younger sister of the Lord of Ninghe County and on the other was the younger brother of the current Prince Qi. As setting up an academy is a good deed that benefits the court and the people, the current county magistrate, Ding Gaochang, expressed great support.
With the help of Zhuang Qingning and Chu Jinnian, the academy quickly took shape and began to enroll students as planned.
As Chu Jinzhou said, it was much easier to attract students in the county town than in the villages or towns. Especially when the official announcement from the County Government Office stated that the tuition fee was only half of that of ordinary academies, and the top three students every year could have their tuition fees waived, many families had their daughters enroll to learn to read and write after a period of observation.
The number of students enrolled was two to three times more than expected.
However, with the increase in the number of students, Zhuang Qingsui was in trouble.
She was the only teacher in the academy and could not teach so many students. Chu Jinzhou was indeed a great teacher, but it was a women’s academy after all. It would be somewhat inappropriate for Chu Jinzhou to work here as a teacher.
Just as Zhuang Qingsui was worrying, two people came to the academy.
“Sister Ma, Sister Liu, why are you two here?” Zhuang Qingsui was surprised and delighted when she saw Ma Qiuling and Liu Ruoxue standing in front of her.
“We heard from our master that you opened an academy here and quietly became a teacher. We came to see if there are any vacancies and if we can get a bowl of rice.”
Ma Qiuling said jokingly with a smile.