Which father would not be happy if his son wanted to make progress?

But the family could barely make ends meet. With so many people, the family didn’t have to worry about the next meal because of the help from his second uncle. Now he got this job from Bocheng’s family. The family collects vegetables from the nearby village and delivers a cart to her shop every day. The family can earn a few dozen coins a day, or 100 or 200 coins a day, which makes him very satisfied.

If the youngest son went to school, the family would become extremely poor again.

Old Lu wanted to scold his grandson, but he couldn’t open his mouth. Father Su saw that Xiao Qingxing was in trouble because of her talkativeness, so he glared at her, and she went back to her room dejectedly.

Lu Shengcai was standing nearby. Seeing that he was willing to make progress, he thought that among the three brothers of the Lu family, only his three sons had studied, while none of his eldest brother’s and younger brother’s sons had studied. So he impulsively said that he would pay the tuition.

Old Lu was very happy when he heard this, but he quickly calmed down.
“This is a big deal. You should go back and discuss it with Wu Shi. Few people in our country can afford to go to school, and those who don’t can still make a living. Don’t let your family be disturbed and your brothers become estranged because of your child’s education.”

Uncle Lu also said that he would consider sending his children to school after he saved some more money.

But Lu Shengcai had already spoken and couldn’t take it back.

He felt that providing 5-8 taels of silver a year was not a big problem for him. But when Old Lu asked him to go back and discuss it with Wu Shi, he didn’t take it seriously. Wu Shi was considerate and would definitely agree. So he just asked Boxiang to go back and wait for news, and notify him when he found a private school.

Su Qingyu glanced at Lu Shengcai, then at Old Lu and Uncle Lu and his son, but did not interrupt.

As Su Qingyu expected, Wu Shi disagreed.

Lu Shengcai ran a small shop and didn’t make much money. Throughout the year, he paid out a little today and a little tomorrow. How much money had he given to the countryside?

He also wanted to help Lu Boxiang study? Didn’t Lu Shengcai know how much money it costs to study?

His two sons were both studying. Although the annual tuition was not much, didn’t they need money to buy pens, inkstones, and books? They were all blown by the wind? A book costs one or two taels, and the expensive ones were even more expensive. How could a family in the countryside afford to study?

Su Shi, who was so arrogant, had only opened the shop for dozens of days, and she dared to send her brother to study! She was waiting to see her brother be kicked out of the private school because she had no money and stopped supporting him.

Did Lu Shengcai drink too much? He actually wanted to support his brother’s son to go to school!

If they offered Lü Boxiang tuition fee, what about the other children of the Lü family? If Lü Boshou dies in the future, should they also take over his children to raise?

Wu Shi said she would not agree to anything!

Lü Shengcai did not expect Wu Shi to react so strongly and was somewhat unbelievable.

In his impression, Wu Shi had always been a soft-spoken and sensible person. He asked her to buy gifts and send them back to Shanghe Village during the holidays, and she always did a good job.

“The annual tuition is not much. The private school that Su Shi’s brother attends only takes two taels of silver per semester. In addition to the apprenticeship gift and the annual gifts given to the master, it is only five or six taels of silver. When Bo Zu goes to the county, I always give him a few taels of silver.”

“Oh, are you planning to cut into Bozuo’s allowance?”

“That’s not what I meant. I meant that our family can still afford five or six taels a year. As for other things like pens and ink, my younger brother can buy good ones if he has money, but if he doesn’t have money, he can still practice calligraphy on yellow paper. When our family was not doing well in the early years, Bocheng used yellow paper with rough edges to practice his large characters.”

Wu Shi couldn’t listen.

“It’s not as simple as you think. How much does a year’s tuition even cost? The biggest expenses are ink, brushes, and books. When the time comes and you’re supporting his studies, it’ll cost real silver. Then your brother shrugs and says the family can’t afford it—will you just stand by and do nothing? When it turns into a scene, and everyone in town comes to watch, will you still care about saving face? Can you refuse to help? You’ll end up giving a little here and a little there, and how much will be enough? It’s like a bottomless pit.”

Lu Boxiang was not her son, so why should he spend her money?

“Besides, you have been separated from that family. You have no share of the family’s house and land. You also give a lot of money to the family every year. Now you have to support your brother and son to study? Have you thought about Bozu, Bozong, and Yuzhu?”

“Why don’t I think about them? They are my own flesh and blood. How can I cut my own blood to feed others and let them starve?”

“Just think about them. Do you know how old Bozu is? He is only three months younger than Bocheng! Bocheng is married, but he is still unmarried. I’m looking for a good girl for him. Now many families have daughters who are very noble and they are all wanted. Our family is not rich enough. And Yuzhu, she is fifteen this year. How much dowry have you prepared for her? Let her marry naked like Su Shi? Let her be ridiculed and tortured by her husband’s family? And Bozong, he still has to continue his studies, and he will need money in the future. Think about the betrothal money for your two sons and the dowry for your daughter. Have you saved enough for these? You are still trying to swell your face and pretend to be rich!”

Lu Shengcai was stunned by Wu Shi’s words.

After a long while, he quietly explained, “That’s not a big deal.”

“How come you don’t need it? Four or five taels is enough for your youngest son to study for a year! With an extra four or five taels, maybe Bo Zu will meet a mentor who appreciates him at the poetry meeting. Don’t you want him to have a good reputation? Or do you want to push him to the battlefield where people are eaten and let him be buried there?”

Lu Shengcai remembered that one of his sons had already gone away, and he felt a little overwhelmed just thinking about another one going to war. He was unable to continue the conversation for a while.

Wu Shi refused to give in at all.

She had no affection for the Lü family—not like they were her real parents. When Liu Shi was still alive, that old couple always looked at her with disdain, as if her eyes and nose were out of place. Did they think she’d forgotten?

If he wanted to study, he could earn the money himself! Taking money from someone else’s pocket—what kind of logic was that?

Today, they brought over two large chicken cages full of hens but didn’t even bother to send one or two her way. Instead, they left them all at Su Shi’s shop.

Hmph, already indulging in such nourishing food—what, was there a golden child in that belly?

Turning her head, she saw Lü Shengcai sitting on the chair, lost in thought. After some consideration, she softened her demeanor and leaned toward him.

She coaxed him, “My dear, don’t blame me for being stingy. These three children are the result of my pregnancy. When I think of Bozu and Bozong having no money to study and being drafted to the battlefield, my heart is broken. And Yuzhu, if she marries into a poor family, she might become a widow in the future. When I think of this, I can’t sleep. It’s not that I don’t want to give you a few taels of silver, but I’m afraid that if you can’t afford it, your brothers will blame you, your parents won’t understand you, and you will be in trouble. Others don’t know how hard it is for you to make money, but I know that sometimes you can’t get enough goods in time to stay in an inn, so you can only sleep in the wild, and you can only eat dry bread without water. Who knows that you have suffered so much? Only I really care about you.”

After hearing this, Lü Shengcai recalled his days as a peddler, carrying a load on his shoulder and walking through the streets, into villages, up hills, and down hills… No one could understand the hardship. He often had to make room for two pairs of shoes on his load because sometimes he would wear out more than one pair in a day.

After many years of hardship, he finally opened a store.

Many people opened grocery stores. At first, there were no customers in the store, so he had to go out to the streets to sell goods… He was the only one who looked after the store, bought goods, and sold goods. He was the shop assistant, the shopkeeper, and the owner…

Thinking of the past, he couldn’t help but feel sad. He shook Wu Shi’s hand and said, “You still understand me. I shouldn’t have blamed you just now. I’ll think about this matter again.”

“Yeah.” Wu Shi responded softly and leaned on his shoulder.

(End of this chapter)