Chapter 219

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Shen Cui began preparing to teach at the girls’ school.

Although Chu Zhongling told her she could talk about anything, since she was specially invited and insisted on paying according to market prices.

So Shen Cui followed the standards of submitting manuscripts in the future and wrote down everything she could think of.

When the appointed time came, Chu Zhongling personally came to pick up Shen Cui.

After Shen Cui got on the carriage, instead of heading to Chu’s house outside the city, the carriage went around the city for about twenty minutes and stopped in front of a quiet mansion. “Please forgive us,” said Chu Zhongling.

Chu Zhongling also apologized and explained, “My family elders don’t like fame, so the people from the Wei family don’t know the specific official position of my uncle. Big Brother Wei was also kept in the dark and wasn’t involved.”

Just the fact that they had a girls’ school was quite unusual, let alone establishing one.

And the fact that the husband of the lady from the Chu family could support it to this extent was even more remarkable.

As they chatted, walking through the corridor, Shen Cui saw a woman approaching quickly.

It was no surprise that she was Chu Zhong Ling’s aunt, the headmistress of the girls’ school.

She appeared to be around thirty-five or thirty-six, dressed in a simple and elegant chrysanthemum-patterned jacket, with a few pearl and silver hairpins adorning her bun.

Despite her age, her face showed no signs of wrinkles, only the grace of a mature woman.

“Apologies for the delay,” said Headmistress Chu as she hurried over, expressing regret. “I should have personally come to greet Headmaster Shen, but some trivial matters held me back. Please forgive me.”

Shen Cui pondered, not bothered by the small detail but feeling that Headmistress Chu looked oddly familiar, as if she had seen her somewhere before.

But considering that the Chu family had roots in the capital city, and Headmistress Chu lived there, and Shen Cui hadn’t socialized much since coming to the capital, it was unlikely they had crossed paths.

Perhaps it was just because they bore a slight resemblance as aunt and niece.

With a smile, Shen Cui replied, “You’re too kind. Zhong Ling specially came to fetch me, guiding me all the way here. That can hardly be considered neglect.”

After exchanging pleasantries, Headmistress Chu invited Shen Cui to start touring the girls’ school.

Previously, Cuiwei had rented houses from others, so Shen Cui wouldn’t make any changes to the layout, just dividing each room’s purpose simply.

But this house belonged to Headmistress Chu herself, so she could do as she pleased, thus constructing a large classroom capable of accommodating dozens of people.

Just from this classroom, it was evident that she, as headmistress, harbored ambitious plans to expand and develop the girls’ school.

Unfortunately, at present, there were only a few girls in this spacious classroom.

And their facial features bore some resemblance to each other, as mentioned by Chu Zhong Ling—they were all girls from the Chu family or relatives.

Adjacent to the large classroom was a library.

Several wooden bookshelves were neatly arranged, stocked not only with classics like the Four Books and Five Classics but also with a wide range of enlightenment readings, geographical records, and popular stories.

Headmistress Chu remarked, “Zhong Ling must have told Mr. Shen that I established this girls’ school to provide girls with an opportunity to broaden their horizons. Since they don’t need to take the imperial exams, I don’t restrict what they read.”

Shen Cui nodded. “Reading broadens the mind. I enjoy reading travelogues and popular stories myself, and they indeed expand one’s knowledge.”

As she spoke, Shen Cui’s gaze shifted, and she noticed several sets of bright red book covers on the bookshelf, which stood out prominently.

Finally, she remembered where she had seen Headmistress Chu before.

Following her gaze, Headmistress Chu also realized. “Ah, it was back then!”

At that time, “The Rouge Immortal Chronicles” had just been released, and Shen Cui had quietly gone to the Cui family bookstore to check the sales.

She encountered several men there, grumbling about what women could or couldn’t do.

Hearing this, Shen Cui was annoyed and was about to retort when a woman in the bookstore beat her to it, vocally disagreeing and even buying several sets of popular novels in support.

That was how Shen Cui and Headmistress Chu had met.

“If I had known back then that it was you, Headmaster Shen, I wouldn’t have been so surprised,” remarked by Headmistress Chu.

Shen Cui wasn’t upset and said, “That’s fine. There’s a saying, ‘first impressions are hard to change.’ If I had known about your family’s situation beforehand or if you had addressed me according to my family’s situation, we might have been ‘Madame Liu’ and ‘Madame Mu’ instead of ‘Headmistress Chu’ and ‘Headmaster. Shen’ now.”

Headmistress Chu smiled at this and said, “I regret not realizing it sooner. Now, I can only pinch myself. I had just started to feel something, and then you happened to meet me.”

After chatting for a while and having some tea, Shen Cui went to the restroom.

The restroom at the girls’ school was more spacious and elegant than others. Chu Zhongling escorted her there and waited outside.

Shen Cui declined, saying she knew the way and didn’t need such meticulous care.

After coming out of the restroom, Shen Cui washed her hands at the sink and was about to return the same way when she heard faint crying.

She followed the sound and walked a few steps into the garden, where she saw a girl of about fourteen or fifteen, with a round face and wearing a silver embroidered skirt with a pattern of fluttering butterflies, wiping tears away.

Teenage girls are sensitive and often cry over small things during this period of their lives.

Moreover, girls of this age are usually shy and embarrassed if strangers see them crying.

Normally, Shen Cui should have quietly left without disturbing her.

But this time, she didn’t leave because the girl was not only wiping her tears but also rolling up her sleeve to reveal a section of tender, fair skin on her arm.

Then she used her other hand to fiercely pinch herself, leaving a large red mark on her delicate arm.

Her tears flowed even more fiercely.

Such self-harming behavior made Shen Cui concerned.

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Shen Cui was now a guest lecturer and knew that most of the students in the girls’ school were relatives of the Chu family.

So, she took the initiative to approach and ask the young girl what was wrong.

As she spoke, she handed over a handkerchief.

The young girl, surprised to see her, her almond-shaped eyes glistening with tears, blushed and quickly waved her hands, saying, “It’s not what you think. I’m fine.”

“If you’re fine, why are you crying here?”

“It’s about my homework…”

Understanding, Shen Cui nodded, “Is the homework too difficult?”

“Not exactly…” the girl touched her flushed cheeks and said, “Seeing you unfamiliar, you must be the lecturer, Mr. Shen, that our headmistress invited, right? I won’t beat around the bush. The homework is challenging, but it’s not assigned by our teacher. It’s from a wooden bookshelf neatly arranged with a wide range of books, from basic enlightenment readings to classics like the Four Books and Five Classics, as well as geographical records and popular stories.”