Chapter 334

“The children responded particularly loudly, ‘No problem!’

Shuiqing thought this schedule was quite good. The older children could study in the morning and still have time to do their daily chores, while the younger children, who had fewer responsibilities, wouldn’t be too affected by losing two hours in the morning.

The learning environment here wasn’t as good as in China. It wasn’t yet at the stage where everything could make way for studies. It was more like China in the 1970s and 1980s, where students would study and also do chores like gathering pigweed, feeding pigs, and herding sheep. During busy farming seasons, they would also help with planting and harvesting.

Studying for two hours a day, focusing only on Chinese and math, wouldn’t be too stressful.

There were over two thousand commonly used characters and over a thousand secondary characters. Ming Dynasty might have fewer characters; even if it had over three thousand, learning five or six characters a day would be enough in two or three years.

Since they weren’t aiming for the imperial exams, they didn’t need to master writing essays or poetry. This was more like a literacy class, focusing on practical use.

‘The school has two rooms, one for boys and one for girls above twelve,’ Fan Jin continued.

The villagers understood the need for separate rooms, especially since there were many young girls of marriageable age. However, they wondered how Fan Jin could teach both groups. Would he teach one group first and then the other? Wouldn’t that be too tiring for him?

‘The boys will be taught by me, and the girls will be taught by Yan Qiu and Xing Hui. We will take turns teaching those under twelve as well,’ Fan Jin explained.

Initially, he planned to teach alone, but he realized he couldn’t just stay in the village as a teacher. He still needed to take the imperial exams, which was a difficult but necessary path he had to succeed in.

Yan Qiu and Xing Hui might be girls, but there were many female teachers, scholars, and doctors in the world. Why couldn’t there be two more?

Zhang Chunhua grumbled, ‘Da Ya and Er Ya are just little girls themselves. How many characters can they know? How can they teach us?’

She intended to learn too, since it was free. Not learning would be a loss! Besides, girls her age in the village worked at the herbal workshop and probably didn’t know how to read. If she learned, she could surpass them.

Xu Ting quickly stood up and timidly said, ‘Chunhua, you haven’t seen Yan Qiu and Xing Hui much, so you don’t know. They know a lot of characters, and their writing is beautiful! They’re more than qualified to teach us. They taught us the characters we know.’

Li Tiantian, less patient than Xu Ting, snorted, ‘Of course she doesn’t know. She can’t even get their names right!’ Zhang Chunhua was stunned by Xu Ting’s last sentence and incredulously asked, ‘You know how to read? Since when?’

How did she not know about this?

‘We learned while working at the herbal workshop. Yan Qiu would come over daily to teach us commonly used characters, and we would practice during lunch breaks and after work. We’ve already learned several hundred characters,’ Xu Ting proudly said.

They had been at the herbal workshop for nearly eighty days. Initially, they learned the simplest characters, about five or six a day. As the difficulty increased, learning two or three a day wasn’t hard. Over time, they accumulated knowledge of three to four hundred characters. Yan Qiu said that in another half a year, they would be able to read articles and accounts without any issues.

Zhang Chunhua turned to look at her cousin Zhang Xiaocao.

If she also worked at the herbal workshop, didn’t she know several hundred characters too?

Zhang Xiaocao understood her cousin’s thoughts and deliberately said, ‘You may not appreciate it, but we certainly do!’

Zhang Chunhua reluctantly closed her mouth, still believing that girls teaching wouldn’t be as good.

Yan Qiu noticed her reluctance but didn’t say anything.

Her father had told her that teaching was not an easy job and required patience. Being questioned should be met with strength and ability.

Her mother advised not to confront troublemakers directly. Instead, find a rule to follow and quietly expel them. Never think that backing down would lead to peace, as it would only make things more frustrating.”

She agreed more with her mother. Her father had said that anyone who caused trouble three times should be expelled from the school and never taught again. If Zhang Chunhua caused any more trouble, she could be the first example to make this rule clear.

While she was thinking this, another little girl timidly raised her hand and said, “Sister Yanqiu, I want to learn too. I want to read and do math. Can you teach me?”

“I want to learn math so I can be an accountant like my sister and earn wages, lots of wages!” Xu Ting’s younger sister, Xu Li, said loudly.

“I want to help Auntie Shuiqing and earn my own money to buy flowers.”

“I also want my own money.”

Listening to these voices, Xing Hui finally understood why her parents insisted on teaching the villagers to read and write, despite it not bringing any obvious benefits to their own family. Especially since both boys and girls were taught. Yes, there would inevitably be people like her cousin and Zhang Chunhua, but there would be more hardworking and aspiring individuals. Her parents persevered for the sake of these people.

Wanxia thought that there were always hardworking people everywhere. Some people just needed a little hope to hold onto, and her uncle and aunt were the ones providing that hope.

No one paid attention to Zhang Chunhua’s words anymore. They didn’t even glance at her. Instead, they eagerly looked at Fan Jin, waiting for his next instruction.

Fan Jin, feeling he had said enough, smiled slightly and announced, “Those who have decided can go in and choose a seat. Brushes are already provided. They might not be the best, but they are good enough for beginners. Come at the specified times starting tomorrow.”

The onlookers wanted to rush in but reminded themselves that they were soon-to-be scholars, so they politely took turns entering.

Most people in the village had never seen a brush, let alone held one to write. As soon as they got their hands on a brush, they couldn’t stop touching it.

They felt the soft bristles and tested it on their hands, exclaiming, “So this is a brush. What kind of fur is this? It’s so soft.”

“I heard it’s rabbit fur, but it could be pig or sheep fur. I don’t know how they make it. It’s amazing.”

“I feel like I’m dreaming. Are we really going to write with these?”

“Ha! Feeling like it’s a dream isn’t new. Why do you think the village elders gave that speech today? They see things clearly!”

But it wasn’t just the elders who saw things clearly. Everyone knew in their hearts that without Shuiqing and Fan Jin, their lives wouldn’t be as good as they were now.

The eager students went in first, followed by the village elders, men, and women, who came in waves to take a look and were reluctant to leave.

Even without whitewashed walls, the brick houses were much cleaner and brighter than their adobe homes, especially these two large rooms. Even with all the desks and chairs, they were still spacious.

They couldn’t help but think how wonderful it would have been if they had such opportunities when they were young.

“Time to eat! Everyone take your seats! The food is being served!”