The village head came in, and Zhou Yu signaled his younger brother to serve the sweet soup. Out of the corner of his eye, the village head kept glancing at Yang Xi, clearly unaccustomed to a woman sitting still while a man went to serve tea and water.

Yang Xi noticed and sat down, not intending to leave.

Zhou’s younger brother didn’t think it was wrong at all, having become accustomed to not avoiding his sister-in-law in any matter.

Zhou Yu asked, “Has the village found a suitable house?”

The village head retracted his gaze. “Yes, we cleaned it up last night. Would you like to go and see it for yourself?”

Zhou Yu shook his head. “No, just tell me where the house is and we’ll go there tomorrow.”

The village head had been worried that Mr. Zhou had tricked him yesterday, but now he felt at ease. “I’ll have my grandson pick you up tomorrow.”

Zhou Yu thought for a moment and said, “Okay.”

He paused for a moment and then introduced, “This is my wife. We grew up together as childhood sweethearts. My father raised her as if she were a son. Her knowledge is no less than mine.”

The village head widened his eyes and secretly thought, Goodness. Yesterday, he had witnessed how eloquent Mr. Zhou was and had since put away his bias against women. “It’s this old man who lacked insight,” he admitted.

Zhou Yu smiled and said, “The sled design I showed you yesterday was improved by my wife.”

The village head gave a thumbs-up. “Madam is very talented.”

Yang Xi raised an eyebrow, wondering what Zhou Yu was up to.

The village head no longer frowned at Mr. Zhou’s wife. Anyone with knowledge and ability was worthy of respect. The village head collected his thoughts. The most important thing right now was the tuition. “The children are lucky to have Mr. Zhou willing to teach them, but I’m not sure how you’ll collect the tuition.”

Zhou Yu said, “We are recuperating in the Qi family village, and once we recover, we will leave. The tuition will be charged daily—one class hour each in the morning and afternoon. For every child, one egg every two days.”

The village head quickly did the math in his head: in winter, one egg cost two wen; thirty days meant only fifteen eggs, which was thirty wen; over four months, that would be a total of one hundred and twenty wen.

The county private school charged a yearly tuition of one and a half taels. If Mr. Zhou stayed in Qijia Village for a year, the children wouldn’t have to pay even half a tael.

Besides, the villagers wouldn’t have to pay copper coins for the eggs, so they’d be willing to spend some. In the future, when the children become successful and leave the village, they’ll gain more connections.

The head of the village had wishful thinking. In reality, Mr. Zhou would leave after recuperating. The head of the village felt bad and could not help but say, “Sir.”

Zhou Yu smiled faintly, “Have some tea.”

The village head swallowed back the words he blurted out, feeling regretful, “Sir, you are so kind. I thank you on behalf of the children.”

Zhou Yu said, “That’s a deal.”

The village head stood up, “I’ll go back first.”

Yang Xi waited for the head of the village to leave. “You will teach the children in the village to read? You didn’t say anything last night!”

Zhou Yu nodded, “I want to give you a surprise. It’s wise to teach the children to read while recuperating, so that they won’t be ignorant of the outside world.”

Yang Xi guessed in her heart, “Will I teach the children too?”

Zhou Yu smiled, “I will teach the children to read in the morning, and you teach them to count in the afternoon.”

Yang Xi smiled, “Okay.”

Zhou Yu and his wife were going to teach the children in the village to read and write. After Zhou’s younger brother said this, the Wu family and Yan Bing all knew about it.

Li Shi sat beside Yang Xi. She used to dare to hold Yang Xi’s hand, but now she didn’t dare. “Sister-in-law, do you really want to teach the children to read?”

Yang Xi nodded. “Yes, let your grandchildren learn too.”

Li Shi said, “Xiaofeng will go, but Xiaoya won’t.”

Xiaofeng was the surviving son of the first wife of the Wu family. He was four years old this year. Xiaoya was the surviving daughter of the second wife. She was also four years old. Of the two children, Yang Xi liked Xiaoya more. Xiaoya was very smart, very talkative, and very sweet. Whenever she came to play, she would call her “Grandma Yang” all the time.

Yang Xi said, “Sister-in-law, this world is inherently difficult, and it’s especially harsh on women. Only when women have self-reliance can they better navigate these turbulent times. Look at me, sister-in-law. Don’t you think I’m right?”

Li Shi wanted to say that girls didn’t need to study, but looking at Yang Shi, she couldn’t bring herself to say it. The head of the household said Yang Shi was intelligent and capable, and told her to respect her.

Wu Shan immediately made the decision, “Xiaoya will go too.”

He had come to realize that in troubled times, capable people thrived better. His family’s current situation was entirely thanks to the Zhou family. Without them, they would still be refugees, living a precarious existence.

Zhou Yu then said, “There’s another piece of good news. Third Yang has the same surname as my wife, and from now on, he will be considered her younger brother. After the memorial ceremony for my father on the forty-ninth day, we will formally recognize the kinship.”

Zhou Xiaodi, “????”

He’d been home all day, so how could he not know anything?

Third Yang, overwhelmed by the surprise, grinned, “Jiefu, I’ll take care of the banquet.”

Zhou Xiaodi, “…”

This call of Jiefu was even louder than the one he’d called him!

Wu Shan wasn’t surprised. Third Yang had worked so hard to integrate into the Zhou family, and now he felt relieved. “Congratulations.”

After dinner, Zhou Xiaodi watched his sister and mother divide the embroidery thread, his face growing increasingly bitter. “Brother, can I teach too?”

Zhou Yu asked. “One egg every two days?”

Zhou Xiaodi fell silent. He had been thinking all day and couldn’t come up with a way to make money. “Brother, I don’t know what I can do.”

He had given up on the idea of taking the xiucai exam; from now on, he would have to live under a hidden name. As for the four arts—qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting—he could only listen to the qin, his calligraphy was decent, but he had no talent for painting at all. Back then, his father refused to believe it and ended up driving away two teachers in frustration before finally giving up.

Zhou Xiaodi felt aggrieved. Why was his brother so much like his father? Both his father and brother were good at qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but he was the only one without talent.

Zhou Yu said, “There’s a temple fair in two days. You can go and help write letters.”

Little Zhou, having never set up a stall before, felt a little embarrassed. Meeting his elder brother’s eyes, he straightened his back. “I’ll help write letters.”

Zhou Yu nodded. “Yes.”

Due to Gao County’s geographical location, few people leave the mountains, resulting in a lack of literacy. This made it difficult to ask people to write and read letters, so by writing letters, he could still earn some money.

The next day, after breakfast, the village head’s grandson led the way. Both families went to the house, located at the eastern end of the village. The headman’s grandson explained that the son of the family had moved to the county, and since no one in the mountains wanted to buy houses, the house had been vacant.

The house was somewhat run-down, evidently indicating the family had been gone for some time.

The village head and the villagers were waiting at the door when Zhou Yu and his wife came to greet them. “Please come in, sir.”

Yang Xi, expecting only a few children, counted ten.

Entering the courtyard, Yang Xi sat down with a pen and paper to record the children’s names and other basic information.

The wife of the village head came over with three children, including the little grandson who had just led the way. “I have three.”

Yang Xi nodded and wrote down the children’s names neatly. Zhou Xiaodi helped collect the eggs. “Okay.”

The other villagers believed it this time. It turned out that they really only collected eggs. A few more villagers left and soon came back with their children. When all the records were completed, there were fourteen boys. The oldest was fifteen years old and the youngest was eight years old.

The wife of the village head was surprised to see the little girl sitting there listening to the class. “You are also teaching girls?”

Yang Xi nodded. “Yes, in the morning, your husband will teach the children to read and write, and in the afternoon, I will teach them arithmetic.”

The wife of the village head had heard the head of the family talk about Mr. Zhou’s wife, and now she was still surprised to hear that Mr. Zhou’s wife would also teach children. “You are also teaching children?”

Yang Xi smiled. “Well, if you are worried, you can stay and listen.”

The wife of the village head was a little embarrassed. She smiled and said nothing, subconsciously intending to stay and listen.

(End of this chapter)

---