337 School Enrollment
Even Old Madam Wang could not make the decision regarding the matter of their in-laws’ family’s kids coming to Hu Family Village to study medicine.
After telling Village Chief Hu and the others about this, Village Chief Hu gathered the villagers and told them about his recent plans.
“The days in the village are about to improve. We want to set up a private school in the village. We don’t ask the children to do well in the exams, but they should at least be able to read and count. It’ll be good enough that they won’t be fooled when they’re outside,” Old Master Hu said earnestly. “The children will eventually have to walk out of the village. It’s impossible for them to stay in this mountain with the older generation for the rest of their lives. Once they go out, the difference in treatment between those who can and can’t read will be huge. Not to mention anything else, just the money they can earn is worlds apart.”
For manual labor, 20 or 30 copper coins a day outside was considered a lot.
But for those who could read and write, a job as a bookkeeper would net more than a hundred copper coins a day.
If the children could go further, it was said that in the prefectural city, or even the capital, the wages in those places for even manual work could net more than 200 copper coins a day.
When Old Master Hu was young, he’d once gone to the prefectural city to participate in the junior examination. At that time, he did not pass the examination and returned to his hometown in disappointment.
If he’d passed, he could have gone to the capital to take the entrance examination for officials. The prosperity of the capital definitely exceeded his imagination.
“Other than the private school, we’ve also talked to Doctor Hu and he’s willing to open a medical hall beside the private school. The children can learn literature and medicine at the same time,” Village Chief Hu added.
The villagers had long heard of these plans. Now that it had been officially announced, they all expressed their support.
In the past, it was not that they did not want to send their children to school. At that time, their family was so poor that they could not even afford to eat.
In the past, the Wang Family was the poorest family. The rest of them were not rich either. At most, they could starve a few meals less than the Wang Family.
Third Aunt Hu said, “Old Master, we’ll do whatever you say. It’s been so many years, but you haven’t harmed us, right?”
These words did not sound good, but they were the truth.
Old Master Hu smiled gently. “It’s normal for parents to want their children to learn more skills. I invited everyone here today because I still have something to ask for your opinions. We’re opening a private school for the growth of the children in our village. If anyone from the other villages wants to send their children to study literature and medicine here, are you willing to accept them?”
The villagers looked at each other.
Someone asked, “Why not?”
Before they had a private school, if their children wanted to study, didn’t they have to send them to other villages?
The other villages did not disagree.
“Doctor Hu agreed?” Widow Zhou asked.
Doctor Hu’s wife replied, “Of course, we’re happy to go with this arrangement. With one more child to learn medicine, we can save more people. This is a good thing to do and accumulates merit. My husband naturally agrees.”
The villagers laughed. “Since the teacher has agreed, what else do we have to disagree with?”
This matter was settled.
A carpenter in the village even said that if no one despised his skills, he was willing to oversee a class in the school and teach the children how to do carpentry.
A woman who was good at embroidery also said, “This reminds me. If no one has any objections, I can also teach the girls to make clothes.”
There were some old fellows like Elder Ma and the others who were unhappy letting women teach. However, some of the women in the village were really not good at embroidery to begin with. They did not know how to teach their daughters to sew.
They were the first to agree. The men in the family could not embarrass their wives, so they agreed as well.
When there were more people, even if Elder Ma and the others were unhappy, they could only accept it.
When they heard that the Hu Family Village was going to open a school, and they even accepted all the children from the various villages. The in-laws of the Wang Family were happy and expressed that they had to let the children come.
That day, they went home and said that they wanted to go back and talk to their family.
On the 28th of December, a large group of men carrying hoes and shovels came, scaring the people of Hu Family Village.
In the end, when they asked, the other party said, “I heard that your school is about to start in spring. It hasn’t been built yet, so we’re here to help construct the building. Don’t worry, there’s no need for you to take care of our meals. We’ll bring our own food!”
Just like that, before the school in Hu Family Village opened, there were already more than 100 students who had enrolled.
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