bayedsolid Chapter 68 The Teacher Who Became the Top Scholar
Chapter 68 The Teacher Who Became the Top Scholar
Yunyi paid him fifteen coins.
"So many?" Xia Zhuzi was a little stunned. "Isn't it supposed to be five coins? I have two of these."
"You're worth more because this is particularly creative," Yunyi smiled.
"Thank you." Xia Zhuzi bowed to Yunyi, then turned and ran. "Grandma, I earned a copper coin, Grandma..."
Looking at the exquisite cricket cage, Xia Xiuxiu made her calculations. After bowing to Yunyi, she turned and ran away.
"You're such a good person." Er Ya rolled her eyes.
"If you can do it, I can pay you."
Er Ya turned and ran away.
Yunyi didn't take it to heart and turned to go into the kitchen. She had agreed to cook a welcome feast for Uncle Xiucai at noon today. Although it wasn't a village-wide mobilization this time, the village chief and a few other respected people in the village would be coming, so she had to cook a few meat dishes.
The scholar and his wife knew that they were going to have a banquet today, so Jia Liu also came to help.
After they finished their work here, the village chief arrived with several elders, including Xia Guozhong.
They were all very considerate and didn't bring their families. After all, each additional person coming would mean one more person to feed, and even if Yunyi had money now, she wouldn't take advantage of that.
Moreover, none of them came empty-handed; they all brought something with them.
The adults sat at one table, and the children at another. Each table had eight dishes and a soup, four meat dishes and four vegetable dishes, all with excellent color, aroma, and taste.
Xia Songshi looked at Yunyi with a complicated expression. Yunyi had cooked before and did quite well, but none of her dishes had impressed her as much as the eight dishes and soup she had prepared today. After all, dishes like "Zhuangyuan Tofu" and "Stir-fried Three Shreds" required years of knife skills and culinary expertise to prepare well. Yet Yunyi cooked them with remarkable composure, as if she had done them countless times before. Her knife skills, in particular, were probably at the level of even the imperial chefs.
Yunyi pretended not to see Xia Songshi's gaze, and instead invited everyone to take their seats, and even brought out the osmanthus wine she had bought from town.
"One should never be too particular about the finest food or the most exquisite preparation," said Scholar Jia, taking a satisfied sip of wine. "Yunyi's culinary skills are comparable to those of an imperial chef."
"You talk as if you've ever eaten at the imperial kitchen?" Jia Liushi glared at her husband.
"Haven't you eaten it? Haven't you heard of it?" Scholar Jia glared. "A top scholar from the previous dynasty once wrote a book called..."
"Alright." Madam Jia Liu hurriedly waved her hand, interrupting her husband. "We're not talking about food today. We're talking about the children's early education."
Jia Xiucai's desire to show off his knowledge was immediately suppressed.
"Sigh," the village chief sighed, "I went door-to-door yesterday to notify them, but only two children were able to come so far."
"Which two?" Yunyi frowned slightly. There were several school-aged children in the village.
"It's Gou Dan and Lu Dan, who are good friends with Da Bao."
"I remember Second Grandma's family had two great-granddaughters, Jinhua and Yinhua? They..."
"They're not coming."
Yunyi stopped asking. This situation was quite normal. After all, the phenomenon of valuing sons over daughters exists even in modern civilized society, let alone in ancient times.
"Actually, I wanted my sons Wenwu to come and learn to read, but unfortunately, they are too old," said Xia Fulai, the village chief's younger brother, somewhat embarrassed.
Xia Fulai is Gou Dan's father. He has three sons: the eldest son, Xia Wen, is eighteen years old; the second son, Xia Wu, is thirteen; and the youngest son, Xia Wei, is ten years old. His nickname is Gou Dan, which is what everyone calls him. Many people probably don't remember his real name.
“It’s alright, my late teacher only started learning the zither at fifty.” Scholar Jia waved his hand, “Age is not a problem.”
"Okay, okay..." Xia Fulai blushed with excitement and didn't know what to say next, only able to keep saying okay.
The meal was a pleasant one for both the host and guests.
After everyone left, Jia Liu helped the slightly tipsy Jia Xiucai back to his room.
As soon as he entered the door, Jia Xiucai, who had been tense just moments before, suddenly grabbed his wife's hand and burst into tears.
"What's wrong with you?" Jia Liu was startled and quickly helped the person onto the kang (a heated brick bed).
"Wife, I'm so happy," Jia Xiucai wiped away his tears. "I know you've suffered so much with me all these years..."
Jia Liu's eyes also reddened.
"I'm not reconciled, I'm really not reconciled!" Jia Xiucai patted his chest. "But fate just keeps playing tricks on me like this."
Jia Liu wiped away her tears: "Why talk about this now? It's all in the past." Saying this, she helped him lie down, "You should get some sleep."
“Yes, it’s all in the past. I’ve come to terms with it. I won’t take the exam anymore. I’ll just be a teacher. I can’t become a top scholar myself, but I can train top scholars. Don’t you think so?” Jia Xiucai was still in a state of excitement.
“Yes.” Madam Jia Liu nodded. “Then you will be the top scholar’s teacher.” As she spoke, she took off his shoes.
Scholar Jia laughed: "Besides, I can earn money now, two taels of silver a month. Those people who looked down on me before don't earn as much as I do. Don't worry, wife, once I receive my tuition, I'll buy you a silver bracelet, and later a gold bracelet..."
"It's good that you have the heart. Wearing a silver bracelet is inconvenient for working. I just hope we can be well together. When we are able to do so in the future, we can take care of our elders..." As Jia Liu was speaking, she suddenly heard snoring. She turned her head and saw that Jia Xiucai had already fallen asleep. She couldn't help but smile. "Brother Zian, I have never regretted marrying you. My only regret is that I can't give you an heir."
Jia Xiucai mumbled "wife" and then went back to sleep.
Before Jia Liu could say anything more, she heard Yun Yi's voice from outside and hurriedly got up and went out.
“Auntie, since I didn’t know Uncle Xiucai’s size beforehand, I brought some fabric over. Could you take a look and make him a few outfits?” Yunyi handed over the fabric. “Let’s make a summer outfit and an autumn outfit first. We can get more cotton in a few days to make winter clothes.”
At a glance, Jia Liushi could tell it was high-quality fabric; the underwear was made of fine cotton. She immediately felt a little embarrassed: "This material is too good."
"You have to be comfortable to wear, then you'll be comfortable." Yunyi smiled. "I don't have the patience to do needlework, so I'll leave it to you, Auntie."
"It's no trouble at all." Jia Liu hurriedly waved her hand. "We are already very grateful that you accepted us. Now..." She paused, and composed herself. "Alright, my needlework is quite good. As long as you don't mind, you can leave the needlework to me."
“Okay.” Yun Yi didn’t refuse and nodded directly. In her eyes, there was no such thing as eating and drinking for free. She gave them convenience and benefits, and if the other party felt it was a matter of course, she would take those conveniences back quickly. However, it seemed that the people she had met so far had normal values.