Chapter 69: The Academy

When Zhou Qing exposed her thoughts, the clan leader immediately felt a bit embarrassed.

Seeing the clan leader’s awkward expression, Zhou Qing realized she might have misspoken and quickly added:

"Previously, the teacher at the village school was my uncle. He left so suddenly that you didn’t even have time to prepare. I've felt guilty and uneasy about it ever since.

These past few days, you’ve been running around managing everything at the school, and that’s made me feel even more uneasy."

With these words, the clan leader’s expression softened slightly.

"He’s not your uncle anymore after cutting ties!"

In his heart, the clan leader had strong opinions about Zhou Huaihai.

When they severed ties, he had already decided not to teach at the village school anymore, but he didn’t tell them until the day he was about to move. 

How could anyone do such a thing?

Zhou Qing smiled, "Regardless, both my father and I feel uneasy about it. Just yesterday, my father said he wanted to hire a teacher for the village.

A while ago, I earned some money by selling calligraphy, and I’d like to hire a scholar to oversee the village school so that the children will have someone to rely on."

Initially, Aunt Zhang was still upset that Zhou Huaishan refused to agree. But when she heard Zhou Qing talking about hiring a scholar for the village school, her eyes lit up.

Although Zhou Huaishan had achieved a top spot in the exams, he wasn’t even a proper student yet. 

If they could really hire a scholar, that would be much more impressive than Zhou Huaishan.

Aunt Zhang immediately smiled and said, "Then let's hire a scholar."

The clan leader glared at Aunt Zhang, "Do you think it’s that easy to hire a scholar? It costs at least two taels of silver a month!"

"What? Two taels? That's robbery!"

The clan leader ignored Aunt Zhang and looked at Zhou Qing, "I’ve also been looking into hiring a teacher these past few days."

Zhou Qing replied, "Actually, my father isn’t without personal motives. He wants to contribute to the village, but he also wants to earn a good reputation."

These words were very straightforward, and the clan leader understood immediately.

He stroked his beard and looked over at Zhou Huaishan, "Do you really think that way?"

A ton of question marks seemed to crash into Zhou Huaishan’s mind.

Think what way? 

What are you talking about? 

I don’t understand at all! 

I never planned to hire a teacher for the village school, nor do I feel uneasy about Zhou Huaihai leaving. 

What does it have to do with me?

However...

Since his daughter had already said it, as her father, he couldn’t ruin her story.

With an expression full of sincerity, Zhou Huaishan nodded heavily and said with deep emotion, "Yes!"

"Well, since you have such a kind heart, I won’t say any more. Today, I, as your elder, am grateful to you, and the whole village of Qingyang is grateful to you."

Aunt Zhang was left confused.

Although she didn’t understand why she needed to be grateful, she knew that the matter of hiring a scholar was settled.

"Um, Qing, Brother Zhou, don't blame me for what happened earlier. I was just anxious about my child’s education and acted out of desperation. It was my fault. How about this, I’ll go home and cook the goose right away and bring it over for you to eat tonight."

After saying this, Aunt Zhang left with the goose.

The clan leader called after her, "Have your husband come over, and by the way, notify the other families with school-age children in the village to come over too."

Aunt Zhang cheerfully agreed.

Once Aunt Zhang had left, Zhou Qing explained her plan in more detail. As she spoke, about ten men gathered at the clan leader’s house.

The clan leader then announced the plan to hire a scholar for the village school.

"...Huaishan will be paying for the teacher, but from now on, the school will be renamed Huaishan Academy. Do any of you have objections?"

The parents...

They looked at each other, whispered among themselves for a while, and then one man spoke up first.

"We don’t care what the academy is called, but will the scholar’s fees be higher than those of the previous teacher?"

For rural families, it wasn’t easy to afford their children’s education.

The clan leader glanced at Zhou Huaishan and stroked his beard.

"The money Huaishan is paying for the scholar includes the tuition fees. From now on, children from Qingyang village can study without paying tuition. If you’re grateful, you can give the teacher some fruits or snacks as a token of appreciation."

Hearing this, a few men opened their eyes wide in surprise.

"What? No tuition fees?"

"Is there really a school that doesn’t charge tuition?"

The clan leader laughed, "It’s not that there’s no tuition, it’s that Huaishan is covering your share of the fees."

One of the men immediately turned to Zhou Huaishan.

"Seriously, Shan, you... what are you thinking? Why would you pay for us? Are you out of your mind?"

I think so too! Why should I pay for other people’s children to study?

However...

Zhou Huaishan forced a silly smile, "I wouldn’t have been able to study and take the exams smoothly without everyone’s help. Now that my family’s situation has improved, I want to give back to the village."

As he spoke, Zhou Huaishan sighed deeply, his tone heavy with emotion.

"After picking up my books again, I’ve come to realize that if a child wants to succeed, they need to study. But we farmers are poor..."

At this point, Zhou Huaishan wiped away his nonexistent tears.

"In short, now that my life is better, I want to make sure that all the children who want to study can do so without being held back by their family’s financial situation. This is my wish."

After speaking, Zhou Huaishan bowed his head and sighed, looking deeply moved.

"I’ll pay for the teacher now. If I’m no longer around in the future, you can make other arrangements then."

The others listened, their expressions dazed.

Everyone in the village had witnessed how the Zhou family abandoned Zhou Huaishan in favor of Zhou Huaihai, and how the main branch of the Zhou family had caused so much trouble when Zhou Huaishan tried to study on his own.

What happened to him left a deep wound.

He doesn’t want what happened to him to happen to other children.

He’s truly...

A man with a heart of gold!

By comparison, Zhou Huaihai really isn’t a good person!

"Shan, we understand your intentions, but how can we let you pay for everything?"

"That’s right, our children’s education can’t be your responsibility."

Exactly. Inwardly rolling his eyes, he outwardly said, "Since the academy is being renamed Huaishan Academy, naturally, I should be the one to pay. Let’s leave it at that. If you’re truly grateful to me, just give me two pounds of pork during the holidays."

After some polite refusals, they finally settled the matter.

Once they returned to Shen Li’s courtyard, where Zhou Huaishan had remained silent, he suddenly exploded, dragging Zhou Qing into the house.

"Daughter, are you out of your mind? How could you do something so foolish?"

Zhou Qing just rolled her eyes.

"This is called burning the boats.^[1]"

"This is burning your father’s money!" Zhou Huaishan retorted.

Just because he supported his daughter in public didn’t mean he wouldn’t get angry at home.

Zhou Qing then comforted him, "Father, you won’t be farming anymore, you’ll be taking the official career route, right?"

At the mention of farming, Zhou Huaishan’s temper cooled slightly, and he nodded. "Yes."

"What do you rely on to pursue an official career?"

"Connections." Although he is a dandy, Zhou Huaishan understood this much.

Zhou Qing continued, "But we come from a poor background, and you don’t have classmates. Where would you get connections?"

Zhou Huaishan stared into Zhou Qing’s eyes and suddenly had an epiphany.

He slapped Zhou Qing on the shoulder. "Daughter, you’re so sharp!"

No connections? This is about cultivating connections in Qingyang village. 

Connections start with the children. 

In the future, those who become officials and ministers will be the ones supported by Zhou Huaishan!

Tsk tsk...

"But what if no one in our village passes the exams?"

Zhou Qing smiled, "Once our academy opens, we’ll attract children from all the nearby villages. As long as you can pass the provincial exams, no one will dare to block the academy’s path."

"But what if I don’t pass?" Zhou Huaishan immediately wavered.

Zhou Qing patted him on the shoulder, "There’s no ‘what if’! Get back to studying! You still have a day off tomorrow!"

I shouldn’t have agreed to this in the first place! 

Damn it, this is a huge trap!

_____

Footnotes:

[1] "This is called burning the boats," she means that by making a bold decision to fund the academy and take responsibility for it, they are fully committing to this path. There’s no turning back, and they must succeed because they’ve removed any option of retreat or failure.