“Father, I didn’t expect that Little Treasure also has the gift of studying. Let’s do it like this. Both children are promising, it would be better for both of them to go to this school. Anyway, it’s our Yan Clan school. It doesn’t cost much money to do it every year. It’s just a little bit expensive for brush, paper, and inkstone. But in the beginning, you can’t use much good paper and inkstone. Just buy the cheapest one. This money can be saved from living frugally at home.”
If Liu Fuchun had not been an astute woman, she would not have taken Yan Changxue firmly. As soon as she saw that her old father’s heart was leaning towards the little boy of Second Brother’s family, she immediately stood up and tried to fool him out with a seemingly fair method.
“Now the children are still young, even if they have talent, it’s not absolute. I just told you that I want to send Second Treasure to school, but I still want to oppose it. After all, Little Treasure and Second Treasure are the same age, so we can’t just send Second Treasure instead of Little Treasure. I think two children should study at the clan school together, wait until the county examination and the government examination. At that time, we could tell the difference, which child has good grades that will get supported to continue the study. In this way, it’ll be fair, and no one will complain.”
She could see that Second Brother’s child was crafty. Yan Chu secretly memorized so many books. If someone said that Second Brother did not know, she did not believe it. It estimated that the whole family was waiting for her.
If she did not come forward and talk about this compromise now, and relying on her old father’s expectations to the younger generation, if there was room for a scholar in the family, that was unquestionably Yan Chu for sure. But if it was Yan Chu, what would her son do?
Liu Fuchun thought that even if there were so many students in the school, Third Uncle Yan would not spend too much energy on one of them. Moreover, he had to concentrate on preparing for his own triennial provincial imperial examination. She was afraid that he would spend even less. Her eldest son was a Tongsheng58Tongshenga candidate who has not yet passed the county-level imperial exam and studied in the county for several years. After a few years, she did not believe that Yan Chu could be ahead of Yan Tao.
Initially, according to the main branch’s statement, it was to send excellent children to school. However, when Yan Chu showed that he was better than Yan Tao, they changed their words and said they would use a fair method to give time to the whole family on which child should be allowed to continue to study next.
Let them say all the good and bad words. They were not cheeky and really could not do such a thing.
“Grandpa, what Eldest Aunt said just now is good. Whether Little Treasure or Second Treasure, they’re all the Yan family’s children. No matter what their future is, the whole family will be proud of them. It’s not a small expense for their older cousins to study in the county. I’m afraid our days will be tight again with the family providing Second Treasure and Little Treasure to go to school. But it doesn’t matter. We can eat less meat at home, and we don’t need to make new clothes for this branch family. Eldest Uncle’s salary is high and used to live well at home. Now I hope Eldest Uncle and Aunt will pay a little money to the collectively owned one every month for the sake of Second Treasure.”
Although Yan Meihua was a girl, she still had a high status in the Yan family, the eldest granddaughter Yan Chunhua lived with Yan Changxue and his wife in the town. In the old house, Yan Meihua was the real eldest granddaughter. She took several younger sisters to do the housework and raised chickens, ducks, and two pigs. Compared to her daughter-in-law, Yan née Jiang relied on this granddaughter more.
Moreover, before Yan Chu was born, Yan Changxi and his wife had three daughters in a row. Once upon a time, Oldman Yan and Yan née Jiang thought about letting the second granddaughter establish a daughter’s family and found a son-in-law to keep the incense of the second family alive. Therefore, even though Oldman Yan and Yan née Jiang had little affection for their granddaughters, they still valued and preferred Yan Meihua.
These words, if it changed to Taohua, she did not necessarily dare to speak in front of Oldman Yan and Yan née Jiang, but Yan Meihua had that confidence.
Oldman Yan helped Yan Changxue buy a small courtyard in the town. He was also the manager of a tavern there, which did not only drink wine but also worked part-time as a restaurant, providing all kinds of courses. Nowadays, people were not so particular about it. It was a pity when some big households ordered a table of dishes but could not finish eating them, and as a manager, Yan Changxue could still pick the best-selling and highest-priced food.
Usually, Yan Changxue’s family did not need to spend much on food, and they could still eat big fish and meat. Otherwise, they would not be able to appear in such a rich posture.
There was no need to rent a house, and there was no expenditure on food. Yan Changxue’s 800 coins salary should be saved, and now there was no separation of families. It was unreasonable that Yan Changxi’s family work hard for their family while Yan Changxue could freely and easily buy beautiful satin clothes with that money, and Liu Fuchun could also wear a thin gold bracelet on her wrist.
When she got married, she did not have any dowry. Now she said it was secretly given to her by her natal family. Who believed it?
“Meihua’s words truly broke my and her uncle’s heart.”
Liu Fuchun twitched the corners of her mouth after hearing what Yan Meihua said. She looked at the old couple Yan with a sad face.
“Duan’er is studying in the county. The students’ families had some people working for them or at a cloth shop and a rice store. Their families are well-off. If my husband and I don’t wear better clothes, people will only look down on Duan’er. It’s not good for him to make friends in the future. Why we want to spend money on such flashy things?”
Liu Fuchun shook her head helplessly towards Yan Meihua, and then sincerely faced Yan Mudan.
“Little Sister, you can say on my behalf how much we spend on Duan’er study in the county. We didn’t pay the collectively owned money because most of it got sent to Duan’er. Our family gave him 500 coins each month, which wasn’t enough for brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. He knew that the family had done their best to earn money when he was rising early and going to bed late to transcribe books at school, so he was embarrassed to take the money from the family. If it weren’t for his delay in studying, perhaps he would become Xiucai56Xiucaia person who has passed the county-level imperial exam. When my child’s father and I knew about it, we’re very distressed. We’re afraid that you, Father and Mother, would get angry after knowing about it, so we hid it. We took out most of his father’s monthly salary and sent it to him. Today, Meihua points this incident to my elders. I feel wronged. I don’t know if this child thinks that I, Liu Fuchun, am a black-hearted woman who has a bad reputation as a mother. What kind of eyes will others look at our family in the future.”
Speaking of her sadness, Liu Fuchun also wiped out her tears.
“Father and Mother, what Sister-in-law said is true. Now, the county school’s students have to spend 200-300 coins to buy a good deal of inkstone. What’s more, those scholars are fashionable now to organize some literary clubs, and if someone wants to participate, they can get 30-40 coins at a time. No matter how much money they have, they can’t hold it. However, the honorable Xiucais and Juren57Jurena successful candidate in the imperial provincial examinations often participate in those clubs, and they can learn some from those people’s experiences. It’s worth the money.”
Yan Mudan’s own son was studying in the county, so she was very familiar with this aspect.
“Our family’s monthly expenses are 2-3 taels of silver. Duan’er is also thankful for the money from Big Brother and Sister-in-law. I occasionally make up for it. Otherwise, he’ll get ridiculed in the county school.”
She increased her voice when she mentioned 2-3 taels, and her pride was apparent.
But maybe Yan Chu’s performance just now also shocked her. As a daughter, Yan Mudan, who was not really angry and could not learn well, urgently needed a promising younger generation to support her. Suddenly, she felt that Second Brother’s family was not as helpless as she thought before.
Thus, she had not followed her sister-in-law to criticize Yan Meihua for disrespecting her elders. She candidly talked about the consumption in the county school.
“Big Cousin’s just Tongsheng, and Third Uncle’s already Xiucai. Why Big Cousin spend more than Third Uncle?”
The children’s innocent words could always get forgiven easily. Oldman Yan and Yan née Jiang, who felt distressed for the eldest grandson because of the eldest daughter-in-law and daughter’s words, were stunned. They did not know how to explain the problem to the little grandson who had issued this question.
His third nephew Yan Changde was from the Yan main family. His eldest uncle was still a fourth-rank official in the capital. However, in a village, Yan Changde stayed in his study every day and did not go out very much, except for teaching the children in school. He occasionally saw the other party go to the county library to buy books, brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. But he did not see any other expenses.
In the so-called literary society, it was good that the other party could go once a year. Those societies were all organized by the county magistrates and Jurens. The patriarch was proud of them and occasionally bragged in front of the clan members. Yan Changde did not bother to spend his money and time studying in other unpopular literary societies.
“Your oldest cousin is different from your third uncle.”
Liu Fuchun muttered to Yan Chu: “There’s an official uncle in your third uncle’s family, and he can only rely on him if he wants to accumulate contacts. You don’t understand now, but it doesn’t matter. When your oldest cousin becomes Xiucai and then Juren, he’ll be your support. You don’t have to experience the sadness he has experienced now.”
Liu Fuchun sighed, and her face was bitter.
Sure enough, after she said this, Oldman Yan and Yan née Jiang’s expressions eased a lot. That was right, his eldest grandson and patrilineal cousin were still different, and his cost was higher, which was understandable.
However, Yan Chu’s words just hit the bottom of the old couple’s mind. They thought the eldest grandson’s monthly expenditure was only 500 coins. But now, according to what the eldest daughter-in-law said, the eldest son’s money was spent by the eldest grandson, and none of it got saved. The authenticity of this remained to be verified, but in those 800 coins, the eldest grandson took away four or five hundred coins, which was fundamentally affirmative. In this way, the other party’s expenses would far exceed the old couple’s expectations.
Studying burned money, but you could not burn it that much. Now the grandson was just a child and had such a high expense. When the other party became Xiucai, could the family afford the other’s financial needs?
“Both Second Treasure and Little Treasure will go to the clan school. Starting this month, you’ll hand in 300 coins a month to our collectively owned money to subsidize Big Treasure. The rest of the money is enough. Now the two little ones have to go to school. You can’t let your younger brother raise both of your sons.”
Perhaps because he thought that his little grandsons would be promising, Oldman Yan rarely said something fair.
“Father.”
Yan Changxue wanted to refute that the lands planted by his younger brother collectively owned. He was the eldest son. After a hundred years, according to the rules, he could divide 80% of the land. In other words, the areas planted by his younger brother were actually his. Was it wrong that he just spent his own money early? Besides, Yan Duan and Yan Tao were promising, and Second Brother’s family also benefited from association with them.
Liu Fuchun was much smarter than her husband. Seeing that Yan Changxue seemed to want to talk, she immediately stopped him.
“Father’s right. My husband and I will save the 300 coins even if we live frugally. Second Brother’s efforts for so many years are both in Changxue and my eyes. No matter which one of Duan’er and Tao’er are successful, they’ll never forget their second uncle.”
Liu Fuchun said this beautifully. Although Oldman Yan and Yan née Jiang preferred the eldest son, the second son was also his own. It was the happiest thing for the old couple to see the brothers in harmony.
Yan Meihua’s original intention was to let her younger brother study. Now her grandfather had relented, and she had no purpose of quarreling with her eldest uncle’s family, so she naturally stopped.
As for Yan Chu, he looked at the smiling eldest aunt, who could bend and stretch and judge the situation. She was more difficult than imagined.
When Yan Changxi and his wife hurried from the field after listening to their second daughter’s words, everything already got settled. When they heard that their son could go to school, they were stunned.
“Sister-in-law is pretty good too.”
They did not see the whole process, only listened to the sister-in-law Liu Fuchun said what happened during the day, Yan Changxi and his wife lying on the Kang79Kanga heatable brick bed quietly said.
“I didn’t expect that our Little Treasure would be able to study. If he could be Xiucai in the future, I would be willing to lose my ten-year life.”
Li Qiuyue was also full of longing. When she thought of her son being able to go to school, she felt that she suddenly had a lot of energy again. Thinking about the dozens of acres of land at home, she did not feel tired.
In the past, they were earning money for Elder Brother’s family. Now, although they were making money for the Elder Brother’s family, they still could drink some soup at home. In this way, their motivation for making money was entirely different.
“Dad and Mom, can the others and I come in?”
The couple was still happy when their room’s door knocked. At night, they did not know why the eldest daughter showed up with her younger siblings.
Yan Changxi opened the door for his children and then watched the youngest daughter Lanhua guarding outside. The eldest daughter came in with Taohua and Little Treasure and left the little girl out. She was strange, and they did not know what to say.
