Chapter 326 Let Your Parents-in-law Treat You
Tong Huaqiong nodded to show that she agreed with the patriarch's point of view.
"You are right, clan leader. The children in our clan should go to school. I don't care about others, Yaozu and Maner must study." Tong Huaqiong said.
The patriarch was very pleased to hear the first half of the words, but the second half made him frown.
What kind of books does a girl study?
What a shame it would sound if you said it out loud.
"It's fine for Yaozu to study, but why should Maner study? She can't be an official. It will be difficult for her to find a husband if she studies too much." The patriarch said dissatisfiedly.
To name a few, Gu Taohua is a ready-made example.
She doesn't know who she is after learning a few words. She argues with everyone she meets and has a lot of reasons to say. Until now, no one has come to propose marriage to her.
Tong Da Jiao is the same. She learned to read and write with her brother in the boudoir. After she got married, she was disrespectful to her parents-in-law and treated her step-children harshly. Now she is even more out in the limelight doing business.
Tong Huaqiong said calmly: "It doesn't matter if Man'er studies. I can afford the tuition so I'll let her study."
The patriarch's mouth twitched.
Instead of wasting the salary, it would be better to give it to his great-grandson.
His great-grandson already knows a few words. Although he is not as smart as Gu Jingzhe was when he was a child, he is still considered talented.
It is not easy for a family to support a scholar, especially for a farming family.
What kind of life did Tong Dajiao live in order to support Gu Jingzhe's studies?
If Tong Da Jiao was willing to support her descendants in their education, he would definitely arrange for Tong Da Jiao and Old Man Gu to be buried together.
Never mind, never mind, let Maner study as she asks him to.
The clan leader brought the topic back and asked, "What do you think about the clan members studying?"
Tong Huaqiong pretended to be confused and said, "What else can I think? It's a good thing for the clan leader to let the children of the clan go to school. If they are willing to study, then they can go and study."
What's wrong with Tong Da Jiao? Why doesn't she accept the tuition for her children's studies?
And he insisted that he explain it clearly.
The clan leader gritted his teeth and said, "Dashu Niang, since you are willing to pay for the private school, then you should also pay for the money for our clan's children to study. I heard that many wealthy families would take the initiative to invite children from poor families to study for free in order to help their children in official circles. Now that you have money, you have to consider Jingzhe. Spend some money now to support our clan's children, so that Gu Jingzhe can also be helpful in official circles in the future."
How shameless he is, Tong Huaqiong thought, asking her to pay the money so blatantly.
Tong Huaqiong said, "I haven't paid for Jingzhe yet, so how can I have the spare money to pay for others? Since the children in the tribe want to study, no matter how stupid they are, my private school will accept them. Their parents will pay for the tuition, and at worst, you, the tribe leader, will be responsible. It has nothing to do with me. I don't ask Jingzhe to help me in the future, but I just hope that the children in our tribe don't hold him back."
"Since I heard that wealthy families would support children from poor families to study in order to help their children in officialdom, I believe the clan leader must have connections with wealthy families. Why don't you take your children there? Maybe some wealthy family with a discerning eye will take care of them and buy them out."
"Patriarch, please don't ask me for such good things that cost money in the future."
Tong Huaqiong stood up and left after saying this.
The patriarch's face turned red with anger.
Guessing that Tong Huaqiong had gone far away, the clan leader cursed: "What the hell, you're showing off just because of a few stinky silver coins."
The patriarch was so angry that he thought about it and came up with an idea.
"Da Hu, grind ink for me." The clan leader called his grandson Gu Da Hu into the house to grind ink.
Gu Dahu didn't understand why his grandfather was grinding ink. He hadn't remembered anything for such a long time, and the only piece of ink in the house had dried up, so it was very difficult to grind it.
The head of the Gu family can read a few characters.
Gu Dahu ground the ink for his grandfather and then reluctantly found two pieces of yellowed paper.
"Grandpa, what do you remember?" Gu Dahu asked.
The clan leader picked up the pen and said, "Write a letter to the person who can hold down Tong Da Jiao."
Gu Dahu asked in surprise: "Who can suppress Aunt Tong?"
The clan leader sneered, "Her parents-in-law."
The clan leader secretly resented as he wrote, "Tong Da Jiao, don't be so proud. Have you forgotten that you still have your parents-in-law?"
Tong Da Jiao has lived a comfortable life in Qinghe Bay for so many years that she has forgotten the days when she was angry with her in-laws.
Although she was dissatisfied with her in-laws and dared to argue with them, she did not dare to do anything to them.
If her parents-in-law came back, not only would Tong Da Jiao give money to the clan, but at the very least it would make her life less easy.
The patriarch became more and more proud as he thought about it.
The letter exaggerated the revenue of Taohua Desserts, denounced Tong Huaqiong's character, and even mentioned Boss Qian's feelings for Tong Huaqiong.
In short, there is one theme. After your son's death, your eldest daughter-in-law used some means to make her business more and more prosperous. You should come and enjoy your life. If you don't come back, your son's green hat will be buried in the coffin.
After the clan leader finished writing the letter, he sealed it carefully and asked Gu Dahu to go to Pingchuan County to hand the letter over to the merchants coming from the south to take it away.
The clan leader guessed that Tong Huaqiong's parents-in-law would return to Qinghe Bay after receiving the letter, and would arrive before the New Year at the latest.
Then let Tong Da Jiao be proud for a while, and then give her some troubles when she has nothing to do later in the year.
Tong Huaqiong naturally didn't know that the clan leader was targeting her parents-in-law, whom she had never met.
Tong Huaqiong came out of the clan leader's house and went to the home of the village chief Liu Tielian.
The autumn harvest is over, and the crisis of harboring remnants of rebels in the family has been resolved, so it is time to start the education cause.
Liu Tielian became extremely excited when he heard Tong Huaqiong discussing the private school.
His grandson will also be a scholar in the future.
"......I have discussed with the head of our Liu family where the children will have their classes. First, they will go to the Liu family ancestral hall. Our Liu family ancestral hall is spacious and can accommodate children. In addition, the teacher can stay overnight in the backyard of the ancestral hall. We will wait until next spring to build a few houses on the open space at the entrance of the village to use them for school." said the village chief.
Since Tong Huaqiong went to the provincial capital some time ago, the village chief had not had time to tell Tong Huaqiong about this.
When Tong Huaqiong heard that the school was located in the Liu Family Ancestral Hall, she asked, "Will it disturb the ancestors of the Liu Family?"
The village chief waved his hand and said, "If our ancestors knew that their descendants could study, they would rush to give them a place."
Running a private school, a major event that benefits the village and the people, is not a big deal at all if it is done in the ancestral hall.
Tong Huaqiong asked, "Do all the children in the village want to study?"
Tong Huaqiong had already made plans to invite County Magistrate Liu to attend the private school on the first day of class.
If by then there were only Yaozu Maner, the village chief's grandson and a few other children, wouldn't it be too much of a fuss?
The village chief said, "You don't have to worry about this. Who doesn't want their children to go to school? In the past, if you didn't let your children go to school, they would have to go to town. If you stayed in town for a whole day, you would miss work. Besides, the tuition fees in town were not low. No one could afford it."
Now that I have a private school in the village, the children don’t have to travel back and forth, and they have plenty of free time to help with housework.
In addition, with the financial support of Tong Huaqiong and Boss Qian, the villagers do not have to worry about the gentleman's food, lodging, and clothes for all seasons. The tuition fee is half that of the town. The village chief feels that any villager who wants their children to succeed is willing to send their children to private school.
He hasn't told the villagers about this yet. He plans to announce the news in the village in the next two days.
The village chief was already waiting to receive the villagers' praise.