The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 332 The Young Master

The village chief's eyes twitched.

"Isn't he too young? I'm afraid he won't be able to keep the students in line."

The village chief still wanted to hire a highly experienced teacher.

As for Laifu, the village chief didn't know his background, and he didn't dare to even think about being associated with the remnants of the rebels.

It would be risky for such a dangerous individual to become a teacher in Qinghewan.

Su Chengmin raised his eyes, glanced at the village chief, and said, "If you can't control him, I'll beat him up."

village head:"."

Tong Huaqiong said, "Village chief, we can't find a suitable teacher anyway. Magistrate Liu will be attending the opening ceremony the day after tomorrow, and the village head and other village chiefs will also be there. Wouldn't we be embarrassed if we didn't have a teacher?"

“Let Laifu give it a try. Don’t underestimate Laifu. He and Jingzhe were both students who passed the preliminary examinations, but they didn’t continue because their families were poor. Passing the preliminary examinations is enough to enlighten the children in our village.”

Su Chengmin corrected her, "Aunt Tong, I am a scholar."

Startled, Gu Jingzhe wanted to bow to Su Chengmin.

He shared a room with Su Chengmin, and he had long since realized that Su Chengmin was a martial artist, assuming that he was not very literate.

I never expected him to become a scholar at such a young age.

The village chief glanced at Su Chengmin and thought to himself, "Who are you kidding? How could someone so young be a scholar?"

However, to ensure that Su Chengmin doesn't mess things up, the village chief still has to test Su Chengmin's knowledge.

The village chief may not understand, but he can judge by the way the characters are written.

If the handwriting looks like a shrimp crawler, then forget it.

At the village chief's insistence, Gu Jingzhe brought out a writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone and laid them out in front of Su Chengmin.

Su Chengmin picked up his pen and began to write.

Although the village chief couldn't understand what Su Chengmin had written, he could tell from Gu Jingzhe's amazed look that Su Chengmin must be quite learned.

Moreover, the handwriting is not bad. Although it is not as good as the Spring Festival couplets written by Gu Jingzhe, it is still quite good.

The village chief looked at Tong Huaqiong and said, "Alright, let Laifu take over as teacher for now."

"Your leg?" Gu Jingzhe asked worriedly.

“The teacher can also sit down to give lessons,” Su Chengmin said.

So Su Chengmin became the teacher of the private school in Qinghewan village.

To avoid arousing the curiosity and doubts of the villagers, the village chief temporarily kept the fact that Su Chengmin had become the teacher a secret, and only told the outside world that a new teacher had been found.

Moreover, he was a promising young scholar.

This aroused even more curiosity among the villagers. Unable to get any information from the village chief, they all rushed to Tong Huaqiong's house to inquire about who the teacher was.

Tong Huaqiong kept everyone in suspense and refused to give an answer.

The night before classes started, Gu Taohua returned from town and handed Su Chengmin a new set of clothes.

Su Chengmin was puzzled, but Gu Taohua said irritably, "You're a teacher now, you should dress more conservatively, don't embarrass our family."

After saying that, he turned and left.

The village chief got up early on the morning of August 18th.

He instructed the villagers to clean the Liu family ancestral hall again and hung a thousand-shot firecracker at the entrance of the hall. After doing all this, he ran to Tong Huaqiong's house to remind Su Chengmin of the precautions.

"Laifu, you can't let me down."

"We're entrusting the children of our village to you for now. You'll have to work hard these days, but you'll be able to relax once we find a suitable teacher."

Village chief Liu Tielian didn't believe Su Chengmin could teach the village children well; he thought he could at most teach them a few words to get by.

If we want to promote education in Qinghewan and produce more scholars, we need professional teachers.

The village chief only hoped that Su Chengmin wouldn't embarrass himself in front of Magistrate Liu, the village head, and the other village chiefs.

The opening of a private school in the village is a big event.

Everyone in the village stopped what they were doing. After breakfast, Tong Huaqiong and the other villagers flocked to the ancestral hall.

Fortunately, the customs in Qinghewan were not so rigid that women could not step into the ancestral hall, otherwise Tong Huaqiong would not have agreed to temporarily place the private school in the ancestral hall.

Gu Jingzhe took leave and even invited Master Su to the scene.

The classroom in the ancestral hall was spotless, with the desks and chairs neatly arranged, and the village children were sitting upright inside.

Man'er, Xiaolong, and Yaozu sat in the first row.

Man'er, dressed in red, stood out among a group of boys.

“We all have to work, why should Man’er be allowed to study?”

"My grandma said that girls who study are not good girls, and they won't be able to get married in the future."

“My grandfather said that if my younger brother fails to pass the imperial examination, he will blame Man’er for breaking the rules.”

The village girl saw Man'er through the window, her eyes filled with jealousy and hatred.

Chunni, carrying pig feed, scolded the girls who were talking about Man'er behind her back: "Man'er can go to school, why are you so angry? If you're so capable, why don't you go in too? If you can't get in, then don't talk about her behind her back."

After Chunni scolded them, the girls in the village fell silent.

They were afraid that their complaints about Man'er would reach Tong Dajiao's ears, and that Tong Dajiao would get angry and kick them out of the private school.

Man'er turned around and smiled at Chunni, and Chunni smiled back at Man'er.

Man'er told her that she would teach her when she learned to read.

Although Chunni couldn't attend a private school, she still had to learn to read.

Chunni's envious gaze swept over Man'er and quickly landed on her younger brother Chunwang.

Chunwang, carrying a newly sewn schoolbag made of freshly cut cloth, sat in the classroom with his eyes darting around, clearly not someone who could concentrate on studying.

Yesterday, Grandma Luo set new rules for the family: everyone except Chunwang must eat porridge, and they must tighten their belts to save money to support Chunwang.

All the produce from the fields, and the wages earned by Chunni and Cao, were used to support Chunwang's education.

"Auntie Dashu, Mr. Li isn't coming. Who's the new tutor?" an old lady asked Tong Huaqiong with a happy smile.

At that moment, her grandson was sitting in the classroom, and she was very concerned about who the new teacher was.

Widow Tong is truly capable; in just two days, she has managed to bring in a new tutor.

This is what they call "money makes the world go round"—oh, no, it means that with money you don't have to worry about your teacher running away.

Not only this old lady cared about who the teacher was, but everyone in the family with a child attending a private school did.

After all, only a good teacher can produce good students.

Otherwise, why would wealthy families in Pingchuan County send their children to study at Wanliu Academy in the prefectural city? It's because the teachers at Wanliu Academy are renowned throughout the land.

It's out of the question for a remote mountain village like Qinghewan to invite a renowned scholar; they'd be happy if they could just find a scholar who passed the county-level imperial examination.

Tong Huaqiong raised her chin, pointed towards the classroom door, and said with a smile, "Look, the teacher is here."

Everyone looked in the direction Tong Huaqiong was pointing.

Then they all frowned.

Let a coachman teach the children.

Isn't Widow Tong just making a fool of herself?
Since we can't invite a teacher, we shouldn't make grand promises. We can postpone the start of classes until a suitable teacher arrives.

Wouldn't this kind of deception lead the village children astray?

"Grandma Dashu, what do you mean by this? We didn't even pay for his tuition; we sold two chickens for our grandson. Now you're making Laifu teach everyone? Isn't this just ridiculous?" The old lady put her hands on her hips and sternly frowned.

She even wanted to go into the classroom and pull her grandson away.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Don't underestimate Lai Fu, he's very capable."

Despite Tong Huaqiong's explanation, the women around her still didn't believe her.

Some even clamored to withdraw their tuition fees and stop studying.