They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 122 Coveting the Qin Family's Assets
After news spread that the county school would soon open, countless people tried to bribe their way in. Magistrate Lu refused to see anyone he could avoid, and even his secretary, Shao, politely declined all requests. Those he absolutely had to see, he refused to grant any requests. Even Madam Lu recently claimed she would be observing a vegetarian diet and chanting Buddhist scriptures, and would no longer attend social gatherings or banquets.

Eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist prayers are not things to be joked about, so Madam Lu had no choice but to do as she was told.

She wanted to pretend to be sick, but she couldn't, because people would come to visit her.

Magistrate Lu refused everyone else, but he couldn't refuse Master Qin.

Master Qin gave too much.
In order to establish this county school and plan for its long-term future, Magistrate Lu went to great lengths.

It wasn't difficult to designate a site and build the school, nor was it difficult to hire teachers and people for daily management. He even used his connections to persuade and plead for a sum of money, and with his own contribution and that of the county magistrate, he bought 100 acres of fertile land and placed it under the name of the county school to support it for a long time.

This whole system is barely enough to keep things running smoothly; it can't do anything else.

Magistrate Lu insisted on refusing to solicit donations.

Once the donation is accepted, and people then plead for a spot for their younger relatives or family members, should the donation be granted or denied?

Master Qin is different.

Master Qin donated a library and an additional 50,000 taels of silver to purchase books for the library.

His only request was that his only son, Qin Ning'an, be admitted to the county school; that was all he asked for.

Magistrate Lu was moved by Master Qin's deep love for his son and agreed.

Although he expected the magistrate to be understanding and agree to his request, Master Qin was still overjoyed at the moment the matter was settled.

Magistrate Lu didn't hide this matter; if anyone had the same generosity as Master Qin, it wouldn't be impossible to grant them another spot.

But who could bear to part with it?
Nobody's money grows on trees. Tens of thousands of taels for a single spot? Are you crazy?

Master Qin is different. His son is a good-for-nothing, a playful spoiled brat. He's an only son, so he's grasping at straws in his desperation.

Basically, no one could object to this matter. With so much silver involved, no one could refuse Master Qin.

Besides, Magistrate Lu also said that he doesn't mind everyone learning from Master Qin.

Xu Zhichun also heard about this: Sure enough, in any era, having a powerful father is always a way out.

Outsiders had no objections, but a commotion broke out at Master Qin's house.

Qin Xiuhe, the younger sister of Master Qin, married into the Mo family in the neighboring Changshui County. She had two sons: the eldest son, Mo Tianyao, was two months older than Qin Ning'an, and the younger son, Mo Tianrui, was eight years old.

The Mo family was also a business family, but their business was neither particularly successful nor very successful, and they were far less successful than the Qin family.

Qin Ning'an was not making any progress, and Qin Xiuhe was instigated by her husband's family. In addition, as a mother, she was planning for her son's future, and her greed gradually grew stronger. She wanted her son to take over her family's property.

Her husband was right. She was also of the Qin family bloodline, and she was entitled to a share of the Qin family business, wasn't she? If Qin Ning'an were capable, that would be one thing, but she was clearly an incompetent fool. In that case, what was wrong with her son taking over the Qin family's ancestral business?
Otherwise, would we just let our family's business be ruined by that incompetent Qin Ning'an?
If that's the case, even after my elder brother and sister-in-law pass away, I will have failed the ancestors of the Qin family. Therefore, I am doing this entirely for the sake of the Qin family and to share the burden of my elder brother and sister-in-law.

She completely forgot how much dowry she brought with her when she got married, and she also completely forgot that the reason why the Qin family is where it is today is all thanks to her eldest brother's hard work over the decades.

All she knew was that she had kindly introduced someone to her older brother, but he refused to use them, showing her no respect whatsoever. She even secretly resented her sister-in-law, convinced that it was all her sister-in-law's doing behind her back.

Qin Xiuhe certainly wouldn't give up. In the past two years, she has been returning to her parents' home more and more frequently, each time bringing her two sons back to stay for a long time. Whenever she has the chance, she praises her sons while belittling and mocking Qin Ning'an for being stupid.

While suppressing Qin Ning'an, she tried to prove that Qin Ning'an was incapable of taking over the family business and that her own son was the only one capable of shouldering the responsibility.

"You can tell what a person will be like at three years old," right? He's already ten years old and still looks like this. He can't even use an abacus, and he can't even recite the Three Character Classic. What can we expect him to do?
Madam Qin was furious, but she couldn't argue with her. If they did, the woman would start crying and making a scene, saying that her parents were gone and her sister-in-law wouldn't allow her to go back to her parents' home.

Besides, her son really wasn't very smart, and what she said was blunt and excessive, but it wasn't entirely untrue.

Madam Qin was so angry that she secretly wiped away her tears.

Master Qin always doted on his only younger sister, but he couldn't bear to see his wife suffer. He comforted her and then subtly reminded his sister.

Qin Xiuhe agreed verbally, but in her heart she hated her sister-in-law even more for spreading rumors and trying to sow discord between her and her brother.

She was determined to secure the Qin family's assets.

Rather than letting Qin Ning'an, that good-for-nothing, be unable to hold onto the land and allow it to be divided up by outsiders, wouldn't it be better to hand it over to your own son?
Qin Xiuhe brought her two sons again this time, only to find that her elder brother and sister-in-law had already sent Qin Ning'an to the county school. Qin Xiuhe was furious.

She loved seeing her sons, Tianyao and Tianrui, playing with Qin Ning'an and constantly outshining and beating Qin Ning'an. To put it simply—she loved watching her sons bully Qin Ning'an. It made her sons seem smarter.

Qin Ning'an had been suppressed by her son since childhood, and this habit had become ingrained over time, so he could forget about ever getting ahead when he grew up.

So this time, Qin Ning'an went to the county school? He only comes back for two days at the end of each month?
How can you do this!

Qin Xiuhe was somewhat exasperated: "Ning An can't even recite the Three Character Classic properly, how could he possibly get into the county school?"

Madam Qin felt inexplicably pleased to see her angry. Although her family had spent a lot of money to get her into the school, she suddenly felt a surge of accomplishment. She smiled and said, "It's good for Ning'an to make some friends. In any case, the teachers at the county school are good, so he can at least learn something. It won't be a waste of all the money we spent."

When she heard her sister-in-law say that it had cost tens of thousands of taels of silver to make this happen, Qin Xiuhe was even more heartbroken: "Brother and sister-in-law, are you crazy? Spending so much money is a waste! What can someone like Ning An learn? You're both so foolish!"

Madam Qin sneered, "It's our Qin family's money that's being spent. In the future, the Qin family's money will belong to Ning'an anyway. If we feel it's worth spending on him, then it is. Besides, Ning'an himself likes to go. So you don't need to worry about it, sister."

Madam Qin sensed that Qin Xiuhe was eyeing her family's property, but without evidence, she couldn't say anything.

It's not a bad idea to offer some subtle suggestions.

Qin Xiuhe was furious. She thought to herself, "What do you mean, 'your family's money'? This will all belong to my Tianyao and Tianrui in the future!"

(End of this chapter)