Qin Zhao burst out laughing.
Jing Li frowned unhappily: "What are you laughing at?"
"nothing."
Qin Zhao tilted his head and coughed lightly, and instantly stopped smiling: "Let's go inside first and talk."
The two entered the yard. Qin Zhao put his things on the table and went into the house to change his clothes.
Jing Li was still waiting for his explanation: "..."
What is this person doing!
Jing Li looked at the bamboo basket on the table, wanting to look at it but not daring to. Logically speaking, that thing was given to Qin Zhao by the girl, so he shouldn't open it casually, but if he didn't look at it...
He couldn't bear this.
Jing Li had always known that many people in the village were secretly interested in Qin Zhao. Qin Zhao was so handsome, his condition had improved, and he was now somewhat well-known in the town, so it was normal for someone to have a crush on him.
He hasn't forgotten what happened to Ah Xiu before.
But that matter was only known to his family and the Li family, and most people in the village did not know about it, so... Qin Zhao actually never publicly stated that he did not need to marry.
As for the husband, whether in the mountain village or in the town, the husband's status is far lower than that of the wife, and no one takes them seriously.
Qin Zhao naturally wouldn't think so, but there was no guarantee that others wouldn't think so.
Jing Li could roughly feel where his annoyance came from.
He is not the silent Shuang'er of this era. He is a normal man. He also has jealousy and possessiveness. He wants everyone to know that Qin Zhao is his, and he doesn't want anyone to secretly take advantage of his lover.
Both men and women.
Jing Li thought so in his heart, reached out to the bamboo basket, and quietly lifted a corner.
Why can't he see it? He and Qin Zhao are already a family, so Qin Zhao's things are of course his things.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard behind him. Jing Li retracted his hand like lightning and stood up straight in an instant: "I didn't peek!"
Qin Zhao: “…”
This little fool.
Qin Zhao walked up to him, lowered his head and wanted to kiss him, but Jing Li dodged him.
"Little Vinegar Fish, are you still angry?"
Jing Li looked away: "I'm not angry."
"I won't tease you anymore." Qin Zhao casually lifted the coarse cloth covering the bamboo basket. "Look if you want. There's nothing you can't see."
Only then did Jing Li see clearly what was inside.
"This is… "
Qin Zhao: "Bundle of repairs."
Shuxiu, or the gift of apprenticeship, was mostly money, but for some poor families, it was not uncommon to give farm crops and dried meat as gifts.
Jing Li suddenly understood the meaning of the woman's hesitation and asked in a low voice: "Does the girl... want to enroll in school?"
Qin Zhao nodded: "Yes."
"But why should I come to you? Isn't the registration in charge of the village chief?"
The village chief had posted a notice a few days ago, stating that the academy would be completed soon, and anyone who wanted to become a disciple could go and register with him.
These days, the village chief was in charge of recruiting new disciples for the academy, and Qin Zhao never asked about it.
Qin Zhao said slowly: "I guess she probably ran into a wall with the village chief."
In ancient times, girls were not allowed to go to school. This was an established rule, so it was not surprising that the village chief would refuse.
The reason was that the imperial court stipulated that women could not take the imperial examinations and could not serve as officials. Even if they really learned to read and write, it would not be of much use. It would be better for them to learn knitting and needlework and get married early.
Another reason is the difference between men and women. Letting an unmarried girl study under the same roof with other men is detrimental to the girl's reputation.
Therefore, in this era, most women who could read and write were from wealthy families, and their families had the financial resources to hire a teacher to provide private instruction at home.
Jing Li looked down at the things in the bamboo basket and felt a little uncomfortable.
The girl didn't know how long it would take her to collect all these things, but after working so hard to collect the tuition, she was turned away when she tried to register.
She must feel very bad.
Qin Zhao covered the cloth back and sighed, "She didn't dare to tell me directly just now, but handed the things to me directly, probably because she was worried that I would reject her."
Jing Li asked: "Then...will you return the things to her?"
Qin Zhao said, "It's up to you."
"ah?"
"I don't want my Xiaoyu to be angry with me because of this." Qin Zhao pinched Jing Li's earlobe and pulled him to sit at the table. "If you mind, I will return the things."
"Of course I don't mind these things." Jing Li's ears were burning, and he whispered, "I just misunderstood. If the girl just wanted to study, of course I wouldn't mind."
"Really?" Qin Zhao tilted his head to look at him and said deliberately, "If I accept her, I will see her every day and teach her to read. Xiaoyu, have you thought about all this clearly?"
"Yeah." Jing Li nodded.
What he cared about was that someone was targeting his Qin Zhao, not that he would quibble over every little thing.
He is not a jealous person like Qin Zhao.
Jing Li thought for a while and asked, "So you don't mind accepting girls?"
"I never thought that women can't read and write." Qin Zhao said calmly.
Jing Li blinked in surprise, but Qin Zhao did not explain further and continued, "Let's go to the village chief to discuss it tomorrow. This matter cannot be decided by me alone. Go and change your clothes quickly, you are covered in dirt."
"I know." Jing Li responded, turned around and wanted to go back to the house, but suddenly thought of something and looked back at him, "So you did it on purpose just now?"
Qin Zhao: “Hmm?”
Jing Li narrowed his eyes: "You obviously know that this girl is here to become my disciple, why don't you just say it? Are you deliberately making me angry?"
Qin Zhao: “…”
Of course he didn't think so, he just thought the angry look of the little fish was particularly cute and wanted to tease him more.
As a result, when his son Xiaoyu found out that the girl was here to become his disciple, he immediately calmed down, and Qin Zhao felt quite regretful about it.
Qin Zhao: "You misunderstood, I am—"
"I'll sleep outside tonight." Jing Li said coldly and began to untie his belt in front of Qin Zhao.
As the clothes fell to the ground, a red light flashed, and the little koi jumped out of the house, flicked its tail, and disappeared into the pool.
Qin Zhao: “…”
The next day, Qin Zhao took Jing Li to visit the village chief's house in person.
The village chief was sorting out the enrollment list in the study. When he saw them come in, he smiled and said, "If you didn't come today, I would go find you."
He handed the list in his hand to Qin Zhao and said, "This is the list of the first batch of students. I have sorted it out. There are eleven students in total. Take a look."
The registration form clearly states the student's name, age, address, and whether or not he has paid tuition.
The village chief said, "Many farmers in our village are in poor conditions. I have discussed with the villagers to pay monthly tuition. As for your monthly salary, it will remain the same as before and will be paid to you on a monthly basis."
The tuition in the village academy was cheaper than in the town. Each student paid 150 coins per month, which could be exchanged for items of equivalent value. Qin Zhao and the village chief took turns teaching, and the tuition was split equally.
There are eleven students now, and Qin Zhao gets more than 800 coins every month.
This is not a small number.
Qin Zhaozi read the registration form carefully and nodded: "Okay."
The village chief asked again: "What do you want to see me for?"
Qin Zhao put the bamboo basket in his hand on the table and told him about the girl who came to see him yesterday.
"It's Miss Qing'er from the Lin family, right? She came to see me yesterday." The village chief frowned slightly, "Do you want to plead for her?"
Qin Zhao said: "Yes."
The village chief was silent for a moment, then said, "Qin Zhao, you are a scholar, you should understand why I rejected her. Women shouldn't—"
"I don't think women can't read." Qin Zhao interrupted, "Learning to read is not just for the purpose of passing the imperial examinations, nor is it just for entering the court as an official. Being literate can bring many benefits and conveniences. You should understand this, village chief, otherwise you wouldn't be so persistent in opening a school in the village."
“… I just think that this convenience should not be enjoyed by men only.”
When these words came out, not only the village chief, but even Jing Li was stunned.
He didn't expect that Qin Zhao would think so.
Jing Li has lived in modern society, so naturally he is dissatisfied with the gender status division of this era. The difference between men and women is not a reason to exclude women. In mountain villages, men farm and women weave. Why should it be stipulated that women cannot exist in the court
But Qin Zhao clearly lives in this era, yet he can still have such thoughts, which is rare.
The village chief looked a little unhappy, and then said, "Even if what you said makes sense, Miss Qing'er is not married yet, how can she go to the academy to study?"
"That's why I came to the village chief to find out which students have been admitted." Qin Zhao put the registration form in his hand on the table and said calmly, "The academy now enrolls students as young as six years old and as old as ten years old. It won't affect its reputation to let Miss Qing'er study with them."
There is no rule in the village that women are not allowed to go out. Boys and girls of this age often play together without any gender boundaries.
Yesterday, Qin Zhao did not directly explain his decision to Jing Li because he wanted to confirm the ages of the other students first.
If there were older men present, it would indeed be inappropriate to admit the girl into the academy.
It's not that they don't want to, but it would cause great damage to the girl's reputation.
"This..." The village chief was speechless.
After a long while, he sighed and said, "Well, you are the teacher I hired for the academy, so you can take me if you want."
Jing Li just showed his joy when he heard the village chief say, "But as far as I know, Miss Qing'er's father doesn't want her to go to school. Yesterday, when he heard that Miss Qing'er came to my place, he came to me and said that he would never spend a penny for her to go to school. If the girl still insists on doing this, he will just marry her off to another village."
"… If you want to take her in, it's not enough to just convince me. You also have to get her to pass her father's test."
After coming out of the village chief's house, Jing Li lowered his head in disappointment, feeling a little uncomfortable.
Qin Zhao rubbed Jing Li's head: "Xiao Yu, I know what you are thinking. But this is all we can do. The rest is not our business."
"But..." Jing Li hesitated.
Indeed, everyone has their own way of living. They live here now and are accepted by the villagers, but that doesn't mean they can interfere in other people's lives at will.
They have relaxed the admission requirements, which is the most they can do. Now it depends on whether the girl can convince her family and get admitted successfully.
"I know..." Jing Li said, "I'm very happy that you are willing to persuade the village chief to relax the gender boundary. I thank you on behalf of that girl."
"Just for that girl?" Qin Zhao raised his eyebrows, "Shouldn't you thank me too?"
Jing Li blinked: "What?"
Qin Zhao said, "Isn't there a little guy who wants to be my student? If girls can't enroll, then you, Shuang'er, can't be enrolled either?"
Jing Li suddenly realized.
Indeed, Shuang'er's status in this era is even lower than that of women. If women are turned away, Shuang'er would probably be even worse off.
Qin Zhao lowered his head and leaned forward, smiling and said, "Come to think of it, I'm not going to pay my tuition fee yet, because I'm going to pay my apprenticeship in two days."
"I... I have no money..."
He had spent all his money on decorating the bridal chamber and now he was penniless.
Qin Zhao lowered his head and whispered in Jing Li's ear: "The village chief said that we can exchange it for items of equal value."
Jing Li's ears felt slightly hot, and he turned his head away: "... What equivalent items? I don't have any-"
Qin Zhao suddenly bit his earlobe gently.
Still outside now!
Jing Li was about to explode, but Qin Zhao had already stood up and pulled him forward.
Jing Li asked, "Where are you going?"
"That girl Qing'er is a member of the Lin family. She is most likely acquainted with Second Uncle Lin. You can ask Second Uncle Lin about her address." Qin Zhao said.
Jing Li was stunned: "Do you want to help her?"
"My little fish wants to help her." Qin Zhao looked back at him and whispered, "I'll owe her the reward and tuition fee first and pay it back in the evening."