Travel to ancient times and become rich women with your bestie

Chapter 240 The Future of the Big Tree

All the household matters have been arranged, and all that remains is to ask someone to help look after the children for the next few days.

Needless to say, Mr. Chen's family is very important. The village chief is the highest authority in the village. Many people in the village respect him, so his family also has to be visited.

Of course, you have to bring some things when you go to the door. Zheng Yuan and Duan Minmin went to the warehouse and took out five sets of toothbrushes and toothpaste, with some of each flavor of toothpaste.

Before leaving, they thought of the mysterious Sun Wanshan family, and they went to the warehouse to pick out five sets.

When the two arrived at the village chief's house, the gate was closed and the sound of talking could be faintly heard in the yard.

"Uncle, aunt, are you home?"

Hearing the shouting, the village chief's wife opened the door and let the two in.

"Aunt, are you busy?"

"What are you busy with? The soybeans are ripe. Your uncle just picked some and brought them back. We plan to grind them and eat them raw this afternoon. You guys came just in time. I'll grind them soon and you can take a bowl home. It'll be fresh."

"That's great, our timing is just right." The two of them were not polite.

"uncle!"

"uncle!"

When they walked into the yard, they saw the village chief peeling soybeans, and they both greeted him.

"Now that you are here, please find a stool and sit down." The village chief did not bother to be polite with them.

"You old man! Your butt is on the bench, and when guests come to your house you have to find a bench yourself!" The village chief's wife glared at the village chief.

"It's not like they don't know where the stool is. Do they need an old man like me to bring it to them?" The village chief shook his beard, unmoved.

Zheng Yuan and Duan Minmin had already brought the stool over: "Aunt, it's okay, I found it."

The two of them sat down and naturally picked up a handful of soybeans, shelling them while talking to the village head and his wife.

"Do you have something to do here today?" asked the village chief.

"Yes, uncle. It's because of our business that we need to go to Zhaoming. It will take about ten days. If we leave, there will be only half-grown children at home, and I'm really worried about them."

"So we would like to trouble uncle and aunt to help take care of these children while we are away." The two of them directly stated the purpose of their visit.

"Go to Zhaoming? That's far away. It will probably take you five or six days to go back and forth." The village chief stopped peeling soybeans.

"That's not necessary. Jiang's business has opened up this trade route, and there are post stations along the way. We can get there in two days and one night if we travel overnight."

"That's great. Are you two going alone this time?"

"Yes, uncle."

"You two women are going to such a far place?" the village chief's wife exclaimed.

"Yes, the climate in Zhaoming is changeable and the roads are rugged, making it prone to banditry. You two are so brave that you dare to go there alone." The village chief was also worried.

"Uncle, aunt, we still have a groom. Jiang's reputation should still be useful outside. The manager from Zhaoming ran back and forth twice a day and nothing happened."

"That being said, you still have to be extra careful on such a long journey. How about asking Dashu or Erhe to accompany you?"

Zheng Yuan waved his hand quickly: "No, uncle, we will be careful. The children are already intermittent when they go to school here, we don't want to delay them any longer."

"That's true. We don't have much time to study, and if we stop in the middle, we'll be even harder to keep up. Speaking of which, I was originally thinking of going to visit you guys when you're free."

The village chief seemed to remember something happy and a smile appeared on his face.

Without waiting for the two to ask, the village chief continued, "It's about the kid Dashu."

When the topic of the big tree came up, the two of them probably knew what the village chief wanted to say, so they just listened quietly.

"Jiaming's wife, your Dashu is a good student. He is seventeen this year, right?"

"That's right." Zheng Yuan answered respectfully.

"It's a pity for this kid, well... but it's not too late now." The village chief felt a little regretful, but after thinking about it, he felt there was still hope.

"Dashu should find a good school to study now. I don't know what else he can do in the future, but he will definitely become a scholar. Although he is already seventeen years old, he has the most comprehension among all the children."

"There are many things that I don't need to explain in detail. This kid has his own ideas and opinions. What's more rare is that he is willing to learn. His enthusiasm for learning is the greatest among all the children."

"Daughter-in-law Jiaming, now that our family conditions have improved, don't blame me for being nosy. If possible, I want to send Dashu to the school in the county town."

"Although I have read a few years, I have no idea about the current officialdom and examinations. Apart from teaching them to read and understand, I am afraid I can't do anything else."

"Dashu is a smart child. If our family was in financial difficulty before, I would never have asked for his help. But now that your lives are getting better, I really can't bear to see his talent being buried." After the village chief said this, he looked at the two of them and waited for their reactions.

"Uncle, to be honest, Mr. Jiang once said that Dashu is very talented. We have also observed him these days and he is indeed a good student. I came here today just to ask you for advice, but I didn't expect that we would think alike."

After hearing what Zheng Yuan said, the village chief became visibly happy.

"Hey, we are thinking the same thing. Since Mr. Jiang said that he has a good talent, then it must be true. If I had known earlier, I should have gone to find you earlier."

"Uncle, we also want to send the tree to the county town. But you also know that we two women have never been to school before, and we don't understand the rules of the county academy."

"So we want to ask if the academy will still accept Dashu at his age?"

Zheng Yuan and Duan Minmin really don't understand these rules.

"Of course we will accept you. As long as you pay, there is no reason for the academy not to accept you. But Dashu's age is indeed a problem. Normally, at his age, he should be preparing for the examination for the scholar degree, but he has not yet fully opened his mind."

"It stands to reason that the younger the age of enlightenment, the better. Your Sizhu is actually a little old. If Dashu had been sent to school when he was four or five years old, it's hard to say that you would have passed the exam and become a scholar by now."

"At Dashu's age, many academies would consider whether he can still learn. Even if they accept him, they will not let him stay in the inner dormitory. He will definitely take classes with students from the outer dormitories."

"What are the outer and inner houses?"

Zheng Yuan and Duan Minmin were confused.

"The so-called outer dormitory is for students who have just entered the school and have no basic knowledge. Students from the outer dormitory who have mastered the basic knowledge and passed the examination can be promoted to the inner dormitory."

"As for the inner dormitories, they are naturally divided into upper, middle, and lower dormitories according to the students' learning levels. Of course, the teachers and teaching conditions will also be different."

"In Dashu's situation, he must first stay in the outer dormitory. Let's not talk about whether the teacher will have some prejudice because of his age. Let's just say that Dashu will study with a group of children who are much younger than him. What will he think in his heart?"

As soon as Zheng Yuan and Duan Minmin heard it, they knew what the village chief was worried about.

The age of the students in the outer dormitory is not much different from that of the four pillars. Children of this age are despised by dogs. Moreover, the families that can go to the school are rich and favored. Will Dashu say something unpleasant because he is different from them?

In modern times, Dashu's age is really a time of youth and sensitivity, and the influence of the outside world is very great. If we are not careful, sending him to school may harm him.