Qingli Primary School
The year the Japanese army surrendered, the Maple Ridge people began to plan to build a school.
This matter had been talked about by people for more than a year. This person talked about it, that person talked about it, men talked about it, and women talked about it. It was almost over. However, the school that was going to be built still lay in the words of the people or in the dreams of the people. It did not become a reality.
Since the Republic of China, new learning had slowly taken root and sprouted everywhere. This new school was very different from the traditional private schools. First, the new school had a fixed school building, while the private schools were usually filled with private houses or ancestral halls. The second difference was the difference in textbooks. The new school introduced science into the classroom. Geography, nature, physical education, pictures, mathematics, English, physics, and chemistry were all teaching content, while the private school was just to enlighten the children, let them learn to read and write, and read a little more. The third was the difference between teachers. Most of the new teachers had graduated from regular normal schools. They were people who had accepted new knowledge, while the teachers in private schools were bookworms cultivated by traditional education. They only taught the four books and five classics, only taught people to read and write, and made some poetry and prose.
Fei Zhang said," It's good to build a school. We need a school for such a big house. How many people can the main room of Gaoshan Temple seat? At most, there will be twenty children. If a main room is used as a classroom, after class, the children won't have a place to play. If a primary school is built, I will let all the girls and boys in my family go to school."”
Fei Zhang was eating when he said this. His wife, Grandma Xu, said,"You're talking nonsense again. Why are girls reading? Since ancient times, girls have never read. Besides, our Fei Gu is already 13 years old, and the fat aunt is already 11 years old. Isn't it embarrassing for such a big girl to go to school?”
Fei Zhang said,"You're a typical woman!" Who said that since ancient times, girls did not read? In ancient times, girls from rich families were all literate and could recite poems. Mr. Rain once said that there was a female scholar called Li Qingzhao in the Song Dynasty. She had read a lot of books and wrote poems very well. Our Fei Gu and Fat Gu are only in their teens. They are young, so why can't they study?”
Old Lady Xu said," Li Qingzhao has a belly full of books, but she's still going to get married and have children. It's not like she can give birth to a book. Since ancient times, it's said that a woman's lack of talent is virtue. A girl who knows how to do housework is a great blessing."”
Fei Zhang's younger brother, Kun Zhen, spoke up at this time. He said,"I agree with brother's idea. Girls should also study. I haven't found a wife yet. When I do, I'll have a family of children. Whether it's a boy or a girl, I'll go to school. I haven't read any books. I'm just blind and always do bad things.”
Old Lady Xu said," Alright then. We'll talk about it after you get a wife. Do some calculations. How old are you this year? Almost thirty. Where is your wife still sleeping? Has she given birth yet?"”
Kun Zhen said,"If I had a wife, I would have given birth."”Kun Zhen's answer made everyone laugh. Fei Gu and Pang Gu laughed the most. They laughed so hard that tears came out of their eyes. The three-year-old Qi Shen sat on Kun Zhen's lap, rubbing Kun Zhen's nose in embarrassment. He didn't know what people were laughing about. Qi Long, who had just turned one, was still drinking milk in Old Lady Xu's arms, his little face toot.
The twenty-one-year-old Borson was already married. He said to his wife,""We have to work hard. The house is going to build a school. We have a few more children and let them study more in the future.”
Fei Shi said," You must be dreaming. You don't need money to study. Where do you get the money?" Studying doesn't delay people. How can you have idle people to play around with?”
" Anything is possible," Boson said." I don't have money now, but that doesn't mean I won't have money in the future. Now that our family doesn't have idle people to study, it doesn't mean that our family won't have idle people to study in the future.”
When he flew, he said,"Go to your dream. If you want to stay in your dream, it will be fine."”
Borson hugged his wife and laughed. He said,"Work hard, work hard, and have more children!”
Mei Mo said," I'm already forty-nine years old this year, and my son is only one year old. I've been doing nothing for decades. Building this school might not be nothing. I don't think it's a good idea to build it."”
His wife, Zhang Shi, said,"I was married to you at the age of seventeen. You couldn't get a child for decades. It's useless."”
Mei Mo said,"Didn't you just give birth to a baby last year? Why do you say that I'm useless?"”
Zhang shi said,"When I gave birth, I was already forty-three years old. I almost met the King of Hell." If I can give birth, it means that I am useful. If I didn't give birth when I was young, it means that you are useless.”
Mei Mo said," When our son can study, this new school will probably be old again. I think it's better not to repair it. Anyway, our family won't be able to get any benefits."”
Madam Zhang said,"Bullsh * t! My son isn't studying, but he's still like you. He doesn't even recognize scales."”
Prince De said," It's good to build a school. Our three children and one girl will be able to study. Let's see if they will be able to find a good job in the future. They won't have to suffer like me."”
Prince De's wife, Huang Shi, said," You must be dreaming. Our eldest son, Qiyi, is already fifteen years old. He has been working for you for a long time. You are still willing to send him to school after building a school." Qi Lin and the others could study more. I wonder if this school can be repaired. If it is repaired, you have to pay more money, Prince De.”
Prince De said," That's for sure. Building the school is a public service. It's not a problem for me to pay more money."”
Huang Shi said,"Don't go back on your word. Don't make excuses."”
While eating, Qimou said to Sui Chu,""Everyone in the house is talking about building a school. Most people are in favor of building a school.”
"How can I not know about such a big thing? It was good to build a school. Once the school was built, the students would not go to Gaoshan Temple anymore. It would save them from monopolizing the teaching in the rain.”
Qimou said," Master, aren't you jealous? You can't teach in the township government. Why don't you come back and open a private school in the South Garden Hall to teach? How about that?"”
Sui Chu said,"I don't teach. I don't have any money in my purse when dealing with small children." If I don't have rice in my wallet and the chicken doesn't even come, how can I deal with the outside world?”
"You're jealous of Mister Rain, and you don't want to teach, so do you support the school's construction this time?" If you support it, how much do you plan to pay?”
Sui Chu said,"We'll talk about it when the time comes.”
Ever since the Japanese army occupied Yuezhou, Mei Di had not gone to Yuezhou to sell water. She had been working at home. At this time, three of his six sons had grown up, so he took his three sons to work outside. The remuneration was also quite generous. Each person would receive twenty catties of grain a year, and they would also have to eat from the boss. The four of them worked outside and earned eighty catties of grain a year.
One night, Mei Di came home. His wife, Granny Yan, asked him,""How much do you plan to pay for the school?”
Mei Di said," I'm not paying. What money do I have to pay? I'm a long-term worker."”
Granny Yan said," What's wrong with being a long-term worker? You don't steal or rob. Is that embarrassing?”
Mei Di said," It's not embarrassing, but it's not glorious either. This means that our family doesn't have land. Who would look up to someone without land? Look at our eldest son, Xiuxin, who's already twenty-four years old. No one has ever talked about a wife."”
Granny Yan said," You're now working outside with your three sons. You earn eighty catties of grain a year, but you're famous. You still say that you don't have any land. Are you ashamed?”
Mei Di said," It's not that much. You see, my third son, Xiu Qiu, is only sixteen years old. He only earns half of my income in a year. You have to eat meat every day, and I have to play small cards every day. How can there be any surplus?!"”
Granny Yan said," You can only blame yourself for being so strong. You went out to work during the day, but you still came back to mess with me after playing mahjong at night. You gave birth to so many children, but you couldn't buy land. Fortunately, one died."”
Mei Di said," Is it your fault or mine? You like to eat meat, and you eat like a pig. Every night, you come to me to skin me. I'm not a pig with legs. Didn't I let you eat my income for the year?"”
Granny Yan said," Alright, alright. Just tell me, are you going to pay for the school's repairs?”
Mei Di said," The family's assets are all in your hands. Just do as you see fit! In my opinion, we don't have to pay. Even if our family has descendants in the future, they won't be able to afford to study. We won't join in the fun.”
Granny Yan said,"You're bullshitting. Our family won't be able to turn over. We'll just be corpses!" Besides, our family has many children and a reputation.”
Mei Di said,"It's up to you. It's up to you. You can make the decision!"”
Mei Yu got married after the Japanese army surrendered. Then, he married Da Ni and Xiao Ni. Now, there were four people in his family. He had a wife, and his wife gave birth to a baby for him. One day, at the dinner table, their family also talked about the school.
"We have to pay for the school," Peng Xiaoxi said."Do we have money?"”
Mei Yu said," Our family should be rich. In those few years, Zhou Yin gave you a lot of money.”
" No more, no more," Peng Xiaoxi said." Do the math, you're going to get married, I'm going to get my daughter married, and you even gave birth to a son. How much money will you need to spend on this journey? Your savings have long been spent."”
Mei Yu said," You know whether I have money or not. I really don't have any money. But we don't just want the share of the stall, we also want to donate a little. As a hero of the anti-Japanese war, I still want my face."”
"I'll listen to you, I'm your mother."”
Xigui had been worried about the school these days. It was not good for him to pay for it, but it was also not good for him not to pay for it. Xigui was thinking about what books to study and what school to attend. Isn't it good that I don't study? I help others do what I can do and write what I can write. Is there a need to study? On second thought, it was still better to study and build a school. That Hubei woman had already given birth to four sons for herself. I can't let all four sons be blind, right? When my family business is big, I have to hire someone to keep accounts for my entry and exit. I also have to hire someone to write a contract. I don't even know if I'm sold and I'm still helping others count money. Thinking of this, Xigui felt relieved.
Mei Chen and his brothers had been discussing the matter of building a school in the house. Mei Chen said,""It's hard to say for sure. Everyone has paid for the school, but I don't know whose pocket the money went to.”
"You're not dead yet, but you're afraid that your belly will rot.”
"Yeah, don't talk nonsense about things that aren't even set in stone," Megu said.”
Mei Chen said," What do you two brothers know? I'm telling the truth. Have you heard of the 14th year of Daoguang? That year, the cave door was repaired and the wall was built. Who was the one who put the public funds into his wallet?”
Mei Heng said,"What time is it in the 14th year of the Daoguang era? You probably haven't given birth yet, right?"”
Mei Gu said,"In the 14th year of Daoguang, not only did we not give birth, but our parents also did not give birth.”
At home, Kai Feng said to his wife Pan Shi,"It's good to build a school. We finally have a child. With a school, our child can study more. "In the future, we have to work harder and get a few more children to study more and do great things in the future.”
The rock said," Keep dreaming. You don't know how old you are this year. You're already fifty-four years old. If you had a short life, you would have been buried in the soil. You still want to have a few children. You're up to no good!"”
Kai Feng said," Then take it that I'm joking. I won't do it anymore in the future. Just raise this kid and let him read more books. If he can write, he will be better than Mister Rain."”
Qiyan said to Shunyan," The school is going to be repaired. Our family doesn't have money, so we'll do a few more jobs to pay for it. Anyway, we have plenty of strength. What do you think?"”
Shunyan said," The eight characters haven't even been written yet. People are only talking about it verbally. They haven't discussed it together. We don't know how it will be successful or not. If it was possible, who knew who would be the leader and what kind of rules would be set?”
Qiyan said," No matter what, this school has to be repaired. The Sun and Yan family villages have been built. We also have a big house. There is no lack of small laborers to repair the school. We can just go and do the work.”
Shun Yan said,"We'll talk about it when the time comes. There must be a way when the car arrives."”
Shu Yun said to his wife Peng Shi at home,"This school isn't good for us. We only have two daughters now. It's hard to say if you can have a son in the future.”
Madam Peng said,"Why is it hard to say? Why can't I have a son?"”
Shu Yun said,"Look, you're a cripple. You can't even take care of your own life. How can you give birth?"”
Madam Peng said," You're bullshitting. Didn't I also become paralyzed earlier? Didn't you also let me give birth?”
Mei Mao had returned home to get married after disbanding the plainclothes team. He and Mei Yu had gotten married before and after, and they had their children around the same time. At this time, his wife Baoyu also had a boy in her arms. However, this boy was not developed at all. He did not know if he could raise him.
Plum Cat said," We're going to build a school and we have to share the money. Our family doesn't have any money. How about I take you out?"”
Baoyu said,"Is it true? Then I'll be free and can taste something new."”
The Plum Cat said," Stop dreaming. I'll go do a part-time job tomorrow. I'll get some money."”
Li Ren and the other two brothers were also discussing this matter together. They all agreed that this was a good thing, but it was also a very difficult thing to do well. The cost was huge, and they didn't know if the house could afford it.
Ever since Zhu Ren was beaten up, his health had been deteriorating. He could not eat much at a meal and had no strength to do anything. He simply did not do anything. He was too lazy to care about the noodle shop. Success or failure was up to it. Speaking of the school, Zhu Ren said,"It's good to build a school, but what does it have to do with me? I don't know how many days I can live. Xiubing's children had already gotten married. Only God knew what would happen in the future. Xiuding Yazi was only ten years old, and it was the time for him to study. How could he study with his current appearance?”
Zhu Ren's wife, Granny Peng, said," People can't get sick. When people get sick, everything will be sad. Where did your original energy go? Listening to you now, it seems like our family is going to die. You don't even care about such a big thing like building a school."”
Merlot was full of energy when he talked about the school. He said,"It's good to build a school. We have three children at home. They have to study.”
Melo's wife, Old Lady Pan Si, said," Don't show off your three children to the world. The eldest son, Soul, has such eyes. How can he study? The youngest son is not even two years old. It's still a problem if he can raise him." It was a good thing to build a school. He had to support them even if they had children.”
"My wife is right," said Merlot with a smile."My wife is a fairy sent by the Jade Emperor, with a golden mouth and jade teeth.”
After the death of his two sons, Xiulang had been disheartened and had not joked much. Who knew that in 1945, the 38-year-old Fan Yaoyao still gave birth to a son for him. The smile returned to Xiulang's face. When it came to the matter of the school, Xiulang said,"It's good to build a school. Now that we have a son, I want to send him to school. In the future, we will have sons, and we will send them to school.”
Fan Yaoyao said," That's not empty talk. You've been doing it for decades, and you've only got one kid. Why are you still bragging?"”
Xiu Lang said," You're talking nonsense. Didn't I make those two dead babies? They're just dead."”
"Dead ones don't count," Fan Yaoyao said."That means you can't take it."”
Qi Fa said to his son, Mei Lu," I only gave birth to one son and one daughter. Now that you're both married, of course, you won't have the chance to go to school. You'll have descendants. You have to send them to school in the future."”
Mei Lu said," When my descendants start studying, there will be a big awakening. At that time, the new school will become the old school, and we will have to pay for repairs.”
Qi Fa said,"You have to look further. The school is not built for any family, but for the people."”
"That's right, that's right. Master is right."”
The matter of building the school, which had been discussed for more than a year, finally came to an end in the spring of the 1936s. That night, the eight houses of Maple Ridge held a meeting. Everyone discussed a plan, which was that building the school was a major event for the clan. Everyone had to contribute money and do their part. Whoever refused to do their part would be kicked out of Maple Ridge. Building a school required a lot of money and goods. The source was to raise funds and donate money. The clan assembly recommended Li Ren to preside over this matter.
After the meeting, De Chu and Xi Gui came to Li Ren's home and told Li Ren the decision of the clan meeting. Li Ren said,""Both of you should know that my family has encountered difficulties in the past two years. It's not just a little bit of difficulty, but a very big one. In two years, four people fell ill and sold four buckets of farmland to save their lives. I'm going to reorganize my family business now. How can I have the time to build a school? You'd better find someone else.”
Xi Gui said," This isn't a matter of us finding people. Asking you to be the first to build a school was the result of everyone's public recommendation. It wasn't decided by the two of us. If you want to decline, go find the people who participated in the meeting. They all agreed, and we also agreed. If they don't agree, you still have to do it."”
Li Ren said,"You two know my family's difficulties the best. Why didn't you intercede for me at the meeting?" There are so many people in Maple Ridge, why did you push me out to be the leader?”
Prince De said," That's right. There are so many people in Maple Ridge. Why did they push you? Why wasn't it Xigui? Why wasn't it me?" Because everyone trusts you, because you are loyal to justice, because you distinguish between public and private matters.”
Li Ren said,"Nephew De Chu, don't flatter me. I can't afford it."”
Xi Gui said,"Old Geng, don't push it. Don't disappoint everyone's trust."”
Li Ren said," Since that's the case, I'm obliged. Where is the school going to be built?"”
Prince De said,"We have discussed a few places. The most concentrated place is the Forbidden Garden. This place is too small and not convenient for running schools." The second place was Zhangshu Ridge. The children had to pass through the big pond embankment to study, so it was dangerous. In the end, he chose Xiashou Garden beside Bamboo Garden Hall. This place was spacious and secluded, making it easy to run a school.”
Xigui said," There is a dispute about where to build it. The people on the mountain think that building Xiashou Garden is not good for the people on the mountain, but they can't suggest a better place, so they can only make do."”
Li Ren thought for a while and said,"Actually, it's quite good to build the first garden. No matter how far the mountain is, it's only a few steps away."”
After a few days, Li Ren led a group of people to dig the foundation. Liren asked his underling to draw a sketch of the school in the rain. From the composition, there was a large classroom on the left, a small auditorium in the middle, and a small classroom on the right. Behind the small classroom were two houses. This was a whole structure, and behind the whole structure was a toilet. Quinoa Ren calculated the size according to the composition and then placed a line on the ground. The area of the school's foundation was much larger than the area of the composition, because it also needed terraces, drainage ditches, and a training ground.
Quinoa Ren could not trap himself at the construction site, nor could he let everyone work together. He divided the soil on the foundation into blocks, measured the soil, set different prices, and gave them to everyone. They also set the quality standards and the location of the soil to be moved. When the inspection was done, those who reached the target would be paid wages and offset the cost.
The kiln had also officially started work. The brick-makers had started making bricks, and the tile-makers had started digging and transporting the kaolins from the Xiaogong Temple. The people here had a quota. The number of bricks they made counted as a job, the number of tiles they made counted as a job, and the amount of money they earned for each job.
The most difficult thing was to collect the fund-raising fee. The fund-raising fee was based on the number of people in the family. The standard fee was multiplied by the number of people in the family. It was easy for families with medium or above family backgrounds, but it was harder for those poor families to pay.
Liren hired a person to manage the accounts and collect fees. This person was Sui Chu's eldest son, Mou Qi. " You're a young man," Li Ren said to Mu Qi." You're full of vigor and have read books. It shouldn't be difficult for you to do this well." How about this, the matter of charging fees will start from our own family, then expand to our entire family, and then expand to the house. Since he and his family had set an example, others couldn't say anything. Don't you think so?”
Qimou said," That's right. The problem is that poor families are still poor families. Their lives are difficult to sustain. How can they afford to build a school? What if they meet such a family?”
Li Ren said,"Then ask them to come to the construction site to do more work to offset the cost."”
The headcount fee for raising funds was one tael of silver per person. Li Ren's family had six people at the moment, so they needed to pay six taels of silver. Fang Fang said,"Can we pay half of it? You work on the construction site every day, and you can use your salary to pay in the future. We just sold the spring harvest and got some silver. We still have to keep some for ourselves.”
Li Ren said," No, we have to pay the full amount this time. We have to take the lead. If we don't take the lead, others will hesitate. Only when we take the lead will others follow.”
There were five people in Qimou's family, so he needed to pay five taels of silver. He didn't have any money on hand, so he needed to ask his father for it. Sui Chu said,"It's really painful. This five taels of silver is my salary for two months in the township office."”
" You still have a salary," Qimou said." You're the only one in Maple Ridge who has a salary. What about those who don't?”
Li Ren asked Qi Mou to make a sign and hang it on the side of the cave door. Those who paid the fund-raising fee boarded it in time. Qimou did as he was told. The first person was Quinoa and paid six taels. The second person was Sui Chu, who paid five taels. As soon as the cards were hung out, Xigui and Prince De handed over their own. The two of them still had donations. Xigui had three taels, and Prince De had two taels. Xi Gui smiled and said to Prince De,"I just thought that Mei Yu and the others asked us for a few more taels of silver that year."”
Prince De subconsciously touched his back and said,"My back still hurts!"
With such a start, Liren and Qimou began to collect fund-raising fees from their family. Li Ren first went to Yu Zhong and told him what had happened. Yu Zhong said,"Our Aizhen is about to get married. She doesn't count as a head, and Huizhen doesn't count as a child bride. There are still five people in our family, so we should pay five taels of silver. I only have three taels of silver in my hands now. What if I'm still short of two taels?”
Li Ren said,"Go and borrow two liang from Second Brother.”
In the rain, she came to her second brother's house to talk about borrowing silver. Wu Qionggui said,"Little brother, you are really funny. I helped you raise a child, and you still want to borrow money from me. The world is upside down.”
In the rain, he turned around and walked away. Wan Ren called out to the rain,""Why are you angry? If you want silver, take two taels. Your sister-in-law was just joking.”
Liren went to his second brother Wanren's house after collecting the money from the Yuzhong family. Wanren's family of four naturally had to pay four taels. Then, he went to Huimin's house. Li Ren said,""Nephew Huimin, there are seven people in your family. You have to pay seven taels of silver.”
Huimin said,"My eldest daughter-in-law hasn't married yet. She's only here as a child bride. Does that count?"”
Li Ren said,"If her family wants to build a school, her family won't count for him." You opened a shop and you still have to worry about her money?”
Huimin had no choice but to ask his wife to take seven taels of silver and hand it over to his third uncle.
Qi Mou was collecting fund-raising fees from his family. Ling Chu was sick to death. His family of three had to pay three taels of silver. Ling Chu said,"My family doesn't have money. If I had money, I would have gone to the hospital to buy medicine.”
Ling Chu was only twenty-seven years old and was so sick that he only had a skeleton left. Qi Mou looked at this uncle and did not know what to do, so he said,"Go borrow some from my master or Uncle Guo Chu?”
"Alright, I'll give it a try. You can go."”
Jiashan was already dead, and his adopted son, Guo Chu, was in charge of this family. Guo Chu had also married, and there were still six people in their family. When Qi Mou came to collect money, Guo Chu took out six taels of silver.
Qi Mou came to Gu Chu's house to collect money. Gu Chu said,"How can our family have money? You see, my eyes are not good, and your aunt's eyes are not good either.”
The wife said," That's right. Nephew, just do something to the account book. Just say that my family has handed it over. I'll be grateful to you for life and will never forget your great kindness."”
"What are you talking about, Auntie? How is that possible?"”
"My family has five people, so I'll pay three taels. My two daughters are getting married anyway."”
"Then your son also needs to find a wife and have children."”
The Valley Prince said 'I won't bend the rules at all' as he took out the silver.
Some new owners were added to the cards at the entrance of the cave. When the Maple Ridge people saw that they were all the names of their closest family members, they slowly felt relieved. The resistance of Liren and Qimou's collection work was much smaller.
One night, Qi Mou came to Mei Di's house to collect money. Mei Di said,""Our family of seven has to pay seven taels of silver. Fortunately, one of our children died, and fortunately, our two grown sons couldn't find a wife. Otherwise, we would have to pay more. Tell me, if my son can't find a wife in the future, we won't have any descendants and no one will study.”
Qi Mou said," Father Di's words are really funny. He doesn't want his sons to have a good future, but he wants his sons to have a bad future. I've never seen such a master."”
Mei Di's wife said,"Old Man Di, don't talk nonsense. Hurry up and hand over the silver."”
Mei Di said," I'll pay with my money. I'll sell you to pay!"”
Mei Di's wife said," You still want to sell me? You're a gambler. You've gambled away so much salary for a year. You're still shameless."”
Mei Di said," I told you to eat all the meat. Why do you say I gambled it all?"”
"I don't want to hear you talk about the mysterious, so hand it over quickly."”
Mei Di said," No, no, we four father and son will come back to work for the school."”
Li Ren went to Mei Yang to collect the money. Mei Yang looked at Li Ren with his bulging eyes and said,""Brother, how can I have money? If I had money, I would have long compensated your family for that bucket of dung.”
Li Ren said," Look at how you're living alone. You're already twenty-five years old this year. Don't you know that you should work harder to accumulate some money? In the future, you'll get a wife. You can't even take out one or two silver coins. Aren't you ashamed?”
Mei Yang said," I want to get a wife. I think about this when I sleep on my bed. I can't save up any silver. I'll eat it up after making a little. How can I care about getting a wife?"”
"Then what should we do? What about the one tael of money?"”
Mei Yang said,"Either you pay for it, or I'll do a few days of work to offset the cost."”
Quinoa Ren came to Chun Yan's house to ask for a fund-raising fee. Chun Yan's wife said,""I know about this, but what's the use of me knowing? Uncle Liren, look at the head of our family. He doesn't even show us his shadow all day long. He doesn't leave any footprints in the rain and doesn't even show us his shadow in the clear sky. He just goes out and gambles.”
Li Ren said," You are also a wife with your own opinions. Why can't you restrain a man? Look at your family. There are a total of six people. You have to pay six taels of silver. Chunyan is not at home. Who do you want me to ask for it?"”
Chunyan's wife said,"My wife can only treat people who are honest and shameless. How can I treat people who are shameless?" How about this? He will come home eventually, and I will ask him for it when I get home.”
After collecting for more than a month, Liren and Qimou finally collected all the silver. It was now June, and the weather was getting hotter. The foundation of the school was dug, and the bricks and tiles were dry. Liren bought firewood to prepare for the kiln while he prepared to bring Qimou into the cave to buy trees.
According to the quantity, he had to burn the kiln four times at a time. It would take ten days from loading the kiln to roasting and then unloading the kiln. Quinoa Ren could not wait any longer. He could only entrust this matter to Yue Xing and Bosen. The old and the young were quite hardworking and steady, so he could rest assured.
Liren and Qimou set off. The two of them took Wenyin into the cave to buy trees. Qimou said," Isn't this the time to buy trees? It's the season for trees to grow."”
Li Ren said," Back then, when our family was the Refinement Hall and your family was the South Garden Hall, we went to buy trees in winter. This is indeed not the time to buy trees. We can only try our luck and see if there are any trees that haven't been sold out in the previous year. If not, the construction of our school will be delayed for a year.”
Qimou said,"This public matter is really not easy to deal with. I calculated and calculated again, afraid that there would be a little mistake."”
"You're right. If it's a private matter, you can order whatever you want. When our clan built the Refinement Hall, it was very different from this time.”
Li Ren and the others were considered lucky. They didn't walk far. They only walked to Changshou Street in Pingjiang and bought a tree. They asked people to line up and throw it into the Miluo River. Then, they followed the cards into Dongting Lake and then into Xiushui River from Baini Lake. They spent a month on this journey.
It was the first time Qimou had gone out and done such a big thing. He said,"Father Liren, no wonder people say that one has to read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles.”
Li Ren said,"That's right. When you're out, you have to be steady with your words. Only then will you encounter fewer rebuffs."”
"How many times have you entered the cave in your life?”
"I've only been there three times," said Li Ren."Our eldest son has been there a lot. He's been there more than ten times.”
After the wooden raft entered the White Mud Lake, it began to go up the water. Each raft needed two punters. No one in Maple Ridge knew how to pole, so Li Ren and the others could only hire people from the Zemir area. In just one day, the punters had pulled the wooden raft to the dock of Maple Ridge House Yard in Xiushui River.
The firs that had their bark peeled off were placed in the Xiushui River for more than a hundred feet. The men, women, and children of Maple Ridge rushed to the river to lift the trees. In just two or three turns, they had carried hundreds of firs to the school's construction site.
At this time, the work in the kiln was also completed. All the building materials for the school were ready, and they were just waiting to start construction. Master Pin Zheng had been dead for many years. Mei Lu was a carpenter, and Xiuyi was his disciple. It was not enough to have just the two of them. Mei Lu went to call for three carpenters. The five of them began working on the door and window frames the second day after the trees arrived. The largest amount of work was to saw the trees into planks and pave the building.
The masons also began to dig the foundation. Lime was picked up from the warehouse of Xiushui Station. Watering and screening were very hard work. Li Ren handed this matter to Mei Tuo. He believed that Mei Tuo would do a good job.
A month later, the school was repaired. Li Ren asked Yu Zhong to give the school a name and write a school plaque. "How about Qingli Primary School?"”
" Why is it called that?" Li Ren asked." Why isn't it Maple Ridge Primary School?"”
In the rain, he said,"This name is related to our ancestor Liu Xiang of the Western Han Dynasty. The yellow-clothed old man holding a cane entered Liu Xiang's study, blew on the wall, and said something to Liu Xiang."”
Li Ren silently read," Li Pavilion, Qingli, school. Do they all mean the same thing? They all refer to places where people study. Is our Maple Ridge going to become a scholarly family?"”
Yu Zhong said," That's exactly what I mean. The Confucianists pay attention to cultivating and reading to pass on their family. Farming is the most important thing. This is the most basic need for a person to survive. After reading, you can keep up. This is a spiritual need that cannot be lacking for a moment.”
From then on, the " Qingli Primary School " sign would be hung on the school gate forever.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。