Chapter 14
Everyone was counting down to the last class, and before long, a gentleman with some gray in his beard walked out of the classroom, tapping the iron triangle hanging in the corridor. Accompanying the crisp ding-dong sounds, the children hurriedly rushed out of the classroom with their schoolbags that had been secretly packed up earlier, while the teacher stood at the door and watched them quietly.
“See you tomorrow, Teacher.”
“Goodbye, Teacher.”
The teacher stroked his beard and smiled: “Alright, go slowly back home, remember to do the homework I assigned, see you tomorrow.”
This batch of students were relatively young, so the teacher didn’t mind them being so impolite. They would slowly learn etiquette when the time came.
Several of the older children walked out of another classroom. They had already learned etiquette, so when they passed the teacher, they respectfully bowed.
“Farewell for today, Teacher.”
The teacher waved his hand: “Very well, off you go.”
Dong Lei was the last one left. He stood by the teacher and craned his little head back: “Teacher, can I bring my aunt to visit the school? She hasn't seen what a school looks like and wants to see.”
“Oh? That aunt of yours?”
By now, Dong Lei had already caught sight of Li Mingwei. He beckoned for her to come over.
Li Mingwei walked up and made a student's bow to the teacher: “Student Li Mingwei. May I ask for the honorable surname of the teacher?”
Seeing her bow, the teacher was taken aback for a moment, somewhat surprised. "You've studied before?"
"Yes, I once sought teachings at an academy."
"Which academy was it?"
Naturally it was her grandfather's academy in the capital city, but Li Mingwei couldn't say that now. She only vaguely said, "I'm from the south."
The teacher nodded knowingly. The south was wealthy and open-minded, so it wasn't strange for young ladies there to have enough money to attend school or hire private tutors.
"This old man's surname is Jin."
"Mr. Jin."
Seeing that she was educated and knew etiquette, Mr. Jin felt some more affinity for her. He stepped aside and walked into the classroom first: "Dong Lei said you wanted to take a look at the school? Our small rural place here can't compare to the academies down south, just take a casual look around."
Li Mingwei stepped inside. Her gaze fell upon a large teacher’s desk and some small tables, all somewhat old and covered in the marks of time. She just walked up and touched one of the small tables—they were a bit rickety.
She lowered her head for a closer look. Wooden blocks were propped under the table legs.
Dong Lei ran to the front of his spot and waved at her with a smile: “Auntie, this is my seat.”
Li Mingwei barely managed to force a smile to him, sitting down at his spot. Each small table had two attached benches, presumably for two children to share.
Mr. Jin sat at the lectern, watching as her eyebrows remained knitted ever since entering the room. He smiled and asked, “Is it quite different compared to your former academy?”
That would be an understatement. The difference was simply worlds apart.
Her grandfather had built his academy on the outskirts of the capital. Nestled against the mountains, it occupied a large area of land with Tai’an Lake right next to it. Teachers often took students boating on the lake and composing poems.
The academy grounds were also split into a boys’ section and girls’ section. The boys’ section was bigger and even had a lotus pond that she had secretly gone to see before—she loved it so much that she had insisted her grandfather designate the lotus pond to the girls’ area instead.
The desks and chairs allotted to them were even larger than the one on Mr. Jin’s lectern. And each girl had her own set for personal use. Every few years, officials and nobles would donate money to repair and refurbish the academy, getting them new sets of desks and chairs.
Glancing around this current classroom, Li Mingwei sighed. The entire premises here probably wasn’t even as big as her former classroom in the girls’ section.
She said tactfully, “It is a bit different.”
Mr. Jin was old enough to read between the lines. He smiled and took a sip of tea.
Li Mingwei was rather enlightened today. The dilapidated desks and chairs baffled her, and she couldn’t help but ask, “If the desks and chairs are like this, doesn't the county office send people to repair them?”
“The county office?”
Mr. Jin only felt she was naïve. This small, broken-down town was already lucky if the county even remembered its existence, let alone talk about refurbishing the school. And there were probably countless towns just like this in Anhuai County. If every single one needed repairs, where would the county find that much money?
He shook his head: “Not long after the county office built this school, there was more war up north, so they didn’t have the energy to manage these things. They recruited us to come and take care of it ourselves. The students also didn't want it, so when there were more students we would earn a bit more, and when there were fewer students we’d just scrape by.”
From when the school was first built...
Li Mingwei made a rough calculation: “So Teacher has been teaching here for over ten years? With so few students now, it must be difficult for you.”
“It’s still manageable now.”
The current number couldn’t be considered low anymore. Some years he only had a handful of students—those were the really hard times that still made Mr. Jin sigh whenever he remembered them.
Dong Lei paid two taels a year for tuition and some additional lunch money, though the lunch money went to the kitchen lady. With over ten students, thirty taels total perhaps, and that was before expenses like textbooks and supplies. Li Mingwei estimated there wouldn’t be much savings at the end of each year.
She felt Mr. Jin was merely putting on a brave face. Mr. Jin then took her upstairs to what turned out to be two bookshelves instead of a reading room for students like she had assumed.
Mr. Jin shook his head: “This is my bookstore. I hire people to hand copy books and sell them cheaper to students, so I can earn a bit more.”
“Ah?”
Mr. Jin took out a basic copy of the Analects and handed it to her. “Buying a new book like this at the county store would cost hundreds of wen. I get them hand copied into booklets and sell for half price so students can save some money, while I can also earn a bit. It’s win-win.”
Li Mingwei flipped through several books—none were originals, and judging from the penmanship, they seemed to be copied by one person. She felt sorrowful at heart. What kind of lives were the teachers and students leading here?
If her grandfather knew of the hardships they faced, what would he think?
Mr. Jin laid out paper and an ink brush for her and called her over. “I saw Dong Lei’s handwriting has improved quite a bit recently, I'm guessing you taught him. Come write a few characters and let me see.”
“Yes.”
Li Mingwei walked over to the desk, ground some ink, lifted her brush, and copied a few lines from the book on Mr. Jin’s desk.
Mr. Jin nodded approvingly. Her brush strokes were smooth and well-rounded, the characters upright and elegant—her calligraphy was as beautiful as herself!
“Your handwriting is quite exquisite, just like you! Hahaha.”
In a stroke of inspiration, he picked up one of the booklets on his desk and showed Li Mingwei. “People all say calligraphy reflects character. Tell me what kind of person this is, judging from their writing.”
It was the handwriting of the person who usually copied books for Mr. Jin.
Anyone who could copy books would naturally have neat handwriting. Li Mingwei flipped through a few pages and said, “It’s written very well. In terms of neatness, I’m not as good.”
“But being too neat makes it look lifeless.”
With his style of writing and formatting, only exam proctors would like it. Others usually wouldn’t take to it—like reading a textbook. It was hard to leave much of an impression. People might feel he was too bound by conventions.
If he wanted to take the exams, not to mention her grandfather and father, even the current Son of Heaven wouldn’t be too fond of him. Fresh, vibrant talent was sorely needed now to cultivate influence for the throne.
“Oh?” Mr Jin raised a brow. “But this is the best student I’ve produced so far.”
Li Mingwei smiled without comment. Mr. Jin felt somewhat awkward. “He’s been copying books since childhood, so he’s used to being neat. Yes, he does lack some individuality.”
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