Chapter 355 Sir, are you willing to stay and be your wife?

The morning light showed slightly the next day, and this small mountain col began to become lively.

First, the women get up and add a few pieces of charcoal to the charcoal basin, and then make breakfast for the family.

Some people make thicker rice porridge for breakfast, adding some dried wild vegetables, dried chestnuts, etc. This way the porridge will not be bland and tasteless, and you will not be hungry even if you drink the porridge.

Some people put the dough they baked a few days ago on the edge of the pot and heat it up to make the cold and hard dough become softer.

Some people make some steamed buns and flower rolls mixed with wild vegetables, and then stir-fry a plate of side dishes. With these vegetables, the steamed buns and flower rolls can also be delicious.

When Sun Xiucai got up and walked out of the tent, what he saw was the same smoke as what he saw last night, full of popularity.

Especially after other people started to get up one after another, the mountain col was even more lively in the morning, and because it was morning, when they woke up after a full sleep, people were all exhausted, and everyone was full of energy and vitality.

The men helped to chop firewood, and the children helped to light the fire. Together they made breakfast and carried it into their own tents. The sounds of eating and talking could be heard in each tent.

The little babies who had just woken up were wearing thick and warm leather jackets and leather boots. From time to time they ran out of the tent to play with their friends.

Seeing such a peaceful and warm picture, Sun Xiucai became more determined in his decision.

After he washed up, he took out a book he had brought and read for a while. Several little children from the Qiao family ran over together and dragged him over to have breakfast.

The Qiao family’s breakfast consists of thick meat porridge with yam and pork, as well as baskets of white flour steamed buns, in case the strong laborers are not satisfied with the porridge alone.

Qiao Erhe, Qiao Sanhu, Qiao Dong, Qiao Nan, Qiao Xi, and Qin Gengwen greeted Sun Xiucai, and then they each grabbed a large bowl of meat porridge and each took a steamed bun to nibble on.

Then he picked up the hoe, shovel, axe, machete, etc. and went out. He met up with the other men and young men in the village, and headed toward the Devil's Valley to continue clearing land under the rising sun.

Soon, only the women, children and Sun Xiucai were left in the tent. The old village chief was thinking about his wife and did not bother to finish breakfast at home. He just grabbed a multi-grain pancake and munched on it before entering Qiao's house. tent.

Qiao Ran quickly asked him to sit down, and Chen Huiniang also served him a bowl of hot meat porridge.

Sun Xiucai also knew that the old village chief was so anxious to come here early in the morning because he wanted to hear his answer.

He put down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at the old village chief solemnly: "Thank you to your village for not disapproving of my sick body. If you are willing, Sun will be very willing to stay here as a master."

Upon hearing this, the old village chief turned his attention to Qiao Ran.

Seeing her gently nodding, the old man was so happy that he put down the bowls and chopsticks in his hands and wiped his hands on the leather jacket he was wearing. Feeling uneasy, he opened the jacket again and put it on his clean clothes. After wiping hard for a few more times, he took hold of Sun Xiucai's hand, and his old face turned into a smile:

"Really? Sir, are you willing to stay and become a wife? That's great! Oh, now our village's school can be set up! The children can learn to read and write at home. This is really great. ! That’s great!”

Qiao Ran also breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, she was a little tired of running into obstacles these days.

Most of those scholars were very high-minded and thought of themselves as noble. They offered a lot of conditions, and when they heard that they were in Devil's Valley, their faces immediately changed and they pushed Qiao Ran away without any explanation.

She didn't want to endure this birdiness anymore!

If Sun Xiucai was willing to stay, then she wouldn't have to go around being looked down upon.

And she could tell that this Sun Xiucai was a good character. Although he lived in poverty, he always maintained the character of a scholar, unwilling to cause trouble to others, and unwilling to ask for help.

The students taught by such a disciplined master will not be bad.

Qiao Ran smiled and said to Sun Xiucai: "We welcome Mr. Sun to stay. From now on, you will be the master of our Qingshui Village School. But our school has a lot of students, more than fifty. In the future, we will let you Master, you have taken a lot of trouble."

Sun Xiucai felt relieved when he saw that they were willing to let him stay.

This time, he can live well on his own and no longer has to worry his sister and his family.

Now that they had decided to hire Sun Xiucai as their master, the three of them began to discuss the date of Xiuxiu and the start of school, as well as the time for rest after dinner.

Finally, at Sun Xiucai's strong request, Qiao Ran's original plan of one tael of silver for repairs became 500 wen for one child a year, which was reduced by half.

Sun Xiucai's idea was very simple. He used to take over the work of copying books, copying non-stop every day for a month, and could not earn more than ten taels of silver a year. He had to pay for his own food, clothing, and medicine, and almost all his savings were saved in a year. No money.

As a wife here, one child earns 500 taels of silver, ten children earn taels of silver, and fifty children earn taels of silver per year, which is more than double what he earned in the previous year.

Besides, his food and accommodation are covered here. Apart from buying medicine and clothes, he doesn't need to spend much money at all. He can save at least fifteen taels of silver a year, which is much better than before.

When Qiao Ran and the old village chief saw that he insisted on only accepting 500 yuan for repair, they had no choice but to follow him.

As for the time to take a rest, it is scheduled to take two days in the middle of each month and two days at the end of the month.

When school started, Qiao Ran originally wanted to wait for the customized tables and chairs to arrive in half a month before starting school. However, Sun Xiucai felt that he could not waste this half month in vain, so he proposed that school start tomorrow. Today he would visit his sister's house first. , to assure my sister and her family that they are safe.

Qiao Ran had nothing important to do today, so she decided to drive Sun Xiucai to his sister's house in a carriage. Sun Xiucai was very grateful.

After the discussion was completed, Qiao Ran drove a carriage and drove Sun Xiucai out of the valley. Under his guidance, he headed for Fangjia Village in Huangshan County, which was twenty miles away.

When Qiao Ran heard the name Huangshan County, she remembered that when they first arrived in the capital, they were almost assigned to Huangshan County.

I heard that Huangshan County is a small and barren county full of loess. Thinking of Fang Lisheng's white-washed coarse cloth sheets and bedding that I saw in Wanlu Academy, I thought that his family background was not very good.

Sure enough, when the carriage followed the loess road to a small sparse village with only twenty or thirty households, they saw that the houses were made of mud bricks made of yellow mud mixed with dry straw, and the roofs were paved. They live with hay, and no family can afford tiles.

These houses are low and dilapidated, and there are traces of rain erosion on the brick walls. Some houses have several broken holes, which are plugged with thatch.

Entering the village, the road was small and bumpy. If it weren't for Qiao Ran's horse, which drank the water from the spiritual spring and was smarter than other horses and walked steadily, I'm afraid this carriage wouldn't have been able to enter the village.

Fortunately, Sun Xiucai's sister's house is not far from the village entrance, under a tall neem tree.

At this time, all the strong laborers in the village had gone out to do farm work. The courtyard door of Sun Xiucai's sister's house was also closed and locked outside. It seemed that no one was at home.