Child Bride’s Peaches and Plums Are All Over the World

Sister Fu is the daughter of a farmer in Changqing Village on the outskirts of Beijing. She is sitting on the kang and sorting out her satchel. In fact, there are not many things in it, only a pair of needlework, a pair of scissors, and some odds and ends. .

But she still arranges and reorganizes, cherishing it endlessly.

Her mother walked back and forth outside the door a few times, but she still couldn't help entering the door and said, "Sister Fu, you really go to Yunlu College to study."

Sister Fu nodded firmly, "Mother, I've asked you all. You can get credit for studying in the academy. After I finish my studies, I can work slowly. I have already signed an agreement with them, which clearly states that I studied there for three years, and worked for two years at most before paying off the tuition fee. If I am good at crafting, maybe I can pay it off in less than two years, and the money I earn in the future will be mine.”

Her mother still hesitated, "But you will be thirteen this year, sixteen in three years, and eighteen after two years of debt repayment, who will marry you then?"

Sister Fu said indifferently: "I can always get married, mother, the head of the academy said that women marry in order to live a better life, but if I don't marry for a while, or even if I don't marry, it will be worse It's better to be married, why do I have to get married early?"

Seeing that her mother was about to object again, Sister Fu said, "When I get married now, I also farm like you. I eat rice mixed with bran for half of the year. My time is to drink porridge. But if I enter the academy and learn the craft, mother, the handkerchiefs I embroider are sold to the embroidery workshop for more than a hundred coins every month. If I can make big pieces like those embroiderers ..."

Sister Fu's eyes were shining, she nervously squeezed the satchel in her hand and said: "With the money, our family can renovate the house, eat white rice porridge every day, and eat black buns mixed with white flour. Maybe my daughter can give you some money." I'm buying meat with my father. Besides, sister Xiu and the others will all go with me, or I will fall behind."

Sister Fu's mother no longer objected.

In Changlin Village not far from Changqing Village, Chang Da Niu silently kowtowed three times in front of her father's bed, then turned around and went out to pack her luggage.

Father Chang turned over in anger, and finally couldn't help getting up and asking, "Are you really going to that so-and-so academy?"

Chang Da Niu gave a quiet "hmm" and said in a low voice: "I have seen the silk spun by Mr. Academy, and I have also asked the price. The minimum price for a piece sold outside the store is two taels, but the highest is unlimited. Dad , even if what I weave can only be sold at the lowest price, I can still make a lot of money, I want to live a good life, and I also want to lead you to live a good life."

Father Chang trembled his lips and remained silent.

Chang's mother pushed open the door, came out from the next door and said, "Her father, let the big girl go."

Erniu and Sanniu ran out of the room with their younger brothers, and said repeatedly: "Father, let the eldest sister go, anyway, the academy doesn't need money, and it also includes food and lodging. After graduation, you can work for the academy for two years and get paid." Take, even if you go to the city as an apprentice, you don't get such treatment, didn't you spend a lot of money to let your eldest sister go to the cloth village as an apprentice before?"

Father Chang said helplessly, "It's because the treatment in the academy is so good that I'm afraid."

"Father, don't worry, it's been said outside that the academy is run by the emperor's mistress, and that head Li Shan is still teaching at Qingxi Academy, and he teaches only noble girls."

Father Chang was silent.

And there is a family not far from theirs. Mrs. Liu went back to the house after feeding the child. Her husband had already helped her pack the things. Seeing her coming in, he told her: "I will give you all the things you are used to. Pack it up, let's see what's missing."

Lady Liu said indifferently: "I don't live in the academy, I come back every day, how many things can I use?"

Her husband smiled foolishly.

Liu Niangzi said in a low voice: "Don't lose your handicraft. When I learn it, I will teach you when I come back. It's a pity that the academy doesn't accept men. Otherwise, you will definitely be better than me if you go to learn."

Her husband murmured in his heart, if the academy also accepted men, then he wouldn't feel relieved to let his wife go to school.

The slums in the south of the city are even more lively. Nearly one-third of the families are busy packing their children. Their children will go to Yunlu College to study tomorrow morning. , don’t cause trouble, listen carefully to the teacher’s lectures, learn the craft and come back to teach your sisters and brothers, the family will rely on you from now on..."

From now on, the family will depend on you!

This sentence has become the motivation for most of the girls who enter Yunlu Academy to study. They like to be valued by their families, and they like this useful feeling.

And as much responsibility has been assumed, so much power has been given. Now, although their status is not equal to that of brothers in the family, their words have already been listened to.

On the third day of February, Yunlu Academy officially opened, and as soon as the academy gate opened, groups of parents who came to report with their children poured in.

The school staff beat the gongs and drums loudly and shouted: "Don't worry, come one by one. Those who have already selected the skill class go to the corresponding skill class to report, and those who have not selected go to the basic class."

"Did you see the big characters on the front? It says the names of the various skills. Don't crowd around. Aren't you going to learn embroidery? Why are you going to the carpenter? The embroidery is over there. If you can't read, look at the next to the words." On the picture, there are embroiderers on the painting, the embroidery class, the wood planer, the woodworking board, the weaving class with the shuttle, and the accounting class with the abacus... Yes, just look at the pictures to find a class, and the basic class. A girl buried her head in writing..."

The janitor yelled at the top of his lungs, and the students in each class who accepted the registration also yelled, telling the people behind to line up and come one by one.

Ask if you live on campus, and if you owe money on credit, Shu Xiu will quickly bill you, and those who live on campus will take the sign and go to the back to find their own dormitory.

"The dormitory is the last one to enter. Those who can read are looking for words, and those who can't read are looking for paintings. There is an embroidery picture of a woman hanging in front of the dormitory door..."

Standing on the viewing platform of the office building, Li Baolu let out a slow breath, "Fortunately, Weizhen finally remembered that everyone was illiterate and drew pictures instead, otherwise I would have died indiscriminately today."

Gu Jingyun remained silent, absolutely refusing to admit that he had neglected this most basic detail.

Yunlu College is not like Qingxi College, it faces the middle and lower classes, 90% of people in this class are illiterate, and the probability of women being literate is even lower.

Qingxi College has few school staff, because even the new children know the most basic characters, let alone their parents, so as long as there are wooden signs along the way, they will know what to do and where to do it.

However, the students and parents of Yunlu College are obviously illiterate, and their ability to adapt is much weaker.

Fortunately, they drew a lot of pictures as signs, and there were janitors answering questions under the signs, so there was no confusion.

But this noise was enough for the quiet and cleanliness Gu Jingyun to frown.

One day passed, and the academy finally calmed down. Now Yunlu Academy has only enrolled 128 students.

Having experienced the school in her previous life, Li Baolu felt that the number of students was very small, but the academies who followed here were very surprised, because they did not expect that Yunlu Academy had such a large stall and recruited so many students as soon as it came up.

You know, there are only twenty or thirty students in a small academy.

Not all academies can have thousands of students on campus like Qingxi Songshan. But the academies don't mind, because the development target and future of Yunlu Academy are two parallel lines with them, and everyone just pays attention to it with the emphasis on education.

After all, the students they faced were men, and their main task was to study and understand the imperial examinations; while Yunlu College recruited all female students, and the education they showed focused on skills, and most of the students who came out in the future would be engaged in handicrafts.

It's a level behind their gentry class, so no one takes it too seriously. Even the gentlemen of Qingxi Academy shook their heads slightly, thinking that Mr. Gu and Mr. Li are too careless to teach and open such an academy, even if they hold a training class to guide some scholars.

Why bother to go to such an academy?

Parents who brought their daughters/granddaughters to sign up were relieved when they saw that the janitors in the college were female, and that except for some gentlemen, even the guards of the college were female.

Seeing the parents staring at the guards, a school worker explained with a smile: "This is the female guards invited by our mountain chief. They used to be bodyguard masters, and their hands and feet are not weak. It is not a problem for one person to beat three big men." No, some people still have lives on them, of course, what they killed were all robbers, so it’s not a crime.”

Parents are more at ease.

Then the janitor took them to the cafeteria to visit, "The meals in the cafeteria also cost money, and they can also be on credit temporarily like Shu Xiu, and they can eat with the meal card issued by the academy, and the meal fee for each semester is also It is fixed……"

Li Baolu knew that the students who came to study here were from poor families, so the canteen was not like Qingxi College where you could order food freely and pay for the meal. Instead, students pay for one semester, and students can choose to pay the bill at the beginning of the semester, pay the bill after accepting the semester, or temporarily pay on credit, and work to repay it together with other expenses after graduation.

Most of the enrolled students chose to pay on credit, including repairs, various material fees, and board and lodging expenses.

That's why Li Baolu said that she needs to make enough preparations to open this academy, because the cost is too high.

There are a total of 169 students, sirs, and janitors in the academy. They all eat and drink in the academy. This is not the biggest expense. All the materials for the students are temporarily paid by the academy. If the money is not enough, the academy will Can't go on at all.

Because in the first year, it is impossible for the students of the academy to generate income for her, they are all in the learning stage.

Gu Jingyun and Li Baolu calculated all aspects and made a good plan for the academy for the next five years. They dared not open this academy until they were sure that their savings could afford the expenses of the academy for five years.