Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 192 - 191: All Just Dogs

As for Jinhua, there were no girls going to school before, and the whole family thought there was nothing wrong with this arrangement.

Mrs. Qiu even asked for a set of red skirts for her daughter, and she herself felt it was quite fair.

But now Mrs. Zhang has changed her mind. Everyone has money, right? Then there’s no need to make a fuss, take care of your own kids.

Mrs. Zhang covered her head and had her son Liu Fei help her into the house to lie down, which was actually just hiding.

Seeing the two sons looking over, Old Liu nodded at them, warning them to be sensible, having so much private money, and still have the nerve to ask their father?

"I’m going to check on the fields." Old Liu picked up a hoe and was about to head out.

As he passed by Qin Yao, he looked down at Si Niang and Sanlang, "Are you planning to send these two little ones as well?"

Qin Yao nodded, "With such a good policy, of course they should go. Compared to the opportunity, the cost of pen and ink is nothing."

Then she looked at Mrs. Qiu, "Second sister-in-law, you just said that girls can’t take the imperial exams, so it’s useless for them to study, but I want to say, studying is truly useful."

With that, she proudly pushed her Little Fourth Sister in front, "Look at my Fourth Sister, so smart and adorable."

"It’s two years now, but who knows about the future? Since the upper authority allows both boys and girls to enter school, it’s not impossible for girls to take the imperial exams."

"Of course, after these two years, who knows if there will be another such free policy? If there isn’t and you don’t go this time, wouldn’t you miss out?"

Hearing Qin Yao say this, Mrs. Qiu, who already felt sorry for her daughter causing a fuss, looked at Little Fourth Sister, who was younger than Jinhua but could speak such truths, and was somewhat swayed.

Qin Yao continued to reason, "In the past, the inability to go to school was because of the inability to pay the tuition?"

Liu Zhong shook his head, it wasn’t just because there was no money that they couldn’t go to school. Before, Mrs. Zhang had complained about Liu Li’s childhood; besides tuition, there were other costs like travel, books, and younger ones needed adult accompaniment.

It was precisely these aspects that made people give up.

Qin Yao said, "Everyone knows tuition isn’t hard to pay for. Each family can grit their teeth and afford to send one child to school. The real difficulty is the monopoly of knowledge."

"Of course, what I’m saying might not be understandable to you now, so let’s think of it another way. Why are those who have been educated and have the conditions to teach unwilling to take on students?"

"You all know how much effort I put into sending Da Lang and Second Lang to the Ding Family School. The reason it was so difficult was that the opportunity was so limited. What was once the possession of a few families would severely threaten their interests if shared."

Si Niang immediately added, "Mother says, teaching the apprentice starves the master."

The Liu Family suddenly understood. Saying it this way made it much simpler and easier to grasp!

Qin Yao again seriously reminded, "This might be the only opportunity."

After speaking, she pulled Jinhua, who was hiding behind her, out and let her speak to her parents, then turned to lead Si Niang and the three siblings home.

Anyway, she said all she could. If the people at the old house didn’t understand, there was nothing she could do.

She still had two at home and had to prepare well.

Da Lang and Second Lang went off to make dinner on their own, and Qin Yao took out the handwritten books the four siblings used daily to prepare Sanlang and Si Niang.

Although they didn’t know what the assessment would be like, since it was about studying, it was most likely related to ’reading, writing, and drawing’.

Sanlang and Si Niang knew this was a rare opportunity, especially Si Niang, who was reciting the self-introduction Qin Yao composed for her before going to sleep.

While Sanlang was timid, his heart was big. To put it bluntly, he was a bit simple-minded, and he went to sleep soundly without worry.

Because he knew even if he couldn’t pass this time, there would be other opportunities.

Si Niang, however, was different. She knew this might be her only chance; what if the court’s policy changed again next year?

Qin Yao heard it clearly, the childish voice of the young girl in the next door’s children’s room was persistent until late at night before it quieted down.

Early the next morning, with the rooster’s crow, Qin Yao got up.

The early bird catches the worm, especially for such an important matter, getting there early would surely help.

After hurriedly eating something to fill their stomachs, Qin Yao harnessed the carriage and led the four siblings towards Jinshi Town.

Halfway there, whoa, what a sight, a long line of people ahead.

The villagers of Liu Family Village, who were saying they’d give up yesterday, didn’t miss a single one. In the dead of night, they grabbed their boys and set out with torches.

Qin Yao thought to herself, no wonder the village was so quiet when she left; turns out they had all set off early, how sneaky!

Almost at the same time as the villagers, brothers Liu Zhong and Liu Bai, upon reaching the village entrance and seeing so many torches, were also shocked.

They agreed not to go, yet secretly ran faster than anyone else!

After walking for an hour, they heard the distant sound of rolling wheels. The two brothers exchanged a glance, turned back, and sure enough, it was the familiar carriage of their third brother-in-law’s family.

Liu Zhong slapped his daughter’s shoulder, and Jinhua immediately shouted, "Third aunt!"

Great, they successfully got on the carriage.

However, there was only enough space for the six kids inside. Qin Yao squeezed in, sat Si Niang on her lap, and took her place, letting brothers Liu Bai and Liu Zhong drive the carriage.

"Can you do it?" Qin Yao was a bit skeptical about their skills; this was Old Huang, not Old Qing, who had a temper.

Liu Bai confidently took the reins, "No problem, sister-in-law, don’t worry."

Liu Zhong also happily said, "Fortunately, you came with the carriage, or else we wouldn’t make it to the front."

Qin Yao opened the carriage window, looked at the increasingly long line behind them, her brows furrowed tighter, "There are just too many people."

There’s not even this many at a market.

"Exactly," Liu Bai complained, "we set off early enough, but after passing Lower River Village, we saw some people had already headed towards the town after dinner last night."

Liu Zhong’s heart tightened, urging his brother, "Then we must hurry, or we’ll be too late if the Ding Family is already full."

Liu Bai heeded, and called out for the horse to move.

But the carriage couldn’t fly, and the three adults could only be glad that those traveling with children couldn’t move too fast, giving the carriage a slight advantage.

However, when they overtook the main group and reached Jinshi Town, the queue stretching from the Ding Family Manor had already reached the main road.

That was three miles long!

This showed how scarce the educational resources in Jinshi Town were, with only the Ding Clan School within dozens of miles.

Liu Zhong got off and ran ahead to investigate, returning with a shake of his head, "The carriage can’t go any further, several wealthy families’ carriages are blocking the road ahead."

"This won’t do!" Liu Bai scratched his head, "We have to walk there." Cut the line.

At this point, they couldn’t care less, the children’s future was the priority.

Qin Yao climbed out of the carriage, the three quickly exchanged glances, Liu Bai’s eyes full of determination, while Liu Zhong hesitated a bit.