Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 197 - 196: Clear Accounts Between Brothers
It’s quite obvious that the teachers initially didn’t plan to enroll girls in the school, otherwise, girls like Jinhua, who performed better than Jinbao, wouldn’t have been rejected.
As for why Si Niang was selected, either she performed exceptionally well, and the teacher valued her talent, or they wanted to pair a set of Dragon and Phoenix Twins at the academy for neatness.
But somehow, Da Lang felt it was the latter—just like Mother said, political correctness.
Never mind, as long as the opportunity is available, the reason is no longer important.
After hundreds of years, finally, a girl has stepped into the school, and it’s a good beginning.
The three young ones didn’t think as much as Da Lang, they were just happy and encouraged Jinhua, saying they would tutor her, and she could definitely be chosen next year. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Under everyone’s comfort, Jinhua’s mood obviously improved, and later Liu Zhong took her to the street to buy a pack of peanuts before the store closed, and soon she forgot about the disappointment of not being selected.
The Ding Family’s teachers said that classes would start at 7 a.m. on February 1st, and asked students to arrive on time, prepare their pens, inks, papers, and inkstones, and that books would be provided by the school. Parents were to prepare the book fees for the students to bring along.
On the way back, Liu Bai was calculating the expenses, and the book fees were 800 cents. To prepare the most basic set of pens, inks, papers, and inkstones would cost three maces.
Fortunately, the inkstone and ink stick could be used for a long time, so there’s no need to worry about them next year.
Calculating like this, the average annual cost would be one tael of silver, and two years would be two taels.
He and He earned quite a lot of wages last year, and they still had more than four taels in their pocket, so they could afford it.
But there’s also the transportation cost, and they couldn’t just leave the farm work to solely escort the children to and from school, or else the whole family would be eating the northwest wind.
"Sister-in-law, I want to discuss something with you." Liu Bai thought for a bit, still feeling a bit embarrassed, and spoke to Qin Yao.
Qin Yao knew what he wanted to say and quickly said, "Clear accounts among brothers, I was already going to send my four kids, so having one more Jinbao doesn’t matter, I’ll charge you a bit less, just give me twenty-eight cents a month."
Compared to the fare of 750 cents per person a year with a coachman, she was offering a discounted rate of just over 300 cents a year.
Moreover, the journey from Liu Family Village to Lower River Village was longer than from Lower River Village to Jinshi Town.
Liu Bai had his words blocked by Qin Yao.
But he originally intended to pay her the fare, so now that Qin Yao had set a clear price, he actually felt more at ease.
Not having to owe a favor was even better, as he was afraid Qin Yao might refuse the money and insist on offering free rides.
"Alright, then I’ll trouble you, sister-in-law." Liu Bai said gratefully.
Qin Yao waved her hand, "It’s a small thing."
Jinbao was the happiest, hugging Second Lang excitedly with a few others, as they could all go to school together!
But they didn’t dare to be too exuberant and soon went to comfort Jinhua, promising to teach her the characters they learned when they got home.
Upon hearing the adults discuss that they had to leave for school at 5 a.m., Jinhua didn’t envy her siblings at all going to school.
Instead, she felt sympathy for Sanlang and Si Niang.
"When you get home after school, it will be dark, and after a nap, you’ll have to go to school again. Won’t it be exhausting?" Jinhua asked Si Niang.
Si Niang shook her head, "I don’t feel it’s tiring. Mother says, ’If you don’t work hard in your youth, you’ll regret it in your old age.’ We must work hard now rather than always think about playing."
Besides, she’s been playing in these mountains since she was little and is already tired of them, just wanting to see different sights elsewhere.
Just thinking about it is exciting and fun.
Liu Zhong sighed silently on the cart, thinking that this girl from the third brother’s family wasn’t simple at all.
When Qin Yao and her group returned to the village, it was completely dark.
As the cart reached the village entrance, they met Liu Fei and Old Liu waiting there. Finally seeing them return, they quickly lit torches and approached.
The villagers who set off together in the morning returned one after another before evening, but Qin Yao’s group returned so late, and Old Liu boldly guessed that they might have been selected.
He led everyone to the old house and immediately asked, "How did it go? Did the kids get selected?"
Liu Zhong teased a bit until Old Liu raised his hand to urge him, at which point he quickly explained, "Jinbao and Sanlang, and Si Niang were all selected."
Mrs. Zhang, Mrs. He, and Mrs. Qiu came out from the house, and some were happy while others were worried.
He’s laughter was so piercing that the few families living nearby could hear her pride.
Qin Yao and her four children stayed at the old house briefly, explained the situation simply, and then went home.
Da Lang and Second Lang started a fire to boil water and cook, while Qin Yao detaching the cart, settling the horse, and then brought back the cow to the back yard to tie it up.
This small barn was a bit cramped for one horse and one cow, so Qin Yao planned to expand immediately after spring plowing.
After settling the horse and cow, Qin Yao grabbed a torch and knocked on Liu the carpenter’s door at night.
Liu the carpenter was about to sleep, and just a minute later, he would have gone to meet Zhou Gong. Being called up suddenly gave him some temper.
But once he heard Qin Yao saying that the Dragon and Phoenix Twins had also been selected for school, his anger dissipated instantly, like his own children were selected, and he was overjoyed.
Qin Yao asked him to quickly make two more Divine Power book boxes, smaller than those for Da Lang and Second Lang, for the use of the Dragon and Phoenix Twins.
Liu the carpenter patted his chest, "Leave it to me. I’ll make them for the kids first thing in the morning, ensuring everything’s ready for the day after tomorrow."
Hearing that, Qin Yao finally felt relieved and went home.
After dinner, the five-family members washed up and went to sleep.
The next morning, they all went to the watermill factory to watch Liu the carpenter make the book boxes.
Qin Yao left the four kids there and went alone with a pickaxe and quarrying tools to the mountains to quarry stones.
The work orders were few, so she could manage the stone work alone.
When she hauled the stones back and finished a half-mill piece, the Divine Power book boxes for the Dragon and Phoenix Twins were also made.
Sanlang and Si Niang couldn’t wait to pack their things in, and the courtyard was filled with the sound of wheels rolling around.
In the evening, Liu Bai and Jinbao came to return the ox cart.
The father and son had borrowed the ox cart early in the morning to go to town to buy pens, inks, paper, and inkstones, but they didn’t buy a book box.
Liu Bai directly made a bamboo basket for his son, with rattan straps as shoulder handles, and He wrapped a strip of cloth around it so it wouldn’t chafe, fitting everything inside.
But without a comparison, there is no harm. Seeing the Divine Power book boxes being wheeled around by Sanlang and Si Niang all around the courtyard, Jinbao was almost in tears of envy.
On the way back after returning the ox cart, he begged Liu Bai all the way, asking his father to make him a book box like that.
Liu Bai agreed quickly, thinking it didn’t look too difficult, and when they got home, the father and son started working on it together.
Unexpectedly, just attaching the wooden wheels defeated Liu Bai.
Not to mention the retractable handle at the back of the box, which was beyond his capability as a simple farmer.
But buying one was too late, as school started the next day.
Having no choice, Jinbao had to shoulder his bamboo backpack, paid his third aunt twenty-eight cents for the fare, and with a bit of anxiety, started the school life with Da Lang Brothers and Sisters.
