Mr. Su decided to teach at the village school from now on.

"...I spoke with the village chief yesterday, and he was very welcoming of my teaching here."

Nonsense.

How could village chief Liu Tieshan not be pleased?

A teacher who produced a top scholar, where wouldn’t people fight over him? Liu Tieshan probably thought it was a blessing for Qinghe Bay to have Mr. Su teach there.

If the villagers knew Mr. Su was willing to teach here, they’d be overjoyed and beat drums to welcome him. Anyone who tried to stop it would be seen as an enemy.

They all hoped their kids could become scholars and top students like Jingzhe.

Mr. Su saw Tong Huaqiong and Mrs. Hong’s strange reaction and said unhappily, "What? Are you not pleased that I’m coming to teach here? Lai Fu’s teaching, I’ve listened to it, and it’s not great. He’s better suited to teaching martial arts, but not all the kids here are Nie Xiaofeng. More kids want to become someone like Jingzhe. I’ve taught them for a while, and I really can’t let them go, so I decided to teach here instead."

Tong Huaqiong and Mrs. Hong exchanged glances.

This Mr. Su talks quite boastfully. He’s only taught here a few days and claims he can’t leave the kids.

If he says so, didn’t he teach much longer in the town school, but doesn’t seem to miss it at all.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Then what about the students in town?"

Mr. Su replied, "There will be a new teacher."

Mr. Su coming to the village isn’t entirely because of Tong Pandi in Qinghe Bay.

Lately, a new teacher had come to the town school. This new teacher was narrow-minded. Despite Mr. Su being a very laid-back person, this new teacher always saw Mr. Su as a rival, belittling him in front of the principal.

Moreover, in this county exam, Pingchuan County produced two scholars, both taught by Mr. Su, and one of them was the top student, which made the new teacher dislike Mr. Su even more, constantly trying to sabotage him.

Mr. Su didn’t care to compete with such petty people. After all, it’s just a town school, not worth turning it into a faction fight.

So, taking advantage of Su Chengmin going to the county capital with Tong Huaqiong to take over his class, Mr. Su directly told Liu Tieshan that he would continue teaching in Qinghe Bay.

Village chief Liu Tieshan naturally welcomed this.

Nobody in the village knows how Su Chengmin teaches, except that he taught the kids to recite the entire "Three Character Classic."

But compared to Mr. Su, Su Chengmin is too young and has never taught a top student, so Liu Tieshan was eager for Mr. Su to teach the village children.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Since Mr. Su has already discussed with the village chief, I have nothing more to say. The village children will be entrusted to you."

After all, Su Chengmin mentioned twice that he didn’t want to be a teacher, instead wishing to be a driver for a shop in town or something.

Mr. Su’s willingness to take over the village school perfectly aligns with his wishes.

Mr. Su laughed merrily upon hearing this.

At this moment, village chief Liu Tieshan saw Mr. Su and Tong Huaqiong, excitedly trotting over. He stopped and said, "Dashi’s mother, I was just about to tell you that the village school no longer troubles Lai Fu, as Mr. Su is willing to teach here now."

Tong Huaqiong said Mr. Su had already mentioned it to her, and she had no objections.

The village chief was joyful and said, "Currently, there’s no place for Mr. Su to stay in the village. We thought to let him stay at Dashi’s mother’s home, but your house is quite full with no spare rooms. Manager He’s house is simple with many empty rooms, but he’s in town all day, and it might not sound nice. Boss Qian offered to let Mr. Su stay at his place for now, as he lives alone, his house is big, and it’s comfortable to stay in."

Mr. Su originally wanted to say he could stay at Tong Huaqiong’s old courtyard before the expansion, but seeing the arrangements by the village chief, he reluctantly agreed.

Liu Tieshan asked where Mr. Su’s luggage was.

Mr. Su pointed to the base of the pigpen wall.

Mr. Su’s luggage was simple, just two bundles—one with clothes and the other with books.

Filled with joy, Liu Tieshan ran over to pick up the bundles.

Mr. Su, while holding Hua Er, said, "Village chief, please take my luggage to Boss Qian’s first."

Seeing his stance, he seemed to be heading to Tong Huaqiong’s for dinner.

Tong Huaqiong couldn’t refuse, could she?

In the evening, Mr. Gu came to Tong Huaqiong’s house and saw Mr. Su playing with Hua Er in the hallway, looking displeased.

Recently, there have been rumors in the village that Mr. Su admires Widow Tong, and Boss Qian likes Widow Tong, and these whispers have been reaching his ears even when he covers them.

He couldn’t directly ask, as doing so would seem like putting a green hat on his son underground.

But he was genuinely unhappy.

Tong Hua Qiong knew Mr. Gu was not very polite to him, so he usually didn’t visit.

This time, unless something was really necessary for him to step in, he wouldn’t have come at all.

"Grandfather."

Chen Sufen saw Mr. Gu come over and had a bad feeling.

During the time her mother-in-law went to the county capital, Mr. Gu came over, and her husband lent him ten taels of silver. Chen Sufen was afraid Mr. Gu would push his luck and try to borrow more money.

So she said, "Da Han is not at home."

Mr. Gu replied, "I’m not looking for Da Han, I’m looking for your mother."

Chen Sufen breathed a sigh of relief and said, "My mother went to Aunt Zhao’s."

Tong Huaqiong was thinking that Gu Daqiao would definitely need wood to build the weaving machine.

Ordinary wood wouldn’t do; it had to be hard persimmon trees or oak.

Liu Yueer’s older sister, Liu Yuechang, had a hillplanting oak, and Tong Huaqiong wanted to buy a batch of oak logs from Yuechang through the Liu Family.

Mrs. Zhao patted her chest and said she would talk to Liu Yuechang about it in Moon Bay tomorrow. After all, they were looking to sell the logs; who they sell to doesn’t really matter, and selling her the oak saves them the trouble of finding buyers.

Tong Huaqiong came out from the Liu family, humming a song in the evening breeze.

"Dashi’s mother."

Mr. Gu didn’t like seeing his daughter-in-law looking so smug.

Dressed more elegantly than Chen Sufen, she looked flamboyant beyond measure.

Mr. Gu didn’t want to discuss matters with such a dressed-up daughter-in-law and preferred that Mrs. Gu handle it. But he feared that if Mrs. Gu saw the daughter-in-law, they’d end up fighting.

Tong Huaqiong paused and asked, "Old Master, do you have any matters to discuss with me?"

Mr. Gu’s beard twitched, as calling her father was a mouthful.

Speaking of titles, he was annoyed. While the eldest daughter-in-law was unruly, she used to at least call them father and mother. Now she was getting more and more brazen, not having addressed them since they returned to live in Qinghe Bay.

Mr. Gu steadied his breathing and said, "I have two things I wanted to discuss with you. I heard from the Yao family that the teacher at our village school is no longer teaching, and it’s hard to find good teachers. Rui Nian is a child student and could manage to teach the village kids well. I thought it might be a good idea for Rui Nian to take the teaching role at the village school until we find a suitable teacher."

Unsure of how the Yao family communicated, Mr. Gu mistakenly thought Su Chengmin wasn’t the teacher anymore.

However, asking Gu Ruinian to teach, Tong Huaqiong thought Mr. Gu really had a nerve.

Did he not know Tong Huaqiong would refuse?

Mr. Gu didn’t really want Rui Nian to teach, but Mrs. Wei was always giving her brother-in-law a hard time, and he had no choice to balance out the family disputes.