Zhao Ergou opened his mouth and said, "I asked the uncle next to us. The tuition fee for Nanfu Academy is two taels of silver a month. We also have to buy paper, brushes, and inkstones, which would cost at least one tael of silver. Our family can't afford it."
Cheng Loanloan smiled and said, "As long as you want to study, there will always be a way. The question is, do you want to study?"
A longing flashed in Zhao Sidan's eyes: "Mother, I want to study, but it's too expensive. If I go to school, will our family not be able to afford meat anymore?"
"Then Mother will try her best to earn money." Cheng Loanloan patted his head: "First, I'll send you to school. After you finish studying, you can teach your eldest brother, second brother, and third brother, okay?"
Sidan was still young and most suitable for school. She had wanted to send this child to school early on but never had the chance.
Now she had some money in hand. In a few days, when she had enough tuition fees, she could take Sidan to...
The kind uncle next to them reminded, "Nanfu Academy only accepts *tongsheng* (during the Ming and Qing dynasties, *tongsheng* referred to those who had not yet passed or failed the imperial examination). Your children probably don't even know how to read yet. They can only be sent to elementary school."
Cheng Loanloan covered her face. Alright, Nanfu Academy indeed didn't accept elementary students. However, there was no private school in the village. The nearest school was in Chen Family Village. She wouldn't send her children there even if she was beaten to death. So, she could only send them to a private school in Ping'an Town. She would have to go and inquire about the situation then.
At noon, the bell of Nanfu Academy rang, and Cheng Loanloan could only temporarily put this matter aside.
She went to her stall and began to sell. The students gathered in groups of three or five, and the ice jelly sold very quickly. In just a moment, more than half of it was sold.
The students stood in front of the stall, eating ice jelly, constantly discussing some of the knowledge from their classes. Cheng Loanloan also pricked up her ears to listen. This era was very unfamiliar to her, and she needed to absorb more information.
"It hasn't rained. The fields within a thousand *li* radius around Hekou Town probably won't have a harvest. I wonder what measures the imperial court will take."
"The teacher will probably use this topic for this month's assessment. We can think about it in advance."
"I heard that a village right next to Ping'an Town discovered a water source and built canals to draw water from the mountains, saving over a thousand *mu* of fields."
"There's such a strange thing?"
Cheng Loanloan didn't expect this matter to spread to the neighboring Hekou Town, and even the students who didn't pay attention to outside affairs knew about it. It seemed the drought was indeed severe. Unless the area affected by the disaster was extremely large, no one in class would mention such related matters.
"Mother, I saw Cousin Chen." Zhao Sanniu's eyes widened: "Over there in the middle, isn't that him?"
Zhao Sidan wanted to stop him, but it was too late, because Cheng Loanloan had already seen him. Chen Zhao was wearing the academy's uniform blue and white attire, holding two books in his hand, walking out of the academy gate.
He originally didn't intend to come over, but he felt someone looking at him, so he looked over and met Cheng Loanloan's gaze.
Chen Zhao smiled instantly. He knew he hadn't been mistaken that day. It was indeed Second Aunt, but why was Second Aunt selling ice jelly at the academy?
It turned out that the ice jelly everyone in the academy had been praising for the past few days was indeed sold by Second Aunt. Chen Zhao liked Second Aunt very much. Most of his tuition fees were given by Second Aunt. Second Aunt was better to him than his cousins.
His second aunt specialized in selling food outside his school, likely to save up for his tuition fees. He walked past.