Cheng Luanluan and her four sons split into two groups.
Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sanniu went to discuss cooperation with the taverns in Ping’an Town. She took Zhao Dashan and Zhao Sidan to De Kang Academy. She stood at the entrance of De Kang Academy, listening for a bit, and learned that this academy also accepted young students. Although the head of the academy was only an old xiucai, the tuition here was cheaper than at Nanfu Academy. Tuition was one tael of silver per month, and it could also be paid with grain. This academy had two classes with about fifty or sixty students.
Cheng Luanluan could only inquire if there were any other private schools in Ping’an Town. “The smallest private school is probably the family school of Elder Wang’s family. The Wang family doesn’t have many members, and for recruitment, they only require students to know at least the San Zi Jing and Bai Jia Xing.” The man selling paper and ink looked at the two young boys behind Cheng Luanluan. “If children are so old and don’t know any characters, I’m afraid no academy will accept them.”
It was perfectly normal for a three to five-year-old child to be illiterate.
But for a ten-year-old child to still be illiterate meant they had no talent for reading. No academy would agree to teach them, and they wouldn’t accept money either.
Cheng Luanluan sighed.
Si Dan wasn’t without talent for reading; he was simply delayed.
It seemed Si Dan would have to stay home and self-study the basic primers before he could attend a private school in town.
Or send him to the primer school in the Cheng family village, but she didn’t want to have any dealings with those bloodsuckers from the Cheng family ever again. This was truly a dead end.
“Mother, I’ll ask Tie Zhu Ge to teach me,” Zhao Sidan said optimistically. “Tie Zhu Ge said reading and writing aren’t difficult at all, and I’ll learn quickly.”
The corner of Cheng Luanluan’s mouth twitched.
With Zhao Tie Zhu’s rudimentary literacy, he shouldn’t be learning and deceiving others at the same time. This matter needed to be carefully considered.
Things weren’t going smoothly on her side, but Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sanniu’s side was completely smooth, successfully negotiating with two taverns one after another.
However, Ping’an Town was not as prosperous as Hekou Town. Even the two largest taverns only pre-ordered one hundred bowls, bringing the total sold to six hundred bowls.
In Hekou Town, each bowl sold for two copper coins. Selling all five hundred bowls brought in one thousand copper coins, which was one tael of silver.
In Ping’an Town, each bowl sold for one copper coin. Selling a total of one hundred bowls brought in one hundred copper coins, barely avoiding a loss.
Thus, one tael was earned per day.
Everyone in the family had put in effort; she couldn’t let them work for free. She had to calculate how much to pay each person.
Paying too little wouldn’t do, as it would make everyone think she was stingy. Paying too much wouldn’t do either. These four boys would surely take their accumulated money to town to buy things, which could be inferred from the “illegitimate” food in the house.
Cheng Luanluan calculated all the way. The ox cart rattled to a stop in front of Daha Village. Zhao Da wanted to go up the mountain to chop firewood, so she and her sons got off first and carried the wooden buckets home.
Households in the village were repairing their roofs.
Cheng Luanluan knew her own roof was also leaking. If it weren’t for the recent drought and lack of rain, she wouldn’t have experienced the feeling of “heavy rain outside, light rain inside.”
She opened her mouth and said, “When I have money, the first thing I’ll do is build a house.”
Zhao Dashan immediately nodded, "Starting tomorrow, I'll collect a little bit of foundation soil every day. Once I have enough, we can build a house."
Zhao Ergou also said, "Big Brother and I will work together to make the foundation soil."
After returning, he had thought it through clearly. Shui Qin didn't want to marry him because his family had no place to live.
San Niu also needed to take a wife. If the woman San Niu liked didn't want to marry him because there was no place to live in the house, San Niu would surely be heartbroken.
He couldn't let his two younger brothers fall into the same situation as him.