Cheng Qian simply could not believe it.
His mother had managed to improve her handwriting to this level in just over a month and could even read and memorize entire books. Was that something a human being could actually do?
Cheng Kang’s eyes sparkled with admiration.
“Mother, you really are my mother! That’s incredible!”
Madam Sun couldn’t read, but she could still tell the difference.
“Mother, your handwriting is even better than Little Uncle’s.”
Da Ya and Er Ya chimed in as well.
“Grandma writes beautifully!”
Cheng Yuan had never expected his mother to astonish them like this. He didn’t think his mother was extraordinarily talented—he just thought Third Brother was unbelievably stupid.
“Third Brother, if you’re this dumb, why waste the family’s money studying for ten years?”
Cheng Qian nearly coughed up blood from anger.
The school he attended wasn’t even a particularly good one. If they managed to produce one county-level scholar every few years, that was already impressive.
His grades weren’t amazing, but they certainly weren’t terrible either!
Madam Yang knew her mother-in-law’s handwriting used to be ugly, but now it had become much better. Had her mother-in-law secretly been working hard all this time just to amaze everyone?
But why?
“A woman’s virtue lies in lack of talent!”
Why would her mother-in-law study this stuff?
Could it be eaten like rice? Could it be turned into meat?
She must have wasted a lot of paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones!
With an expression that looked down upon the whole world, Ye Manshu glanced coldly at Cheng Qian.
“Do you still think I’m unqualified to replace you?”
Cheng Qian immediately wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.
Still, he tried to argue.
“But Mother, you’re a woman. Other people won’t accept you, will they?”
Ye Manshu snorted.
“That’s none of your concern. I have my younger uncle and younger granduncle. They’ll make the villagers accept me.”
Cheng Qian had no reply.
Ignoring his objections completely, Ye Manshu signed him up for corvée labor.
At the same time, she publicly announced that she would temporarily replace Cheng Qian as the village teacher.
The entire village exploded with gossip.
“What is that drama queen up to now?”
Li Daoshun gathered all the villagers together and held a meeting.
“Everyone, my niece is extremely learned—full of knowledge and wisdom, familiar with both ancient and modern teachings. Clan Leader Ye and I have already tested her ourselves.”
At first, even Li Daoshun hadn’t believed it. But Ye Manshu had truly demonstrated her learning to him.
Li Daoshun himself had studied before and even held the title of tongsheng (licensed student), so he naturally understood scholarship.
Besides, he already had a favorable bias toward her. Even when the original Ye Manshu constantly caused trouble for him, he had never hated her.
Now that he saw her sincerely trying to improve her life, his favorable impression only deepened.
Villager A spoke up:
“Village Chief, it’s not that we don’t trust you, but having a woman teach children… doesn’t seem appropriate.”
“What’s inappropriate about it?” Li Daoshun retorted. “My niece is already an old woman—a grandmother! Teaching a few little brats is no big deal. Her knowledge is far superior to that pretty-boy son of hers. Believe me, she might even produce a scholar for our village.”
“Really?” Villager B looked doubtful. “Our village hasn’t produced a scholar in decades. The grass on Old Scholar Liu’s grave is already taller than a man. I’ve been eating apricots from the trees around his grave for twenty years, and we still haven’t had another scholar.”
Villager C shouted:
“Unless she demonstrates her skills on the spot, I won’t believe it!”
Li Daoshun was delighted that someone had taken the bait.
“Good! You said it yourself. If she demonstrates real talent here and now, none of you can object anymore.”
The village wasn’t particularly strict about separation between men and women anyway. As long as nobody behaved improperly, ordinary interaction wasn’t taboo.
After all, both men and women worked in the fields together every day.
Besides, as the village chief said, Ye Manshu was already a grandmother. Teaching a few five- or six-year-old children really wasn’t a big deal.
And this was only temporary. Once Cheng Qian returned from labor service, he could continue teaching.
Ye Manshu allowed Li Daoshun and the three clan leaders to question her however they liked.
The three clan leaders all knew some characters. Ye Manshu answered every question fluently. One of the Wang clan leaders even brought out an almanac and asked her to read random passages aloud. Ye Manshu read them smoothly and naturally.
All three clan leaders approved.
Since they represented the three major surnames in the village, once they agreed, nobody within their clans dared object.
Li Daoshun then announced another piece of news:
“Children from poor families can also attend Manshu’s classes this month for free. They may sit in and listen. Any child who wants to learn a few characters can come—boys or girls, as long as they’re willing.”
Hearing that, even more villagers became interested.
However, the five families who were already paying tuition were unhappy.
“Wouldn’t that put our children at a disadvantage? Teaching five students and teaching a whole crowd aren’t the same thing.”
Ye Manshu immediately responded:
“I’ll focus primarily on your children since you paid. The others may only sit in and listen during the three hours of class. I won’t give them any special attention.”
Only then did the five families fall silent.
Thus, the matter was settled.
After returning home, Ye Manshu said to Cheng Yuan:
“Eldest Son, take thirty copper coins to your eldest sister. When I visited her last time, aside from being poor, Wang Lin treated her fairly well. Their little child was adorable too.”
Cheng Yuan secretly curled his lips.
If you truly cared about your daughters, you wouldn’t have let Third Brother trick you into selling them off in the first place.
Ye Manshu could only try her best to make up for the past.
The man Cheng Yi had married was lame in one leg. His family was poor, and he had no parents—only a younger brother and younger sister. When Cheng Yi married into the family, the siblings had been eight and ten years old.
Wang Lin was essentially raising two children himself, making it even harder for him to find a wife. In the end, he borrowed money just to marry Cheng Yi.
Their life was extremely difficult.
The original owner often went there to mooch off them, so the relationship between mother and daughter had never been harmonious. Earlier, Ye Manshu had visited once and secretly left Cheng Yi fifty copper coins.
But Cheng Yi remained very resistant toward her.
Ye Manshu didn’t want to make herself unwelcome. Occasionally helping financially was enough, so she stopped visiting.
Cheng Yuan felt that his mother’s “bodhisattva heart” had suddenly awakened. Why else would she even start caring about daughters who had already married out?
Still, after being beaten by Ye Manshu so many times, he didn’t dare voice any objections.
“Eldest Son, I’m testing you here. If you dare pocket the money halfway and not give it to your sister, and I find out, I’ll break your legs.”
“Mother, don’t worry. I would never do such a thing.”
Thinking of Cheng Xue gave Ye Manshu a headache.
Cheng Xue had been married deep into the mountains. Back then, the groom’s family had directly paid money and taken her away. They hadn’t even left the specific village name—only that it was one or two hundred li away, accessible only through mountain paths with no proper roads.
Nobody from the family had even escorted her to the wedding. Once the money was handed over, she was simply taken away.
The middlewoman involved had been a yapo—a female broker who also acted as a matchmaker.
Ye Manshu wanted to see how Cheng Xue was doing, but it was genuinely difficult.
The original owner had truly been ruthless.
She had tried asking that broker for information. It cost her ten copper coins just to get the rough location and village name.
The broker said she herself had only gone there once. If she tried again, she would probably get lost too. Deep in the mountains, once you entered, it was hard to get back out.
Just thinking about it gave Ye Manshu a headache. Even traveling merchants and messengers shook their heads repeatedly upon hearing the location. Hardly any of them ever went there.
It was clearly an extremely remote place.
Finally, one messenger agreed to try making the trip—but Ye Manshu would have to pay one hundred copper coins.
(A messenger in those days functioned somewhat like a private courier, delivering letters and goods for ordinary people. Official relay stations were reserved for government use.)
Ye Manshu’s heart ached over the cost, but in the end she gritted her teeth and paid the hundred coins. She repeatedly instructed the messenger to make absolutely sure Cheng Xue sent a reply. If he brought back a letter, she promised another thirty copper coins as reward.
But the letter had been gone for quite some time now, and still no reply had come.
Ye Manshu was beginning to wonder whether the messenger had gotten lost somewhere deep in the mountains.