“I never intended for him to be a long-term teacher,” Li Yao explained. “Wang Er’s studies aren’t that advanced yet; he should be more than capable.”
The village chief pondered this before asking, “And how much are you prepared to offer as tuition?”
“He’ll come to tutor Wang Er every day. When he has time, he can also provide basic literacy lessons for the other three children and teach them a bit of arithmetic,” Li Yao said. “I won’t treat him poorly. I’ll provide a hot lunch, pay him 2 taels of silver a month, and there will be formal gifts for the apprenticeship ceremony and on major holidays. Does that seem appropriate to you?”
“Appropriate? That’s more than enough!” the chief exclaimed. “He isn’t even a proper Xiucai scholar—2 taels a month? In my opinion, 500 wen would have been plenty!”
Paying a private tutor only 500 wen… that was far too little. If you didn’t pay a teacher well, they wouldn’t invest their heart into the lessons, and in the end, it would just be a waste of money.
“We shall stick to what I proposed.”
Seeing her insistence, the chief didn’t try to dissuade her further. He led her directly to Scholar Lü’s home. Lü’s wife, a woman surnamed Bai, was currently fretting over the family’s survival; when this massive “pie” fell from the sky, she was so dazed she almost fainted.
“You intend to hire me as a private tutor in your home?” Scholar Lü asked, stroking his thin beard.
“The pot hasn’t had a grain of rice in it for days, and you’re worried about whether it’s a private tutor or a guest lecturer?” Bai-shi feared this book-obsessed, sour old man would refuse out of sheer stubbornness, so she cut in sharply: “You’d better accept this offer right now!”
“Ignorant peasant woman! Studying is a dignified pursuit…”
“I don’t know what ‘dignified’ is, but I know we’re out of grain! If you dare refuse, get yourself out to the fields and start manual labor!”
“You… you… coarse! Utterly and hopelessly coarse!”
“Are you going or not?”
“I’ll go! I’ll go, I’ll go!”
Just like that, Scholar Lü became the private tutor for the Li household.
According to local custom, hiring a teacher to instruct children at home required a formal apprenticeship ceremony. Li Yao knew Scholar Lü’s temperament well; he wouldn’t mind a lower fee, but a “lucky day” had to be selected, and every bit of traditional etiquette had to be observed to the letter. The auspicious day was set for two days later.
Before the day even arrived, the news had already spread throughout the village.
“Sister-in-law is hiring Scholar Lü to come home and teach Wang Er,” Shen said to her mother-in-law the moment she got home that evening, hoping to stir the pot. “I heard she’s paying 2 taels of silver. It seems she’s made quite a fortune.”
Wang Xue-shi felt the blood rush to her head. “Whether she’s made money or not is none of your damn business! If you have the talent, go make some yourself! You spend all day doing nothing but yapping with that rotten mouth of yours—why aren’t you out there chopping fodder!”
Shen was humiliated and clamped her mouth shut, but inside, she was boiling with envy, jealousy, and resentment. Her sister-in-law had money, enough to hire a private tutor, yet she didn’t offer a single thing to honor her parents-in-law—she wouldn’t even send over a single bowl of her braised offal. Shen could still vividly recall the taste of those two bites she’d snatched once.
“It’s a good thing Sister-in-law is willing to spend money on Wang Er’s education,” the second sister-in-law, Zhou, said, proving herself much smarter than Shen. “Who knows? In a few years, our Wang family might actually produce a Juren degree holder.”
These words hit exactly where it mattered for Xue-shi.
Of all pursuits, study is the most noble.
Since the founding of He-wan Village, they hadn’t even produced a single Xiucai, let alone a Juren. If Wang Er could pass the exams and earn that degree, it would bring immense glory to their ancestors! She couldn’t help but think that Wang Er had always been a sharp lad from the moment he was born.
For once, her unreliable eldest daughter-in-law had actually done something worthwhile.
With that thought in mind, the old woman abandoned her cooking duties, scurried back into her room, and unlocked her chest. From a pouch at the very bottom, she counted out 500 wen in copper coins. After a moment’s hesitation, she searched through her small pile of silver fragments and selected the largest one—worth about five qian—before wrapping everything securely in a scrap of cloth. While the sun was still lingering on the horizon, she hurried toward Li Yao’s house.
To ensure Wang Er had a proper environment for his studies, Dazhuang had spent the last few days pouring his heart into a new project: building a small shed on the edge of the courtyard out of bamboo. It had no walls, meaning the breeze hit it from every direction, but it was airy and bright. Most importantly, it carried a genuine sense of ceremony.
A long wooden table sat at the front—this was Scholar Lü’s podium. In front of it were five small wooden desks; four were for reading, each accompanied by a straw-woven cushion, while the fifth held a smooth, flat piece of bluestone for practicing calligraphy. A brand-new goat-hair brush sat waiting in a polished bamboo holder.
When Wang Xue-shi arrived, Wang Er and Dazhuang were busy finishing the final piece of the setup: crafting a solid taishi chair for Scholar Lü.
“Wang Er, what are you doing?” Wang Xue-shi cried out before she had even stepped into the yard. “You’re a scholar now—how can you be doing manual labor? You’ll ruin your hands! Put that down this instant and let your eldest brother do it!”
“Grandmother, I’m fine.”
“Listen to your grandmother, put it down!” Wang Xue-shi snatched the tool from Wang Er’s hand, then turned her sharp gaze toward Li Yao, who was sitting nearby taking a rest. “What kind of mother are you? Sitting there idling your time away while making Wang Er do all the work?”
Li Yao didn’t want to argue. “If you have something to say, speak plainly.”
“What could I possibly have to say to you?” The old woman pulled Wang Er aside and stuffed the cloth bundle containing the copper coins and the silver fragment into his arms. “This is for your studies. Keep it safe.”
“Grandmother, I can’t take your money.”
“Take it if I tell you to! And keep it hidden!” She turned her eyes back to Li Yao, drawing out her words with deliberate slowness. “And make sure your mother doesn’t turn around and give it to her own maiden family.”
Li Yao: …
“Grandmother, Mother wouldn’t do that,” Wang Er whispered. “Mother doesn’t even have contact with Grandmother’s family anymore.”
“Hmph, who knows if that’s true? Even if she is your mother, her surname is still Li.” The old woman patted Wang Er’s hand. “Study hard. The ancestors of the Wang family will bless you. One day, you’ll surely become a high-ranking official.”
Li Yao sighed inwardly. The wish was incredibly simple, and yet, perversely, it felt grounded and sincere.
Upholding the principle of reciprocity, Li Yao called out to the kitchen, “Xiaoya, cut a bowl of braised offal for your grandmother and pack a few steamed buns.”
“I’m on it, Mother!”
“No, no! I’m not here to beg for food!” The old woman turned to leave as soon as she heard the offer. “You lot should keep it to sell for profit. If you give it to me, I won’t even be able to eat it—it’d be a waste of good food.”
Wang Er quickly grabbed her. “Grandmother, please just take it. If you don’t take it now, Xiaosi will just end up delivering it to you later anyway.”
Fortunately, He Xiaoya was fast. She had the basket packed in no time. Carrying the heavy bamboo basket, the old woman didn’t offer a single criticism, and the look she gave Li Yao lacked its usual sharp, biting edge.
“You’ve shown a shred of conscience by hiring a teacher for Wang Er,” Wang Xue-shi conceded. “Regardless of whether you eventually remarry or not, the Wang family will not forget this kindness.”
“I don’t need you to ‘remember’ anything,” Li Yao replied. “The apprenticeship ceremony is tomorrow. You and Father should come over for the midday meal.”
“We won’t come, we won’t come,” the old woman said, waving her hand as she walked away without looking back. “It’s just an apprenticeship for a mere Scholar Lü—don’t take it so seriously. If you have money to burn, you’d be better off buying Wang Er two decent sets of clothes!”
Before she could finish her sentence, she had already vanished into the distance.
Wang Er handed the cloth bundle back to Li Yao. When she opened it, she found nearly a full tael of silver inside. The old woman had been quite generous, even if her way of showing care remained endearingly awkward.