The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 115 Inquire

Moreover, according to her current conditions, she could not be considered a strong person and was still at the bottom of society. It was not shameful for her to be humble in front of Mrs. Zhang, the wife of the county magistrate.

Besides, she was only humble in her attitude, not fawning. In the ancient times with strict class system, it was normal for her to be like this.

In fact, even in modern times, which claims that everyone is equal, this slogan has never been realized. Privileged classes are everywhere, but they are more covert, not as blatant as in ancient times.

"Which school do you plan to send your child to?" Zhang Ruomei was amazed at Chen Cui's quick actions and couldn't help asking.

"I heard that Dongming Academy is good. I was planning to go and ask." Chen Cui replied quickly.

Zhang Ruomei has followed her master to Yinping County for more than half a year. Although she seldom goes out, she is not completely ignorant of the county's affairs.

She knew that Dongming School was the best school in the county, and the wealthy families in the city were vying to send their children there, but unfortunately not everyone could get in.

It’s not that some people want to pay more sponsorship fees to get in through the back door, but that only works when the students’ levels are similar. If the grades really can’t be improved, no matter how much money you get, it will be useless.

It just so happens that Dongming Academy is backed by the Zhou family, the largest and most prestigious family in the county. Not only does their family have a retired Hanlin, but there are also many scholars among their children, and several of them are officials in other places. They are not something that ordinary wealthy families can afford to offend.

It is because of such confidence and backing that Dongming Academy has been able to attract so many outstanding teachers, strictly control the source of students, and firmly sit first in the county.

Zhang Ruomei didn't think there was anything wrong for Chen Cui, a peasant woman, to want to send her child to the best school in the county. She was just a little worried that her child would not be able to get in.

After all, she had also heard about the strict admissions requirements of Dongming Academy, and was worried that Mrs. Liu's blind confidence in her child would lead to her being rejected.

But she didn't want to say it out loud to undermine his confidence, so she just reminded him: "If you have any difficulties in the county, you can come to me, don't be shy."

Chen Cui thanked him sincerely, but she hoped that this sentence would not be needed, because once she asked for it in front of the county magistrate's wife, it would mean that she was in trouble.

She sat in the county government office for a while, then said goodbye to inquire about school matters, saying she would come back in the afternoon.

Zhang Ruomei did not try to keep her. In fact, she was feeling hot and uncomfortable at the moment and did not want to meet any guests or socialize.

But the old doctor still asked her to stay in the sun for at least a quarter of an hour every day, and she felt that she might pass out from the sun.

After seeing off Mrs. Liu, Zhang Ruomei had someone move a lounge chair under the eaves while the sun was not too high. She lay down on it, asked a maid to hold an umbrella to cover her head and face, and began to bask in the sun.

Chen Cui drove to Dongming School with Sui Sui, explained their purpose to the old man in blue guarding the gate, and received a corresponding reply.

The school holds exams on the first day of every month, giving students who want to transfer to the class an opportunity. They just need to register ten days in advance and take the exam on the first day of the month. The results will be available on the same day.

"Then is there an age limit for candidates?" Chen Cui was worried about Changping. After all, he was much older than the average children, and she was worried that he would be rejected.

The old man looked at the peasant woman in front of him in a strange way, as if he didn't understand why she asked such a question. He bowed and said, "The sage said: There is no distinction between people in education. Everyone has the right to learn. As long as you are willing to learn, age is not a problem."

Chen Cui never expected that the old man in front of her, who was just a gatekeeper, could actually speak the words of a sage. Is this the foundation of a high school?

She also bowed to him and said, "Thank you for answering my question. May I ask how much is the tuition fee for our academy?"

The old man seemed a little unhappy about Chen Cui talking about money: "It's too early to talk about this now, let's wait until you pass the exam."

Haha, this old man has quite a temper. Chen Cui had no choice but to bow and say goodbye!

At noon, the weather was too hot, so she took Sui Sui to a roadside stall and ordered two bowls of hot noodles.

Seeing the hot noodles reminded her of her own chili peppers.

Because the pepper production in the space is very good, she has saved up a lot of peppers. Together with those in the backyard, they are enough to plant dozens or even hundreds of acres of land.

As long as the peppers in the space are not pulled out, they will continue to bear fruit. She thinks that when the weather gets cold, it is time to bring the peppers out.

As for how to promote it, she has already connected with the county magistrate's wife, so there is no need to say who to cooperate with.

Mrs. Zhang was born in Sichuan. As everyone knows, there are few people in Sichuan who don’t like spicy food.

Compared with Cornus officinalis, the advantage of pepper is too obvious. When the time comes, she only needs to let the pepper appear in front of Mrs. Zhang casually, and it will be a matter of minutes to win her favor.

However, Mrs. Zhang is in poor health and is seeing a doctor. There are many things she should avoid eating, so it is not convenient to bring up this matter.

She planned to wait until the corn was harvested and the canned fruit had a certain market before talking about the peppers.

With these achievements, her status in front of Mrs. Zhang will definitely be different from what it is now. What she says and recommends will be more convincing and easier to accept.

Eat your meal one bite at a time, don't take too big steps, take your time to achieve success, don't rush things.

Chen Cui went to visit the back house of the county government office in the afternoon. After helping the two maids in the kitchen to make canned fruit solve some minor problems, she set off on her journey back to the village.

She went to see the village chief Liu Youcai and told him that she wanted Liu Fengshou to help him take care of the acres of corn.

"Uncle, you see, I usually have to take care of Sui Sui, feed and drink my three children, and pick them up and drop them off. I really don't have the energy to take care of these acres of crops, so I have to ask Brother Fengshou for help. I'd like to trouble you to speak on my behalf."

Liu Fengshou is of the same generation as Liu Eryong, but he is older than Liu Eryong. His eldest son just got married this year. I heard that his family suffered from famine because of the plan to build a house and marry a daughter-in-law, so they need money right now.

The person Liu Fengshou borrowed money from was Liu Youcai.

Liu Youcai glanced at Chen Cui, somewhat unsure whether this niece-in-law was deliberately helping her nephew out of his own kindness or if she was really too busy in the fields.

However, no matter what, he couldn't block his nephew's way to make money.

"Go, call your Uncle Fengshou over and tell him I have something to discuss with him."

Because Liu Fengshou lived behind his house, Liu Youcai asked his five-year-old grandson to run errands and call for help.

Liu Fengshou is a typical farmer's man. He is tall with a dark red face and looks like a man who is not good at speaking.

When he learned that Eryong's wife wanted him to help look after the crops until the autumn harvest and also gave him 500 coins as wages, he was so happy that he was speechless.

Taking care of the crops is his job and it is not a big deal at all. His family has a small piece of land but many people, so there is no shortage of manpower to work in the fields.

It’s only a little over a month away from the autumn harvest, and you can earn so much money right at your doorstep, it’s almost like giving it away for free!