The old village chief's ideas coincided perfectly with Bai Yujun's.
What Old Doctor Zhang wanted to teach—the Four Books and Five Classics and such—was far too profound. It might be useful for the Imperial Examination, but it was utterly useless in daily life. What mattered was arithmetic and literacy. Only by knowing arithmetic could they avoid being swindled by unscrupulous merchants; only by being literate could they travel far from home and live more conveniently.
The new house was completed in a little over ten days. It had three rooms and was spacious and bright. Though rough-hewn, it carried a distinctive air of returning to simplicity, like the dwelling of some lofty hermit.
The originally planned school opening was also delayed by more than ten days.
On an auspicious day.
The villagers sent their children, from five or six to twelve or thirteen years old, to the private school. At Bai Yujun's firm insistence, the girls were sent as well. In these backward times, boys were valued over girls, and the villagers had never intended to let girls learn to read. Then Teacher Bai had gone door to door with a blade in hand, threatening them all—smashing apart a huge boulder with one punch and cleaving open a wooden door with one stroke...
The brand-new, brightly lit classroom was filled with newly made desks and chairs, with a blackboard at the very front.
The villagers gathered outside the classroom, curiously staring at everything inside. The children stood stiffly at the door, unsure what to do. Then Zhang Qi, who had rushed over after breakfast, directed them to take seats according to their heights. After a flurry of activity, he finally got his companions seated.
A little while later, Bai Yujun arrived.
For the formal occasion, she wore a white Han-style