She carried a basket in her hand, filled with handicrafts made by the schoolchildren—all gifts from the students to Guan Fangyi.
Since Shang Shuqing had set up the free school, she had enrolled only students from families in the city living in extreme poverty. During that time, the students had received considerable help from Guan Fangyi. Even the clothes they wore had been purchased in bulk by Guan Fangyi.
There was no helping it. Some of the students' families were so poor that they could be described as having not enough clothing to cover their bodies.
Although Guan Fangyi had helped out for Shang Shuqing's sake, the students all knew that it was Guan Fangyi who had been helping them.
War raged across the land. Under Shang Chaozong's governance, Southern Prefecture's livelihood was still passable compared to other regions, but there were simply too many poor people, and those struggling to make a living were beyond counting. Guan Fangyi had no way to help every person in Southern Prefecture. Moreover, the entire chain of problems involved a series of issues that could not be resolved by Guan Fangyi alone. Throwing money at it would not solve anything either; it required a broader environment. Still, supporting the several dozen students Shang Shuqing had taken in was no problem at all with Guan Fangyi's wealth. It was a trifle.
To let the students study in peace, to make Shang Shuqing happy, and even more so for Shang Shuqing's safety, they had investigated the backgrounds of every student here. After learning about their family circumstances, Guan Fangyi had even paid to resolve their families' livelihood problems, including medical expenses, or directly sending cultivators to treat their illnesses. Many cases of poverty had been caused by sickness.
The students and their families were all