A Learned Scholar

The township head of Greenwood Township is named Yang Zhuzi. He is in his early thirties. Because he has been working in the fields for many years, his skin is dark with a reddish tinge. His face has few wrinkles but deep lines. He wears an old short brown shirt with frayed patches on his elbows and cuffs.

At this moment, Yang Zhuzi was applying fertilizer to the wheat in the field.

His wife Jiang Cuihua, was working alongside him.

Summer was approaching, and the sun was gradually becoming quite scorching. However, the two of them were already used to the scorching summer heat, so this intensity was not too bad for them.

Therefore, the two still had the energy to chat for a while.

"Honey, is what that county magistrate said true? It's been half a month and we haven't heard anything about it." Jiang Cuihua thought of how Yang Zhuzi had come back happily half a month ago and told her that the county magistrate had issued a notice saying that a talented scholar would soon come to their area to open an academy and teach the children.

When she first heard the news, her initial reaction was the same as Yang Zhuzi's – she was overjoyed. But after the initial excitement wore off and she thought about it more carefully, she wasn't so happy anymore.

What ordinary people fear most is too many changes.

My greatest hope is simply to live a peaceful life, and for any promising child in the family to wash the mud off their feet and become an apprentice in the county town, so that they can eventually earn a decent and easy living.

Suddenly, someone from above announced that they wanted to come and teach here. Who knows what that means?

Yang Zhuzi took a breath and shook his head. "The county magistrate didn't give a specific time, he just said that once the person arrives, I should do my best to make things convenient for them... You tell me, I'm just a peasant, what kind of convenience can I make for those scholars?"

He didn't know, and Jiang Cuihua knew even less. She suddenly leaned close to Yang Zhuzi and whispered, "Hey, husband, do you think these scholars who came here will cause trouble in our village?"

Although she didn't explicitly say what she meant by "stirring things up," Yang Zhuzi, who had been married to her for over ten years, immediately understood what she meant.

He imitated Jiang Cuihua, leaning closer and whispering, "It's really hard to say. Judging from the magistrate's demeanor, the person coming doesn't seem like someone to be trifled with."

Yang Zhuzi recalled how the county magistrate, who had never given him a second glance before, had been so kind to him that day, and his heart grew even more uncertain.

But what could they do? They could only leave it to fate.

"I hope the gentleman who comes is a good person..." Jiang Cuihua muttered to herself, then continued with her work.

Before long, the two heard their youngest son calling from afar.

"Father! Father! Third Uncle wants you to come over!"

Yang Zhuzi turned his head and saw his youngest son running towards him on the ridge of the field. He raised his voice and asked, "What's up?!"

"We're calling you over—people from another village are coming—" A clear, childlike voice echoed through the fields.

Yang Zhuzi strode to the edge of the field, took off his straw sandals, dusted them off, put them back on, washed his hands and face in the nearby ditch, and turned to Jiang Cuihua, saying, "I'll go take a look."

Jiang Cuihua nodded. "Go ahead."

Neither of them said anything, but they both knew in their hearts that it was most likely about what they had just been talking about.

Jiang Cuihua continued with her work, feeling rather uneasy, silently praying that it couldn't be anything bad...

Yang Zhuzi strode over to his youngest son, who was covered in sweat and had mud stains on his face. The boy, gesturing excitedly and grinning, said, "Dad, Da Dagua and I caught five grasshoppers! We're going to roast them and eat them later!"

Yang Zhuzi wiped the sweat from his forehead, patted him gently on the back, and said, "Go home, drink some water, wash your face, and bring a bowl of water for your mother before you go play."

"Oh!" the youngest son answered crisply, and the thin little boy lifted his feet and ran towards home, the blazing sun unable to hinder his happy running pace.

Watching his carefree son's retreating figure, Yang Zhuzi smiled and shook his head, then turned and strode quickly toward his third uncle's house at the village entrance.

When Yang Zhuzi arrived at the front of his third uncle's house at the village entrance, he found a large crowd gathered outside the fenced courtyard. They were villagers who liked to sit at the village entrance and chat when they had nothing to do, and most of them were elderly people from their families.

Someone saw him arrive and called out, "Zhuzi, some outsiders have come to our village. They're inside. Go and see what's wrong."

When the others saw him arrive, they made way for him at the courtyard gate. Yang Zhuzi greeted a few of the older men and then went inside.

Uncle San's house wasn't big, but the yard was quite large. There were small vegetable gardens on both sides where he grew some vegetables, and a simple large table was set up in the middle with stones and stone slabs. Usually, when guests came to the village, they would be entertained at Uncle San's house.

As soon as Yang Zhuzi entered the courtyard, he saw several people sitting opposite his third uncle.

With just one glance, he knew that these people must be the scholars the county magistrate had mentioned who were coming to teach here.

Although Yang Zhuzi had never been to school and had never met many scholars, for some reason, when he saw the group of people opposite his third uncle, especially the young man in the middle, he felt that they must be very learned scholars.

Although they were dressed very simply.

But in Yang Zhuzi's eyes, they were just a group of simply dressed scholars, the kind who were full of profound knowledge.

As soon as his third uncle saw him arrive, he immediately stood up and waved to him. "Zhuzi, you've come! Come, come, these are the teachers who said they were coming to teach at our school." Then, he turned to Sun Yigao and the others and introduced them with a reserved air, "This is Yang Zhuzi, the head of our Greenwood Township."

Sun Yigao also stood up, bowed to Yang Zhuzi, and said in a gentle voice, "My name is Sun Yigao, greetings to Township Head Yang."

Wen Yuejun and Shen Yingzi, who were standing to the side, also stood up and bowed.

"No, no, no." Yang Zhuzi quickly waved his hand and stepped aside, not daring to accept their courtesy.

Sensing their unease, Sun Yigao did not press the matter. Instead, he gently addressed Yang Zhuzi, saying, "We have come here with the hope of opening a small school in your village. We would like to rent an uninhabited house in the village. Is that feasible?"

When the conversation turned to business, Yang Zhuzi's embarrassment faded, and he breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "There are a few empty houses in the village; you can have them directly, no need to rent. However, those houses were abandoned by people who left their homes during the severe drought a few years ago, and they're quite dilapidated..."

He thought to himself that the fields weren't too busy right now. If all else failed, he could find a few families in the village who weren't struggling financially to pool their resources for a few good meals, and it wouldn't be difficult to find a few able-bodied young men to repair a dilapidated house.

But then they heard the very handsome young man in front of them say, "It's good that you have it. It doesn't matter if it's a little broken; we can repair it."