Chapter 265: Personal Motives

Chapter 265: Personal Motives

The guest house, with its ten sections, is fully occupied for only about two months of the year. For the rest of the time, the last three sections remain unused. To ensure peace and quiet and avoid disturbing each other, Sui Yu decided to set up the school in the last section of the guest house. She planned to combine three guest rooms into one by demolishing the partition walls.

While the servants were busy demolishing the walls, Sui Yu, along with Zhang Shun and Li Wu, began chiseling the outer wall to create a chimney along the north-facing wall.

The earthen walls were thick, and after Zhang Shun swung the stone hammer ten times, the wall finally showed signs of loosening and collapsing.

"Stop, don't hammer anymore," Li Wu hurriedly called out. "Next, use a small axe to chisel slowly. Don't knock the wall down."

Zhang Shun patted the wall and asked through it, "Master, did we hit the right spot?"

"Yes," Sui Yu shouted from inside the room. "The position is fine. Since the earthen bed has already been demolished and will be rebuilt, the height can be adjusted."

With her confirmation, Zhang Shun and Li Wu worked more confidently, and after about fifteen minutes of hammering and chiseling, light from outside began to seep in through the wall.

"Mom, guess where I am!" a young voice called out from the hole.

Sui Yu bent down and peeked through, just in time to see half of a face pressed against the hole. She quickly walked out, and the young boy, holding Aning, ran up to her like two little foals.

"Slow down! Don't drag your brother like that—he can't keep up with you!" Sui Yu called out.

The boy looked back and, seeing that his brother couldn't keep up, let go and rushed forward, bumping solidly into Sui Yu.

Sui Yu, having been prepared, stepped back to dissipate the force, and at the same time, spun the boy around, making him giggle with joy. He loved playing like this.

"Why aren't you two practicing the drums? What are you doing here?" Sui Yu asked.

"Kurban and An'le are teaching Aqiang and Da Zhuang, so we snuck out to find you," the boy said. "Mom, I want to eat a pancake, the ones you make."

Sui Yu looked at Aning and asked, "Aning, do you want to eat the pancakes your aunt makes?"

Aning nodded vigorously.

"You can have pancakes, but only when it snows and your dad’s off work. He can take us to Aning's village to grind some bean flour, and I'll make you a new dish to try," Sui Yu said, leaning down to tap the boy's forehead. "Once school starts in a few days, you two won’t be able to sneak out like this anymore. If you get scolded by the teacher, I'll have to punish you."

Aning instinctively glanced at his brother, and seeing him nod, he also nodded.

"Go practice the drums. When it's not your turn, sit quietly and watch," Sui Yu instructed.

The boy had come just to see her, and his goal was achieved. Happily, he took Aning's hand and skipped away.

"Brother, didn't you say that Aunt wouldn't hit you?" Aning asked seriously.

"She really hasn't," the boy shook his head. "She just scares me; she’d never actually hit me."

"Really?" Aning was a bit skeptical. He thought his aunt seemed like the type who might hit children.

"I’m well-behaved, so she doesn't hit me," the boy said, standing on his tiptoes and putting his arm around his brother's neck. "Has your mom ever hit you?"

Aning nodded.

"She's not good. When she comes again, I'll help you get justice. By the way, why did your mom hit you?"

"I wet the bed," Aning said in an extremely soft voice.

"You still wet the bed?" the boy asked incredulously.

"I dreamed about peeing, and I didn't know I was dreaming," Aning defended himself.

"Why are you two dragging your feet?" A'shui came out to find them, standing with her hands on her hips as she shouted, "It's your turn now, get back here quickly!"

"Coming, coming." The child quickly let go of Aning’s hand and ran off, too scared to bring up helping him get justice.

After the two children entered the second courtyard of the guest house, Sui Yu turned and went back inside. The wall had been knocked through, and Zhang Shun and Li Wu were mixing sand and mud to build the chimney. After confirming everything was fine, she headed next door to see Chen Lao.

"Jade Merchant, here to see Chen Lao?" Liu Shi, who had been doing needlework by the window, came out when she heard the door open.

Liu Shi was part of Hua Sui Chun’s household. She had been living in the guest house for a long time with her three children. Sui Liang had arranged for her to stay in the ninth courtyard, which was usually uninhabited. With two sets of keys, she found the place both quiet and secure. After bringing Chen Lao back with her, Sui Yu had also arranged for him to stay in this courtyard, with one on the east side and the other on the west. Unless they intentionally spoke to each other, the two households did not disturb one another.

"Yes, I came to see if Chen Lao is missing anything," Sui Yu said. "By the way, has Brother Hua not returned yet? Or is it next year?"

"He said he'd be back this year when he left, probably in a few days," Liu Shi replied, a worried look crossing her face. With the ongoing war beyond the borders and the cold weather, she feared something might happen to him outside.

"It’s probably because business has been booming. In previous years, many caravans didn’t return until November," Sui Yu comforted her. "Try not to worry too much."

"I tried to come through the east-side door, but it was locked from the inside," Sui Yu added.

"It's fine, it's fine. The west side door is always open when I'm home. Feel free to use it," Liu Shi said, following Sui Yu. She nervously clasped her hands and somewhat pleadingly added, "Jade Merchant, I heard you're planning to open a school. Could you let my Dalang and Erlang attend as well? Just give them a spot, even if it's in a corner. If there’s no seat, standing won’t hurt."

Sui Yu neither agreed nor refused, saying, "Chen Lao can only teach twenty to thirty children. We'll see how it goes. If there are spots left, I'll make sure Dalang and Erlang can attend."

"If there’s no space, they can even stand outside," Liu Shi suggested.

Sui Yu waved her off, "You’re new here, so you might not realize how cold Dunhuang winters can be—they can literally freeze someone solid. They can’t stand outside."

Liu Shi was about to say more when Chen Lao, hearing the voices, came out. She stopped talking.

"Get ten more brushes; these ones are starting to lose their bristles," Chen Lao said.

Sui Yu agreed and, with his permission, picked up the bamboo slips on the table. Skimming through them, excluding the characters she didn’t recognize, she roughly understood it was a poem about conscription.

"Do you understand it?" Chen Lao asked.

"I get the gist," Sui Yu replied. "Isn't this too deep for the children?"

"Being at the border, the children here are most familiar with the hardships of war and corvée labor. I don't think they can't handle it," Chen Lao disagreed.

"At first, just let them follow along. Don't expect them to memorize or write it," Sui Yu negotiated. "Even for me, some characters in this poem are hard to recognize. For younger children, asking them to write and recognize these characters is like asking a six-year-old to go to war."

Chen Lao frowned, displeased with her interference.

"While they can relate to the poem’s message about war, expecting them to memorize and write it is too demanding. Starting with something too hard might make many children afraid to attend school. Once they develop a fear of learning, the path to literacy becomes long and arduous," Sui Yu continued.

"Then it will help us identify the pearls from the dross. Those who don't want to learn can leave and make room for others," Chen Lao argued that her approach was too lenient.

"No, no, you might have misunderstood. I'm not asking you to help me pick pearls from the dross, nor are you here to select talents for the court," Sui Yu said seriously. "I'm paying you to teach the children to read and write. If some students improve and shine like pearls, that’s great, but if not, having them still be respectable learners is fine too."

Chen Lao’s face tightened, and he felt like throwing his sleeves and leaving.

A knock at the door interrupted them, and when Sui Yu turned around, it was Zhao Xiping who had returned.

"I've gathered the students," Zhao Xiping entered and said. "Most are children of Qianhu families I'm close with, and a few are children of my subordinates. They're between six and twelve years old. Their families told me they don't expect their children to pass any exams, just to learn enough to avoid being deceived and, if possible, learn some moral principles. That would be a blessing."

Hearing this, Chen Lao understood and sighed in compromise. "Tell me how you want me to teach them."

Sui Yu thought back to how her teachers had taught in her previous life. She recounted the methods, discussing with Chen Lao the proper way to hold a brush and starting with simple characters. She suggested letting the children recite poems but ensuring Chen Lao explained the emotions contained within, avoiding rote memorization.

"Pay special attention to my children's situation," Zhao Xiping chimed in, not hiding his bias. "We invited you primarily for our own children. Whether the other children are pearls or dross doesn’t concern us much." Chen Lao gave him a disapproving look but said nothing. After all, he was being compensated. He understood that this couple, while seemingly courteous, were not people he could easily fool.