Li Zheng's face was a little red.
He looked at Zhou Zheng and said with some embarrassment: "Yesterday I only focused on catching up with the wind and washing away the dust, and I didn't tell you in detail about Shu Xiu. Our village is not rich. When Confucius taught before, Shu Xiu was paid 200 coins a month. Those who don’t have money at home can use grain or other things to pay for it, I wonder if Master Zhou thinks this is okay?”
Master Zhou's clenched fists under his sleeves were finally loosened.
He looked calmly: "Just charge the teacher's original amount."
"That's good, that's good!" Li Zheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and shouted to the outside: "Stop standing outside, everyone come in."
A large group of students came in outside the classroom.
The classroom that was quiet and peaceful just now suddenly became very noisy.
It's not just the children who are noisy, but also the various "creatures" they bring with them.
"Erdan, please hold your goose farther away, it just pecked my butt."
"Siniu, your chicken pooped on your feet."
When the child named Siniu heard this, he immediately looked down at his shoes and saw a pile of yellow chicken excrement lying neatly on the new shoes made by his mother. Siniu ignored everything and squatted on the ground and howled: "Ah... these are the shoes my mother-in-law made for me to wear to school. What should I do now?..."
The classroom was buzzing for a while. The frightened rooster was scurrying around. When it flew over the heads of the crowd, it even grabbed a handful of the Master's head, messing up his meticulously combed hair and letting it hang down a few times. Tie it down.
Li Zheng was so anxious that he ran around the classroom to catch the chicken that was flying around. Finally, he was panting from exhaustion and finally caught the chicken's wings.
A chicken feather was stuck in Li Zheng's hair, which looked a little funny with his anxious and complacent expression.
Zhou Zheng looked at him and finally couldn't help but laugh.
Seeing Zhou Zheng's smile, Li Zheng suddenly became less nervous.
"Master Zhou, don't be surprised. There are not many good things in our village. Some families just use these chickens and geese to repair their diseases."
"The class hasn't started yet, Shu Xiu doesn't have to be in such a hurry." Zhou Zheng was stunned.
"Hey, what's the point? Everyone has said that the master has come from afar and has no family, so we have to take more care of him.
You don’t have to worry about life. Anyway, you live in the same place as Confucius. From now on, just prepare an extra portion of the firewood, grain, etc. they prepare for Confucius. "
When he met the students for the first time, the scene was chaotic and not at all serious as class should be. However, Master Zhou felt the bustle and vitality that he had not seen for a long time.
No one mentioned the case of cheating in the exam. They didn't seem to care about it. Zhou Zheng felt warm in his heart.
Seeing that Master Zhou didn't speak or show any displeasure, Li Zheng immediately called the mute slave and asked him to put away all the things that should be collected.
After a while, calm finally returned to the classroom.
He exited the classroom, and not long after, he heard the sound of Lang Lang reading from inside, and a brisk smile appeared on Li Zheng's face.
After listening for a while, Li Zheng walked out of the academy and saw Xiao Changhe who came to look for him.
"Brother Changhe, why are you here?"
"Brother Li Zheng, your brother and sister want to buy the land behind us. Didn't I say hello to you before? Look at this... when can it be done?" Xiao Changhe said.
"What's so difficult about this? If you're in a hurry, I'll do it for you." Li Zheng was very happy.
After donating the threshing machine last time, Xiao Changhe's family's status in the village has skyrocketed. Li Zheng must be ranked first in anything his family wants to do.
"Okay, I'll go home and get the money now." Xiao Changhe rubbed his hands.
"Didn't your house be built not long ago? What are you going to do now to buy this land?" Li Zheng was a little confused.
Although the county magistrate rewarded their family with one hundred taels of silver last time, the one hundred taels of silver can be kept and spent slowly. There is no need to use it in a hurry.
"The second family likes to raise some chickens, ducks, etc., but now they can't put them in the yard, so we are thinking of simply expanding the space."
"That's it!" Li Zheng nodded, "If you need any help, remember to tell me,"
"OK!"
Xiao Changhe went home to get the silver, and Li Zheng also brought people to measure and draw the boundaries of the land.
When the villagers saw that the Xiao family had bought another piece of land, they came over and asked, "Brother Xiao, are you going to build another house?"
"Isn't the current house enough to live in? Is there another child in the family?"
"What's so strange about having a baby? My two sons are already married, so it's time to have a grandson."
Everyone's words made Xiao Changhe a little unhappy, but he didn't show it. Instead, he replied: "If you don't build a house, just expand the yard and raise some chickens and ducks."
When he saw Erdan Niang was there, he said, "Erdan Niang, go back and ask. If Erdan Daddy has time, ask him to come over tomorrow to help dig bricks."
"OK!"
"Anyone else who has time can come and help. I will pay you 20 cents a day." Xiao Changhe said to the people present again.
As soon as they heard about the wages, everyone became interested: "The one in my family is very strong, can I ask the one in my family to do it too?"
"My child Erdan doesn't know how to do it, but he can learn and do it at the same time. Is it okay to have him come over and give him 10 cents a day?" Erdan's mother also asked.
"Okay, why not." Xiao Changhe responded.
Last night, Ye Luoxin drew a picture with charcoal strips, which clearly showed the distribution of rabbit houses, pig houses and chicken, duck and goose houses.
After building a house last time, Xiao Changhe almost became half a bricklayer. After looking at the pictures, he calculated that it would take about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan of adobe. This is not a small amount. It would have to be done with just a few of their own family members. Go last winter.
Moreover, Ye Luoxin's requirements are not low. These chicken coops and rabbit hutches have roofs, floors, and ditches for drainage, which is very time-consuming to build.
Xu Zhengxiang wanted to finish all the work before the weather got cold. If he wanted to rush the work, he could only spend money to hire people, and the more people, the better.
"Brother Xiao, our people will be here tomorrow." The villagers confirmed again.
"Come, come here if you have time. Bring some tools. It's 20 cents a day but don't care about lunch." Xiao Changhe said loudly.
…
The next day, the Xiao family all got up early.
Knowing that the construction was going to start today, Ye Luoxin was so excited that she almost didn't fall asleep yesterday.
Breakfast is a bowl of egg water per person, served with freshly steamed vegetable dumplings and braised pork.
The whole family ate with gusto, and Xiao Jing was especially satisfied.
While eating, he said to Xiao Changhe: "Dad, Master Zhou asked each of us to prepare a sand tray!"
"What is a sand table?" Xiao Changhe swallowed a mouthful of dry food and wiped his mouth and asked.
"It's just a box made of wood and filled with sand. You can use it to write on it, and you can erase it after you finish writing."
"What do you want that for?" Xiao Changhe was confused.
"Master Zhou said that if everyone has no money at home and can't afford pens, ink, paper and inkstones, they should practice on a sandbox first. When it is really necessary, they can then write on paper. This can save a lot."
"Master Zhou is pretty good at it!" Xiao Changhe nodded, "Okay, I'll find time to make one for you today."
Before they could finish their meal, a dozen big men came to the yard.
Some of them had shovels, some had picks, and some had dustpans and soil baskets.
"Brother Xiao, when should we start?" the visitor asked.
"Let's get started!" Xiao Changhe stood up and went out to greet him.
There were fifteen people in total, and Xiao Changhe assigned tasks to them according to their strength.
Some carry soil, some cut grass, and some are responsible for stirring and making adobe.
Ye Luoxin also went out with Xiao Changhe and gave each visitor an engraved piece of bamboo and told them to come with the piece to collect their wages at night.
