Chapter 283: A New Atmosphere

Chapter 283: Chapter 283: A New Atmosphere

"Hey, have you heard? Ji the Fourth was carried back home last night."

"How could I not have? I saw it with my own two eyes! He was lying on a bamboo stretcher, groaning nonstop. Looked like he’d been beaten..."

"Whoa! Who would dare to beat a child student?"

"Who knows? I heard they rushed to town to get a doctor in the middle of the night."

"No, no, you’re wrong! The doctor wasn’t for Ji Liantang, he was for Old Man Ji!"

"What’s wrong with Old Man Ji? He seemed perfectly fine when I saw him yesterday evening."

"Do you even have to ask? It must’ve been Ji the Fourth who angered him!"

"What’s going on with this Ji the Fourth? He always seemed more capable than Song Jing, but this time, not only did Song Jing completely overshadow him, he also ended up in this state. Could it be..."

Ji Qingshan did his best to conceal the matter, not even forgetting to instruct his family right before he fell unconscious. But the more you try to hide something, the more it piques people’s curiosity.

In no time, the villagers had come up with several versions of the story concerning the Ji Family, Old Man Ji’s illness, and Ji Liantang’s beating.

That Ji Liantang cheated in his exams and was punished by the county school; that he’d abandoned his studies, gotten addicted to gambling, and was being hounded by the Gambling House for debts; that he was green with envy over Song Jing, holding a grudge but unable to win a fight against him... All sorts of bizarre theories were flying around.

But no matter which version was true, the Ji Family’s former glory was well and truly gone.

Ji Liantang had always been arrogant, looking down his nose at everyone. Whenever someone greeted him, he’d act half-asleep and dismissive.

The villagers used to be quite tolerant of him, but only because they’d never seen anyone more impressive than a child student. Now that the village had a proper Scholar, who would even give him a second glance?

With an attitude like that, he’d probably be a child student for the rest of his life!

People just can’t help but compare.

While everyone had always thought Song Jing was capable, he didn’t have a mother like Ji the Fourth’s, who loved to brag all over the village.

Aunt Kang wouldn’t just praise her own son; she also loved to put Song Jing down in the process. She’d say her son passed the child student exam through genuine talent, whereas Song Jing had just gotten incredibly lucky.

But looking at them now, it seemed Ji Liantang was the one who’d gotten by on dumb luck.

Song Jing, on the other hand, relied entirely on true skill.

"There’s just no comparison with Song Jing. They’re like night and day. And look at Song Jing now... he’s a Scholar!"

"I just know that Scholars are impressive, but how so? Our neighbor Datong sent both his kids to the village school. Says he wants them to be like Song Jing and become Scholars!"

"I know all about it! I was at the town market the other day and overheard some people at a tea stall talking about it for ages. They said if you become a Scholar and attend the county school, not only is tuition free, but the court also gives you six pecks of rice every month!"

"Every month? Six pecks? Good heavens, there’s really such a thing?!"

"And that’s not all! You know how in all the villages around here, whenever there’s a major event, you have to invite a Scholar to preside to make it look respectable? Well, they’re guaranteed to get a hefty payment for that.

We have to kneel and kowtow when we see the County Magistrate, but a Scholar doesn’t even have to bow. He can even sit down while speaking with the County Magistrate.

If a Scholar commits a crime, he isn’t subjected to caning. At most, he’ll get his palms rapped, and only his own teacher is allowed to do it. Government Officials can’t, because they’re of a lower status and can’t strike someone of a higher one. The only exception is if the crime is so great that his title of Scholar is revoked. Only then can he be beaten and punished like an ordinary person.

Scholars are also exempt from taxes and corvée labor. Even their houses can be built three inches taller than a commoner’s! What does that tell you? It means from now on, they’re not on the same level as us anymore."

Everyone was stunned into silence. When they finally processed it all, the crowd erupted.

"So many benefits! No wonder people work themselves to death trying to become a Scholar."

"Isn’t it the truth? There’s a great-uncle on my mother’s side who started taking the exam before I was even born. He’s sixty-nine this year, and he’s still at it!"

"Goodness, it looks like we’ll have to send our kids to school too..."

"I was thinking the same thing, but it’s so hard to become a Scholar. Who can guarantee their child will pass? If they don’t, all that money will just go down the drain."

"Bah! Just burn more incense and pray more often, maybe some good fortune will come your way! Let them study for a couple of years and see. If it turns out they don’t have what it takes, at least they’ll be literate. They could go to the city and work as a clerk or something. That’s still better than our generation, completely illiterate and helpless."

"Sigh, my family’s been arguing about sending the kids to school, too. Times are tough, and the tuition isn’t cheap..."

"However tough you have it, was it as tough as it was for Mrs. Meng? The woman’s a widow, and she endured everything to raise her son. We just have to grit our teeth. We can’t do worse than she did."

"That’s exactly right. Anyway, I’ve made up my mind. No matter what, I’m sending my Da Wa to the village school..."

In the end, after all the debate, everyone came to an agreement.

A sudden "study fever" swept through Dafeng Village. The villagers’ enthusiasm for sending their children to school reached an all-time high.

They didn’t understand the importance of education, but the custom of sending their children to school, no matter the hardship, took root from that day forward.

Their initial motivations may have been a bit skewed, but as long as the outcome was positive, it was a good thing.

The power of a role model brought a whole new atmosphere to Dafeng Village. It was all because of Song Jing, which could be considered a great merit in itself.

This was Ji Huan’s first thought after hearing Widow Xie recount the conversations.

"Hey, have you seen the village chief lately? You can hear him laughing from a mile away. And he has every right to laugh. He’s got a whole brood of sons and grandsons, and all of them put together can’t compare to his one nephew. With the Meng Family producing a Scholar, their whole clan gets to share in the glory. It’s just a pity this Scholar’s surname is Song, not Meng. I just wonder if our Dafeng Village will be able to keep him..."

Ji Huan’s heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"

"Now that Song Jing is successful, his paternal uncles and cousins from his clan showed up in Dafeng Village the day after the exam results were announced. You don’t have to guess why. They obviously want to take Song Jing and Mrs. Meng back with them."

"How did it go? Did the village chief have a say?"

"The village chief, of course, doesn’t want to let them go, but it’s not like he has any real influence. Who was it that didn’t dare take in Mrs. Meng and her son when they first sought refuge, all because of Mrs. Hong? Even though he personally brought them back to the village later, that was only after Song Jing had passed the child student examination."

A favor like that doesn’t carry much weight, so he has no standing to insist they stay. In the end, it all comes down to what Mrs. Meng and Song Jing decide.

"Song Jing isn’t in the village right now, so his mother is the one in charge. Did she decide to go back to their old village, or... stay here in our village?"

Widow Xie shook her head. "It’s hard to say. When the relatives left, they didn’t look happy, so maybe she refused. But Mrs. Meng... she’s a hard person to read. I used to work with her in the same workshop, and I have a feeling she probably does want to go back."

Ji Huan was confused. "But those people bullied them when they were just a widow and an orphan with no one to rely on. First they slandered Mrs. Meng, then they seized their land and home. Shouldn’t she absolutely despise that place?"

Widow Xie sighed.

"You’re a young woman, so you don’t understand these things yet. For a woman, when you marry a man, you follow him for better or worse. Once you marry into his family, your roots are planted there. Look at Mrs. Meng. Even though she lives in our village, she never socializes. Does she really see herself as one of the people of Dafeng Village? The villagers all treat her like an outsider, too.

As for the people who bullied her and her son... why do you think Mrs. Meng endured all that humiliation over the years? Wasn’t it all so that Song Jing could redeem their family’s honor? Now that Song Jing is a Scholar, those same people rushed over here, kowtowing and apologizing. The patriarch of the Song Family clan practically wants to carry her back in a sedan chair. Her suffering is over, and she can finally hold her head high. What is there left to hold a grudge over?

Besides, her husband is buried in Song Family Village. It’s not strange that she’d want to go back."

"I see..."

’That night, Song Jing told me he’d had an argument with Mrs. Meng about something. This must be what he was talking about.’

’But at that time, the news that he’d become a Scholar had only just reached the village. The Song Family clan couldn’t have heard about it that quickly. This must mean Mrs. Meng had this idea even before then.’

’And Song Jing must have disagreed, which is why they argued. That’s also why Mrs. Meng didn’t give the Song Family clan an immediate answer when they came looking for them...’