Chapter 52 Encounter with Jiang Huai
The family of seven was busy here, and the people from the old Ye family were not asleep either.

Old Mrs. Ye was sitting in the yard wrapping hay and firewood.

She took the time to look up and said, “Your sister-in-law is weak, and your aunt wants to find someone to help out. There are Sishan and Xiaofang at home, and the work is not heavy. Who has time to help?”

Daya is the eldest granddaughter of the Ye family. This kind of work has always been done by her. She was about to agree when Li pulled her back.

Li sneered in her heart. Her sister-in-law earned so much money but didn’t share it with them. She even wanted them to help her. What kind of dream was this?

The old lady is really selfish. Her eldest sister-in-law and her whole family have moved out, but she still wants the people in the old house to help with the work. Why? Is it because her eldest sister-in-law gave birth to a son?
Thinking of this, Li felt extremely sad.

Not only is she unable to give birth to a son, she can’t even get pregnant…

“Grandma, let me go help my aunt.” Erya took the initiative to speak, “Is it enough to just take care of my sister-in-law? What else do I need to do?”

Old Madam Ye thought for a moment and said, “Help to clean up the yard. Your aunt said that people who help will be paid three cents a day. I’ll take one cent, and you can keep the extra two cents for yourself.”

Erya couldn’t believe it: “I can get two cents for taking care of my sister-in-law?”

To pick Fritillaria, one has to go up the mountain and look for it slowly. Taking care of my sister-in-law allows me to chat with her. Besides, there are Sishan and Xiaofang at home, so the two cents are like a free gift to her.

Li widened her eyes in disbelief. Even though the old lady deducted one cent, there were still two cents left. If she saved up by day, she could buy a piece of beautiful floral cloth.

She said with a bashful face: “Er Ya is only twelve years old and not very strong, so let our Da Ya do this job.”

“His second aunt, it’s just taking care of people. Our Erya is still capable.” An smiled, “Erya, you have to do a good job for this job if you get paid. If your eldest aunt is not satisfied, she might let your eldest sister do it instead.”

Erya immediately said, “Mom, I definitely won’t be lazy!”

The matter is settled.

Li’s mouth was filled with blood, and she raised her hand to pinch Daya: “I told you to be quiet, if you had said something earlier, would it be anyone else’s business?”

Daya was so aggrieved that tears were falling.

She was going to go, but her mother didn’t let her say anything. Can she be blamed?
······
The night in Lotus Village was a bit hot. Insects chirped and birds chirped all night long. The breeze in the early morning woke up the whole village.

Jiang Wan got up early. She had some back pain after being busy for many days, but it was not a serious problem.

The mother and her two children, carrying some mint water, boarded a ox cart and headed straight for Ankang Town.

The dock was very busy in the morning. The mother and her two children split into two groups to set up stalls. Because the reputation of the mint water had spread, the sales were particularly smooth today. In less than half an hour, the two buckets of mint water were sold out. The mother and her two children then turned to head to Huaifu Academy.

It was still early, so the mother and her two children found a step to sit down.

Jiang Wan turned around and asked them, “Do you want to enter Huaifu Academy?”

Ye Dahe scratched the back of his head: “The academy shouldn’t allow outsiders to sell things in, right?”

Jiang Wan: “…”

She took a deep breath and asked again: “I mean, do you want to study at Huaifu Academy?”

Ye Sanshu shook his head like a rattle: “No, no, no, I’m stupid and can’t read. I don’t want to read!”

Ye Erhai said, “I asked the uncle next to me. The tuition fee for Huaifu Academy is three taels of silver per year. You also need to buy pens, ink, paper and inkstone. The cheapest set costs at least one tael of silver. We can’t afford it.”

Jiang Wan smiled and said, “As long as you want to study, there will always be a way. The question is, do you want to study?” Ye Erhai’s eyes showed a hint of joy: “Mom, Sishan once said that he wanted to study, but it was too expensive…”

Jiang Wan nodded in understanding: “Okay, then make some money and send Sishan in.”

Sishan was still young and most suitable for studying. She had wanted to send her child to study for a long time, but never had the chance.

Now I have some money in hand. In a few days, after I have collected enough tuition fees, I can send Sishan here…

The uncle next to him kindly reminded him, “Huaifu Academy only accepts students who are educated as children. Your sons probably don’t know how to read yet, so you can only send them to elementary school.”

Jiang Wan covered her face. Okay, Huaifu Academy does not accept students who have not yet started to learn, but there is no private school in the village. The nearest school is in Jiangjia Village. She would never send her child there. Then she can only send her child to the private school in Hehua Town. She will have to ask what the situation is then.

At noon, the bell of Huaifu Academy rang, and Jiang Wan had to put the matter behind him for the time being.

She walked to the stall and started doing business. Students came in groups of three or five. The mint water sold very quickly and more than half of it was sold out in a short while.

The students stood in front of the stall drinking mint water and occasionally discussing what they had seen in class.

Jiang Wan also pricked up her ears and listened. She was unfamiliar with this era and needed to absorb more information.

“If it doesn’t rain, the farmland within a thousand miles of Ankang Town will probably be barren. I wonder what measures the imperial court will take.”

“The teacher will probably use this as the topic for this month’s exam. We can think about it in advance.”

“I heard that a village in the neighboring Hehua Town discovered a water source and dug a canal from the mountain to divert water, saving thousands of acres of rice fields.”

“Is there such a strange thing?”

Jiang Wan didn’t expect that this matter would spread to the neighboring Ankang Town. Even these students who were usually oblivious to what was happening outside knew about it. It seemed that the drought was indeed serious and the affected area was very wide, otherwise no one would mention these irrelevant things in class.

“Mom, I saw cousin Huai.” Ye Sanshu stared, “The one in the middle over there, right?”

It was too late for Ye Erhai to stop him, because Jiang Wan had already looked over and saw Jiang Huai, wearing the white and blue uniform of the academy, holding two books in his hands, walking out of the academy gate.

He was not planning to come over, but he felt someone was looking at him, so he looked over and met Jiang Wan’s gaze.

Jiang Huai laughed immediately. He knew that he was not mistaken that day. It was indeed his aunt. But why was his aunt selling mint water at the gate of the academy?
It turns out that the mint water that everyone in the academy has been praising these days is actually sold by my aunt?

Jiang Huai likes his aunt very much. Most of his tuition is paid by his aunt, and his aunt treats him better than his cousins.

His aunt went to sell food outside his school, probably to collect tuition for him.

He stepped over.

Jiang Huai walked towards the mint water stall.

Ye Erhai was full of vigilance. He stood in front of the wooden barrel containing the copper coins without making a sound. He was determined to defend the copper coins belonging to the Ye family to the death.

Jiang Wan kept a businesslike smile on his face: “Two bowls of mint water cost six cents. Eat slowly, don’t rush.”

After she finished serving the customer in front of her, her eyes fell on Jiang Huai behind her.

(End of this chapter)