Chapter 40: Dishonest Thoughts Exposed!

y chest."Father!" Jia Yin sobbed, her voice choked with emotion. She had thought she wouldn't cry anymore, but the tears just kept flowing.The Lord sighed and patted the chubby little girl's head gent...Li Laotai was terrified. The pan clanged against the edge of the kang, and she began scolding her grandson.

"Look at you all, such wild hooligans! You almost lost your lives! All day long you just play and fool around, not a bit of serious business!"

Jia Xi and Jia An had escaped death by a hair's breadth. At this moment, they were both shaken to their core, heads bowed in silence, too afraid to utter a word.

Jia Yin watched the commotion with glee, her dark eyes twinkling with malicious delight.

Though bystanders wished to plead for mercy, they remembered the previous danger and remained silent.

Only Wu Cuifang, standing by the door, muttered with her mouth pouted.

"It's just a little water, what's the big fuss about It didn't even kill him! My son is out there risking his life to earn money!"

"Shut up! Didn't you forget what I told you"

Li Lao'er glared, his face dark, causing Wu Cuiflower to shrink her neck in fear and dare not speak another word.

Lao Li glared at her with a dark face and turned her gaze to Li Laodi.

"Second brother, from now on you'll be in charge of teaching Jiaxi and Ji anjing to read and write. Don't expect them to achieve great things, just keep them busy with some decent activities at home instead of running wild outside all day!"

After that, she turned her gaze to JiAXI and JiaAN.

"From now on, none of you are allowed to go out without my permission, understand"

Jiaxi and Ji anjing were so scared that they dared not refuse.

So, they let them stay for another night. The next morning, Li Lao Er pulled out a book of rhymes and actually began teaching them.

The sound of reading was echoing in Li's courtyard. The village head, who happened to be passing by next door, heard it and couldn't help but come over to take a look.

"Yo, Yusuke, what are you busy with"

"Village Chief, what brings you here Come in and sit!" When Li Lao'er saw the Village Chief at his door, he quickly invited him inside.

Old Lady Li also heard the sound and came out with Jia Yin from the inner room, calling Hong Ying to pour tea.

"I heard the sound of reading in your courtyard and thought a teacher had arrived. I didn't expect it to be your own family studying!"

The village head chuckled and took the tea that Hongying offered, his heart skipped a beat. He continued to shower her with praise.

"The way Yu Sheng teaches is quite good, just that there are a few students. As the saying goes, one sheep is herded, two sheep are also herded. It’s better to… lock up those mischievous kids from the village and have them study with your children. What do you think"

"Oh, I'm afraid that wouldn't be right..." Li La Er hesitated. After all, he hadn't formally attended school. He had only learned from his elder brother for a couple of years.

It's okay to teach my own children, but if I bring along other kids, I always worry about holding them back.

The village head quickly advised, "Oh, there's nothing wrong with that! They are all children from our own village. Learning to read and write won't hurt, it'll prevent them from being blind to the world, and they don't need to take imperial examinations."

He excitedly slammed his fist on the table, wishing he could immediately finalize everything.

"Well, I'll go around and ask who's willing to send their child. I'll offer a small amount of grain as compensation. Though everyone in the village is related, it wouldn't be right to let Yusheng work so hard for nothing."

Li Laoliu looked helplessly at his own mother. The village head had spoken, and he didn't know how to respond.

However, unexpectedly, Old Mrs. Li readily agreed.

"Since the village head considers my second son worthy, I shall come down on his behalf."

"Great! That's wonderful. I'll go tell the villagers right away!"

The village head was always decisive and acted swiftly. He immediately rushed out, going door to door to inform everyone.

Li La Er was a little dazed. In the blink of an eye, he became Mr. His family heard the news and were overjoyed.

It was just as if fate conspired against him, for it was Wu Cuifang who, at this very moment, began to grumble in discontent.

"Mother, you're being too quick to judge! A little bit of food isn't enough. Why do you even need silver Fourth Brother just went on a trip with Liu the Head鏢官 and earned ten taels of silver! Second Brother is a teacher, so he should earn more than Fourth Brother."

At this point, she suddenly thought of Jia Yi and added, "Oh, mother, haven't you also received a share of Lao Si's wages..."

Before she could finish, Li Lao Er couldn't stand it anymore.

"What nonsense are you spouting You're always scheming against your brothers. Is there anything in your eyes besides food and silver"

Li Laoer's originally excellent mood was ruined by Wu Cuifang.

Suddenly, he remembered that Wu Ergou seemed to have been around the village these past few days. He looked at Wu Cuifang with cold eyes.

"Is it Ergouzi back again to ask you for money Are you thinking of taking the family's silver to help him out"

Wu Cuifang was actually pierced through her thoughts by his words, she trembled in fright and hurriedly said nervously.

"No, no! I didn't!"

Li Lao'er looked at her with a cold face.

"Humph, best not! If I find you giving him silver, be warned, I'll break his legs! And then I'll divorce you and throw you out!"

Wu Cuiflower was frightened, her face turned pale, and she retreated back into the house meekly.

Every family in the village knew about Li Jia's son falling into the water. While he was scolding his own children and grandchildren at home, the village head came to say that he would send the children to Li's house to study.

This is certainly a good thing, someone looks after the children and they can even learn some words. At least it's better than running around outside crazily.

Thus, after a tally, there were surprisingly eight or nine of them!

As previously agreed, each household brought five catties of sorghum to Li's family as a gift for their son. Every single household expressed their gratitude and admiration to Li Erzi with much enthusiasm.

The Li family was also very happy and gladly accepted the millet. They quickly tidied up an empty guest room to be used as a classroom.

On the day classes started, the whole village came to see the commotion. Everyone craned their necks and squatted in the courtyard, not even bothered by the cold north wind.

The mischievous kids who usually spent their days climbing trees to collect bird eggs and fishing for small fish, were now all sitting straight on chairs, hands clasped behind their backs, nodding their heads as they followed Old Li's reading. It was quite a sight!

A melodious voice echoed in Li's courtyard, accompanied by the chirping of sparrows on the treetops. The winter sunlight seemed to warm up a few degrees. This scene... was surprisingly warm and loving.

Everyone smiled with relief and whispered in amazement. Thanks to the Li family, Qingshui Village had become more and more vibrant. These days were looking brighter and brighter!

At first, Li Lao Er was a bit restrained. Being watched by so many eyes made him feel like bugs were crawling on his skin, and he just couldn't get comfortable.

When he learned to teach these children just as his elder brother had taught him, a miracle happened—the tension eased and he no longer felt nervous.

Day by day, the mischievous boys gradually got used to reporting to Li's house every day, and Li Lao Er was also becoming more and more like a respectable gentleman.

He discovered that among these children, there were indeed two with exceptional talent.

Whether it's writing or arithmetic, once you grasp the concept, you learn it quickly. It fills your heart with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Of course, he also deserves credit for this. He abandoned the wooden sticks and directly used copper coins as calculation tools.

The children were abnormally excited, as if they had miscounted and lost the money. How could they possibly not learn well

In the evening, women from different households would often gather to pick up their children and then stop by Li's house for a while. They would chat idly, relieving boredom.

Mr. Li Lao'er was naturally their first object of praise.

"Mr. Li, you've worked so hard. Our family has a stubborn elm for a head, and he can actually write his own name now."is probably not as simple as it appears on the surface...Though they racked their brains, no one dared to ask the Emperor.Soon, the Emperor waved his sleeve and dismissed the court.As the six unfortun...