Yun Jianshan was not offended by what he had heard. Instead, he asked, “Since you are so worried about tuition and your family is not well-off, why not choose a school near your home for his elementary education? Why come all the way to Canglang Academy? The tuition here is considerably higher than at ordinary schools. From a business perspective, that hardly seems like a worthwhile choice.”
His question was perfectly reasonable. Literary learning flourished throughout the realm, and every region had government-run district and prefectural schools, as well as privately established academies. Yet whether government or private, most of these institutions accepted only students who already had a foundation in their studies. One had to pass an assessment before being admitted.
The places that truly taught children to read and provided them with a basic education were generally village schools in the countryside or private schools in the cities. Wealthy families could naturally hire a teacher to come to their homes and instruct their children exclusively.
The costs varied enormously. Government schools had high admission standards, but with subsidies from the imperial court, their tuition was actually quite affordable. Take the Imperial College, for example: a year’s tuition cost only two strings of cash.
Children from ordinary families in the cities were usually sent to schools run by impoverished scholars who had passed the provincial examinations. A little over a hundred copper coins a month was enough to attend. But hiring a renowned scholar to teach at home was another matter entirely. Spending several thousand strings of cash a year was not unusual. It was said that, in years past, one wealthy merchant had hired a famous teacher for his son, paying three thousand strings of cash in annual tuition.
As for academies, they had once received government funding, but nowadays they had to support themselves. Moreover, the teachers they hired were often better than those at ordinary schools, so their tuition was naturally higher than that of district or prefectural schools.
Although Canglang Academy was one of the few academies in Huzhou that accepted children just beginning their studies, most of its students still came from well-to-do families.
Seen in that light, a family that had to save up money by selling pastries and bookmarks would never have chosen Canglang Academy for a child’s elementary education.
Lin Jing was caught off guard by Yun Jianshan’s question. As far as he was concerned, reading and writing had so far been connected with only two names: the Junior Tutor and Canglang Academy. He knew nothing about any other schools or village academies.
He instinctively turned his head and looked blankly at Lin Wu.
Lin Wu was stunned as well. It was true. Given their present circumstances, choosing Canglang Academy did seem rather illogical.
But Headmaster Xu had invited them so warmly, and then the ward clerk had caused such a commotion by insisting that they go to the Compassionate Women’s Court. Those things had made her settle on this place before she had even had time to think it through properly.
Tigerhead, standing nearby, had a perfectly sound argument of his own. “Because Canglang Academy is the best! The teachers are brilliant, and the classrooms are beautiful. Students from the prefectural school often come here to seek advice from our teachers. Look at today’s lecture gathering—they all came, didn’t they? That proves how good our academy is!”
As he spoke, he turned to Lin Wu as well. “And the elementary class only costs five strings of cash a year. That isn’t expensive!”
The moment Lin Wu heard the words “five strings of cash,” she felt that Yun Jianshan’s earlier question had been more than reasonable—it had struck the nail squarely on the head. No wonder he was a great scholar. He saw through things so clearly.
A few days earlier, they had bought winter clothes and bedding, and after arriving in Huzhou, had gradually purchased household goods, pots, bowls, and cooking utensils. Now they had only about six strings of cash left in total—and that was with the daily income from selling pastries replenishing their funds.
Once Lin Jing started school, nearly all of their savings would be drained.
Five strings of cash divided among twelve months came to a little over four hundred copper coins a month, which, at first glance, seemed manageable. But academies always collected tuition for the entire year at once. This was why installment payments were such a wonderful thing: they made a price feel affordable. If she only had to pay four hundred copper coins each month, she might truly have been able to part with the money.
Faced with this stark reality, Lin Wu suddenly felt that she was an exceedingly practical person—and that she had no particular attachment to prestigious schools. Lin Jing would not be taking the imperial examinations in the future anyway. He only needed to learn how to read and understand basic principles. Surely there were plenty of places where he could do that.
She looked at Yun Jianshan and said frankly, “Master Jianshan is right. We do need to think this over carefully.”
Seeing her sincere expression, without the slightest attempt to argue or conceal anything, Yun Jianshan understood why the child had such an open and honest nature. He must have learned it from her by constant example.
His gaze returned to Lin Jing. The boy’s eyes were bright and clear, his nature quick and perceptive. Though his family was poor, there was not the slightest trace of timidity or inferiority in his manner. He was focused only on how he might use his own little hands to earn money. That openness and diligence already surpassed those of many people. What was more, he spoke clearly and logically, with an easy grace. Compared with Shen Guanting, who always seemed ready with a cutting retort, he was steady and composed by far.
With that thought, he slowly asked Lin Jing, “You are still so young, yet you already understand your family’s hardships. You do not blame Heaven or resent others. That is a rare quality. Let this old man ask you: why do you wish to study?”
Lin Jing blinked. He hardly needed to think. Counting on his fingers, he began, “So I can learn to read! Once I know how to write, I can write letters. I can also read account books and do the sums. When we sell pastries, we have to calculate the money properly—we mustn’t make mistakes. Studying will help me understand more, and then I can earn more money. Once I have money, I’ll be able to do lots and lots of things!”
Following his train of thought, Yun Jianshan asked with interest, “Oh? What sorts of ‘lots and lots of things’ could a little boy like you possibly have to do?”
Lin Jing drew his brows together, finding the question strange. “I have lots of things to do. If we can earn lots and lots of money, A-Niang won’t have to work so hard every day. I can also give porridge to the children who have nothing to eat, just like Tigerhead’s elder brother does. There are children holding empty bowls on the main street—I’ve seen them several times. But I don’t have any money to help them yet.”
He paused, as though he had remembered the procession of exiles they had seen outside the city before leaving Lingzhou. His voice unconsciously softened. “Once I have money, I can also go to many faraway places and meet lots of people…”
Then he could go to Nanya and see for himself whether Sister Qing and Brother Jue were doing well.
His answer was plain and sincere.
Yun Jianshan suddenly thought of Shen Guanting when he was a child. Back then, that child had not known why he ought to study. This child before him, however, had a clear purpose.
“Good.” Yun Jianshan nodded. “To stand on your own feet, to protect your family, to help others, and to journey toward distant places. Those are worthy and proper reasons to study. It is good that you can think this way.”
Lin Wu’s heart softened as she listened to what Lin Jing had said. She could not help wavering. The child was so clever. Perhaps she truly ought to do everything she could to find him a better place to begin his education, so as not to let his natural gifts go to waste.
Yun Jianshan had arrived at much the same conclusion.
He looked toward Lin Wu and said gently, “Mrs. Lin, your son is simple-hearted and sincere in both character and ambition. He is a rare piece of uncut jade. Though my own learning is shallow, I would be glad to contribute what little I can. If you have not yet found a suitable place for his elementary education, why not let him study reading and writing with me for the time being? I happen to be compiling manuscripts at the academy these days, and I have some free time.”
As he spoke, a smile suddenly appeared in his eyes, and his tone took on an unusual note of teasing. “Naturally, I have never liked speaking of money and other vulgar concerns. Yet after hearing what your son said yesterday, I find his reasoning quite persuasive. He said that when a customer pays for something, one must give them the pastries they bought; when a student pays tuition, the teacher ought to impart knowledge in return. By that logic, teaching and answering questions is also a form of business.”
“Now that I think about it, since this old man has no liking for business, it would hardly be proper for me to accept any tuition either. Besides, yesterday I received a pastry from your son for free. By his reasoning, would that not mean I owe him a return gift? I possess nothing of value, but I do have a few tattered books in my head. I shall use them to teach him a few characters, which can serve as payment for the pastry.”
When Lin Wu heard this, she froze, almost wondering whether she had misheard him. Once she came to her senses, she hurriedly bowed. “Master, you are too kind! To receive your guidance would be the greatest blessing A Jing could hope for. We are already grateful beyond words, and our only concern is that he might disturb your peace and quiet. The chance to earn your favor is something we never would have dared dream of. How could we possibly refuse? Thank you, Master!”
Yun Jianshan was a renowned scholar throughout the realm. What difference was this opportunity from a lucky windfall falling straight from the heavens? Naturally, she had to accept at once. Let alone waiving tuition—even if he had demanded five strings of cash as a formal apprenticeship gift, she would have run back to the little courtyard to fetch it.
Lin Jing looked at Yun Jianshan, then at Lin Wu. Only then did he tug at Tigerhead’s sleeve and whisper, “Tigerhead, does this mean I can study with Master Jianshan without paying tuition?”
Tigerhead seized his arm and nodded enthusiastically. “That’s right! Isn’t it wonderful, Jing? From now on, we can play together at the academy every day!”
Then he leaned mysteriously toward Lin Jing’s ear and offered him some advice in a whisper. “Don’t worry. Master Jianshan is my big brother’s teacher too. If the Master ever runs short of money because he isn’t collecting tuition, tell me and I’ll have my big brother pay him! He’s the Master’s student, so honoring one’s teacher is only right.”
Suddenly, as though he had thought of something else, his eyes lit up. “And from now on, you’ll be my big brother’s junior schoolmate. If you ever run out of spending money, just go to my big brother! He’s your senior, and seniors are supposed to look after their juniors, right?”
Lin Wu heard every word from where she stood nearby and was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought that Shen Guanting had taken in a disciple and, for no reason at all, assumed responsibility for raising his little junior.
Wait—if you put it that way, did that suddenly make her senior to Shen Guanting? After all, Shen Guanting had become A Jing’s senior, while she was, at least in name, A Jing’s mother.
These jumbled thoughts flashed through her mind, but her hands never stopped moving. She gently drew Lin Jing over. “A Jing, come and properly thank Master Jianshan.”
She then turned to Yun Jianshan and said earnestly, “We came in such a hurry today and weren’t able to prepare the proper gifts. When it is convenient for you, we will certainly prepare an apprenticeship gift and come to your residence to offer our thanks formally.”
Lin Jing stood up straight, pressed his palms together in a respectful salute, and bowed seriously. “Thank you, Master. A Jing will study hard. From now on, whenever I have delicious pastries, you’ll be the first person I bring them to!”
Yun Jianshan smiled. “Then I had better start thinking about what return gifts I ought to prepare for you.”
Lin Jing immediately shook his little head and imitated what Tigerhead had said earlier. “No return gifts. It’s only right for a student to honor his teacher.”
Yun Jianshan shook his head with a laugh. “Now that I have accepted a new student here, this old man should go make an appearance at the lecture gathering. It will also give me a chance to brush up on my lecturing skills in advance, lest I fail to live up to your promise of bringing me the first pastry.”
After giving a few brief instructions, he finally turned and walked away at an unhurried pace.
Even after Master Jianshan’s figure vanished at the end of the corridor, the excitement still hadn’t worn off.
Tigerhead was the first to come back to himself. He slapped his own little head. “Oh no! Master Jianshan has left. Then—I have to hurry back too! If Master Chen finds out I’m not in class, I’ll be in trouble!”
He grabbed the small cloth pouch on the table—the one containing his bookmarks—and hurried toward the door.
The elementary school where Tigerhead studied naturally did not attend the lecture gathering. The children probably wouldn’t understand a word of what anyone else was discussing. Their teacher, however, had wanted to go, since Master Jianshan’s visit was a rare occasion. The moment he heard that Master Jianshan had arrived, he had hurriedly assigned them their work and gone out.
That was how Tigerhead had found a chance to sneak away. Who could have guessed that he would actually run into Master Jianshan? Look at that—the teacher had rushed off to the gathering and missed him, while Tigerhead had been the one to meet him. Didn’t that prove he had a special affinity for learning?
He jogged toward the elementary school with the cloth pouch clasped in his arms, muttering as he went, “The Jade Spirit opens in the east, Chang’e… What did Chang’e do again? Chang’e cuts down the cassia tree? Chang’e pounds the elixir? Chang’e…”
“‘The Jade Spirit opens in the east, and Chang’e comes chasing shadows.’”
A familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.
Tigerhead’s shoulders hunched. He stiffly turned around and, sure enough, saw Master Chen standing there with a stern expression.
“Shen Linzhou!” Anger simmered beneath Master Chen’s voice. “Why aren’t you properly doing your work in class? What are you doing out here?”
Tigerhead’s eyes darted about before he replied, “Master, I was just going to the privy. What could I possibly be doing out here by myself? Isn’t that right? It’s not as if I ran off to attend the lecture gathering, did I?”
Then, as though he had only just remembered, he let out an “Oh!” “That reminds me, Master. I ran into Master Jianshan just now. He was the one who taught me that line of poetry! He even praised my osmanthus-leaf bookmark, saying it was both pretty and meaningful. He said something about the Jade Spirit…”
He really had encountered Master Jianshan, and the Master really had praised the bookmark and recited that line about the Jade Spirit. Tigerhead hadn’t lied.
Master Chen had not believed a single word of what he said before. But when the poem came up, a trace of doubt appeared on his face. The poem certainly had never been taught in class. Given Shen Linzhou’s usual disposition, memorizing the poems assigned at school was already a considerable achievement. How could he have suddenly learned such an elegant line out of nowhere?
“Hmph.” Master Chen’s expression softened slightly. “Why would you take a bookmark to the privy?”
“Well, the bookmark is so precious! I was afraid that if I left it in class, my classmates would keep touching it and ruin it!” Tigerhead abruptly changed the subject. “Oh, right, Master. Since I happened to meet Master Jianshan, he said he was on his way to the lecture gathering. Didn’t you just come from that direction? Did you see him?”
Master Chen paused. “He’s only going now?”
“Yes! That’s what he said just now.” Tigerhead answered with absolute certainty.
Master Chen waved his hand. “Hurry back to class and do your work! You must hand it in before noon today. And no more wandering off!”
Leaving him with that warning, he turned and hurried back the way he had come.
Tigerhead watched his teacher’s retreating back and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then he began to chuckle, bouncing all the way toward the entrance of the elementary school.
Before he even reached the door, the noisy din from inside came flooding out.
“My paper boat! Who stepped on it and crushed it? I spent forever folding that!”
“Who’s finished their assignment? Let me take a look.”
“I heard there are delicious green pastries at the lecture gathering. Should we go there and eat some too?”
Tigerhead stuck his head inside. The place was already in complete chaos.
“Shen Linzhou is back!” someone with sharp eyes shouted.
Several children immediately dropped whatever they were playing with and ran over.
“Linzhou, Linzhou, where did you go?”
“Did you sneak off to the lecture gathering? Did you see Master Jianshan?”
“Did you get to eat any green pastries?”
“That’s called jadeite cake, not some ‘green cake-cake.’” Tigerhead returned to his place and set the cloth bag on the table.
“Linzhou, what’s this? Is it jadeite cake? Did you hide it?” The chubby boy beside him, Qi Lang, stared at the cloth bag and fired off a string of questions.
“Hmph,” Tigerhead shook his head with the solemn air of an old sage. “How shallow! Do you really think I, Shen Linzhou, am the sort of person who cares only about satisfying his appetite?”
As he spoke, he deliberately untied the cord at the mouth of the bag, taking his time. “These are bookmarks.”
“Bookmarks?” Qi Lang froze for a moment, then immediately understood. “Ah! ‘Plucking the osmanthus in the Toad Palace’!”
As he spoke, he reached for the little embroidered pouch at his waist, the one decorated with gold ingots.
“They’re all done—fifteen, not one more or less.” Tigerhead opened the bag wide, revealing the bookmarks carefully wrapped in oil paper inside. “I ran into Master Jianshan on the way here. He said these bookmarks were excellent, and even praised the name. They’re called Jade-Soul Bookmarks. Do you know what ‘jade soul’ means?”
The children who had gathered around shook their heads blankly.
By then, Qi Lang had already pulled out a tiny golden bead. “The jade soul is the bright moon. ‘The jade soul rises in the east, and Chang’e comes chasing its shadow.’”
Tigerhead, who had not even had the chance to show off yet, was left speechless by that. He pouted before continuing, “Exactly! That’s what it means! Look at the bookmark. Doesn’t it look as though it were carved from jade?”
“It does! It really does!” Everyone stared at the translucent, lustrous veins in the leaves and nodded enthusiastically.
Holding up a bookmark, Tigerhead went on, “And look inside—it’s a cassia leaf! ‘Plucking the osmanthus in the Toad Palace’—the Toad Palace is the Moon Palace, and something from the Moon Palace can rightly be called ‘jade soul,’ can’t it? The meaning and the name match perfectly. Master Jianshan himself said so.”
“Wow!” everyone exclaimed in admiration.
“Linzhou, sell me one! I told you last time that I wanted one!”
“I want one too! I told you before, too!”
“And me!”
The scene instantly dissolved into noisy chaos.
Tigerhead pressed down on the little cloth bag. “Don’t rush, don’t rush! One at a time!”
He then pulled out his own crumpled notebook. “We’ll go in the order written here! And let me make the price clear first: fifty copper coins apiece, no bargaining!”
“Fifty coins? I’ll buy a hundred!”
“Linzhou, I want one too. I didn’t say so last time—can I still buy one now?” The children who had previously worried that the price might be too high now crowded over eagerly when they heard it was only fifty coins.
Tigerhead flipped through the notebook and sighed. “There are only fifteen this time, and they were all reserved ages ago. If you want one, you’ll have to wait for the next batch. Shall I put you down on the list?”
The children mostly carried loose copper coins and bits of silver. Fifty copper coins was a small string of money at the very least, and it was inconvenient to have it jingling around while they ran and played.
So several close friends pooled their money to buy them, paying Tigerhead in fractional silver pieces. In the end, Tigerhead collected eight qian of silver, including an extra fifty copper coins that Qi Lang had paid as a deposit.
“Linzhou, I want twenty,” Qi Lang said, still studying the bookmark he had just received without even looking up.
“What do you need so many for?” Tigerhead was sprawled over the table, frowning as he struggled to record all the additional orders his classmates were shouting out.
“I’m giving them to people,” Qi Lang began counting. “See, you know how it is. One for Father, one for Mother, one for Eldest Brother, one for Eldest Sister, one for Second Brother…”
Tigerhead certainly knew. One glance at Qi Lang’s heavy little pouch told him everything. The Qi family was a wealthy merchant household, and Qi Lang happened to be a promising scholar. He was the jewel of the Qi family. If he gave Uncle Qi a bookmark, Uncle Qi would probably give him a leaf of real gold in return—and even that might be considered too little.
Ah, children really were born into different worlds. Why hadn’t his own father given him gold beads and leaves?
Wait. His elder brother had a treasure shop. Perhaps he should give his brother a bookmark as well? His brother might find the thing novel and order a hundred or eighty in one go!
Tigerhead was already lost in his grand vision of sales, even calculating how to win business from his own elder brother’s treasure shop.
The more he thought about it, the happier he became. His hand never stopped moving, and at last he finished adding up all the numbers in the notebook.
Sixty bookmarks!
Wow! That many!
His heart began to burn with excitement. He could no longer sit still. He stuffed the notebook and the silver into the now-empty cloth bag, leaped to his feet, and dashed toward the kitchen.
Jing and Elder Sister had better not have left! He had to tell them quickly to make more—lots and lots more! If necessary… he simply wouldn’t go home tonight. He would stay and help make them!
He jogged all the way there and burst into the kitchen, panting for breath. Fortunately, Lin Wu had not left yet. She was discussing the ingredients needed for the next day’s pastries with the kitchen manager.
“Elder Sister! Jing!” Tigerhead pulled out his notebook. “We need to make sixty more! My classmates are fighting over them!”
Lin Wu was stunned when she heard the number.
Sixty? That was three strings of copper cash. And this was only what the children at the elementary school wanted. At this rate, were they going to switch careers and devote themselves entirely to making bookmarks? She had originally intended to take things slowly and let the business grow over time.
It seemed that these Jade-Soul Bookmarks were truly popular with scholars.
The process was not especially complicated, but it required immense care and patience. If she relied on herself alone, there was no way she could make them quickly. She would have to think carefully and come up with a proper solution.
