Chapter Sixty-Seven: The School

After Lin Miaomiao shared her idea with Li Yanhe, he gave her a strange look. Sensing something odd in his gaze, Lin Miaomiao asked, "What is it?"

Li Yanhe replied earnestly, "Miaomiao, sometimes I think you’re not a child at all. Your wisdom far surpasses others."

"You want to open a school—though it’s to train talent for your own factory, at the same time, you’re giving the children here a foundation for understanding the world."

"You’re teaching them to read and write for free, even if just the simplest words, but now they can recognize them."

After speaking, Li Yanhe continued, "Everyone has their own ambitions; not all will become great, but there’s a world of difference between those who have studied and those who haven’t."

Hearing Li Yanhe’s words, Lin Miaomiao immediately understood his point. Indeed, if someone is completely illiterate, they are often unreasonable. But if a person has spent some time with books, they gain a measure of understanding and are, in many ways, superior to others.

She hadn’t expected Li Yanhe to say such things and smiled, replying, "Yes, I’ll build a school between these villages."

Li Yanhe looked at her curiously. "A school?"

Lin Miaomiao thought for a moment and corrected herself, "A traditional academy." Li Yanhe nodded in agreement.

She pondered aloud, "Should I hire an old scholar to teach the children, or..."

Before she could finish, Li Yanhe smiled and said, "You can hire a teacher."

Lin Miaomiao agreed, and the matter was entrusted to Li Zheng. When Li Zheng learned of her plan to open a school, he was rather surprised.

After all, establishing a school was no small feat. But Lin Miaomiao told him, "I make plenty of silver each year; setting aside a portion to build schools is more than enough."

On hearing this, Li Zheng gave her a thumbs-up and said, "Great wisdom often goes unnoticed. I underestimated you."

Lin Miaomiao ignored him. Ten days later, the school she built in the nearby village was complete.

It was a large academy. Lin Miaomiao addressed her factory workers, "I have used some of the profit from the factory to build a school. Your children, and those of the village, may attend for free."

After making her announcement, she said nothing more. The region was so poor that some families believed it was better for children to work than waste time in school.

Lin Miaomiao didn’t force anyone to send their children. She was paying for the teacher and the building herself, out of charity, or perhaps with hopes of cultivating future talent for the factory.

The workers discussed her words all day, and the next day, the school officially opened.

That day, Li Yanhe skipped his duties at the military camp to attend, standing by Miaomiao’s side in support. Most of the village children came as well.

Lin Miaomiao noticed that even the children of the Lin family were present, and she smiled faintly.

The teacher Li Zheng hired arrived a few days earlier. Lin Miaomiao had even built a small house beside the academy for the teacher to live and rest in.

Lin Miaomiao had expected the teacher to be an old pedant, a white-haired scholar, or perhaps a middle-aged man. She was thoroughly surprised when Li Zheng introduced a young man instead—one who was notably handsome, the sort who would linger in your memory at a single glance.

She waved to the crowd with a smile as Li Zheng brought the young man forward. Glancing at Li Yanhe, Lin Miaomiao saw that he seemed to guess her thoughts.

Li Yanhe explained, "This man is called Sun Ziwen. A few years ago, he was the top scholar in the imperial exams. He’s very clever, from an illustrious family, but too proud... so..."

Lin Miaomiao instantly understood: a person too proud would never be entrusted with real responsibility, no matter how talented.

Looking at Sun Ziwen, her first impression was how much he resembled the poet Li Bai from history—the one served by the courtier who removed his boots and the favored concubine who ground his ink.

She remarked to Li Yanhe, "He epitomizes that saying: 'Heaven gave me my talents for a reason; even if I lose all my wealth, it will come again.'"

As soon as she finished, she caught Sun Ziwen looking at her, studying her closely. Startled by his scrutiny, she met his gaze unflinchingly, which in turn surprised Sun Ziwen, and he broke into an attractive smile.

Tilting her head and raising an eyebrow at him, Lin Miaomiao amused Sun Ziwen even more.

She whispered to Li Yanhe, "Do you think Sun Ziwen can hear us?" Li Yanhe glanced at her and, after a moment’s thought, replied, "I don’t know."

Lin Miaomiao looked up at him and said, "There are things you don’t know?"

He retorted, "I’m not some omnipotent being. How could I know everything?"

She grinned, "You can’t say that—what if you’re actually some hidden bigwig? Like someone who knows everything from astronomy to geography, all-knowing, all-capable. And since you’ve heard of Sun Ziwen, maybe you and Li Zheng are close, and he’s close to you?"

Li Yanhe answered, "There aren’t many people I’m close to. I have few friends in the capital."

Lin Miaomiao nodded and made a sign of understanding, and Li Yanhe responded with an OK gesture.

While they chatted, Lin Miaomiao didn’t notice Sun Ziwen’s expression. As the new schoolmaster, he was warmly welcomed by the villagers.

In ancient times, scholars held high status, and any family with means wanted their children to study and earn titles.

Lin Miaomiao recalled a lesson from her own childhood—the story of Fan Zhongjin becoming a scholar, and how he went mad upon passing the exams. She hadn’t understood then why a scholar would lose his mind, but later realized that in ancient times, even a lifetime of study might not win a person such a title.

Chatting idly with Li Yanhe, Lin Miaomiao’s conversation was light, born of boredom and a need for someone to talk to. Li Yanhe was a good choice for her companion, even if he often didn’t quite grasp her meaning. Still, he listened earnestly to all she said.

As a university student—not exactly a top scholar herself—Lin Miaomiao now felt like a school principal, greeting students and parents at the start of the day, and seeing them off after class.

She stood there overseeing everything, knowing that communicating with parents and managing students was the teacher’s business; her own duty as principal was to supervise the teachers.

The thought amused her so much she stifled a laugh. Noticing, Li Yanhe asked, "What’s so funny?"

Lin Miaomiao glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby, then said, "Don’t you feel like we’re supervisors?"

He looked at her, puzzled. "Supervisors?"

She nodded. "Exactly. We’re here to make sure others are doing their jobs, checking if anyone’s slacking off."

Glancing at the parents leaving, she continued, "See, we supervise the teachers’ lessons, check whether the students do their homework, see if they get into fights or mischief. If someone doesn’t listen in class, we can scold the teacher, or make the inattentive student stand as punishment."

The more she spoke, the more she immersed herself in the role of principal, her excitement growing. Li Yanhe nodded at her words.

Finding Li Yanhe too dull, Lin Miaomiao tried a different tack. "Say, if your teacher always scolded or hit you when you were in school, wouldn’t you be happy if one day you could scold your teacher back?"

Li Yanhe shook his head. "One must respect their teachers and the Way. You can’t scold your teacher. That’s improper."

Lin Miaomiao was speechless. Suddenly, she lost the desire to continue and shook her head. "This is what comes of age—the generation gap," she said.

Li Yanhe frowned at her and replied, "I understand what you mean. I just don’t find it as funny as you do."

In that moment, Lin Miaomiao realized how sly Li Yanhe could be. He’d clearly understood her the first time, but made her explain herself again, only to use it as an opportunity to lecture her.