Chapter 191 – The Old Madam is from a Scholarly Family (part 5)

Li Yu was cared after for a month. He ate ginseng and cinnamon every day. Although he was not completely cured, he was a lot better and his complexion was rosier than before.

The sun was shining brightly that day. Li Yu sat on the bed and looked outside. He felt a little restless. “Yingniang, I want to go out and get some sun.”

Liu Yingniang was walking in the yard holding her stomach. This was at Li Su’s request. Li Su asked her to walk in the yard for half an hour every morning and afternoon. Liu Yingniang was now very convinced of her mother-in-law’s words, and immediately addressed her mother-in-law after listening to her husband’s words.

“Mother, Husband Yu said that he wanted to come out and get some sunshine.”

Li Su came out of the main room. “Alright. Zuo Kui, take out the wooden armchair and put a blanket on it.” Then she went over and helped Li Yu out.

Li Yuan took his younger sister and Yan’er to read on the sand table. When he saw his father come out of the house, he was very happy and quickly went over to him.

Li Yu was in good spirits. He had already inquired about his son’s homework. When he saw his son, he said, “Mother, I think I’m doing well now. Why not let Yuan’er follow me to study every morning? Ru’er can also read with me every morning. Although my daughter doesn’t have to be very proficient, it would still be good for her to know a few more words.”

Li Su nodded. “We need to thank the second young master of the Ling family for these past few days. I was thinking that, since you want to teach, why don’t you ask if the boys in his family would like to learn? If he wants, then you can teach them together.”

There were not many people in the Li family left. Li Yu was the only one left. He didn’t have any brothers or cousins. He understood that if there were no relatives, then he would have to get along with his neighbours.

“Of course this is possible. But the house is not big enough. There are too many children and there is no place to sit,” Li Yu said.

“It’s simple. Just teach in the yard. Make a shaded shed and get a few sets of tables and chairs or benches. Anyway, you can teach for half a day and they can rest on rainy days,” Li Su thought for a while and said.

Li Yu nodded. “That’s fine.”

“Okay, then I’ll go and talk to Ling Er.” Li Su knew that Ling Er would definitely agree. These days, not everyone could read.

Sure enough, when Li Su went next door to discuss this idea, Ling Er’s family was very excited and agreed immediately. Although Ling Er was the second child, his older brother died when he was not even an adult. He had several sisters who were also married. Ling Er was actually the only son in the family, but fortunately his wife was able to give birth. He married and had three sons in a few years. Ling Er was a carpenter, and the person he admired most in his life was a scholar. Therefore, he was very enthusiastic about Li Yu’s family. Now that Li Yu proposed to teach his son to read, Ling Er was overjoyed.

That night, they played ping pong at home all night. The next morning, they got the tables, chairs, benches, and other things. Together with Zuo Kui, they built an awning in the yard of Li’s house. In just half a day, a simple small class was ready.

Ling Er brought the eldest and the second child. The third child was still too young and was breastfeeding. In addition to Li Yuan, Li Ru, and Li Ru’s companion, Yan’er, there were five children in total.

Li Su thought that if she wanted to read, she would always have books. There was the pen, ink, inkstone, and paper that needed to be prepared. She was thinking of going out to buy them.

Li Yu hurriedly stopped her. “Mother, I’m not busy.” Then he slowly said to Li Su, “Except for Yuan’er, the others are all beginners. I have the enlightenment readings such as ‘Three Character Classic’1, ‘The Book of Family Names’2, ‘Thousand Character Classic’3, ‘The Rules of Disciples’, ‘Young Learning of Qionglin’, and ‘Master Zhu’s Family Instructions’ in my study. As for pens, ink, paper, and inkstones… Except for Yuan’er, they don’t use it for the time being.”

However, Li Su shook her head. “You only have one book in your study. Could it be that they will only read one book in class?! Since they want to be taught, they have to come in an orderly manner. It’s just a few books, so how much could they be worth? When you were not at home, Ling Er helped us a lot.”

“Mother, that’s not what I meant. I just have nothing to do during the recovery period, so I can teach them. If our family buys books and provides pens, ink, paper and inkstones, other neighbors will see this, and they will also send their children. Should I accept them?” Li Yu said. He didn’t plan on opening a school to be a teacher. He still wanted to continue the imperial examinations.

“If that’s the case, then just open a school and teach as a private tutor.” Li Su had this idea. These days, she had been thinking about how to reform Li Yu. After she pondered this for a long time, she came up with this method. She didn’t know what the effect would be, but it would at least let him know that life was not easy. “What? Do you still expect to be like before? Doing nothing but focussing on studying? Do you expect your family to save money and continue to support you?”

Li Yu blushed a little when Li Su said that. He didn’t know why the topic suddenly shifted to this. “Mother! Don’t you have money at home?”

“That’s my money, and the money from selling my family heirloom has nothing to do with you. You said you’re in your twenties and you can’t do anything except study. You used to rely on your parents and wife to support you. Now that your father is gone, your wife is pregnant, and I am getting old. Shouldn’t you shoulder the burden of supporting your family? Now, instead of letting you continue your provincial examinations only, you should teach children part-time. You should earn some living expenses and support your family. You always decline this using all sorts of excuses. Are you not a man?!” Li Su said righteously.

Li Yu didn’t know how to speak for a while, so he could only stare at Li Su in a daze. It took him a long time to organize his thoughts. “Mother, you were not like this before. Didn’t you say before that all things are inferior, but reading is superior? You said that I only need to study hard and that I didn’t need to worry about the rest.”

“Yes, but that was before. In the past, when your father was here, and your father worked in the government office, the family had some income so you could afford to only study. But what about now? Will the old lady and your pregnant wife go and earn money by doing needlework in order to continue to support you?” Li Su said with a stern face.

“But, but…” Li Yu said.

“It’s nothing to worry about. This is the decision! Besides, you shouldn’t start worrying about opening a private school to teach classes. Maybe people won’t want to hand over their children for you to teach. Let’s wait and see!” Li Su rolled her eyes and said.

Li Yu felt that something was wrong with his mother. His mother gave birth to three children, and he was the only one who survived. His mother had always treasured him, and she would not allow others to say anything bad about him. His mother would never say such a thing.

His mother was still very good to him. He had been ill these days, and the food and clothing were all good. He also looked at the prescription he was taking. Ginseng, cinnamon and other things in the medicine cost three taels of silver. His mother paid for it without hesitation.

But… How should he put it… His mother was full of disgust towards him! This was not right! In his mother’s eyes, he was the number one in the world. How could she despise him?!

The more Li Yu thought about it, the more wrong it was. When Yingniang was delivering food for him, he invited her to sit beside him and asked in a low voice, “Yingniang, did anything special happen at home while I was away? Was mother ill?” Could it be some kind of ghost who took advantage of his mother’s illness and possessed his mother’s body?

Liu Yingniang shook her head. “Nothing special happened to the family. Mother is in good health, but Ru’er has always been frail and fell ill when the seasons changed. Things are now better at home, and Ru’er rarely gets sick. Now that she has a playmate, Ru’er is also much happier. My mother also said that Ru’er is much better than before.”

He saw that Liu Yingniang didn’t understand what he meant. Li Yu had a headache, and at the same time felt a little disgusted in his heart. The reason why he married Liu Yingniang at the beginning was because she was good-looking. He had never seen a better-looking girl than Yingniang from all over the world, so the young and frivolous Li Yu insisted on marrying her.

Later, Li Yu himself felt a little regretful. The Liu family was just an ordinary family, and they valued sons over daughters. They didn’t pay much attention to Yingniang. As soon as Yingniang got married, his in-laws moved south. In the past few years, there had been almost no contact. They were basically estranged. Li Yu regretted saying that his in-law’s had nothing to do with him.

Fortunately, Liu Yingniang’s belly was very good. She gave him twins, a boy and a girl, which symbolised auspiciousness. The regret in Li Yu’s heart was a little lighter.

In addition, in the past few years, Yingniang had played the traditional role of the wife well. She had been very diligent, and had been filial to his father for three years. Now that she was pregnant again, Li Yu was very satisfied with Liu Yingniang. Only now when he saw her silly and sweet appearance did Li Yu feel a little uncomfortable.

Forget it. He couldn’t ask her.

Li Yu called Li Yuan again, and said, “Yuan’er, during these days when dad was away, did anything unusual happen at home?” Yuan’er was smart, and he would definitely be able to notice something.

Li Yuan shook his head. “No!”

Li Yu frowned. “How about your grandma? How is she?”

Li Yuan shook his head, “Grandma is still the same as before.” She was the same person who was lazy and enjoyed food. Only, she was a little more generous, and her attitude towards his younger sister was a little better than before. But this was not surprising. Before, there was no money. Now that they had money, it was naturally different.

Seeing that Li Yu couldn’t get anything from his son, he felt helpless. Could this be a delusion? He always felt that something was wrong.

“Yuan’er, tell your father the truth. Don’t you think your grandma is a little different now than before?” Li Yu asked directly.

“Grandma is a little different from before, but wasn’t it because we had no money?” Li Yuan sighed and said. “In the past, there was no money at home. Dad, you are grandma’s most treasured person and I am the apple of grandma’s eye. Even grandma had a hard life. The family was still in debt, so grandma was in a bad mood at that time! Now that life at home is better, and grandma is naturally different from before. Dad, you have to work hard. I also need to work hard. We men can’t let the women support us! Dad, what do you think of my calligraphy? Can I go to the bookstore to copy books for some money? What kind of heirloom do you think Grandma had? How much money do we have to earn to get it back for grandma?! Dad, what do you think?”

Li Yu was stunned by his son’s words. He had only been gone for a month, so how did things change so much?

1.(三字經) Three Character Classic – 13th century reading consisting of Confucian tenets in lines of 3 characters.

2.(百家姓) The Book of Family Names – anonymous Song dynasty reading listing 438 surnames.

3.(千字文) Thousand Character Classic – 6th century poem used as a traditional reading.