WBSGVS Chapter 54 V1

Why did someone suddenly ask her to be a private tutor?

Qing Li was taken aback by the request. However, the boy leaning against the wall felt that he hadn’t shown enough sincerity, so he tossed a pouch over to her and called out, “Senior Sister! Our request isn’t too high; we just want to learn to recite the articles quickly, like Wang Shanxue. We ask for your guidance!”

The pouch landed squarely, and Qing Li instinctively reached out to catch it.

The boy grinned widely, his face full of innocence.

Qing Li smiled back.

The pouch was heavy, probably containing several taels of silver—he was truly generous.

She asked, “Did Wang Shanxue manage to memorize it?”

The next moment, Wang Shanxue’s voice came from a little further away: “Senior Sister, I memorized it! After just one day of your teaching, I found it easy to recite the next day. Once I started reading, I could memorize it!”

The boy against the wall nodded eagerly: “Senior Sister, please teach us!”

They hadn’t believed that the usually slow-witted Wang Shanxue could memorize the text ahead of time. But this morning, after being teased yet again, Wang Shanxue had confidently closed his book and recited it word for word, fluently.

It seemed as if the text was quite simple.

This left everyone envious; their surprise only fueled their curiosity. They pressed him for the details and finally learned that Wang Shanxue had been taught by the teacher’s daughter.

In Luo Yuzhi’s class, whenever he encountered students who struggled to grasp concepts, he would inevitably compare them to his daughter, shaming a group of boys into working harder. Thus, in their eyes, Luo Qing Li was not only a senior sister but also someone remarkable.

Now that they heard she could help Wang Shanxue recite an article so successfully in such a short time, their eyes lit up with greed. They wanted her to help them, too, so they could gain more knowledge!

In today’s world, times were relatively peaceful; civil officials held high status, and educated individuals were respected everywhere, far above merchants and warriors. Everyone wanted to bring glory to their parents and enhance their own reputation, all focused on the imperial examination.

However, there were limited positions available in the examinations; they weren’t just given to anyone. It required significant investments of time, energy, and money.

Most of those who could attend school didn’t come from impoverished backgrounds; they could scrape together some silver as long as they could learn something.

This was also why Luo Yuzhi could help the Cheng family.

So when they learned the secret to Wang Shanxue’s success, they decided to hang around the courtyard wall, hoping to catch Luo Qing Li’s attention.

Understanding the situation, Qing Li felt a spark of inspiration.

Given the limited educational resources, students taught by great scholars would naturally be superior to those taught by ordinary teachers. Huaiyang City was not a major area for the imperial examinations, and the original owner’s father had become disheartened after repeatedly failing the county exams, eventually opting to become a teacher.

Unfortunately, due to his qualifications and the resources available, the students he taught in this town and even in the county were relatively good, but none had truly distinguished themselves.

This resulted in the government’s clerk favoring the Cheng family, with no one daring to support the Luo family.

However, now, if she could teach a few students to succeed, even if they were just ordinary officials, that would build connections. The more students she had, the more protection she would receive, making it increasingly difficult for anyone to bully the Luo family.

Additionally, after Cheng Zhaoyang’s leg injury, the Cheng family, together with the Luo family, helped bring out Cheng Zhaohua. Under Cheng Zhaoyang’s pleading, Luo Yuzhi had found connections to send his younger brother to the county academy. However, at this time, Cheng Zhaohua was still just a child student and would need to take the county exam in September to qualify as a scholar.

This year, if he became a scholar, he was likely to rank in the top three. He was also quite handsome, and many local gentry came to propose marriage.

Later, when the Luo family sought a divorce, the clerk favored the Cheng family. It wasn’t just due to a single reason; there must be some reason that the Cheng family appeared more promising than the Luo family. Naturally, the county magistrate would follow the clerk’s words.

So why not let Cheng Zhaohua experience the feeling of being overshadowed right from the start of the county exam?

Originally, Qing Li had planned to find an opportunity to cut off Cheng Zhaohua’s path to the examinations, hoping to cripple the Cheng family entirely.

But in doing so, she would need to seek another way to deal with the influential Wang family, who had truly benefited the Cheng family.

Instead, why not change her approach and allow Cheng Zhaohua to continue pursuing the exams, while Qing Li would intentionally make it more difficult for him?

The Cheng family nurtured a brother, while she cultivated a group of her own.

Cheng Zhaohua’s examination results could not be dazzling; it was very likely that he would still be noticed by the magistrate’s daughter. Once both families became entangled, even if Qing Li did not wish to cooperate with the magistrate’s family, she would have to face the consequences of her choices.

Qing Li felt quite confident in nurturing talent. The original owner knew, and she had both knowledge and experience. With a bit of research into the exam topics and current events, she should be able to predict the exam questions accurately.

In half a year, as long as these boys had decent potential, there would be challenges, but nothing insurmountable.

Thinking this through, Qing Li nodded readily in agreement and called out to the boy still waiting eagerly by the courtyard wall, “I can do it, but my requirements are quite high.”

The boy representing the group on the wall spoke with determination: “Senior Sister, we’re not afraid!”

Qing Li smiled, “Great! Then you all set a time. From now on, we’ll meet here every day, and I’ll teach you from across the courtyard wall.”

“Alright!” The boys cheered joyfully and jumped up.

The boy who had been clinging to the wall suddenly stepped on someone else’s foot, and his expression changed. He let out a cry and fell to the ground, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

Qing Li intended to teach but didn’t want to waste time.

She discussed this with Luo Yuzhi, who understood that his daughter wasn’t ill. He was very supportive of the idea of teaching from across the wall, as it would keep her occupied without attracting too much attention.

However, Qing Li didn’t want to expose the movable type printing yet, so she deliberately set up a canopy on the wall to block passersby’s view. She would print there while simultaneously conducting her classes.

Luo’s mother took charge, and Qing Li helped out, but the main focus was still on teaching the group of boys.

Just like that, ten days flew by in the blink of an eye.

The Luo family had received silver from Cheng Zhaoyang and would occasionally purchase medicine, keeping the smell of medicine lingering in the house. However, Luo Qing Li’s condition still fluctuated, drawing increasing sympathy from others.

Under the efforts of Luo Mu and Qing Li, the printing business of the Luo family was finally on the right track.

The printed books were handed to Luo Yu Zhi, who had connections with some merchants that allowed him to send the books directly to other bookstores. Although this meant receiving slightly less silver, the volume was significant, leading to substantial profits that helped the once-depleted Luo family recover.

During this period, to express his regard for Qing Li, Cheng Zhao Yang came to visit several times.

As before, Qing Li understood his difficulties while simultaneously belittling and humiliating him, coercing him into submission with repeated pressure.

Each time he returned home, Cheng Zhao Yang couldn’t shake the image of his wrongdoings being exposed, and even though he was reluctant, he gritted his teeth and brought back a few more taels of silver for her.

Upon arriving home, however, he was met with the stern faces of Xiong Shi and Cheng Yue Er, and he felt a wave of regret wash over him.

“This Luo family is toxic. Every time I see her, I feel incredibly guilty,” Cheng Zhao Yang panicked. He had been mentioned several times in connection with bandit issues, and at night, he dreamt of being exposed. He feared being punished for his past misdeeds, losing his wife due to her thinking he was a fraud, and that no one would marry him because of his leg.

Numerous times, he awoke from these dreams in a cold sweat, haunted by the shadows of his past.

Since the Luo family fell into chaos after Luo Shi fell ill and Pan Chun was sold, he had lost sleep over worries, causing him to lose weight and thus, reducing the mocking from those around him.

He didn’t realize that Qing Li’s intentional belittling during their meetings created a psychological suggestion that made him increasingly self-doubting.

However, because they didn’t spend much time together, this suggestion would only amplify his guilty conscience and have little real effect.

For Xiong Shi and Cheng Yue Er, his complaints fell on deaf ears; they only felt pain over the silver spent.

Xiong Shi scolded, “If you feel guilty and keep giving her silver, what are we supposed to do? Big Brother, you can’t just focus on the Luo family. What if she remains ill for a year or two? We’ll be completely drained!”

Xiong Shi never anticipated that her daughter would turn the big sister-in-law into a burden, but she understood the risks. In the chilly spring, the pond water is so cold that people often fall in and, despite being rescued, die a few days later.

The big sister-in-law’s health didn’t look robust, so it was normal for her to become sickly.

But understanding didn’t lessen her pain over the money spent!

Cheng Zhao Yang had indeed considered this situation but feeling guilty over his deceit, he wiped his face and said helplessly, “But Mother, what do you propose we do?”

At this point, Cheng Yue Er wasn’t present, so the two could speak freely. He continued, “If I cut ties with her, the Luo family is already suspicious and will guess that I orchestrated the bandit incident. Then it’s all over for me!”

Xiong Shi looked at her son with dissatisfaction, feeling a bit of disdain for him. Ever since he married Luo Qing Li over two years ago, she has never felt this frustrated again.

With money only coming in but not going out, whenever they lacked money, Luo Shi would simply ask her family for help.

Now that they were in this predicament, she couldn’t completely disregard her biological son’s comfort; she could only scold, “Yue Er is so thoughtless. If she hadn’t caused trouble, the Luo family would still be fine!”

Cheng Zhao Yang felt resentful too, but she was his sister. What could he do? He could only say, “Little Brother should be back soon; let’s discuss it then. Don’t keep fussing with me. I know things can’t continue like this.”

Xiong Shi nodded sullenly, muttering, “Why doesn’t that Luo woman just die? Why save her? If worse comes to worst, you can hide out and find work in the county; the Luo family can’t possibly find you there!”

Cheng Zhao Yang stirred at her words, but thinking of his wife, the remnants of his feelings made him reluctant to speak up.

Fortunately, before long, Cheng Zhao Hua returned.