AWB Chapter 27 Ethnology
Chapter 27 Ethnology
“I heard from others that there is a school in Zhangjiawan Village.”
“Yes, the Zhang family has many members. It’s a clan school run by the clan, for children to learn the basics.” Zhang Lixin glanced at Lin Yu, who was helping Lin’s father split timber, and guessed what Lin Yan was going to say. “However, if families from nearby villages are willing to send their children to study, the school will also accept them, but there aren’t many.”
"That's great! I want to send A-Yu to school. The town is too far from home, Zhangjiawan is closer." Lin Yan was well aware of the importance of knowledge. Before the family split up, the Lin family lived a very frugal life. Firstly, they didn't have any spare money, and secondly, neither of Lin's parents had ever been to school, so they never thought of sending Lin Yu to school.
However, in any era, knowledge is a way to change one's destiny. Even if Lin Yu doesn't have great ambitions, reading can still enlighten him and teach him things, giving him more choices in the future. Therefore, when Lin Yan heard that there was a school in Zhangjiawan, she decided to send Lin Yu there to study.
"However, how much tuition do we have to pay?" Actually, clan schools usually don't charge extra for students from the clan itself, but for students from other villages, it's probably not free, so Lin Yan still took the initiative to ask.
"The students we send will receive one hundred coins per month!"
What time is class?
"Every day from Chenshi (7-9 AM) to Shenshi (3-5 PM), there's a break at noon, but going home might be a bit rushed. There's a day off every ten days, and there's a holiday for the busy farming season." Zhang Lixin was quite patient. He found Lin Yan quite interesting. This little girl was arranging her younger brother's schooling, while her parents obviously didn't get involved, otherwise they would have asked him earlier.
Lin Yan secretly replied: It's from 7 am to 5 pm, with a break at noon, but I suggest bringing your own lunch because the round trip is quite rushed. There's a one-day break every ten days, and a longer holiday during the busy farming season!
"Farming holiday? When is that?"
Zhang Lixin glanced at her, somewhat amused, and said slowly, "Now. Every year in midsummer. But school will start soon."
"That must be May!" Lin Yan thought to herself.
"Thank you, Brother Zhang!" Lin Yan was very grateful; Zhang Lixin had explained things to her in quite detail.
"You're welcome. Didn't you give me some snacks? Oh, no, they were for Peixin, not for me!" Zhang Lixin waved the dried fruit in her hand.
"I'll get you another pack!" Lin Yan turned around and ran back.
"Oh, no need!" Zhang Lixin quickly stopped her when she saw her rushing off to get it again. "I should go too."
With that, he turned the donkey cart around and drove off.
Lin Yan watched him leave, only vaguely hearing a muttered, "I can steal a little bit of Third Sister's food!"
Lin Yan: "…………"
………………
"Ayu, do you want to go to school?" Lin Yan asked Lin Yu after seeing Zhang Lixin off.
“Go to school? Me?” Lin Yu had never thought about going to school. Gezhuang Village was different from Zhangjiawan. There were very few families in the village who could afford to send their children to school. Basically, the children would inherit their fathers’ business, take over a few acres of land, do odd jobs, or, if they were better off, learn a trade from Lin’s father.
“Yes, let’s start with elementary school to build a foundation, and then find a better academy later.” We currently live in the village, so it’s convenient to find a school nearby. If we want to attend an academy, we would have to go to the county.
"But, sister? What am I going to school for? I don't want to be an official. Shouldn't I learn carpentry from Father? School is expensive, isn't it?" Lin Yu lowered his head and lowered his eyes, his expression unreadable, but what he said was full of concerns.
"Ayu, reading doesn't necessarily have to have a purpose. You can simply read for the sake of reading. You don't know the benefits of reading because you've never seen the world inside books." Lin Yan gently patted her younger brother's head.
In the apocalypse, people struggle endlessly for survival, but as long as there are stable safe zones, there will always be schools so that children can continue their education. The mere survival of life is far from enough to sustain a nation; the preservation of culture is also essential.
"You don't necessarily have to study to become an official. You can use it for business, carpentry, or anything that interests you. Reading allows you to see more of the world you've never seen before, meet people you've never met, see what they see, and feel what they think. This gives you more perspectives on things, and even when doing the same thing, you can do it better and have more insights."
Lin Yu's eyes widened, his eyelashes trembling slightly. He felt as if his sister had told him something that shattered his world.
“I have more opinions…” Lin Yu glanced at his older sister and thought: Like my sister?
"Yan'er is right, we've earned enough money now to support your studies! Yu'er, don't worry about the money. Your sister's furniture designs are selling very well, we've made a lot of money lately!" Father Lin grinned, comforting his son. He was now completely blindly praising his daughter, believing everything Lin Yan said made sense.
“That’s right, Yu’er. Although your father and I have never been to school, you see that families with the means spend money to send their children to school. It’s clear that education is a good thing. Your sister is right!” Lin’s mother also chimed in with her advice.
Lin Yu's eyes were red and sparkling. Of course, he didn't really not want to study; he just had never thought about studying. He was also attracted by the world Lin Yan had described. He also wanted to learn to read and see what kind of world those who wrote books and biographies saw.
"Can I really...?" Lin Yu looked at Lin Yan with some hesitation.
"Of course!" Lin Yan pinched his cheek, feeling charmed by her younger brother's cuteness.
“I asked Brother Zhang about it today, and they have a school in Zhangjiawan that can accept students from other villages. So we’ll send Ayu there! He’ll receive 100 coins a month for tuition.”
Mr. and Mrs. Lin both nodded in support.
"How about this, we'll go to town tomorrow and sell the dried fruit, and use the money to buy you some school supplies."
"Okay!" Lin Yu agreed excitedly, looking forward to tomorrow, and even tossing and turning all night, unable to sleep.
The next day, before dawn, he sat up and called to Lin Yan, "Sister, when are we going to town?!"
Lin Yan was still half asleep. "No rush... I'll sleep a little longer..."
Lin Yu had no choice but to lie back down on the bed, keeping his eyes open and waiting. His mind wandered, and he soon fell asleep.
He only woke up when Lin Yan called him.
"Get up! We'll set off once you're ready. We'll go to the village entrance to catch Uncle Li's donkey cart!"
Lin Yu hurriedly got up to wash up, while Lin Yan prepared two baskets filled with dried peaches and apricots, one for each of them.
The siblings said goodbye to their parents and headed towards the village entrance. Two aunties were already sitting on Uncle Li's donkey cart at the village entrance.
One of them was Ge Liu's younger sister, Ge Chunyue, who was also Ge Chuanjia's aunt. I had met her when Ge Chuanjia got married. The other one was a complete stranger; I had never seen her before.
Lin Yan greeted Lin Yu on his behalf.
Uncle Li saw them and asked with a smile, "Yan girl, Yu'er brother, are you two going to town?"
"Good morning, Uncle Li! We're going to town to buy some things! Then we'll take the food we made to sell!"
"Food?" Uncle Li couldn't help but ask curiously, "Did your mother make this?"
"No, it was my sister who did it!" Lin Yu said proudly.
"What can a little girl do? Maybe she'll just have made a wasted trip to town!" The unfamiliar auntie laughed when she heard Lin Yu's words.