nycdaug Chapter 421 Missing
Chapter 421 Missing
That night, Shangguan Qingyue sent someone to the village school, and took Zheng Qiao's family on a horse-drawn carriage and sent them out of the village overnight without disturbing anyone.
The next morning, when a group of students lazily entered the village school, they chatted with several good classmates for more than an hour but did not wait for the teacher to come to teach.
The sound of chatting in the room became quieter and quieter, and finally fell into an eerie silence.
Someone suddenly said:
"Today is not a day off, is it?"
This is obviously impossible. It would be fine if a few people didn't take the gentleman's words to heart, but it would be a joke if no one heard it.
Didn’t you see that those quails who were as obedient as quails have also come?
A few students who were impatient to wait went straight to the backyard of the academy. Apart from seeing a few chickens leisurely scratching on the ground looking for food, they did not see either of the two gentlemen.
Someone with a quick mind rolled his eyes a few times and then said excitedly:
"It seems that the two gentlemen have gone somewhere in a hurry. How about we catch these chickens and roast them on the mountain?"
Immediately, someone applauded, and the yard was soon in chaos as if it had been robbed. A few boys carried a few struggling hens and ran out laughing and playing.
The students had a happy day for the whole day, and then the second day, the third day...
Three days later, someone finally couldn't sit still and told his family about the incident. Li Shoucai then hurried over to the village school.
Of course, people couldn't see it. He never expected that the two gentlemen didn't even want the tuition and just left the village.
If I say I'm really anxious, I'm not really. After all, my former ambitions have long been lost due to the comfortable life I'm leading now.
He stomped his feet at the gate of the village school, took a few puffs of his pipe, then suddenly thought of something and left in a hurry.
Shangguan Qingyue was looking around the workshop in the village. After a year, the workshop had expanded several times compared to before.
There are two houses each for handicrafts and food preparation. The workers inside are doing their tasks skillfully, and everyone has a peaceful and comfortable look on their face.
It seems that the people in this workshop are the most pleasing to the eye.
Li immediately guessed most of what was going on by looking at her daughter's expression, so she sighed and explained:
"These workers were carefully selected by my mother. They are hardworking and capable. At least half of them couldn't make ends meet at home and begged me to give them a way out.
There was really no other way, so I had to discuss with your grandmother and build a place for them to live. Otherwise, these people would have to sleep on the floor in the workshop yard."
Shangguan Qingyue frowned and asked helplessly:
"Why didn't you write to me, mother? It turns out that you only report good news and not bad news. How can I feel at ease in the future?"
Li held her daughter's soft hand and patted it gently.
"How can it be as serious as you say? Don't worry, everyone in the village knows that my precious daughter is a rich lady from the capital. No one dares to bully us.
I didn't tell you this in the letter because I didn't want to upset you. Isn't this handled well, mother? "
The mother and daughter went to the reception room and sat down to continue chatting. As for the three maids, they went to the places they were interested in and helped with the work.
The table was filled with food made in the workshop, including dried meats of different flavors, meat jerky made from various fruits, and fragrant fried melon seeds.
Shangguan Qingyue first ate all the food on the small plate one by one, nodded with satisfaction, and then continued the previous topic:
"Mom, tell me, why can't these people in the workshop make a living at home? Is it because the men in the family have money in their pockets and they don't care about their wives who have been with them through thick and thin?"
Shangguan Qingyue had thought about this problem a long time ago. If three or four out of ten families in the village took concubines, she didn't believe that they could live in harmony and happiness.
Sure enough, Li nodded, with anger on his face.
"These old men are nothing!
After much difficulty, I have lived a prosperous life, not only can I have enough food to eat but I can also have meat almost every meal. But as soon as I have a little money in my pocket, I think of myself as the master!
In my opinion, if another two or three years pass, it won’t be uncommon for bullying of men and women to occur in the village!”
"Have any of these women divorced?" Shangguan Qingyue suddenly asked.
Li was stunned, then smiled bitterly and shook her head.
"How can it be so easy? Apart from anything else, even if it's for the sake of the children at home, we can't divorce!"
At this point, Li seemed to have thought of something and his expression became a little ugly.
Shangguan Qingyue obviously noticed this. After a moment of contemplation, she asked:
"Mom, do you regret divorcing Dad?"
"No, mother doesn't regret it!" Li's tone was very firm, and seemed to carry a hint of anger.
Shangguan Qingyue was about to ask a detailed question when there was a knock on the door.
"Miss, the head of the village is here to see you." Xiangxue said through the door.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, tapped her fingers on the table unconsciously, and said sarcastically:
"Have you finally discovered this? Haha..."
Li Shoucai was brought in by Xiangxue, rubbing his cold hands. Shangguan Qingyue personally poured him a cup of tea, and then asked in a light tone:
"I wonder if the village head grandfather came to see me for some urgent matter?"
"There is something extremely strange that I just learned about this morning, so I hurried over to tell you, Miss Shangguan.
The two teachers in the village school disappeared suddenly for unknown reasons. I asked the two wives to go to the backyard and take a closer look. All the valuables in the house had been taken away. It seemed that they left on their own initiative.
As for the yard that was messed up by those guys, he didn't mention it, thinking it was better to have less trouble.
He slapped his hand on his thigh and said angrily:
"This Zheng Qiao is really dishonest. Not only did he get a lot of money from our village, he also married a beautiful and talented wife. What else can he not be satisfied with?
He actually left without saying a word. He is so ungrateful! "
Shangguan Qingyue dodged to the side, stopping the old headman from spitting.
"Grandpa, was Mr. Zheng's family still in the village yesterday?"
"Uh... I heard from those students that he left three days ago..."
He couldn't continue, and his old face turned red. The master hadn't shown up for three days, and those boys and girls had only told the family today. He felt really ashamed.
"Three days ago? Those kids are too outrageous. Could it be that they played for three days straight?!"
Li's voice rose unconsciously, she was really angry!
She had known for a long time that the village school was getting worse and worse, but she could do nothing about it since the head of the village and the villagers didn't care.
In the end, there was no other way, so he simply spent more money to send Daniu to study in the county academy.
She couldn't care less about the villagers' shortsightedness, but there was hope that their Li family would produce a scholar or even a juren in the future!
Li Shoucai looked a little embarrassed and explained hesitantly:
"Well, not all kids are like this. There are still quite a few sensible ones who study on their own in school."
"The village school was built with the efforts of the whole village, and our family didn't contribute much, so what to do in the future will have to be decided by you, the village head, and the villagers. As a girl, I will not get involved."