Sick Man Turns Out to be a General

4The morning of the second day, Xu Yanlin and Mu Yifann went to the patriarch's house with gifts.     0

    

The patriarch had just finished breakfast and was sitting in the courtyard smoking a cigarette. Seeing them come over, he immediately revealed a smile and stood up to welcome them, "Sir Xu, what brings you here today?"    

    

During this period of time, most of the domestic workers who worked in the villages went to work in the mines. Although the work was a bit hard, Xu Yanlin had brought along a very good attitude from the supervisors, who would not beat or scold them as long as you worked seriously, and even allowed you to rest for a while occasionally. The villagers had earned money, felt treated with respect, and were very grateful to the clan leader who brought them this job.    

    

"Dad, Mr Xu has come to discuss matters regarding the Shuanger School with you." Mu Yifann handed over the items that he had brought over. They were all common items: a piece of meat, two kilograms of sugar, ten kilograms of peanut oil, and a bag of dim sum.    

    

After the Patriarch heard this, his smiling face immediately collapsed. He frowned, and looked at Mu Yifann with a disapproving gaze, "What twin school? I've never heard of such a school. "    

    

The Patriarch shook his head and looked at Mu Yifann, signalling him not to continue with the topic.    

    

Mu Yifann came precisely for this matter, how could they allow him to pretend to be stupid? He then said to him, "I know that you have never heard of this matter, so we came here to have a good talk with you. You will know when we are done."    

    

Ignoring the patriarch's ashen expression, Mu Yifann placed the things on the wooden table in the courtyard and pushed the patriarch into the room, "Father, don't refuse right now.    

    

Xu Yanlin added, "That's right, uncle Ting. Listen to our thoughts first, it's not too late to consider whether or not you support us in this matter."    

    

Looking at their postures, the Patriarch knew that if he did not let them finish, they would not stop. He invited them into Stone's study room and had Yiming's wife brew a pot of tea.    

    

"Dad, tea is here." Yiming's wife came over with a tea tray and knocked on the door of the study.    

    

The Patriarch opened the door and took the tea tray from her. He instructed: "Take the things that Yifann has brought into the kitchen. Don't give it to the wild cats outside."    

    

Yiming's wife nodded his head, and sneaked a glance inside, taking the chance to ask: "Father, third brother and the others are looking for you, what's the matter?"    

    

Patriarch coldly swept a glance at her. She was scared to the point that her entire body shivered. She shrank her neck and respectfully said, "Father, I'll go pack my things. I won't disturb you guys from the discussion."    

    

After saying that, he hurriedly ran out like a small animal whose tail had been set on fire.    

    

The chief retracted his gaze and shook his head. He felt that this daughter-in-law was too talkative and needed his wife to discipline him properly.    

    

Mu Yifann was in the midst of conversing with Xu Yanlin when he heard the voice outside. He turned towards the patriarch and asked: "Father, what's the matter?"    

    

"I'm fine." The chief carried the tea tray back and poured boiling water into the tea cup. He then poured another cup of tea for each of them, "Tell me, what exactly do you want to do?"    

    

Just as the Patriarch sat down, Mu Yifann handed him a house design plan and explained its design.    

    

"This is the cafeteria. The students will be eating here at noon. "This is where lessons are held. There are several different classrooms. Literacy and arithmetic are here, craftsmanship is here, painting is here, etiquette and dancing are here …"    

    

Mu Yifann explained its usage to the patriarch in detail in every area of the academy.    

    

The more he looked at it, the more he found it inconceivable. Even the academy with the best Jinling City would not be as good as this academy in terms of planning. Not only did it teach zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, etiquette, rules, as well as the skills of female workers, these were all knowledge the Gemini and the Young Lady needed to learn.    

    

He wanted to ask how they were going to carry it out, but he felt that if he was too anxious, it would be easier for them to follow through, so he tried his best to suppress the excitement in his heart and pretended to be calm as he said, "It sounds good, but it's not easy to put it into practice, especially how to convince the villagers to accept it."    

    

"Dad, what we do is the Shuang-er School of Girls. Shuang-er and the ladies have separate classes, and they also learn zither, chess, painting, and etiquette. They don't violate the contents of 'Woman's Ring' or 'Men's Ring', so it can't be considered to be a breach of etiquette." Mu Yifann said. In regards to etiquette, it was actually prohibited for women to show their faces, but the children in the village had to help them with their daily chores, how could they not show their faces?    

    

"Dad, don't you want me to be well-mannered and talented, and marry a good family in the future?" The little girl was Mu Yiming's daughter. She was ten years old this year and was a very hardworking little girl.    

    

The clan leader's expression relaxed. Of course he hoped that his granddaughter would be well-informed and marry a good family in the future.    

    

"..."    

    

"What are you doing?"    

    

Yiming's wife, who was lying on his stomach eavesdropping at the entrance of the study, was so scared that his soul flew out of his body with a pat from Madam of Patriarch. She covered his mouth with one hand and patted his chest with the other.    

    

Madam of Patriarch looked at Daughter-in-law's guilty conscience and then looked at the study room which was tightly closed. She frowned in displeasure, this daughter-in-law was too unruly, her father-in-law was talking about something, she actually dared to lie at the door and eavesdrop.    

    

"Come out." Madam of Patriarch felt that it was necessary to teach this unruly wife of her.    

    

Yiming's wife only regained his senses after a long while. Looking at Madam of Patriarch's angry face, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty, so he quickly put on a fawning smile and went forward to hold Madam of Patriarch's hand to pinch her arm.    

    

"Mother, don't you want to know what Third Uncle and Lord Xu came to discuss with Father?" Yiming's wife followed Madam of Patriarch into the hall, helped her sit down, and poured her a cup of water.    

    

"What else could it be? Isn't it the matter of your brother-in-law opening the academy? " Madam of Patriarch snorted. "I knew he was restless and would only embarrass our family. These few days, you have also heard it, what is everyone in the village saying about our family? "Aiya, I'm really going to die from anger."    

    

Madam of Patriarch slapped the table, Yiming's wife quickly passed the tea to her, "Mother, let me drink some tea first."    

    

Madam of Patriarch took the tea and drank it to ease her mood. Yiming's wife then continued, "Mother, actually, I think there is nothing bad about the Twin Pupils School that is run in the village …"    

    

"What did you say?" The Madam of Patriarch bellowed in anger, the teacup in his hand dropped from his hand and cracked open with a 'pa' sound.    

    

"Duo'er and Miss should be studying at home, learning from each other, learning from each other, going out to learn some 'Four Books and Five Classics', don't tell me you want to be the top scorer and sing the same song as the dramas?" Madam of Patriarch was so angry that her whole body was trembling, her chest was heaving up and down because of the short of breath. She was a traditional Elementary Scholar lady, and had been instilled with the idea that women had to learn from the four virtues, learn from women, and cook.    

    

"That's something that only the restless Duo'er and the young lady would do. You're so dumb, and you still think it's good?"    

    

Seeing that she was angry, Yiming's wife immediately reached out to pat her back to calm her anger. Then, she spoke out: "Mother, don't be angry yet, I'm not saying that we should let the Twins and ladies of the village learn the Four Books and Five Classics to test the top scholar. I'm saying that we should let them learn some math and some etiquette.    

    

Yiming's wife noticed that her complexion had improved a little, and continued to speak: "I heard that in the school that my brother-in-law is going to organize, other than zither, chess, painting, etiquette, rules, and skills for female workers, there are embroidery, cooking, craftsmanship, etc. Any one of these skills, if learned, can be used for a lifetime. "    

    

"Besides, we run a clan school. The people that go to school are all from our clan, so it doesn't affect the people from other villages. At most, they would just gossip, so what can they do to us?" Yiming's wife patted the Madam of Patriarch's back. Thinking that he was already a child's son, he continued to say, "Mother, look at our stone, he is thirteen this year. In two years, he will be married.    

    

"My grandson is going to be an official in the future, so of course he has to choose a wife who is born of good background and is well-mannered." When she heard about her eldest grandson, Madam of Patriarch became excited.    

    

"So, it's good for everyone that your brother in law runs this academy." Yiming's wife took another teacup and poured a cup of water for Madam of Patriarch. Only then did he turn around to grab a broom to clean up the teacup fragments on the ground.    

    

Madam of Patriarch thought about it carefully.    

    

Not long later, the door to the study opened, the patriarch sent Xu Yanlin and Mu Yifann out, his face revealing an excited expression, "I will go and talk to the clan elders tomorrow."    

    

"Thank you, Patriarch." Xu Yanlin sincerely bowed to him.    

    

"You flatter me. Sir Xu, you have the foresight to do so. I am ashamed." The chief said politely.    

    

Xu Yanlin said goodbye to the patriarch with a polite smile, and left with Mu Yifann.    

    

Watching him leave, Madam of Patriarch walked over, "What's going on?"    

    

"Zi An's wife wants to buy ten acres of land in the village to support the construction of the Twin School." "In the end, they are still families that came from the capital. They just want to outlast us."    

    

Madam of Patriarch looked at him, then remembered what she had said to her first wife. She nodded slightly and did not speak.    

    

"..."    

    

Qing Sheng was anxious to know the result of this matter. He couldn't stay in the house anymore, so from time to time, he would run to the door to check if they had returned.    

    

"What do you think they discussed? Why hasn't he come back? " Qing Sheng stretched his neck and looked out, and asked Nian Hua absent-mindedly.    

    

"Don't worry, they'll come back once the discussion is over." The youth said.    

    

"Ai, I'm back, I'm back …"    

    

Seeing him, Qing Sheng quickly got up and ran out, scaring Nian Hua who was picking vegetables, and anxiously said: "Be careful, don't run away."    

    

Mu Yifann had not even entered the door when he saw Qing Sheng running over. He was already scared out of his wits and hurriedly reached out to hug him, reproaching in his heart, "Why are you running around like this? What if he falls? "    

    

Qing Sheng was anxious to know about the academy so he did not care about what he said and asked urgently, "How is it? Has Father agreed? "